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The PreTRM® Test is Now Commercially Available to Predict Risk Early in Pregnancy
SALT LAKE CITY, March 10, 2016 – Sera Prognostics, Inc., a women's healthcare company, today announced that clinical validation data from the 5,501 patient Proteomic Assessment of Preterm Risk (PAPR) study were published online in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology. The article presents the performance in a rigorous clinical validation of Sera's PreTRM® test for objectively and accurately predicting the risk of spontaneous preterm birth (sPTB) in asymptomatic pregnant women as early as 19 weeks of pregnancy.
The PreTRM test, now commercially available nationwide, is the first and only clinically validated blood test of its kind, based on a large prospective clinical study that is representative of single birth pregnancies occurring in the U.S.
Premature birth (defined as birth before 37 weeks) is the leading cause of death for newborns worldwide. According to the Centers for Disease Control and the March of Dimes, each year in the United States, approximately one in ten babies are born too early, and more than half of these premature babies are born to mothers with no known risk factors. In premature infants who survive, prematurity is a leading cause of long-term medical complications, including learning disabilities, cerebral palsy, chronic respiratory illness, intellectual disability, seizures, and vision and hearing loss. The costs of treating complications of premature birth in the U.S. were greater than $26B in 2005, with current costs estimated to be much higher.
"To date, physicians have had limited tools and methods to identify women who are at increased risk of preterm birth. The two best traditional predictors, prior preterm birth history or short cervical length, identify only a small percentage of women who deliver early. The great majority of women delivering prematurely present in labor, when options for managing their pregnancies are late and quite restricted," said John Elliott, MD, maternal-fetal medicine expert and Medical Director, Valley Perinatal Services, Phoenix, AZ. "The data supporting the PreTRM test, now published in AJOG, give clinicians confidence that this test can help identify a high percentage of these women who are at increased risk early in pregnancy before symptoms occur. Using the PreTRM test provides information I need to be proactive with pregnancies at increased risk and make more informed decisions in managing those pregnancies."
The PAPR study validated a signature based on two proteins that are highly predictive of preterm birth risk: IBP4, insulin-like growth factor binding protein 4, and SHBG, sex-hormone binding globulin, using a novel proteomic approach, and rigorously adhering to the authoritative Institute of Medicine guidelines for Omics prediction development. The outstanding performance of the proprietary classifier was independently validated, achieving an area under the ROC curve of 0.75 for delivery occurring before 37 weeks of pregnancy, and higher performance for predicting delivery occurring earlier (before 36 or 35 weeks of pregnancy), achieving statistical significance for each of the three predictions. These validation results show that the PreTRM test is statistically accurate in predicting the risk of sPTB in pregnant women as early as 19 weeks of pregnancy.
"As a company, Sera Prognostics is focused on addressing the enormous economic and healthcare burden that premature birth places on infants, their families and societies around the world." said Gregory Critchfield, M.D., CEO of Sera Prognostics. "We believe that the PreTRM test will become an important tool to identify women at high risk of delivering prematurely, so that earlier, proactive interventions become possible. Early in pregnancy, the PreTRM test improves the ability of doctors to determine who is at high risk, helping them to make more informed decisions in managing the risks of women who need greater attention. Building on Sera's innovative approaches, we are committed to improving neonatal health globally, through our direct participation in scientific studies, both in the U.S. and in underserved countries."
About the Proteomic Assessment of Preterm Risk (PAPR) Study
The PAPR study enrolled 5,501 pregnant women at 11 sites in the U.S. between 2011 and 2013. Sera scientists identified an optimal gestational age window during pregnancy at weeks 19 and 20, in which a two-protein signature (IBP4 and SHBG) was found to be highly predictive of spontaneous preterm birth. Following the discovery, verification and final development of the signature, the PreTRM test was validated in blood samples taken from an independent group of women. The results showed excellent prediction of preterm birth occurring before 37 weeks of pregnancy, and even higher predictive performance for delivery occurring before 36 and 35 weeks of pregnancy.
About Preterm Birth
According to the March of Dimes, globally preterm birth affects 15 million infants each year, with 1 million deaths occurring from prematurity. Of the 4 million babies born annually in the United States, approximately one in ten is born prematurely. Preterm birth is defined as any birth before 37 weeks gestation, and is the leading cause of illness and death in newborns. Preterm birth is associated with significantly increased risks of major long-term medical complications, including learning disabilities, cerebral palsy, chronic respiratory illness, intellectual disability, seizures, and vision difficulties and hearing loss. The complications from preterm birth can also extend beyond the first year of life, and can generate significant costs throughout the lives of affected children.
About the PreTRM® Test
The PreTRM test is an innovative new blood test that provides an early and individual risk prediction for spontaneous preterm birth in asymptomatic, singleton pregnancies. The PreTRM test can help physicians identify early in the pregnancy (during weeks 19 and 20 of gestation) which women are at increased risk for early delivery, enabling more informed management decisions based on each women's individual risk. Using proteomic technology, the PreTRM test measures and analyzes proteins in the blood that are predictive of preterm birth. Better understanding of the proteins expressed in pregnancy may lead to understanding the causes of preterm birth and making further advancements in prolonging gestational age and improving newborn outcomes.
For more information about the PreTRM® test, please visit _URL_ and the PreTRM test YouTube Channel. You can also join the conversation on Facebook and _USER_.
About Sera Prognostics, Inc.
Sera Prognostics is a private biotechnology company developing innovative diagnostic tests designed for the early prediction of preterm birth risk and other pregnancy complications. Sera's tests are designed to help better inform the care of a mother and her unborn child during pregnancy, and potentially lead to improved health. The company has assembled a strong management team and Board of Directors with significant clinical development and women's healthcare diagnostic experience. The Company is supported by a strong group of investors, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Chione, Ltd, Domain Associates, InterWest Partners, Catalyst Health Ventures, UpStart Life Sciences Capital, and Osage University Partners. The Company is working with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to translate its discoveries and develop technologies to benefit women and infants in underserved countries worldwide. Sera Prognostics is located in Salt Lake City, Utah. For more information, please visit the company's website at _URL_.


Reusing and repurposing common objects around the house is a great way to keep quality activities inexpensive. All you need for this one is an empty milk jug and some small toys or objects to keep your child engaged while helping them develop their fine motor skills.
 1. Wash out a plastic milk jug and cut the top off. The hole should be large enough for your child to comfortably and easily put small objects into it.
 1. Cut a hole in the side of the jug. The hole should be large enough for your child to easily pull objects out.
 1. Show your child how to drop objects (like small blocks, milk jug lids, or pieces of fabric) in the top part of the jug. Then show them how they can reach in the side hole to get the object back.
 1. Talk to your child about what's happening with the objects in the milk jug to help them understand simple cause and effect. For example, "You dropped the block into the milk jug. Where is the block now? Can you find the block? Oh, there it is!"
 1. Encourage your child to keep practicing!


What you need to know about the wheel visualizer
In this video, we'll explain the wheel visualization engine that powers Visual Basic for Applications and Wheel Visualizer, an Excel application for visualizing data using a wheel.
The visualizer takes a list of wheel data points, places them on a screen, and shows the visualization on a graph.
We'll cover the wheel data analysis, data visualization basics, and how to create custom wheel visualizations in this video.
This is a video series about Visual Basic visualizations, and we're offering it at no charge to our customers.
If you want to try Visual Basic, but don't have access to a computer or a network connection, then this video is the one for you.
Download the video: 1.
What is the wheel Visualizer?
The wheel Visualization engine is a powerful tool that enables visualizing wheel data in a variety of formats, including visual graphs, pie charts, and charts.
In this tutorial, we show you how to use the wheel to visualize data using data in Visual Basic.
We explain how to format data in the Visual Basic data files, as well as how to insert data into the data using the Insert menu.
To learn more about wheel visualization, we also show you what data visualization can look like using the VBA and Visual Basic Editor in Visual Studio.
To view the video, go to Visual Studio, go into Tools, and then click File.
This video is available for free to our members.
You can find more information about Visual Studio at Visual Studio Help.
If the video does not load, click the gear icon to the left of the video title to view the fullscreen version of the page.
You will also see a progress bar at the bottom of the screen, indicating how long it will take to load.
We recommend that you click the "Download" button to save the video to your computer.
You'll also notice that we've added a download link for the video at the end of this video as well.
When you're finished, click on the blue "Save" button at the top of the Video page.
After you save, the video will download to your PC. 2.
Why use a wheel visualization?
There are several reasons why you might want to use a visualizer in your wheel visualization.
The first is for performance reasons.
A visualizer is faster to load and run than an Excel spreadsheet or other spreadsheet that uses the same data format.
You don't need to worry about formatting or tabbing data into a column, and the visualization can run on your machine without any network connectivity.
In addition, a visualizers visualizations are generally much faster to produce, as they only require a single wheel data point to run.
The next reason is for aesthetics.
If your data visualization is simple, like a bar chart or bar graph, then a visualizing engine is usually more appropriate than an actual data visualizer.
You're usually not interested in having a visually stunning visual that looks like a graphic, but a visually pleasing visualization that looks pretty and is easier to understand.
For example, a bar graph or bar chart visualizer can be very complicated, and it can take a lot of time to get it to run on a computer.
In contrast, a wheel visualization lets you quickly build a visual that can be quickly visualized.
The third reason is to avoid having to deal with data in different formats.
If a visualized data source has a variety and variety of data types, a graphical visualization of that data can make it hard to visualise all of the data in each of the different data types.
Visualizing data in visual formats helps make data visual easier to visualize in different ways.
For more information, see the Visualization Engine Overview.
How do I create my own wheel visualizers?
To create your own visualizations using Visual Basic and the wheel, you can use the VB.exe file editor or the Visual Studio Tools menu item to create a new Visual Basic application.
If Visual Basic isn't already installed on your computer, you'll need to install it first.
To create a Visual Basic Visualizer from the Visual Solution Explorer, go back to the VisualSolution Explorer window and select the Visual Application.
In the Visual application window, click File and click New.
This will create a New Visual Application, and when it finishes, it will open a window named New Visual Solution.
On the New Visual Project, select the data source data type that you want the visualizer to visualizes, and click OK.
If all went well, you should see a list called "Data" on the right-hand side of the Visual solution window.
This list contains data types for which you can visualize the visualization, and for which the Visualizer can create the visualizations.
How to create your custom visualizations article The Visual Basic language and data visualization language are two different versions of the same programming language.
The language used to create the code
Video game visualizers: A step-by-step guide to visualizing games
This article is about visualizers, a set of tools to create games.
It's a subject that's come up in several video game communities recently.
I'm going to talk about some of the tools and what you need to do to make your own, and how to use them.
I can't recommend visualizers enough.
They have a large community and a wide range of tools available to them.
They're extremely versatile and they can be used to create anything from simple video game scenes to complex animations.
In fact, visualizers can even be used for some of today's biggest gaming titles.
I think it's really important to start with the basics and then move onto the more advanced features and tricks.
So what are visualizers?
Visualizers are basically tools for creating games.
They work like this: you create an image of a game, then you use a tool like the Wireshark software to record the frames of the game.
It takes a few seconds to record a frame of a video game and then you save the captured image to a file.
You can then use a program like Final Cut Pro to make the game look as good as it can.
There are a few visualizers out there and they're all designed to work with one or more video game engines, like FinalCut Pro X, Adobe Premiere, or Final Cut Studio.
The most popular visualizers are Unity and Photoshop, which are both great.
Unity is the popular tool, and it's easy to learn and very versatile.
For example, I've found Unity to work great with games like Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance.
There's also the Free Edition of Unity that includes a few advanced features like the ability to create 3D graphics, animations, and even live tiles.
There are also the Visual Studio and Unity plugins that allow you to make games with more advanced tools, like animation effects and music.
But the thing is that all of these tools are free, and that means they're free to use, so there's nothing to worry about.
Visualizers are just tools for making games.
The only requirement is that you have a computer with a powerful enough graphics card and enough memory to do all of the processing that goes into making your game.
You'll need to use an internet connection to access these tools, and I strongly suggest that you use one that supports at least 4G.
That's because some of these visualizers won't work with a connection that doesn't support 4G, and 4G-only connections will result in slow frame rates and low quality.
You also have to understand that if you're creating a game using these visualizer tools, you're making it on the web, so if you want to make sure that you're not breaking the law or breaking the site you're hosting, you'll need a web browser with JavaScript enabled.
For this reason, the Visualizer tools are a little tricky to use on the iPhone.
If you're using an older browser like Chrome, you won't be able to use the web visualizer on the iPad, but it'll work on the new iPad with a JavaScript enabled browser.
If that doesn
Why the GOP will not go into the winter with a $1 trillion debt limit increase
The House passed a $19 trillion spending bill Friday night that will give the House the power to raise the nation's debt limit through the end of the month.
The measure was backed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
The House is expected to vote on the measure Wednesday.
Democrats were disappointed, but Democrats did not want to risk the possibility of a government shutdown in the middle of the year.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said that the GOP is playing politics with the American people and that it is "unprecedented and irresponsible" to put the nation into a default.
"Republicans are playing politics," Pelosi said on CNN.
"They're putting the blame for a shutdown on the American public."
Republicans have been urging President Donald Trump to use the threat of a shutdown to negotiate a new debt ceiling deal with Democrats.
Republicans argue that their strategy will not only keep the government funded but also allow them to pass tax cuts, increase the size of the debt limit and negotiate an extension of the federal government's borrowing authority.
"We don't need a shutdown, we need a deal," House Speaker Paul Ryan, R of Wisconsin, told Fox News Friday.
"And we're working with the Senate, we're doing the best we can to get a deal done, and that's what we're trying to do."
Ryan said the president will likely make a decision on whether to use his power to negotiate new debt limit increases by March 10, but he added that the decision is a "long shot."
"There's no chance of him actually raising the debt ceiling," Ryan said.
"But there is a chance he could negotiate a deal.


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- Section 1: Organizational Units - Administrative
- A. (Administrative) Divisions: Administrative divisions are the broadest groupings of organization on the WNC campus. A vice president, who reports directly to the college president, is the head of each division. There are presently four Divisions: "Academic and Student Affairs," "Finance and Administration," "Human Resources and Legal Services" and "Institutional Advancement." Administrative divisions are usually referred to as "divisions."
- 1. Under the Academic and Student Affairs administrative division, there are additional administrative divisions. They include (but are not limited to) "Student Services" and "Instruction." These are functionally similar to academic divisions in that there is a dean that reports to the Academic and Student Affairs division. Under the Instruction division are academic divisions (see below) instead of administrative departments.
- B. (Administrative) Departments: Administrative Departments are non-academic organizational areas of the college. A director or coordinator heads each department who usually reports to an administrative division or another administrative department. Some departments may report directly to the president instead. Administrative departments are usually referred to as "departments."
- Section 2: Organizational Units - Academic
- A. (Academic) Division: A collection of departments that grant degrees in particular fields.i These are the broadest divisions of academic areas. An Academic Director, who reports to the dean of instruction under the division of Academic and Student Affairs, heads each academic division. There are presently five divisions: "Business & Technology," "Communications & Fine Arts," "Nursing & Allied Health," "Science, Mathematics & Engineering," "Social Science, Education, Humanities & Public Service." Academic divisions may be referred to as "division" when in context of academic areas.
- B. (Academic) Discipline: Academic disciplines are distinct areas of study, branch of instruction, or academic field.ii At WNC, academic disciplines are individual areas of instruction and are directly supervised by the academic divisions (or department if there is a designated department head). There are currently more than 40 academic disciplines on campus, including history, philosophy, music, Italian, etc. Academic disciplines may have an appointed "lead faculty" that oversees the academic discipline. Academic disciplines may be referred to as "discipline." All academic disciplines have a three or four letter designation, such as ACC for accounting, or MUS for music.
- Section 3: Programs, Specializations, and Degrees
- A. Degrees: the award given to graduates based on educational level. The basic levels include associate degree, bachelor's degree, master's degree, and doctorate.iii This is the terminal result of a degree program.
- 1. Programs: An academic title that signifies completion of a [program] of study.iv There are four degrees programs of study that WNC currently offers: Associate of Arts (AA), Associate of Science (AS), Associate of Applied Science (AAS), Associate of General Studies (AGS).
- a. Emphasis: Emphasis refers to individual programs of study within a broader program, such as Associate of Arts, Computer Science Emphasis.
- b. Specializations: Specializations are a specific area or branch of study within a student's [Emphasis]. For example: a student majoring in [Associate of Applied Science in Web Technology] may choose to pursue an emphasis (i.e. option or concentration) in [Web Administration].v Specializations are smaller divisions of emphasis.
- c. Certificate Programs: An award made for satisfactory completion of a certain level of skill in an occupational curriculum.vi
- B. Non-Degree Programs: Non-Degree programs are programs of study that do not end with the award of a degree
- 1. Transfer Programs: Are programs of study similar to a degree program but do not carry a degree. Instead these programs are designed to facilitate transferring of credits to another institution degree program.
- 2. Special Academic Programs: There are various Special Academic Programs. These have neither a degree nor certificate, but usually lead towards a certification or other industry accepted academic standing.
- 3. Certification and Licensing Preparation: Are non-degree programs of study designed to help students take external certification or licensing exams. No degree, certificate or license is awarded
- Section 4: Courses and Sections
- A. Courses: A single instructional subject commonly described by title, number, and credits in the college catalog or bulletin.vii There may be multiple "sections" of a course in any one semester.
- 1. Courses are referred to by their course number. As each course is under a specific academic discipline, the course number starts with the academic disciplines three or four letter designation, followed by a three or four digit to differentiate a specific course. For example, ACC 201 refers to "Financial Accounting," while BUS 101 refers to "Intro to Business."
- B. Classes or Sections: Classes, or Sections, refer to the individual courses being taught and are listed in the schedule of classes.
- 1. Classes are referred to by the course number followed by a one letter and two digit number. The first letter refers to the "location" of the class. For example, C01 would be the first section of a particular course on the Carson campus, D03 would be the third section of a particular course at the Douglas campus, and W02 would be the second section taught on the web.
- 2. Classes are also assigned individual call numbers, which is a five-digit number that starts with the semester it is being offered. For example, a 32005 number would be a fall semester call number while 18635 would be a spring semester call number.
i NSHE Procedures and Guidelines Manual, Section 7, Chapter 6
ii NSHE Procedures and Guidelines Manual, Section 7, Chapter 6
iii NSHE Procedures and Guidelines Manual, Section 7, Chapter 6
iv Western Nevada College Catalog 2006-2007
v NSHE Procedures and Guidelines Manual, Section 7, Chapter 6
vi Western Nevada College Catalog 2006-2007
vii Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges, Accreditation Handbook

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


How to Convert BTU to GPM
eHow may earn compensation through affiliate links in this story.
Things You'll Need
 - Calculator
 - Thermometer
 - BTU/Hour rating of your device
You can derive GPM from BTU/hour with a calculator.
The amount of heat exchange in a heating or refrigeration system can be expressed in British Thermal Units (BTU) per hour. This unit of measurement is valid when considering either the amount of thermal energy absorbed in a heating process or the amount of energy rejected in a cooling process. The BTU/Hour measurement of a device is related to the gallons per minute of liquid flow in the device, and the two units of measurement can be derived from one another with some basic arithmetic.
Step 1
Measure the difference in temperature between the liquid inside and outside of the heat exchanger.
Step 2
Multiply the difference by 500 if the liquid flowing through the device is water, or by 485 if it is antifreeze.
Step 3
Determine the BTU/Hour rating of your device. It should be posted either directly on the device or in the owner's manual.
Step 4
Divide the BTU/Hour rating determined in Step 3 by your result from Step 2 in order to calculate the gallons per minute of flow in your device.


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Diamond Aircraft Industries and the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS) have teamed to fly a Diamond DA42 NG on algae-derived biofuel. The DA42 NG, which is equipped with a pair of Jet-A-burning Austro Engine AE300 engines, was recently flown at the ILA 2010 airshow in Berlin using the new fuel. The result, Diamond and EADS say, was performance equal to that experienced using Jet-A fuel—but a reduction in fuel burn of approximately 1.5 liters (about 1.6 quarts) per hour.
Only minor modifications and adjustments had to be made to the DA42's engines in order for the airplane to use the biofuel during the demonstration flights.
EADS, even though it is not directly involved in fuel production, has been pursuing research for a suitable alternative to fossil fuels. The company believes that algae—more specifically, microalgae—is the most promising source. Microalgae grow rapidly by photosynthesis, absorb greenhouse gas emissions, and create 30 times more biomass volume per cultivation area than, for example, oilseeds such as rapeseed and canola seed. In addition, biofuel from algae has a significantly lower nitrogen and sulfur content compared to fossil fuels. This, in turn, means fewer emissions of those elements during combustion.
EADS is pursuing microalgae fuels as part of its commitment to the 2020 emissions goals set by the Advisory Council for Aeronautics Research in Europe (ACARE). Those goals include carbon dioxide reductions of 50 percent, and nitrogen oxide reductions of 80 percent.


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Wine expert: boxed wine better for the environment
From an op-ed piece by Tyler Cowen in The New York Times.
More than 90 percent of American wine production occurs on the West Coast, but because the majority of consumers live east of the Mississippi, a large part of carbon-dioxide emissions associated with wine comes from simply trucking it from the vineyard to tables on the East Coast. A standard wine bottle holds 750 milliliters of wine and generates about 5.2 pounds of carbon-dioxide emissions when it travels from a vineyard in California to a store in New York. A 3-liter box generates about half the emissions per 750 milliliters. Switching to wine in a box for the 97 percent of wines that are made to be consumed within a year would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about two million tons, or the equivalent of retiring 400,000 cars.
(via Daring Fireball).

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


Posted On: Dec 8, 2020
Today we are introducing Amazon SageMaker Clarify to help machine learning developers achieve greater visibility into their training data and models so they can identify and limit bias and explain predictions.
Amazon SageMaker Clarify detects potential bias during data preparation, after training, and in your deployed model by examining attributes you specify. For instance, you can check for bias related to age in your initial dataset or in your trained model and receive a detailed report that quantifies different types of possible bias. SageMaker Clarify also includes feature importance graphs that help you explain model predictions and produces reports that can be used to support internal presentations or to identify issues with your model that you can take steps to correct.
Amazon SageMaker Clarify is available in all regions where Amazon SageMaker is available and comes at no additional cost. Visit the SageMaker Clarify product page or documentation to learn more.


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The Tribotz is three robots in one!Avoider mode - In this mode, on-board sensors help Tribotz to avoid obstacles. Sound Operating - Sounds dictate the direction of movement in this mode, as Tribotz changes direction in response to sound impulses. Line Tracer mode - On-board sensors enable the robot to follow a line drawn by a felt tipped pen.
The Tribot Robot kit teaches the fundamentals of sensor technology and shows you how it all fits together. Using only basic hand tools (cutting pliers, long nose pliers, and small phillips screwdriver) you can assemble this robot kit for a fun learning experience.
Tribotz can operate in 3 different modes:
Have fun building your own robot and learn about electronics at the same time! By the time you put it all together and watch Tribotz's movements and responses, you'll feel like an engineer!
Power Source: One 9V and two AA batteries Power Consumption: Minimum current is 5mA (with motor on standby. Maximum current is 120mA (while operating motor). Power Voltage: DC 3V Height: 4.4 inches Length: 5.8 inches Width: 6 inches
Recommended for ages 8+.


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n. The set of things a person has to do in the future. One speaks of the next project to be attacked as having risen to the top of the stack. "I'm afraid I've got real work to do, so this'll have to be pushed way down on my stack." "I haven't done it yet because every time I pop my stack something new gets pushed." If you are interrupted several times in the middle of a conversation, "My stack overflowed" means "I forget what we were talking about." The implication is that more items were pushed onto the stack than could be remembered, so the least recent items were lost. The usual physical example of a stack is to be found in a cafeteria: a pile of plates or trays sitting on a spring in a well, so that when you put one on the top they all sink down, and when you take one off the top the rest spring up a bit. See also push
At MIT, PDL
used to be a more common synonym for stack
in all these contexts, and this may still be true. Everywhere else stack
seems to be the preferred term. Knuth
("The Art of Computer Programming", second edition, vol. 1, p. 236) says:
Many people who realized the importance of stacks and queues independently have given other names to these structures: stacks have been called push-down lists, reversion storages, cellars, nesting stores, piles, last-in-first-out ("LIFO") lists, and even yo-yo lists!


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A noble apologist is driven by an active love of God that seeks deeper knowledge of God. Faith seeking understanding. If you are Christian's apologist bloggers who wishes to effectively communicate your worldview in a language, beliefs, values, symbols, traditions and practices that are already familiar to atheists, then reading atheists' blogs could be the key and a treasure mine to help you understand their diverse atheistic worldviews.
As a Christian, who love to learn, think and share reasons for what I believe and why I believe it to be true, reading opposite worldviews and see how they challenge my Christians worldview is an important part of correcting, reforming, changing or abandoning some weak or false perspectives that I hold. It also helps me communicate Christian worldview in a way I can be understood.
Here are 10 stages that will help you enjoy and respectfully engage with atheists bloggers as you read and trying to understand their worldview in their own context, finding the common grounds, challenges, edifying ideas, and provocative positions that will ignite deep thoughts and reflections.
How To Read Atheist's Blogs: Modified Adler & Doren's Method
- Find what the article is about. Find the major subject matter. Define the problem(s) the blogger is trying to solve or setting and try to correctly outline the whole article.
- Come to terms with the blogger by interpreting his key words, grasping leading propositions in his most important sentences.
- Know the blogger's arguments by finding them in, or constructing them out of, sequences of sentences.
- Do not begin criticism until you have completed reading and rereading the article, correctly interpreting the blogger's words, understand and outline his argument. "Do not say you agree, disagree, or suspend judgment, until you can say "I understand."- Mortimer J. Adler
- Do not disagree disputatiously or contentiously.
- Demonstrate that you recognize the difference between knowledge and mere personal opinion by presenting good reasons for any critical judgment you make.
- When criticizing, try to use as few, clear and kind words to show wherein the blogger is uninformed, misinformed, illogical or incomplete.
- Avoid disagreeing on minor details.
- "Pick your battles". Do not comment on the topic you are not familiar with. Study, ponder, and come back when you are familiar with the topic at hand.
- Be quick to point out your own errors. Quick to admit you were wrong, and quick to correct your mistakes.
Remember, a noble apologist seeks proofs of certain doctrine of her faith not for the sake of attaining to faith by means of reason, as Anslem of Canterbury once said, but that she may be delighted by understanding and meditating on those things which she believes and always ready to convince any one who demands of her a reason of that hope which is in her.
Go be a noble apologist who walks in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. May your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person with love, gentleness and compassion for the glory of our risen God. (Col. 4:5-6, 1 Peter 3:15)
Recommended Reading: How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Lincoln Van Doren


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orthodox. Since the rivers in both cities are narrow and often crowded, there is little opportunity for punting "at full pressure", so these variations in stance are of little importance. Nevertheless the traditions are often strongly held; students at Oxford and Cambridge frequently believe that theirs is the only correct style, to the extent that the till end is often known as the 'Cambridge End', and the other as the 'Oxford End'.
The orthodox position may benefit the experienced punter who does have the opportunity of a clear river or who is planning a long day trip.
For the beginner
Rivington recommends that the beginner should:
- Stand near the back of the punt (that is, on the box in Cambridge or on the "swim" in Oxford) and as near to the side as confidence and balance allow, facing over the side of the punt.
- With the forward hand throw the pole vertically down close to the side of the punt, guiding it with the lower hand.
- Let it fall all the way until it touches the bottom and then reach forward with both hands and gently pull the pole past your chest.
- At the end of the stroke, relax and allow the pole to float up like a rudder behind you.
- When the punt is going straight, recover the pole hand over hand until you can throw it down again and begin the next stroke.
The habit of relaxing at the end of the stroke helps to avoid falling in should the pole unexpectedly get stuck.
For the more experienced
More experienced punters sometimes stand to one side of the punt, so that it tips down slightly on that side. This makes a slight keel under the boat and helps to keep it in a straight line.
Some experienced punters punt one-handed. This technique is slower and harder to master than punting with both hands, and consists of a "bucket" recovery of the pole (where the pole is thrown forward rather than just pulled up), except that this recovery is done with one hand.
Racing punters tend to stand in the middle of the punt, because it is more efficient to do so. Indeed many racing punts have cross braces with canvas covers both fore and aft, so it is only possible to stand in the middle. Pleasure punters may like to try punting from the middle, but it is probably advisable to remove the seats and the passengers first.
It is also possible to punt tandem, that is with two punters standing one behind another in the middle of the boat, and generally punting from the same side. Some punt races are organized for pairs punting tandem.
Punting in England
I admit that it is better fun to punt than to be punted, and... a desire to have all the fun is nine-tenths of the law of chivalry.
The pleasure punts in use in England today were first built around 1860, becoming massively popular in the 1910s. The oldest punting company (Scudamore's Punting Company) in the UK today was founded in 1910 and is found in Cambridge
Their use declined across much of England in the 1950s and 1960s in proportion to the increase in motor boat traffic on English rivers, but has increased again as the tourist industry has grown in England.
Punting is a popular leisure activity on the rivers of several well-known tourist destinations: there are commercial organizations that offer punts for hire on the Avon in Bath, the Cam in Cambridge, the Cherwell & Isis in Oxford, at Stratford-on-Avon, and on the lower Thames near Sunbury. A small number of private punts are also registered on these rivers, especially by the colleges in Oxford and Cambridge. In June 2012, Norwich City Council gave the go-ahead to introduce punting on the River Wensum.
Punting in Cambridge
Traditional Thames pleasure punts were not introduced to Cambridge until about 1902–1904, but they rapidly became the most popular craft on the river, and today there are probably more punts on the Cam than on any other river in England. This is partly because the river is shallow and gravelly (at least along The Backs) which makes it ideal for punting, but mainly because the Cam goes through the heart of Cambridge and passes close to many very attractive old college buildings. The popularity of punting beside the old colleges in Cambridge can produce significant congestion on this relatively narrow stretch of the river during the peak tourist season, leading to frequent collisions between inexperienced punters. These collisions are mostly harmless, but visitors to the city may prefer the calmer experience offered on the river above the weir. Further upstream, the river enters some particularly beautiful and tranquil countryside as it approaches the village of Grantchester.
A popular summer pastime for Cambridge students is to punt to Grantchester and back, stopping for lunch in a pleasant Grantchester pub. During tourist season, students have been known to steal the poles of tourist punts as they pass below the College bridges.
There are several companies on the Cam operating tours and hiring punts to visitors and, while most of the colleges along the river keep punts for the exclusive use of their students, at Trinity College the punts are also available for hire to the public. There is also the Cambridge University Punting Society, an undergraduate student society in the University of Cambridge. It was founded in 2010, and holds official society status in the University of Cambridge. It operates on the River Cam, and its upper reaches, known as the River Granta, which flows from Grantchester down to Cambridge.
The tradition in Cambridge is to punt from the till (locally known as the "deck") at the back of the punt. There are some advantages to this: punters are less likely to drip on their passengers and can steer more easily by swinging the pole behind them, but it is not how Thames punts were traditionally propelled. Nor was the till originally designed for standing on; Cambridge-built punts are made with extra strong decks, and sometimes with a deck at both ends. Photographs of punting on the Backs in 1910 show that the practice was well established by then; according to an old Cambridge boat man, Don Strange interviewed in the 1970s, the practice was started by women from Girton anxious to show off their ankles.
From late in the 19th century until at least 1989, an undergraduate social club called the Damper Club, (or Dampers Club after 1958) took a loose responsibility for the interests of punting on the Cam. Membership was open to "all those who have unwillingly entered the Cam fully clothed". The future Python Graham Chapman was president in 1961–62. The Dampers Club has been succeeded by the Cambridge University Punting Society.
The Cambridge towpath
Where the River Cam flows through the town in Cambridge, experienced punters follow the path of a gravel ridge that makes for easier punting. This ridge has a curious history. It is the remains of an old towpath built when the Cam was still used for commercial river traffic. The banks on either side of the river belong to various university colleges; faced with their combined opposition to a conventional towpath on one side or the other, the river tradesmen were forced to build the towpath in the course of the stream, and to make the tow horses wade along it.
The weir and slipway
The part of the River Cam in Cambridge where punting normally occurs is separated into two levels by a weir at the Mill Pool near the University Centre. (Punting on the lower river below Jesus Lock is not normally allowed.) Punters wishing to move from one level to the other drag their punts between the levels via a slipway with rollers. Tourists wishing to visit only one level can hire punts at the appropriate level to avoid the transfer, which requires about 4 average adults.
Punting in Oxford
Except in the immediate vicinity of Magdalen Bridge, punting in Oxford is a surprisingly quiet and rural experience. Most of the punting is done on the River Cherwell, which flows through Oxford's protected green belt of fields and woods for the last few miles before it joins the Thames just south-east of Christ Church Meadow. Unfortunately this tranquillity comes at a price, for the Cherwell is both deep and muddy, and the muddy patches cling tenaciously to the pole's shoe at unexpected moments.
Punting on the Thames below Folly Bridge is often less enjoyable, mainly because of the competition from eights and sculls and motor boats; punts are recommended to keep close in beside the towpath. The best punting to be had in Oxford is on the Isis alongside Port Meadow to the west of the town; this stretch of river is both shallow and gravelly, has attractive scenery, and is well supplied with pubs (such as The Trout Inn, Wolvercote where some of the Inspector Morse dramas were filmed).
The tradition at Oxford is to punt from inside the boat rather than from on top of the till (or "box" as it tends to be called in Oxford) and to propel the punt with the till end facing forwards. The tradition dates from before 1880.
Punting elsewhere in England
There is some punting on the River Wear in Durham and some of the colleges of Durham University own punts; however, small rowing boats are more popular and better suited to the Wear. Specifically, University College owns punts for the use of its students.
In the Roman spa town of Bath, it is possible to punt on the Avon from the town centre. The river however is deep and shared with large motor vessels. The puntable stretch of river runs beside Brunel's Great Western Railway line. It is also possible to punt on the


text:
The active and meaningful participation of citizens in public affairs is the distinguishing feature of democratic societies, which are judged by the extent to which governments open up to citizen involvement in public affairs and the space they give for citizens to hold the government accountable. It is because of this that citizens in Kenya and Africa in general continue to demand increased space for participation.
This report is about the challenges of participatory democracy in Kenya; it assesses the state of democracy and participation in the country. It examines the institutional and legislative processes that would contribute to the consolidation of democracy and political participation. The report explores the available instruments, such as the Constitution of Kenya (2010), to enhance democracy and people's political participation.
The report identifies impediments to Kenya's democratic consolidation, with the most important challenges identified as ethnicity and identity politics, the electoral system of first-past-the-post, and the dominance of the executive. The report notes that ethnicity is a symptom of the structure and use of political power. Specifically, the interplay of ethnicity and the competition for executive power have constrained public participation and the democratic transition in general.


Jasmine is a shy 14-year-old whose childlike appearance belies her role as primary caregiver for her three younger siblings. As a chronic truant, she is also part of California's billion dollar problem.
With an absent father and a mother who cannot afford to take a day off work to care for a sick child, Jasmine is one of countless California students whose truancy isn't fueled by teenage rebellion but by family hardship.
Other students stay home because they feel unsafe on campus. Still more have unreliable transportation, or have fallen so far behind in class that catching up seems hopeless.
Because truancy is a complex social issue rather than a crime, California has long banned the use of incarceration as punishment for skipping school.
Instead, it has employed interventions such as mediation programs for families, tutoring, mentoring, school safety support, alternative transportation and remedial services. It is a strategy supported by years of research showing that incarceration is counterproductive and that positive outcomes are achieved through meeting families' specific needs.
But some California counties are using a legal loophole to lock up truant youth -- sometimes in solitary confinement.
Senate Bill 1296, also known as the Decriminalization of Truancy Act, would close the loophole, forcing all counties to comply with California's prohibition on locking up youth who have not committed crimes.
The legislation, proposed by state Sen. Mark Leno, will be heard in the Senate Public Safety Committee April 8.
Courts have locked up thousands of California young people, despite the intent of lawmakers, by charging them with contempt or for violating a court order to attend school, a practice that has already been banned in at least 14 states.
Because it is illegal to house truant youth with youth charged with crimes, they are often kept in a separate wing of juvenile hall, alone, in what amounts to solitary confinement.
Unlike youth accused of crimes, they do not receive rehabilitative services. Staffing costs for opening a unit for this small population is estimated at $686 to $833 a day.
SB 1296 complements a broad package of legislation recently announced by Attorney General Kamala Harris to better collect student attendance data in elementary school and intervene while children are young, rather than waiting for truant teens to become ensnared in the criminal justice system.
SB 1296 would not take away the authority of the truancy court. Youths will still be held accountable through any number of available sanctions such as community service, fines and suspension of driver's licenses -- punishments far more suitable and effective for noncriminal offenses with no threat to public safety.
Truancy is a problem that won't be solved by criminalizing youth who are not a threat to public safety. It is time to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline and focus instead on helping families become successful.
Jeff Adachi is the San Francisco Public Defender. Roger Chan is the executive director of the East Bay Children's Law Offices.


text:
Fruit Flies Medicate Offspring with Alcohol
Female parasitic wasps have successfully infected fruit fly larvae, shown here; the wasps lay their eggs inside of the larvae, which then hatch and eat the maggots from the inside out.
CREDIT: Photo courtesy of Todd Schlenke
It's not likely anyone would nominate a fruit fly for a "Best Mother of the Year" award — after laying her eggs, the insect hits the road, never to be heard from again. But it now turns out that fruit fly mothers aren't completely uncaring and actually try to give their offspring a fighting chance at life.
If she spots a deadly parasitic wasp around, the female fruit fly will "medicate" her offspring by laying her eggs in an environment with high levels of alcohol, which is very toxic to the wasps but not to the flies, new research shows.
Throughout the world, parasitic wasps are a bane to fruit flies. Female wasps lay their eggs inside fly larvae, which then hatch and eat the maggots from the inside out. Fly larvae have a natural immune response to try to kill the wasp, but the venom the wasp injects along with her egg sometimes counters this defense.
"Who survives is totally dependent on the fly strain and the wasp strain," said lead researcher Todd Schlenke, a biologist at Emory University in Georgia. "You never really know who's going to win."
Last year, Schlenke and his team discovered that infected fly larvae have another trick up their sleeves to defeat their enemies: alcohol. Unlike wasp parasites, fruit flies have a high tolerance for alcohol, likely because the fly larvae live in rotting fruit, where a lot of fermentation is taking place. So if a maggot has a wasp growing inside of it, it will seek out and consume food with high levels of alcohol to kill the parasite. [The 10 Most Diabolical and Disgusting Parasites]
This finding led the researchers to wonder if adult fruit flies, which don't get infected by the wasps, know to use the chemical weapon against the parasites. "Would the flies change where they lay their eggs if a wasp is around?" Schlenke said.
Battling with alcohol
In the new study, Schlenke and his team stuck adult female fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) into a cage with two food dishes, one alcohol-free and the other with 6-percent alcohol. If no wasps were present, only around 40 percent of the flies laid their eggs in the alcoholic food. But if the researchers put female wasp parasites (Leptopilina heterotoma) into the cage, about 90 percent of the flies laid their eggs in the alcohol-laden dishes.
This behavior, the researchers found, lasts for several days. When the fruit flies were "pre-exposed" to the wasps, they remembered the danger and continued to prefer laying eggs in the alcoholic environment for up to four days after the wasps left the cage.
The researchers then wondered how, exactly, the fruit flies sense the presence of the wasps. By using mutant flies that either couldn't see or smell, they discovered the flies recognize the wasps based on sight — an interesting ability considering that the flies had been reared in a wasp-free lab for generations.
"The flies have never seen wasps in their lives, neither have their parents or their grandparents," Schlenke explained, adding that the flies must have "innate search images for wasps."
Interestingly, these search images are sex-specific; the fruit flies don't seem to care if male wasps are around. Male parasitic wasps have noticeably longer antennae than female wasps, so the researchers tested if clipping the males' antennae would trick the flies. It didn't. The fruit flies somehow still knew the wasps were male and stuck to the alcohol-free dishes, suggesting they recognize the female wasps based on some other characteristic. [Googly Eyes: Photos of Striking Wasp Faces]
A widespread behavior?
Schlenke is curious to see how widespread this "behavioral immune response" is. In the current study, the team found that a host of other booze-tolerant flies also pre-emptively medicate their young with alcohol when they spot the wasps. But fly species that don't live in rotting fruit never choose the alcohol-laced food over the alcohol-free food, even if a wasp is in sight.
Do these flies, and maybe even other types of insects, have a different immune tactic to fight parasitic wasps?
For instance, some fly species live on mushrooms, which contain a variety of toxins, Schlenke said. "I wonder if mushroom flies are able to use the mushroom toxins to protect themselves against wasps," he said.
These behavioral examples would help show that the immune system is made up of more than just immune-activated cells, such as antibodies, Schlenke said. Specifically, immune behaviors, such as medicating oneself or another, are also part of an organism's immune system.
"We need to think of the immune system as a broader set of structures and processes that protect an organism from infection," Schlenke said.
The research is detailed in tomorrow's (Feb. 22) issue of the journal Science.
MORE FROM LiveScience.com


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$$p(x,y) = x^N + a_{N-1}(y)x^{N-1} + \ldots + a_0(y), \quad x,y \in \mathbf{C}$$
is a monic polynomial in $x$, and the coefficients $a_j$ are analytic functions of $y$, then the roots of $p$ have expansions in Puiseux series (in powers of $y^{1/m}$ for some $m$) which are convergent for $y$ sufficiently close to 0.
Is this true in an asymptotic sense when the $a_j$ are only assumed to be smooth? i.e. Do the roots have asymptotic expansions which are formal Puiseux series (not necessarily convergent)?
For $A$ to have an asymptotic expansion $A \sim B_1 + B_2 + \ldots$ with respect to some grading $\mathcal{O}(n)$ means that $B_n \in \mathcal{O}(n)$, and for each $N$, $A - \sum_{n=1}^N B_n \in O(N+1)$. Here $\mathcal{O}(n)$ means $\mathcal{O}(|y|^{n/m})$ in the usual big-O notation, as $y\to 0$.
share|improve this question
How would you expand the two roots of $x^2=exp(-1/y^2)$? – Piero D'Ancona Aug 13 '10 at 7:10
I would have thought that you get an asymptotic expansion by replacing the $a_i$ by their asymptotic expansions, i.e., their Taylor series (which are formal power series), and then do the usual formal Puiseux series expansion of $x$. – Torsten Ekedahl Aug 13 '10 at 8:29
_USER_ I believe the expansions would simply be 0 for both roots. _USER_ Ah, I guess I've never actually computed a Puiseux series, but I suppose the basic algorithm is just to backsolve for the coefficients. If the algorithm works, I guess it has to work asymptotically. I'm a little surprised at this outcome as, combined with the Malgrange preparation theorem, this should imply that the germ of zeros of any smooth function has such an expansion. – Mike Hall Aug 13 '10 at 16:36
1 Answer 1
up vote 3 down vote accepted
The constructive proof of the Newton-Puiseux theorem works formally, and a posteriori one can show that if the original coefficients are convergent, then the Puiseux series are convergent (see the details in Casas-Alvero's book, "Singularities of Plane Curves"). So Torsten Ekedahl's comment is right, of course. However, I wonder how useful this would be when the power series don't converge to the original smooth functions.
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That was exactly my point. You can not hope to represent the solutions by a Puiseux series, even in the simplest examples. And you can use $C^\infty$ functions to produce much weirder examples (e.g., infinite number of oscillations near many points) – Piero D'Ancona Aug 14 '10 at 17:10
The Taylor series gives the asymptotic expansion of a smooth function in terms of powers of $y$ and as such is uniquely determined and does give a lot of information about the behaviour of the function around the point. Of course the flat functions (those which are $O(y^n)$ for all $n$) get ignored so that $\exp(-1/y^2) \sim 0$ and then also so is any solution of $x^2=\exp(-1/y^2)$. Whether or not an asymptotic expansion of this type is useful or not will of course depend on your needs but the OP seems to have found it so as the question is about asymptotic expansions. – Torsten Ekedahl Aug 14 '10 at 17:44
_USER_: sure. I am questioning that the Puiseux expansion may be given any reasonable meaning. I'm thinking of examples like Glaeser's non negative, smooth function, flat at 0, whose square root fails to be $C^2$. In that case what is the meaning of the expansion? which would be a 'Taylor' expansion of any order of a non smooth function? I'm just perplexed and slightly curious about the usefulness of Mike's efforts. – Piero D'Ancona Aug 14 '10 at 19:18
_USER_: Interesting, I didn't know that you had that kind of complications. I agree that Puiseux expansions as asymptic expansions for functions on the real line look a little fishy. For one thing it seems safer to have them defined only for positive reals as otherwise $y^{m/n}$ may not even be well defined. – Torsten Ekedahl Aug 15 '10 at 22:12
I think the expansions certainly tell you something meaningful about where the zeros are, namely that they are within $\mathcal{O}(y^\infty)$ of several curves with the given Puiseux expansions. It's true that the $\mathcal{O}(y^\infty)$ error means you have essentially no control over derivatives. Still, I think this gives a nice picture of what the zero set looks like near a point. – Mike Hall Aug 16 '10 at 17:51
Your Answer


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Agar is a relatively cheap substance from red algae. And it contains a saccharide agarose as well as a small amount of pectin.
Agar is used for culture plates as is, but for DNA gels a grade of agarose, I guess with the pectin removed. What happens when a gel is run in agar? i.e. why remove the pectin?
If you can guess, how is the pectin removed? I know there are enzymes that might do it, but not sure what's really used.
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_USER_ has put down a great answer - esp with the figures in the answer! Would love to see an answer to what the industrial process is like. – shigeta Mar 6 '13 at 16:53
2 Answers 2
up vote 13 down vote accepted
The answer to the first part of your question can be found on Wikipedia:
Agar is a heterogeneous mixture of two classes of polysaccharide: agaropectin and agarose. Although both polysaccharide classes share the same galactose-based backbone, agaropectin is heavily modified with acidic side-groups, such as sulfate and pyruvate. The neutral charge and lower degree of chemical complexity of agarose make it less likely to interact with biomolecules, and, therefore, agarose has become the preferred matrix for work with proteins and nucleic acids.
This page compares the result of using agar gels to that of using agarose: enter image description here
The second part of your question: here's a patent, although I have no idea whether this method of agarose purification is widespread. Propylene glycol purification of agarose does seem to pop up a lot. I think people who purify their own agarose use that method, but I am not sure if biotech companies have other methods.
EDIT: it's propylene glycol, followed by ethylene glycol, that is commonly used, but PEG has been used at least once.
share|improve this answer
thanks for doing this answer! I looked at similar patents after looking at the one you are pointing to and as late as 1987 they are precipitating agarose with glycols or PEGs... looks good! – shigeta Mar 10 '13 at 5:19
You're welcome. It was a good question, and I enjoyed finding an answer. – dd3 Mar 10 '13 at 8:24
Using DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide), agarose can be separated. After heating and stirring around 2 hrs you will get a yellow stiff gel of agarose by filtering.
share|improve this answer
this is cool! have a recipe? I'd like to try this! – shigeta Jun 26 '13 at 13:42
_USER_: here is a paper – dd3 Jun 27 '13 at 1:06
Your Answer


Thermotreated Wood
For making thermotreated wood, we are heating the wood over 170°C. For cooling is used pure water steam. During the process there will be used no addatives. Thermotreated wood is 100% natural.
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Thermotreated wood. What is Thermotreated wood?
Thermotreated wood. What is Thermotreated wood?
Heat-treated wood or wood thermotreated wood processed to over 170 ° C temperature. The heat treatment improves the wood rotting – and weather resistance, and thermal insulation and reduces the accumulation of water timber. At high temperature, the resin was released from wood. Continue Reading
Thermotreated wood. Thermotreatment
Thermotreated wood is manufactured under controlled heating conditions at temperatures of 170…230 degrees C. The degree of heat depends on what type of wood is being processed and what type of characteristics are desired. The process involves no chemicals or addatives. Since the only outside agent used is moisture, we can proudly claim this to be natural product. During the thermotreatment process, the cellular structure changes. The hemicellulose starts to break down and pitch in coniferous woods evaporate.
During the thermo treatment, the following changes occur:
 1. Colour changes from light to dark brown
 2. Deformation due to moisture variations decreases by 50-90%
 3. Equilibrium moisture content lowers
 4. Thermal conductivity decreases by 0-30%
 5. Overall heat-transfer coefficient k improves
 6. Bending strength decreases by 0-30%
 7. Elasticity decreases, but rigidity increases
 8. Wear resistance improves
 9. Wood becomes lighter in weight
 10. Biological durability improves
 11. Pitch evaporates
 12. Dead knots fall out
 13. Cellular structure changeswood „ages" structurally
As it appears from above, thermotreatment offers a quite good opportunity e.g. for the carpentry industry to produce environment-friendly wood products of a new kind of structure.


Last Updated: Friday, 29 February 2008, 17:03 GMT
Pushing paper out the office
Ian Hardy
By Ian Hardy
Click's North America technology correspondent
The idea of the paperless office has been around since the late 1970s but three decades on paper remains hugely popular. Despite this, there are many ways in which organisations are starting to cut their paper consumption.
Finding it difficult to find what you need among all that paper?
Are days of the cluttered office desk finally numbered?
One of the first step that many companies take is to turn those reams of paper documents into something much more portable.
One particular technology proving useful for this is Adobe's Portable Data Format.
About 15 years ago this started life as a simple way to preserve the look and feel of documents as they were passed between different operating systems and computers.
Banks, utilities and many other companies now offer statements and bills as downloadable PDFs to help their customers move towards that paperless state.
But, said Diana Helander, group manager at Adobe, it was worth keeping up with the latest developments in PDF to get the most out of it.
"What you lose if you don't use the current version of PDF is the opportunity to do things like include more dynamic content, like Flash; capturing information from a website, say if you make an online purchase and you want to keep the confirmation of that purchase as a PDF for your records instead of printing it out to paper," she said.
Scanner solutions
Another way to get rid of paper is to scan the documents and turn them into digital facsimiles. The relentless march of technology means today's scanners, even those found in the home, are more like the very expensive ones big corporations use.
Scanner and PC
PDF files and scanners are essential parts of the paperless office
They are capable of processing each sheet in a second or two, regardless of the shape, size or orientation of documents. Character recognition software means that the documents become instantly searchable. The latest scanners can even recognise logos and will categorize each item automatically.
Even better many government agencies now accept scanned documents as readily as the real thing.
But it is not just big business and big government that are making better use of scanners. Small firms are benefiting too.
They have proved a boon to a medical office that must keep track of multiple patient documents generated at different times and requested by different people.
There, everything is scanned and available in one place on a secure server to those who need the information immediately.
"With filing cabinets and old paperwork you can always lose, you can always misfile it," says business manager Reuvin Alon. "When I need the papers, when I need some kind of information about the patient, I always have it.
"I have a lot of papers and charts, so if at a certain point of time I have to store them I don't have to go look for storage space, I can always have them in the computer."
Mail options
Then there are options, such as Earth Class Mail, that aim to intercept paper before it reaches you, your home or business.
For a monthly fee, its processing centre intercepts your post, scans the exterior and lets customers decide if they want the contents scanned and sent to a PC, forwarded to your physical location or recycled.
Just because it's electronic I don't think that makes it necessarily any easier
Diana Helander
Ron Wiener, boss of Earth Class Mail said: "Mail is the least recycled material in our society, only about 20% of it actually gets recycled. A lot of it gets shredded and the shreddings get thrown out and so can't be turned into paper again.
"We offer the customer both options. They can hit Recycle or they can hit Shred.
"Of what is opened and scanned almost the entirety of it is then shredded and recycled."
Organisation considerations
But getting rid of paper does not mean on office or business functions better. A paperless office faces the organisational nightmare as one filled with documents. All those gigabytes and gigabytes of data need to be sorted and searchable.
"Just because it's electronic I don't think that makes it necessarily any easier," says Diana Helander.
"It may make it more compact, perhaps easier to keep track of in terms of where that information resides. But not necessarily easier in terms of how you yourself think through your organisation," she says.
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text:
Cost: $1,595.00 per student
Duration: 40 Hours
Prerequisites: Minimum of 40 Hours of Phased Array Training
Equipment Needed: All equipment, including scope, is provided for this class. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own personnel scope if they have one but it is not required.
For an ONSITE QUOTE or to REGISTER contact us at: _EMAIL_
This advanced ultrasonic training class is ideally suited for individuals who have already been trained in basic theory and equipment operation in phased array. If you lack understanding of PAUT theory, lack proficiency in equipment operation, or would just like a refresher in these areas, we highly recommend taking our PA-101 class in conjunction with this class.
PA-102 dives into the more advanced applications of phased array. This class mostly focuses on the methodologies of scan planning, advanced grouping, and discontinuity detection and characterization as applied to the inspection of welds. This class, just like all our training classes, blends theoretical training and lab exercises to help maximize the learning potential. We prepare you by training with state of the art equipment and have one of the largest collections of real flawed samples which also helps prepare individuals for the real world. At the end of this course, students can expect to have a thorough understanding of how to apply phased array in all weld inspection applications.
This class is an essential step for individuals seeking certification in PAUT. SNT-TC-1A and CP-189 require 80 total hours of PAUT formal training. This class, in combination with the PA-101, follows and fulfills the Topical Outline for Qualification of Nondestructive Testing Personnel CP-105.
If you have any additional questions please feel free to contact us at any time.
Available Classes: Training Calendar
The following outlines the material to be discussed:
- Advanced Phased Array Theory Uses and Application
- Codes and Standards: UT in Lieu of RT
- PA Probe set ups using the grouping feature
- Combined Linear and Sectorial Scanning
- Phased Array Ultrasonic Data Evaluation
- Phased Array Transducer Applications for Weld Inspection
- Advanced Calibration of a Phased Array System using the Grouping Feature
- Phased Array Scan Planning Methods and Techniques
- Cross Sectional Plotting Views
- Multiple Beam Angle Projections
- Weld and HAZ Volume Coverage per Codes and Standards
- Advanced Weld Examinations
- Flaw Detection
- Flaw Characterization
- Encoded Phased Array Scanning and Weld Examination Applications
- Advanced Phased Array Data Analysis
- Evaluation of A, B C, S Scans for Flaw Characterization
- Sectorial Scans
- Linear Scans
- Electronic Report Preparation
- Hands-on Phased Array Examination Laboratory Exercises
- Weld Flaw Examination
At the conclusion of the Advanced PA Class, a Performance Demonstration Examination will be given for Basic PDQ


text:
We previously showed how saunas offer a wealth of health and wellness benefits, but ongoing research indicates regular sauna use may help prevent dementia and Alzheimer's disease too. Below, we'll go over the study results, explain the mechanisms behind the correlation, and provide details on how much time you want to log in your sauna to reap the maximum benefit.
A Word on Alzheimer's and Dementia
Although many people consider Alzheimer's and dementia to be synonymous,they're not. Dementia is a generalized term that refers to a decline in mental ability that's severe enough to interfere with daily life. It's caused by damage to brain cells and can impact a person's ability to think and communicate, plus affects behavior and feelings.
Alzheimer's is a degenerative disease that's a specific form of dementia and accounts for roughly 60-80% of all dementia cases.
Sauna Use and Dementia/ Alzheimer's are Inversely Correlated
Although the research only emerged in 2017, it was decades in the making. Back in the 1980s, initial baselines for 2,315 healthy Finnish men were gathered. After about 20 years, the researchers touched base with the men again to find out what their sauna habits had been like and whether they'd developed Alzheimer's disease or dementia. By this point, the men were between the ages of 40 and 60; 123 had developed Alzheimer's Disease and 204 had been diagnosed with dementia. "Moderate to high frequency of sauna bathing was associated with lowered risks of dementia and Alzheimer's disease," the researchers say, and prevalence is 66% lower with the most frequent sauna bathers.
Researchers Say Saunas Increase Vascular Health
While the initial study showed that sauna use can decrease dementia and Alzheimer's risk, it didn't delve into the mechanisms behind it, so they did another round of research to find out why it happens. In this study, they gathered 100 test subjects and measured things like pulse rates, temperature, and blood pressure before, during, and after sauna use, all while trying to mimic the conditions of home sauna use. They found that the body reacts to sauna bathing much like it does medium-intensity exercise. Temperature and heart rate increases during, while blood pressure drops after and stays reduced for at least 30 minutes. "Sauna bathing reduces blood pressure and increases vascular compliance," the researchers conclude. This is important because, the healthier blood flow to the brain is, the less likely someone is to suffer damage that can lead to conditions like dementia and Alzheimer's.
Aim for 4-7 30-Minute Sessions Per Week to Get the Maximum Benefit
Researchers broke the participants into groups based upon how often they used a sauna; once per week, 2-3 times per week, or 4-7 per week. Prevalence of dementia and Alzheimer's reduced as sauna use rose, indicating 65-66% less risk for those who use saunas 4-7 times per week. In this case, they were looking for usage of at least 15 minutes per session, but the second study that looked into the physiological mechanisms had participants use saunas for 30 minutes each.
Although scientists involved in both studies call for further research on the mechanisms behind the phenomenon, the existing body of research shows great promise.
Find Your Perfect Outdoor Sauna
If you'd like to reap the benefits of regular sauna use and have a DIY spirit, consider adding an outdoor model to your backyard. Our high-quality kits come with everything you need to get started and are easy to assemble. Browse our outdoor sauna collection to find the right one for your lifestyle.


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This is a simple html form to make use of the GBIF name parser. The parser is written in java and based on regular expressions to disect name strings into its components. It does only keep name parts required to reconstruct a full 3-parted name with an optional subgenus, but ignores additional infraspecific parts such as the subspecies given for varieties. Please see our API documentation for details.
You can copy paste a list of names, one per row, or upload a text file with a name per line. Uploaded files have to be encoded as utf8!


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Statement of Significance (as of designation - April 11, 1989):
The world's only surviving four-masted, full-rigged ship, FALLS OF CLYDE (1878) is the oldest surviving American tanker and the only surviving sailing oil tanker left afloat. Built during a shipbuilding boom inspired by increasing trade with the United States, the ship made several voyages to American ports while under the British flag. Sold to American owners in 1898, it gained American registry by a special act of Congress in 1900. Henceforth she was involved in the nationally important Hawaiian trans-Pacific sugar trade and later in transporting petroleum as a bulk cargo carrier.


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Canonical Correlation is an advanced statistical technique
that can estimate the relationship between a set of dependent variables with a set of
predictor or independent variables. Multiple regression techniques, on the other hand, look
at the relationships between a single dependent variable and some predictor variables.
Canonical correlation places fewer restrictions on the modeling structure.
Consider an example in the credit industry. Suppose you wanted to predict both the credit usage
and the number of credit cards of individuals within a certain geographic market. You could
build separate regression models to accomplish this, or you could estimate a model
simulataneously to predict both number of credit cards as well as overall dollar usage. The
canonical correlation is a measure of strength of the overall relationships between the linear
composites of the predictor variables and the dependent variables. In general, it represents the
bivariate correlation between the two linear composites.


I have collected 70 organisms from 4 different sites; two sites of treatment 1 and two sites of treatment 2. I also have a continuous explanatory variable (average temperature) which is different for each site. How can I test if measures of richness and diversity differ between sites or by temperature?
Richness is the number of species in each sample
Diversity is a weighted average of the proportions of each species present. In this case we are using the Shannon Index which is:
$^1\!D= \exp\left(-\sum_{i=1}^R p_i \ln p_i\right)$
where $p_i$ is the proportion of each species $i$ at that site, and $R$ is the richness of the site.
What sort of model can I use when diversity and richness are my response variables?
This question had been abandonned by the OP without giving enough info to answer it properly, the above is an attempt to provide an answerable question in the spirit of what was asked.
Original Question:
I have collected ca. 70 species of organism from 4 sites. 2 sites of Treatment 1 and 2 sites of Treatment 2. How do I test using R, whether the richness, dominance, abundance and diversity is different between the two if I have 6 explanatory variables?
 - 1
 $\begingroup$ are the sites fare enough from one another so that the measurements can be considered independent across sites? $\endgroup$ – user603 Jul 25 '11 at 16:35
 - $\begingroup$ Yes, the sites are independant of each other. $\endgroup$ – Platypezid Jul 25 '11 at 19:07
 - $\begingroup$ _USER_ some example data and calculations of these metrics would help. Hoe did you choose the explanatory variables? Are they independent? $\endgroup$ – David LeBauer Jul 27 '11 at 2:35
 - $\begingroup$ _USER_ The data is count data and the explanatory variables chosen are independant and are uncorrelated after checking for collinearity. What I really want to know is can you do a GLM to test differences in Species richness, dominance and diversity? Thanks! Would you use poisson distribution or gaussian? $\endgroup$ – Platypezid Jul 27 '11 at 13:27
 - $\begingroup$ Could you give an definition of Richness, Dominance and Diversity? Richness I understand to be number of species? if so then Poisson would be ok for that $\endgroup$ – Korone Feb 2 '13 at 12:20
I think neither of these responses fit perfectly into any of the standard GLM link functions. Taking a pragmatic approach it is probably sufficient to pick a link function that is broadly doing the right thing.
Your raw data is from a multinomial distribution, and Richness, $R$, is the number of categories with a score of 1 or more. Although this is count data, it isn't quite the same as the normal sort of count data. The most striking difference being that you can never have a count of zero. As pragmatic first attempt, I would consider modeling $(R-1)$ using a poisson link function. The handwaving reasoning here could be this: If you were catching animals at a random rate for a fixed length of time, the number caught would be modelled well by Poisson. You are catching a fixed number of animals, but at a random rate the type of animal changes. If it wasn't for the fact your return to species already seen, this would be quite a good match.
For diversity, things are even less intuitive. However, the diversity is a sort of average of the abundance ($p_i$) of each species, and as such is bounded by $[0,1]$. This suggests that you could probably treat it as a proportion and use a logit link function.
Advanced Alternative
If the pragmatic matching of support and "looks approximately right" approach is not satisfying, it appears there is another way. I don't know much about this, but there is something called the *Multinomial Diversity Model" which is designed to deal with these sorts of problems. It is described in this paper, _URL_ but I have no idea how popular it is.
It is, however, implented in R and availble on CRAN as MRM, apparently by the author of the above paper. It includes a spider data set used as an example in the help:
fit0 <- mdm(y2p(spider6[,1:6])~1,data=spider6)
fit1 <- mdm(y2p(spider6[,1:6])~Water,data=spider6)
fit2 <- mdm(y2p(spider6[,1:6])~Water+Herbs,data=spider6)
fit3 <- mdm(y2p(spider6[,1:6])~Site,data=spider6,alpha=TRUE)
 - 2
 $\begingroup$ Here is a similar related question about modelling proportions on this site, stats.stackexchange.com/q/24187/1036. I suspect it would be good to search Sociological journals as well for literature, the same diversity measures are of frequent interest to demographers interested in segregation. $\endgroup$ – Andy W Feb 11 '13 at 14:19
Your Answer


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OSTree is a set of command line tools and libraries (libostree) for downloading, managing and updating large filesystem trees in a git-style fashion. Some GNU/Linux distributions use it as an alternative or addition to traditional package managers like apt and dnf.
OSTree uses a content-addressed object store with branches to store file system trees. These trees can be cloned but they can not be changed. Individual files have checksums to ensure integrity. Think git for bootable root file systems with a different toolset geared towards maintaining entire operating systems. OSTree differs from git in one very notable way: The cloned files are immutable, they can not be changed. Upgrading is done by cloning an entirely new tree which is then merged with the existing tree. This ensures that the running tree remains unchanged. The new upgraded tree does not become active until the next system reboot.
OSTree distributions install the core base system to /ostree/deploy/currentroot instead of /. /ostree/deploy/ can contain several complete system trees side-by-side, but only one will be in use at any one time.
Distributions using OSTree will typically use it to install and maintain a bootable base system. End-users can install additional packages using either traditional package managers or Flatpak or Snap depending on the distribution. OSTree itself is not aware of any individual packages, all it knows about is the entire file system tree it maintains in /ostree.
OSTree is used by endless OS, Fedora CoreOS, Fedora Silverblue, CentOS and the GNOME continuous project.


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Over recent years eco-tourism is becoming more and more popular all around the world, benefiting both local wildlife and people that live in the area. However, you don't need to travel thousands of miles to another country to really take advantage of seeing animals in their natural habitats as there are numerous ventures in the UK alone.
Although most of our large mammals have all but disappeared throughout the British Isles, there are still some that can be spotted in large numbers along the coasts co-inhabiting remote beaches with birds and other wildlife. There are only two species of Seal that are native to British waters which are the Grey Seal and the rarer Common Seal.
Both species are spotted with different shades of grey but are most easily distinguished by their differing muzzles with Grey Seals having a long more dog-like nose and Common Seals looking more cat-like in appearance. There are an estimated 36,000 Common Seals in UK waters and they are also home to what is believed to be half of the entire Grey Seal population.
Although around 75% of the UK's Grey Seals are found living off the Scottish coast, there are also large populations elsewhere, most notably around Blakeney Point on the north coast of Norfolk where both Grey Seals and Common Seals can be found inhabiting the beaches and sand-dunes together (along with numerous species of bird).
An hour boat trip takes you out through some of the most beautiful, marshy harbours in the country and right to the tip of Blakeney point which is a 3.5 mile long sandy strip that has become an uninterrupted paradise for all kinds of wildlife. Seal trips can be organised easily through local hotels and pubs and are well-worth wrapping up warm for as you won't be disappointed.


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the human worker.
- Create an AI-enhanced system aiming to control global parameters and maximize productivity and ergonomics.
D7.1: Intelligent manufacturing execution system I, (Lead: IML; Due: M16; R+OTH[T7.1-T7.3]; CO)
D7.2: Intelligent manufacturing execution system II, (Lead: IML; Due: M30; R+OTH[T7.1-T7.3]; CO)
D7.3: FELICE Intelligent manufacturing execution system, (Lead: FHOOE; Due: M42; R+OTH[T7.3]; PU)
This WP integrates the technologies developed in R&D WPs (WP3-7) into the FELICE system. The latter is evaluated to feed new development rounds that will incorporate the evaluation outcomes. The objectives of the WP are:
- Detailed definition of use case and scenarios based on the pilot characteristics and requirements.
- Definition of the integration and evaluation strategy.
- Provision of the integrated framework and validation of the technology under realistic experiments.
- Exploitation of feedback gained by verification tests to fine-tune the modules and the system.
- Feasibility evaluation of the FELICE system for supporting Human Robot collaborative assembly.
D8.1: Use cases and pilot evaluation strategy, (Lead: IFADO; Due: M08; R[T8.1]; CO)
D8.2: Integration strategy, (Lead: AEGIS; Due: M11; R[T8.2]; CO)
D8.3: FELICE integrated prototype I, (Lead: CALTEK; Due: M18; DEM+R[T8.3]; CO)
D8.4: Pilot execution and evaluation I, (Lead: CRF; Due: M22; R[T8.4]; CO)
D8.5: FELICE integrated prototype II, (Lead: CALTEK; Due: M32; DEM+R[T8.3]; CO)
D8.6: Pilot execution and evaluation II, (Lead: CRF; Due: M36; R[T8.1, T8.4]; PU)
This WP will ensure wide dissemination and communication of the project results and will prepare roll-out activities after the successful conclusion of the project. More specifically, its main objectives are to:
- Disseminate the project concept, developments and findings to possible stakeholders (i.e. industry, academia, public authorities, etc.) and identify market opportunities using effective communication strategies.
- Contribute to the research community with research results in top-tier scientific conferences and journals.
- Participate in relevant, both scientific as well as industrial, European and worldwide events (such as workshops, seminars, conferences, etc.) with the overarching goal to showcase the results of FELICE and set the ground for asuccessful commercial and scientific exploitation of the project results.
- Establish cooperation with other relevant EU-funded projects and DIHs, as well as with other relevant frameworks.
D9.1: Project website and visual identity, (Lead: UNISA; Due: M02; R[T9.1]; PU)
D9.2: Dissemination and exploitation plan, (Lead: TUD; Due: M06; R[T9.1-T9.4]; PU)
D9.3: Dissemination, exploitation, standardisation activities report and impact assessment I, (Lead: CRF; Due: M22; R[T9.1-T9.4]; PU)
D9.4: Dissemination, exploitation, standardisation activities report and impact assessment II, (Lead: IML; Due: M36; R[T9.1-T9.4]; PU)
D9.5: FELICE exploitation plan and long-term sustainability, (Lead: TUD; Due: M42; R[T9.1-T9.4]; PU)


Colombia, SC weather in August 1964
Temperature for August 1964
In August 1964 the average high temperature in Colombia, SC was 0.0°F, and this was 91.5°F cooler than the average of 91.5°F. The hottest day in August 1964 was 0 August when the temperature reached 0.0°F. Overnight the average temperature in August is 69.8°F and in 1964 the average overnight temperature was 69.8°F cooler at 0.0°F.
Precipitation for August 1964
In August the average monthly rainfall in Colombia, SC is 5.07 inches with rain usually falling on 11 days. In August 1964 there was a total of 0.00 inches of rain, that fell on 0 days.


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Check out this new article Wizards of the Coast posted recently:
The Talking Door
The tall, wide, and stout front door of the Inn of the Dripping Dagger in Waterdeep is centuries old, though it has been replaced over the years, board by board and metal plate by metal plate, as various parts of it have worn out. For all this time, it has been an unusually large, but counterweighted and easily opened, front door—nothing more. Now, however, it has begun to whisper short and menacing sentences. Why? What do its cryptic utterances mean?


How Google Categorizes Images post - LetsDiskuss
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How Google Categorizes Images post
Blog: How Google Categorizes Images post
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Google can see several different elements of an image that it can use to help categorize it. This is useful primarily for image search purposes, but also for on-page SEO. Let's go over them.
First up, you have technical details about the image. Google can tell when the file is static or if it's an animated gif, and thus can file it away for that category search in image search results. You also have the file size, the file type, and the image dimensions. These are also used to categorize the image in image search.
Then you have the descriptive elements. Each of these is important, so I'll cover each on its own.


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What does "no explicit time dependence" mean in this context? :
A symmetry of the KdV is given by $$\tilde x=x, \tilde t=t+\epsilon, \tilde u =u$$ as there is no explicit time dependence in the KdV.
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up vote 1 down vote accepted
In Physics, the notion of explicit time dependence denotes equations where the time parameter t occurs "freely" and not only as a $\frac{d}{dt}$. So an equation of the form $v(x)=a_0t+v_0$ is explicitly time dependent, but $a(x)=a_0$ is not.
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Thank you, Dominik. Just to confirm my understanding of your explanation: the partial derivative wrt $t$ does not count as explicitly time-dependent, only an actual factor of $t$ in the equation does? – Henry Nov 24 '12 at 19:59
That's right. Another commonly used word for this is that the equation is autonomous, a word which for unfathomable reasons doesn't appear in the wikipedia article on differential equations. – Harald Hanche-Olsen Nov 24 '12 at 20:24
Thank you, _USER_-Olsen! – Henry Nov 24 '12 at 21:45
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I'm trying to understand the formulas for successfully mining a block (without a pool) based on hashrate over time (i.e. to chart the probability of finding a block at various historical points compared to network hashrate at the time).
It seems like this post is exactly the formula I'm looking for, but it doesn't actually add up. I'm awful at math so I can't tell if I'm missing a step or if the post is wrong. If there's a better/more accurate way of figuring this out, please share, but I'm specifically interested in learning if this is wrong or not and why.
It says the probability of being the one to successfully mine a block with 13.5 TH/s and a network hashrate of 11,000,000 TH/s = 0.00000122
Then it says:
Now, in a month, there are N=6*24*30 mined blocks. To find the probability of winning one award in a month, we use the Bernoulli trial formula
N*p1*(1-p1)^(N-1) = 0.0026
Now when I put that in Excel with N=4320, I get.005243, I only come up with the same answer when I divide N by two for N=2160, but I can't figure out any reason for that to be the case. Am I missing something or is this just a typo? Is this formula even a good way of approximating this?
The formula is a reasonable approximation. It looks to me like your calculation is right, and the blog author has made an error.
There is a minor inaccuracy in that the number of blocks per month is not fixed at 6*24*30, but is subject to random variation. So a slightly improved solution is to work out the average number of terahashes needed for one block (h = _PHONE_ * 600, assuming that the network hash rate is stable and the block difficulty has adjusted accordingly). Then your probability of winning a block on each of your hashes is q1 = 1 / h, and you will perform M = 12.5 * 60 * 60 * 24 * 30 hashes in one month. If you treat the number of blocks you win as a Poisson distribution, the probability of winning one block in a month is given by λ * exp(-λ) where λ = M*q1. This yields the slightly larger number 0.005273.
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text:
Mary Cassatt (artist)|
American, 1844 - 1926
The Letter, _PHONE_
drypoint and aquatint on laid paper
plate: 34.6 x 22.8 cm (13 5/8 x 9 in.) sheet: 43.6 x 30.3 cm (17 3/16 x 11 15/16 in.)
Mathews and Shapiro 1989, no. 8, State iv/iv
Chester Dale Collection
Not on View
Object 5 of 12
In The Letter, as in the other prints from this series, Mary Cassatt explores the private realm of women in the nineteenth century. Though such domestic activities may at first glance seem trivial, Cassatt consistently endows her subjects with a gravity that underscores the seriousness of their occupations.
Correspondence often consumed a large part of a woman's day; she not only wrote to friends and acquaintances, but she was also responsible for answering invitations, responding to inquiries, and dealing with the daily domestic cares of the household. For Cassatt, who was an American expatriate living in Paris, the importance of letter-writing to keep in touch with family and friends must have held a special significance. The dropleaf desk in this composition still belongs to the artist's family; at one time, Cassatt herself may have used it to write letters.
Several aspects of The Letter reflect Japanese influence. The flattening of space is typical of the Japanese woodcuts popular in Europe at the time, as is an interior setting.
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Tris(ethylene diamine) nickel acetate as a promising precursor for hole transport layer in planar structured perovskite solar cells†
Owing hysteresis free characteristics and good reproducibility, inverted p-i-n perovskite solar cells (PSC) are gaining large interest in the photovoltaic field. In this context, the need for stable materials calls for the development of robust transporting layers compatible with the fabrication processes of the solar cell. In this study, we introduce a new precursor, tris(ethylene diamine) nickel acetate, for low temperature (280–300 °C) deposition of NiO hole transporting layer. Full characterization of the deposited NiO film layer was performed through XRD, Raman and Auger spectroscopy. We found a direct correlation between device performance and NiO thickness with maximum efficiency exceeding 15% for the thin NiO (10 nm) layer.


Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology Cite this entry
SKELF, n.2, v. Also skelv(e), and reduced form skel. Dim. skelvock. [skɛlf]
I. n. 1. A thin flat fragment or slice, a flake, a lamina (n.Sc. 1808 Jam., skelve; Sh. 1866 Edm. Gl.; Cai. 1970), lit. and fig.; a splinter, small sliver or chip of wood, esp. one lodged in the skin (wm.Sc. 1880 Jam.; Uls. 1910 C. C. Russell People and Lang. 35; Slg. 1930; Uls. 1953 Traynor; I. and m.Sc. 1970). Dim. skelvock. Adj. skelfy, skelvy, laminated, tending to split in layers, splintery. Uls. 1884 Cruick-a-Leaghan and Slieve Gallion Lays and Leg. I. 88:
Nor a skelf av their hides, nor a tuft av their hair.
Sc. 1895 Dundee Advertiser (16 Nov.):
The lance-head in the whale has troubled it less than a "skelve" would bother a human being.
Arg. 1914 N. Munro New Road xxx.:
He cut a skelf from the boarding of one hole.
Mry. 1922 Swatches o' Hamespun 25:
It's but a wee bit, less or mair, A skelvock here, a murlie there.
Gsw. 1947 H. W. Pryde 1st Bk. McFlannels ii.:
He had a skelf in his finger.
Sc. 1959 Bulletin (8 May):
Don't neglect the pricks from rose thorns, rusty (or even clean) wires, a skelf of wood.
2. A very thin flagstone slab (Cai. 1970).
3. The chip cut out of the trunk of a tree at the start of felling (Kcd. 1950, skel); a wedge of wood driven into the cut by tree-fellers to ease the motion of the saw (wm.Sc. 1970).
4. A large snowflake. Hence skelvie, of snow: in large flakes. Sh. 1881–95 Williamson MSS.:
Every skelv is fain lek a skovin.... Da last snaa wis mair hailie an skelvie.
5. Fig. A small, thin, insignificant person (wm.Sc., Rxb. 1970). Gsw. 1927 Scots Mag. (June) 172:
Pit doon that fryin-pan, ye wee skelf.
wm.Sc. 1951 N. B. Morrison Hidden Fairing 97:
A wee skelf of a man put in his head.
II. v. 1. tr. To take off in or as in flakes, to slice (Sh., Per., Slg., wm.Sc. 1970). Sh. 1949 J. Gray Lowrie 106:
Ye can skelf aff da siller laek da leaves o' a beuk.
Gsw. 1953 Bulletin (13 March):
It prevents the fat from being absorbed by the body of the skelfed spuds.
2. intr. To flake, break into flat slices or fragments, e.g. of stone by weathering (n.Sc. 1825 Jam.; Ork. 1970). Ags. 1961 Forfar Dispatch (4 May):
The little enamel saucerie, blue ootside and white inside (for it hedna skelved).
[O.Sc. skelf, splinter, c.1610, prob. ad. Du. †schelf, a scale, flake, or splinter of wood. Cf. Skelfer below. The exact relationship to the forms Skelb, Skelp, n.2, is somewhat uncertain. The word is prob. ultimately cogn. with Skelf, n.1, from a root *skelf-, to split.]
"Skelf n.2, v.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 24 Jan 2021 <>
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 4. Where is Indore
Where is Indore, India?
map showing the location of Indore
Indore is a city found in Madhya Pradesh, India. It is located 22.72 latitude and 75.83 longitude and it is situated at elevation 550 meters above sea level.
Indore has a population of 1,837,041 making it the biggest city in Madhya Pradesh. It operates on the BURT time zone.
Quick facts
Country India
Special region Madhya Pradesh
Population 1,837,041
Elevation 550 m over sea level
Time Zone BURT
Longitude 75.833300
Latitude 22.717920
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This page was last updated on October 2, 2015.