Effective collaboration through intuitive user experiences
Jan Larsson explains the importance of enabling effective collaboration by creating intuitive user experiences that bring together the latest technological developments
By Guest on 15 September 2014
Effective collaboration through intuitive user experiences
This article was first published in the Autumn 2014 issue of Prime
The best decisions are made when everyone can easily collaborate, share and engage with all the other stakeholders, and gain access to all the relevant data they need, in a way that makes sense to them.
In all of the processes a company goes through to produce a product, thousands of decisions must be made, from the start to finish of the product's lifecycle. The faster these decisions are made, the faster each process is completed. And the more accurate these decisions are, the fewer the problems that occur downstream.
Fast, accurate decision-making is no easy feat, given all of the information that must be considered and the number of people involved. Information is usually spread throughout the company, its supply base, its joint-venture partners and its customers.
Up to this stage, product lifecycle management (PLM) has done a good job of helping people collaborate more (as long as they know who best to collaborate with), leverage information effectively (assuming they can find it), make complex product decisions (if they understand the context within the system) and make those decisions within time constraints (whether they're optimal or not).
But in an environment of increasing complexity, PLM needs to rise to the challenge and address these shortfalls. This is the objective of high definition product lifecycle management (HD-PLM). One of the core pillars of this approach is centred on the need to collaborate, and the technologies and trends that are shaping this.
Traditionally, design and development meetings have consisted of large amounts of paper, a projector and single presenter trying to gather requirements, feedback, updates and comments from everyone else in the room. Once the meeting ended, the leader would then try to collate all this information and set about making the required alterations, and then commit those for testing before starting the process all over again. But we live in an increasingly high-definition, touch-focused world. The ongoing evolution of smartphones and tablets has had a massive impact on application design, which now requires a visual and interactive approach.
Even modern desktop operating systems are incorporating touch into their layout and design. Similarly, advancements in multi-touch are being used to create new applications for engaging and collaborating.
When it comes to product design, we can harness these developments to enable more immersive and naturally collaborative platforms. By scrapping the paper and projector approach, and opting for large-format touch-screen interfaces, companies can create a dynamic, immersive environment that enables much more effective collaboration.
This approach also means that everyone can get hands-on with the design process. By removing the single 'gatekeeper' it becomes possible to engage in parallel collaboration as designs can be passed from one person to another, suggestions inputted in real time, and then any changes can be viewed and discussed.
Taking this a step further – beyond just point, click and view – modern systems are powerful enough to render and even simulate, test and analyse suggested changes and ideas in real time.
So, in the first instance we have a laborious and manual process where one person showcases a design on a projector and collects different types of feedback from a range of people. They then go back to their desk to incorporate that information into the design and test the results before starting the cycle again.
In the second case, we have all the relevant people gathered around a dynamic and responsive interface, where ideas can be bandied about, evaluated and tested, all in real time. The impact of this is magnified when every stakeholder can engage via the interface and context that makes the most sense to them.
Of course, different users interact with information differently. For some users, 3D product geometry is how they need to view information. Others prefer a spreadsheet view or perhaps graphs and charts. What 'intuitive' means depends on the person and the task being performed. To present information intuitively, it must be in the right format, the right context and at the right level of granularity.
But even within the context of in-room collaboration, a large-format multi-window display means every attendee can participate in the way that makes the most sense to his or her role. Furthermore, when disparate business systems are tightly integrated as part of the platform, changes on one side can be immediately reflected in the other elements. For instance, updating one part on the CAD design can automatically feed through to the bill of materials and the enterprise resource planning system.
As a result, every person involved in the decision-making process can be engaged and their input immediately viewed, discussed and tested. This effectively makes it possible to capture the thought processes through which decisions are made and encapsulate them as best practice. There are now more people who need to access PLM data and the audience for the software that creates and uses this data is expanding throughout the enterprise. These workers need to be able to search for things that are of interest to them, look at different configurations of the product, and do it all in a very intuitive user experience.
Collaboration is the key to how any successful, modern business should operate. Having the right infrastructure is required to enable people to access and share information easily and effectively.
For manufacturers, PLM is the backbone that enables this collaboration, but it's only truly effective when it taps into the changing way we engage. In today's environment, this includes making data more visual, intuitive and touch focused.
Each of these elements already exists. We have high-definition displays, touch screens and collaboration tools, as well as the PLM framework for product design, testing and sharing. It's when we can combine these that we start to see a new level of intelligence emerge.
Once this can be integrated with other systems within the business and delivered in such a way as to enable parallel collaboration and deeper analysis, so the business can reap the rewards of faster and more agile product development.
Jan Larsson is senior marketing director EMEA of Product Engineering Software at Siemens PLM Software
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Jul 24, 2012
Quantum dot blend gives wide-bandwidth FET-based photodetector
Solution-processed colloidal quantum dots (CQDs) have been used to fabricate a photodetector with interesting properties. By blending narrow-gap CQDs into hybrid polymer blends, researchers have formed a nanocomposite to create FET-based photodetectors that possess high specific detectivity.
Scientists at the Laboratory of Nanophotonics Materials and Technology at Beijing Institute of Technology, China, are studying room temperature FET-based photodetectors. The concept of a phototransistor, such as a photo-field-effect-transistor, offers an attractive possibility: gain united with a lowered dark current compared with the photo-conductor, achieved if the thickness of the current-carrying channel can be chosen independently from the thickness of the light-absorbing layer.
In the case of conventional field effect transistor photodetectors, an electrical gate bias is used to modulate the lateral field across the active layer between source and drain electrodes. This electric field causes the separation of photogenerated carriers and greatly extends the carrier recombination lifetime leading to a much higher sensitivity.
As shown in the figure, the output characteristics of the FET-based photodetector ITO/PMMA(180 nm)/P3HT:PCBM:PbS(110 nm)/A1, in which the nanocomposite blend is in the weight ratio of MP3HT:MPCBM:MPbS=1:1:1, show an n-type enhanced operational mode. That is, the drain-source current (IDS) increases more greatly at positive gate biases than that at negative gate biases under 600 nm illumination with an intensity of 30 µW/cm2.
The team's experimental data shows that the absorption mechanism and charge carrier transport mechanism of the active layer under different applied gate voltages can be revealed by selecting different wavelengths of incident light. The researchers report that the FET-based photodetector displays ambipolar behaviour in the dark under forward and backward biases, but for near-infrared illumination (980 nm laser irradiation) only PbS can absorb light and photoinduced holes from PbS CQDs are dominant in the active layer. As a consequence, IDS increases more greatly under negative gate voltages than that under positive gate biases and the device shows p-type enhanced characteristics.
In this way, developers can control the dominant charge carriers in the active layer using different incident illumination. Also, because this electric field causes the separation of photogenerated carriers and greatly extends the carrier recombination lifetime, a much higher sensitivity can be obtained for this kind of FET-based phototransistor.
More information can be found in the journal Nanotechnology.
About the author
The study was conducted by a research team at the Lab of Nanophotonics Materials and Technology, Beijing Institute of Technology. Prof. Shengyi Yang is a faculty member of Beijing Key Lab of Nanophotonics and Superfine Optoelectronic System. Currently, Prof. Yang's interests focus on high-efficiency microand nanooptoelectronic devices, such as solar cells and FET-based photodetectors, by using semiconductor nanomaterials and organic materials.

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


Role Conflict: Canada's Withdrawal from Combat Operations Against ISIL
Massie, Justin
With Laura Pelletier
This paper seeks to understand the peculiarity of the Trudeau government's decision to withdraw Canadian fighter jets from Iraq and Syria. Most studies have focused on electoral turnover to account for early withdrawal from coalition operations. Yet no study offers a plausible explanation for why a centrist challenger, such as Trudeau, favoured early withdrawal despite public support and alliance pressure for continued involvement, and committed when in power to a bolder and riskier mission while withdrawing valued military assets from coalition operations. Building on foreign policy role theory, we argue that role conflict best explains the particularity of the Trudeau government's withdrawal decision. In the wake of the 2015 federal election, the Liberal Party of Canada witnessed an intra-party conflict over which role to perform between that of a faithful ally and a good international citizen. The party leader finally proposed a compromise mission making Canada more involved on the frontlines.
Pelletier, L., Massie. (2017). «Role Conflict: Canada's Withdrawal from Combat Operations Against ISIL », International Journal, vol. 72, no 3, p. 298-317. DOI:
Observatoire des Diasporas
Observatoire des Diasporas
Bibliothèque virtuelle
Appels à communication
Bourses et concours
Le balado du CRIDAQ
Notre infolettre
CRIDAQ filigrane


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An open letter to the Serbian science ministry – coinciding with the new government's first 100 days in office – and an accompanying petition signed by 850 scientists so far, makes for pretty dim reading on the state of research ethics in Serbia.
The systematic and apparently state-endorsed practice of artificially boosting one's ratings in the national evaluation system, which drives promotions and helps set salaries, has led to a range of abuses that are promoting mediocrity while driving scientific talent out of the country, says the letter, published in late October.
The authors say that the offenses that have proliferated over the last decade, and which are being "systematically hidden" under what the letter says are bad policies set by the science ministry, include:
- family-run journals publishing papers exclusively for "gaining profit"
- "citation cartels" citing unrelated papers from the same journals to artificially boost their impact factors
- adding authors who had not contributed to the paper as a matter of "clientelism and fealty"
- duplication — aka "self-plagiarism" — tolerated on a "massive scale"
- student plagiarism "in full bloom" and conducted uninterruptedly
- regulations that encourage misconduct; articles that publish "compilations of general knowledge or offer trivial findings" with no impact on scientific literature and no chance of practical application
- publicly funded projects treated as "state secrets" – not even titles or abstract are made publicly available, and
- doctoral students forming their own evaluation committees.
Most of the evidence for such activities comes from investigations by the Centre for Evaluation in Education and Science (CEON/CEES), which published a report late last year that showed that up to 11% of articles in journals listed in Serbian citation indeks SCIndeks, contained plagiarized or self-plagiarized (duplicated) passages. Indeed, the open letter says that
A certain number of researchers systematically publish plagiarized articles … Self-plagiarism is being tolerated on a mass scale.
It also says Serbian authors have been publishing their work in predatory journals with increasing intensity, and the ministry uses such articles in rating the researchers. It names two predatory journals from Bosnia and Herzegovina that publish work in bad English (with frequent grammatical and stylistic mistakes in titles and abstracts), have no 'doi' numbers, and often carry plagiarized articles. They charge contributors up to 1,000 Euros per article and the money goes to the editor's personal account, it says. The two journals exchange an
unnaturally large number of citations although they cover distant fields of science.
In one of the predatory journals, the articles from Serbia have larger number of authors than articles from other countries, it says, because of the practice of adding the names of people who did not actually contribute to the work.
The letter estimates than in 2012, in the two journals alone, Serbian scientists will have spent 200,000 Euros of public money to publish their articles: a sum that is similar to the total budget of all of Serbia's domestic scientific journals. Public money is being used first to publish questionable work in predatory journals, and then to increase scientists' salaries after their ratings are boosted by these publications, it says.
Duplication also increases individuals' incomes, as the ministry funds the same article through support for conferences, publishing conference proceedings, and finally for publishing the same work in a journal.
Apart from excess production of bad quality papers to boost individuals' salaries, there is also a trend of setting up new domestic journals, "even by the smallest research units" that probably do not conduct any peer review.
Meanwhile, many of the individuals in the ministry's scientific committees, which evaluate and categorize the domestic journals' status, have a conflict of interest: they evaluate journals they edit or publishers that they manage. This results in journals getting a high ranking without deserving it, and ramps up the points of authors who publish there. This is also unfair to editors who try hard to raise the quality of their journals in legitimate ways, yet often do not get funding since they lack lobbyists on the scientific committees.
The letter goes on to make several demands, including re-evaluating journals to identify those that abuse the system and remove them from the ministry's rankings; setting up a national office for the integrity of science as well as ombudsmen at universities; and establishing legislation to protect whistleblowers. It also makes further suggestions to set up a national database of PhD theses, make all publicly funded articles open access, and set up a regional base of peer reviewers.
The ministry responded to the letter early last month, acknowledging that "there are problems and some irregularities in the overall system of evaluating research and researchers" but saying it was working on several policies that would improve the situation, including valuation of work published in domestic journals and categorization of such journals.


Eight culinary traditions of Chinese cuisine - Regional News | Connecting Wellington
 Issue 142
Eight culinary traditions of Chinese cuisine by Petra Shotwell
In Aotearoa, most of us have our favourite Chinese meals, or go-to orders from one of the many Chinese-inspired restaurants in Wellington – for example, chilli oil dumplings, fried rice, or sweet and sour pork. There are countless options to choose from. Sweet? Sour? Spicy? Whatever you're craving, the title of 'Chinese food' covers it all. But throughout all of China, the various cuisines are abundant.
Chinese foods are influenced by China's variations in climate, ingredients, and history. Most influential and known to the public are eight traditional Chinese cuisines.
Sichuan cuisine, originating in the southwest, is known for its super spicy flavour and bright red colour. Ma po tofu and dandan noodles might be some familiar Sichuan dishes.
Cantonese cuisine, commonly known around the world as a representative of Chinese cuisine, focuses on fresh, sweet flavours. Staples include sweet and sour pork, or the more adventurous roasted suckling pig.
Hunan cuisine, originated in the east, is also known for its spicy taste. Popular flavours include hot and spicy, sour and spicy, and salty and spicy – so it's safe to say dishes steamed fish head and fried lobster are probably pretty spicy.
Shandong cuisine, from eastern China, is known for its focus on the natural flavours of raw foods. Popular dishes are salty, sweet, sour, or umami (which is best described as savoury or 'meaty').
Jiangsu cuisine is representative of southern Chinese food and often includes rice. Similarly to Shandong cuisine, Jiangsu cuisine is known for its fresh, umami flavours.
Zhejiang cuisine, from another eastern province, is known for its light and fresh flavours, often including a variety of seafood.
Fujian cuisine is also notable for its light and fresh flavours, though also for sweet and sour. A popular Fujian seafood dish is called fú tiào qiáng, which translates to 'buddha jumps over the wall'.
Finally, Anhui cuisine, also eastern, is known especially for the preservation of the original flavours of wild ingredients. Some popular dishes include stinky mandarin fish and fried hairy tofu.
So, we may all have our favourite dishes in our local Chinese restaurants, but perhaps at the Chinese New Year Festival this year we'll get a chance to branch out from our usual. Time to swap out the westernised orange chicken for something a little more authentic!
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« Issue 142, February 2, 2021


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This site is used for testing new functionality and bug fixes. Things may not always work the way you expect. For the production site, please go to _URL_
Looking at Structures: Dealing with Coordinates
The primary information stored in the PDB archive consists of coordinate files for biological molecules. These files list the atoms in each protein, and their 3D location in space. These files are available in several formats (PDB, mmCIF, XML). A typical PDB formatted file includes a large "header" section of text that summarizes the protein, citation information, and the details of the structure solution, followed by the sequence and a long list of the atoms and their coordinates. The archive also contains the experimental observations that are used to determine these atomic coordinates.
When you start exploring the structures in the PDB archive, you will need to know a few things about coordinate files. Major topics are included here.
ATOMs and HETATMs
A typical PDB format file will contain atomic coordinates for a diverse collection of proteins, small molecules, ions and water. Each atom is entered as a line of information that starts with a keyword: either ATOM or HETATM. By tradition, the ATOM keyword is used to identify proteins or nucleic acid atoms, and keyword HETATM is used to identify atoms in small molecules. Following this keyword, there is a list of information about the atom, including its name, its number in the file, the name and number of the residue it belongs to, one letter to specify the chain (in oligomeric proteins), its x, y, and z coordinates, and an occupancy and temperature factor (described in more detail below).
This information gives you a lot of control when exploring the structure. For instance, most molecular graphics programs enable you to color identified portions of the molecule selectively--for example, to pick out all of the carbon atoms and color them green, or to pick one particular amino acid and highlight it.
The left image shows myoglobin (PDB entry 1mbo) using the default representation in MBT Protein Workshop. It shows a ribbon diagram for the protein, and ball-and-stick for the small molecules. In the right image, we have changed the representation to show all atoms, using the information in each atom record to color the molecules differently. This clearly shows the heme group in bright red, and a bound oxygen molecule in turquoise.
Tip: By default, many molecular graphics programs do not display the water positions in a PDB file, even though they are often important to the function and interaction of biological molecules. Most of these programs have a way to display them, if you use their methods for atom selection.
Chains and Models
Biological molecules are hierarchical, building from atoms to residues to chains to assemblies. Coordinate files contain ways to organize and specify molecules at all of these levels. As described above, the atom names and residue information are included in each atom record. The higher-order information is identified by keywords that separate blocks of atom records, such as TER and MODEL.
Protein and nucleic acid chains are specified by the TER keyword, as well as a one-letter designation in the coordinate records. The chains are included one after another in the file, separated by a TER record to indicate that the chains are not physically connected to each other. Most molecular graphics programs look for this TER record so that they don't draw a bond to connect different chains.
PDB format files use the MODEL keyword to indicate multiple molecules in a single file. This was initially created to archive coordinate sets that include several different models of the same structure, like the structural ensembles obtained in NMR analysis. When you view these files, you will see dozens of similar molecules all superimposed. The MODEL keyword is now also used in biological assembly files to separate the many symmetrical copies of the molecule that are generated from the asymmetric unit (For more information, see the tutorial on biological assemblies).
Two useful coloring schemes allow you to explore the different chains in any given PDB file. First, you may color each chain differently to show the packing of different chains in the molecule as shown in the bottom image. Then, you can color each chain using a rainbow of colors from one end of the chain to the other to highlight its folding characteristics as shown at the top. Both of these methods are available in most molecular graphics programs. The molecule shown here is hemolysin from PDB entry 7ahl.
If we were able to hold an atom rigidly fixed in one place, we could observe its distribution of electrons in an ideal situation. The image would be dense towards the center with the density falling off further from the nucleus. When you look at experimental electron density distributions, however, the electrons usually have a wider distribution than this ideal. This may be due to vibration of the atoms, or differences between the many different molecules in the crystal lattice. The observed electron density will include an average of all these small motions, yielding a slightly smeared image of the molecule.
These motions, and the resultant smearing of the electron density, are incorporated into the atomic model by a B-value or temperature factor. The amount of smearing is proportional to the magnitude of the B-value. Values under 10 create a model of the atom that is very sharp, indicating that the atom is not moving much and is in the same position in all of the molecules in the crystal. Values greater than 50 or so indicate that the atom is moving so much that it can barely been seen. This is often the case for atoms at the surface of proteins, where long sidechains are free to wag in the surrounding water.
The example shown is from a myoglobin structure solved at a 2.0 Å resolution (PDB entry 1mbi). Two histidine amino acids are shown. On the left is HIS93, which coordinates with the iron atom and thus, is held firmly in place. It has B-values in the range of 15-20 -- notice how the contours nicely surround the whole amino acid, revealing a sharp electron density. On the right is HIS81, which is exposed on the surface of the protein and has higher B-values in the range of 22-74. Notice how the contours enclose a smaller space, showing a smaller region with high electron density for this amino acid because the overall electron density is weakly smeared in the space around the contours. These pictures are created using the Astex viewer, which is available on the Structure Summary page for this PDB entry (just click the "EDS" link in the "Experimental Method" section).
The picture shows the whole molecule, with the atoms colored by the temperature factors. High values, indicating lots
of motion, are in red and yellow, and low values are in blue. Notice that the interior of the protein has low B-values
and the amino acids on the surface have higher values.
You can click on the picture for an interactive Jmol view.
Tip: Temperature factors are a measure of our confidence in the location of each atom. If you find an atom on the surface of a protein with a high temperature factor, keep in mind that this atom is probably moving a lot, and that the coordinates specified in the PDB file are only one possible snapshot of its location.
Occupancy and Multiple Conformations
Macromolecular crystals are composed of many individual molecules packed into a symmetrical arrangement. In some crystals, there are slight differences between each of these molecules. For instance, a sidechain on the surface may wag back and forth between several conformations, or a substrate may bind in two orientations in an active site, or a metal ion may be bound to only a few of the molecules. When researchers build the atomic model of these portions, they can use the occupancy to estimate the amount of each conformation that is observed in the crystal. For most atoms, the occupancy is given a value of 1, indicating that the atom is found in all of the molecules in the same place in the crystal. However, if a metal ion binds to only half of the molecules in the crystal, the researcher will see a weak image of the ion in the electron density map, and can assign an occupancy of 0.5 in the PDB structure file for this atom. Occupancies are also commonly used to identify sidechains or ligands that are observed in multiple conformations. The occupancy value is used to indicate the fraction of molecules that have each of the conformations. Two (or more) atom records are included for each atom, with occupancies like 0.5 and 0.5, or 0.4 and 0.6, or other fractional occupancies that sum to a total of 1.
The two images shown are taken from the high-resolution structure of myoglobin in entry 1a6m: glutamine 8 is on the left, and tyrosine 151 on the right. In both cases, the depositors interpreted the experimental data as showing two conformations of the amino acid, with occupancies of 0.57 and 0.43 for the glutamine, and 0.5 for each of the tyrosine conformations. The blue contours surround the regions with high electron density, and the atomic model is shown in sticks. These pictures are created using the Astex viewer, which is available on the Structure Summary page for this PDB entry (just click the "EDS" link in the "Experimental Method" section).
The picture below of the whole myoglobin molecule is shown with all of the amino acids that have two conformations in the file.
You can click on the picture for an interactive Jmol version.
Tip: When dealing with PDB entries with multiple coordinates, you often need to pay close attention. It is

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


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ldin inappropriate contexts
Major Section: LD
ld was designed to be called directly in the top-level ACL2
loop, although there may be a few occasions for calling it from functions.
ACL2 cannot cope with invocations of
ld during the process of loading a
compiled file for a book, so this is an error.
To see how that can happen, consider the following book, where file
const.lsp contains the single form
(defconst *foo* '(a b)).
(in-package "ACL2") (defttag t) (progn! (ld "const.lsp"))An attempt to certify this book will cause an error, but that particular error can be avoided, as discussed below. If the book is certified, however, with production of a corresponding compiled file (which is the default behavior for
certify-book), then any subsequent call of
include-bookthat loads this compiled file will cause an error. Again, this error is necessary because of how ACL2 is designed; specifically, this
ldcall would interfere with tracking of constant definitions when loading the compiled file for the book.
Because including such a book (with a compiled file) causes an error, then as a courtesy to the user, ACL2 arranges that the certification will fail (thus avoiding a surprise later when trying to include the book). The error in that case will look as follows.
ACL2 Error in LD: It is illegal to call LD in this context. See DOC calling-ld-in-bad-contexts.If you really think it is OK to avoid this error, you can get around it by setting state global variable
(assign ld-okp t). You can then certify the book in the example above, but you will still not be able to include it with a compiled file.


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GOLDFIELD, Nev. — The Esmeralda County School District has adopted a policy that allows students to speak Spanish while riding the school bus, revoking a ban that was approved by its school board in October.
The prohibition on speaking Spanish had affected about a dozen students from a farming and ranching community in Esmeralda County, who are bused by the district to a high school in neighboring Nye County.
The district implemented the new policy — which states, "There is no general rule prohibiting Spanish on any of our buses" — after it received a letter from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
"The school district understands that students have a constitutional right to free speech," said Gary Peck, executive director of the ACLU of Nevada. "Once the superintendent was informed that prohibiting students from speaking Spanish violated their rights, the school district was very willing to work out a policy that both encourages students to practice their English skills and allows them to speak their native language."
On the bus ride that the students take to return to Esmeralda County, there is an academic period for the first 45 minutes in which the students are required to do homework, study or read. During this period, the district asks that all students practice their English skills.
Students who are more proficient in English may speak Spanish while assisting those whose English is more limited. Students who are developing their English skills will work with a tutor who rides with them.
The second 45-minute period of the evening ride is considered free time, and students may speak to one another in any language they choose. Students may also speak to each other in the language of their choice during the morning bus ride.
When communicating with the bus driver and tutors, the district asks that students speak in English or ask another student to interpret if necessary, because the bus driver and the tutors don't speak Spanish.


WHAT ARE GDEs? page banner
© Anthony Dunn
California's Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems
What are they, why are they important, and how can they be protected?
We may not be able to see groundwater, but it's vital to life in California.
Groundwater is critically important to people, supplying 40 percent of California's water supply in normal years and up to 60 percent in times of drought. It is also essential in sustaining many types of plants and animals, from those found in mountain and desert springs to coastal wetlands.
Groundwater becomes even more important to these plants and animals during dry summers and droughts. During dry periods, groundwater keeps many streams, springs, and seeps flowing, as well as provides water necessary to sustain plants without access to surface water. However, when groundwater levels decrease because of drought and unsustainable pumping practices, springs and groundwater wells can go dry, and important ecosystems can lose access to groundwater, risking collapse.
A groundwater dependent ecosystem (GDE) is a plant and animal community that requires groundwater to meet some or all water needs. GDEs are specifically defined under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) as "ecological communities or species that depend on groundwater emerging from aquifers or on groundwater occurring near the ground surface." California's GDEs encompass a wide range of natural communities, such as wetlands, rivers, streams, and estuaries, seeps and springs, and terrestrial vegetation.
GDEs provide valuable functions that benefit people, such as purifying water, reducing flood risk, supplying water and base flow in rivers, and providing recreational opportunities. GDEs represent many of California's unique native habitats, supporting biodiversity and providing homes for rare and endangered species.
California pumps more groundwater than any other state and ranks ninth highest in groundwater pumping among nations worldwide. On average, California extracts 14.2 million acre-feet of groundwater annually, which is enough water to fill California's largest reservoir, Shasta Lake, three times. Over the past century, groundwater pumping has chronically lowered groundwater levels in many areas of the state (most notably in the Central Valley), shrinking rivers and wetlands, and in some cases, drying them out completely. Vegetation that depends on groundwater requires groundwater levels to be accessible by roots to survive. Pumping that pulls groundwater levels down below the root zone may cause GDEs to lose access to an important source of water and put them at risk.
Despite California's history of unregulated pumping, recent legislation empowers California to reverse a century-long trend of groundwater overdraft and GDE decline. In 2014, California passed SGMA, which requires local communities to identify their GDEs and consider impacts to GDEs in groundwater management decisions.
California's GDEs are Unique, Diverse and Important.
By maintaining sufficient groundwater levels and the critical connections between groundwater and surface water, we can balance the needs of GDEs and people. Protecting GDEs requires an understanding of where they are located, how they rely on groundwater, and how changing groundwater conditions can affect them. Identifying and considering GDEs in groundwater sustainability plans (GSPs), along with routine monitoring, can help ensure they are not harmed by unsustainable use of groundwater.


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DUST CONTROL COVERS MANY FACETS
What is the most important factor in dust control - engineering, maintenance, or dust control products? And, which dust control product should you use for your specific project? Those questions have been asked by most mines. They were also asked by the US Army, which also has a big interest in dust control. Excessive dust can inhibit helicopter operations, weapons targeting, mechanized movements, and combat operations. It also increases vehicle maintenance costs.
Consequently, dust control has been a major concern for the Army Corps of Engineers since World War Two. One of the most important findings was that equipment, dust control products, and manpower costs could be reduced by 30% with smart use. The most important factor is not dust control products, but road design and maintenance. Dust control products are a secondary consideration. They should only be used when road maintenance methods have failed.
The most important factor is construction and maintenance of the roads. Properly crowned roads, well graded materials composed of sufficient fines for strength and durability, and adequate drainage are better for reducing airborne dust. The choice of materials depends on potential frost conditions. The final road material must resist abrasion (which causes dust), have a high density, and few voids. If there are voids where water can collect, frost will cause the water to freeze, thus causing an expansion of the void and damage to the road. This can be avoided by layering the road material and making sure that there is good drainage. However, the drainage must not allow the fines to drain away too fast.
Good maintenance is also critical as the rain eventually washes away fines and road traffic displaces road materials. Contrary to common sense, road maintenance is the most critical for the first few years of the road. If properly maintained over time, the requirement for maintenance will actually decline. Most maintenance will be grading to reduce potholes and ruts. Occasionally aggregate will need to be added and the road re-compacted.
The next most important factor in dust control is mechanical stabilization. That means mixing materials with the local dirt to make a dirt road surface that can handle the traffic and loads. Only after looking at the road construction, maintenance, and stabilization issues, should dust control products be looked at. Since dust control agents have a limited lifespan, have to be regularly re-applied, and can become expensive over time, the Army suggests looking at other solutions like blacktopping that might be cheaper over the long run.
The Army looked at the following dust control products and made these recommendations:
Water attracting chemicals (salts, and chlorides). These provide the best combination of cost, durability, ease of application, and dust control in semi-arid, semi-humid, and humid climates. They will not provide adequate dust control in the second season and reduced amounts will probably have to be re-applied.
These agents are corrosive and the cost of water and washing equipment should be considered. Organic, non-bituminous chemicals (Lignosulfonates, pine tar, vegetable oil, molasses). These are best in arid and semi-arid climates, but not on igneous rock, crushed gravel, or low fine materials. These products tend to stop working after rains because they leach out of the soil and may be visibly unappealing or sticky. They also need reapplication in the second season.
Petroleum based binders. These are the most effective, but have environmental issues. Asphalt emulsions are very good under a wide range of climates and soils, but are more expensive. Like organic binders, they can be sticky and unappealing.
Electrochemical stabilizers. These products neutralize soils that attract water and allow bonds to form between particles. Electrochemical stabilizers need to be worked into the road surface and require specific heavy equipment. They work over a wide range of soils and climates and are especially effective on clay and sandy road materials.
Polymers (polyvinyl acrylics and acetates). They bind to the soil and create a semi rigid road surface. They are most effective over lightly trafficked surfaces or helicopter pads. Microbiological binders. Some enzymes are absorbed by clay particles, which help their compaction and reduce dust. These are highly specific products and may not help in many conditions.
However, don't forget other methods for dust control: Windbreaks. Windbreaks are barriers designed to slow the speed and redirect the flow of wind. Effective windbreaks do not stop the wind but break its forward movement, to slow it down. Windbreak materials may include picket and board fences (with gaps between pickets), berms, snow fences, and rows or hedges of plants. Windbreaks are most useful when designed for specific wind directions.
The effective zone of protection created by a windbreak is approximately 25 times its height, although maximum-protection wind reduction occurs in a range of 5 to 8 times the height of the screen. Therefore, a 10-foot windbreak provides maximum protection to 75 feet and some reduction of wind (about 10 percent) up to 250 feet.
Reduce exposed ground. Covered ground doesn't blow away and create dust. Each dirt parking area, footpath, shortcut, or eroding bluff can produce dust. Every new trail makes the problem worse. Maintaining the native vegetation, replanting barren areas, and just driving only on designated roads or trails can all be dust control measures. Living plants not only cover the ground, but their roots hold soil together as well.
Reducing speed. Fast moving vehicles stir up dust. Studies show that dust goes up with vehicle speed. Reducing speed from 40 miles per hour (mph) to 20 mph reduces airborne dust by 65%. Drainage channels across roads and speed bumps can reduce speeds.


text:
|The Disappearance of Civil Trial in the United States|
|John H. Langbein [View as PDF]|
122 Yale L.J. 522 (2012).
Since the 1930s, the proportion of civil cases concluded at trial has declined from about 20% to below 2% in the federal courts and below 1% in state courts. This Article looks to the history of the civil trial to explain why the trial endured so long and then vanished so rapidly.
For the litigants, a civil procedure system serves two connected functions: investigating the facts and adjudicating the dispute. The better the system investigates and clarifies the facts, the more it promotes settlement and reduces the need to adjudicate. The Anglo-American common law for most of its history paid scant attention to the investigative function. This Article points to the role of the jury system in shaping the procedure and restricting the investigative function. Pleading was the only significant component of pretrial procedure, and the dominant function of pleading was to control the jury by narrowing to a single issue the question that the jury would be asked to decide. This primitive pretrial process left trial as the only occasion at which it was sometimes possible to investigate issues of fact. Over time, the jury-free equity courts developed techniques to enable litigants to obtain testimonial and documentary evidence in advance of adjudication. The fusion of law and equity in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure of 1938 brought those techniques into the merged procedure, and expanded them notably. The signature reform of the Federal Rules was to shift pretrial procedure from pleading to discovery. A new system of civil procedure emerged, centered on the discovery of documents and the sworn depositions of parties and witnesses. Related innovations, the pretrial conference and summary judgment, reinforced the substitution of discovery for trial. This new procedure system has overcome the investigation deficit that so afflicted common law procedure, enabling almost all cases to be settled or dismissed without trial. Pretrial procedure has become nontrial procedure by making trial obsolete.


text:
Definition of electrically
adv. - In the manner of electricity, or by means of it; thrillingly. 2
The word "electrically" uses 12 letters: A C C E E I L L L R T Y.
No direct anagrams for electrically found in this word list.
Adding one letter to electrically does not form any other word in this word list.Words within electrically not shown as it has more than seven letters.
All words formed from electrically by changing one letter
Browse words starting with electrically by next letter


"Twins" And "Sisters"
I've heard the term Twin Cities and Sister Cities before, but never really knew what it meant. Now you will know too. Check out the following article.
In the United Kingdom, the term twin towns is most commonly used, generally referring to town-twinning with Europe, differentiating with the term sister cities, which is used for agreements with towns and cities in the United States. In Europe, a variety of terms are used; most commonly twin towns, but partnership towns, partner towns and friendship towns, are also used. Germany uses Partnerstadt (Partner Town/City), France uses Ville Jumelée (Twinned Town/City). In the Netherlands, the term Stedenband (City bond) is used. North America, South America, South Asia, Australasia and Asia generally use the term sister cities. In the former Soviet Bloc countries twin towns is used, as well as the term brother cities.[1]
Sometimes other government bodies enter into a "twinning" relationship, such as the agreement between the provinces of Hainan in China and Jeju-do in South Korea.
The earliest form of town twinning in Europe was between the German city of Paderborn and the French city of Le Mans in 836.[3] Keighley, West Yorkshire, England had a "sister cities" arrangement with Suresnes and Puteaux, France starting in 1905.[4][5] The first recorded modern twinning agreement was between Keighley and Poix-du-Nord, Nord, France in 1920 following the end of World War I.[5][6] This was initially referred to as an adoption of the French town, with formal twinning charters not being exchanged until 1986.[7]
The practice was continued after the Second World War as a way to bring European people into a closer understanding of each other and to promote cross-border projects of mutual benefit.[3][8][9] For example, Coventry twinned with Stalingrad (now Volgograd) and later with Dresden as an act of peace and reconciliation, all three cities having been heavily bombed during the war.[10] Each twin city country is represented in a specific ward of the city and in each ward has a peace garden dedicated to that twin city.[3] Another early example of town twinning dates back to 1947 when Bristol Corporation (later Bristol City Council) sent five 'leading citizens' on a goodwill mission to Hanover.
Within Europe, town twinning is supported by the European Union.[3] The support scheme was established in 1989. In 2003 an annual budget of about 12 million euros was allocated to about 1,300 projects. The Council of European Municipalities and Regions also works closely with the Commission (DG Education and Culture) to promote modern, high quality twinning initiatives and exchanges that involve all sections of the community. It has launched a website dedicated to town twinning.[11]
Many German cities still are twinned with other German cities. The partnerships were established in the last years of former East Germany. Famous examples are the partnerships of Hanover and Leipzig (both having important trade fair grounds) or between Hamburg and Dresden.
North America
The first city in North America to establish a sister city relationship was Toledo, Ohio, United States with Toledo, Spain in 1931. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada was also a notable city to enter into an intercontinental twinning arrangement when, in 1944, it twinned with the Ukrainian city of Odessa, which at the time was part of the Soviet Union. This was based on aiding the allied port city during the Second World War.
Tashkent, the Uzbek capital, then part of the Soviet Union, was twinned with Seattle, Washington in 1973 and became the first Soviet city to be twinned with one in the US. Another first for town twinning occurred in 1967 when Rochester, Minnesota and Knebworth, UK teamed up to bring a primary medical research front.
Other meanings
The phrase "sister cities" is sometimes used to refer to cities without a formal agreement that have similar cultures and/or historical backgrounds, such as Galveston, Texas and New Orleans, two cities that were historically major Southern ports on the Gulf coast.
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Broken leg in a Car Accident what are my options?
Recently on our disability forum a user asked, If I have been involved in a severe car accident and I have broken my leg will I automatically receive Social Security Disability Insurance for the months I am unable to work? get-filing-disability-help
Qualifying for SSDI after a car accident
Social Security Disability Insurance or SSDI may be offered to claimants who have suffered severe injuries following a car accident, but whether or not they will be awarded SSDI benefits will depend on whether the claimant meets the medical and nonmedical requirements for SSDI benefits. For example, the SSA will only award SSDI benefits to claimants who are not currently working and making too much money, who are insured for SSDI benefits, who have a severe mental or physical health condition, and who have a condition which is expected to last for at least 12 continuous months. So lets look at a common injury from a car accident. Lets say, for example, you have been involved in a car accident and you have a broken leg. Assuming you meet the nonmedical requirements for SSDI benefits, the SSA will review whether or not they believe your broken leg will last 12 continuous months and will not allow you to work.
Making a disability determination for a broken leg
Breaking a major bone in the body such as your tibia or fibula can be very serious. Common symptoms of a broken leg may include the inability to walk for several months, instability or deformity in the leg, and loss of feeling in the foot. Severe complications are also not that unusual and can include bone fragments that tear muscles or nerves, swelling of the leg (compartment syndrome), infection, and bone clots. To determine if your broken leg is severe the SSA will review the SSA Listing of Impairments (a listing of some of the most common conditions and their corresponding symptoms which they assume are disabling). There is a listing for bone fractures under 1.00 Musculoskeletal System, Section 1.06 Fracture of the femur, tibia, pelvis, or one or more of the tarsal bones. Your condition may meet this listing if you break your tibia and an X-ray or other imaging showing that the bone has not healed, the doctor acknowledges your bones have not healed properly, and you are unable to walk effectively (meaning for any substantial distance or period of time). There is also a separate listing for fractures for major dysfunction of a joint.
Broken leg and cannot work
If you have not broken your tibia but you have broken your fibula, you may also have injuries which are so severe that they meet or equal the listing identified above. Other claimants may have a condition which does not meet or equal a listing but the condition is so severe it does not allow them to perform work. For example, if you have a broken leg and you have limited ambulatory ability, you cannot put weight on your leg, and you cannot focus or complete work due to medications and their side-effects such as fatigue and decreased reaction time, you may be able to prove your residual functional capacity to work is so low you cannot retrain for new work.


text:
though. Companies and government officials frequently seek the advice of
economists. Some of my colleagues serve on commissions to analyze
particular policy problems, such as social security. Others go to
Washington, D.C., for a few years to serve in presidential administrations;
they might serve, for example, in the cabinet or on the Council of Economic
Advisors. When they return to the university, their lectures are filled
with real-world examples, and they have new ideas for research topics.
Careers in academia can take many directions, as professors spend some
years focusing mainly on research, others on teaching, and others on
shaping public policy. But no matter how they spend their time, it's a
great way to make a career of applying mathematics to real-world problems.
Photo caption: Susan Athey is an assistant professor of economics at
where she holds the Castle Krob Career Development Chair.


text: The pressure-metering system of the improved depth gauge mechanism is housed in a pressure converter on the left-hand side of the case. Through the pressure converter, water pressure acts on a spring membrane and pushes a shaft towards the interior of the case. This movement is transmitted through a system of levers and moves the gauge's two indicators at the centre of the watch. While the blue current depth indicator moves to show current dive depth, the red maximum depth indicator remains at the maximum depth attained in the course of the dive, prevented by a pawl from returning to its original position. The maximum depth indicator can be reset to zero by pressing a push-button.


text:
CSA C22.2 NO 61010-2-043
Safety Requirements for Electrical Equipment for Measurement, Control, and Laboratory Use - Part 2-043: Particular Requirements for Dry Heat Sterilizers Using Either Hot Air or Hot Inert Gas for the Treatment of Medical Materials, and for Laboratory Processes
|Publication Date:||1 July 1998|
This standard applies to STERILIZERS, including those having an automatic loading and unloading system, with one or more CHAMBERS operating at approximately atmospheric pressure and using hot air or hot inert gas intended for the treatment of medical materials, and for laboratory processes.
1 Regulations and codes, national or other, may apply for the safety of automatic loading and unloading systems.
2 It is generally recommended that automatic control is provided for equipment using high temperatures because a manual control system could present serious hazards to the OPERATOR.
Equipment excluded from scope
Add two new dashes and the note as follows:
- laboratory equipment for the heating of materials, other than for sterilization (see IEC 61010-2-010);
- environmental cabinets.
NOTE - This standard does not specify requirements for protection against high-risk microbiological hazards associated with the LOAD, or requirements for the design of the CHAMBER itself.


text:
Worst Plants For The Garden: Unwanted garden plants did you curse and trample? As a gardener, it's a little difficult to admit that there are plants that you can't stand. But don't feel bad about it. Come out and admit to abhorring the dandelions that creep into your lawn every year or the miniature potted roses you keep buying, but they never last more than a week or two.
Most "unwanted" garden plants
Invasive species, weeds and simply difficult or disappointing plants are often hated by gardeners. Listed below are 10 of the most hated plants that many gardeners, including myself, tiptoe with:
- Japanese honeysuckle. Mother of all invasive plants, the Japanese honeysuckle vine has covered areas of the eastern United States, suffocating and overcoming native plants of all kinds. This makes it one of the worst plants for the garden.
- Norwegian maple. On the list of pain trees, Norwegian maple ranks first. The only real reason to plant one is that it grows rapidly. On the downside, branches and endless twigs fall in the slightest breeze, along with samaras that sprout almost everywhere, and intricate roots dot the lawn and can break sidewalks and driveways.
- Ficus. The caveat here is that ficus, or fig tree, is a tree that is really only pain when sold as a large houseplant. The problem is that it does not thrive so well indoors and therefore this tall and graceful tree often dies.
-. A pear tree looks like you can't miss it when it has many flowers and fruits. Yet this pear variety is despised by anyone who plants it. Too often the growth of Bradford pear trees leads to disappointment. Flowers have a terrible, not sweet smell; seedlings sprout out of control; the tree makes a mess in the storms, and the lifespan is short.
- Florist's Azalea. Outside, an azalea is a delicious flowering shrub. But if you try to buy a potted azalea to grow indoors, you will find that the variety of florist lasts only days or a week if you are lucky.
-. This may inspire some debate, but English ivy, for the most part, is an aggressive, non-native vine that climbs everything and can take control of all corners of your garden if you're not following it. It easily climbs on bricks and covers your home, even the windows.
- Japanese barberry. This non-native shrub is particularly problematic in the Midwest, where it has been listed as dangerously invasive. Starting as a popular garden shrub, this barberry plant has now taken control in many natural areas. And it only happens to host ticks and mice that feed on ticks, making the environment more dangerous for people.
- White mulberry. While white mulberry produces edible fruits, it also produces a prodigious mess of both crushed berries and the excrement of all the birds that curl up on them. It is another of the worst plants for the garden if you prefer cleaning.
- kudzu. The Kudzu plant is known as "the vine that ate the south". This invasive Asian vine has swallowed fences, buildings and even trees in all southern states, making it not only unwanted but one of the most hated plants on our list.
- Dandelion. For a cheerful yellow flower, the dandelion plant definitely has a bad shot. It is probably the most despised grass of lawn growers everywhere. The roots flow deep, drawing on the water and nutrients that help this herb thrive and make it difficult to remove.


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Major gen. Sir Sam Hughes
Canadian Major gen. Sir Sam Hughes is shown visiting wounded soldiers at a Red Cross Hospital in England during World War 1.
Sir Sam Hughes (January 8, 1853 – August 23, 1921) was Canada's Minister of Militia and Defence during the Great War, serving from October 10, 1911 until his resignation on October 12, 1916.
Hughes was a controversial figure, especially because of his vitriolic Anti Catholic sentiments, shameless self promotion and probably exaggerated stories of his bravery during the Boer War, in which he had served. Hughes relentlessly lobbied to be granted a Victoria Cross, the highest military commendation in the British Empire. In fact, Hughes had been dismissed from his command for disobeying orders after granting unduly favourable terms to an enemy force which had surrendered to him. Hughes charged the British high command with incompetence for this action.
During the war, Hughes was in charge of setting up training and recruitment of Canadian forces, but the process was often chaotic and plagued by supply problems. He was particularly criticized for insisting that the Canadian forces be equipped with equipment manufactured in Canada, which resulted in the soldiers receiving inadequate equipment and supplies which were often unsuitable in quality. For example, Hughes favoured the Canadian made Ross rifle which often jammed instead of the more reliable Lee-Enfield rifle.
Due to these difficulties, Hughes was eventually relieved of his spending and purchasing powers and a short time afterward he resigned.


Dealing with the Past in History Education 23.07.2017 - 27.07.2017
Euroclio organised a workshop in July 2017 in Seoul to evaluate and develop the project "Dealing with the Past in History Education".
The overall objective is to create, empower and increase the impact of a global core group of civil society actors that have a mission and relevant experience on the promotion of responsible history education and work on a cross-border level on dealing with the past in history education. More specific objectives are:
-To build the professional capacity and extend the networks of leading civil society actors who work on dealing with the past in history education through a series of peer learning activities (project meetings and study visits).
-To build, provide access to and promote the use of a knowledge base consisting of teaching resources, multi-lateral textbooks, relevant stakeholders, policies and recommendations, journals, (action) research and strategies that are not yet sufficiently disseminated.
-To engage in joint advocacy to inter-governmental organizations and targeted media on regional and global levels, raising awareness amongst policy makers and civil society actors on the importance of responsible history education on dealing with the past for sustainable peace.
The meetings were attended by a representative from the Lebanese Association for History, Mr. Khaled Al-Masri, who had also participated in a meeting held at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, Netherlands, to introduce the project and its activities in several countries around the world. Moreover, the meeting was attended by ambassadors, historians, history teachers and others interested in historical affairs.


text:
Her Majesty's Finest [UnMet]
An Explanation of the Scientific Fields
An Explanation of the Scientific Fields
Science! covers the world and everything in it. In order to understand Science! enough, one must focus on specific fields to achieve a greater understanding of these things. Note that in Unhallowed Metropolis, the scientific fields go by many names.
Physicians may also call themselves doctors, naturalists, biologists, botanists, evolutionary investigators, and whole host of other things. This field covers everything that lives, be it the smallest single celled organism or the mighty whale, or even larger. Common uses for this field are: Discovering the origins of life, curing the Plague, fitting prosthetic grafts, discovering how to regrow lost organs, understanding the wonders of nature.
Galvanics, one of the pillars of Neo-Victorian science, is the study of electricity and its applications. Modern industry is thoroughly galvanic. The Tesla network provides energy to the whole of London, the walls protected by devastating galvanic weapons. Even the stuff of life is subject to galvanic command: alienists use electroconvulsive therapies to interrupt the diseased processes of the mind and galvanic reanimists call down lightning to impart the semblance of life to inert flesh. It covers theories of electrical energy, steam power, light and more exotic sources, though it does not cover Aetheric energies (that's the field of Parapsychology). This domain is used to design better Power-Sources, weapons, transportation and similar ideas.
Alchemy covers the building blocks of creation. Chemists and metallurgists also study this field. Common uses include creating better metals and alloys, discovering the properties of new materials and creating elixirs such as Hyde or the long-lost Thrope serum.
Natural science is the rational study of the laws governing the universe. The field subsumes astronomy, biology, earth science, and physics. Though most up-and-coming Neo-Victorian scientists prefer to study the rapidly growing fields of alchemy, galvanics, and parapsychology, natural science remains extremely important.
*Parapsychology*is the study of supernormal, spectral and psychical manifestations. A parapsychologist will be conversant with the standard classifications of spirits and of psychical manifestation, and he will be able to determine the safest and most efficient means for dealing with a supernormal threat. He will be trained in the use of aethertech equipment and will be able to perform minor repairs and troubleshooting on this equipment.
Components and Ingredients.
In Unhallowed Metropolis, the investigation of Science! requires having the right sort of material to experiment with. The sorts of items they are depend on your characters Method and Scientific fields, and will be detailed in your brief.
Items (or even other characters!) that can be used for Devices and experiments will normally be attached to a label or sticker, however you should feel free to approach a gamesmaster with additional suggestions.
These items need to be processed into components to make them useable for the purposes of Science! Tradesmen can turn ingredients into these sorts of components, but the appropriate Academics skill is required to identify the component and specify what it can be made into. (Or to put it another way, it's not enough to know that Diamond would make an excellent component in a Lockhart Aetherpulse Cannon, someone has to cut the diamond into a usable form.) The higher scientist's skill, the more components they'll be able to identify.
A skilled engineer can turn an appropriate object into a scientific component. Components are split into the following types:
- Critical Component
And further split into Fields
It is up to the player how much time they want to spend altering objects, and entirely up to them what tools and pyrotechnics they wish to employ. We strongly encourage players to ham it up as much as possible and have fun with it.
Appropriate objects usually have some sort of interesting explanation; for example, a cylinder made out of rare metals makes a good channel. Shale from the Wastelands may make a fantastic Critical Component for a natural sciences experiment, and zombie heads are typically good for anything. If in doubt, check with a gamesmaster, but the idea here is to have fun and make fantastic looking inventions.
Success! (and Partial Success…)
Unhallowed Metropolis rewards "failed" experimentation.
The table below is an example of how we'll be modelling the random scientific tables from any of the Unhallowed Metropolis books. This section isn't finished yet.


text:
The Answer to the Global Food Shortage?
With severe weather conditions threatening food supplies everywhere, this new research from the Philippines is more important than ever.
Scientists at the International Rice Research Institute are honing in on a gene found in Kasalath rice from India. The gene is called Phosphorous Starvation Tolerance-1, and scientists say that they can breed the gene into other forms of rice – boosting crop yields by 20%.
As scientist, Sigrid Heuer, says, "When we look at the young seedlings, we find that they have a little bit larger root system, at a very early developmental stage. And this enables plants to explore a larger area in the soil, to forage… more phosphorous. And this gives the plant, especially under phosphorous-deficient conditions… a growth advantage."
Better yet, the addition of the phosphorous-boosting gene means that fertilizer isn't as important. So this research could lead to lower production costs down the road, too.


text:
You may also attempt to solve it yourself as a mathematical exercise. Using your own senses, you can see that the illustration is a 7x7 grid with three red squares on it it the positions (3,4), (5,2), and (5,5) depending on how you define your coordinate system. If this drawing were on the $xy$ plane and your camera is on the $z$-axis at a height $h$ and pointing at the origin point(0,0,0), with the $x$-axis horizontal and $y$-axis vertical in your projective image, then what would the camera see?
Now think about how the camera views the image looking at it from different positions. You will have to find the six coordinates describing the camera:
its position in space, $x, y, z$
its orientation in space, however you choose to define it
Try to work out the problem. If you have trouble with it, look at stackoverflow again. Or search for more pages about projective transforms, coordinate transforms, 3-d rendering, ray-tracing, or even the basics of OpenGL (open graphics language) which will help you understand the basics of visual raytracing and projective transformations. A lot of the pages will present matrix representations of the coordinate transforms, which may help you if you understand matrices. But if you don't understand matrices, try to solve it with separate linear transformation equations.


Neil Mason
Analytic Basics: Visitor Surveys
 | January 20, 2009 | Comments
More organizations are using a visitor survey tool on their Web sites lately. Not so long ago, when running workshops I'd asked how many people were running surveys on their sites. Maybe 20 percent of the attendees would put their hands up. These days, it's probably about 50 percent. That crude survey is indicative of the wider adoption of visitor feedback mechanisms as part of the digital analytics toolkit.
Why the increased adoption? First, online survey capabilities across all levels of sophistication are more available. These surveys have become more productized, making them easier for organizations to buy and deploy. Examples within the customer satisfaction measurement space include 4Q, a limited but free survey tool, and ForSee Results and iPerceptions, more enterprise-level products.
Second, organizations realize they can't measure their digital marketing strategies' effectiveness by looking only at clickstream data. Web analytics tools can tell you what happened in terms of visitor behavior and when it happened, but they aren't necessarily the best tools for telling you who did what and why they did it. Survey data can provide this different perspective. By asking people questions about themselves, why they do what they do, and what they think, it's possible to fill in some of the blanks left by the volumes of clickstream data at our disposal.
As with all measurement and analysis tools and systems, the amount of thought and preparation put into configuration and deployment pays dividends later on in terms of the data's quality and robustness. Survey tools are no different. There are various approaches that an organization might take to developing and launching a survey.
First, it may choose to outsource the whole thing to an agency to manage on its behalf. The agency would be responsible for designing the questionnaire, scripting the questionnaire in whichever survey tool they use, deploying the survey, collecting the data, and analyzing results. Most organizations take this approach when doing offline market research, and there's nothing wrong with using the same approach online. The organization's main concern is to ensure the research objectives are clear and aligned to its business objectives, and to ensure the survey is fit for purpose and holds up to brand values. This last point is particularly important, as evidence suggests poorly executed online surveys can damage the brand whether they live on the site or are sent via e-mail. I've been on the receiving end of some surveys where the survey's style was completely at odds with the brand.
Alternatively, an organization could choose to design and manage the survey itself. Today, there is no end of free or cheap survey tools that allow you to run surveys of varying complexity. Quite often a provider will offer a free or low-cost basic version that has limited functionality and data capture and will offer a more expensive, higher-end tool that allows more complex questionnaires to be designed and more responses to be captured.
But remember: just because a tool is free doesn't mean the survey doesn't require the same diligence in its preparation and deployment as a more complex, enterprise-level product. One danger of deploying surveys using cheap tools with little effort invested in them is the surveys look cheap and may have negatively impact user experience and brand perception.
In my next column, I'll outline some tips for maximizing your survey efforts' effectiveness.
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text:
TCP/IP Configuration Manager
netmanager [-f file] [-p num] [-r [interface]] [-s] [-w [interface]]
The netmanager process is used to apply the TCP/IP configuration as described in the configuration file. It's usually run by phlip, or as part of the boot sequence to configure the TCP/IP parameters. You won't generally run netmanager directly; you should use the Photon phlip application to generate the configuration file.
|The netmanager is setuid root, so that it can query the interfaces and display any information. However, it doesn't apply changes unless the real user is root.|
The netmanager uses dhcp.client to support a DHCP configuration. Both phlip and netmanager are compatible with the full TCP/IP stack (npm-tcpip.so) and the tiny TCP/IP stack (npm-ttcpip.so).
Instead of using phlip and netmanager to set TCP/IP parameters, you can use route and ifconfig, for the full stack, and command-line options for the tiny stack. You can also run dhcp.client from the command line.
|Don't use both ways to configure your system.
When applying a configuration, parameters provided by a DHCP server are used before manually configured parameters. If you need to override a configuration parameter that's supplied by the DHCP server (e.g. gateway), use manual mode.
The netmanager uses the _CS_RESOLVE configuration string instead of /etc/resolv.conf, and passes options to dhcp.client and pppd.
If there's no configuration file present, DHCP is used on unconfigured interfaces.
The netmanager can set or get TCP/IP configuration parameters related to:
Write the information for all interfaces in a file:
netmanager -w all -f filename
If no filename is provided, the information is written in /etc/net.cfg.
/etc/autoconnect, dhcp.client, ifconfig, npm-tcpip.so, npm-ttcpip.so, phlip, /etc/resolv.conf, route, slogger.


in an objectified form and that "objectified awareness", what also simultaneously creates duality, limits or taints "God" in seeing objects (or "others') as not ourselves.
 Sri Ramana stressed that it is futile to ponder about the origin of samsara since it is not real in the first place. Instead he uses his famous suggestion to look for that who looks for the origin of samsara. What looks for or believes in an origin of samsara? The mind or ego …. what Sri Ramana described just as a bundle of thoughts. So as soon as a thought like that is not coming up anymore (and all other thoughts which are triggered by vasanas) objectified awareness has evaporated and only pure awareness (or God or "I") remains.
 Samsara is simply a thought, nothing else. A thought is not real, a mysterious phenomenon seemingly created by an interest in (unreal) objects. The funny thing is that objects (as apart from I) only exists in form of a thought. So that what creates seemingly samsara does not exist but gets seemingly caught up in its own creation (the world etc.) ……
 In order that there is an interest in objects there must be first an object, so the object and interest in an object are one and the same since only a thought creates an object. There is the seeming split from One (without a second) into two or duality, an object and a seeming entity with an interest in that object. It simply is an illusion.
 Thus the solution is to discard any upcoming thoughts and just to be (that pure awareness without a thought). As long as one perceives objects as not "I" as long we are still caught up in samsara. According to Sri Ramana, anything you perceive and see is created and projected by your mind. There is truly no other than "I" or Self. That part is the hardest to accept and believe for many spiritual aspirants. It's called 'eka-jiva', there is only one mind, not Billions of minds (like every individual on the planet) as most aspirants assume or believe.
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For the coffee shop company, often called Intelligentsia, for short, see Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea.
The intelligentsia (from Russian: интеллигенция from Latin: intelligentia) is a social class of people engaged in complex mental and creative labor directed to the development and dissemination of culture, encompassing intellectuals and social groups close to them (e.g., artists and school teachers). The term has been borrowed from the Russian language, a transliteration of "интеллигенция". Initially the term was applied mostly in the context of Russia and later Soviet Union, and had a narrower meaning based on a self-definition of a certain category of intellectuals.
History of the notion
The notion of an intellectual elite as a distinguished social stratum can be traced far back in history. Examples are the philosopher-kings and guardians of Plato's Republic and monks in medieval Europe, who are now seen as custodians of history and culture.
Use of the term "intelligentsia" is first reported to have occurred in the Russian Empire in the first half of the 19th century. For example, the word was casually used in the diaries of Vasily Zhukovsky, dated to 1836. In Poland, or more precisely in Greater Poland (which then was a part of the Kingdom of Prussia) the term was popularised in a sense close to the present one by Polish philosopher Karol Libelt, and became widespread in Polish science after the publication of his O miłości ojczyzny (On Love of the Motherland) in 1844, in which he defines "inteligencja" to be those well-educated members of the population who undertake to lead the people as scholars, teachers, clergy, engineers, and who guide for the reason of their higher enlightenment. The term was also popularised by a Russian writer, Pyotr Boborykin, in the 1860s, who proclaimed himself the "godfather" of the notion in 1904. From there it came into English and several other languages. In English this word is often applied to the "intelligentsia" in Central European and Eastern European countries in the 19th and 20th centuries. The distinction was based on the economic and cultural situation of intellectuals in these countries and is different from that in Western Europe or North America.
The emergence of elite classes of intellectuals or well-educated people had been observed in other European countries (e.g., "intellectuels" in France and "Gebildete" in Germany). However, there were important distinctions observed in the lands of the Russian Empire. These differences were caused by various historical processes, whose influence still is disputed by historians. The presence of long-lasting autocratic regimes or national suppression in this region, or a low level of general education in these countries in the 19th century, are among these. This situation motivated local intellectuals to elaborate a system of common values and a sense of mutual sympathy.
After the Partitions of Poland, Polish society remained divided into nobles—the surprisingly numerous class known as szlachta—and peasants. The political and cultural influence of the cities was small in relation to Western Europe, though this influence was growing. The need for educated specialists created a new class of educated people: hired professionals, such as clerks, physicians, and lawyers. They were recruited mainly from among former nobles, but increasingly from the urbanized classes.
The Polish intelligentsia specifically was considered the backbone of the modern Polish nation. Members of the intelligentsia were well aware of their social status and of their duties, of which working for the country and patriotism were considered the most important. A considerable part of the Polish intelligentsia was massacred either by the Germans or Soviets during World War II.
Today, the notion of the Polish intelligentsia has eroded, since, following widespread higher education, the "intelligentsia" has ceased to be an isolated social class. The values associated with intelligentsia, the values of an educated life, are strong in Polish society, though they are far less associated with a nationalistic movement today than in previous centuries.
Imperial Russia
Russian intelligentsia had a similar mixture of messianism and intellectual elitism.
Russian Marxists' perspective
In the ideology of Bolsheviks, intelligentsia is not a real class; its status is described by the Russian word "prosloyka", which is normally translated as "stratum," but in this context bears a deteriorative nuance. In other words, intelligentsia does not have a "real" place in the structure of the society: it is a midlayer between "toilers" and "exploiters". Intelligentsia grows by means of "recruiting" from among the people of labor, but its produce, i.e., the produce of its intellectual labor is just a sort of goods ordered and paid by the exploiter class. Hence its independence is a mere ideological illusion, and in fact intelligentsia is by large a class of "lackeys" of bourgeoisie and landowners. While de facto being an exploited category, en masse it lacks the revolutionary drive. Ironically, this theory was put forth by the representatives of intelligentsia itself, notably Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky among many others. In particular, Lenin is famous for his caustic remark that "[the] intelligentsia is not the 'brain of the nation', it is the'shit of the nation'".
Soviet Union
The Russian Revolution polarized the Russian intelligentsia, together with all other strata of the society. Some of them emigrated, some joined the White movement, some joined Bolsheviks (and some were Bolsheviks from the very beginning), some tried to oppose Bolsheviks within the political framework of Soviet Russia, some remained passive. Eventually Bolsheviks got rid of all opponents by various means ranging from forced deportation to execution. The remaining intelligentsia was supposed to serve "the cause of working class". While the importance of this class was not underestimated, it was treated with reservation.
In the late Soviet Union the term "intelligentsia" acquired a formal definition of mental and cultural workers. More specifically, there were categories of "scientific-technical intelligentsia" (научно-техническая интеллигенция) and "creative intelligentsia" (творческая интеллигенция). Teachers and lawyers were considered "intelligentsia" as well, but the corresponding adjectives to the word "intelligentsia" were used rarely. And of course, the ruling class was officially nameless: the terms nomenklatura and apparat were semi-formal: they were used in working documents, but not in the legal ones.
Broader usage
Some authors use the term "intelligentsia" in reference to intellectuals and certain upper middle class professionals, whose main task is to create and distribute knowledge.
Max Weber considered intelligentsia to be a major category essentially distinct from other social categories, both in terms of attributes and interests. In his major work, Economy and Society he used this term in arbitrary chronological and geographical frames, e.g., he wrote that "this Christian preoccupation with the formulation of dogmas was in Antiquity particularly influenced by the distinctive character of "intelligentsia", which was the product of Greek education When formulating major social classes of his time, Weber combines intelligentsia with other social categories, e.g., he defines a major class consisting of "the propertyless intelligentsia and specialists (technicians, various kinds of white-collar employees, civil servants – possible with considerable social differences depending on the cost of their training)" and yet other "classes privileged through property and education".
See also
 - Boborykin, P.D. Russian Intelligentsia In: Russian Thought, 1904, # 12 (In Russian; Боборыкин П.Д. Русская интеллигенция// Русская мысль. 1904. №12;)
 - Zhukovsky V. A. From the Diaries of Years _PHONE_, In: Our Heritage, Moscow, #32, 1994. (In Russian; Жуковский В.А. Из дневников 1827–1840 гг. // Наше наследие. М., 1994. №32.)
 - The record dated by February 2, 1836 says: "Через три часа после этого общего бедствия... осветился великолепный Энгельгардтов дом, и к нему потянулись кареты, все наполненные лучшим петербургским дворянством, тем, которые у нас представляют всю русскую европейскую интеллигенцию" ("After three hours after this common disaster... the magnificent Engelhardt's house was lit up and coaches started coming, filled with the best Peterburg dvoryanstvo, the ones who represent here the best Russian European intelligentsia.") The casual, i.e., no-philosophical and non-literary context, suggests that the word was in common circulation.
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Economic Concepts Poster Contest
Economics Concepts Poster Contest
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
Teachers of grades 1-8 use the Poster Contest to stimulate students' interest in the fundamentals of our economic system. The program also helps students learn about the economy and have fun doing it, while creatively demonstrating their understanding of the economy.
On average, 3,000 students participate in the program each year, gaining a better understanding of basic economic concepts by depicting them as artwork!
Students represent in a color drawing, one of six basic economic concepts. Teachers submit their entries to a regional contest in which twelve winners are selected, along with at least twelve honorable mention entries. Entries are judged on accuracy of concept representation and originality.
See the list of regional contests, and find out which one you should enter, on the How to Enter page.
The top twenty-four entries from each regional contest advance to the state competition from which twelve drawings are selected as state winners. Each year, a twelve-month color calendar is produced from the twelve state winners' drawings, and distributed in the fall of the year.
At both the regional and state levels, winning students receive monetary awards and certificates. Teachers also receive recognition. Regional contests may culminate in a reception for students, teachers and family.


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This certificate focuses on the culture and care of trees, providing a sound foundation for any working or hoping to work with tree establishment or maintenance. Unlike many other courses in arboriculture, this course also provides a broad foundation across all aspects of horticulture.
Work with trees the lungs of the world.
To work in the challenging and stimulating arboriculture industry you need fundamental knowledge and understanding of trees, their amenity value and their indisputable value to the environment. Such knowledge includes the maintenance and management of trees; tree assessment for health, monetary or environmental value, fundamentals of planting, transplanting, pruning, site planning, identification and treatment of pests diseases, nutritional and other disorders, tree surgery, aftercare and advice and tree removal.
Trees are the longest living organisms on earth, they benefit the community and improve our quality of life in almost immeasurable ways. They create the oxygen we breathe, reduce air and water pollution and uptake water to help reduce storm water run-off. They also provide shade, beauty, sound barriers, windbreaks and reduce summer urban heat.
If a tree is growing in a favourable environment and its genetic make-up also favours that environment it will be healthy and grow to optimum size and shape. A knowledgeable arborist understands that this is not always the case and sometimes, through environmental or other factors, trees will need help. They will also know that working with trees is about more then felling them; once a tree is removed it cannot be put back! Arborists are there to encourage and maintain healthy, growing trees where at all possible; their work therefore has an important role in the community.
Opportunities in this growing industry include employment in private specialist contracting businesses, self-employment, local and state government positions. Activities include the maintenance and care of trees and large shrubs in private gardens, public parks, reserves, bushland reserves, recreational areas, industrial complexes, housing estates and institutions.
Use the link below ('read more') to view more comprehensive details on this course.


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Helper API Security
This topic describes security issues associated with XMLHTTP and ServerXMLHTTP. In addition, it provides some guidance for mitigating security exposure.
The following sections provide information about Helper API security, with an emphasis on XMLHTTP.
Use XMLHTTP Only on the Client
XMLHTTP should only be used on the client. Because XMLHTTP is marked safe for scripting, you call XMLHTTP from a script that is executed in the client-side Internet browser. Remember, you can use XMLHTTP and ServerXMLHTTP in any arbitrary script, inside or outside the browser. XMLHTTP is not safe for server-side implementation. Using XMLHTTP on the server means that you would use XMLHTTP via JScript, VBScript, C++, ASP, or ASP.NET. XMLHTTP is not thread-safe - it doesn't work for multi-threaded scenarios. If you use XMLHTTP, you will not receive an error, but your script may not perform properly. If you need XMLHTTP functionality on the server, you should use ServerXMLHTTP, not XMLHTTP.
XMLHTTP Uses Cached Credentials
XMLHTTP uses cached credentials if the user does not provide new credentials for every open method call in scenarios where specific credentials are used. Kiosk-style applications using XMLHTTP for multiple users that share a single login should always ensure that they terminate the Internet Explorer process when a user finishes a session. Furthermore, kiosk-style applications should never display the address bar as part of the application.
Set the Site Object to Prevent Cross-Site and Cross-Domain Attacks
When using XMLHTTP outside of Internet Explorer, it is important to set the Site object to prevent cross-site and cross-domain access on calls to the open Method (IXMLHTTPRequest). If the Site object is set, on redirects the redirect target is automatically checked against the initial Open request, and the standard cross-zone and cross-domain checks are applied.
In Internet Explorer scripting scenarios, the Site is set by Internet Explorer.
Validate the URL Before Calling Open in XMLHTTP
You should not accept untrusted data to construct a URL when calling the Open method. You should validate the data first, making sure that the user is allowed to enter only approved addresses. This is particularly important in scenarios outside of Internet Explorer when the Site object is not set, where it is up to you to prevent cross-domain and cross-site attacks.
Spoofing and Best-Fit Character Attacks
In spoofing attacks, an attacker attempts to craft information that dupes software to accept the information, such as an HTTP request, as coming from a trusted third party. One approach is for the attacker to construct a URL, perhaps using escaped characters, so that it looks like a URL to a trusted site, when in fact it is a URL to a site that has been set up with malicious intent. Another method is to use best-fit character attacks, where higher order characters in a string resource are mapped to lower order characters by certain programming interfaces, either by accident or deliberately. For example, an attacker might submit a URL to a site micrõsoft.com, with the intent that it be interpreted as microsoft.com.
Both types of attacks might be used by an attacker to dupe host identity, probe for string processing vulnerabilities in a system, or as part of a phishing attack. A phishing attack is one where an attacker pretends to be from a trusted source. Typically, it involves an attempt to fool the user into entering user names, passwords, and other private information.
XMLHTTP and ServerXMLHTTP do not validate string input, including the HTTP Verb and URL, submitted in the Open() method call. If your application completely controls the URLs which are passed to XMLHTTP or ServerXMLHTTP methods, including request headers and query string, you might not be vulnerable to this class of attacks. You are vulnerable if you permit URLs or portions of URLs from an untrusted source, including user input.
The ServerXMLHTTP and XMLHTTP components follow strict rules to permit or deny redirects. Note that the general behaviors described below might change with Internet Explorer or Windows security settings. The principle rules are the following:
For ServerXMLHTTP, there is no zone redirect checking when in asynchronous mode.
To mitigate Redirect-based DoS attacks, XMLHTTP and ServerXMLHTTP components implement redirect limits.
Redirects are typically permitted from zones of greater security to zones of equal and lesser security. For example, a redirect from a resource in the Intranet zone to Internet zone should succeed.
Redirects are not permitted from zones of lesser security to zones of greater security. For example, a redirect from a resource in the Internet zone to the My Computer zone should fail.
Redirects are not permitted across networking protocols.
Redirects are not permitted across network domains.
Strictness in MSXML 6.0 May Prevent Some Applications from Working
IE defines five zones - MyComputer, Trusted Sites, Local intranet, Internet, and Restricted Sites. There are a number of rules regarding how a site in one zone can reference a site in another zone. For example, a site on the Internet can't reference a document on the Local intranet. In IE, and for applications that set the site explicitly, MSXML 6.0 is strict about URL redirection, and may prevent some user scenarios. In order to work around the security restrictions, the user can add the machine doing the redirection to the list of trusted sites on the machine where the redirection is taking place.
Error Messages May Reveal Data
The description of an error may reveal data. Error messages should not be exposed to callers that are not trusted. You should catch all errors and report errors with your own custom error messages.
The following sections provide information specific to ServerXMLHTTP.
Use ServerXMLHTTP Only on the Server
ServerXMLHTTP should not be hosted in the browser; it is not marked safe for scripting.
Use HTTPS to Provide Encryption for Sensitive Data
ServerXMLHTTP does not provide any encryption by default. You should use HTTPS connections to encrypt sensitive data during transmission.
Response Packages Are Insecure
Response packages are generally not secure (responseXML Property (ServerXMLHTTP/IServerXMLHTTPRequest), responseBody Property (ServerXMLHTTPRequest/IServerXMLHTTPRequest), and responseText Property (ServerXMLHTTP/IServerXMLHTTPRequest)). ServerXMLHTTP is used to retrieve information from other sites on the internet. When you retrieve data using it, you should know that the source of your information is trustworthy. Further, after using a response package, you should check for malicious data (both size and content). The ServerXMLHTTP object does not check for denial of service threats or bad data returned from response packages. ServerXMLHTTP should not be used to load untrusted XML in applications where denial of service is a concern.
No Secure-Base-URL Checking for Redirects
ServerXMLHTTP does not provide secure-base-URL checking for redirects. You should be aware that, when accessing untrusted locations with MSXML 6.0 ServerXMLHTTP or MSXML 3.0 ServerXMLHTTP in asynchronous mode, there are no checks on redirects. There are checks on the initial Open (both for the Open call and for any external references within the instance).
Spoofing and Best-Fit Character Attacks
ServerXMLHTTP is vulnerable to both spoofing attacks and best-fit character attacks. For more details, see the discussion under XMLHTTP, earlier in this topic.


Cold comfort for the perfect human body
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SCIENTISTS are searching for the perfect human body. When they find it, they will preserve every square inch forever in an American computer version of Gray's Anatomy. That is the good news. The bad is that they will have to freeze the body solid then slowly grind it to pieces, writes Steve Connor.
The National Library of Medicine in Washington DC is in charge of the first attempt to put a human body, accurate in every anatomical detail, into digital form, called the Visible Human Project. Medical students will practise dissection on computer screens, instead of messing about with scalpels, saws and corpses. Abnormal growths and cancerous tumours could be programmed into the software, giving medics an opportunity to experiment on apparently real diseases. To create the computer image, the scientists propose to photograph about 1,700 cross-sections of a body, starting at the top of the head and ending at the soles of the feet. They will use a milling machine that works like a carpenter's plane, grinding away'slices' a millimetre thick.
All they need is the right bodies - one male, one female - aged between 25 and 55 and perfectly average in height and build. Race, they say, is immaterial. Just as important, candidates should have been put in a fridge within 12 hours of death and must have no alterations tointernal or external physique - victims of violent accidents are ruled out.
After 18 months, the scientists have come up with only three male candidates and no females.
Michael Ackerman, associate director of specialised information, promises that the resulting remains - a bag of chilly dust - will be treated with respect: 'We will collect it and return it to the deceased's relatives.'