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||This article needs additional citations for verification. (January 2011)|
Sandringham House is a country house on 8,000 hectares (20,000 acres) of land near the village of Sandringham in Norfolk, England. The house is privately owned by the British Royal Family and is located on the royal Sandringham Estate, which lies within the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
History and current site
The site has been occupied since the Elizabethan era, and, in 1771, architect Cornish Henley cleared the site to build Sandringham Hall. The hall was modified during the 19th century by Charles Spencer Cowper, a stepson of Lord Palmerston, who added an elaborate porch and conservatory, designed by architect Samuel Sanders Teulon.
In 1862, the hall was purchased by Queen Victoria at the request of the Prince of Wales (the future Edward VII) as a home for himself and his new bride, Alexandra. However, in 1865, two years after moving in, the prince found the hall's size insufficient for his needs, and he commissioned A. J. Humbert to raze the hall and create a larger building.
The resulting red-brick house was completed in late 1870 in a mix of styles. This section incorporated the galleried entrance hall which is used by the royal family for entertaining and family occasions. A new wing was later added to one end of the house in a more traditional style, incorporating a ball room. It was ahead of its time in other ways, with gas lighting, flushing water closets, and an early form of shower. One part of the house was destroyed in a fire during the preparations for Prince Albert Edward's 50th birthday in 1891, and later rebuilt.
Sandringham House has been the private home of four generations of the British Royal Family. The main features of the new building were bay windows, which helped lighten the interior. Despite the size of Sandringham and the spaciousness of the main rooms, the living quarters were quite cramped.
Edward and Alexandra's sons, Prince Albert Victor and Prince George, for example, had very small bedrooms. The spacious grounds, however, provided room for Queen Alexandra's menagerie of horses, dogs, cats, and other animals. The atmosphere was far different from at home, especially when their father was about. The kennels were a particular delight to the children. In addition to stables for Royal horses in 1886 a racing pigeon loft was constructed for birds given to the Duke of York by King Leopold of Belgium and one or more lofts for Royal pigeons have been maintained ever since. Since the death of Edward VII, Sandringham has been a popular holiday retreat for successive members of the Royal Family.
Since King George VI died in 1952 at Sandringham, Queen Elizabeth II's custom has been to spend the anniversary of her father's death and her own Accession privately with her family at the House, and use it as her official base until February. It is an excellent location for shooting and is used for royal shooting parties. Such was Edward VII's fondness for hunting on the estate, he ordered all the clocks to be set half an hour ahead of GMT to increase the amount of evening daylight available for hunting. This tradition of Sandringham Time was kept on the estate from 1901 until 1936 when the new King Edward VIII showed he was "a new broom" by sweeping the custom away.
Along with Balmoral Castle, Sandringham House is the private property of the British royal family and not part of the Crown Estate. Their succession became an issue in 1936, when Edward VIII abdicated as king. Being legacies Edward had inherited from his father, George V, the estates did not automatically pass to his younger brother George VI; the new king had to purchase the house from him.
Queen Alexandra, her sons Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale, and George V, and grandson George VI all died at Sandringham. King Olav V of Norway, a grandson of King Edward VII, was born at Sandringham.
York Cottage and Appleton House
|This section does not cite any references or sources. (January 2012)|
The estate is also home to York Cottage, built by Edward VII soon after he moved in; York Cottage was also a favourite of George V. Anmer Hall on the grounds is a Georgian house that was at one point the country home of the Duke of Kent.
When Prince Carl, the future King Haakon VII of Norway, and Princess Maud were married in July 1896, Appleton House was a wedding gift to them from the bride's parents, the Prince and Princess of Wales. The gift was intended to provide the newly married couple with a place to stay whenever they visited England. The Prince of Wales wrote to his Danish brother-in-law, Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, "I have given Maud and Charles a small house, their own country retreat – about one mile from here – they will always have a pied-à-terre when they come over to England. I know they will appreciate this very much."
A few months before the wedding the couple went to the adjacent Sandringham to view their wedding gift. "I saw my new house. It is quite lovely," Prince Carl wrote in a letter.
Queen Maud came to love the house. In 1899 she wrote in a letter, "Our little house is a perfect paradise, it all seems like a dream, that we are here at last, that it is so beautiful and light, every single room is so clean and fresh." Their son, the future King Olav V of Norway, was born in 1903 at Sandringham.
Appleton House was on 2½ floors and was built of brick. It had four sitting rooms on the ground floor and the same on the first floor, together with rooms for servants, 20 rooms in total. The house had a conservatory and was centrally heated. The property stood alone, surrounded by forested parkland in Flitcham, Norfolk, adjacent to Sandringham. The open, rolling character of the surrounding landscape inspired outdoor pursuits on horseback or by bicycle. It was also full of good subjects for Queen Maud, who was a keen amateur photographer.
Around the house the Prince of Wales had laid out a garden, designed in accordance with the tastes of the day. Here there were round, oval, triangular and square beds of roses and rhododendrons. There were extensive lawns and tall hedges of yew and box, with paths between them. Queen Maud enjoyed taking walks along these paths. "Her albums contain many photographs that show her wandering alone along these paths – clad in a full-length, white dress, her parasol lifted high."
In 1938, two days after Queen Maud's interment, her husband, King Haakon wrote to King George VI and informed him that the time had come to return Appleton House to the British Royal Family. The Queen had had the property as long as she had wanted, just as the Prince of Wales had said she could when she was given it in 1896.
Appleton House no longer exists. For many years the house stood unused. Its last known inhabitants were King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, who lived in the house during a visit to Norfolk during World War II (1939–1945). A 1968 newspaper article with the headline "The Queen's empty house" reported that a large anti-air raid structure had been constructed around the property during World War II and that this was unattractive and expensive to remove. Since it would have been costly to restore the property to a habitable state, Appleton House was torn down in July 1984.
Public access
The house was first opened to the public in 1977, and there is a museum with displays of Royal life and Estate history. About 600 acres (240 ha) are a country park, open to the public. In January 2012, a body was found on the grounds of Sandringham; it was later identified as that of Alisa Dmitrijeva, a 17-year-old Latvian girl who lived in Wisbech, who was last seen alive on 31 August 2011 in King's Lynn.
See also
- "About Sandringham Estate". The Sandringham Estate. Retrieved 2010-06-27.
- "History: Sandringham official website".
- "Official website: Royal Kennels".
- "Royal Family website: Sandringham House".
- "Anmer Hall website".
- "Police: Body found on queen's estate was missing 17-year-old". CNN. 8 January 2012. Retrieved 2012-01-08.
- Sandringham Estate body named as Alisa Dmitrijeva
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sandringham House|
- Website of the Sandringham Estate
- The Royal Residences – Sandringham House from englishmonarchs.co.uk


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Animal Species:Soldier Crab
The Soldier Crab lives in sandy estuaries and mangroves, and occurs in massive groups that seem to emerge from nowhere all at the same time.
The Soldier Crab is quite distinctive with its small, round, blue body on long jointed legs with purple stripes. As it marches around feeding, it moulds the sand into numerous pellets, sorting through it for organic matter. There is only one other species of soldier crab common in Sydney. This is the smaller Mictyris platycheles.
Soldier Crabs are found from Northern Queensland, New South Wales, to Wilsons Promontory in Victoria. Also, western Indian Ocean to French Polynesia.
Soldier Crabs live on intertidal mangroves, beaches and estuaries.
Other behaviours and adaptations
It is thought that the spontaneous arrival of Soldier Crabs is triggered by the falling tide. If disturbed, they burrow into the sand with a corkscrew motion, disappearing as quickly as they arrived.

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


Girl Names baby namePamella
What does the name Pamella mean?
The different meanings of the name Pamella are:
 - English meaning: Sweet
 - Greek meaning: Honeyed
The meaning of the name "Pamella" is different in several languages, countries and cultures and has more than one possibly same or different meanings available.
Starts with:


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One of the original motivations our work with Chris here in Vienna started with is contexts under which we can show that E is redundant; IL is an obvious case, and hence D10+D11+D13 is as well. D10+D12+D13 was a surprising (to some) countercase. CL is an obvious countercase...or is it?
It appears that the unique redundancy of E in IL noted above is actually closely tied to Felscher's formulation of the rules. If we stray from there (keeping E: "The Opponent must immediately respond to the previous Proponent move") and start formulating rules on our own, can we perhaps come away with sets of rules where the presence or absence of E is irrelevant?
When we talked about this a few days ago, my conjecture was that it's not the immediate-response consequence of E that is so important for CL, but rather the restriction on the number of moves O can make. I propose the following:
- D10: P cannot assert an atom before O does.
- D13: A P-statement can be attacked at most once.
- D14: A P-attack can be defended at most once.
Certainly D10+D13+E implies D10+D13+D14. But D10+D13+D14 does not imply E, since it relaxes the immediate-response constraint.
So one hypothesis for how to go about constructing rules that would allow us to prove the redundancy of E in a particular ruleset is by looking at variants of the bounded rules that Krabbe proposed in his 1985 Synthese article which put constraints on the number of times O can repeat a move.
However, if you are in the context of E, what is it that separates IL from CL? It is the ability of P to go back and essentially "change his mind" about a defense, e.g., in the case of excluded middle. So here, it appears that the important distinction is not how many times O can repeat a move, but how many times P can. The case is not quite the same, though: In IL, there are contexts where P is allowed to repeat a move (same formula/symbolic attack, same stance, same reference), and in CL, it is not that we are allowing P to repeat a move that he's already made, but rather to re-refer to a move of O that he's already referred to. So the cases aren't quite parallel, but it still shows a tantalizing dimension to consider.

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


Noakhali District
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নোয়াখালী জিলা
Location of Noakhali in Bangladesh
Location of Noakhali in Bangladesh
Coordinates: 22°42′N 91°06′E / 22.70°N 91.10°E / 22.70; 91.10Coordinates: 22°42′N 91°06′E / 22.70°N 91.10°E / 22.70; 91.10
Country Bangladesh
Division Chittagong Division
 - Total 4,202.70 km2 (1,622.67 sq mi)
Population (2011 census)
 - Total 3,108,083
 - Density 740/km2 (1,900/sq mi)
Literacy rate
 - Total 51.3%
Time zone BST (UTC+6)
Postal code 3800
Noakhali (Bengali: নোয়াখালী জিলা)[1] is a district in South-eastern Bangladesh. It is located in the Chittagong Division.[2] Noakhali district, whose earlier name was Bhulua, was established in 1821. It was named Noakhali in 1868.
Noakhali District is bordered by Comilla district to the north, the Meghna estuary and the Bay of Bengal to the south, Feni and Chittagong districts to the east and Lakshmipur and Bhola district to the west. The district has an area of 4202 km².[3] The District represents an extensive flat, coastal and delta land, located on the tidal floodplain of the Meghna River delta, characterized by flat land and low relief.The area is influenced by diurnal tidal cycles and the tidal fluctuations vary depending on seasons, being pronounced during the monsoon season. Around Noakhali on three sides is an alluvial plain that is annually inundated and fertilized by silt deposits from the Meghna estuary. The district of Noakhali has actually gained more than 28 square miles (73 km2) of land in the past 50 years.
The ancient name of Noakhali is Bhulua. In the 1660s, the agricultural activities of the north-eastern region of Bhulua were seriously affected by floodwater of the Dakatia River following from the Tripura hills. To salvage the situation, a canal was dug in 1660 that ran from the Dakatia through Ramganj, Sonaimuri and Chaumuhani to divert water flow to the junction of the river Meghna and Feni. After excavating this long canal, Bhulua began to be known as "Noakhali". The name "Noakhali" was originated from the term Noa (New) and Khal (Canal).
Two hundred years back from now Noakhali district was known as 'Bhulua Pargana'. South Shahbazpur, Lakshmipur, mainland of Noakhali district and a portion of present Feni district were included in the Bhulua Pargana. In 1821 Mr. Plyden, the then salt agent, got the additional charge of collectorate of Bhulua from the Governor General. He proposed to the Governor General to establish a new district when some administrative problems arose with other salt-agents of Bhulua. On 29 March 1822 the Governor General passed an order in this regards and accordingly a new district was constituated with south Shabajpur, Sudharam, Begumganj, Ramganj, Raipur, Lakshmipur, Feni, Parshuram, Elahabad pargana of Tippera and Hatia, Sandwhip & Bamni of Chittagong district. The District was named Noakhali in 1868. In 1876 Noakhali district was divided into two sub-divisions. Feni Sub-division was constituted with Chhagalnaiya thana of Tippera, Mirshari of Chittagong, Feni Pargana, Parshuram & Sonagazi. Sadar Sub-division was formed with the remaining areas. At the census of 1901 its area was 1,644 square miles and its population was about 1,141,728.[4]
Regional violence in 1946 escalated communal tensions throughout British India just before the 1947 partition.
Noakhali town, the headquarters of Noakhali, got vanished in the river-bed in 1951, as a result of erosion of mighty Meghna. After that the headquarters of Noakhali was established at Maijdee. In 1964 Sadar Sub-division was divided into two sub-divisions, namely Sadar and Lakshmipur.
During the War of Liberation many direct and guerrilla encounters took place between the Pakistani Armed Forces and the Liberation Forces (Mukti Bahini). About 70 Freedom fighters (Mukti Joddha) were killed in a direct encounter with the Pakistan army on 15 June 1971, in front of the Sonapur Ahmadia School. Noakhali was liberated on 7 December 1971.
For administrative convenience, according to Government's decision Noakhali district was divided into three districts, namely Noakhali, Lakshmipur and Feni in 1984.
District administration is headed by an accomplished professional having long and laudable experience called Deputy Commissioner/District Magistrate who is expected to be highly talented and enriched with good leadership quality. The responsibility is vast and varied. S/he represents government at the field level, conduct all polls and act as Collector, development co-coordinator, disaster manager, and guardian of criminal administration at the lower level. S/he is the chief protocol officer representing government ceremonies on behalf of the national government.
The basic unit of administration of the country is locally named as Upazila, which is an integral component of the district. Field level functionaries of the development departments operate here at the grass-root level under guidance from the respective functional heads stationed in the districts as coordinated by the UNO (Upazila Nirbahi Officer). All decisions are discussed and finalized in a forum called Upazila Parishad which is presided over by an elected chairman and assisted by a mid-level seasoned executive of professional excellence-called UNO, who plays a pivotal role in shaping decisions that conform to government policies and cohere to the financial constraints and regulations.
An area covering several square kilometers having several thousand populations is named as Union that is administered by an elected Chairman. These Chairmen are the dominant and voting members of the Parishad (counseling body) apart from various upazila level functionaries representing respective district counterparts.
Deputy Commissioner (DC): Badre Munir Firdaus [1]
Administrator of Zila Parishad: ABM Zaforullah [2]
Administrative Subdivisions[edit]
Noakhali District consists of 9 upazilas, 8 municipalities, 72 wards, 153 mahallas, 91 unions, 882 mouzas and 967 villages.
Noakhali District is divided into the following Sub-districts (Upazilas):
 1. Noakhali Sadar Upazila
 2. Begumganj Upazila
 3. Chatkhil Upazila
 4. Companiganj Upazila
 5. Senbagh Upazila
 6. Hatiya Upazila
 7. Kabirhat Upazila
 8. Sonaimuri Upazila
 9. Suborno Char Upazila
A municipality is usually an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government or jurisdiction. Noakhali district has eight municipalities (Paurashavas). Every municipality consists of 9 wards.
 1. Noakhali Paurashava
 2. Chowmuhani Paurashava
 3. Chatkhil Paurashava
 4. Boshurhat Paurashava
 5. Senbagh Paurashava
 6. Hatiya Paurashava
 7. Kabirhat Paurashava
 8. Sonaimuri Paurashava
Upazila Union Upazila Union Upazila Union
Noakhali Sadar
 1. Ander char Union
 2. Ashwadia Union
 3. Binodpur Union
 4. Char Matua Union
 5. Dadpur Union
 6. Dharmapur Union
 7. Ewazbalia Union
 8. Kadir Hanif Union
 9. Kaladaraf Union
 10. Niazpur Union
 11. Noakhali Union
 12. Noannai Union
 13. Purba Char Matua Union
 1. Alyerpur Union
 2. Amanullapur Union
 3. Begumganj Union
 4. Chhayani Union
 5. Durgapur Union
 6. Eklashpur Union
 7. Gopalpur Union


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The heaviest known insects are the Goliath beetles of equatorial Africa. One fully grown male was found to weigh 3.5 ounces. (almost as much as a handful of quarters)
The heaviest human in medical history was Jon Brower Minnoch, who weighted 392 lbs. in 1963, 700 lbs. In 1966, and 975 lbs. in 1976. After being admitted to a hospital in 1978 from heart and respiratory failure, a doctor estimated that Jon weighted over 1300 pounds. When he died in 1978, he weighed more than 798 pounds.
The larva of the Polyphemus moth consumes an amount equivalent to 86,000 times it own birth weight in the first 56 days of life. In human terms, this would be like a 7 pound baby taking in 301 tons of nourishment. That is a lot of baby food!
Highest g Force
The click beetle averages 400g when "jack-knifing" into the air to escape predators. One specimen that jumbed to a height of 11.75 inches was calculated to have endured a peak brain deceleration of 2300g by the end of the movement. A recorded human example is that of David Purley, a race car driver who survived a deceleration from 108 mph to 0 in 26 inches in England in 1977. His g force was estimated to 179.8g. He suffered 29 fractures, 3 dislocations, and 6 heart stoppages!
Female mosquitoes hold the record in this category. They need a lot of protein in order to lay eggs. They obtain this protein by drinking the blood of reptiles, birds, or mammals. Sometimes a mosquito will triple her body weight with just one meal of blood. For a 100 pound human to imitate this feat, he would have to consume 36 gallons of liquid at one sitting.
The fastest moving insects are certain large tropical cockroaches. The record is 3.36 mph, or 50 body lengths per second. Tiger beetles are also quite fast, as they scurry after their prey. They can often be seen zipping across a road, their bright metallic colors flashing in the sun. The fastest human ever recorded was Carl Lewis, who ran 100 meters in 9.86 seconds in 1991 in Tokyo, Japan.
The champion jumper among insects is the common flea. In one experiment, a flea performed a long jump of 13 inches, and a high jump of 7.75 inches. If a human could jump like a flea, we would be able to jump 853 feet, which would be like jumping from street level to the 70th floor of the Empire State Building. The champion human high jumper is Javier Sotomayor of Cuba, who jumped 8 ft. 0 in. in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The ant may be tiny, but for his size he is one of the "giants" of the insect world. With his strong jaws he is able to carry 50 times his own weight. That would be like a human trying to carry a baby elephant. Among human strongmen, the record is held by Leonid Taranenko of Russia, who lifted a whopping 1,047 pounds in Australia in 1988.
The monarch butterfly is capable of flying 2,000 miles from Canada to Mexico and parts of California. Millions migrate every autumn, often stopping in the same rest spots each year. In early spring and summer, returning females travel north in relays, new generations replacing old, laying their eggs along the way. In comparison, the longest human-powered flight ever documented was when Kanellos Kanellopoulos averaged 18.5 mph in his 112 foot wingspan machine from Crete to the island of Santorini, Greece, flying 74 miles.
Other Interesting Tid-bits
Loudest Insect - The loudest of all insects is the male cicada. At 7,400 pulses per minute, its tymbal organs produce a sound detectable over a quarter of a mile away.
Best Stunt Flyer - Large dragonflies are not only super fast flyers, they are also masters of maneuverability! Many kinds of dragonflies can hover, fly backward, turn around quickly in mid-air, and land in an instant.
Longest Insect - The longest insect in the world is the tropical walking stick. Females have been measured at 13 inches in body length. It looks just like a slender twig, which is how it blends in with its surroundings.
Fastest Flyer - Modern experiments have established that the highest maintainable air speed of any insect, including the deer bot-fly, hawkmoths, and horseflies is 24 mph, rising to a maximum of 36 mph for short bursts by some large dragon flies.
Official State Insects and Butterflies of the United States
Many states have adopted official state insects and/or butterflies in recent years. They have done this to remind citizens of the vital role that insects play in our lives. As of December 31, 1995, 34 states have officially designates state insects and/or butterflies, and this information is summarized below. You will find an alphabetic list of the states that have official state insects and/or butterflies (along with the name of the insect), as well as a list of insects (and the states that have adopted them s their official symbols).
State Insects and Butterflies Listed by States
Alabama monarch butterfly Arkansas honey bee California California dogface butterfly Colorado Colorado hairstreak butterfly Connecticut European praying mantis Delaware convergent ladybird beetle Florida giant swallowtail butterfly Georgia honey bee (insect); tiger swallowtail (butterfly) Illinois monarch butterfly Iowa ladybug Kansas honey bee Kentucky viceroy butterfly Louisiana honey bee Maine honey bee Maryland Baltimore checkerspot butterfly Massachusetts ladybug Mississippi honey bee (insect); spicebush swallowtail (butterfly) Missouri honey bee Nebraska honey bee New Hampshire Ladybug New Jersey honey bee New Mexico tarantula hawk wasp New York nine-spotted ladybird beetle North Carolina honey bee Ohio ladybug (insect); tiger swallowtail (butterfly) Oregon Oregon swallowtail butterfly Pennsylvania firefly South Carolina Carolina mantis South Dakota honey bee Tennessee ladybug and firefly Utah honey bee Vermont monarch butterfly Virginia tiger swallowtail butterfly Wisconsin honey bee Wyoming western swallowtail butterfly
State Insects and Butterflies Listed by Species
Baltimore checkerspot butterfly Maryland California dogface butterfly California Carolina mantis South Carolina Colorado hairstreak butterfly Colorado European praying mantis Connecticut Firefly Tennessee and Pennsylvania Honey bee Arkansas, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Dakota, Utah and Wisconsin Ladybird beetles/ladybugs Delaware (convergent), Iowa, Massachusetts, New York (nine-spotted). and Ohio Swallowtail butterflies Florida (giant), Georgia (tiger), Mississippi (spicebush), Ohio (tiger), Oregon (Oregon), Virginia (tiger), and Wyoming (western) Tarantula hawk wasp New Mexico Viceroy butterfly Kentucky
Is your state on the list? If not, you might want to help initiate a campaign to have a representative insect and/or butterfly designated as one of your official state symbols.
The first step is to collect "nominations" from friends, family, and classmates. Have them think of an insect and/or butterfly that would make a good symbol for your state. After a while you should have a list of possible candidates and an idea of how popular each nominee is. Now comes the hard part - selecting one candidate to present to state legislators. Perhaps you might narrow the field to two or three of the most popular nominees and have a run off "election."
Once you have the possibilities narrowed down to a single candidate you will need to begin building a rationale for designating your insect candidate as the official state insect (or butterfly). Why is your insect candidate the best choice? How does it fit into your state's history or culture? How popular is the choice (collect signatures on a petition). All of this information will be useful to you when you go looking for a legislative sponsor or sponsors to help you introduce a commemorative bill into the house and senate (start with the representative for your district first). The commemorative bill will most likely go to a committee first, at which time you (and others will have an opportunity to speak for or against the bill), but if you are persistent and well prepared you might be responsible for your state adopting an official state insect or butterfly!
The Amazing Animal Quiz
Introduction - Insects and their relatives (arthropods) are some of the most amazing animals that inhabit our world, yet most of us rarely give them credit for their incredible abilities. The "Amazing Animal Quiz" can help you and your students "tune in" to the incredible world of arthropods and open their eyes and minds to learning more about them. Hopefully after students complete this exercise they will have a better appreciation for the amazing abilities of arthropods.
Getting started - This quiz is really quite simple and makes a great introduction to a unit on insects and other arthropods. Before starting, have students number a piece of paper from 1-25 down the left-hand side. Tell the students that you are going to read a series of statement that describe animal activities (don't bias them by mentioning insects or arthropods at this time) and that you want them to right down the name of any one animal that they can think of that fits the description you have given.
Name An Animal That...
-...raids the garbage
-...is cold blooded
-...hides from other animals by


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Australian Bureau of Statistics
4160.0 - Measuring Wellbeing: Frameworks for Australian Social Statistics, 2001
Latest ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 12/10/2001
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Culture, leisure and wellbeing
World Commission on Culture and Development, UNESCO, 1996
' Increased means and increased leisure are the two civilisers of man'
Benjamin Disraeli, 1872
The culture and leisure area of concern allows us to acknowledge some inherent aspects of human nature, such as our need for identity, our creativity, history, attunement to aesthetic meaning, spirituality and our propensity for play and enjoyment. Importantly, the activities in this area do not simply add enjoyment to life - they are fundamental to human existence.1 All human societies form spiritual belief systems, compete and play games, and express themselves artistically. Story telling and music are similarly universally and inherently human. However, culture and leisure activities are also often distinguished by the life enhancement they provide. Thus, while artistic expression is apparent in every human made object, it is employed to add attraction and meaning to the material function of objects. Gardening and home decoration help make a house into a home. Family based culture and leisure activities, such as family outings, celebrations and play, add to the total family experience. Culture and leisure activities similarly enhance community cohesion and strength. Thus, where many endeavours in life are aimed firstly at meeting material needs, cultural and leisure activities are often aimed at meeting non-material needs.
The behaviour of individuals is influenced at all levels by the cultural norms and preoccupations of the society in which they live. For example, young people are influenced by 'youth culture' to dress, act and talk in particular ways. Global cultural influences are increasingly impacting on the spending patterns, expectations and moral boundaries of individuals. Activities that embody or encourage cultural influences that might be said to be positive (e.g. which reaffirm social values, healthy behaviours, or positive identity) are therefore important factors in individual wellbeing. The wellbeing of individuals may also be affected where there is dissonance between different cultures they are a part of. For example, where a young person's peer culture is in conflict with their family culture, or a migrant's background culture is different to that of the country they have come to.
Involvement in the arts affords a range of wellbeing benefits, both for those involved as creators, and those involved as audience (hence the extensive use of the arts in therapy). The process of creating art, music, poetry, dance, or other art forms allows people to express joy in life, or resolve other emotions and experiences, and to communicate their world view and inspiration to others. Receiving art - such as by watching films, dance or theatre, listening to music, viewing paintings, reading poems or novels - can also be cathartic, as it again is enjoyable and can allow fundamental emotions to be explored, understood and resolved. Films, novels, opera and other story telling media reinforce historical and moral lessons and provide continuity of awareness across generations, setting people's experiences within a broader historical and cultural context. People can become socially connected through arts activities, develop skills and contribute to the cultural identity of their community.
There is much to suggest that leisure is a precursor for self-development. As well, the psychological space associated with leisure is crucial to personal wellbeing. Leisure time gives people an opportunity to recover from work and the pressures of life, to pursue other interests and to reflect on their life direction and meaning. Many leisure activities bring direct health benefits by providing relaxation and physical activity and extending social networks. Physical and creative activity are also known to enhance scholastic and academic ability. On the other hand some leisure activities have the potential to affect wellbeing negatively, and health may be optimised when an individual is able to balance passive and active leisure.
WELLBEING OF SOCIETY
The nature of our culture determines many aspects of social life. For instance, it determines our preferred political systems, our capacity for tolerance, and our ability to adjust to technological and historical change. Thus activities that actively analyse, develop and challenge our cultural norms are crucial to social wellbeing and sustained development. For example, the self-analysis stimulated by cultural products, such as literature or film allows us to assess our social behaviour and values. New meanings generated by arts activities help us to adjust to change and to understand our society. Cultural activities, particularly heritage activities, help to accumulate, preserve and communicate the knowledge built up by society.
Both culture and leisure support the development of social and national cohesion. Family and home based leisure is instrumental in developing cohesive family functioning. Sport and other team based activities develop people's ability to cooperate, and promote personal endeavour and local and national identification. Social and community networks are often built around arts and sports activities (e.g. craft groups, sports competitions, choirs, dance groups, book reading clubs, local cinemas). The reflections of social and individual experience found in art and other forms of culture assist groups to share and integrate their life experiences.
Finally, culture and leisure industries are recognised as growth industries, and are becoming an increasingly important sector of the Australian economy.
This page last updated 31 July 2006
Unless otherwise noted, content on this website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Australia Licence together with any terms, conditions and exclusions as set out in the website Copyright notice. For permission to do anything beyond the scope of this licence and copyright terms contact us.


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Why is on sensor PDAF drastically slower than traditional PDAF? I assume the technology is the same, doesn't matter if the module is on the sensor or located behind a mirror. But the performance is not even close.
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2 Answers
up vote 5 down vote accepted
The technology in theory is similar, but the implementation isn't exactly the same.
Without knowing exactly which model, or even which manufacturer made your camera, it is difficult to be very specific. There's a large difference in performance between different models and lenses.
It always starts with light, so let's begin there. The amount of light used by each pixel of an on-sensor PDAF array is much less than the amount of light used by each pixel of a dedicated PDAF array.
 - The dedicated PDAF sensor pixels are several times the size of, and thus more sensitive than, the pixels in the image sensor. The light falling on them is gathered from an even wider area through the use of the splitter and micro-lenses between the reflex mirror and the focus array.
 - The pixels in most cameras with on-sensor PDAF have a Bayer filter or other form of color filter over the light wells. This means two thirds of the light that falls onto a pixel doesn't make it into the light well. Traditional PDAF sensors are monochromatic, so there is no need for any color filters.
 - Getting the data from the sensor is another potential speed bump. Since the data from a dedicated PDAF sensor is gathered from lines only a single pixel wide, the data can be read more quickly than that coming off a full sensor that is also being used for metering and possibly WB computation as well.
 - Most cameras with PDAF use a hybrid form that includes elements of both PDAF and CDAF. Any CDAF system requires more stages than a PDAF system as it is a "move and measure" system that repeats the process until it finds the distance that produces the most contrast. A PDAF system can measure once, determine how far and in which direction the lens is out of focus, and then move the lens. A CDAF system must take at least two measurements to determine which direction to move the lens to get more contrast, and then must sample until the lens has moved past focus and contrast begins to fall off.
 - The half-silvered portion of the main mirror that all light falling on a dedicated PDAF sensor array must pass through does reduce the light by 50%, but even with this loss the dedicated sensor is still getting much more light per pixel for the same amount of light entering an equivalent lens.
Having said all of that, I highly suspect another big reason for the difference lies in the design of the lenses attached to the respective cameras. With traditional DSLRs, PDAF speed can vary quite a bit on the same body depending on the lens being used. The focus motors on lenses designed for the typical on-sensor PDAF cameras are more comparable to consumer grade DSLR lenses, and even fixed lenses on bridge cameras, than to higher end DSLR lenses. Overall design, weight of the elements being moved, the size and type of motor used to move the lens, and the firmware that controls it all have an influence on the overall speed and accuracy of the lens' mechanical focus system. If the on-sensor PDAF camera is even capable of interchangeable lenses, there may be faster lenses (aperture and focus drive) available for a premium. Remember that aperture is figured on actual, not effective, focal length. Some of the cameras in question, like the Fuji X100S, have APS-C sized sensors. When this is the case the aperture sizes are comparable to lenses used on APS-C DSLRs. But other cameras like the Nikon 1 series have 1" sensors with barely half the linear dimensions and less than 1/3 the surface area of an APS-C sensor, not to mention that they are dwarfed by the 7.5X larger 36X24mm full frame sensors. When comparing the lenses for these cameras, the absolute size of the diaphragm is smaller for a given f-number and angle of view because the focal length for that same angle of view is shorter. The mass of the optics in such lenses is less than that of more typical faster focusing DSLR lenses, but the space available for the motor that drives the movement of those optics is also much less.
Thanks to jrista for the information in his comments regarding this answer. Much of the correct information on this heavily revised answer is his. All of the mistakes are mine. B-)
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I also suspect that on-sensor PDAF has fewer and less sensitive focus points compared to the dedicated sensors. I fully expect on-sensor PDAF to improve quickly though, possibly approaching the performance of the dedicated sensor, at least in good light. – Chinmay Kanchi May 2 '13 at 17:23
The number of focus points doesn't affect speed that much. In fact the more points there are, the more data has to be processed before the camera makes a decision. This is offset by the fact that the cameras with the most focus points generally also have the most powerful processors. It is mainly about the amount of light and the speed of the mechanics of the focus system in the lenses. – Michael Clark May 2 '13 at 17:26
According to your answer, on sensor PDAF is unlikely to improve? It will never be monochromatic? – erotsppa May 2 '13 at 17:31
Good answer. The one thing I strongly suspect that affects on-sensor PDAF is that the distance between measuring sites is too tight. With a dedicated sensor, the distance between sites measuring phase are spread at irregular intervals which depend on the maximum aperture they are able to focus with. – Itai May 2 '13 at 17:38
An article I read on dpReview says they are green on the Fuji X100S. – Michael Clark May 3 '13 at 7:40
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Traditional phase detect autofocus system runs mainly in an open loop configuration: take measurement, send focus distance to lens. Contrast detect autofocus is closed loop, it has to take a contrast measurement, move the lens, take a contrast measurement, move lens etc. which is clearly much slower.
The reason phase detect on sensor isn't nearly as fast as a dedicated phase detect unit is simply that it isn't accurate enough to use in open loop mode, so the camera has to take several measurements to fine tune the focus.
The reason for the difference is accuracy is that a dedicated phase detect system has a series of lenses to direct the incoming light to two pixel arrays that are wide apart in order to measure the difference in phase and therefore the angle of incidence which tells you how far out the plane of focus is.
Phase detect on sensor uses a series of special pixels that have have an opaque mask over one half. By measuring the difference in light reading from pixels which have the left side blacked out compared to those which have the right side blacked out you get a measure of the angle of incidence but it's not very accurate as the height of the microlens above the pixel is small, leading to a much shorter baseline. Baseline is key to accuracy, imagine shutting one eye and trying to judge the distance of something by moving your head, if you can only move your head a tiny amount it's very hard.
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At least on Fuji's version, the pixels used are filtered for green. This article quotes Mr. Yamashita of Fuji regarding the design of the sensor. – Michael Clark May 3 '13 at 7:48
_USER_ fair enough, I'm sure a saw something from another manufacturer stating they used clear filters for those pixels. – Matt Grum May 3 '13 at 8:19
re: monochromatic pixels on some on-sensor PDAF cameras. I think I have too, but I couldn't find it today. I think the Nikon 1 series uses green also, but I've too many photos to edit right now to look for it. – Michael Clark May 3 '13 at 8:26
+1 for explaining how on-sensor PDAF does baseline and 'phase' measurement – Kaushik Ghose Oct 10 '13 at 19:18
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Era Ends: Western Union Stops Sending Telegrams
After 145 years, Western Union has quietly stopped sending telegrams.
On the company's web site, if you click on "Telegrams" in the left-side navigation bar, you're taken to a page that ends a technological era with about as little fanfare as possible:
"Effective January 27, 2006, Western Union will discontinue all Telegram and Commercial Messaging services. We regret any inconvenience this may cause you, and we thank you for your loyal patronage. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact a customer service representative."
The decline of telegram use goes back at least to the 1980s, when long-distance telephone service became cheap enough to offer a viable alternative in many if not most cases. Faxes didn't help. Email could be counted as the final nail in the coffin.
Western Union has not failed. It long ago refocused its main business to make money transfers for consumers and businesses. Revenues are now $3 billion annually. It's now called Western Union Financial Services, Inc. and is a subsidiary of First Data Corp.
The world's first telegram was sent on May 24, 1844 by inventor Samuel Morse. The message, "What hath God wrought," was transmitted from Washington to Baltimore. In a crude way, the telegraph was a precursor to the Internet in that it allowed rapid communication, for the first time, across great distances.
Western Union goes back to 1851 as the Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company. In 1856 it became the Western Union Telegraph Company after acquisition of competing telegraph systems. By 1861, during the Civil War, it had created a coast-to-coast network of lines.
Other company highlights:
- 1866: Introduced the first stock ticker.
- 1871: Introduced money transfers.
- 1884: Became one of the original 11 stocks tracked by the Dow Jones Average.
- 1914: Introduced the first consumer charge card.
- 1964: Began using a transcontinental microwave beam to replace land lines.
- 1974: Launched Westar I, the first U.S. dedicated communications satellite.
On Jan. 26, the last day you could send a telegram, First Data announced it would spin Western Union off as an independent, publicly traded company.
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Engineering & Environmental Services
The Engineering and Environmental Services Division (EESD) is committed to provide exemplary engineering and environmental stewardship for the citizens of Henrico County. EESD, while mindful of economic constraints, is dedicated to the continued efforts to implement environmental management programs and engineering principles that will protect the environment and enhance the quality of life for our citizens. EESD recognizes the interdependence of environmental protection and economic growth and will continue to promote environmental conservation, environmental awareness and the minimization of environmental impacts as part of its review process.
Erosion and Sediment Control
Soil erosion is the process of detachment and transportation of soil materials by water, wind, ice and gravity. Henrico County's Erosion and Sediment Control Program deals with erosion resulting from (water) raindrop impact on un-stabilized soil, primarily during the development process…more
Henrico County is pursuing a regional/watershed stormwater management program, but not in the traditional sense. Generally, traditional regional programs have become synonymous with regional basins. The County's approach is much broader, involving channel restoration, channel protection, buffer establishment, urban stormwater retrofits, and regional stormwater controls… more
Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Program
The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) is an EPA permit program which took effect in 1972 and is responsible for significant improvements in the quality of our nation's waters. EPA delegated this permit authority to the State and in Virginia this permit is known as the VPDES permit. The County of Henrico has a VPDES permit which allows us to discharge our stormwater into state waters. This permit also has guidelines for improvements which the County implements on an ongoing basis like BMPs, stream restorations, stream cleanings, and many others…more
Mosquito and West Nile Virus Information
Henrico County achieves mosquito awareness and control through the Standing Water Initiative. The Standing Water Initiative promotes an integrated approach to mosquito management. Services and educational programs are provided to reduce the possibility of mosquito transmitted disease, such as West Nile virus, and reduce human discomfort associated with large mosquito populations…more
Chesapeake Bay Preservation Areas
Virginia's Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area Designation and Management Regulations (PDF) (9VAC10-20 et seq.) require local governments to implement ordinances designed to protect and restore the quality of perennial streams and their associated non-tidal wetlands, as the conditions in these environments have been determined to directly affect the condition of the Chesapeake Bay. The County of Henrico regulates these environments through development restrictions in these sensitive areas…more
Septic System Pump-Out/Inspection Program
Henrico citizens whose septic systems lie within a Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area (CBPA) are required to have their septic system pumped out by a licensed sewage handler at least once every five (5) years. This is in accordance with Henrico County's Chesapeake Bay Preservation Ordinance, Chapter 24-106.3. Septic system owners may elect, as an alternative to this pump-out requirement, to submit documentation from a licensed sewage handler explaining that the system has been inspected, is functioning properly, and does not need to be pumped out…more
Non-Emergency Spill Reporting
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If there is a hot runner system implemented in the mold a PID-Controller is used to bring the heater band up to a given temperature.
By controlling the heater band, the temperature at the sensor oscillates around the requested temperature.
Dependent on the choice of P-,I- and D-values reaching the given temperature happens faster or slower.
PID-Controller in Plastic Industry
Hot Runner: The curve of the PID-Controller shows the oscillation of the temperature over time.
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A safe and efficient transportation system is a key component of an area's quality-of-life. It has direct bearing on mobility and the accessibility of people and goods to employment, shopping, and other destinations; and affects overall regional development patterns and economic development. In many respects, the Genesee-Finger Lakes Region's transportation system provides a comparative advantage over many other areas in the state and nation. Access management is one means to help protect and enhance the region's competitive advantage in transportation.
What is Access Management?
Access Management is a set of strategies to improve the safety and efficiency of traffic by reducing congestion and decreasing the number of accidents while simultaneously preserving community character through land use planning and site design. Key elements of Access Management include (available in PDF):
- Interconnected street network, including rear access roads and through streets
- Connections between adjacent properties (also known as "cross access")
- Limited driveway openings, including driveway spacing standards
- Shared driveways
- Safe and efficient driveway design
- Corner clearance standards
- Intersection spacing and traffic signal spacing
- Center medians and other means of restricting turns to specific locations
- Shared parking between adjacent businesses, centralized public parking; and side and rear parking (versus parking between roadway and building)
- Convenient internal circulation and connections for motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians
The key factor to successfully implementing access management strategies is the development of partnerships between the transportation agencies that build, operate, and maintain streets and highways, and the local communities that make planning, zoning, and development decisions.
Benefits of Access Management
An effective local access management program can play an important role in reducing accidents, preserving highway capacity, and avoiding or minimizing costly roadway improvements to correct safety and congestion problems:
- The traveling public benefits from safer and more efficient travel, including pedestrians and bicyclists;
- Land and surrounding infrastructure are often more efficiently utilized when access management tools are applied to property development and redevelopment;
- Many businesses benefit from increased economic vitality along a well-managed corridor because of easier access to and from their establishments;
- Reduced congestion can reduce fuel consumption and air quality impacts related to traffic delays as well as save time;
- Taxpayers benefit from the more efficient use of existing transportation facilities. By improving the safety and efficiency of existing highways, a community or agencys limited resources can be utilized elsewhere. Likewise, many access management strategies are relatively low in cost to implement.
Access management does more than improve the safety and efficiency of travel. Well-designed access systems can also help preserve community character, advance economic development goals, and protect the substantial public investment in roads and highways. As state and local governments strive to cope with traffic problems, limited rights-of-way, rising construction costs, and revenue shortfalls, increasingly they are recognizing the benefits of access management.
The application of Access Management principles and techniques may also provide opportunities to enhance a corridors aesthetics. Access management projects often involve widening existing roadways to add an additional two-way-left-turn lane (TWLTL) or a raised median. Such projects could lead to a wide expanse of concrete and asphalt. Unique aesthetic treatments can and should be incorporated into access management project plans in an effort to enhance the attractiveness as well as the safety and efficiency of a corridor.
Moreover, access management projects are much more likely to be accepted by the public and by business owners of adjacent properties if they look good as well as improve safety and traffic flow. Some possible aesthetic treatments include:
- Landscaping raised medians, including the addition of gateway treatments
- Adding pavement textures and designs to medians and parking areas
- Adding well designed retaining walls where needed to prevent erosion
- Planting street trees and other vegetation (while maintaining good sight distance)
- Removing signs from the clear zone and otherwise modifying commercial signs to make them less obtrusive
- Adding uniform, well designed street lights and other hardware, including pedestrian amenities like benches, transit shelters, and pedestrian-scale lighting
- Burying utility lines underground to eliminate them from view
Benefits to Pedestrians
Access management is usually promoted as a way to improve driving conditions for motorists. Clearly, access management techniques can lead to roads and streets that are dramatically safer and much easier and more pleasant to drive. However, research also indicates that several key access management techniques are just as valuable to pedestrians. These include:
- Reducing the number of driveways, particularly commercial driveways, within a given distance (per block or mile);
- Providing for greater distance separation between driveway; and
- Providing a safe refuge for pedestrian crossings with raised medians.
- Access Management and Pedestrian Safety
Other Access Management Resources
- Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR) Access Management Program
- Access Management: An Overview (Humstone and Campoli)
- Transportation Research Boards Access Management Committee
- Iowa's Access Management Awareness Project
- Minnesota Department of Transportation's Access Management Program
- Transportation Research Board's Access Management Manual (2003)
[Available for purchase through the Transportation Research Board; or available for review at the GTC Offices]


What: A train of equipment mills 3-5" of an existing poor quality pavement, grinds and resizes the reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP), mixes it with an asphalt emulsion binder, places it back on the pavement, compacts the newly recycled pavement, and leaves an improved base ready for a surface treatment or overlay. Rejuvenator oils, polymers or other additives may be included in the binder for improved performance. Virgin aggregates, flyash, lime or other additives may also be used to improve the mix.
Where: CIR is an effective application on severely distressed pavements on all types of streets and highways, from country roads to interstate highways. The roadway should have a structurally sound base with good drainage. The pavement should be thick enough (typically more than 4") to leave sufficient existing pavement or base capable of supporting the equipment train. CIR is appropriate for asphalt pavements as well as bituminous layers over PCC on composite pavements. CIR can also be used to upgrade pavements, to meet changing structural requirements and to widen roads.
Why (advantages): Pavements experiencing severe distresses can be rehabilitated; cracks are interrupted; deformations such as potholes, ruts, bumps and shoved pavement are removed and leveled; and flexibility is restored to the aged and brittle pavement. Surface characteristics such as skid resistance are improved, and surface drainage and cross-slope crowns are re-established. Deficiencies in the mix can be corrected with added aggregate and/or asphalt binder. Using in-place materials minimizes hauling and use of virgin materials; clearances under bridges and curb height are retained; and there is an excellent public acceptance of recycled materials.
Why not (disadvantages): The base must be strong enough to support the equipment. Partial depth CIR does not stabilize the base.
When: When a pavement surface has reached the end of its design life, typically 12-25 years old. If the pavement has failed prematurely, the reasons for the pavement failure must be determined so they are not repeated.
Estimated life extension: 4-17 years.
For more information on successful cold recycling, consult the CIR checklist put together by the Foundation and FHWA.


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Empirical Research Background: In constructing a reading ability scale for English, it was necessary to take the constituent testlets, items grouped within a single reading passage, seriously. That posed interesting and challenging problems for the calibration process. Empirical Research Aims: This paper attempts to show how to use the testlets as the main units for the construction of the reading ability scale. The exercise highlighted issues relating to item level and testlet level invariance, which would be interesting and informative for Rasch model applications. Empirical Research Sample: The sample in the study is around 5000 primary and secondary students in Hong Kong. Empirical Research Method: The scale calibration uses a series of linked reading comprehension tests acorss the full spectrum of the Hong Kong primary and secondary education. A three-facet Rasch model was used with testlets as an intermediate levels between items and students. The main issue to be considered is the selection of linking items across levels, giving due consideration to possible variance between levels and to the need to maintain invariance across the scale. The achievement of the latter will be the use of the anchoring of the testlets, while allowing some linking items to vary within the context of the testlet. Empirical Research RASCH: Multi-faceted Rasch models were used in the scale calibration. The exercise raises interesting issues on the definition of what constitutes a facet versus item grouping. Empirical Research Results: The exercise enabled the construction of a reading ability scale for English in Hong Kong. Empirical Research Conclusions: The reading ability scale provides the basis for tracking student reading ability in English across the full spectrum of education in Hong Kong. It has already been used in Macau and will be used in Taiwan.
|Publication status||Published - Jul 2009|


Question: Does Socialism Mean Equality?
What does socialism mean in simple terms?
Socialism is an economic and political system.
It is an economic theory of social organization.
What is the basic difference between socialism and equality?
Equality. Capitalism is unconcerned about equity. It is argued that inequality is essential to encourage innovation and economic development. Socialism is concerned with redistributing resources from the rich to the poor.
What are some examples of socialist countries?
Does socialism have a state?
A socialist state, socialist republic, or socialist country, sometimes referred to as a workers' state or workers' republic, is a sovereign state constitutionally dedicated to the establishment of socialism.
Who gets the profits in socialism?
A socialist economy is a system of production where goods and services are produced directly for use, in contrast to a capitalist economic system, where goods and services are produced to generate profit (and therefore indirectly for use). "Production under socialism would be directly and solely for use.
Is Denmark a socialist country?
How many countries are democratic?
The Democracy Index is an index compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), a UK-based company. It intends to measure the state of democracy in 167 countries, of which 166 are sovereign states and 164 are UN member states.
Are there any benefits to socialism?
What is the downside to socialism?
What happens in a socialist country?
A socialist country is a sovereign state in which everyone in society equally owns the factors of production. The peoples' ownership comes through a democratically elected government, through a cooperative, or through a public corporation in which every member of society owns shares.
Is capitalism better than socialism?
The verdict is in, and contrary to what socialists say, capitalism, with all its warts, is the preferred economic system to bring the masses out of poverty and to make them productive citizens in our country and in countries around the world. Remember this: Capitalism rewards merit, socialism rewards mediocrity.
What is difference between socialism and communism?
Can socialism have a free market?
Why is socialism impossible?
Can you own your own business in a socialist country?
No, you can't start your own business under socialism. The very basics of socialism is that business is owned and run for the benefit of society. That means the government runs your business either through overregulation or outright ownership. Government may not see the benefit of your business.
What does democratic socialism mean?
Democratic socialism is defined as having a socialist economy in which the means of production are socially and collectively owned or controlled, alongside a democratic political system of government. … For Hain, this authoritarian and democratic divide is more important than that between reformists and revolutionaries.
Is China a socialist country?
The Communist Party of China maintains that despite the co-existence of private capitalists and entrepreneurs with public and collective enterprise, China is not a capitalist country because the party retains control over the direction of the country, maintaining its course of socialist development.
What are pros and cons of socialism?
Pros of socialismReduction of relative poverty. … Free health care. … Diminishing marginal utility of income. … A more equal society is more cohesive. … Socialist values encourage selflessness rather than selfishness. … Benefits of public ownership. … Environment. … Reduced hidden taxes.
What is socialism vs capitalism?
Socialism is an economic and political system under which the means of production are publicly owned. Production and consumer prices are controlled by the government to best meet the needs of the people. Capitalism is an economic system under which the means of production are privately owned.
Can a free market exist in socialism?
"Free market" is how unrelated entities exchange with each other. Private entities themselves, almost all for-profit and non-profit, are internally socialist. … So, yes, socialism can, and almost always does, exist within a free market system.
What is the difference between socialism and capitalism and communism?
Unlike in communism, a socialist economic system rewards individual effort and innovation. Social democracy, the most common form of modern socialism, focuses on achieving social reforms and redistribution of wealth through democratic processes, and can co-exist alongside a free-market capitalist economy.


text:
El-Maleh, Aiman, Khursheed, Syed Saqib and M. Sait, Sadiq
Efficient Static Compaction Techniques for Sequential Circuits Based on Reverse Order Restoration and Test Relaxation.
At Asian Test Symposium
In this paper we present efficient Reverse Order Restoration (ROR) based static test compaction techniques for synchronous sequential circuits. Unlike previous ROR techniques that rely on vector-by-vector fault-simulation based restoration of test subsequences, our technique restores test sequences based on efficient test relaxation. The restored test subsequence can be either concatenated to the compacted test sequence, as in previous approaches, or merged with it. Furthermore, it allows the removal of redundant vectors from the restored subsequences using State Traversal technique and incorporates schemes for increasing the fault coverage of restored test subsequences to achieve an overall higher level of compaction. In addition, test relaxation is used to take ROR out of saturation. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed techniques.
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Lesson 2: Project planning
The planning phase happens immediately before commencing your data collection. During this phase, you should revise your work plan with the most recent information and expand it to include more details. For example, under the main task of "collect primary data" you might want to add activities and dates to include:
- Design sample selection according to inclusion and exclusion criteria
- Recruit participants
- Staff and train filed assistants / translators
- Translate research protocols into local language
Often for each major activity in the high level plan you created during the initiation phase, there are a series of sub-tasks that may need to be completed in support of the main activity. Be sure to think about the supporting tasks needed to complete all high level activities. Consult your thesis supervisor for assistance.
During this phase, you should also review your budget and revise with any new information. Often the initial budget reflects an informed estimate and actual figures for labour and research materials will differ from this early version as details emerge when your data collection period approaches. If traveling out of your county of study to collect data, be sure to check that exchange rates haven't changed significantly since you first created a budget for your thesis research.
Learn how to make a data management plan in the following


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2013 Press Release
December 10, 2013
DEEP Encourages Residents to Limit Exposure to Pollution from Residential Wood Smoke
Protect Your Health and Your Neighbors by Burning Wood Safer this Wintertime Season
Connecticut's Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) is encouraging Connecticut residents to protect their health and that of their neighbors by limiting their exposure to pollution created from improperly burning wood. As temperatures continue to drop across Connecticut many homeowners are starting the first fires of the winter season, in their fireplaces or fire pits outdoors resulting in residential wood smoke.
Residential wood smoke, a complex mixture of gases and particles produced when wood and other organic matter burn, is a main contributor of fine particle pollution. It is responsible for poor air quality days in many areas across the state and can have severe health impacts.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states that exposure to fine particle pollution resulting from wood smoke can lead to a variety of health effects particularly affecting those with lung disease, asthma, COPD, and heart disease. Children, teenagers, older adults, and new or expectant mothers may want to take precautions and limit their exposure to protect their health and the health of their babies.
According to EPA, particle pollution can trigger asthma attacks, impair lung development in children, increase symptoms of COPD and cause coughing, wheezing, and chest tightness. For people with heart disease, particle pollution is linked to heart attacks, irregular heartbeat, heart failure, and stroke.
Because exposure to fine particle pollution from the burning of wood can lead to a variety of health effects, DEEP recommends the following "best burn" tips to protect your health and that of your family by reducing wood smoke pollution:
Not all wood is the same so it is essential that you burn dry, seasoned wood to reduce particle pollution. Softwoods such as Douglas fir need six months to dry and hardwoods such as oak need at least 12 months. Garbage, plastic, treated lumber, and driftwood should never be burned because they emit toxic fumes and particles.
Burning wet wood creates a lot of smoke and burns inefficiently, meaning the heat literally goes up in smoke. Buy an inexpensive moisture meter at a hardware store to test the wetness of your wood before burning. Wood should only be burned if the moisture content is 20 percent or less.
- Old wood stoves are bad polluters and less efficient than newer ones. Newer, EPA-certified wood stoves and fireplace inserts (wood stoves designed to fit into a fireplace), reduce air pollutants by 70 percent compared to older models. Additionally, EPA-certified wood stoves and fireplace inserts are up to 50 percent more energy efficient, use 1/3 less wood for the same heat, and reduce the risk of fire by reducing creosote build-up in chimneys.


text:
Query: keyword: "Verspreiding"
|Authors||R. Felix, H. van Kleef|
|Title||Boomkrekels Oecanthus pellucens bij Lobith het land binnen (Orthoptera: Gryllidae)|
|Journal||Nederlandse Faunistische Mededelingen|
|Keywords||Boomkrekel; Nederland; Verspreiding; Herkenning|
|Abstract||Oecanthus pellucens entering the Netherlands at Lobith (Orthoptera: Gryllidae)|
On august 8, 2004 a male Oecanthus pellucens was heard along the river Waal, just east of the
city of Nijmegen (the Netherlands). Additional searches revealed that the species is distributed
from the German border towards Nijmegen and Arnhem along the rivers Waal and Rhine
respectively. These observations confirm that O. pellucens has successfully colonised the
Netherlands in a natural way and has probably been present for several years. Previous records
of O. pellucens in the Netherlands were attributed to transport by traffic from southern Europe.
All specimens were found along the shore of the river, indicating that dispersal is accomplished
by water transport during winter and spring flooding. During this period the eggs of the species
are in diapause inside plants. Since O. pellucens is very thermophilous it remains to be seen if it
can survive the next cold and wet summer.
|Download paper|| _URL_ |


text:
Çoban, Serap (2008): The Relationships among Mortality Rates, Income and Educational Inequality in Terms of Economic Growth: A Comparison between Turkey and the Euro Area.
Download (209Kb) | Preview
This study focuses on the relationships among mortality rates, income and educational inequality in terms of economic growth to investigate similarities and differences between the Euro Area and Turkey. For this purpose, income gini as an indicator of income inequality and education gini as an indicator of education inequality are used in the analyses. The relations among the variables are examined with panel data analysis for the Euro Area and with time series analysis for Turkey by using these coefficients and mortality rates for the period of 1980 and 2006. The results show that access to education is more important than the others for Turkey and the Euro Area. There is also a considerable relation between education inequality and mortality rates of infant and adult.
|Item Type:||MPRA Paper|
|Original Title:||The Relationships among Mortality Rates, Income and Educational Inequality in Terms of Economic Growth: A Comparison between Turkey and the Euro Area|
|English Title:||The Relationships among Mortality Rates, Income and Educational Inequality in Terms of Economic Growth: A Comparison between Turkey and the Euro Area|
|Keywords:||Educational Gini, Income Gini, Mortality Rates, Economic Growth, Panel Data Analysis, Euro Area, Turkey|
|Subjects:||I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I3 - Welfare and Poverty > I30 - General
I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I2 - Education and Research Insititutions > I20 - General
I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I1 - Health > I10 - General
|Depositing User:||Serap ÇOBAN|
|Date Deposited:||10. Feb 2009 09:07|
|Last Modified:||21. Feb 2013 20:49|
BARRO J. and J.W. LEE (2000), "International Data on Educational Attainment Updates and Implications", NBER Working Papers, WP No. 7911.
DALY, M., G. DUNCAN, G.A. KAPLAN, J.W. LYNCH (1998), "Macro-to-Micro Linkages in the Inequality-Mortality Relationship", Milbank Quarterly, 76 (3), 315-339.
DEATON, A. (2001), "Health, Inequality and Economic Development", NBER Working Papers, WP No. 8318.
ERDEM, Ekrem ve Serap ÇOBAN (2005), "Türkiye'de İller Bazında Eğitim Eşitsizliğinin Ölçülmesi Ve Ekonomik Gelişmişlik Farklılıklarıyla İlişkisi: Eğitimin Gini Katsayıları", TÜİK, 14. İstatistik Araştırma Sempozyumu (5-6 Mayıs) 2005 Bildiriler Kitabı, s. 189-205.
FISCELLA, K. and P. FRANKS (1997), "Poverty or Income Inequality as Predictor of Mortality: Longitudinal Cohort Study", British Medical Journal, 314, _PHONE_.
GALEA, S. and J. AHERN (2005), "Distribution of Education and Population Health: An Ecological Analysis of New York City Neighborhoods", American Journal of Public Health, 95 (12), 2198-2205.
HNP, Health, Nutrition and Population Statistics of World Bank, _URL_ (Accessed 20.02.2008).
KAPLAN, G. A., E.R. PAMUK, J. W. LYNCH; R. D. COHEN and J. L. BALFOUR (1996) "Inequality in Income and Mortality in the United States: Analysis of Mortality and Potential Pathways", British Medical Journal, 312, _PHONE_.
KAWACHI, I. and B.P. KENNEDY (1999), "Income Inequality and Health: Pathways and Mechanisms", Health Services Research, 34 (1), 215-227.
KAWACHI, I. and B.P. KENNEDY, et al. (1997), "Social Capital, Income Inequality and Mortality", American Journal of Public Health, 87 (9), _PHONE_.
LAPORTE, A. and B.S. FERGUSON (2003), "Income Inequality and Mortality: Time Series Evidence from Canada", Health Policy, 66, 107-117.
LYNCH, J.W., G.A. KAPLAN, E.R. PAMUK, R.D.COHEN, et al. (1998), "Income Inequality and Mortality in Metropolitan Areas of the United States", American Journal of Public Health, 88, _PHONE_.
MULLER, A. (2002), "Education, Income Inequality, and Mortality: A Multiple Regression Analysis", British Medical Journal, Vol. 324, 23-25.
NAS, National Accounts Statistics, OECDStat Beta Version, _URL_ (Accessed 20.02.2008).
REHME, G. (2007), "Education, Economic Growth and Measured Income Inequality", Economica, 74, 493-514.
THOMAS, V., WANG, Y. and FAN X. (2000), Measuring Education Inequality: Gini Coefficients of Education, Policy Research Working Paper Series, No: 2525, World Bank.
UNS, United Nations Statistics Division National Accounts Main Aggregates Database, _URL_ (Accessed 25.02.2008)
WIID, UNU-WIDER World Income Inequality Database V2.0b, May 2007, _URL_ (Accessed 18.02.2008).
WILKINSON, R.G. (1996), Unhealthy Societies, The Afflictions of Inequality, Routledge, London.


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Introduction to Web Conferencing
View as a PDF
What is Web Conferencing?
While Skype provides audio and video conferencing and a chat tool, web conferencing software provides a broader set of synchronous communication tools. Some of these additional features include:
- Multi-point audio and video - You can have several people in different locations using cameras and microphones.
- Desktop sharing - You can give live demonstrations of software, go over an assignment in real-time with a student, or even control a participant's application remotely.
- Whiteboard - Participants in multiple locations can work together on the same whiteboard
- Import presentation - You can import a PowerPoint file right into the tool, which is useful for giving presentations to remote audiences.
- Classroom management - You can control the privileges of participants in a session.
- Ability to record sessions - You can record part or all of a session for later reference.
There are several web conferencing tools available on the market, including Elluminate, Centra, Interwise, and WebEx. At NMU we have licenses for a product called Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional.
When is Web Conferencing Useful?
Educational uses of web conferencing range from one-on-one meetings with students to full class sessions. Some specific applications where it can be an appropriate tool include:
- Blended online courses where some aspects are conducted asynchronously on EduCat (e.g., assignments, assessments) and others, such as student presentations, are conducted live via web conferencing.
- Bringing in a guest speaker
- Virtual office hours with students in an asynchronous online class.
- Live distance learning courses that utilize a high level of interaction among students.
- Live distance learning courses where remote students don't have access to ITV tools.
The "7 things you should know about Virtual Meetings" handout from ELI outlines some specific applications and scenarios for web conferencing use.
Who can Use Acrobat Connect? (Licensing)
Most commercial software used at NMU has either a site license, meaning anyone on campus can use it (examples include Microsoft Office and WebCT) or individual licenses, meaning that NMU must have a license assigned to anyone who uses it (examples include Camtasia and Adobe Photoshop).
Acrobat Connect is a little different. NMU has a limited number of "named host" licenses for Acrobat Connect, which are only assigned to faculty. Named hosts have the ability to create virtual meetings and invite other participants to them. Participants (such as students) in meetings do not get a license. There can be up to 100 people in any meeting session. The named host can create as many meetings as he or she wants, but only one can be in session at a given time.
Adobe Connect is web-based and cross platform; it runs through a web browser and the Flash plug-in, which are both standard on NMU laptops. A free add-in is needed to do some functions, but to install it you just need to click "yes" when prompted to install it. It will then install in just a few seconds - no trip to the Help Desk needed.
Signing up for a Free Trial of Acrobat Connect
Because each named host account costs NMU a licensing fee, we only assign them to faculty members who have definite plans to use web conferencing.
Adobe offers a free, 30 day trial of Acrobat Connect Pro that allows faculty to "test drive" the software before requesting a named host account. For the purposes of the workshop, each of you will sign up for the trial. If, after becoming familiar with Acrobat Connect, you decide that want to use it with your classes in the fall, contact the CITE to request a named host account.
Here is the URL for signing up for the free trial:
Follow the steps on-screen. Your account will be active within a few minutes. A representative from Adobe may contact you within a few days of your registering to see if you have questions or if you want to buy a license. Just explain to them that your university has a limited number of licenses and that you are evaluating the software before deciding whether to request one.
Adobe has a nice set of tutorials, documentation (some of which is provided in your handouts), and tips in their Acrobat Connect Pro Resource Center, at _URL_
Please be aware that in addition to Acrobat Connect Pro information, there are some references to companion products (e.g., Adobe Presenter, audio teleconferencing) to which NMU does not subscribe.
You can also reach the Resource Center through the Help menu of any Acrobat Connect meeting.


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The People HR modules enable you to monitor events in your People HR account.
Getting Started with People HR
- A People HR account
- API license activated in your People HR account
In order to use People HR with Integromat, it is necessary to have a People HR account. If you do not have one, you can create a People HR free trial account at _URL_
Connecting People HR to Integromat
To connect your People HR account to Integromat you need to generate an API Key in your People HR account.
1. Log in to your People HR account.
2. Go to Settings > API.
3. Click the PLUS (+) button to generate a new API Key.
4. Enter the name for the API Key and select applications you want to access using the API Key, then click Save.
5. Click the copy icon () to copy the generated API key.
6. Go to Integromat and open the People HR module's Create a connection dialog.
7. Enter the API Key you have copied in step 5 to the respective field, enter your People HR login credentials, and click the Continue button to establish the connection.
The connection has been established. You can proceed with setting up the module.
Triggers when an action is performed in your People HR account.
The webhook URL needs to be generated in Integromat and then added to People HR API settings.
1. Add the Watch Events module to your Integromat scenario.
2. Generate and copy the webhook URL.
3. Log in to your People HR account.
4. Go to Settings > API.
5. Paste the webhook URL you have copied in step 2 above to the Webhook URL field.
Now, every time the action is performed, the Watch Events module in your Integromat scenario is triggered.


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Falmouth Facts and Figures for 2016
Again our A*-C pass rates in English and Maths are more than 10% higher than the National Averages. 73% of Falmouth School students attained a C or higher in English and Maths compared to the National Average of 58.7%.
Achievement in the 'best 8' progress measure is significantly above national averages at 0.3, and one of the highest in Cornwall.
Our 'Attainment 8' score of 54.8 is also much higher than the National Average of 49.
Progress in the Core subjects of English, Maths and Science is also significantly above National Averages. 25% of the Year 11 students achieved the English Baccalaureate compared to the Cornwall average of 18%.
Our 5A*-C including English and Maths again puts us as one of the top Cornish Schools.
Falmouth College Facts and Figures
Over 70% of grades achieved by Falmouth Sixth Form students were at A*, A, B and C grades at A2 level and 50% of the grades awarded are A* A B.
Falmouth Sixth Form achieved 100% pass rate in vocational courses.
Outstanding achievers at A level included: Poppy Faithful A*AAA (Royal Holloway - Politics and International Relations), Gareth Willetts A*AAAA (Exeter - Mathematical Sciences) Georgia Christophers A*AB (Cardiff - Physiotherapy), Charlotte Reburn A*AAA (Exeter - Medical Science), Charlotte Emsden AAA (Exeter - Medicine), Esther Martin AAB (Leeds - English Literature and Theatre Studies), Alex Pinhay ABB (Plymouth - Midwifery).
Did you know?
- 84% of students achieved A* - C in Science.
- 100% of students achieved A* - C in Triple Science.
- A* - C grades at Falmouth School have risen sharply even though nationally, grades were lower.
- 73% of students achieved 5A* - C including English and Maths – our highest percentage ever!
- 83% of students gained an A* - C grade in English – our best results ever.
- 80% of students gained an A* - C grade in Maths – our best results ever.
- All Falmouth School students made more than expected progress using government measures.
- 10 Students gained 10 or more A* or A GCSE grades.
- Falmouth College students go on to top universities including Exeter, Cardiff, Leeds.
- 78% of all Falmouth College grades were A* - C.
- Falmouth College students gained a combined number of 65 A*, A or distinction grades.
- Every student studying BTEC Medical Science at Falmouth College achieved a distinction – the equivalent of an A grade.
- Falmouth School results are (in the top 3 in Cornwall) significantly above the National average.
School Performance Tables


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and history of Cosmeston medieval settlement
The Cosmeston medieval settlement site was discovered
during excavations by the Glamorgan
Gwent Archaeological Trust Ltd. in 1977 and 1982, in
response to a development threat close to the known site of 'Cosmeston
Castle'. Archaeological investigations revealed the remains of 13th
and 14th century stone buildings, the Local Authority then invited
the Trust to undertake a long term research programme. Cardiff University
is now investigating the large archive of archaeological
finds from the GGAT excavations as part of the new project,
and conducting ongoing investigations such as landscape
survey and excavation
to increase knowledge about this unique site.
Excavations by Glamorgan Gwent Archaeological Trust
Image © Glamorgan Gwent Archaeological Trust Ltd.
Formerly in the Welsh kingdom of Morgannwg, Cosmeston lies within
the lands conquered by the Norman lord Robert Fitzhammon, and established
as the lordship of Glamorgan. One of his followers was the de Constentin
family, from the Constentin peninsular in northern France, who became
the first known lords of the manor at Constentinstune (Cosmeston)
'the place of the Constentins'. By 1317 the manor had passed to
the de Caversham family and then to the Herbert family by 1550.
During the 19th century the Bute family, famous for rebuilding Cardiff
Castle and the industrialisation of Cardiff's coal port, became
the owners of Cosmeston.
Village reconstruction. Image © Glamorgan Gwent
Archaeological Trust Ltd.
In the medieval period the manor of Cosmeston was a sub-manor of
Sully, forming part of the lordship of Glamorgan, and similar in
size to the present day parish of Lavernock.
The administrative centre of the manor was the manor house, which
at Cosmeston has been historically known as a 'castle'. In south
Wales manor houses of this period were often heavily fortified and
15th century references to Cosmeston mention a tower or corner bastion,
it appears to have been abandoned by 1437. Evidence of a manorial
garden and dovecot have also been found in the field south-west
of the manor house.
Medieval Fair Event at the village 2007. Image © Karolina Ploska.
The peasant farmers, who held land from the lord of the manor, usually
produced enough food to sustain their families, provide rent for
the land, and in a good year a surplus which could be traded for
money. At Cosmeston, in common with other local villages, their
buildings were made from locally available limestone bedded in courses
and mortared with clay. Each homestead was located within a block
of land known as a croft, typically 11/2 -2 acres in size. At Cosmeston
boundaries of some crofts can be seen as earthworks in a field on
the opposite side of the modern B4267 road, the original medieval
route being through the village. The farmstead, a group of three
buildings grouped around a central yard at Cosmeston, is very interesting
as many medieval farms in Wales consisted of a 'longhouse' where
people and animals lived at either end of the same building, and
not separately as in this case.The enclosed fields of the manorial
lord were known as the demesne, over which the peasants could not
exercise common rights of grazing, woodcutting or hunting.
This planned and managed landscape is likely to have existed around
Cosmeston as a direct consequence of the Norman conquest and settlement
of the Vale of Glamorgan in the early 12th century. Other types
of settlement also included small hamlets and isolated farmsteads,
two of which existed at nearby Sutton and Lavernock.
Cosmeston guide book © Glamorgan Gwent Archaeological Trust


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- About this Journal
- Abstracting and Indexing
- Aims and Scope
- Article Processing Charges
- Articles in Press
- Author Guidelines
- Bibliographic Information
- Citations to this Journal
- Contact Information
- Editorial Board
- Editorial Workflow
- Free eTOC Alerts
- Publication Ethics
- Reviewers Acknowledgment
- Submit a Manuscript
- Subscription Information
- Table of Contents
Advances in Civil Engineering
Volume 2011 (2011), Article ID 871406, 2 pages
Advances in Instrumentation and Monitoring in Geotechnical Engineering
1Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai 400076, India
2Civil and Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia
3Civil Engineering Department, University of Ottawa, A112, 161 Louis Pasteur, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1N 6N5
Received 11 November 2011; Accepted 11 November 2011
Copyright © 2011 D. N. Singh et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Geotechnical instrumentation to monitor the performances of earth and earth-supported structures is increasingly becoming popular. Verification of long-term performances, validation of new theories, construction control, warning against any impending failures, quality assurance, and legal protection are some of the many reasons for geotechnical instrumentation. They are not only used in field situations, but in laboratories too. With the recent advances in materials and technology, and the need for more stringent performance control, there had been significant developments in the recent past in instrumentation and monitoring techniques.
We are thankful to Hindawi Publishing Corporation for inviting us to act as Guest Editors of this special issue. The main focus of this special issue is to document the recent advances in the instrumentation and monitoring techniques in geotechnical engineering. Authors were invited to disseminate their research findings and recent advances in the instrumentation and monitoring techniques in the field of geotechnical engineering. Apart from this, authors of about twenty papers, which were submitted to the 12th Conference of the International Association for Computer Methods and Advances in Geomechanics (IACMAG) held in Goa, India, from 1 to 6 October 2008, under the theme of "Geomechanics in the Emerging Social and Technological Age," were invited to upgrade/modify their manuscripts as per the requirements of the journal.
The paper titled "Real-time monitoring system and advanced characterization technique for civil infrastructure health monitoring" presents two successful field applications of the shape-acceleration array (SAA) system, at an active bridge realignment site in The Netherlands.
The paper titled "Nonparametric monitoring for geotechnical structures subject to long-term environmental change" presents a nonparametric, data-driven methodology of monitoring for geotechnical structures subject to long-term environmental change. For validating this methodology, data from a full-scale retaining wall, which has monitored for three years, has been used.
The paper titled "Field assessment and specification review for roller-integrated compaction" presents an overview of two technologies: compaction meter value (CMV) and machine drive power (MDP), an overview of factors influencing statistical correlations, modeling for visualization and characterization of spatial nonuniformity, and a brief review of the specifications being used by the professionals.
The paper titled "Experimental and numerical study of at-rest lateral earth pressure of overconsolidated sand" presents an interesting experimental and numerical investigation of at-rest lateral earth pressure resulted due to sandy soil adjacent to retaining walls.
The paper titled "Seeing through the ground: the potential of gravity gradient as a complementary technology" describes a multisensor device to locate buried services.
The paper titled "Stability evaluation of volcanic slope subjected to rainfall and freeze-thaw action based on field monitoring" aims at clarifying the aspects related to the stability of in situ volcanic slopes subjected to rainfall and freeze-thaw action.
The paper titled "A methodology for determination of resilient modulus of asphaltic concrete" deals with development of a novel methodology that has been found to be quite useful for determining the resilient modulus of the material quite precisely.
The paper titled "A controllable approach to rectify inclined buildings" describes a safe construction and instrumentation technique to rectify the inclined buildings.
D. N. Singh
Sai K. Vanapalli
We are much thankful to the reviewers for extending their help, support, and guidance in bringing out this issue. We are thankful to the authors for extending their fullest cooperation in preparing the manuscripts as per the guidelines of the journal, taking into account the additional review comments. We acknowledge the IACMAG for approving publication of the following papers in this edition of the journal.


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Back in September
Frey, William H. 2010. Investigating change in American society, 3rd edition. Belmont, CA : Wadsworth.
This workbook/website combination allows students to analyze and manipulate huge data sets drawn from 1950 through present day, with data from U.S. decennial censuses and the American Community Survey. Each chapter consists of exercises specifically tailored to data sets drawn from this current data. Students gain access to the software and data sets by using passcodes provided with each copy of the text. An important feature new with this edition of the book allows students to conduct their analysis directly on the Web. The Internet-based WebCHIP version of the traditional StudentCHIP software permits students to access datasets and create tables on any computer that has an Internet connection. Moreover, the textbook homepage at _URL_ lets the student access all of the data simply and directly. In addition, this site also offers a number of tutorials, references, aids, and analysis tools that will come in handy for you and your students. The new edition will take advantage of the fact that the Census Bureau is now releasing annual data that was previously only available every ten years, based on the American Community Survey (ACS). Exercises and their instructions are updated to reflect the availability of new data and data set labels.
Country of focus: United States.


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Phallus-like animal is a missing link
modern-day enteropneust
Two Harrimania planktophilus, a modern enteropneust worm. This proboscis is to the left. The length of an uncoiled animal is about 32mm.(Source: C.B. Cameron, Universitde Montrl)
Fossilised forms of a phallus-shaped invertebrate have shed light on a dramatic spurt in Earth's biodiversity that occurred half a billion years ago, a new study says.
The claim is based on the fossilised remains of 10-centimetre, worm-like creatures found in shale beds in Yoho National Park in the Canadian Rocky Mountains.
The sediment in which the fossils were found dates back about 505 million years ago to the mid-Cambrian, a period when the number of species exploded and life forms became more complex.
The long-dead animal, named Spartobranchus tenuis, is a member of the acorn worms group, a seldom-seen marine animal that thrives in the mud and sand of shallow and deeper waters.
In a paper published today in Nature, senior author Dr Chris Cameron, a biologist at the University of Montreal, says the find reveals a crucial evolutionary link between two distinct living groups of animals: enteropneusts and pterobranchs.
Enteropneusts and pterobranchs are branches of the hemichordates phylum, a group of marine animals closely related to today's sea stars and sea urchins. However while enteropneusts are worms, pterobranchs are tiny animlas that live in tubes and have feeding tentacles.
Cameron says since the discovery of hemichordates in the 19th century, the inter-relationship of enteropneusts and pterobranchs has been problematic because scientists have failed to uncover any "transitional form" that might link the "anatomically disparate" relatives.
"Unlike animals with hard parts including teeth, scales and bones, these worms were soft-bodied, so their fossil record is extremely rare," Cameron says.
"Our description of S. tenuis, a creature previously unknown to science, pushes the fossil record of the enteropneusts back 200 million years to the Cambrian period, fundamentally changing our understanding of biodiversity from this period."
Previously, the oldest specimens found were from the later Triassic period (248 million to 205 million years ago).
Cameron says S. tenuis appears to be the missing common ancestor.
"It's astonishing how similar S. tenuis fossils are to modern-day acorn worms, except that they also formed fibrous tubes," he says.
It is the tubes, he adds, that provide a key missing link that connects the two hemichordate groups.
"Our findings sugges the tubes were lost in the lineage leading to modern-day enterpneusts, but... retained to the present day in pterobranchs."
If the fossil evidence is right, S. tenuis was so plentiful that its feeding may have helped store carbon - a factor in the complex equations for global warming and ocean acidity - on the ocean floor.
Enteropneusts feed by filtering small particles of food through gill slits.
"It's possible Spartobranchus tenuis may have played an important role in moving carbon from the water column to the sediment in the early Burgess Shale environment," says Cameron.
Tags: animals, earth-sciences, evolution, palaeontology


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Gaven Morris, Director of News, Analysis and Investigation at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, talks to your host Vahe Arabian of State of Digital Publishing. Gaven talks about working for a legacy media broadcaster, the transformation process that they have undergone to become a leading online publisher and their future ambitions during this live episode at the ABC offices in Sydney, Australia.
- Gaven Morris shares his personal background as a journalist.
- What has been the impact of budget cuts?
- What other funding options are available?
- How can they push for a bigger budget?
- What is their video content?
- Mainstream media doesn't generally feel that they are ahead of their audiences.
- What are Gaven's thoughts around mainstream media's approach to paid content?
- Is there a way to bridge digital and broadcasting to reach wider audiences?
- How does he motivate his team?
- Great stories that are told well will never go away.
- What is his key lesson for people looking to tell great stories?
3 Key Points:
- The Australian Broadcasting Corporation isn't allowed to sell advertising for funding.
- Australian Broadcasting Corporation is still pushing high-quality programming on the digital online side.
- Gaven's belief is that there are parts of the community where ABC needs to focus more attention on providing relevant value to.
- "How do you maintain all those things that are good about your broadcasting heritage while knowing that you have to really develop a digital content plan and a distribution plan that can ensure your relevance." – Gaven Morris
- "Try to maintain the quality of our services, even if that means we offer fewer services." – Gaven Morris
- "We have gone from being 7th or 8th in the digital news markets to up to around the second spot, and I think that has been focusing on the quality of our content." – Gaven Morris