text:
al component 12 operates to copy the inventory record to be subjected to a transaction (e.g. achange, an action) from the product component 10. The copy of the inventory record is stored in the transaction module 22 and includes copies of the relevant data in the service inventory module 48, hardware inventory module 50, and possibly in theother modules 52, 54, 56, 58, 60, 62, 64 as need be in respect with the inventory record concerned in the transaction. Once a user interfaces with the transactional component 14 through the user interface 38, in real-time, the transactional component 14stores any action or modification made to any of the aforementioned modules, for example changes made to terms of the contract (e.g. contractual obligations), physical assets, etc., up to the moment the action and/or modification has been acknowledged orvalidated by the user.
Having dual product and transactional components 10, 12 facilitates operations to cross-reference (or cross-check) any modification or action made between the inventory records in the product and transactional components 10, 12 in real-time, tonotify the user of any modification or action to take, and subsequently to request validation of the modification or action by the user.
Once an action or modification has been recognized by the expert engine component 14 and subsequently validated by the user, the product component 10 is updated to contain the new information contained in the transactional component 12. Inother words, the transactional component 12, containing the new information, is copied onto the product component 10, thereby removing outdated information. Therefore, projects or actions having a pending status now appear as completed. It is worthnoting that the system keeps histories (or archive) of any action and/or modification made to the product and transactional components 10, 12, e.g. in the history module 62.
During transactions affecting the inventory records, the transactional component 12 first holds a "carbon-copy" of the inventory records stored in the product component that are concerned by the transactions, and manages the transactions withthe exception that it does not do any comparison (evaluation or reconciliation) with the external data sources supplying the feeds 2. Instead, the transactional component 12 is used as a temporary data store to hold the pending change requests to any ofthe parameters of the inventory records initially defined in the product component 10. Once a user has made a change request to any of the parameters, this pending change request is compared against the product component 10 via the expert enginecomponent 14. Even if no change has been detected, the expert engine component 12 may control the service order module 34 so that a service order is still generated in order to obtain client or user confirmation of the requested information.
During the cross-checking process, the expert engine component 14 plays an essential role in the system, as it enables the end-user (e.g. a service provider, an administrator of the company) to accept and/or refuse certain actions and/ormodifications to the inventory record in the product component 10. Indeed, the end-user can choose to update (accept) the product component 10 with the new information contained in the transactional component 12 (e.g. validation), request the system tonotify the service provider or a third party of an action to take (e.g. change a client's telephone number, etc.), and once confirmation has been received from the service provider or third party, to do the action, and/or refuse the action, thus notupdating the product component 10 with the new information contained in the transactional component 12.
All operations performed by the product component 10, the transactional component 12 and the expert engine component 14 in connection with the modules 16, the transactional module 22, the rule module 32 and the service order module 34 arecarried out by the respective processors 18, 24, 36. The processors 18, 24, 36 may be embodied through a single or multiple processors, distributed over a network or not.
As alluded to hereinabove, the validation of an action or modification made to the product component 10 is a process where ultimately the end-user has the final say as to whether or not to accept the proposed modification or action to take.
For any modification to the product component 10 requiring notification of a service provider or third party, a service order or work-order (e.g. a ticket) is generated. In creating a service order, the system blocks the users from making anyfurther modifications to predetermined sensitive items such as the account until the requirements of the service order have been either validated and executed or, alternatively, cancelled. In this respect, the processor 24 of the transactional component12 is capable of assigning status to the transactions and of blocking new transactions on the inventory records concerned by the transactions having a pending status until reception of the responses to the service orders corresponding to thetransactions.
Some data fields of the inventory records do not imply transactions, and therefore need not be copied into the transactional component 12. As such, any modification to that type of data does not require the creation of a correspondingtransactional record nor possibly the creation of a service order. Also, the users will not be blocked from making modifications to this type of data. Also, the service orders may have predetermined fields (e.g. additional comments, notes) directlyeditable through the user interface 38.
Fields that can be excluded from the transactions and do not get evaluated may be such as comments indicative of general comments of the service, usage information indicative of what the service is used for (e.g. emergency), notes like diarynotes (e.g. Disconnect on June 25th), advanced description for the services.
In the same optic, not all actions or modifications to an account or inventory record item, some of which requiring service provider or third party confirmation, will block users from further modifying the item. Indeed, such is the case forinitializing or modifying certain service inventory module records (e.g. password reinitialization and/or modifications to access voicemail).
Additionally, in general, all actions and/or modifications to be taken by the end-user in regard to an account preferably have a transaction life-cycle or status such as exemplified in table V below.
TABLE-US-00005 TABLE V "active" or "pending", meaning that all transactions, created by default or otherwise, have such a status; "executed", meaning that, following the validation process, the action or modification has been appropriately dealtwith by the end-user; "cancelled by user", meaning that, before creation of a service order, the transaction has been cancelled by the end-user; "removed from service order", meaning that an element of an existent service order (e.g. a particulartransaction), and prior its validation by the service provider or third party, has been removed and/or deleted by the end-user; "expired by system", meaning that a transaction, whether created by default or not, has been deleted by the system, as done inaccordance with predetermined delays provided in the system's parameters so that transactions may automatically expire if the action has not taken place in the prescribed delay; "discard by user", applying in cases wherein one or more users areinterfacing with pending or same transactions, in which cases the system is arranged to request if the user would like to cancel modifications made by a previous or other user and work from the original or initial record (data set); this function mayalso be used in cases wherein an end-user previously worked on an account and decides to re-open the session at a later time, in which case the system is arranged to ask if the user would like to recover the modifications made before closing his/hersession or abandon those modifications; "service order cancelled", meaning that an existent service order has been cancelled either before being sent to the service provider and/or third party or before its execution; "no execution needed", meaning that,in cases of the creation of a service order, the system does not block the user from carrying out other actions or modifications to an account (e.g. re-initialization of a password for a voicemail account).
As aforesaid, the system uses inventory as the starting point to generate a service request by letting a user update the inventory only once to reflect the final outcome of the change, and evaluation of what has changed in turns generates aservice order. The requested changes in a service order can then get applied to the inventory since the change was carried out from there to begin with.
The system can be used for maintaining various types of inventories in order to perform for example fleet management, as the inventory component 10 of the system can be easily adapted to accommodate fleet move/add/changes and repairs as well asservice records and requests. The system meets the needs of managed fleets, using the same model for managing telecoms. The system can be of course advantageously used for other types of applications, including inventory tracking.
All change requests from the product component 10 are processed by the transactional component 12 and the expert engine component 14, ensuring that data representation reflects reality (or accuracy) while validating external data sources/feeds. The processor 18 of the product component 10 constantly evaluates/validates the feeds 2 (e.g. invoices 4, human resources 6, cost-centers 8, etc.) against set inventory records which make up the product component 10. The inventory records are constantlyupdated with what data the client company provide. Indeed, what makes up a strength of the system is based primarily on the accuracy of the data set contained within the product component 10, which is made up of the inventory records stored through themodules 16. This


In the last of 10 features on Christmas around the world we visit Venezuela with Romelia Alvarado.
Romelia Alvarado: In Venezuela, Christmas is celebrated as a religious occasion. As in Colombia, the presents are brought by El Niño Jesus (Baby Jesus) instead of Papá Noél (Santa Claus).
Romaila Alvarado
Romelia Alvarado lived in South America for seven years.
The unofficial start of the Christmas festivities is after the celebrations of Feria de la Chinita, second half of November. The origin of this festival is the celebration of the Virgin Mary of Chiquinquirá, when various religious activities, processions, and music in the typical Gaita style take place to honor La Chinita, (nickname of this Virgin). This event takes place in the Zulia Region, specifically in Maracaibo, the regional capital.
After this, other cities join in the festivities and many activities take place including musical events and firework displays.
In many cities, small rural towns and neighborhoods get together for the patinatas night festivals where children go and play with skateboards, roller blades and bicycles. These events are usually sponsored by the local church, where neighbors organize themselves and sell typical Christmas food, hot chocolate, hallaca, cookies, etc.
Also, still in some neighborhoods there is the Parranda where people go from one house to house with music and Christmas songs. The singers stops at neighbors' houses to get some food and drinks.
In the Venezuelan Andes there is the same tradition of this kind of event, but residents there carry an image of Baby Jesus called Paradura del Niño. Children write request letters to Baby Jesus. The presents are sent by Baby Jesus at midnight, and most people have a party, which goes on until sunrise.
Audio captured and edited by Ed Stortro
Audio transcription by Ed Stortro
Voice over Romelia Alvarado
Merry Christmas, from the staff at COUV.COM!


text:
Food security v energy security: land use conflict and the law
In NSW and Queensland contamination is more likely than in Western Australia, since the aquifers are very close to the coal seams being fracked. Therefore, it is necessary for the government regulating gas extraction to ensure that the well design and construction has multiple barriers to reduce the likelihood of such a contamination.
Contamination can also come from the produced water that is returned to the surface. A major challenge for governments is how this produced water, which contains fracking chemicals and compounds, is going to be treated and disposed of. It must be done in a manner that ensures it does not escape to enter surrounding water sources, such as streams, rivers and bores, thus contaminating water sources used for agriculture.
Call for an embargo
Finally, land access and conflict of land use is of major concern for farmers. This issue has been recognised by the Queensland government, which has declared a two-kilometre exclusion zone on mining activities near towns with more than 1000 people. Many farmers are calling for a similar embargo over prime agricultural areas.
Clearly there is a conflict in the use of the same area of land for agricultural purposes and the extraction of coal seam gas.
Farmers' concerns about water use and aquifer contamination are real.
Governments are attempting to manage these important land management and technical issues. Coal seam gas development is going to forge ahead, especially since it is providing many important jobs in the declining Australian economy.
Dr Tina Hunter is assistant professor of law at Bond University, and a member of the Legal Culture Research Group and the Research Group for Natural Resources, Environment and Development Law at the University of Bergen, Norway. Read more about FAQ Research writers here.
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source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


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1. What is the general meaning of "accidental injury"? If I was injured but did not have a visible bruise or wound, can I still submit a claim for such an injury?
An accidental injury is a mishap that is unusual, fortuitous, unexpected or unforeseen resulting in damage or injury to the body.
The admission of a claim is based on medical certification by a licensed medical practitioner. Therefore, if your doctor, who is qualified, has certified that you have sustained an accidental injury, then regardless of whether or not there is a visible mark of your injury, your insurance company is bound to admit your claim based on the medical certificate.
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text:
Change my Gen 4 server name
Here's how to change the server name for your Generation 4 VPS or Dedicated Server.
- Log into your GoDaddy account. (Need help logging in?)
- In your My Products page, click Servers.
- Next to the Generation 4 server you want to rename, click Manage.
- In the account Dashboard, at the top of the page select Settings.
- In the Server section, next to Server name, click Change.
- Enter a name for the server. The server name must be 1 to 50 characters long, and must include only letters, numbers, spaces, periods, or hyphens.
- Click Save. The new server name appears in the Settings list.

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


The French word ennui describes a feeling that combines tiredness and boredom. Ennui is one version of "the blahs."
Though it sounds it little fancy — maybe because it comes from French — ennui is a common feeling that everybody experiences: being bored and tired. School and work fill lots of people with ennui. A terrible TV show could create ennui. If you feel like your life is going nowhere, ennui could set in. When you're feeling ennui, you might as well take a nap, because you're too drowsy and uninterested to do much of anything else.
Definitions of ennui
 1. noun
 the feeling of being bored by something tedious
 synonyms: boredom, tedium
 see moresee less
 a general feeling of boredom and dissatisfaction
 type of:
 the feeling of being displeased and discontent
Word Family


From: Boris Zbarsky
Date: Mon, 05 Sep 2005 19:01:21 -0500
Message-ID: <_EMAIL_>
CC: _EMAIL_
Patrick H. Lauke wrote:
> In my recent testing on Windows browsers, I found them to be fairly well
> supported
While I can't speak as to why system colors were deprecated, I have to say that
the word Windows there is a key one. The list of system colors in CSS2 was
written based on the then-current Windows UI. That means that they don't map
well to other user interfaces (eg various versions of MacOS, various Linux
desktops). This I can say based on some implementation experience in Gecko
For example, let us consider two system colors quickly (quoting CSS2.1 section
18.2 here):
 Active window border.
 Inactive window border.
What happens when active/inactive state is not shown by changes in the border?
Should the two be the same color? How many web page designers will realize that
this can even happen if they're developing on Windows? Similar problems plague
other system colors -- the very definitions assume that certain classes of
windows exist, and that each has certain parts. If windows outside this list of
classes exist, if parts outside this list exist, or if windows or parts of
windows in the CSS2 lists do NOT exist, things break down.
 > and would posit that they can have quite a valuable role to
> play in creating accessible style sheets that match the user's set
> colour scheme / preferences (e.g. if a user has set their Windows
> environment to High Contrast, a web page can be styled to follow that
> preference).
But if a user has their non-Windows environment set up for accessibility things
won't work because the colors that environment _does_ use are not reflected in
the Windows-centric system color list? If this is the problem we're trying to
solve, system colors as present in CSS2.1 are not a good enough solution.
Received on Tuesday, 6 September 2005 00:01:40 GMT


Voice over BLE
Bluetooth SDK version 2.6.0 introduces a new software example for Thunderboard Sense (TB Sense) boards, called SoC – Voice over Bluetooth Low Energy (VoBLE). The example can be created directly from Simplicity Studio's Launcher after a Thunderboard Sense is connected to the PC.
The application samples data from the microphone on TB Sense, runs it through a filter and codec, and sends it over the Bluetooth link to a GATT client.
The GATT client application, which can receive the samples from the Thunderboard, is made available as an NCP host code. It can be run on a PC connected to an EFR32 device programmed with NCP - target image. The default location of the VoBLE NCP host app is:
How it Works
The block diagram below summarizes the data flow from the microphone into the Bluetooth link.
Block Diagram
The EFR32 on the TB Sense samples the microphone using the ADC with the sampling rate and resolution configured by the GATT client. The sampled data is then run through a digital filter (if the filter usage is enabled) and coded using ADPCM codec before being sent via the Bluetooth link to the GATT client using notifications.
By default, the high pass filter (HPF) is set as the preferred digital filter. To change the filter type, configure it in the Thunderboard Sense software before compiling. The supported filter types are listed in filter_type_t in filter.h.
/** Filter types */
typedef enum {
 LPF, /**< Low Pass Filter */
 HPF, /**< High Pass Filter */
 BPF, /**< Band Pass Filter */
 NOTCH, /**< Notch Filter */
 PEQ, /**< Peaking Band EQ Filter */
 LSH, /**< Low Shelf Filter */
 HSH /**< High Shelf Filter */
To change the filter and filtering parameters, choose one of the filters listed above and configure the DEFAULT_FILTER -macro.
/** Default filter */
_TAG_ DEFAULT_FILTER \
 { \
 HPF, /** Default filter type */ \
 0, /** Default gain */ \
 100, /** Default frequency */ \
 8000, /** Default sampling rate */ \
 2, /** Default bandwidth in octaves*/ \
On the GATT client side, the application starts by sending the configurations to the TB Sense and idles until audio data is received over notifications. Finally, the received data is saved into a file.
Setting up
To test this solution, you need one TB Sense and one WSTK with any of our EFR32BG/MG or BGM radio boards.
Thunderboard Sense (GATT Server)
 1. Attach the Thunderboard Sense to your PC.
 2. Open Simplicity Studio and select your board (Thunderboard Sense).
 3. Click on the SoC – Voice over Bluetooth Low Energy tile in the Software Examples column to create a new project.
 4. Optionally change the filter type as described earlier.
 5. Build and flash the project to the Thunderboard Sense.
WSTK (GATT Client)
 1. Attach the WSTK (with any radio board) to your PC.
 2. Open Simplicity Studio and select your board (WSTK with any radio board).
 3. Click on the NCP target - Empty tile in the Demos column to run the NCP target code on the board.
 4. Open a command prompt and navigate to.
 5. Run make-command (it is recommended to use mingw32, but cygwin can also work).
 This will create four new folders: build, exe, lst and scripts.
 6. Navigate to the exe-subdirectory. If the compiling was successful, you will see the executable application called voice_over_bluetooth_low_energy_app.exe.
Running voice_over_bluetooth_low_energy_app.exe, you should be greeted by the following help message.
Help message
The program can be configured using the flags shown in the above image. When giving the parameters to the program, all units must be omitted.
Few notes about the parameters:
Saving the Audio into a File
To record audio into an audio file using this ncp-host-application, you will have to provide at least the following parameters (examples in parenthesis):
In the example below, the verbose mode is used with the default settings for both sampling rate and resolution (16 kHz and 12 bits respectively) and saving the audio data in a file called my_audio_file.
Command output
If you have activated the verbose mode, as in the above image, you will get status messages from the GATT client application. The application will stop printing status messages after is has written all the configurations, which in the above image happens after transfer status has successfully been enabled. When the initialization is done, the GATT client (ncp-host) is ready to receive data from the TB Sense.
To start recording and streaming audio data over the BLE link, press and hold TB Sense BTN0 (left button). After the button is pressed, you should see activity on the terminal window, summarizing the transmission progress. All audio data will be saved to a file defined by the output filename -parameter ( my_audio_file.ima in this example ). If a file with a same name already exists, the audio data is appended to the end of that file.
To end the transmission in progress, send a interrupt signal to the application. On Windows OS, a keyboard interrupt signal can be sent with CTRL+C key combination.
Importing to Audacity
(Conversion with SoX explained in the next chapter)
To listen to the audio, you can use a freeware tool such as Audacity to import and decode the data. In Audacity, select File -> Import -> Raw Data and select the audio file you have created. The select VOX ADPCM encoding and write down the sample rate that you used, either 8000 or 16000 Hz. In this example 16000 Hz was used.
Audacity Raw Conversion
After the file is imported, you can listen to it by pressing the Play button on the top left corner. Then, you can export the file to wav format through File -> Export Audio.
Optionally, you can also upload it to Watson's Speech to Text to get a speech transcription of the audio recording.
Watson Speech to Text
Using the Provided Scripts
There are few scripts provided to streamline the process, by using a command line audio editing software called SoX. To use the scripts, install the SoX 14.4.1 on your machine (SoX 14.4.2 has issues when capturing standard output, for that reason it is required to use the previous version). Windows scripts can be found from …\scripts\win -directory.
Executes the voice_over_bluetooth_low_energy_app.exe using the parameters given in the config -file.
A helper script that is used to define settings.
_USER_ off
set CURRENT_DIR=%~dp0
set VOBLE_APP=voice_over_bluetooth_low_energy_app.exe
set VOBLE_APP_PARAM=-p COM8 -b 115200 -o audio_data.ima -t 1
set SOX_APP="C:\Program Files (x86)\sox-14-4-1\sox.exe"
Configuration options:
Searches the exe-folder for all files of a specified format and converts them to wav-format using SoX. Works for.ima or.s16 files.
Usage: convert.bat ima --OR-- convert.bat s16
The source code of this project can be found in the Bluetooth SDK, as explained in the Description section.


text:
Swiss TPH specialists have a comprehensive understanding of health. Human and animal health is closely intertwined and related to environmental and social realities. Deploying a systemic approach, Swiss TPH scrutinises health from the single molecule to the humans in their social and natural environments. They conduct health impact assessments of large infrastructure projects such as mines or effective strategies against infectious and non-communicable diseases within health systems in Switzerland and all over the world.
Health and Disease in Different Cultural Contexts
Economic situation, personal values or social status: they all influence human health. That is why Swiss TPH experts analyse health and disease in different cultural contexts. Experts acknowledge the importance of different life periods for health and disease and the pivotal role played by gender inequalities.


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How do we calculate the effective mass of an electron in an Aluminium lattice? Is there any simple analytical way to work it out?
share|improve this question
I think the answer is "no", almost without qualification... – genneth Mar 17 '11 at 23:18
_USER_ please correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the inverse effective mass given by an expression of the form $m^{-1} = \partial^2 E(k)/\partial k_a \partial k_b $, where $E(k)$ is the dispersion relation, $k_a, k_b$ are directions in momentum space, and for simplicity we assume that $m^{-1}_{ab} := m^{-1}$? So given the energy spectrum of Aluminum one can calculate the effective mass for any excitation of momentum $k$ in its brillouin zone? – user346 Mar 18 '11 at 0:33
The last sentence is meant as a statement, not a question. – user346 Mar 18 '11 at 1:05
That gives the band mass, but actual electron masses (the things one measures via heat capacity, for example) also get renormalisations from the Coulomb interaction. The 2nd bit is where the calculation breaks down. However, I don't remember which dominates in Aluminium --- it's a bit of an odd material electronically speaking. In any case, even a band-structure calculation is not "simple analytic" --- I have a whole group of people around me who spend their lives working out better/faster ways to do it with massive supercomputers :-) – genneth Mar 18 '11 at 11:49
1 Answer 1
The effective mass can be determined from a exactly known band structure. As genneth already mentioned there is no simple analytical way to get a from first principles to the Aluminium band structure.
In practice there are a number of very successful numerical approaches to calculate band structures, e.g. Hartree-Fock, LDA+U, DMFT, Tight binding and the list goes on depending on the exact material and properties you are interested in.
If you use a number of material parameters as the electron density, Fermi energy or others you can express the effective mass in those terms but that is more a reformulation than a way to calculate it.
share|improve this answer
Your Answer


text:
- Aerial photos are post-processed to generate orthophotos
- Orthophotos are of uniform scale and provide a mathematically correct representation of ground distances. This makes them valuable to use as reference imagery or as part of a base data set in a map.
- The process of creating orthophotos includes:
- Correcting naturally occurring distortions in the aerial photos resulting from the perspective view of the camera


text:
Limestones in the South of the Island were formed, in the Carboniferous period, around 330 million years ago
When Limestones were formed the Isle of Man was positioned close to the equator with much of the Island submerged beneath a shallow, tropical sea. This sea was inhabited by organisms such as corals, crinoids (a type of brittle star), numerous shellfish, primitive sharks and algae. The algae would grow together as clumps of slime on the sea bed. The slime would accrete calcium carbonate and trap mud, building up a solid mound of limestone representing an early form of reef.


text:
|Joseph R. Guerci and E. H. Feria
The City University of New York (CUNY)
New York, NY 10021
S. Unnikrishna Pillai
Abstract New multichannel whitening filter design methodologies are introduced with the purpose of providing more "efficient'' space-time interference suppression than traditional full-degree-of-freedom adaptive strategies, such as the batch sample matrix inverse (SMI) approach. Efficiency is measured in terms of the degree of interference suppression achieved versus both computational complexity and statistical rate of convergence. This latter design consideration stems from the need to minimize the number of adjacent range-bin samples used to form the requisite statistics, thereby relaxing the interference "stationarity'' assumption implicit in all space-time adaptive processing (STAP) methodologies.
This presentation introduces two distinct multichannel space-time design methodologies. The first technique is based on incorporating ideas from multichannel statistical data compression, viz., multichannel "predictive'' and "transform'' coding. The resulting "predictive-transform'' (PT) space-time array processor is presented which optimally integrates two distinct array processing strategies, viz., optimum multichannel sidelobe cancellation ("prediction'') and optimum beamforming ("transformation''). The second method is based on a recently developed, comprehensive multichannel system identification technique which guarantees stable and rational approximations. The technique is based on the powerful concepts of positive functions and bounded functions. The efficiency of these approaches is illustrated via an application to adaptive airborne MTI radar where it is demonstrated that better (and near optimal) interference suppression is achieved than the full-degree-of-freedom sample matrix approach, with less implementation complexity, when reasonable limitations on the interference "stationarity'' assumption are imposed.
Direct comments and questions to: _EMAIL_
© MIT Lincoln Laboratory. All rights reserved.


text:
The Bucks County Reading Olympics inspires kids to become lifelong readers. Since 1993, the Reading Olympics has been motivating students in Bucks County to read and discuss books. The purpose of this event is to encourage children to read more than they currently do, to read a greater variety of books, and to enjoy the excitement of reading and talking about books. The team format encourages students to share the challenge of reading the selection of books with their friends.
The Reading Olympics competition is the culmination of the program that has teams of students reading books from a prepared list for several months prior to the final event. Each team consists of 8 to 16 students who agree to read from groups of 45 books appropriate for their age and reading level. The book lists are prepared the previous year by interested teachers and librarians.
During the competition evening, all teams participate in three rounds of questioning. Teams are never eliminated. At the culmination of theevent, all students receive a ribbon, determined by the number of points their team earned during the evening. More than 700 volunteerswork as moderators, scorekeepers and team leaders during the competition. This collaboration and cooperation among so manyindividuals is amazing. Librarians, teachers, parents, students,district staff and even spouses all contribute to making this event asuccess. The founding team of organizations--the Bucks County Free Library, the Bucks County Intermediate Unit, and the Central BucksSchool District--is very proud of the spirit of collaboration that this event has inspired.
The planning committee feels that the real value of the Reading Olympics is in the preparation. Teachers and librarians volunteer to lead the teams in their own buildings.There is a great deal of flexibility as to how the program is run locally, but all involved have the same objective in mind - to get kids reading! The Reading Olympics provides an incentive and framework to read a variety of books. The event also encourages youngsters to share their ideas during discussions at the individual schools. One of the most rewarding aspects of this "Celebration of Reading" is that not only outstanding readers are included. Many students from a variety of classes have met the challenge of reading with their classmates.
Please contact us for more information!


text: In 2008, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) collaborated with Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress to conduct an organizational assessment of its disaster preparedness, deployment operations, policy and practices in an effort to identify factors to sustain resilience in CDC emergency responders. The following year, the Center developed and implemented a comprehensive two-day first-responder resiliency officer training program. This program (Deployment Safety and Resiliency Training or DSRT) incorporates the principles of Psychological First Aid to strengthen the outreach and resilience of its Deployment Safety and Resiliency team officers who travel worldwide to address public health threats and major disasters. The Center conducted its fourth training at CDC. As further training sessions are conducted, ongoing evaluation of effectiveness and outcome reports will be generated.


text:
If you have ever used the Windows Copy (Ctrl+C) to copy objects to the clipboard and then the Windows Paste (Ctrl+V) to copy/paste AutoCAD object(s), then you know that those clipboard object(s) will have the lower left-hand corner of their extents as the base point (not very precise)... and this always reminds me of some of the graphic editing applets (e.g.: Paint or even the wonderful AutoCAD Button Editor!) that have you draw a circle like a rectangle. (annoying to say the least!)
With AutoCAD you can use the keyboard shortcut of (Ctrl+Shft+C) to pick a base point for your clipboard object(s). COPYBASE is the actual command, and then you can paste to a precise point in the destination AutoCAD DWG file using the keyboard shortcut of (Ctrl+Shift+V). This is the PASTEBLOCK command or you can also use the PASTEORIG command if the COPYBASEd object(s) go in the same exact spot in the receiving DWG file.
Also it is important to note: If you do use the Ctrl+Shift+V PASTEBLOCK method and want to leave it as a block, AutoCAD will assign a name for the block, which is something like "A$C11A06AFD" or "A$C1F7A5022"... Either use the RENAME command, or use EXPLODE or XPLODE, also watch your layers, with regards to the object(s) original layers and where this new "block" is being INSERTed... or where they go if they are EXPLODEd vs. XPLODEd. (I will save that for a whole different post).


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Mental benefits of music lessons echo years after practice ends
August 21, 2012|By Melissa Healy, Los Angeles Times | For the Booster Shots Blog
 - Even a few years of formal musical training pays mental dividends, a new study finds. And while it fades with time, it lasts well after the practicing stops.
Even a few years of formal musical training pays mental dividends, a new… (Ricardo DeAratanha )
Lapsed musical instrumentalists (and their disappointed parents): Take heart! The child that gets even a few years of formal musical training before quitting those weekly lessons continues to show evidence that his or her brain has been changed in ways that improve mental function, says a new study.
The latest research found that even years after they stopped practicing, young adults who had taken as little as two or three years of instrumental music training in their elementary or middle-school years showed a more robust brain response to sounds than those who had no formal musical training. The study compared 30 former instrumental students to 15 young adults of similar age and intelligence who had had no music training.
The echo of music lessons past began to fade as adults grew more distant from their days of piano (or cello, trumpet or saxophone) lessons. But it was still there an average of seven years later, and whether the subject had taken three years of instrumental training or eight did not seem to make much difference in the strength of the effect.
The heightened neural response to sounds in a lab means something in the real world, past research suggests: Prior research has linked the kinds of brain signals seen in those with musical training to heightened auditory perception, better auditory-based communication skills and improved executive function. The last of these -- executive function -- encompasses such key learning skills as attention, organization, short-term memory and reasoning. So boosting that in enduring ways could arguably give the kid who took music lessons an academic edge for years after the lessons ended.
The study also suggests that formal musical training was not wasted, even when your budding Yo-Yo Ma or Lang-Lang gives up the lessons in favor of, say, basketball, cheerleading or socializing. It does suggest that starting early in life and quitting late may confer a more lasting mental advantage. But even "a little" formal musical training, say the authors, "goes a long way."
Playing along with the Mozart effect
Effect of music on cognitive function
The hope of music's healing powers
Los Angeles Times Articles


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Deep inside a remote mountainside in Norway lies a secure facility that holds the key to our future survival. This is not your typical vault, but one that safeguards the world's most precious resource – seeds. The Doomsday Seed Vault is a global initiative designed to protect and preserve the genetic diversity of crops for generations to come. It may seem like a plot straight out of a sci-fi movie, but this vault is very real, and its contents hold immense value for our planet's future. In this blog post, we will take an exclusive look inside this state-of-the-art facility and explore why it's vital for our survival.
Introduction: The Importance of the Doomsday Seed Vault
Doomsday Seed Vault is a phrase that has captured public imagination. It conjures up images of an impenetrable fortress deep in the Arctic, preserving treasures of incalculable value against all contingencies. In reality, this vault exists and its purpose is undeniably vital to humanity's survival. The importance of the Doomsday Seed Vault lies in its role as a backup plan – a last-resort safeguard against natural disasters, wars or any other crisis that could wipe out our food supply. By preserving seeds from every corner of the world, we ensure that future generations will always have access to the genetic diversity necessary for crop improvement and adaptation. The global seed bank network enables us to share resources across borders and support collective efforts towards sustainable agriculture. Ultimately, investing in seed conservation means securing our own well-being as well as protecting biodiversity for all life on earth.
What is a Seed Vault and How Does it Work?
A seed vault is a type of storage facility designed to preserve plant seeds for long periods of time under specific conditions. The aim is to safeguard the world's biodiversity and ensure global food security in the face of natural or man-made catastrophes. The doomsday seed vault, located on an Arctic island near Norway, is one such facility that houses more than 1 million seed samples from around the world. It was built deep inside a mountain and uses permafrost to keep the temperature at -18°C so that seeds can stay viable for hundreds of years. However, even with its advanced technology and security measures, no system is foolproof against all threats – which is why it's critical that multiple seed banks exist worldwide as backups in case disaster strikes.
The History of the Doomsday Seed Vault
The Doomsday Seed Vault was first proposed in the early 1980s by Dr. Cary Fowler, an American agriculturalist who recognized the need for a secure storage facility for crop seeds. The idea gained traction in the late 1990s, and in 2006, the Norwegian government agreed to fund the construction of the vault on the remote island of Spitsbergen in the Arctic Circle. The location was chosen for its natural permafrost, which provides a stable and cool environment for seed storage. Construction of the vault was completed in 2008, and it now houses over one million seed samples from around the world. The Doomsday Seed Vault is managed by the Crop Trust, an international organization dedicated to preserving crop diversity and ensuring food security for future generations.
Inside the Doomsday Seed Vault: A Tour of the Facility
Once you step inside the doomsday seed vault, you'll be surrounded by steel shelves containing boxes of seeds. Each box is labeled with information such as its crop name and place of origin. The temperature is kept at a constant -18°C to ensure maximum preservation of the seeds. Strict security measures are in place to prevent unauthorized access and potential damage to the facility.
The entrance tunnel leads down to three chambers where over 1 million distinct varieties of crops from around the world are stored. The diversity of seeds helps protect against pests, diseases, and natural disasters that may threaten specific crops or regions.
Visitors can also see displays about agriculture and climate change. From outside, there's little indication that this nondescript concrete bunker holds one of the most important collections on earth – it truly is a fortress for food security!
The Seeds Stored in the Doomsday Seed Vault: Diversity and Security
The diversity of seeds stored in the Doomsday Seed Vault is essential to ensuring the future of our food supply. The vault currently houses over one million seed samples from all around the world, representing nearly all known food crops. Each sample is carefully selected for its unique genetic traits and ability to adapt to different environmental conditions.
The security of these seeds is also paramount. The vault uses multiple layers of protection, including airlocks, blast-proof doors, and a refrigeration system that keeps the temperature at a constant -18°C (-0.4°F). Additionally, access to the facility itself requires multiple levels of clearance and authorization.
All this ensures that even in times of crisis or uncertainty, we can rely on the Doomsday Seed Vault as an important resource for preserving our agricultural heritage and protecting global food security.
Who Controls the Doomsday Seed Vault and Why?
The Doomsday Seed Vault is owned and maintained by the Norwegian government, but it is open to researchers and scientists from around the world. The vault is managed by the Crop Trust, an international organization dedicated to preserving crop diversity. The Crop Trust works with gene banks around the world to collect and store seeds from a wide variety of crops, ensuring that genetic diversity is preserved for future generations. The Doomsday Seed Vault is an important tool in this effort, providing a secure backup for these gene banks in case of natural or man-made disasters. The vault currently holds over one million seed samples from nearly every country in the world, including rare and endangered species. By preserving this genetic diversity, we can help ensure that our food supply remains resilient in the face of changing climates and other challenges.
The Future of Agriculture: How the Doomsday Seed Vault is Helping to Feed the World
The Doomsday Seed Vault is not just a storage facility for seeds, but also a crucial resource for the future of agriculture. The seeds stored in the vault represent the genetic diversity of crops from all over the world, and are carefully selected to ensure their ability to withstand environmental stresses and pests. By preserving this diversity, the Doomsday Seed Vault is helping to ensure that our food supply remains secure in the face of changing climate conditions and other challenges.
In addition to preserving genetic diversity, the Doomsday Seed Vault is also playing an important role in research and development. Scientists are using the seeds stored in the vault to develop new crop varieties that are more resilient and productive, helping farmers around the world to grow more food with fewer resources.
As we face an uncertain future, it is more important than ever to support initiatives like the Doomsday Seed Vault that are working to protect our agricultural heritage and ensure a secure food supply for generations to come.
Challenges Facing the Doomsday Seed Vault: Climate Change and Political Instability
Climate Change: How the Doomsday Seed Vault is Adapting to Protect Biodiversity
The Doomsday Seed Vault is not immune to the effects of climate change. Rising temperatures and changing weather patterns can impact the viability of stored seeds. To combat this, the Vault has implemented measures such as upgrading its cooling system and increasing its capacity to store more seeds. Additionally, the Vault has expanded its collection to include more resilient crop varieties that are better adapted to changing climates. The importance of preserving biodiversity in agriculture cannot be overstated, and the Doomsday Seed Vault is taking proactive steps to ensure that our food supply remains secure in the face of a changing world.
Political Instability: Ensuring Access to the World's Largest Collection of Crop Diversity
Political instability is a major challenge facing the doomsday seed vault. In order to ensure access to the world's largest collection of crop diversity, it is crucial that the vault remains neutral and independent from any political influence. The seeds stored in the vault are a global resource, and any disruption to their availability could have catastrophic consequences for food security worldwide. The recent conflict in Syria serves as a stark reminder of the vulnerability of seed banks in politically unstable regions. It is essential that we work together to protect the doomsday seed vault and safeguard our agricultural heritage for future generations.
The Importance of Diversity in Seeds for Our Future Food Security
In the face of climate change and political instability, maintaining a diverse range of seeds is crucial for our future food security. The Doomsday Seed Vault plays a vital role in preserving genetic diversity, which allows plants to adapt to changing climatic conditions and resist pests and diseases. Without this diversity, we risk losing crops that are better suited to changing environmental conditions or have unique traits like drought tolerance or disease resistance. With climate change threatening agriculture across the globe, it's more important than ever to maintain seed biodiversity through initiatives such as the Doomsday Seed Vault.
Collaborative Efforts to Safeguard the Doomsday Seed Vault from Global Threats
Collaborative efforts between international organizations and governments are crucial in safeguarding the doomsday seed vault from global threats such as climate change and political instability. The Global Crop Diversity Trust, in partnership with the Norwegian government, manages the vault and works with gene banks around the world to ensure the safekeeping of crop diversity. Additionally, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault is a member of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, which promotes collaboration among countries to conserve and sustainably use plant genetic resources. These collaborative efforts are essential in protecting our agricultural heritage and ensuring food security for future generations.
How to Support the Doomsday Seed Vault and Protect Our Food Supply
To support the Doomsday Seed Vault and protect our food supply, there are several actions we can take. Firstly, we can advocate for government funding to ensure the long-term sustainability of the facility. Secondly, we can support seed banks and organizations that work to preserve agricultural


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Climate and Environmental Literacy
EARTHDAY.ORG™ strengthens the environmental movement among the next generation of leaders: college students.
Launched in 2012, MobilizeU aims to create an international network of motivated students and administrators. MobilizeU empowers college organizations and students to make a difference on their campuses while also encouraging universities and colleges to set an example for the rest of the higher education community to follow.
WAYS TO GET INVOLVED:
- Bring the power of Earth Day to your college year round, connecting your campus to the global environmental movement
- Create a strong, influential _TAG_ campaign
- Take advantage of MobilizeU guidance and resources to improve sustainability on your campus
- Get valuable resume experience in campaign organizing
- Our network of sustainability departments at colleges and universities around the world
- Offers an opportunity for institutions to showcase their sustainability initiatives, while also being encouraged to do more
- Green Campus partners serve as inspiration for universities worldwide
REGISTER YOUR UNIVERSITY AS A GREEN CAMPUS OR BECOME A STUDENT Organizer TODAY:
Organizing an Earth Day event is just one way to drive change. MobilizeU connects teachers and students with the tools they need to host teach-ins, organize cleanups, start sustainability clubs and promote plant-based initiatives on their campuses and in their communities.
EARTHDAY.ORG recognizes the power, innovation and organizing capacity of students across the planet. Harnessing this energy, we can unite around a common interest of environmental action and continue to work toward a healthier planet. Together we can make a difference.
University of Virginia President Jim Ryan addresses the important role colleges play in Earth Day:
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Advik is an Indian social entrepreneur, who owns a company that builds solar-powered portable water purification equipment for the developing world.
Read Advik's Story Below
Advik's starting point for working with intention
His starting point for working with intention was his desire to make clean water accessible for all in India.
step 1: Initiate intention
Advik said he knew exactly what his core intentions were. He told me, with some pride, and a broad smile, that his intention was to make clean water accessible for everyone in India. His wholehearted belief that this was possible and that he was the man to do it seemed to be unshakable.
Advik started to manifest his intention with a firm belief that his role in life and reason for existing was to make clean water accessible for everyone in India.
This changed, as you will see when he applied step 2 of the IDEA framework.
step 2: Distil, test and refine
When Advik applied step 1 of the IDEA framework he identified an intention to make clean water accessible for everyone in India. When a business colleague asked him "why"? he began the process of refining his intention. Initially, he responded rapidly, with energy and conviction, saying that:
 - That nearly ¾ of all diseases caused in India are due to water contaminants.
 - One in eight Indians still lacks access to clean drinking water.
When his colleague asked again "so why do YOU want to make clean water accessible to all"? he paused for a moment, then replied: "To improve the quality of life of poor people".
 - Advik realised that his core intention was to improve the quality of life of all poor people living in developing countries. Not just give poor Indians clean water.
 - His nested intention was to make clean water accessible to all.
 - He later spent some time on goals, including making clean drinking water accessible for all Indians. He hoped that his goals would help him direct his business towards the achievement of his nested intention, which in turn would contribute towards his core intention.
Advik's starting point was a nested intention which he believed to be his core Intention. He later identified that his heartfelt core intention was broader still – to improve the quality of life of poor people living in all developing countries. The act of surfacing his core Intention galvanised his conscious and subconscious brain to notice opportunities arising that would, in slower time, help him to achieve both his core and nested inten
Step 3: Embody and embed
Advik's nested intent of providing clean, safe drinking water was a good starting point that should help him to move towards the achievement of his wider core intention of improving the quality of life of many people living in the developing world.
Advik had a clear vision in his head about how he could help Indians on a low income to access clean drinking water. Advik had little sense of how improving the life quality of life for a wide range of people in the developing world would look and feel. Advik had been taught mindfulness at school and found it beneficial to sit down for ten or fifteen minutes a day to practice.
In order to embed his intention, Advik needed to have a greater sense of what 'improving the quality of life' looked and felt like. He felt it would be useful to spend some time creating a vision of this. Advik sat down to practice a ten-minute body scan mindfulness exercise to help him become more connected with his thoughts, emotions and bodily responses. After ten minutes of mindfulness practice, he started a visualisation process.
 - He started by imagining a book with "Improving the quality of life in developing countries" on the cover.
 - On the next page, he saw maps, highlighting the geographical location of developing countries.
 - As he turned the pages of the book he saw distressing pictures of babies and old people suffering from malnutrition and dehydration. He saw pictures of hard work and failed food crops. He saw war zones with bomb damaged homes, their contents were strewn on the floor. Mindfulness helped him to tune into the emotions that arose for him - sadness, anger and fear. It also helped him to notice how his body tensed as he witnessed the difficult scenes and emotions that arose.
 - After some time feeling routed to the spot amongst the chaotic scenes he witnessed in the book contained in his mind, he bravely, with some effort, turned the pages of the book once more.
 - This time he saw an orderly group of people queuing for water. He witnessed them filling containers with water, and walking it back to their family who drank, cooked and washed in it.
 - Continuing to turn the pages, he saw affordable low tech equipment irrigating the dry soil, and lush crops growing.
 - He saw the crops providing food for local families and revenue from surplus vegetables and fruit being sold at the local market.
 - He saw money changing hands at the market as the produce seller bought chickens and later goats.
 - Turning the pages at a pace he saw chickens breeding more chickens, goats breeding goats.
 - He witnessed those with resources sharing produce, expertise and animals with those who had little.
 - He saw a school building with desks and a teacher teaching adults in the evenings.
 - He saw adults leaving the classroom and applying new knowledge to farming and crafts.
 - He saw a young man person learning to use the internet and finding new affluent markets for locally produced crafts and artworks. He mindfully tuned into his body to notice a sense of excitement, and a sense of warmth all over his body.
 - As Advik closed his book he had a strong sense of wanting to make this happen, coupled with a strong sense that he was the man to do it.
At this stage, he hadn't got a clue exactly how he was going to travel from a deep sincere desire to all this happening.
What the exercise had helped him to do was to tune into a sense of what it looked and felt like. This helped his conscious and subconscious brain to embed his intention and remain vigilant to any and all opportunities to help him achieve his intention, one step at a time. Immediately after the exercise, Advik decided to do two things:
 1. To undertake desk research to identify the main challenges facing the developing world today.
 2. To search for case studies of those living in remote communities had broken out of reliance on farming alone for revenue and used new technology to build a brighter sustainable future.
Advik was on his way to achieving his intention.
Advik's desk research revealed that according to Unicef data 1,300 young children die each day from diarrhoea caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation. 480,000 children a year. Advik knew that in recent years the Indian government has invested in establishing better drinking water supplies and household sanitation, new latrines, so this figure puzzled him.
Further research revealed that the new latrines often remain unused and water systems frequently broke down due to lack of ownership, maintenance, and primarily, a lack of understanding about the need for hygiene and sanitation, and cultural beliefs which prevent these practices. Advik discovered that in rural areas, new facilities often fell into disrepair as there were no resources for maintenance.
At this moment many people would have started to make detailed plans and set goals. Advik avoided this temptation as he knew that narrow goals could inhibit creativity and restrict progress on his journey towards the achievement of his intention. He chose to remain focused on the 'what' (his core intention) in the certain knowledge that this would create the necessary momentum that would help the 'how' to emerge in time.
step 4: Take Action and grab opportunities
Advik's starting point of an intention to make clean drinking water for everyone in India had been distilled and refined to a wider desire to improve the quality of life of all poor people living in developing countries. During the embedding stage, Advik discovered not only the need for access to clean drinking water but the need for education to aid understanding about the need for hygiene and sanitation and engender a sense of ownership for the maintenance of newly installed sanitation.
Advik arranged a forum that bought together government representatives, charities and local community representatives to identify and agree on actions. He could see his intention starting to take form. All seemed to be running smoothly until the last day of his forum when strong cultural disagreements between community leaders and government representatives derailed progress.
The forum that had started so positively ended in disarray with sharp divides. Advik couldn't understand why his intention, that had powerfully driven him forward these last few months now appeared to be failing.
At the 'Action' stage of the IDEA framework its common for obstacles and difficulties to arise, which, whilst part of the process, can feel disconcerting. Action to create forward momentum is necessary, but often in our impatience to achieve our intent we take the wrong turn. This was the case for Advik.
His experience in hosting the forum helped him to understand the complexity of local politics and cultural beliefs that hindered progress. Advik realised that national action was problematic, and local action was needed as a starting point to gaining wider change.
Starting with three villages, he and his team worked closely with small charities and local communities to refurbish existing pumps in the village.
He trained Water User Committees to maintain new water supplies and sanitation.
He supplied water purification equipment and water tanks.
From this starting point


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So much fun, itís scary!
Do crawling cockroaches give you the creeps? Are you particularly petrified on a plane? Are you feverishly frightened of falling? Explore popular fears in this heart-pounding, laughter-filled (and totally safe) exhibition about the often-dreaded emotion.
Discover fun, interactive fear challenges
Fear of animals
Can you reach inside an opaque box connected to terrariums filled with snakes and other creatures? Itís easier said than done!
Fear of electric shock
Think you can handle it? Feel your heart beat faster and your muscle tense as you anticipate a mild electric shock.
Fear of falling
Can you stay cool as a cucumber as you wait to fall backwards without warning? See how fear registers on your face.
Mr. Goose Bumps
Meet this larger-than-life animated figure that comes alive to playfully illustrate how his body changes when he gets scared.
Can you outsmart a leopard? Play an immersive video game and collect fruit without being seen by the leopard. If he sees you move, heíll pounce!
Make a scary movie
Like to be scared? Experiment with different soundtracks and frightening sound effects to create your own scary movie!
Can you learn fear? Participate in a live demonstration by Science Center staff, experience fear conditioning first-hand and see how scientists measure fear in the lab.
Explore more than 20 exhibits in a safe and fun learning environment! Find out more about all of the Goose Bumps exhibits
Goose Bumps! The Science of Fear developed by the California Science Center and supported, in part, by the Informal Science Education program of the National Science Foundation under grant ESI-_PHONE_. Opinions expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the National Science Foundation.
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Computing, Environment and Life Sciences
Using AI to Enhance Robotic Surgery and Improve Patient Outcomes
Argonne scientists are applying machine learning tools to automate surgery tasks and help improve robotic surgery
Robot-assisted, minimally invasive surgery is improving surgeon performance and patient outcomes. This innovation is also turning what has been a subjective practice into motion sequences that can be precisely measured. We are collaborating with a pioneering UIC team in this field to use AI to understand surgery tasks and help improve surgeons and robots.
We are building a virtual training environment where surgeons and machine learning algorithms can learn from each other. The algorithms can enhance a surgeon's perception and situation awareness. For example, they can be trained to identify anatomical regions, provide visual cues, and raise warnings based on predicted tool trajectory. Surgeons, on the other hand, have much to teach algorithms about surgical skills, task structure, and safety constraints through demonstration.
To accomplish these goals, we are applying computer vision and robotics technologies to surgical procedures and designing novel learning algorithms that can imitate experts with efficiency and transfer skills learned in simulated environments to reality. Another critical piece is trust and the communication of intent between human and robots that allows effective collaboration. With this combination of technologies, AI has the potential to accelerate the learning curve for both surgeons and robots.


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Wednesday, 19 July 2006
Nursing Education Best Practice Strategies for Student Success: A Statewide Survey
|Learning Objective #1: Describe best practice strategies for nursing student retention and success from pre-entry into the nursing program to program completion.|
|Learning Objective #2: Compare similarities and differences in best practice strategies identified by nursing faculty with those identified by graduating nursing students. |
High student attrition from nursing programs contributes to the national nursing shortage. The Mississippi Office of Nursing Workforce initiated the Nursing Education Barriers Study to identify common barriers to nursing education and devise replicable strategies for increasing student retention. One goal of Phase III was to identify best practice strategies for student retention and success.
With assistance from the Council of Dean and Directors of Schools of Nursing a survey was distributed to faculty in state associate and baccalaureate degree programs. Faculty were surveyed to identify best practice strategies and resources for student success (return rate 30%). 136 strategies were identified and subsequently categorized under broad headings: Pre-entry, Program Orientation, Advisement, Study Skills, Test Taking Skills, Remediation, Clinical Skill Development, Evaluation, NCLEX Preparation, Faculty and Learning Environment.
To determine congruence of student identified success strategies with faculty identified strategies, a student survey tool was developed based on results of the faculty survey, distributed to all Mississippi nursing programs, and administered to associate and baccalaureate students in their last semester. Student response rate was 36% (n=547). Data on student demographics, educational background, academic difficulty areas, and best practice strategies for success were analyzed.
Student and faculty responses were compared with interesting differences. Faculty identified Advisement and Study Skill strategies as best practices while students identified Faculty and Learning Environment as most significant to success. Positive faculty attributes identified by students were professional role modeling, teaching expertise, caring behaviors, commitment, and accessibility. Students ranked multiple means of communication as essential in the learning environment.
While recruitment of students into the nursing profession is important, nursing faculty should remain committed to recognizing and implementing strategies to assist current students. Utilization of common best practice strategies, such as described in this study, can lead to enhanced student success and increase in the nursing workforce.
See more of Techniques for Nursing Education
See more of The 17th International Nursing Research Congress Focusing on Evidence-Based Practice (19-22 July 2006)


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Mount Sanqing National Park
 Shangrao Attractions
Mount Sanqing is now recognized as a National Park under state protection. Mount Sanqing is well-known for its three peaks: Jujing Peak, Yuhua Peak, and Yuxu Peak. Yujing Peak is the highest standing at 1,817 meters above sea level. On Mount Sanqing there are also rocks of various shapes and a number of Taoist buildings such as pavilions, gates, palaces, halls, and other buildings.
The San Qing Mountain had been classified as a National Park of China and is famous for its shelter for animals and plants. It contains about 1000 species of flora and 800 types of fauna. The total area of the San Qing Mountain is 2200 km². It was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008.
Recommend China Tours


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Hyphen Between A Prefix And A Capitalized Word
If you're adding a prefix to a proper noun, keep the capital on the proper noun. There's no need to capitalize the prefix unless it's at the beginning of the sentence.
Mark is reading a book on pre-Civil War Argentina.
The post-WWII housing boom is still evident today in most towns and cities.
One does not need to be anti-American to be pro-Canadian.
Anti-Semitism is a major motif in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice.
The prefix antiis capitalized because it's at the beginning of the sentence.
- Previous article Hyphen With Suffix -Elect


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Learning Objectives
A student who successfully completes this module will:
 1. be able to apply the kinematic equations to solve two dimensional constant acceleration problems including projectile motion problems.
 2. be able to describe what is meant by centripetal and tangential acceleration and be able to apply these concepts to solve circular motion problems.


text: Participatory budgeting is a method used by city governments to select public projects to fund based on residents' votes. Many cities use participatory budgeting at a district level. Typically, a budget is divided among districts proportionally to their population, and each district holds an election over local projects and then uses its budget to fund the projects most preferred by its voters. However, district-level participatory budgeting can yield poor social welfare because it does not necessarily fund projects supported across multiple districts. On the other hand, decision making that only takes global social welfare into account can be unfair to districts: A social-welfare-maximizing solution might not fund any of the projects preferred by a district, despite the fact that its constituents pay taxes to the city. Thus, we study how to fairly maximize social welfare in a participatory budgeting setting with a single city-wide election. We propose a notion of fairness that guarantees each district at least as much welfare as it would have received in a district-level election. We show that, although optimizing social welfare subject to this notion of fairness is NP-hard, we can efficiently construct a lottery over welfare-optimal outcomes that is fair in expectation. Moreover, we show that, when we are allowed to slightly relax fairness, we can efficiently compute a fair solution that is welfare-maximizing, but which may overspend the budget.


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In 1669, Moonachie was owned by just one man; Captain John Berry, a fur trader. It was the island of Moonachie back then bordered by Berry's Creek, Indian Path, Losing Creek and the Hackensack River. Indians of the Six Nations Branch inhabited the rich cedar forests. Rumors say that Indian Chief Monaghie gave the town its name. Captain Berry later sold Moonachie to T. Fransen Outwater, Henrik DeKyp and George Brinkerhoff. (the Brinkerhoff house is now the Wood-Ridge Library. During the American Revolution, Moonachie was part of the Township of Bergen. Local farmers shipped their products along the Hackensack River to markets in New York. They were a self-supporting group, isolated by the marshes from the other communities. When the British invaded Bergen County in November, 1776, Moonachie was on their map. One small group of British soldiers were left to guard a horse drawn ferry in Little Ferry. When Washington's army was evacuating the area, a detachment crossed at Little Ferry and marched up Washington Avenue to Liberty Street (an extension of Moonachie Road), on its way to Hackensack. Moonachie's main role, during the revolution, was helping to feed the army. This was not an easy task, as the Hessians camping nearby terrorized the settlers. In 1825, the Township of Lodi was organized and Moonachie became part of it. At first, no education was offered in Moonachie. Well-to-do families sent their children away to boarding school. In 1830, under Lodi Township, Moonachie opened its first school, in the kitchen of Peter Allen, which was later known as the Blauvelt Estate off Moonachie Road. And finally in 1832, the first school house was erected on Moonachie Road south of Mousetown Road and served for 40 years. Early in the 1870's a new school was built seating 50 students, but later converted into a private home. In 1897, another school was built on the corner of Union Street and Moonachie Avenue. In 1898, the last school to be built under the auspices of Lodi Township was erected on Redneck Avenue. On April 11, 1910, Moonachie was finally incorporated as a borough. That same year, the Board of Education and the Moonachie Fire Company were organized. Town life in Moonachie, during these days, was centered around family, farms and the church. Robert L. Craig became the first Mayor. The first council, with a budget of $1900.00, set about organizing town government. Roads and paths, ignored for years, were paved and lights appeared, for the first time on borough roads. On June 10, 1910, the Board of Education now organized, built School Number 2 for $3,000.00 in 1913 and at the same time began work on School Number 3 on Joseph Street. There were about fifteen farms in 1910 and Moonachie had two churches. The Presbyterians had a Sunday School Mission, founded by Reverend F.H. Kohler, in 1904. The Catholics held their services in Saint Anthony's Church, built by the parishioners in the early 1900's. Residents usually found their recreation at Penna's Hotel which was located where the Teterboro School of Aeronautics now stands. The hotel was on an island and rowboats sailed around it. Bit by bit, house by house, road by road, the Borough grew. Between 1914 and 1916, Mr. Ernest Bruno built the first homes in Washington Park section. The 1920's proved to be a difficult time for Moonachie. The Mayor and Council tried to attract industry, but they couldn't give the land away. Ads were placed in New York newspapers offering land for free. The businessmen at the time demanded that a factory also be included along with the free land. In 1924, Moonachie's first official Police Department was formed. Policemen worked full-time hours for a token salary, supplied their own transportation and ran dances to pay for their badges, guns and uniforms. During the depression, troubles appeared. Teachers had to be paid with IOU's and famers lost their homes in tax sales. The Borough was poorer than ever and progress slowed down, with the exception of Moonachie acquiring its first official police car, beginning of private garbage collection and the first park.
The war came, and by its end took the lives of five Moonachie boys who later would be honored by the Borough, in having streets named after them. After World War II the post-war prosperity brought progress back to Moonachie once again. In 1947, the first Ambulance Corps was founded and Moonachie welcomed the arrival of mobile homes to its community. Rogers Trailer Park and Metropolitan Trailer Court were started, both are still located on Moonachie Avenue today. In 1949, the Port of New York Authority sounded its powerful voice and stepped in to make drastic changes in the town's history. One hundred three property owners were dispossessed, homes abandoned, streets became only paths, farms that were once fruitful became barren. The drop in population, due to the Port Authority's intrusion, was slight and short-lived. The 1950's brought the Panorama City development, adding 193 new homes, improvements came rapidly. Roads were improved, parks were added, the first Municipal building was dedicated on Moonachie Road in 1954 and transportation to New York City became available to residents. The Robert L. Craig School was opened in 1955 and some streets made their first appearance above water when the pumping station came into operation. During the "fabulous fifties" several institutions were organized; the Panoramic Civic j Association was founded, Brownies and Girl Scouts were organized in 1957 along with the Cub Scouts. The Moonachie Metros became a part of the Babe Ruth League in 1956 joined by the Little League adopting the Redneck Avenue Ballfield as its home. During and after the 1960's, Moonachie began to change from a community of farmers, homeowners, mobile homes and airport to an industrial one. The industrial "boom" in New Jersey was the result of urban companies desiring expansion and lower taxes. Large tracts of land were used to build industrial complexes and shopping centers, along with industry and discount outlets that dot the community the residents and laborers can now find restaurants to tempt the palate from fast food to gourmet. In 1972 Moonachie became a part of the Hackensack Meadowlands Development Commission. After the industrial development, emphasis was placed on residential improvement. Glancing around the Borough, you will notice the latest additions to our civic organizations. Moonachie has added to its playground, handball, tennis, bocce and basketball courts and the Moonachie Senior Citizens Club is one of the most active civic groups in the Borough. In 1963 sanitary sewers were installed replacing the old cesspools and septic systems that posed a serious threat to the health of our residents. The Volunteer First Aid and Rescue Squad built a new building, on Moonachie Road, to house their ambulance and emergency equipment, serving both industry and residents. The school system is now housed in one complex which began with the seven room Robert L. Craig School in 1955. Now after 96 years of incorporation, we can proudly recall those who have offered their services past and present. The Moonachie of today is entirely different from what had been established so long ago. The dirt trails have disappeared and the rutted path known as Mousetown Road is broad Moonachie Avenue. The forests are gone and Moonachie is no longer an island but an important link of Southern and Northern Bergen County. The brickyards, our first industry, no longer exists, but in its place are many modern industrial buildings. The population has increased. The first municipal budget of $1900.00 could not cover the cost of running the Borough for one day. Moonachie is young in years of incorporation, but has been an important factor in the development of our nation. The residents are proud of their heritage and community spirit, accepting changes and working in harmony. Moonachie's warmth and color still have older residents longing for the "good old days."


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Scanning technology, which allows users to scan small objects to get a 3D digital image file, could revolutionise managing museum collections of plant or animal specimens, according to the CSIRO.
The 3D digital image file would provide extra information about an object's surface shape and texture, according to a CSIRO statement.
The CSIRO's website said that CSIRO's Mathematical and Information Sciences (CMIS) division had developed a flatbed scanning and imaging system. This was based on a method of scanning visible surfaces of small 3D objects to enable 3D viewing applications and surface measurements. The technology didn't require special glasses or equipment to view, according to the statement.
Anna McDonald, a commercial analyst at CSIRO, said that there were already 3D scanners available, but these tended to be large, expensive and required technical lighting and camera setup. "We live in a three-dimensional world, yet the images we see in magazines and on websites are just two-dimensional. They literally give us only part of the picture," McDonald said in a statement.
The 3D imaging system developed by CSIRO is protected by an Australian provisional patent, according to its website. "CSIRO also intends to file an International Patent Cooperation Treaty application," it states.


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Since September 2017, the IPO has published a suite of new tools for students and lecturers in further and higher education. The new resources aim to develop a greater understanding on IP with students and how IP impacts on their future careers.
IP Tutor and IP Tutor Plus
The IP Tutor tools, developed by the IPO, CIPA, CiTMA, lecturers and industry professionals, provides information on IP.
IP Tutor Plus is a resource for university lecturers to deliver IP lectures. There are four modules; creative, humanities, STEM and law, business and accounting subject areas.
These free resources include:
- PowerPoint slides
- lecture notes
- case studies
- wider discussion points
IP Tutor Plus compliments the existing IP Tutor resource. IP Tutor introduces and develops a student's understanding of what IP is and how it works.
IP Tutor Plus helps lecturers engage their students to develop their understanding of managing and exploiting IP, and the relevance for their future academic studies or careers.
IP for Research
Created for PhD students and researchers to develop a greater understanding of how IP can maximise the impact of their research. The IP for Research resource includes:
- 6 quick guides on commercialising IP
- an IP workshop
- an IP skills lens
The Intellectual Asset Management Guide for Universities and Lambert Toolkit support the setting of IP strategies within universities, and the management of effective collaborations between universities and businesses.
Resources for further education
Before students reach university, the
Future Innovators Toolkit provides level 3 Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) teachers with the resources they need to introduce IP at any point in the curriculum.
For further information on the suite of IP for Education tools, please contact the Innovation Policy Team.


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(48a) Dual Fluidized Bed Reforming Pilot Test Results: Tar Conversion and the Fate of Sulfur
Synthesis routes for future generation of clean liquid fuels from gaseous or solid fuel feedstock (Coal to liquid, Gas to Liquid) are currently investigated. Reforming of hydrocarbons is widely used to provide synthesis gas for these processes. Even though there have been ideas of using dual fluidized bed technology for hydrocarbon reforming in the early 1940-ies, methane steam reforming and autothermal reforming are carried out mainly in fixed bed catalytic reactors. The dual fluidized bed system is an alternative to the conventional reforming systems. The reactor system consists of two reactors, interconnected with loop seals. The reforming catalyst circulates between these two reaction zones. One reactor is operated as the reformer and the second reactor as the regenerator, which is operated with air and additional fuel to provide the necessary heat for the reformer.
Using syngas derived from biomass gasification as carbon source for 2nd generation biofuel production two components present in the gas stream can cause problems. These two components are tar and sulphur containing species like H2S. Since CO and H2 are the valuable components in the synthesis of biofuels, the presence of tar causes a loss of carbon and hydrogen and lowers the efficiency of the process. Tar also causes problems during the gas cleaning process since it condenses. Using standard reforming technology (fixed bed and nickel based catalysts) to convert the tar into CO and H2, the H2S content in the gas causes catalyst deactivation and lowers the system performance or even prohibits stable operation.
In this study the above mentioned setup of a dual circulating fluidized bed reformer is used. A gas mixture of carbon dioxide, methane, carbon monoxide and hydrogen is used as model syngas in the similar composition to the gas derived from biomass steam gasification. To investigate the influence of tar and H2S on a nickel-based catalyst, 1-methylnaphthalein is used as model tar. The sulphur tolerance is tested with H2S. The tar loading in the reformer feed is 27 g/Nm³ at a total gas feed of 15 Nm³/h. This gas feed corresponds to a thermal fuel power of about 45 kW. The H2S concentration in the feed gas is 260 ppmv.
In the reformer off gas the H2S concentration and in the regenerator the SO2 concentration is measured. Since the formation of SO2 in the reformer is very unlikely due to the highly reducing conditions and the presence of H2S in the oxidizing regenerator atmosphere should not be possible, the Sulphur balance can be closed around the whole system. XRF analysis of the used catalyst is done to identify a possible Sulphur accumulation on the particles.
The results of this study show stable operation of the reforming catalyst in the dual fluidized bed reformer under severe conditions over several hours. Full conversion of tar is always achieved. The sulphur fed to the reformer is transported to the regenerator. Only 2% of the Sulphur passed through the reformer, the rest is released as SO2 in the regenerator. Methane conversion is nearly complete under all conditions and shows only a slight decrease at the presence of Sulphur.
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Risa Kiernan, a student in the College of Osteopathic Medicine's (NYITCOM) Academic Medicine Scholar program, has secured a competitive Scholarship in Cardiovascular Disease from the American Heart Association (AHA).
Each year, the Scientific Councils of the AHA award $2,000 scholarships to students researching cardiovascular disease topics within basic, clinical, translational, or population sciences. Working under the mentorship of Maria Alicia Carrillo Sepulveda, Ph.D., BSN, assistant professor of biomedical sciences at NYITCOM, Kiernan will study the link between obesity and hypertension, specifically, how obesity leads to hypertension in females. The study aims to explore one area of a larger research project from Sepulveda's laboratory, which investigates how obesity negatively affects blood vessels and subsequently contributes to the development of hypertension.
Known as a 'silent killer' and a leading risk factor for mortality worldwide, hypertension disproportionately impacts obese individuals. However, there are no specific anti-hypertensive therapies for these patients, making research in obesity-related hypertension critically needed. The researchers hypothesize that biochemical changes to a protein called PPARg may play a significant role in obesity-related hypertension and hope that their findings will improve understanding of how obesity leads to vascular complications and hypertension.
"I am passionate about the pathophysiological aspects of this project, particularly how obesity leads to vascular problems and hypertension in the female population," says Kiernan. "It is exciting to see that results from my research may aid the development of targeted pharmacological agents for patients suffering from obesity and hypertension."
Kiernan, an aspiring surgeon and physician-scientist, began working in Sepulveda's laboratory in 2019, the summer after her first year of medical school. She cites Sepulveda's translational and innovative research approach as a driving factor in getting involved.
"Her lab has a unique method that combines a genetic preclinical model, innovative imaging techniques, and integrative cardiovascular physiological analysis," says Kiernan, who credits the experience with providing her with essential research skills, such as designing experimental protocols, analyzing and interpreting data, and writing manuscripts.
"Risa joined my laboratory in 2019 and since then has been working on understanding why obese females are at a higher risk of developing hypertension than obese males," says Sepulveda. "Risa is very dedicated to her research project. Most importantly, she understands that before reaching a breakthrough in her research, she will encounter innumerous failures."
Kiernan echoes that point, noting that the experience has enhanced her ability to think critically. She also says that the project has highlighted the impact of research on patient outcomes and care. "Most importantly, this experience has provided me with a greater appreciation for the synergistic relationship between research and medicine, and I hope to carry this enthusiasm for research into my career as a future physician-scientist," she says.
Kiernan is the second medical student from Sepulveda's lab to receive the prestigious AHA Scholarship in Cardiovascular Disease. NYITCOM alumnus Benjamin Kramer (D.O. '19) also received the AHA fellowship, which, as Sepulveda notes, helped to advance his scientific career.
"Today, as a general surgery resident at Cleveland Clinic-Ohio, Benjamin continues his research in the vascular field," Sepulveda says. "I am confident that this award will also advance Risa's physician-scientist career as she aims to continue her hypertension research while practicing medicine."


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In floating environments such as the captions of figures, LaTeX has a \global\_USER_, why is this necessary and what does this switch do?
 \sbox\_USER_{#1: #2}
 \ifdim \wd\_USER_ >\hsize
 #1: #2\par
 \global \_USER_
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The _USER_ switch is used by LaTeX to handle vertical spacing at the beginning of a minipage environment (or a similar construct). If it is true then \addvspace is not adding space. So if, for example, a minipage starts of with a list environment then the space normally added in front of the list (by \addvspace) is suppressed.
The switch will be set to true at the beginning of a minipage environment (or a similar construct) and is normally set to false by \everypar, i.e., the moment textual material appears in that "minipage".
Now in the case of the caption implementation, two different strategies are used: if the caption is wider than the current horizontal width, then it is re-set as a normal paragraph (so the switch would be set to false by \everypar). However is it is small then the box is used directly without triggering the paragraph builder. Therefore one has to set the switch manually in this case.
And the reason that it is done globally is just because the switch is always manipulated globally.
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The float mechanism, like minipage, sets the flag |_USER_| true
before executing the user-supplied text. Many \LaTeX\ constructs
test for this flag and do not add vertical space when it is true.
The intention is that this emulates \TeX's 'top of page' behaviour.
The flag must be set false at the start of the first paragraph. This
is achieved by a redefinition of |\everypar|, but the call to
|\_USER_| removes that redefinition, so it is re-inserted
if needed. If the flag is already false then the |\caption| was not
the first entry in the float, and so some other paragraph has already
activated the special |\everypar|. In this case no further action is
The most important command that tests this switch is \addvspace which is the command that is mostly used to add the vertical space around display environments such as lists. It is a global flag and setting it in a float environment means the float acts in a consistent way even if it floats from somewhere where it is set to somewhere where it would not be set.
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This much I could gather from the source2e, but shouldn't it then be outside the conditional? Why only at the hboxed caption? – Yiannis Lazarides Apr 29 '12 at 19:52
_USER_ Frank just answered the point about caption in his answer – David Carlisle Apr 29 '12 at 19:54
_USER_ I think David's last part of the answer is a red herring. The switch takes care of itself and it only has to be set by \caption because of the caption implementation avoiding normal paragraphs. It is not doing a standardization which happens elsewhere. – Frank Mittelbach Apr 29 '12 at 19:59
Hmm if in doubt I'd believe _USER_, rather than me:-) But I wasn't so much thinking about caption there, as arbitrary addvspace at the top of the float. If the switch wasn't set by the float addvspace would pick up whatever value was current at the point of the float, wouldn't it? Ah we are agreeing. I think. the start of the float is the "elsewhere" that Frank meant:-) – David Carlisle Apr 29 '12 at 20:04
indeed :-) the elsewhere is \_USER_ which sets the switch. And by the way if the caption is at the bottom of the float then it is correct if '\addvspace adds space. – Frank Mittelbach Apr 29 '12 at 20:10
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Next generation sequencing of ancient genomes:
Ancient DNA (aDNA) research allows changes in the genomes of organisms to be studied over archaeological time-scales. Using
next generation sequencing (NGS) we are re-sequencing the mitochondrial and the nuclear genome of both ancient Irish humans and multiple domesticate species (Cow, Sheep and Goat).
The sequencing of ancient Irish genomes will provide completely novel information about the peopling, migrations, selection pressures and population structure of Irelandís prehistory. Results from the analysis of several ancient animal genomes will have the ability to inform on the effects of domestication on these species.


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How many storage i/o IOPS can a HDD, HHDD or SSD do?
This is the second post of a two-part series looking at storage performance, specifically in the context of drive or device (e.g. mediums) characteristics across HDD, HHDD and SSD. In the first post the focus was around putting some context around drive or device performance with the second part looking at some workload characteristics (e.g. benchmarks).
A common question is how many IOPS (IO Operations Per Second) can a storage device or system do?
The answer is or should be it depends.
There are many general and in some cases dated rules of thumb (RUTs) that are used for comparing different types of devices. However there are also many other factors to consider beyond RPM speed of a drive or device including its form factor, cache or buffering, interface and other enhancements. The following ongoing project is creating a repository of how different drive/devices perform under various workloads with additional ones (devices and workloads being added over time). However as with any metric, measurement, benchmark, simulation, workload, rules of thumb or comparisons take them all with a grain of salt as your millage and performance will vary.
Here are some examples to give you some more insight.
For example, the following shows how IOPS vary by changing the percent of reads, writes, random and sequential for a 4K (4,096 bytes or 4 KBytes) IO size with each test step (4 minutes each).
Click here to see an example:
In the above example the drive is a 1TB 7200 RPM 3.5 inch Dell (Western Digital) 3Gb SATA device doing raw (non file system) IO. Note the high IOP rate with 100 percent sequential reads and a small IO size which might be a result of locality of reference due to drive level cache or buffering.
Some drives have larger buffers than others from a couple to 16MB (or more) of DRAM that can be used for read ahead caching. Note that this level of cache is independent of a storage system, RAID adapter or controller or other forms and levels of buffering.
Does this mean you can expect or plan on getting those levels of performance?
I would not make that assumption, and thus this serves as an example of using metrics like these in the proper context.
Read more including how various HDD, SSD and SSHDs perform in terms of IOPS, response time or latency and bandwidth or throughput for different workloads (reads, writes, random, sequential) in the following link (watch for more devices and workloads to be added as this is a on-going project).
Some additional reading: