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What if Egypt's civil service reform is applied?
The first scenario reduces the burden on the state budget while second one allows for favoritism and discrimination.
Scenario 1:
Government applies civil service new law:
- The new incentive for early retirement helps increase the number of citizens each civil employee serves (Currently at 13 citizens per civil servant).
- The government wage bill increases only by 5% saving up to LE 22 billion in FY2016 reducing the burden on the state budget.
- Controlling the distribution of appraisal grades, in the sense that the percentage of employees with "Excellent" does not exceed 10%, creates a competitive work environment.
- The efficiency of the public services delivery is raised which creates a business friendly environment; economic activity grows especially in the small business sector, and citizens' trust in government is augmented.
Scenario 2:
Government postpones/suspends new civil service law:
- Each civil employee remains serving only 13 citizens, lower than international levels where a civil servant serves 54 citizens in Indonesia, 38 citizens in Morocco and 21 citizens in Malaysia.
- Government wage bill continues to increase by the same annual increase for the last 3 years of 16%, reaching LE 240 billion by FY2016.
- Uncontrollable evaluation systems allows for favoritism and discrimination.
- The modest quality of public services holds Egypt back in the global governance indicators, scoring only 19 in the government effectiveness indicator falling behind Singapore 100, UAE 83 and Malaysia 82, discouraging private investments.


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PEMBERDAYAAN SUMBER DAYA MANUSIA APARATUR PADA BADAN KEPEGAWAIAN DAERAH PROVINSI SUMATERA SELATAN
In an organization, human resources have a crucial role to determine the achievement of organizational goals. Therefore, this study aims to determine the empowerment of human resources personnel at the Regional Employment Board of Central South Sumatra Province. The method used is descriptive-quantitative method. To obtain the data in forming a generalization, a number of samples and informants were used. The results shows that the empowerment of human resources personnel at the Regional Employment Board of Central South Sumatra Province is categorized 'Good', in which the average percentage score of all aspects are being reviewed as 77.42%. Nevertheless, there is still an aspect that needs to be noted that is the value of leadership, particularly leader's justice in making decisions about the provision of learning tasks that should be more objective.
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source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


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The Chartered institute of Marketing (CIM) Diploma in Professional Marketing aims to provide the students with the required knowledge, skills and understanding at management level to take a strategic approach to marketing planning.
Upon successful completion of this course, it is expected that graduates will:
- be able to take a strategic approach to planning that achieves a sustainable competitive advan tage.
- be able to understand a range of measurement techniques which enable organisations to achieve marketing insights and strategic decision making.
- be able to take a visionary approach and embed innovation through the lens of entrepreneurial marketing.
- be able to examine how the management of digital channels and the application of key digital measures help to achieve business objectives.
|1||Driving Innovation OR|
Certificate in Professional Marketing or any other equivalent qualification.
Full Time / Part Time
Chartered Institute of Marketing (UK)


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July 13, 2012 An international team, led by Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Science, and BGI, the world's largest genomics organization, has completed the genomic sequence and analysis of salt cress (Thellungiella salsuginea), a wild salt-tolerant plant. The salt cress genome serves as a useful tool for exploring mechanisms of adaptive evolution and sheds new lights on understanding the genetic characteristics underlying plant abiotic stress tolerance.
The study was published online in PNAS.
Salt Cress is a typical halophyte with high resistance to cold, drought, oxidative stresses and salinity. Due to its small plant size, short life cycle, copious seed production, small genome size, and an efficient transformation, salt cress could serve as an important genetic model system for botanist, geneticists, and breeders to better explore the genetic mechanisms of abiotic stress tolerance.
In the study, researchers sequenced the genome of salt cress (Shandong ecotype) using the paired-end Solexa sequencing technology. The genomic data yielded a draft sequence of salt cress with about 134-fold coverage. The final length of the assembled sequences amounted to about 233.7 Mb, covering about 90% of the estimated size (~260 Mb). A total of 28,457 protein-coding regions were predicted in the sequenced salt cress genome. Researchers found that the average exon length of salt cress and A. thaliana genes was similar, whereas the average intron length of salt cress was about 30% larger than that of A. thaliana.
The evolutionary analysis indicated that salt cress and its close relativeArabidopsis thalianadiverged from approximately 7 -12million years ago. When tracing the differences between salt cress and A. thaliana, researchers found salt cress was characterized by a dramatically different lifestyle, a unique gene complement, significant differences in the expression of orthologs, and a larger genome size. Noticeably, the salt cress genome showed a dramatically higher content of transposable elements (TEs) than that of A. thaliana, which may be the reason for its enlarged genome size. In common with other higher plants, salt cress genome was consisted of abundance of long terminal repeat (LTR) retrotransposons.
Salt can have drastic effects on the growth and yield of agronomical crops. It is estimated that salinity renders about one-third of the world's irrigated land unsuitable for crop production. In this study, researchers identified many genes in salt cress that contribute to its success in high-salt environments, such as the genes related with cation transport, abscisic acid signaling, and wax production.
Junyi Wang, Director of Science & Technology, Research & Cooperation Center, BGI, said, "Salt cress provides an excellent model and opportunity for researchers to explore plant's mechanisms of abiotic stress tolerance. The completed genomic sequence of salt cress will boost the advancement of stress tolerance research as well as provide a valuable theoretic instruct and technical support for researchers worldwide to better face the challenges of the soil salinization in irrigation area, the development and utilization of shallow offshore waters and beaches, and food security."
Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:
- H.-J. Wu, Z. Zhang, J.-Y. Wang, D.-H. Oh, M. Dassanayake, B. Liu, Q. Huang, H.-X. Sun, R. Xia, Y. Wu, Y.-N. Wang, Z. Yang, Y. Liu, W. Zhang, H. Zhang, J. Chu, C. Yan, S. Fang, J. Zhang, Y. Wang, F. Zhang, G. Wang, S. Y. Lee, J. M. Cheeseman, B. Yang, B. Li, J. Min, L. Yang, J. Wang, C. Chu, S.-Y. Chen, H. J. Bohnert, J.-K. Zhu, X.-J. Wang, Q. Xie. Insights into salt tolerance from the genome of Thellungiella salsuginea. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2012; DOI: 10.1073/pnas._PHONE_
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


any of various traffic violations committed while a vehicle is in motion, as speeding, driving through a red light, or going the wrong direction on a one-way street.
Read Also:
 - Moving walkway
 noun a slow-speed conveyor belt for transporting people; also called moving sidewalk, travelator, peoplemover, moving pavement Examples Airports are smart to install moving walkways.
 - Moviola
 [moo-vee-oh-luh] /ˌmu viˈoʊ lə/ Movies, Trademark. 1. a brand of projection device for a motion-picture film allowing one person to see the film through a viewer and control its motion and speed, used in film editing, preparing titles, etc. /ˌmuːvɪˈəʊlə/ noun 1. trademark a viewing machine used in cutting and editing film
 - Mow
 [moh] /moʊ/ verb (used with object), mowed, mowed or mown, mowing. 1. to cut down (grass, grain, etc.) with a scythe or a machine. 2. to cut grass, grain, etc., from: to mow the lawn. verb (used without object), mowed, mowed or mown, mowing. 3. to cut down grass, grain, etc. Verb phrases 4. mow […]
 - Mowat
 [moh-uh t] /ˈmoʊ ət/ noun 1. Farley (McGill) 1921–2014, Canadian writer.


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George Hearst, born on a Missouri farm in 1820, was a shrewd investor who turned a small investment in the Comstock Lode into the foundation of an American empire. He was seeking his fortune in California when news of the 1859 Comstock Lode discoveries rippled through the western mining camps. Hearst was one of the first to cross the Sierra, hoping to purchase claims before prices inflated. He agreed to pay $3,000 to Patrick McLaughlin for his one-sixth share of a Comstock mine. He then returned to Nevada City, California to raise the money.
The investment paid off as Hearst quickly accumulated wealth. In 1860, Hearst constructed the Gould and Curry Mine superintendent's house on Virginia City's D Street. Silver Baron John Mackay eventually purchased the mansion that still bears his name. With nearly one hundred thousand dollars, Hearst left the Comstock for mines in Park City, Utah, where he increased his fortune. In 1862, he married Phoebe Apperson, who gave birth in 1863 to future newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst.
George Hearst eventually owned interests in important mines in Utah, South Dakota, and Montana. He used his profits to acquire massive amounts of western real estate and helped launch his son's publishing career. Hearst was elected U.S. Senator from California in 1886. His term ended with his death in 1891.
Grant H. Smith. The History of the Comstock Lode: _PHONE_. Reno: Nevada Bureau of Mines and the University of Nevada, 1943.


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Near-optimal sensor placements : maximizing information while minimizing communication cost
journal contributionposted on 01.07.1985, 00:00 by Andreas Krause
Abstract: "When monitoring spatial phenomena with wireless sensor networks, selecting the best sensor placements is a fundamental task. Not only should the sensors be informative, but they should also be able to communicate efficiently. In this paper, we present a data-driven approach that addresses the three central aspects of this problem: measuring the predictive quality of a set of sensor locations (regardless of whether sensors are ever placed at these locations), predicting the communication cost involved with these placements, and designing an algorithm with provable quality guarantees that optimizes the NP-hard tradeoff. Specifically, we use data from a pilot deployment to build non-parametric probabilistic models called Gaussian Processes (GPs) both for the spatial phenomena of interest and for the spatial variability of link qualities, which allows us to estimate predictive power and communication cost of unsensed locations. Surprisingly, uncertainty in the representation of link qualities plays an important role in estimating communication costs. Using these models, we present a novel, polynomial-time, data-driven algorithm, pSPIEL, which selects Sensor Placements at Informative and cost-Effective Locations. Our approach exploits two important properties of this problem: submodularity, formalizing the intuition that adding a node to a small deployment can help more than adding a node to a large deployment; and locality, under which nodes that are far from each other provide almost independent information. Exploiting these properties, we prove strong approximation guarantees for our pSPIEL approach. We also provide extensive experimental validation of this practical approach on several real-world placement problems, and built a complete system implementation on 46 Tmote Sky motes, demonstrating significant advantages over existing methods."


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Théodore Géricault carried this little book around in his pocket for more than two years, from 1812 to 1814. He used it to make rapid sketches from life and to copy motifs from Old Master paintings and ancient sculpture, as well as to note ideas for future projects. The sketchbook clearly illustrates his broad range of interests, though it focuses on subjects such as horses and lions, which interested Géricault throughout his career.
After Géricault's early death at the age of thirty-two in 1824, the contents of his studio, including thirty-three sketchbooks, were sold at auction. Most of these sketchbooks were later taken apart, and their individual pages have scattered among various private and public collections. Only six remain intact today. The Getty Museum's sketchbook is nearly complete, with a few detached single sheets showing that a few pages were cut or torn out at some point.


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Background: Although it is well-recognized that hospitalization often precipitates functional decline in older patients, there have been few studies to examine these functional changes carefully over multiple points in time. Objective: To describe functional trajectory during and 6 months posthospitalization and to ascertain the predictors that signal different classes of functional trajectory, using latent class analysis. Methods: A cohort study was conducted on 286 older hospitalized patients who were admitted to five surgical-medical units at a tertiary medical center in Northern Taiwan. Results are reported of 241 participants who completed all four scheduled assessments during hospitalization (within 48 hr after admission and before discharge) and 3 and 6 months postdischarge. Functional trajectory was measured using the Barthel index over four time points, and decline was defined as a reduction on the Barthel index scores. Demographics, comorbidities, visual impairment, medications taken, cognitive status, nutritional status, oral health, depressive symptoms, social support, surgical diagnosis, and length of stay were assessed as the predictors of functional trajectory classes. Results: Most (74.3%) participants developed functional decline during hospitalization, and 32.0% had persistent functional impairment at 6 months posthospitalization. Three functional trajectory classes (good, moderate, and poor) were identified, and gender, age, comorbidities, cognitive status, nutritional status, oral health status, and length of stay were associated with different trajectory classes. Conclusion: Visualizing different classes of functional trajectory and studying predictors that signal such differences during and posthospitalization help practitioners understand how function changed and the possible ways to intervene.
|Number of pages||8|
|State||Published - 1 Mar 2008|
- Activities of daily living
- Acute care for the older persons
- Functional decline
- Longitudinal design


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In a city known for its glass and steel jungles and crisscross of traffic-choked asphalt byways, one building in New York has fended off not just the crush of built-up modernity, but also seemingly time itself.
Perched on a lush promontory in Washington Heights, there is the 244-year-old Morris-Jumel Mansion, Manhattan's oldest house.
And today, with its lush lawns and panoramic views, stained glass windows and creaky wood floors, the house still looks like a sliver of the 18th century, time-warped onto the cityscape. It's hard to imagine that when it was built, the property's lot stretched from river to river across Manhattan.
As if the house itself wasn't enough of a window into New York's past, the Morris-Jumel Mansion Museum is exhibiting dozens of photographs from the site's past — with modern shots by two photographers right next to them. The show, titled "It's About Time: 244 Years at the Morris-Jumel Mansion," runs until next Tuesday and is free with admission ($5 for adults, free for children under 12).
The museum's education director, Carol Ward, who worked to produce the display, said one of the exhibit's purposes is to stress the importance of linking the past with the present.
"Why do we take photographs now? Why did they take photographs in 1885?" Ms. Ward asked rhetorically as she gave a tour of the exhibit this week. "To document these moments in our lives, these memories we want to share."
Spanning from 1887 until today, the photographs document the ways the house has been used over the years, changed, and in many ways, stayed the same.
Some images by the photographer Trish Mayo zoom in to the richly detailed French furniture still left over by the former owners Stephen and Eliza Jumel, who acquired the house in 1810. Originally built by the British colonel Roger Morris, who had an American wife, the house changed hands during the Revolutionary War.
In one photograph, Ms. Mayo focuses on the clawed foot of a centuries-old sofa. The same sofa appears in the background of some of the historic photographs as just a piece of furniture in a mansion as lived in as any other.
"The furniture is 200 years old, but it can still be seen in a modern way," Ms. Mayo said.
The other photographs in the exhibit are documentary-style interior and external shots by Tom Stoelker.


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The Finnish Youth Research Network produces multidisciplinary research information and participates in discussion in society, offering perspectives for practical work with young people and for the fields of administration and politics. Youth research has a particular responsibility to address topical phenomena that concern young people. Our research covers topics that are familiar to and acknowledged by society as well as themes that are ignored or marginal. This responsibility is local, national and global.
The research operations of the Finnish Youth Research Network are based on multidisciplinary and ethical approaches and a combination of basic academic research and applied research that is relevant in terms of youth policy. This broadens conventional understanding of the scope of expertise and the roles of researchers. Within the Finnish Youth Research Network, we seek to make versatile use of various research methods by combining qualitative and quantitative approaches, for example, and to look beyond conventional research questions and environments.
The research carried out by the Finnish Youth Research Network is divided into three fields of knowledge. These fields reflect the key perspectives of social responsibility and the high-quality scientific research conducted by the Finnish Youth Research Network. The goal is to produce a diverse range of studies on social divisions that lay the framework for the lives of young people and on the everyday experiences and practices of young people and the adults who work with them. Research projects and the researchers involved in the projects cooperate in various sections of these focus areas.
More information about research projects in progress within the Finnish Youth Research Network is available on the Research Projects page.
Research within the Finnish Youth Research Network is funded by ministries, international providers of research funding, the Academy of Finland, foundations, organisations and municipalities, among other parties. We cooperate with universities, universities of applied sciences, research institutes, organisations, scientific societies and many other partners.


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Aug 1, 2006
Nanoetching makes LEDs brighter
Researchers in the US claim to have made a resonant cavity LED (RCLED) seven times brighter over a 130 nm bandwidth by etching circular Bragg gratings into the device structure (Applied Physics Letters 89 033105). The technique could have applications in displays as well as medical imaging - in particular, say the researchers, optical coherence tomography (OCT).
"We have demonstrated a 7.5x enhancement of light extraction from a RCLED, which in turn has an enhancement factor of 2.7x over a conventional LED," Mark Su, lead author of the paper, told optics.org. "Whereas only around 2% of the light generated within a conventional LED can be collected, we estimate that we harvested 41% of the light generated within the LED."
A resonant cavity is a way to improve the light extraction of a regular LED by placing a mirror below the active layer. However, even in this configuration, most of the emitted light is waveguided below the semiconductor surface and lost. "We used a cavity defined by a circular Bragg grating to diffract the guided waves into waves which can be extracted - resulting in the improved light extraction," explained Su.
The team, based at the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST), made an infrared-emitting LED composed of gallium arsenide packed with quantum dots of indium gallium arsenide. The grating was etched by electron-beam lithography.
According to the researchers, the technique is immediately applicable to infrared LEDs and could have applications in areas such as biomedical imaging; in particular, OCT that requires bright sources with a wide bandwidth.
"Present-day broadband OCT sources have many undesirable properties, such as cost, bulkiness, and problems with the shape of the spectrum they output. So there is room for improvement," said Su.
The team believes that nanophotonic structures could also benefit high performance LEDs for applications such as projectors and displays. "For the visible part of the spectrum, bright LEDs incorporating design features such as circular Bragg gratings could enable energy-efficient projection TVs, or even a new generation of miniature portable projectors," said Su.
Su adds that the present-day visible sources that could be replaced by LED technology are devices like mercury arc lamps and halogen bulbs, which are power-hungry, hot, bulky, burn out and are costly to replace.
About the author
Darius Nikbin is technology reporter for optics.org and Optics & Laser Europe.


phenomena. The central limit theorem, in its generality, is also important in the information that it indirectly conveys when it fails.
For example, the distribution of the heights of adult men or women is nicely bell-shaped, but the distribution of the heights of all adults has a different, more spread-out distribution. This is because your height is the sum of many small factors and one large factor–your sex. The conditions of the theorem are that no single factor (or small number of factors) should be important on its own. For another example, it has long been observed that incomes do not follow a bell-shaped curve, even on the logarithmic scale. Nor do sizes of cities and many other social phenomena. These "power-law curves," which don't fit the central limit theorem, have motivated social scientists such as Herbert Simon to come up with processes more complicated than simple averaging (for example, models in which the rich get richer).
The central limit theorem is an example of an attractor–a mathematical model that appears as a limit as sample size gets large. The key feature of an attractor is that it destroys information. Think of it as being like a funnel: all sorts of things can come in, but a single thing–the bell-shaped curve–comes out. (Or, for other models, such as that used to describe the distribution of incomes, the attractor might be a power-law distribution.) The beauty of an attractor is that, if you believe the model, it can be used to explain an observed pattern without needing to know the details of its components. Thus, for example, we can see that the heights of men or of women have bell-shaped distributions, without knowing the details of the many small genetic and environmental influences on height.
Now to random matrices. A random matrix is an array of numbers, where each number is drawn from some specified probability distribution. You can compute the eigenvalues of a square matrix–that's a set of numbers summarizing the structure of the matrix–and they will have a probability distribution that is induced by the probability distribution of the individual elements of the matrix. Over the past few decades, mathematicians such as Alan Edelman have performed computer simulations and proved theorems deriving the distribution of the eigenvalues of a random matrix, as the dimension of the matrix becomes large.
It appears that the eigenvalue distribution is an attractor. That is, for a broad range of different input models (distributions of the random matrices), you get the same output–the same eigenvalue distribution–as the sample size becomes large. This is interesting, and it's hard to prove. (At least, it seemed hard to prove the last time I looked at it, about 20 years ago, and I'm sure that it's even harder to make advances in the field today!)
Now, to return to the news article. If the eigenvalue distribution is an attractor, this means that a lot of physical and social phenomena which can be modeled by eigenvalues (including, apparently, quantum energy levels and some properties of statistical tests) might have a common structure. Just as, at a similar level, we see the normal distribution and related functions in all sorts of unusual places.
Consider this quote from Buchanan's article:
Recently, for example, physicist Ferdinand Kuemmeth and colleagues at Harvard University used it to predict the energy levels of electrons in the gold nanoparticles they had constructed. Traditional theories suggest that such energy levels should be influenced by a bewildering range of factors, including the precise shape and size of the nanoparticle and the relative position of the atoms, which is considered to be more or less random. Nevertheless, Kuemmeth's team found that random matrix theory described the measured levels very accurately.
That's what an attractor is all about: different inputs, same output.
Thus, I don't quite understand this quote:
Random matrix theory has got mathematicians like Percy Deift of New York University imagining that there might be more general patterns there too. "This kind of thinking isn't common in mathematics," he notes. 'Mathematicians tend to think that each of their problems has its own special, distinguishing features. But in recent years we have begun to see that problems from diverse areas, often with no discernible connections, all behave in a very similar way.
This doesn't seem like such a surprise to me–it seems very much in the tradition of mathematical modeling. But maybe there's something I'm missing here.
Finally, Buchanan turns to social science:
An economist may sift through hundreds of data sets looking for something to explain changes in inflation – perhaps oil futures, interest rates or industrial inventories. Businesses such as rely on similar techniques to spot patterns in buyer behaviour and help direct their advertising.
While random matrix theory suggests that this is a promising approach, it also points to hidden dangers. As more and more complex data is collected, the number of variables being studied grows, and the number of apparent correlations between them grows even faster. With enough variables to test, it becomes almost certain that you will detect correlations that look significant, even if they aren't.... even if these variables are all fluctuating randomly, the largest observed correlation will be large enough to seem significant.
This is well known. The new idea is that mathematical theory might enable the distribution of these correlations to be understood for a general range of cases. That's interesting but doesn't alter the basic statistical ideas.
Beyond this, I think there's a flaw in the idea that statistics (or econometrics) proceeds by blindly looking at the correlations among all variables. In my experience, it makes more sense to fit a hierarchical model, using structure in the economic indexes rather than just throwing them all in as predictors. We are in fact studying the properties of hierarchical models when the number of cases and variables becomes large, and it's a hard problem. Maybe the ideas from random matrix theory will be relevant here too.
Buchanan writes:
I'm with most economists here: I think that, on average, more measurements do mean better predictive abilities! Maybe not if you are only allowed to look at correlations and least-squares regressions, but if you can model with more structure than, yes, more information should be better.
Andrew Gelman 2010-04-08T08:25:41Z 2010-04-08T08:25:41Z Felix Salmon comments on a report that econ czar Larry Summers is likely to be leaving the government:
Andrew Gelman 2010-04-08T08:24:52Z 2010-04-08T08:24:52Z John discusses an argument by Bruce Bartlett that it made sense for conservatives to support Hillary Clinton in 2008, based on the following reasoning:
Surveying the political landscape, I [Barttlett] didn't think the Republican candidate, whoever it might be, was very likely to win against whoever the Democratic candidate might be. Therefore I concluded that it was in the interest of conservatives to support the more conservative Democratic candidate... Hillary Clinton... probably would be governing significantly more conservatively than Obama.
I'm surprised to hear this, because I thought the consensus view among conservatives–general voters and elites alike–was that Hillary Clinton was extremely liberal, that Bill was the moderate one with Hillary pulling him to the left. Bartlett argues that Hillary Clinton was more conservative than Barack Obama based on their voting records in the Senate, but I thought the consensus among conservatives was that Hillary Clinton's core beliefs were far left, and that her Senate votes were just a matter of positioning in preparation for her presidential push.
I also had the impression that support for Hillary Clinton from conservative Republicans in 2008 was coming from three factors:
1. A feeling that Hillary Clinton was a polarizing and unpopular figure and thus would be a weaker candidate for the Democrats in the general election.
2. A desire to fan the flames of the contentious Democratic primary. Since Clinton was behind in the race, supporting her would keep the battle going.
3. Once it was clear that Barack Obama was probably going to become the Democratic nominee (and, ultimately, president), it is natural for Obama opponents to put him down by saying nice things about his opposition (Hillary Clinton, in this case).
Bartlett writes:
I [Bartlett] also noticed that some conservatives were saying nice things about Hillary–people like National Review editor Rich Lowry, Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol, New York Times columnist David Brooks and even right-wing columnist Ann Coulter.
I don't buy it. I'm pretty sure that, had Hillary Clinton won the nomination and Obama lost, we would've heard a lot from conservatives about how the Democrats chose the old-fashioned New Deal-style liberal instead of the modern consensus-builder. I say this not as a slam on Republicans or conservatives–it's just natural partisanship.
Coulter, for example, said on 1 Feb 2008 that she would campaign for Hillary Clinton if she were running against McCain. I don't believe this for one minute. This seems much more like positioning to me, consistent with items 1, 2, and 3 above. Similarly, Bill Kristol on 28 April 2008 wrote, "we also see the liberal media failing to give Hillary Clinton the respect she deserves," and goes on about her ability as a candidate. This doesn't sound like an endorsement of her conservatism; it sounds much more like a desire for the primary election battle to continue.
Another data point from Bartlett:
A Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll last October asked people if Hillary had won the election would she be doing a better or worse job than Obama. Among


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If you are under the impression that your severely damaged car is no more of use then you are absolutely wrong. You would become glad to know that even these cars can be sold out in the market and buyers are available to purchase the same too. However, these cars are known as salvage car. Though selling your salvage car can be a little risky but it is legal and hence, you can proceed to auctioning without any hesitation. If you bid for your car then you will be able to see how various kinds of cars are being auctioned at the salvage car auctions program.
What is a salvage car?
Before getting into the details of how selling your salvage car is possible it is important for you to have a clear idea about the definition of a car that has salvage title. The cars that have any one of the features mentioned below can be described as salvaged cars:
- A car 75% of which is damaged or has no value
- A car is so severely damaged that its repairing costs are higher than the value of the vehicle itself
- A car that was either stolen or lost and now has been recovered after a long time
- A car which was in past a reason behind a dreadful accident or any other similar sorts of collisions
- A car that is now damaged due to a natural disaster took place like floods etc.
- If the car is repossessed by someone else preferable a financial institution due to the previous owner's inability to pay
What buyers look for in a salvaged car?
- Buyers check the following points very carefully before purchasing a salvaged car from the previous owner or a financial institution:
- First of all, which are the car parts damaged or completely ruined
- Secondly, whether the salvage title given to a particular is justified depending on its condition or not
- Sometimes they may even ask for a Car-Fax report. Though these reports do not contain all the valuable data but most of the information required by a buyer is available in it.
- Obtaining a qualified inspection is another important task performed by all the buyers.
What the sellers should do before bidding?
Selling your salvage car means you are dealing with a damaged vehicle. Hence, it is important to remain aware of the essential facts associated with the same. Being a responsible and honest seller, it is your responsibility to let your buyer know everything related to the condition of your car and the parts individually. For that the first thing you would need to do is learning about the basic things like what are those things that your state would want you to provide them. Each state has their own rules and regulation and being a devoted citizen you must abide by the same. Usually all states ask the sellers to submit a written notice so that a prospective buyer (if there is any) becomes alert of it.
There are four simple steps following which you can sell your salvaged car properly –
- Let the government do a lien search for your salvaged car – contacting the state's department of motor vehicles (DMV) you would need to provide a representative the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) of your car.
- Price should be a justified amount – after making an extensive research of the value of your car you should fix the price for the same.
- Give advertisement – negotiating a sale can be done in the best way through advertisements. Give ad of your car in the classified sections of newspapers and auto magazines where details of such junk and salvaged are given usually.
- Have a conversation with the interested buyers – it is natural that the buyers would declare an amount as low as possible. However, keeping in mind your price you should negotiate until they offer something close to the price you have asked for.


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Best Practices for Effective Load Testingby Marvin Cole Writer
This testing generally estimates an application's maximum functional capability, whether the existing infrastructure can support the application, the application's sustainability as measured against peak user load and the count of concurrent users that the system can support along with scalability to ensure accessibility for more users. Since a number of components are involved, load testing requires an effective strategy in order to ensure a successful outcome. Let's discuss the main steps of load testing before we proceed to look into the best practices. These will be helpful when you seek to differentiate between Load Testing Services providers.
Major Steps of Load Testing
Major Steps of Load Testing
- Planning: It is very important to plan a target load in order to determine whether the application is able to support that load. While planning it is best to make use of a calculator to estimate how many concurrent users are required to attain the target load level. Moreover, proper test account data should be created during the planning phase.
- Configuration: In order to derive the best results, the load test should be properly configured. For configuring the test, you need to consider certain basic things like where your web traffic would be coming from, the number of users coming to the site, how the user load should be applied, whether the test should be conducted with virtual users instead of real users, where within the site users are spending maximum time and how much time users spend on navigation.
- Scripting: One of the major components of load testing is an appropriate load testing script that enables the simulation of real user behavior over the website in an accurate and efficient manner. For scripting, you need to chart out a scenario outline, recognize a practical range of pause times amidst steps and decide whether the script will call for parameterization or randomization.
- Execution: During the execution of load testing, you need to focus on certain metrics that are usually captured while running a load test. Some of the most useful metrics are number of page views, number of successful transactions, types and number of errors, page load times and throughput. While running a load testing, there should be a constant scope of communication among all the responsible parties, namely the developers, database administrators and system administrators.
- Analysis: The aim of any load testing is to find out whether the website or application is facing any capacity or performance issues. If such things happen, you are required to analyze the test result to identify the probable causes.
- While carrying out the different steps of load testing the following best practices can be considered to maximize the success rate.
- While running a load test, ensure that the environment is identical to what it is during recording of the test. If there are any changes in the operating environment, you might need to rerecord the tests.
- In case load tests are conducted on a Siebel application, comprising a list applet, care should be taken to ensure that the list's expected state is identical during the recording session and the execution session.
- Wherever possible, it is good to break scenarios into a number of smaller components so that the tests are focused. The transaction definitions should be granular enough to enable the identification of performance issues.
- The HTTP message bar traffic needs to be eliminated from transactions. Place the requests for message bar within your script exterior to the transaction blocks.
- If you are planning for iterative actions, ensure that the application is in its base state and the next iteration can begin from there and get completed productively. Moreover, iterative actions should be made self-sufficient.
- Data value parameters should be set up in such a manner so that they are specific for every virtual user. Again, each virtual user should possess a particular data subset within the database.
- Ensure that the position and role of the user are compatible, so that the user can carry out the essential actions.
We provide software performance testing services. Our certified load testers can help increase the robustness of your application. To know more how, please visit Mindfire Solutions.
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Animal Species:Cotton Harlequin Bug
The Cotton Harlequin Bug is a member of the Jewel Bug family named for their bright metallic colouration.
The males and females of the Cotton Harlequin Bug are different colours, with the females mostly orange and the males mostly blue-red.
The Cotton Harlequin Bug is found in eastern Australia.
The Cotton Harlequin Bug lives in urban, agricultural and coastal areas.
The Cotton Harlequin Bug is common during summer in Sydney gardens and among ornamental trees in parks.
Feeding and Diet
The Cotton Harlequin Bug feeds on many species belonging to the hibiscus plant family (Malvaceae), including ornamental hibiscus species and cotton. It feeds mostly on young shoots, piercing the stems and sucking the sugar-rich juices intended for shoot growth.
Cotton Harlequin Bugs are sometimes a minor pest of cotton and have been known to cause the introduction of a fungus, which rots the cotton boll. In gardens, they cause flower buds to drop prematurely.


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Leitrim is a county steeped in history. It has suffered massive population decline from the Great Famine of the 1840s until the 1990s. The county's population fell from about 160,000 in 1847 to 25,000 in 1996. Economic growth in Ireland in the last Decade has meant that the Census of 2002 showed an increase in Leitrim's population for the first time in over a century and a half.
Not surprisingly Leitrim is the most unspoilt county in Ireland. It is full of lakes and mountains and rugged scenery. Places where your ancestors struggled to survive until they went to the "promised land" of America, England, Australia etc. They always harboured the dream of returning, but often they never saw their native home again.


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Details about Clinical Anatomy of the Visual System:
This concise source for the clinical anatomy of the visual system covers the clinical anatomy of the eye, its adnexa, and the visual pathways in a well-illustrated, well-referenced format. It balances histologic content of the microscopic anatomy with functional aspects of the eye and visual system. Clear illustrations complement the text and provide clinical information on diseases and disorders that represent departures from normal clinical anatomy.
Full color illustrations throughout enhance the anatomical and clinical information.The only anatomy text written by an optometrist for optometrists and students - it provides a strong foundation for recognizing and understanding clinical situations, problems, and treatments.
Clinical Comment sections have been expanded to include more clinical correlation comments and put knowledge of ocular anatomy into a practice perspective.Clinical appearance of normal structures is now included, with normal photos of the cornea, iris, lens, retina, etc., to show how appearance is directly related to structure.New information on aging changes in ocular tissue and the visual pathway keeps readers current with the expanding field of geriatric care and the changes that occur to normal anatomy.


While disassembling my printer, I found that the X-axis rods were able to be slide back and forth within their mounting bracket. This seems like it could lead to this axis shifting from vibration alone.
But, it might not matter, I think, because the extruder carriage is tensioned by a belt and it simply uses the rails as a guide to slide across. Even if the rods were to move, it wouldn't take the carriage along with it.
Will the X-axis rods sliding in their mounting bracket have an affect in print quality?
Here is a video:
If the x-axis rods only move in the x axis then there's no problem, but if they aren't firmly secured in the other axes then there could be issues. If they're able to move then presumably they aren't secured that well. Given the relatively small forces involved in 3D printing though, you may well be fine.
Your Answer


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Support in favor of policies for minors in Albania, institutional strengthening for the decentralization of social services and national services for the adoption and protection of child rights and the regulation of Albanian legislation with the EU norms" With the support of Vlora Municipality Funded by the Italian Government.
Improvement of community life through the rehabilitation of the green surfaces and environment community sensitizing.
- Developing the talents of pupil of the school through the establishment of adequate structures to teaching.
- Promoting talents in the fields of sports, drawing, music and literary creation and revitalization of the daily life of children in school.
- Improve the level of learning for children with disabilities through development of a process of differentiating teaching at 30%.
- Improve the environment around the school through the establishment of green surfaces and relaxing environments for children.


Understanding What an Amicable Divorce Is
Studies show that 40%-50% of all marriages end in divorce. Marriage is a wholesome construct, but lifetime partnerships are challenging to negotiate.
There is a stigma associated with divorce, but there's no reason to feel shame. Nor is there any reason why a divorce between two adults has to be a year's long, bare-knuckle fight.
An amicable divorce should be the goal for any separating couple. It's easier on your mental health and far better for your children.
Do you need amicable divorce advice? Read on to learn all about what an amicable divorce is.
What Is an Amicable Divorce?
The term 'amicable divorce' is nebulous, and people often have varying definitions. For some, it means a divorce followed by a lifelong friendship. For others, it means a short process.
Amicable Divorce Meaning
The strict legal definition of an amicable divorce is one without serious disagreement. Both parties agree on how to split property, finances, and childcare responsibilities.
A divorce like this is not, however, a guarantee of a relationship post-divorce. Nor is it a non-adversarial divorce, though it can be.
How to Divorce Amicably
Divorce is a painful process in any scenario. Even in a situation where two adults are able to communicate, emotions can still run high. What you believe will be a civil process can quickly go off the rails.
Divorcing couples who can communicate in a civil way throughout the process will have a better chance at an amicable split. The irony is, of course, that if you were both better communicators, you might not be divorcing.
Prioritize Your Children
If there are children involved, both partners should focus on their needs before all else. When you do this, you're both working toward a common goal rather than fighting one another.
Diverting your attention away from your pain and expressing mutual empathy for your children is the best way to keep the process civil.
An amicable divorce isn't something two partners can achieve on their own. It is especially true if two people aren't able to communicate effectively or are nursing grudges.
Amicable divorce services like mediation allow you and your partner to separate from the emotional charge of face-to-face divorce negotiations.
Understand They're Not Always Possible
Marriages that involve emotional, physical, or sexual abuse are not capable of an amicable divorce. Nor are divorces where one party knowingly hides assets and money.
A civil, professional divorce is only possible when both parties are honest with each other and themselves.
An Amicable Divorce Is a Best Possible Scenario
Divorce is a painful process that involves a wide range of emotions. This emotional turmoil can turn what should be a simple procedure into a legal nightmare.
You're both adults, and divorce is part of life. An amicable divorce should be your goal in all possible cases. The easier the split, the easier it will be to carry on with your new life.
Do you need more legal advice? Make sure to check out the rest of our page.


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Developed by the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum, The Hope Trunk: An Offering of Positive Education provides educators a unique and meaningful classroom learning resource.
The Hope Trunk is a traveling exhibit that contains educational materials and memorial items from the April 19, 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. The trunk, which a school may use for two weeks, contains artifacts, visual materials, and classroom exercises that may be used as a stand alone unit or incorporated into core curriculum. Shipping is provided courtesy of FedEx.
The Hope Trunk was developed to educate students about the impact of violence, the senselessness of using violence to effect change, and the importance of personal responsibility. The trunk has been on exhibit at schools nationwide. Many students viewing its artifacts were not alive when the Oklahoma City bombing occurred. The traveling exhibit helps to ensure the messages of that event continue to have impact.
The Mid-Atlantic Center for Emergency Management (MACEM) at Frederick Community College (FCC) had the pleasure of featuring the Hope Trunk, as part of Dr. Brenda Phillips' presentation on Human Response to Disaster at the 2016 Summer Institute. The exhibit included a range of items such as children's books; The Daily Oklahoman Newspaper – April 20, 1995; public safety patches from across the Nation as a show of unity; and rubble from the site. Each trunk also includes a 'hope bear' that was placed at the memorial. Mr. Anthony Thomas, a Summer Institute participant and educator at Dorchester Career and Technology Center (DCTC), also utilized the Hope Trunk during a lesson on how memorials can help people recover from disaster. DCTC and FCC are proud to be added to the growing list of "Hope Bear Schools."
Let's keep the trunk moving!
For more information about the Hope Trunk, please visit: _URL_
To order a Hope Trunk for your school, please visit: _URL_


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Some cruise ships are dirty from bow to stern while others are more ocean friendly. The ships that are dirty can be dirty in myriad ways. They emit pollution through the stacks as they burn fossil fuels to run their engines and generate power. These large vessels, sometimes called floating cities, create a variety of waste, and often dump it directly into the oceans — thousands of gallons of human sewage, oily bilge water, hazardous waste, and gray water, which is water from sinks, showers, and laundry.
Luxury ships cruise waters all over the world from Alaska to the Mediterranean, often sensitive ecosystems and near-pristine waters, and restrictions on the range of ocean dumping vary from strict to nonexistent.
But you can help lessen the impact of dirty cruise ships.
3 things you can do to clean up cruise ships:
1. Select an ocean-friendly cruise line if you decide to take a cruise.
2. Get involved with groups working to encourage clean cruising.
3. Tell your friends about this issue.
Other great ways you can make a difference.
LINKS & VIDEOS
Cruise Ship Discharge Assessment Report – EPA
Ethical Destinations – Ethical Traveler
Cruise Ship Pollution – State Environmental Resource Center
Green Cruising – Investigate West
Cruise Control: How Cruise Ships Affect the Marine Environment, Ocean Conservancy
Environmental Impact of Shipping, Wikipedia


Heroic ants take suicide pilgrimage to save colony
For aeons we have been their tormentors; burning them with magnifying glasses, pouring boiling water into their homes and shooing them away from our picnics with petulant disdain. But now the humble ant has risen above its lowly status thanks to a new study cementing its reputation as the epitome of selfless heroism.
Basing their hypothesis on a combination of sound scientific methodology and, presumably, repeated viewings of CGI animations such as Antz and A Bug's Life, Professor Jurgen Heinze and sidekick PhD Student Bartosz Walter have documented the heroic and noble nature of the Temnothorax unifasciatus species of ant in a report published in Current Biology
The researchers found that, upon an ant learning it has contracted a terminal illness, the plucky insect will leave the safety of its home and venture into the wilderness to die alone in a bid to save its colony.
While there have been reports of such behaviour previously it had not been proven that ants were indeed behaving in this manner through their own free will. A common parasitic fungus, Metarhizium anisopliae, was often given as the reason why ants would leave their nest to die.
This quite spectacularly gruesome affliction would involve the parasite taking control of the subjects mind and forcing them to climb, zombie-like, to an elevated point such as the tip of a blade of grass so that the fungus could grow out of its body and spread it's spores further.
To prove that this was not the real reason behind an ant's suicidal mission Professor Heinze released C02 into a colony of the insects which caused those affected to age prematurely. Upon realising their grim fate, the ants would, often within hours, leave the colony never to return.
They would not, however, be forced to leave by other workers attempting to protect the healthy population, but would turn tail of their own accord, even, sob, shortening their own life spans significantly in doing so.
Rumours of ants being heard outside nests bellowing in dramatic tones "I am going outside, and may be some time," a la Captain Oates are, as yet, unsubstantiated.


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Understanding Microbiology Testing Services
Microbiological characterization of medical devices typically accompany regulatory submissions and bioburden, endotoxin, and tests for sterility are common requirements. These tests are performed according to USP and AAMI guidance. Combination devices that contain antimicrobial agents or antibiotics require evidence that the device possesses antimicrobial properties under simulated use and worst-case testing conditions against a clinically relevant selection of pathogens according to prescribed ASTM, AAMI, or FDA guidance documents. Similarly, reusable medical devices require validation testing to confirm the procedures used to clean, disinfect, and/or sterilize a device between patients are effective. Microbiological evaluations are part of the overall safety and efficacy assessment of medical devices.
Toxikon's Expertise in Microbiology Testing Services
Toxikon's Microbiology Department effectively collaborates with clients to develop customized study protocols that meet your specific requirements. Our staff of experienced microbiologists apply their technical expertise when conducting each study to generate timely, quality data to your program's requirements.


Lethe Eleven
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Lethe Eleven is a former Imperial Hive World that was captured by Orks during the Green Kroosade.
Map Basic Data Planetary Image
px Name: Lethe Eleven Unknown.jpg
Segmentum: Segmentum Obscurus
Sector: Scarus[4]
Subsector: Helican[4]
System: Thracian Primaris[2]
Population: unknown
Affiliation: Ork[2]
Class: Ork World[2] (formerly Hive World)[3]
Tithe Grade: n/a
As a Hive World, Lethe Eleven was densely populated before it was captured by Orks. It's main industries were metalwork and shield technologies. During the Imperial month of Umbris the planet's largest moon, Kux, lines up exactly with the system's star, plunging Lethe Eleven into a two week eclipse known as the Darknight. This period was a seasonal holiday when the planet was held by the Imperium.[1a]
During the Darknight of 338.M41 Inquisitor Gregor Eisenhorn tracked the notorious xenophile Beldame Sadia to Lethe Eleven. The Beldame was killed by Witchfinder Tantalid in catacombs beneath the derelict church of Saint Kiodrus. Tantalid then threatened to execute Eisenhorn for heresy, but was driven off by the Inquisitor's gun-cutter piloted by Medea Betancore.[1a][1b]
In 999.M41 the Green Kroosade ravaged the Scarus Sector. Lethe Eleven was one of the planets captured by the Orks.[2]
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Eucalyptus Longhorned Borers
Recommended Steps to Control Eucalyptus Long-horned Borers
If caught early enough, immediately apply Multi-Insect Killer Tree Injection Kit to the tree. This insecticide is injected directly into the tree's vascular system and is released quickly to help kill insects already inside the vascular system.
To prevent Eucalyptus Long-horned borer attacks, in the areas where the insect is active, there are a number of steps that can be taken to reduce the chances of a harmful attack. In the early spring, treating the tree with Once-A-Year Insecticidal Drench w/Merit helps protect the tree's vascular system. This treatment can be supplemented by regularly spraying the tree's trunk with a good dosage of Borer-Miner Killer (every three to three weeks), thus creating a barrier to reduce further insect penetration through the bark.
The good news is that healthy and well-maintained trees are normally more resistant to the Eucalyptus Long-horned Borer, as well as less of a target. Trees under stress are more likely to be borer targets, so it is important to ensure that Eucalyptus trees receive adequate water. To help ensure that a tree is healthy, apply a TreeHelp Annual Care Kit for Eucalyptus in the spring or early summer which contain the appropriate fertilizer and mycorrhizal treatment to support the functioning of the root system.


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spikenard (spĪkˈnärd) [key], name for several plants. The biblical spikenard, or nard, was a costly aromatic ointment, preserved in alabaster boxes, whose chief ingredient is believed to have been derived from Nardostachys grandiflora (or N. jatamansi ), a plant of the family Valerianaceae (valerian family). Such was the precious box of ointment that Mary Magdalen broke over Jesus' feet. The American spikenard, or Indian root, is Aralia racemosa, of the family Araliaceae (ginseng family). The fragrant rhizome of both of these plants is still sometimes used medicinally. The false Solomon's seal, of the family Liliaceae (lily family), is sometimes called wild spikenard. Spikenards are all classified in the division Magnoliophyta but differ in the classes, orders, and families to which they belong.
More on spikenard from Fact Monster:
See more Encyclopedia articles on: Plants


#1 Yellow Pages for Pacific Countries
Northern Maariana Islands Business Directory
Currently there are no listings available for this category
About Northern Maariana Islands
The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) is a group of 14 islands in the North Pacific Ocean along the Mariana Trench the deepest location on earth.
Ferdinand Magellan, discoverer by trade, claimed the islands for Spain in 1521. As usual, the following seizure by Spanish colonists was definitly much of a disadvantage for the local inhabitants the Chamorro, they have been almost wiped out. Some centuries later the islands were sold by Spain to Germany in 1899 and remained under the German flag until 1914 when the Japanese moved against the Germans, forced them out and virtually annexed the Islands into the Empire. The islands came under US administration as part of the UN Trust Territory of the Pacific. Today the islands with their cultural and historical attractions, world class golf courses, luxury hotels, tropical jungles and colorful underwater reef life, are a destination for vacation trips.


Biggest Life Decisions Project
After years of studying how people make relatively small decisions in common situations, I have become fascinated with how people make the biggest decisions in life.
I began the "Biggest Life Decisions" Project by speaking with strangers on a tour bus in Israel, then systematically collected thousands of stories about people's most important decisions, and then building the website where visitors can explore the findings and contribute to the project.
The graphic to the right shows the list of the most common big life decisions mentioned by those I have interviewed. The decisions fall into 9 categories and 58 sub-categories.
You can read about my investigation of Life' Biggest Decisions at my blog at Psychology Today. Here is a list of the current and forthcoming articles:
 1. What are Life's Biggest Decisions?
 2. When do Life's Biggest Decisions Happen?
 3. How to Make a Good "Big" Decision?
 4. Which Big Life Decisions Lead to Long-term Happiness?
 5. How Good Are You at Predicting Your Big Life Decisions?
 6. What are Life's Biggest Regrets?
There are so many cool findings from this project. You can explore the data yourself here. My favourite figure is the one presented below. It plots all 58 decision subcategories along two dimensions:
 - Decision Frequency (horizontal axis): How often did the respondent's mention this type of decision?
 - Decision Importance: (vertical axis): How highly ranked on the respondent's list was this decision?
The "biggest" decisions are those closest to the upper-right of this figure: they are both very common and very important. As you might have guessed, the two decisions that emerge as life biggest are getting married and having a child.
There are some fairly common big life decisions that most people face at one point or another. These include starting a new job, pursuing a degree at university, buying a home, and relocating. These are all activities that open new paths in life.
There are also some big life decisions that are uncommon but monumental if they do happen. These include ending a life – be it a loved one or unborn child – and engaging in self-harm. These destructive decisions are more about closing paths.


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The Story of Air Conditioning, a fact-filled 16-page pamphlet distributed by the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Machinery Association sometime between 1940 and 1953, is available for reading at History & Special Collections for the Sciences on the 4th floor of the Biomedical Library. It also is online at: .
This recent acquisition—the only recorded copy, found by West Sand Lake, New York-based ephemera dealer aGatherin'—uses the characters Tempy (temperature), Drippy (humidity), Stirry (air circulation), and Dusty (cleanliness) to answer the question, "Did you ever wonder why you are so much more comfortable in air conditioned surroundings?" [Italics are theirs.] The pamphlet is wittily illustrated by John Groth, who was the art editor of Esquire in the 1930s and combat correspondent and artist for the Chicago Sun during World War II.
by Russell A. Johnson


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Press release from CNW Group
Poll: Learning A Musical Instrument May Boost Life Long Success
Wednesday, April 06, 2011
Study shows Canadians who learned an instrument as a child reported higher levels of education; more than 2/3 believe it's just as important as sports or learning a second language.
TORONTO, April 6 /CNW/ - If you learned to play a musical instrument as a child you are more likely to go further in school, according to a new XM Canada / Leger Marketing survey. In fact, seven out of 10 Canadians who learned a musical instrument as a child said it has had a positive effect on their lives and half agreed that learning an instrument helped them do better in school. Interestingly, 66 per cent of Canadians say learning an instrument is as important as learning a second language.
The positive impact wasn't just academics. Reported lifelong benefits of learning this skill which can be carried throughout a person's career included: increased mental focus (46%), heightened creativity (45%), building confidence (32%) and ability to self-teach (32%). The positive relationship between education and music struck a chord when the poll results showed that those who learned to play an instrument were more likely to be college or university educated versus those who didn't (69% vs. 59% respectively)
"Learning to play an instrument is a huge part of many Canadians' lives and has significant impact years later," said Janet Gillespie, Marketing Vice-President, XM Canada. "Ensuring that Canadian children have access to music education is critical for keeping Canadian music alive and growing people not only culturally but personally. It's a prime reason that XM Canada proudly supports initiatives to develop musical talent through organizations such as S'Cool Life Fund and MusiCounts."
In November 2010, XM Canada collaborated with S'Cool Life Fund to launch a new called the XM Instrument Fund. This program will dedicate $100,000 to support the efforts of elementary schools across the country to refresh existing music programs and develop exciting new programming for students. The program is another example of XM Canada's commitment to support rising Canadian talent and encourage the artistic growth of the next generation of great performers and musicians. Recipient schools selected to receive the grant are expected to be announced by June 2011.
The first note
Canadians understand the importance of an education in music and almost unanimously believe that every child should be afforded the opportunity to learn an instrument (94%). Those who did learn to play instruments customarily begin at the elementary school age (61%) and more than three quarters of Canadians who learned to play an instrument cited parents (49%) and teachers (35%) as their top motivators. Additionally, 77% of Canadians agree that learning a musical instrument is just as important as playing sports.
Regret? You bet. The study also revealed that 72% of those who did not learn an instrument as a child regret it and more than half (62%) of Canadians who did learn an instrument regret giving it up and wish they could still play it today.
Additional Fast Facts
Across the country
- Sixty-six percent of Canadians surveyed learned to play an instrument as a child.
- Residents of Quebec (73%) and Alberta (71%) were the most likely to indicate that they learned to play an instrument.
- Albertans are more likely than most to state that learning an instrument is as important as learning a second language (80%)
- Interestingly, the flute was immensely popular in Quebec, where 45% say that they learned to play this instrument as a child.
Music talent - it's personal
- Top three instruments Canadians learned as children? Piano (31%), Flute (18%), Guitar (15%)
- Parents and teachers were the most common motivators for children learning to play an instrument but some said celebrities were their inspiration [Men (9%) vs. Women 4%)]
- One third of Canadians said playing music was one of their favourite hobbies.
- One in six respondents still play their instrument at least once a week.
- Most Canadians admire accomplished musicians, and one third would give up their current jobs for a music career.
For morn information about MusiCounts please visit: _URL_
For more information about S'Cool Life Fund please visit: _URL_
About the Survey
The survey was completed on-line from March 7, 2011 to March 10, 2011 using Leger Marketing's online panel, LegerWeb, with a sample of 1549 Canadians. A probability sample of the same size would yield a margin of error of 2.49%. Leger Marketing's online panel has approximately 360,000 members nationally - with between 10,000 and 20,000 new members added each month, and has a retention rate of 90 percent. Panel members are randomly selected to receive email invitations to the individual surveys. We ensure the protection of privacy via the usage of unique URLs and respondent IDs in combination with survey IDs.
About Canadian Satellite Radio Holdings, Inc.
Canadian Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. (TSX: XSR) operates as XM Canada and is Canada's premium digital audio entertainment and information company with the best signal coverage across the country. With 130 digital channels of choice, XM Canada offers Canadian listeners the most unique and original Canadian and international programming, including commercial-free music channels, exclusive live concerts and sports coverage, and the best in talk, comedy, children's and entertainment programming.
XM Canada is the satellite entertainment leader in the Canadian automotive market with long-term factory installation agreements with manufacturers that own close to 50 per cent share of the domestic vehicle market. XM's industry-leading products are available at shop.xmradio.ca, and at retailers nationwide.
XM programming is available by subscribing directly through XM Canada and is also available as streams of commercial-free XM music channels on TELUS Music Radio and Rogers Wireless Radio on Demand. XM Canada is the exclusive music channel provider on Air Canada's flights.
To find out more about Canadian Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. (TSX: XSR), visit: _URL_
Note to editors: Provincial/regional data available.
For further information:
Jill Yetman | Environics Communications, Inc. | _PHONE_ | _EMAIL_


Mongameli Mabona
His Life and Work
Ernst Wolff
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Edited volume - free ebook - ePUB
VIEW Edited volume - free ebook - PDF VIEW Monograph - paperback
The life and work of a remarkably versatile and pioneering South African thinker
Mongameli Anthony Mabona (1929) is a singular South African scholar with an exceptional life path. Yet, he is a wrongly forgotten figure today. British imperialism and apartheid shaped the world into which he was born and, to a large extent, these powers carved out his destiny for him. Nevertheless, a curious set of coincidences enabled him to obtain a tertiary education as a priest, to pursue his doctoral studies in Italy and to befriend Alioune Diop. He is one of the first published philosophers of Anglophone Africa and holds doctorates in theology and anthropology. His opposition to institutionalized racism – an opposition which included his co-authoring the 1970 "Black Priests' Manifesto" – eventually led to his exile. This book is the first study of any kind devoted to Mabona. It documents his life and offers a synoptic reading of his scholarly and poetic work.
Ebook available in Open Access.
1. Xhosaland: A history of confrontations
1. A snapshot of Xhosa life in the mid eighteenth century
2. Accelerated change: A typology of mounting conflict
3. A changing region in a changing world
3.1 Spread of Boers and British expansion
3.2 British domination and its effects on Xhosaland and beyond
3.3 Changes from the Xhosaland perspective
3.4 Changes from the broader South African perspective
2. (Dis)Union: The world of Mabona's youth (1910 to the mid 1950s)
1. International and Union politics
2. The economy
3. Separation – reserves – labour
4. Transkei: Culture, religion, education
5. Resistance nationally and in the Transkei
3. Enter Mongameli
1. Birth and first years
2. Early childhood in Qombolo
3. Life in Zigudu – Catholic background (1)
4. Ixopo – Catholic background (2)
5. Pevensey – Catholic background (3)
6. Early priesthood
4. Italy
1. Italian society after World War II
2. Everyday life in Rome
3. Mabona, the student and researcher
4. Further intellectual work
5. Second Congress of Black Writers and Artists: Alioune Diop and Présence Africaine
Excursion: The journal Présence Africaine
6. Preparing for Vatican II
5. Back home? Apartheid, St. Peter's, SPOBA
1. Apartheid
2. Apartheid education
3. The South African economy in the 1960s
4. Resistance
4.1 The ANC and the PAC
5. Life back in South Africa
5.1 Lumko
5.2 Independent ethnographic studies
5.3 Poetry
5.4 Lecturer at St. Peter's in Hammanskraal
6. London and Switzerland: Politics or anthropology?
1. SOAS
2. The Azanian People's Liberation Front and other politics
3. Family life
4. Continued research
1. Lux: The first impetus
2. Présence Africaine: Writing for a wide public
3. "The depths of African philosophy" and The outlines of African philosophy
3.1 General appraisal: South Africa's first African philosopher? 1
4. Dissertatio ad lauream in Facultate Juris Canonici apud Pontificiam
Universitatem Urbanianam
5. "The nuclear blast of spring": Poetry
6. Writings of a South African priest
7. Anthropology and religion
8. Interlude: The publication spurt of 1996
9. Diviners and prophets: The last, incomplete, work
9.1 Final appraisal
Mabona primary bibliography
Notes on the sources for interviews and biography
Format: Edited volume - free ebook - ePUB
202 pages
ISBN: 9789461663627
Publication: January 05, 2021
Languages: English
Ernst Wolff is professor of philosophy at the Institute of Philosophy, KU Leuven.


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Primary Health Care in Action
Madagascar in numbers1
- Life expectancy (both sexes, 2006): 59 years
- Gross National Product per capita (PPP in international $, 2006): 870
- Per capita total expenditure on health (PPP in international $, 2005): 33
- Number of physicians (per 10 000 population, 2005): 3
MADAGASCAR PRIMARY HEALTH DRIVE ACHIEVES MIXED RESULTS2
- Life expectancy has increased since 1990, polio has been eradicated and infant mortality is declining
- Islanders have never been more motivated to look after their health
- Only 60–70% of the population has ready access to primary health care services
- Health centres in a poor state of disrepair
When the first batch of 1500 young health aides was dispatched in 1980 to Madagascar's villages, it was thought to herald a new era in health care for the island nation off the south-east coast of Africa.
The project was the centrepiece of the country's primary health care programme, launched in 1978 with high hopes of meeting the Alma-Ata goal of providing health for all by 2000.
The 'health for all' idea was not to eradicate every disease, but to attain an acceptable level of health, equitably distributed throughout the world. The results in Madagascar, however, have been mixed, with strong advances in some areas and little progress in others.
On the plus side, islanders today have never been more motivated to look after their health, says Professor Dieudonné Randrianarimanana, cabinet director of the Madagascar Ministry of Health, Family Planning and Social Protection.
HEALTH HAS IMPROVED
Currently, average life expectancy is 59 years which represents an increase of about 6 years from its 1990 level. Poliomyelitis has been eradicated. Officials there say the prevalence of leprosy is less than 1 per 10 000; and infant mortality is decreasing (in 2006 the probability of dying in the first year of life was down to 72 deaths per 1000 live births compared with 84 in 2000 and 103 in 1990).
But 30 years on, only 60–70% of the population has ready access to primary health care, officials say. Many people still have to walk 10 kilometres or more to receive treatment, though mobile health centres have been introduced in remote and sparsely populated areas.
Like Randrianarimanana, nurse Florentine Odette Razanandrianina has experienced the ups and downs of primary health care. She arrived in the village of Ambohimiarintsoa, 200 kilometres from the capital Antananarivo, in October 2006 to run the health clinic.
She provides twice-weekly prenatal and postnatal check-ups. She also offers child immunization and vaccination, family planning services and disease treatment.
But five of the centre's seven small rooms are in a poor state of repair and lack sufficient equipment, Razanandrianina says. "We have five mattresses for only one bed. Consequently, we are often obliged to let patients sleep on the mattresses placed directly on the soil."
HEALTH WORKERS RECEIVE MIXED RECEPTION
There are many other health centres in a similarly poor state of disrepair across Madagascar, officials admit.
Also, frictions can arise when modern practices are perceived as counter to traditional customs. Since moving to the village, Razanandrianina's efforts to teach people about the need for personal hygiene have not always been welcome.
Despite these setbacks, Razanandrianina has not curtailed her efforts. For example, when people from villages further away have chosen not to attend vaccination clinics, she has gone to them.
"Every time we visit the remotest villages, people wait for us in a group. They really appreciate our visits," Razanandrianina says.
This is an abridged version of an article published in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization in June 2008.
1World Health Statistics 2008, Online version: _URL_ (accessed on 26/09/2008)
2Primary health care: back to basics in Madagascar, WHO Bulletin, Vol 86 (6), _URL_


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Damir Cavar – Eastern Michigan University
Malgorzata E. Cavar – Eastern Michigan University
Course time: Monday/Wednesday 9:00-10:50 am, MLB OR
Tuesday/Thursday 11:00 am – 12:50 pm, 2347 Mason Hall
This course introduces basic programming and scripting skills to linguists using the Python 3 programming language and common development environments. Our main goals are:
- to offer an entry point to programming and computation for humanities students, and whoever is interested
- to do so without requiring any previous computer or IT knowledge (except basic computer experience and common lay-person computer knowledge).
The course covers in eight sessions the interaction with the Python programming environment, an introduction to programming, and an introduction to linguistically relevant text and data processing algorithms, including quantitative and statistical analyses, as well as qualitative and symbolic methods.
Existing Python code libraries and components will be discussed, and practical usage examples given. The emphasis in this course is on being creative with a programming language, and teaching content that is geared towards specific tasks that linguists are confronted with, where computation of large amounts of data or time consuming annotation and data manipulation tasks are necessary. Among the tasks we consider essential are:
- reading text and language data fromand writing to files in various encodings, using different orthographic systems and standards, corpus encoding formats and technologies (e.g. XML),
- generating and processing of word lists, linguistic annotation models, N-gram models, frequency profiles to study quantitative and qualitative aspects of language, for example, variation in language, computational dialectology, similarity or dissimilarity at different linguistic levels,
- symbolic processing of regular grammar rules to be used in finite state automata for processing of phonotactic information or morphology, but also context free grammars and parsers for syntactic analyses, and higher level grammar formalisms, and the use of these grammars and language processing algorithms.


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Summary: Study finds passively observing virtual reality games increases cybersickness, while actively participating in VR games diminishes feelings of motion sickness associated with virtual reality.
Source: Mary Ann Liebert, Inc
Passive watching of a virtual reality game caused relatively severe cybersickness. In contrast, active playing of the game led to diminishing cybersickness, according to a study published in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking.
Virtual reality sickness, or cybersickness, is a significant obstacle to being able to sustain the feeling of presence in the virtual reality experience.
Upyong Hong, Ph.D., from Konkuk University, and coauthors, investigated whether the degree of cybersickness varies depending on how the virtual reality content is experienced, and whether specific eye movement characteristics are associated with changes in cybersickness. The investigators collected and analyzed eye-tracking data.
Eye movement patterns changed depending on the different levels of cybersickness. Eye movements became more restricted as cybersickness increased. The investigators concluded that "more active eye movements reduced cybersickness. Thus, the restricted eye movements in the passive watching mode can be considered the cause of the higher level of cybersickness."
"As more of our time is spent in virtual worlds, it becomes ever more important to enhance methods of detecting and quantifying cybersickness. This in turn allows us to develop techniques to prevent or mitigate its detrimental effects on the user's sense of presence," says Editor-in-Chief Brenda K. Wiederhold, Ph.D., MBA, BCB, BCN, Interactive Media Institute, San Diego, California and Virtual Reality Medical Institute, Brussels, Belgium.
Eye Movement Patterns Reflecting Cybersickness: Evidence from Different Experience Modes of a Virtual Reality Game
This study investigated whether the degree of cybersickness varies depending on different virtual reality experience modes (playing vs. watching) and whether specific eye movement parameters reflect changes in cybersickness.
Simulator Sickness Questionnaire results from 20 participants (10 playing and 10 watching) showed that cybersickness was much more severe in the watching mode, particularly during the second of the three total trials. Moreover, cybersickness' changing pattern was reflected in the center gaze ratio and scan-path length.
These findings imply the importance of physiological measurements for a deeper understanding of cybersickness in theoretical and practical respects.


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An Implementation Strategy for ISO 9001:2015
Jeffrey Lewis, CEO, Safety in Your Hand, Inc., Palo Alto, CA, USA
Keywords: Implementation, ISO 9001:2015, Establish
Implementation of ISO 9001:2015 is perplexing even to the most experienced practitioners. The transition is seemingly difficult as potential adopters still think in terms of the Standard as 'procedures', identified by clause numbers. History has shown that past implementations were clause focused or the PDCA not applied or processes were ill-defined, as a process considered as a line between two functions. Process as it is defined within the standard, is perhaps the most mis-understood term in the Standard e.g the Corrective Action process is not the same type of process which requires a measurable objective. To the uninformed at their desk the Standard is the already prepared procedures. At their desk, company employees seldom see the Standard in order to understand the source of their procedures. Configuring the clauses is left up to a single person, without challenges on the interpretation of the respective clauses by the desk personnel. In other cases the Standard's operation, was left up to the 'Quality Manager' as the sole person operating the Standard. In other instances, Quality Control Inspectors were appointed as ISO 9001 Manager, on the basis that the term 'Quality' was stated. In many instances the standard was applied as a 'bolt-on' to the existing practicesnever really operating as a 'system', as is the intention of Management Standards. It was also observed external parties acted as Management Representative or periodically visited to look after corrective actions and/or analysis of data, all this without the engagement of the organization's personnel. In practice the seven principles of Customer focus, Leadership, Engagement of People, Process Approach, Improvement, Evidence-based decision making, Relationship management are not widely incorporated into the language of Management Review – as a way of expressing the degree to which company's has adopted these principles. The characteristics of these principles and possible actions referenced in ISO 9000 are not checked off to determine the extent that possible actions are met. Consideration of the principles is not part of the requirements for certification, although the principles are the foundation of the Standard. The intent of the Standard on the adoption by a company, is its demonstration as a way a company does business. Many companies are led to believe that auditor training lends itself to implementation that will enable effectiveness of the Quality Management System. Auditor training programs are just that, auditor training; and does not offer a methodology for implementation that drives opportunities for improvement towards on-going customer satisfaction. A specific strategy implementation strategy needs to result in the intended outcome to enable the standard to be a management system.
This presentation demonstrates an implementation methodology to create a management system framework, which stands on the seven principles and assure registration in the shortest possible time.


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Eye tracking is a process that identifies a specific point in both space and time that is being looked at by the observer. This information can also be used in real-time to control applications using the eyes. Recent innovations in the video game industry include alternative input modalities to provide an enhanced, more immersive user experience. In particular, eye gaze control has recently been explored as an input modality in video games. This book is an introduction for those interested in using eye tracking to control or analyze video games and virtual environments. Key concepts are illustrated through three case studies in which gaze control and voice recognition have been used in combination to control virtual characters and applications. The lessons learned in the case studies are presented and issues relating to incorporating eye tracking in interactive applications are discussed. The reader will be given an introduction to human visual attention, eye movements and eye tracking technologies. Previous work in the field of studying fixation behavior in games and using eye tracking for video game interaction will also be presented.
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The final chapter discusses ideas for how this field can be developed further to create richer interaction for characters and crowds in virtual environments. Alternative means of interaction in video games are especially important for disabled users for whom traditional techniques, such as mouse and keyboard, may be far from ideal. This book is also relevant for those wishing to use gaze control in applications other than games. Table of Contents: Introduction / The Human Visual System / Eye Tracking / Eye Tracking in Video Games / Gaze and Voice Controlled Video Games: Case Study I and II / Gaze and Voice Controlled Drawing: Case Study III / Conclusion


Lead Shot vs. Steel Shot
In more and more areas, laws require waterfowl hunters to use steel shot rather than the traditional (and toxic) lead shot. But even if given the option, many hunters are confused by the distinction. In this article we hope to clear it up.
lead shot, steel shot - #4 steel and #4 lead cartridges
Steel shot (left), is slightly larger than lead shot (right).
lead shot, steel shot - geese in flight
From the standpoint of a goose encountering them as projectiles, lead shot and steel shot are about the same. But only lead shot contaminates the environment afterwards, if it fails to find its mark.
Photo by Bruce Coleman
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My query SELECTs 1 row from table1, which has a number of fields plus one very long text field. It JOINs with a second table2, that may have many matching corresponding rows. I would like to be able to spread the long text field, from table1, out over multiple lines (the number determined by the matching rows in table2).
In the table above there is one row from Table1 where the key is table1_key = 'DU' and year = '2017'. Then there are four rows from Table2 with matching keys that include the programme_code and course_code. The field long_text_field, which I want to spread over multiple lines, comes from Table1.
Is it possible to extract a total row count for records that have been selected for output and still output the rows? Meaning that I want to see a count of 4 from the above and be able to work with this number in the displayed output. So that the result looks something like this:


the family gets its name).
 Araucarias were a major part of Australia's forests in wetter times. Today bunya pines (Araucaria bidwillii) are mainly found between Gympie and the Bunya Mountains, with a small population in the wet tropics of northern Queensland giving a hint to their past distribution. Bunya Mountains National Park protects the largest stand of bunya pines in the world today.
 Hoop pines (Araucaria cunninghamii) are distinguished from bunya pines by their less rounded crowns, smaller leaves and darker, rougher bark, which is shed in a hoop shape.
 Hoop pine seeds are light and disperse on the wind with fine, papery wings. In contrast, bunya pines produce large, pineapple-shaped cones with 50–100 edible 'nuts', each surrounded by a thick, fleshy outer-casing. Heavy cones can't travel very far, except if they roll downhill after plummeting to the ground. Hungry short-eared possums, fawn-footed melomys and other animals devour seeds and help spread them away from the mother tree. One can only imagine what kind of dinosaurs feasted on bunya nuts more than 100 million years ago, before marsupials became dominant across Australia.
 Same plant, many names
 The revered 'bonye bonye' tree was first officially recorded by a non-Indigenous Australian in the 1830s when collected by Mr Andrew Petrie, the Moreton Bay settlement's Superintendent of Works. It became known to some as Petrie's pine. But the bunya pine's botanical name, Araucaria bidwillii, honours the botanist John Bidwill who sent specimens to Kew Gardens in London.
 Disappearing rainforest frogs
 The loud 'wark' calls of great barred frogs (Mixophes fasciolatus) resonate during summer when their huge tadpoles can be seen in mountain streams. The vulnerable tusked frog (Adelotus brevis) can also be found here, even though this and many other frog species from rainforest streams along the Great Dividing Range, seem to have disappeared without trace.
 Educated about bats
 Chocolate wattled bats (Chalinolobus morio) emerge just after dark from the walls and roof of the old timber school house (now known as the bat house) at Dandabah to feed upon insects on and around the mountains during the warmer months of the year. This is Australia's largest known maternity colony of chocolate wattled bats. About 24 different bat species have been recorded at the Bunya Mountains, including little pied bats (Chalinolobus picatus) and golden-tipped bats (Kerivoula papuensis). Both are considered rare.
 Preying night and day
 At night, owls take to the skies to hunt. Rare sooty owls prefer the dark, damp rainforest while powerful owls (listed as vulnerable) live in open forest and woodlands, snatching greater gliders, sugar gliders and ringtail or brushtail possums and sometimes birds from among the leaves.
 Rare grey goshawks are active during the day, swooping upon insects, reptiles, birds and small mammals. Peregrine falcons are magnificent hunters that can be seen darting out from cliffs to seize unsuspecting birds.
 Culture and history
 The bunya pine is as central to the human story of the mountains as it is to the landform's name.
 Bounty of the bunya nut
 From December to March, bunya pines drop cones containing edible seeds known as bunya 'nuts'. Heavy crops normally occur about every three years. For countless generations, large groups of Aboriginal people gathered at the Bunya Mountains to take part in what today are known as the bunya festivals, coinciding with this natural event.
 Aboriginal people of the Bunya Mountains and Blackall Ranges (nearer the coast) invited people from as far south as the Clarence River in northern New South Wales, west to the Maranoa River and east to Wide Bay to join the gatherings. For local and visiting groups, the bunya festivals were times for ceremonies, law-making and resolving disputes, renewing friendships, passing on lore, sharing ideas and revitalizing spirituality.
 The soft, juicy, young nuts were eaten raw while the mature nuts were roasted. After cracking the outer shells of mature nuts on an open fire, kernels were pounded into meal and roasted into a kind of cake that could be stored for several weeks. Rich nutty meals were the main food. Hunting of wildlife was strictly controlled during the gatherings which could last for several months.
 Expansion of European settlements, along with increased logging activity and clearing for grazing and farming, disrupted the large gatherings, making it difficult for visiting Aboriginal groups to travel along their traditional pathways. Aboriginal people left or were removed from their country. The last great festival was held in the late 1800s, but the connections still run deep. Local Aboriginal people and even groups that didn't attend festivals still have ties with the Bunyas through trading, family, songs and stories.
 Harvest of the bunya pine
 European settlement spread rapidly across the Darling Downs and South Burnett during the 1840s and 1850s. It wasn't long before timber-getters were drawn to the abundant supply of red cedar and other valuable timber growing in the mountains. Cedar workers were tough and resourceful people, who felled trees and snigged them to sawpits to cut them up. Timber was carted to Dalby and other fledgling townships.
 From small sawpits to engine-driven mills, about 25 sawmills are believed to have operated on or around the Bunyas. Each had its own small community of workers and their families.
 Initially bunya pines were left unharmed (for Aboriginal people) but soon the cedar stands were depleted. When the Great Bunya Sawmill opened during 1883 in the foothills on the mountains' southern side, the assault on hoop and bunya pines began in earnest.
 Timber was hauled out of the forest by bullocks or horses (and later trucks), but getting logs to sawmills in the foothills was a challenge. Carbine's chute (an earthen trench running almost vertically down the mountain) was the first of many chutes down which slippery, wet logs hurtled to the valley below. It can still be reached today after a 1.5km walk from Munros camp.
 However, logs sent down the chutes splintered, and the rocks that pounded into the wood damaged saws. When Lars Andersen built a mill at Wengenville in the eastern foothills of the mountain in 1923, he developed an ingenious log transport solution consisting of winches, winders, flying foxes and a 670 m long tramway. Logs made the 250 m descent undamaged in minutes. However, by 1928 timber prices had crashed, the mill was sold and the tramway dismantled.
 Harvestable stands of timber were still available on the mountain top in the 1930s. A mill was operating at Munros Camp and another at Dandabah (known at that time as the Lucerne Patch) opposite where the national park office now stands. The last sawmill on the mountain operated until 1950 and when the mill at Wengenville ceased operation in 1961, nearly 100 years of logging in the Bunyas came to an end.
 Protecting the bunya forest
 Even as far back as the 1860s, European settlers were travelling to the Bunyas for the scenery and to relax. During a visit in the 1880s, the Premier of Queensland was shown (by the Superintendent of the Great Bunya Sawmill) visions of a tourist town with accommodation and roads allowing people to experience the mountains and views.
 In 1881 a timber reserve was declared over 12,150 hectares. Following more than 20 years of lobbying against powerful timber and grazing interests and numerous visits by inspectors of forests, a 9,112 hectare national park was declared in July 1908. The words of Inspector of Forests GL Board in 1903 reflect widespread sentiment '...it would be a disgrace to allow this beautiful spot to be alienated or otherwise lost to the public'. The Bunya Mountains National Park became Queensland's second national park and first of substantial size.
 Despite national park status, and contrary to today's strict legislation, timber from the park continued to be cut and sold until about 1917. By the early 1930s roads had replaced snig tracks to the mountain top. With construction of the first walking tracks in 1939, a new age of conservation and tourism dawned. By the end of the 20th century many private houses had been built for rent on the area surrounding Dandabah.
 Additions to the park, including donations by the Stirling family, and conversion of some state forests, have increased its area to 19,600ha.
 Survival of an icon
 In 1842, Governor Gipps declared that no licences be granted for logging of lands bearing bunya pines, in recognition of the importance of these plants to Aboriginal people. Long before such laws were written on paper, an ancient system of rules and protocols dictated who could harvest bunya cones.
 Bunya pines and their ancestors have outlasted dinosaurs, while many other primitive plant species have been overtaken by more modern, flowering plants. Araucarias have survived