text:
Indigenous population at risk from Taser rollout: academics
The continuing rollout of electric stun-guns to Australian police has raised concerns that Indigenous Australians will be over-represented as targets of the controversial technology.
Academics also say that research into the physical harm these weapons inflict is inadequate because the guns are tested on healthy people in controlled environments.
Front-line police officers in Western Australian and the Northern Territory are now being issued with the stun-guns, known as Tasers.
Tasers, which deliver up to 50,000-volt electrical pulses over five seconds to immobilise people, are also due to be introduced across Queensland police services from July.
In South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria, Tasers are restricted to use by special response teams.
The latest three jurisdictions to adopt the Tasers have Australia's highest Aboriginal populations.
Professor Chris Cunneen, a criminologist at the University of New South Wales, says Indigenous Australians are always over-represented as the victims of new public-order policing policy.
"We would expect that it will be Aboriginal people that [Tasers] are used against," said Professor Cunneen, from the university's law faculty.
Professor Cunneen says the introduction of capsicum spray is a good precedent for extrapolating the future use of Tasers.
"Capsicum spray was introduced in the framework that it would be used in exceptional circumstances," he said.
"But it has become relied on in a way that is more routine."
Professor Cunneen is also concerned the below-average health of many Indigenous Australians means a taser incident could take a greater toll.
"You would imagine the cardiovascular and health issues Aboriginal people face would raise concerns," he said.
"The testing [of Tasers] has been done on healthy people and in controlled environments. But that's not the way it's used."
He says safety procedures for less-than-lethal technologies often get "pushed by the wayside" in operational environments.
Associate Professor Jude McCulloch, a criminologist in the Faculty of Arts at Monash University, supports his view.
"Less-than-lethal technologies are used often disproportionately on marginalised and criminalised groups," she said.
"And in Australia that would be the Indigenous population."
She says the lack of research on Tasers' impact on victims in agitated or over-stimulated states means such targets are in effect "guinea pigs".
Professor McCulloch says new technologies, such as Tasers and capsicum spray, are often justified on "the basis they be used as an alternative to firearms".
"[But] we know from the US [the Taser] doesn't have an impact on the number of occasions when lethal force is used," she said.
Instead she says Tasers are often used to make suspects comply with a police order.
'Fill the gap'
One of Professor McCulloch's doctoral students is investigating Taser use in Australia and says she hopes this work will start to "fill the gap" in research.
She says there is little independent research into the electric stun-gun and that much US research is compromised by its relationship to manufacturers of the technology.
The lack of research into the effects of the stun-gun on people in agitated states was highlighted to police by an Australian researcher almost four years ago.
A 2004 paper commissioned by Victoria Police says Taser testing has been limited to "fit and healthy people with normal heart rate and blood pressure".
The manager of biomedical engineering at the Alfred Hospital, John Southwell, says the tests are not conclusive enough.
"None of the large-scale studies examines the effects on an aggravated/violent person who may have high heart rate and blood pressure conditions, abnormal heart conditions and/or low skin impedance due to high perspiration," he said.
Colonel Andy Mazzara, director of the US Institute for Non-Lethal Defense Technologies at Pennsylvania State University, says the effectiveness of Tasers makes them "extremely popular within the law enforcement community".
However, he says there is concern in the US about the number of Taser-associated deaths.
Colonel Mazzara says studies have been done recently or are underway to better understand the biological factors or mechanisms that might contribute to such deaths.
"Many times, the individual has been overweight, on drugs, or had a pre-existing medical condition," he said.
There have also been some so-called secondary-effect situations where a person might have fallen to the ground and hurt themselves.
In response to these concerns, the US National Institute of Justice has commissioned a study into the impact of "conducted energy devices" on in-custody deaths.
The two-year study is reviewing each US death reportedly due to a stun-gun, with interim findings due to be released later this month.


Afar in a Sentence 🔊
Definition of Afar
in a distant area
Examples of Afar in a sentence
Everyone could tell that the stranger came from afar due to his unknown accent. 🔊
When the weather forecaster told about the violent storm approaching the coast, no one at my house was scared since the coast was afar. 🔊
Sarah had never encountered Asian culture because that land was located afar. 🔊
Deployment for the soldiers meant that they would be travelling afar to unfamiliar lands. 🔊
In order to be safe, the witness would have to move afar according to the Witness Relocation Program. 🔊
Other words in the Direction category:
Most Searched Words (with Video)


text:
|Title||Feature Extraction for Hyperspectral Imagery via Ensemble Localized Manifold Learning|
|Publication Type||Journal Article|
|Year of Publication||2015|
|Authors||Li, F., L. Xu, A. Wong, and D. A. Clausi|
|Journal||IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters|
|Start Page||2486 - 2490|
A feature extraction approach for hyperspectral image classification has been developed. Multiple linear manifolds are learned to characterize the original data based on their locations in the feature space, and an ensemble of classifier is then trained using all these manifolds. Such manifolds are localized in the feature space (which we will refer to as "localized manifolds") and can overcome the difficulty of learning a single global manifold due to the complexity and nonlinearity of hyperspectral data. Two state-of-the-art feature extraction methods are used to implementlocalized manifolds. Experimental results show that classification accuracy is improved using both localized manifold learning methods on standard hyperspectral data sets.
Feature Extraction for Hyperspectral Imagery via Ensemble Localized Manifold Learning

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


The temptation to use steroids is often irresistible to young men surrounded by "roiders" prowling the gym and strutting their stuff with their artificially-enhanced muscles, bulging veins, and inflated egos. It seems that everyone wants to get bigger and stronger faster without devoting the time – sometimes years – that it sometimes takes to build the body naturally. How to get bigger and stronger faster without taking forever and without juicing?
Breathing squats.
Most people have never heard of breathing squats, but many old-timers will tell you about them. Those who HAVE heard of them, usually tremble even thinking about them because they are so difficult. But, boy do they work.
So what are "breathing squats?"
The concept is simple – the execution is brutal. Do three sets of 25 reps of full squats with the heaviest weight you can handle, taking three deep breaths between every rep. I mean very DEEP breaths. Inhale slowly and deeply through your mouth (not your nose or you will probably hyperventilate and pass out) as though you are preparing to blow up a balloon by drawing the air in through pursed lips. Take three slow deep breaths between squats and exhale as you raise yourself back up to a standing position.
Every set will seem to be interminable. The arches of your feet will start to collapse, and your traps will be numb from the weight pressing pressing into your flesh. Your lungs will burn as though you had run a mile at full speed because you are forcing them to breath against the weight of the bar.
You should superset each set of squats by performing a set of 25 bent-arm pullovers after each set of squats, on a flat bench with your head hanging down over the edge of the bench to further enhance your lung expansion.
After the first set you will feel like you are going to pass out, puke, or even die – or maybe all three – but regardless of how you feel, you must complete at least three sets. Move quickly between sets – as soon as you complete a set of squats, immediately perform your pullovers, and as soon as you complete your pullovers, return to your next set of squats, resting only long enough to move from one exercise to the next.
Once you have conquered the discipline of the routine, increase the weight as quickly as you can. The more weight you use, the faster the results.
Since it will take several minutes to complete each set properly – typically 8-9 minutes per set – plus another 2-3 minutes for each set of pullovers, this routine will probably take 30-35 minutes to complete. However, it will be more strenuous than anything you have ever done before, so treat it as a complete workout. In other words, it is not necessary to do any other exercises that day. You won't feel like it anyway.
Execute this regimen twice a week for 6-8 weeks, eat everything that isn't nailed down, and watch what happens. You will get bigger and stronger before you know it because it will stimulate your entire body to grow. Your other lifts will increase too.
Breathing squats will also build a very deep, full chest from the inside out. Opera singers, for example, are known for their deep chests developed from years of deep breathing exercises to hold those hight notes. The principle is the same but the results are much quicker because, in this case, you are forcing your lungs to breathe against the weight of the barbell.
You are NOT going to like breathing squats, but they work – but only if you have the courage and fortitude to do it exactly as described.
I dare you.


text:
- Enter a word for the dictionary definition.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Whaap \Whaap\, n. [So called from one of its notes.] (Zool.) (a) The European curlew; -- called also awp, whaup, great whaup, and stock whaup. (b) The whimbrel; -- called also May whaup, little whaup, and tang whaup. [Prov. Eng. & Scot.] [1913 Webster]

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


text:
When people think of bamboo, the first thing that likely comes to mind is the bamboo tree of Asian descent, followed by bamboo chutes (common in Asian food dishes). Few people would think of bamboo as a fabric. But bamboo fabrics made from pure bamboo fiber yarns can make excellent Bedding and Towels. The trait of interest in bamboo material is its unusual ability to breathe, and its coolness. Because bamboo fiber is filled with micro-gaps and micro-holes (a physical trait of the material), a bamboo fabric has better moisture absorption and ventilation. Bamboo fibers absorbs and evaporates human sweat in a split second, and thus sheets feel cool and comfortable in hot weather and cozy in cooler weather.
There are more than 1500 species of bamboo worldwide. The species most commonly used for textiles is Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys Pubescens), which grows primarily in large areas of eastern China.
Bamboo thrives without pesticides or fertilizers due to its unique antimicrobial property (called Bamboo Kun). It is believed that bamboo fabric retains the anti-microbial and anti-fungal properties of the bamboo plant, making it an excellent choice for sheets, bedding, and towels. Bamboo sheets actually repel bacteria, fungus, and dust mites! This makes them a healthier choice for everyone, but particularly those with allergies or chemical sensitivities.
Bamboo sheets are thermal regulating; keeping you cooler in the summer & warmer in cold weather. Bamboo is moisture-wicking (draws moisture away from the body – letting it evaporate), and resistant to mold and mildew which helps to prevent odors. Bamboo towels are more absorbent and dry much faster than their cotton counterparts. As an added benefit, bamboo sheets and towels are luxuriously soft; far softer than even the highest thread count cotton sheets.
Some basic Information regarding bamboo sheets.. Bamboo usually has a thread count of 250. Because of the way it is manufactured the fibers are more comfortable than higher thread count.
To keep your sheets from wrinkling take them of the dryer as soon as the cycle is over fluff and fold. I haven't found a magic way to fold the fitted sheets, I am not sure there is one.
Pilling is common in all fabrics, more so with fabricated products such as polyester and acrylics. Cotton, linen and bamboo will also pill, but will wash away during the wash cycle. To help minimize pilling reduce your wash time and do not over stuff your machine. Use of a fabric softener will also help.


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Your skill will accomplish
what the force of many cannot
Comment on
I guess we have different working definitions of what "deterministic" means.
Wikipedia says:
A deterministic algorithm is an algorithm which, in informal terms, behaves predictably. Given a particular input, it will always produce the same output, and the underlying machine will always pass through the same sequence of states.
Perl's parser, due to it's pluggable nature, does not adhere to that definition. The output can vary for a given input, and it varies because the underlying states visited vary.
I've looked at more format definitions elsewhere and reached the same conclusion.
In this case, one could even argue that it's [...] a matter of determining whether Perl will get around to assigning meaning to some code.
When one discuses whether Perl can be parsed or not, one is not referring to the time it takes or even if it's finite. One is discussing whether the output is stable enough to study or store for future use.
Let's take C++ for example. One would consider C++ to be parseable. One can perform static analysis on C++ code. C++ code can be compiled. Yet, it's possible to introduce an infinite loop in the parser because C++'s template system is turing complete.
The difference between C++ and Perl is that C++'s parser is confined to making decision based on its input, whereas Perl's parser can make decision based on external data.
In reply to Re^7: Perl is not Dynamically Parseable by ikegami
in thread Perl is not Dynamically Parseable by Jeffrey Kegler
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How to rename a database in cPanel?
1. Log into your cPanel account.
3. Under "Current Databases", You can see list of your all databases. Locate the Database and then click on "Rename" Icon.
4. Change database name and then click on "Proceed" button.
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The Journey for the Best Lottery Winning
Maybe you already know that most of the other online lottery sites have made a lot of guidelines on how to calculate the lottery that will come out, but instead want to get the right formula and clear translucency even the formula is a convoluted, complicated formula, and your head becomes dizzy when you want to apply the formula to get the right lottery number.
It provides guidance on how to calculate the lottery that will come out in a way that is simple and easy to apply. Basically the lottery calculation method that will come out is very simple, because in finding the right lottery number we only use one method and can get 4D, 3D and 2D numbers as well. Please see this site, for a list and to see in detail the sites of trusted Togel Pulsa Via Telkomsel agents.
How to calculate the Togel Formula for Exit
We cannot guarantee 100% if the calculation results will be accurate and will definitely come out the next day. But at least you can understand how the formula to calculate the lottery will work.
How to calculate the Singapore Logger Formula from Output Data For the Singapore lottery formula is very easy and very simple, you can easily try to practice yourself how to calculate the following lottery formula:
The first way to calculate the lottery that will come out is to take the number that came out last week and complete it with all 2D, 3D and 4D numbers. So, if you want to calculate the lottery for output the next day, then you must have the output of the lottery number last Monday.
After you get the output data from the lottery numbers, we add them all and then you will get the final numbers, for example as follows:
 - 2457 = 2 + 4 + 5 + 7 = 18 (1 + 8) The number 9 is the last number.
 - How to get an AS number (2 + 9 = 11) 1 + 1 = 2 AS = 2
 - How to get a KOP number (4 + 7 = 11) 1 + 1 = 2 KOP = 2
 - How to get the Head number (5 + 9 = 14) 1 + 4 = 5 Head = 5
 - To get the tail number (7 + 9 = 16) 1 + 6 = 7 Tails = 7
From the results of the formulation above, the conclusion is the output of the Singapore lottery number on Monday last week 2457, so the exact numbers for the 4d, 3d, 2d lottery for today are:
 - Accurate Number 4D Number = 2257
 - Number of Accurate 3D Tags = 257
 - 2D 2D tag numbers = 57
How to Win Playing Togel
Actually, we will find many things, as they are popular in many people, which are lottery games. And of course playing the lottery online has a lot to understand before playing the online lottery. Beginning of the lottery system, lottery types, winning calculations from actual winners more must be known about how to play the lottery correctly and correctly.


Press Releases|
Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua and Mr. Sergey Ryabkov, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, led their respective delegations to the 13th Meeting of the Pakistan-Russia Consultative Group on Strategic Stability today.
During the meeting, the two sides had an in-depth exchange of views on prevailing regional and global security environments and their impact on the international arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation agenda. The two sides agreed on the need for preserving multilateralism in the field of international security and disarmament and shared the concern regarding the possible erosion of painstakingly negotiated international arrangements in several areas. The discussions encompassed issues such as non-militarization of outer space, upholding bilateral and multilateral treaties, developments in the field of information and telecommunications in the context of international security as well as matters related to the IAEA, OPCW and the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.
The two sides underscored with satisfaction the close coordination, cooperation and consultations between Russia and Pakistan at various international fora. Both sides agreed on the need to further capitalize on the positive trajectory of the overall bilateral relations by exploring avenues for mutually beneficial bilateral cooperation.
Pakistan-Russia Consultative Group on Strategic Stability is a platform for structured dialogue between the two sides and has been meeting since 2003.
28 March 2019
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text:
Heat capacity is the amount of heat that is to be added to 1 mole of substance to increase its temperature by 1 degree Kelvin. The same can be expressed in terms of mass as the heat that is to be added to 1 gram of substance to increase its temperature by 1 degree Kelvin. The former has the units J/mol.K and the latter J/g.K. Heat capacity can be calculated in the following the calculation tables.
Heat capacity is dependent on the temperature i.e for the same substance the heat capacity is different at different temperature. In order to find this value, heat capacity is expressed as function of temperature(T) which is usually valid over a given range of temperature. These equations of heat capacities have various forms and are provided in the literature.
In the following calculation sheet, we have considered three common equations for computing heat capacity. The constants in the equations are to obtained from textbooks, literature etc. An example calculation for each type of equation is carried out. You can enter the constants directly and get heat capacity values in J/mol K and J/g.K.
Equation type 1 : Cp = A + BT – CT-2
Equation Type 2 : Cp/R = A + BT + CT2 + DT-2
Equation Type 3 : Cp = C1 + C2T + C3T2 + C4T3 + C5T4
To get a copy of Heat capacity calculation sheet, contact us here.


text:
Viola sororia 'Freckles'
- 9cm pot
- available within:
- 2-3 days excludes weekends
- Position: full sun or partial shade
- Soil: fertile, humus-rich, moist, well-drained soil
- Rate of growth: average to fast-growing
- Flowering period: March to July
- Other features: self-seeds freely
- Hardiness: fully hardy
An abundance of white flowers, each attractively freckled with violet-purple, appear in spring and early summer on this delightful herbaceous perennial. It tolerates damp soils better than most, and is a prolific self-seeder, which may spread rapidly in ideal conditions.
- Garden care: Incorporate lots of well-rotted leaf mould or garden compost when planting. Protect young plants from slug-damage using environmentally friendly slug pellets or beer traps. Deadhead the spent blooms to prolong flowering.


Icy runway
Q. You've been asked to review a new horror movie. In the closing scene, a passenger jet is ready for takeoff at the head of a runway that's very wide and completely covered in ice. The zombies are slipping and sliding toward the plane, so the pilot has no choice but to open the throttle. Will the plane take off?
Submitted by Jeff Eldredge, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Draft a response of 250 words or fewer and email it by midnight Eastern time June 6 to _EMAIL_.
CALL FOR HELP: We challenged you to tell us why the engineer among a group of castaways implored the person with a VHF radio to wait for a forecast temperature inversion before expending the last bit of battery power on a mayday call.
Your responses were reviewed by space systems consultant Chris Hoeber and Dave Jenn of the Naval Postgraduate School in California. Here is the top submission:
WINNING RESPONSE: VHF radio waves are a part of the electromagnetic spectrum. All EM waves bend when they move from a denser to a less dense substance. This is known as refraction. Refraction is responsible for rainbows, mirages, halos and sundogs. When the weather is calm and there is a strong temperature inversion, a layer of high-density cold air is blanketed above by a layer of low-density hot air. This forms an ideal condition for VHF signals to refract and be transmitted over large distances (1,000-3,000 miles). This is called tropospheric ducting, and the engineer hopes to tap into this phenomenon. Under ideal weather, VHF signals do not refract substantially to be transmitted over a longer distance. Stranded on a tropical island, it is less likely that the pilot can signal for help using the VHF radio. Instead, if they wait for tomorrow, the temperature inversion will benefit them. The VHF signal can then travel for a long distance. This will increase their chances of their mayday call being picked up by someone.
Niladri Das
Graduate assistant researcher
Intelligent Systems Research Laboratory
Texas A&M University, College Station
Related Topics
Icy runway


not.
However, in cases where the premises were not lawfully sublet a subtenant could not avail himself of this protection. In Dhalomal v. Pupulampu for instance, the court stated that if you want to take advantage of this protection then you must prove that the premises were lawfully let to you.
For instance, where there is a rule against subletting without the consent of the landlord and the tenant breaches this rule by subletting without the landlord's consent, then the subletting is not lawful and the tenant cannot take advantage of the protection afforded subtenant's under this rule.
h) Ghana Rent Laws (Rent Control Act and the Rent Act)
The eighth rule is that you have to elect whether you want to pursue your case under the Rent Act or the Rent Control Act. Cases like Koranteng and ors v. Agyemang [1989-90] 1 GLR 130-133 have suggested that a landlord or tenant has the option of commencing his action in the rent office or the rent or housing committee.
If the action is commenced at the rent office, then it is a matter commenced under the Rent Act and it will naturally progress to the courts but if it is commenced at the rent or housing committee, then it is a matter commenced under the Rent Control Act and it will progress to the tribunals. Prior to the enactment of the Rent Control Act, the Rent Act, and the Court Act regulated all landlord and tenant cases.
However, with the advent of the Rent Control Act, the Regional Tribunals were also given the power to try cases of landlord and tenant.
The Practice
In practice, however, the landlord or tenant can only commence an action under the Rent Act as the institutions set up to deal with landlord-tenant issues under the Rent Control Act namely the rent or housing committee and the tribunals are obsolete thereby rendering the Rent Control Act otiose or ineffective.
i) Limitation on the recovery of rent arrears
The ninth rule is that a landlord or tenant is prohibited from bringing an action under the Rent Act to recover arrears of rent or damages arising from the arrears after the expiration of six(6) years from the date on which the arrears became due.
j) Procedure for making complaints
The tenth rule is that the Rent Act sets out a procedure for making complaints. A landlord, tenant or any person interested in premises can make a complaint to a rent officer who is required to investigate the complaints and determine the same.
A determination by a rent officer is enforceable if the Rent Magistrate is satisfied with the findings and conclusions of the rent officer. That notwithstanding, the Rent Act and its Regulations do not give the rent officer the power to decide any matter, that power rests solely with the Rent Magistrate.
The Regulations require that the enforcement be made by a Rent Magistrate upon a referral from a rent officer. Therefore the rent officer's determination is subject to the Rent Magistrate's assent.
In Woode v. Dadson [1976] 2 GLR 185-189 an issue arose as to whether the jurisdiction of the Rent Magistrate who has the same powers as a District Magistrate was limited to claims not exceeding 2000 cedis.
The court held that it had jurisdiction in all civil matters involving landlord and tenant. Therefore the jurisdiction of the Rent Magistrate in landlord and tenant cases is limitless regardless of the amount involved.
The key takeaways from this article (on Ghana rent laws) are that there are statutory and common law rules which govern every lease or tenancy agreement whether oral or in writing.
Thus, it is imperative that you acquaint yourself with these Ghana rent laws so that at the appropriate time, you can avail yourself of some of its protections or use them as a sword to seek redress.
Columnist: Emmanuel Mate-Kole
About Emmanuel Mate-Kole
Lawmaker Emmanuel Sackitey Mate-Kole (_USER_) on Ghana Rent Laws
Emmanuel Sackitey Mate-Kole
Emmanuel Mate-Kole is a practicing lawyer and is a Managing Partner at M&O Law Consult. He is also the Head of the Construction, Infrastructure and Transportation practice group of M&O Law Consult. He was formerly at Bentsi Enchill, Letsa & Ankomah and has contributed articles to Meqasa and Ghana as well as hosted seminars on Land Ownership and related real estate topics at Meqasa's housing fairs.
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text:
Memorial Garden Plaques for Your Columbarium Project
1. How many options are there?
2. How much does it cost?
3. Who does the work?
4. How can it be made easy?
5. How can we order and install the memorial?
6. What goes on the memorial?
7. How long does it take to get it delivered?
8. How can we make this simple?
Dealing with a Difficult Situation
Unfortunately, even in a small church there is someone going through a difficult situation and it is a blessing to that individual to know that there are people who care. That is why providing grief counseling at your church is such a wonderful ministry. I know that there are some church members who don't think a columbarium program has a place at the church facility, but I just haven't heard a good reason to agree with. In my opinion, it is completing the circle of life and who else would we want to help with that part of our life than our church community.
When a difficult situation enters our life, such as a death of a loved one, diagnosis of cancer, loss of a job, we have to determine how we will choose to handle it. We can handle it positively or negatively. We can stay in our bed and cry all day or we can know that how we perceive this difficulty now, we'll probably perceive it differently later.
4 Different Items to Include in Your Columbarium
We have been talking about different items to include in your columbarium. An ossuary was suggested. If you remember an ossuary is a large underground vault that has an opening above ground. Cremated remains are poured down a cylinder into an underground vault and co-mingled with other cremated remains. A tribute tower or memorial wall is nearby for memorial plaques with the names of the deceased and the birth date and death date are on the plaques. Then we talked about including a Labyrinth. A labyrinth has only one path leading to the center and back out again with no dead-ends. One of our readers suggested using the columbarium as the walls of the labyrinth.


text:
In this note we show that every n-point ultrametric embeds with constant distortion in ℓpO(logn) for every ∞≥p≥1. More precisely, we consider a special type of ultrametric with hierarchical structure called a k-hierarchically well-separated tree (k-HST). We show that any k-HST can be embedded with distortion at most 1+O(1/k) in ℓp O(k2logn). These facts have implications to embeddings of finite metric spaces in low dimensional ℓp spaces in the context of metric Ramsey-type theorems.
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Discrete Mathematics and Combinatorics
- Metric embeddings


TY - JOUR T1 - Association between food insecurity and gestational diabetes mellitus: A casecontrol study TT - ارتباط ناامنی غذایی با دیابت بارداری: مطالعه ی مورد_ شاهدی JF - sjsph JO - sjsph VL - 13 IS - 3 UR - _URL_ Y1 - 2015 SP - 73 EP - 84 KW - Food insecurity KW - Gestational diabetes mellitus KW - Pregnant women N2 - Background and Aim: Diabetes mellitus is one of the most common medical problems in pregnant women. Nutrition plays an important role in the prevention and control of this disease. Some studies have found a relationship between gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and food insecurity. The objective of this study was to investigate the association between food insecurity and GDM. Material and Methods: : This case-control study included 274 pregnant women (137 GDM cases and 137 healthy controls) selected by convenience sampling. Data on the subjects' food insecurity, demographic features and physical activity (MET) were collected by interviewing and their heights and weights measured. For the analysis of the data, the Chi-square test, independent sample t-test and multivariate and univariate logistic regression tests were used, the statistical software being SPSS 16.0. Results: On the whole, 18.2% and 21.9% of the women in the case and control groups suffered from food insecurity, respectively. There were statistically significant differences between the case and control groups with regard to a previous history of pregnancy, a family history of diabetes in the first and second degree relatives, and a history of giving birth to a baby weighing over 4 kgs. Further analysis of the data showed a family history of diabetes mellitus and a low socio-economic status to be independent risk factors for GDB. Conclusion: No statistically significant difference was observed between food insecurity of the women and gestational diabetes mellitus in this study. Despite this finding, considering that there are associations between food insecurity and other types of diabetes mellitus, we recommend further studies on this subject to be able to either accept or reject the hypothesis on the association between food insecurity and gestational diabetes mellitus. M3 ER -


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Aims of the BRISK project
The BRISK project responses to an increased risk of accidents and environmental damages in the Baltic Sea. The overall aim of the project is to increase the preparedness of all Baltic Sea countries to respond to major spills of oil and hazardous substances from shipping and enhance sub-regional co-operation. The BRISK project will:
 - Offer the first overall risk assessment of pollution caused by shipping accidents covering the whole Baltic Sea area,
 - Identify gaps in existing emergency and response resources needed in all sub-regions of the Baltic to effectively tackle major spills of oil and hazardous substances,
 - Prepare concrete pre-investment plans on how the Baltic Sea countries can jointly fill in the gaps, and
 - Facilitate the development and conclusion of sub-regional agreements between neighboring countries for joint response operations.
The BRISK project will focus on "medium-size" spills, i.e. spills which require assistance from several neighboring countries. The project area covers all transnational maritime areas divided into six sub-regions. The sub-regional approach is cost-efficient as countries can share their resources to build a common pool of response vessels and equipment sufficient for a given sub-region.
Work packages
The project consists of five work packages (WP):
 1. Project management and administration (by Admiral Danish Fleet)
 2. Communication and Information (by the HELCOM Secretariat)
 3. Risk analysis
 4. Development of agreements to remove administrative obstacles for international response
 5. Investment plans
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Tuesday, November 27, 2012
TTAB Reverses Mere Descriptiveness Refusal of "PC ON A STICK" for Computer Software and Hardware
Newly-appointed TTAB Judge Anthony R. Masiello penned the Board's opinion in this appeal from a Section 2(e)(1) mere descriptiveness refusal of the mark PC ON A STICK for "computer software for computer system and application development, deployment and management; computer operating system software; computer operating programs and computer operating systems; computer software and firmware for operating system programs; computer storage devices, namely, blank flash drives and high-speed storage subsystems for storage of computer operating programs and systems either locally or via a telecommunications network; computer memory hardware; and computer hardware." The Board reversed the refusal, finding that a consumer "must undertake a multistage reasoning process through which he or she may appreciate the suggestion that the STICK does not contain a PC, but rather all of the data and software content of a PC." In re Lockheed Martin Corporation, Serial No. 85073741 (November 15, 2012) [not precedential].
The Examining Attorney relied on dictionary definitions of STICK and PC, on several online articles, and on Applicant's specimens of use, in maintaining that PC is a commonly-recognized reference to "personal computer," that STICK is a slang expression for a memory module, such as a USB stick, and that PC ON A STICK directly informs consumers that Lockheed's goods "enable the user to carry the essence of their PC with them on a flash drive. The product enables a flash drive to function as a virtual PC."
The Board found the definitions sufficient to establish the meanings of PC and STICK, and it concluded that Applicant's mark, when considered in its entirety, means "a personal computer installed on, contained within, held upon or otherwise connected to a memory storage device such as a flash drive or other compact data storage medium."
Applicant's software products are not computers, and therefore PC ON A STICK does not describe them. But what about "computer storage devices" and "computer hardware?"
The evidence showed that Applicant's product is an encrypted flash drive capable of holding the contents of a laptop's hard drive, including operating system and software applications.
The Board recognized that PC and STICK have "some relevance to the nature of applicant's goods." But Applicant's goods are not "computers" of any kind. The product may be a STICK for use with a computer, but the product does not and cannot perform the functions of a computer. The Board concluded that the mark suggests the function and purpose of the goods, but it does not do so "forthwith and with immediacy."
Rather, the mark is both elliptical and exaggerative. The term PC is used elliptically to stand in for "all of the data and software content of a PC." PC is also exaggerative, as the mark suggests that the product is the equivalent of a PC actually contained within a STICK...." In order to understand the meaning of the mark in the context of these goods, a customer must undertake a multistage reasoning process, through which he or she may appreciate the suggestion that the STICK does not contain a PC, but rather all of the data and software content of a PC. The indirect way in which the mark conveys this information renders it suggestive rather than descriptive of the nature of applicant's computer storage devices.
The Examining Attorney provided three news items evidencing third-party use of PC ON A STICK for similar goods, but each article acknowledged that the product is not in fact a PC, but rather for use with a PC. Thus each writer understood that PC ON A STICK is an exaggeration. "It is reasonable to conclude that, in using the expression PC ON A STICK, each of these writers independently and coincidentally exercised the same expressive license that the applicant used in developing the trademark." These three items amount to "scant evidence" of the meaning of Applicant's mark in the marketplace.
Finally, what about "computer memory hardware; and computer hardware?" There was no evidence that any such product could accurately be described as a PC ON A STICK, and thus no basis for finding the mark descriptive as to those identified goods.
And so the Board reversed the refusal.
TTABlog note: I think the Board got this one right. Not enough evidence of descriptiveness. What do you think?
Text Copyright John L. Welch 2012.
At 12:33 PM, Blogger Pamela Chestek said...
It's a generic term but the Examining Attorney didn't go far enough to prove it. It's used widely to describe this type of device, i.e., a USB stick with an operating system on it. One just boots the computer from the USB drive rather than the hard drive. So while I agree that it's not descriptive by the Board's reasoning (it's not actually a computer), it is generic through widespread use.
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text: We are pleased to report that StudentsAchieve (SAS) is now available for teachers to mass email parents and students! StudentsAchieve is fully functional and working well. Given the current school closures and shift in how learning is happening, teachers are not currently entering any data into SAS. In order to avoid any confusion, we will leave SAS "off" for now. If you would like updated information on your child's progress from earlier this year or during the home learning situation, please contact your child's teacher. When schools re-open, we will make SAS available again to parents and students!


text:
Financial Stability Governance and Central Bank Communications
Abstract: We investigate how central banks' governance frameworks influence their financial stability communication strategies and assess the effectiveness of these strategies in preventing a worsening of financial cycle conditions. We develop a simple conceptual framework of how central banks communicate about financial stability and how communication shapes the evolution of the financial cycle. We apply our framework using data on the governance characteristics of 24 central banks and the sentiment conveyed in their financial stability reports. We find robust evidence that communications by central banks participating in interagency financial stability committees more effectively mitigate a deterioration in financial conditions and advert a potential financial crisis. After observing a deterioration in conditions, such central banks also transmit a calmer message, suggesting that the ability to use policy tools other than communications strengthens incentives not to just "cry wolf".
File(s): File format is application/pdf _URL_
Part of Series: International Finance Discussion Papers
Publication Date: 2021-09-10


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I just finished reading this paper, which describes the situations in which Japanese allows a dative subject and a nominative object. For example, the verb 分かる can be used like this:
"彼" is the subject but is marked with "に" instead of "が", and similarly "英語", the object, is marked irregularly with the nominative particle "が" instead of the usual "を". According to the paper, this happens in Japanese when a verb 1) licenses this case marking and 2) the verb is transitive (there is an object). There are two parts to my questions:
1)The 可能形 licences dative subjects:
but not
This is still ruled out for intransitives, so 5a in the paper shows that you cannot say 「*赤ちゃんにもう歩ける」. Does this change if we add another argument such as a location? Can I say 「人間にはその道が歩けない」 (let's say it's covered in lava or something).
2) The paper also mentions that there are exceptions to this rule, one of them being certain kinds of questions. Can anyone think of a Japanese question with a transitive verb or a verb that doesn't normally allow a dative subject, but which has a dative subject anyway?
share|improve this question
I cannot think of examples of the other exception either "not in embedded clauses(Shibatani 1977: 807, Dubinsky 1992)". I don't feel like paying 38$ for the referred paper, but it would be interesting to hear any listed examples. – dainichi Mar 14 '12 at 8:28
I've requested it through interlibrary loan, so if I get a copy I'll post them here. – Nate Glenn Mar 14 '12 at 16:46
Btw why do you say that in the sentence "彼に英語が分かる", "彼" is the subject? If the translated sentence is "English is understood, as for him.", shouldn't "英語" be the subject? – Pacerier Mar 30 '12 at 21:41
I would not translate it that way, and that is not how it is treated in the literature. – Nate Glenn Mar 30 '12 at 23:37
1 Answer 1
 1. >Can I say 「人間にはその道が歩けない」
 Yes I think you can say that. Maybe you can also say 人間にはその道は歩けない/人間にその道は歩けない.
 2. Hmm... Would it be something like... you can say 君に(この車が)運転できるかい? but not 僕に運転できます。?? 私には耐えられない/私に耐えられるだろうか but not 私に耐えられます。?? or maybe 私にやって行けるだろうか/私にはやって行けない but not 私にやって行けます。??
share|improve this answer
Are "私には耐えられない" and "私にはやって行けない" meant as questions or statements? – Nate Glenn Mar 14 '12 at 1:25
_USER_ They're negative statements... That's why I wasn't sure. – Choko Mar 14 '12 at 16:29
Your Answer


7951 White: The Bessie Smith Cultural Center blues | Times Free Press
White: The Bessie Smith Cultural Center blues
White: The Bessie Smith Cultural Center blues
August 31st, 2014 by By Dr. Clark "DeaconBluz" White in Opinion Columns
Bessie Smith Cultural Center
Photo by Staff File Photo /Times Free Press.
Lewis Latimer made improvements to the filament of the light bulb, and is part of the exhibit Bright Ideas: African American Inventors at the Bessie Smith Cultural Center.
Lewis Latimer made improvements to the filament of...
Photo by Angela Lewis /Times Free Press.
* 1996 -- 200 E. M.L. King Boulevard becomes the new home of the Chattanooga African American Museum and Bessie Smith Hall.
* 2009 -- The facility is renamed the Bessie Smith Cultural Center.
* A 15-member board of directors oversees the center.
The robbery earlier this summer at the Bessie Smith Cultural Center has given me a chronic case of the blues. As a blues educator and performer, I take it personally.
The center has found itself at a proverbial crossroads. I can hear Bessie now, "They done stole my money again."
The robbery, which occurred after the June 9 Bessie Smith Strut, raises questions about the overall state of the center, including its mission, financial health and future. It appears that since 2006, the center has spent more money than it has raised. How will it manage its current and future fundraising efforts under the current circumstances? Who will be willing to take an obvious financial risk? How can funders be assured that their money will be properly used? As one City Councilman pointed out to me, this current situation is part of a sad legacy of failed black nonprofits in the MLK neighborhood.
As the sociologist W.I. Thomas once said, "Things that are perceived as real are real in their consequence." The current public perception of the center leaves a lot to be desired. How will it be able to restore the public trust? What are some specific steps that should be taken immediately? Will the center be able to overcome the negative perceptions as it attempts to garner support?
What is the real mission of the center? Is it primarily a "rental facility/tea room?" The lease between the city and the museum stipulates that the museum produce research on the black experience in Chattanooga as part of the agreement. Where and in what form is the research? Has the museum ever a published catalog of its holdings?
Why hasn't it ever applied to be an accredited museum and become eligible for the funding and services provided by the Institute for Museum and Library Services?
As an educator and museum consultant, I can say that the current permanent exhibit is inadequate and outdated and in some cases incorrect. There are specific items that need further authentication including the "Bessie" dress and the "Bessie" piano. Do we want to continue to expose our children, young adults, students and the general public to information that may not be correct?
Staffing and staff qualifications also are issues. Why has the center never employed a trained museum professional, curator, archivist or historian on a long-term basis? Does the current staff have the capacity, verifiable academic credentials and formal training to manage a museum and cultural center? Would an artist/scholar in residence program enhance the mission and credibility of the institution? The trend nationally has been to bring trained museum professionals, academics and artist into the museum field. Why has there been a reluctance to tap into the talents of African American studies faculty at Vanderbilt, University of Tennessee, UTC, Fisk, Tennessee State University, the University of Memphis and Middle Tennessee State?
As a working blues artist and educator I have often wondered why there is so little activity in the building that supports local blues artists. Wasn't the building designed and built to accommodate the production and performance of the blues? Why can't we have a program at the Center similar to the Kansas City Jazz Museum, the BB King Museum, the Delta Blues Museum or the Stax Museum? The Center would be a perfect location to showcase and support blues talent and celebrate the legacy of Bessie Smith. There is also a growing area of "Blues Tourism" taking place in the South.
When the building was completed it was fully equipped with state-of-the-art equipment. What happened to the original custom-made sound board? What is left of the instruments, mikes, speakers, teaching pianos, pianos, etc.?
It is time for critical analysis, discussion and action. I understand the potential economic impact of live blues music in Chattanooga. I am hopeful that in the coming weeks some of the questions raised will be addressed by all interested and invested partners.
Most importantly, I am hopeful that those who truly have an interest in valuing the blues are given an opportunity to plan for the future use of a city-owned facility.
About the writer
Clark Eldridge White, a fourth-generation Chattanoogan, is a blues educator and artist. He graduated from Riverside High School in 1966, earned his bachelor's degree from Morehouse College, his doctoral degree from Michigan State University and did post-graduate work at Harvard. He has worked as a consultant to major foundations such as the Pew Charitable Trust in Philadelphia and the New England Foundation for the Arts in Boston, and as a project director and consultant to several museums across the country.


text:
Varilux has released Varilux Sport, the first lens geared specifically to the athlete in you. Each lens is designed for taskspecific events such as hiking, biking, golf, etc. The design and Polarization color are specific to research done on that sport, giving you maximum viewing area, maximum protection, and vision enhancement. Now available at Trinity Eye Care.
Lens Color Guide
None-stop lifestyles have led to a new group of patients who expect their sunwear to perform like the high-tech equipment they use for sports. Colors play an important role in sunglass enhancement. Gone are the days of two color choices (gray and brown). A wide variety of color options are now available, each with unique benefits for a vast array of sports.
- Golf - Violet colored lenses provide better tracking of a white ball against the green grass. For color discrimination while viewing the ball in the air and on the course, brown, brownish-rose and green lenses are helpful
- Archery or Firearms - will better discern their targets when using yellow, orange or amber lenses.
- Baseball - brown lenses are the color of choice to distinguish the ball in the blue sky as well as on the green field.
- Cycling - when interchangeable lenses can be taken along, yellow or vermillion work best in low-light conditions, while blue or brown/amber assist to increase contrast.
More Sport Lenses
- Fishing or Boating - the tried and true gray polarized lenses are still an excellent choice.
- Hiking - Interchangeable lenses with color choices of yellow, amber, and darker brown assist with contrast and can help as light increases or diminishes over the day into dusk.
- Running - consider dark brown or gray for sunny days, and yellow/amber as lights levels decrease. Consider flash mirrors for brighter days.
- Skiing/Snowboarding - amber offers good contrast from blue sky, switching to vermillion, orange, or yellow for low light conditions. Polarized lenses can also be helpful.


text:
The interpolation function we want to perform is shown here as f(x,y), and is
simply barycentric interpolation. It is also the result
you would get if you fit
a plane through the three corner points to try to determine the value
of the point to shade. Please note that we have to be careful
about clamping the
result when it extends beyond the B,C,D triangle and we
discuss that in the paper.
So how do we implement this function? We note that we have two linear interpolators available to us through the bilinear interpolation function g(x,y). The first is the linear interpolation between C and B, which we get if we simply plug in the x-coordinate into g(x,y) and zero out the y input. The second is the linear interpolation between C and D that can be computed if we keep the y-coordinate of the bilinear interpolation function and zero out the x input.
Now we note that if we add these two functions, we get an expression that is very similar to what we want, except that it has an extra "C" term. Thus, we can subtract out the "C" term (in this case by subtracting out g(0,0) since the origin of the cell is defined to be the C corner) to get the expression we want, f(x,y).
This means that it is possible to express the 3-corner case in terms of a combination of 3 bilinear interpolations.


text:
HISTORY OF THE LONDON HOMOEOPATHIC HOSPITAL
Presented by Peter Morrell & Sylvain Cazalet
ENGLAND as a nation is a very striking example of the enormous influence of "small things" upon the "big things" of the universe. For this tight little island of ours is in itself but a fraction of the size of other continents which own her as a very potent force to-day. Her children beyond the sea are many times her multiple in point of size. Therefore we may say that the doctrine of the "day of small things not to be despised" is taught : daily by her very existence. We find also that the vast majority of those noble charities of which England is so justly proud owe their success to the way in which, from small beginnings, every small step has been fought for and watched over.
The London Homopathic Hospital is a case in point.
The house first chosen was N°. 32, Golden Square, and it was fitted up and furnished as a hospital at a cost of £ 493 12s. 6d. It opened its wards for the reception of patients in 1850, on April 10, the anniversary of the birth or Hahnemann. It afforded accommodation for twenty-five in-patients and excellent facilities for out-patients. But for its unique position as the exponent of homopathic science the Hospital would, like most others, have offered in its daily course like material for review, except on the one hand an uninterrupted record of philanthropic effort on the part of medical men who cannot be supposed to have gained professionally from their devotion, and on the other hand some striking examples of enthusiastic support on the part of that section of the lay public which, having proved the value of the new methods, desired to extend their benefits to the sick poor.
* * * * *
The Bromley, Kent, Homoeopathic Hospital
* * * * *
Copyright © Peter Morrell or Sylvain Cazalet 1999


text:
Studying Oregon's History III
Bill Long 7/21/06
The Protestant Ladder and Further Mission Documents
Once a student sees takes time to understand fully the Catholic Ladder something peculiar begins to happen in the mind of that student. S/he realizes that s/he can do history, that history is, when you take your time with it, quite fun and rather accessible to you. Such a project will make the student begin to long for more specific information when s/he studies other topics. It may well be that once a student has really done this topic well that s/he will never be content with anything other than primary sources. And, this lesson will have been learned within the first few weeks of the course.
Continuing with the Protestant Ladder
It is interesting to me that though there are 9,950 Google "results" when you type in "Catholic Ladder," there are only 155 for "Protestant Ladder," and most of them, when you look at them closely, bear no relationship to the competing Ladder used by Protestant missionary Henry Spalding (they refer to the general concept of the Protestant work ethic...climbing the Protestant ladder). Fortunately, the Oregon History Project page on the Protestant Ladder by Melinda Jette is done extremely well. Let's turn to it.
She skillfully and briefly explains the work of Presbyterian missionaries Henry and Eliza Spalding in Lapwai on the Clearwater River (present-day Western Idaho, but part of the then-Oregon Territory). We learn that Spalding made a Protestant Ladder in 1845, probably in imitation of Blanchet, but Jette also mentions that Spalding's Ladder might have been related to a now lost earlier Protestant Ladder (1839) by Jason Lee. I suppose the Protestants imitated the Catholics in making ladders, but this kind of throws things up in the interpretive air for a minute. The OHP web page never answers the question of whose came first, since both Blanchet and Lee are credited with Ladders from 1839. Well, in any case, the Protestant Ladder, which is presented quite nicely in a photograph you can "blow up" on this page, differs in three ways from the Catholic Ladder.
First, it has lots of nice drawings on the sides, representing everything from Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden to the building of the first city to the Tower of Babel. Humorous it is that so much space is devoted to depictions of the first chapters of Genesis. It is as if the maker of the Protestant Ladder realized after he had drawn about six scenes from Genesis that he was running out of space, and so he quickly leaped over lots of history to get to the crucifixion of Christ, the really big historical event. Around the time of Christ we have the interesting scene of John the Baptist's head being presented by Salome (never know if the Protestants were Caravaggio-lovers, you know..).
A second difference between the two Ladders is that the Protestant portrays two separate channels or tubes of history, the Catholic and the Protestant, rather than one. The Catholics had looked at the Protestants as a withered branch; the Protestants recognized the "parallel track" of the Roman Catholic Church with the Pope in charge.
Finally, however, the Protestant Ladder shows that the Catholic "track" of history will end in an unceremonious way when the road turns back on itself and the Pope is overturned. The last picture on the "Catholic side" shows an upside-down Pope being lowered into a fire--perhaps he will fall victim to the same fires with which he has burned the Protestant martyrs. What lies at the end of the Protestant road, in contrast? A straight road to heaven. The Protestant road is narrower than the Catholic one ("narrow is the way that leads to salvation") but it, after all, is the "true" one.
By looking at the competing Catholic and Protestant Ladders, then, the student can see how artistic representation can be used in the service of religious propaganda.
Spalding and Whitman and the Protestant Ladder
Jette further informs us, however, that Spalding seemed to make very little use of the Ladder in teaching. Why? Because Protestants, as "people of the Book" and "transformers of culture" (no, George Bush isn't the first "transformer"), were more interested in cultivating literacy and the land for the Indians. By 1839 Spalding had published the first printed book in the Nez Perce language (Jette doesn't tell us if this was a Bible, but the eager student would, no doubt, follow up this lead), and the Protestant Ladder just seemed to be a kind of afterthought so as not to let the Catholics have all the good ideas.
Let's pause here for a moment. If a student was going to look at early Oregon missions, s/he might proceed as I have in the last few pages, or s/he might want to wander further afield. Three projects that grow directly out of this would be to try to understand the mission that hasn't been named so far--that of Jason Lee in Salem. The Methodist archives on State Street in Salem hold a treasure that hasn't yet been really closely examined by scholars regarding the early days of the Willamette mission. Or, a student might want to study the Whitman's or Spalding's mission more closely, to learn about their work, the Indians, the language, the life. But the next really big topic is the Whitman massacre of November 1847. Here the OHP helps us get started nicely. Let's close this essay with what the OHP has.
The Whitman Massacre and its Historiography
By continuing to probe, or by selecting this as his/her topic, a student can learn not only about primary texts and an important shaping event in the history of the Oregon Territory, but also about competing versions or interpretations of the same event. And, s/he can learn about this all very naturally and easily through the exposure to primary texts. Here is what we have.
The OHP has the title page and a brief description of John Baptiste Brouillet's 1869 book Authentic Account of the Murder of Dr. Whitman and Other Missionaries by the Cayuse Indians, in 1847, and the Causes which Led to that Horrible Catastrophe. Here, however, is what the student would learn in the first instance. By looking at the title page to the 1869 edition, one notices the following Latin quotation on the cover: "Magna est veritas, et praevalebit." Of course, no student will know the Latin (what would spark High-school student interest in Latin? I have some ideas...), so it would have to be translated for him/her. But, you can teach the student some rudimentary Latin along the way, before telling them that it means "Great is truth, and it will prevail." Why, you might ask, would such a quotation be on the cover of this work? Well, perhaps there was a debate over what was "truth" in the Whitman massacre. Now you are ready for some real learning.
And, thankfully, the OHP page, thanks to Melinda Jette again, lays out the issue fairly nicely. The "Whitman Massacre" (what should we call it?) happened in November 1847, with several members of the Whitman party being killed and about 50 hostages being taken. Brouillet buried the bodies on the Mission several days later. At this time Brouillet warned Spalding that he was in danger, and Spalding fled. Later Spalding thanked the Catholics for their help in sparing his life. Later still, however, according to Jette, Spalding changed his tune, supporting retaliation against the Cayuse and implying Catholic complicity in the Whitman tragedy. This, then, became the occasion for the first edition of Brouillet's book, published in 1853, six years after the fateful events. Over the next 20 years charges flew back and forth between the two sides.
Thus, an eager student could do a study on the historiography of the Whitman Massacre. It would involve the reading of primary texts, the assessment of various facts, and the way that writers put facts together to make an argument.
A student could do all this, and we still haven't exhausted all the resources of the "Mission page" of the OHP. One final essay will discuss another text or two, which do not relate to the missions but do connect with other points made by Robbins in his "700 words."
But now I will stop, since is is 100 degrees in Oregon...
Copyright © 2004-2008 William R. Long


Munich Personal RePEc Archive
Who Does Bear the Costs of Compliance with Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures in Poor Countries?
Shafaeddin, Mehdi (2007): Who Does Bear the Costs of Compliance with Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures in Poor Countries?
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Abstract This article is a part of a twin study. Drawing on the available evidence, in this paper the author examines the cost of compliance with Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures for poor countries with reference to Africa. He shows that the burden of cost of compliance is entirely on the exporters despite the fact that their capacity for the compliance is limited. He further indicate that that, in fact, the literature often disregards the cost of loss of exports, or rejection of products at the border of an importing country, let alone the cost of reorganization of the supply chain; the existing organization of supply chain in poor countries would result in the lack of export expansion. The purpose of the paper is not to have an exhaustive literature survey, but to draw on the scanty evidence related to the main argument of the study. More specifically, it is shown that the main characteristics of the SPS Agreement and the related measures applied by main importing countries are such that they require a complex, difficult and high cost "SPS" system. Such a system involves regulatory measures, policy re-orientation, and development of the necessary infrastructure, re-organization of the supply chain, enhanced capacity building and a forward looking strategy, particularly for exports. The preparation for the compliance is also difficult for the poor countries as it is knowledge intensive, requires a learning period, training and a close cooperation between the public and private sector in various stages of the supply chain. Yet the socio-economic cost of the lack of compliance is enormous. Generally speaking, the operational cost, alone, of compliance is estimated to be between 2 to 11 percent of value of export in the case of Africa; in each case it depends, however, on the type of product, the destination of exports, the capacity of the country for the compliance and the size of farm holdings and exporting enterprises and the organization of the supply chain. Further, the investment cost can be colossal; in some cases (e.g Mozambique) exceeding the total food exports of the country. The available studies provide estimates for the administrative cost of control, inspection, testing and certification at the border; but disregard more important costs such as the costs of delays in exportation or rejection at the port of importing countries. Thus they downplay the need for taking preventive measures and the related cost of reorganization of the supply chain. In a separate paper the author proposes alternative organization of the supply chain for reducing the cost of compliance while increasing its benefits (Shafaeddin, 2007). 2
MPRA is a RePEc service hosted by
the Munich University Library in Germany.


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text:
Bintari 90 MM
Bintari was inspired by the combination of kawung batik and flora batik. In Javanese culture, the geometrically arranged Kawung motif is interpreted as a symbol of the occurrence of human life. The hope is that humans will not forget their origins. In addition, the Kawung batik motif is also known as a symbol of wisdom, self-control, and a clean heart. The flora is the rose guava flower, where rose guava is one of the typical flora of Yogyakarta.


text:
Introduction: Butterfly Card
To make this project you will need :
- Various sheet og construction paper
- A ruler
- A pair of scissors with a decorative edge
To do this card I advise making a pattern on a sheet of scrap paper.
Step 1: Step 1
Draw a rectangle : 11 x 16cm
For the butterfly draw two horizontal parallels : the first 3.5 cm over the top of the page and the second 3 cm over this one.
The width of the body has to measure less than 1 cm so 0.5 cm of each side, you can give the form that you want to the wings but the width has to make 4.5 cm and the height 7 cm.
To people who want a model I scanned the pattern that I drew to do my cards.
Step 2: Step 2
Once you add the butterfly shape to each side of the rectangle you can cut your pattern. Then you can take one of construction paper and draw the card.
Step 3: Step 3
The next step is the folding : you divide the card on 3 parts : 4cm - 8cm -4 cm
Step 4: Step 4
Inside of the card we will glue another sheet of construction paper to write the message of the invitation. You can draw a rectangle : 7 x 9cm and cut it using the pair of craft scissors. You can decorate or paint your card as you want and write your message!
Step 5: Step 5
To close your card you have to cut few centimeters of the butterfly's body
-> the black line on the photo
I advise to cut little by little because the centimeters can to vary.


Question: English & Literature
What influenced F. Scott Fitzgerald's writings?
In English & Literature | Asked by bookragstutor
Asked from the F. Scott Fitzgerald study pack
His writing was highly influenced by his own life, which was every bit as extravagant as Gatsby's. Like Gatsby he fell in love with a woman whom he had to 'prove' himself to (both monetarily and otherwise). He lived a fairly wealthy lifestyle his entire life. He was involved briefly in World War 1. What influenced him was all of the changes that he lived through and saw, and the extreme changes that money had on people (good and bad).
MHood2 | 1049 days ago


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The asteroid rules for Fleet Captain can be used as a springboard for designing other space hazards.
First, let's begin by acknowledging that in the real world asteroids are rarely dense enough to pose a threat as a group. Still, we all love the asteroid field sequence in Empire Strikes Back, so we darn well need asteroid rules in our game. From a design point of view, asteroids (and any other terrain) needs to providing insteresting variation to the game without so overwhelming the other rules as to warp overall design. In other words, we want asteroids, they need to be exciting but also nod vaguely towards realism and we have to make sure the game doesn't become about them.
Let's start with a simple assumption: if we are using asteroids then the whole map is a segment of the asteroid field. Every ding dang hex has one or more smallish and uninteresting asteroids in them that for all purposes we ignore mechanically. The asteroid markers we are going to place on the board represent areas of particularly high danger. You can think of those markers as the "big rocks" if you like, but a more sophisticated reading of the simulation at work here would be that those markers indicate crests in the density waves that propogate through the asteroid field.
Anyway, each asteroid marker needs to contain two pieces of information, a direction arrow and a density rating from 1 to 6. Something like this:
You don't need many of these asteroids to jazz up a space battle, one of each size 1 to 6 is probably enough for most space maps.
Okay, let's look at the mechanics for these babies. Each turn asteroids are moved after you place movement markers but before you start flipping cards. Roll d6 for each asteroid marker and move it that many hexes in a straight line. If you move off the map place it opposite where it exited, next turn it will re-enter the map there.
Did you just pass an asteroid through a ship or land on the same hex as one? Good, 'cause now its time to learn what happens when you try to occupy the same space as a few million tons of space rock. Roll a d6 to avoid contact. If you get above the asteroid density rating, you are safe. If you don't, you're in trouble. Roll d20 damage. Shields do not protect you, you are just straight up taking a big pile of Hull Damage here. The one thing that might save you is your Laser(s). Each Laser shaves off d6 worth of incoming asteroid damage. If the asteroid marker tried to end it's movement in your hex, move it one more hex. Nature may abhor a vacuum but Fleet Captain abhors having two objects in the same hex. That's a big pain in the ass when using minis.
The same basic procedure applies when you try to fly through an asteroid hex. The two main differences are that A) you can attempt the Special Maneuver called Avoid Hazard to increase your chances of successfully negotiating the field and B) if you try to end your turn on an asteroid hex it is your vessel that moves one extra hex, not you.
The other important thing to know about asteroids is that they attenuate weapons fire that passes through them. Subtract the density rating from the attack roll of any fire passing through the hex.
Where to initially place the asteroids is something of an art form. One way to do it is to try to guess which rows on the map will be most conducive to screwing up the battle for everyone, then rolling dice to determine the hexes along those rows that the asteroids begin in. The longest rows on the map are usually a good bet, something like this:
But obviously how you set up the fleets will have an impact on choosing where to put the asteroids. In most scenarios you don't want the initial placement to destroy any vessels before the first turn of the cards.
I prefer my asteroids to all float in the same direction, but what do I know?
Poison for Body and Soul
1 hour ago


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Maintaining ACH Network Quality
Support NACHA Operating Rules Compliance by Reporting Violations
By requiring participants to comply with the NACHA Operating Rules, NACHA maintains a high-quality, secure ACH Network. It's essential that non-compliance issues be resolved fairly and efficiently in order to provide financial institutions and end-users with a reliable Network. To that end, NACHA employs the National System of Fines as an enforcement mechanism for the Rules, allowing Depository Financial Institutions to review, evaluate and correct the circumstances surrounding any possible Rule violation.
NACHA's Members support Rules compliance by reporting those violations, using the procedures below.
The National System of Fines
The National System of Fines provides the structure for evaluating possible Rules violations. Through a formal system of warnings and fines, it corrects infractions and helps ACH Network participants to remain within the Rules' boundaries.
Instructions for Filing
If your organization or financial institution discovers a potential infraction, it should submit the issue to NACHA through a Report of Possible ACH Rules Violation. As the complainant, your organization must be a Participating DFI or ACH Operator that is party to the transaction in question. If that's not the case, your financial institution can file on your behalf.
To submit that report, you'll need the following information:
- Your contact and organization information, as well as your participant status (ODFI, RDFI, ACH Operator or other).
- A clear description of the alleged violation, including the sequence of events and consequences of the violation.
- The specific Rules provision in alleged to be violated.
- Transaction type information:
- SEC Code
- Transaction Code
- Settlement Date
- Dollar Amount
- Trace Number
- Account Number
- Date of Alleged Rules Violation
- Copies of all relevant documents with your report, such as Company/Batch Header Records, Entry Detail Records or Addenda Records
- Any written communication between the complainant and party in alleged violation of the Rules.
- Signature of an authorized representative of the complainant.
Your report must be submitted to NACHA within 90 days of the alleged Rules violation occurrence. If you feel that more than one Participating DFI has committed the same Rules violation, you must submit a separate report for each case.
Each Report of Possible ACH Rules Violation should be either submitted online, or downloaded (form available in the right-hand side bar), completed and sent to NACHA, Attn: Compliance Department by U.S. Mail (2550 Wasser Terrace, Suite 400, Herndon, VA 20171).


ISSP [2019] : Creating an Educational Program to Promote Sustainable Water Use in Baan Yang
In the village of Baan Yang, a sudden shift away from opium cultivation left farmers practicing unsustainable techniques to grow food. Residents are aware of the ecological impacts, but tradition and socioeconomic barriers prevent them from transitioning to new, sustainable techniques. Our project focuses on creating an educational program for the Baan Yang School to introduce village students about their impact on the surrounding environment, along with educating them about water quality and conservation. The ultimate goal of our educational program is to promote sustainable farming techniques by instilling a passion for the environment in the younger generation.


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adding either ground and airborne radar components to an inertial system or an airborne inertial system to a radar guidance system.
Illustrative accuracy data
An ICBM at a range of 5,500 nautical miles will have an impact miss distance in the direction of flight of approximately 1 nautical mile for an error of 1 foot per second in the magnitude of its cutoff velocity. The following table is presented to indicate comparative miss distances for various space-flight missions. The tabulation gives representative miss distances (in nautical miles) calculated for 1-footper-second error in the magnitude of velocity at thrust cutoff.13
TABLE 1.-Miss distances
Point on Earth (5,500 nautical mile ICBM)
For establishing a satellite at an altitude of 1,500 miles, for example an error of 1 foot per second in orbital velocity will cause the orbit to depart from circularity by about 1 mile.
Navigation in space
Each "fix" on the orbit of an unpowered vehicle in free space (under the gravitational attraction of a single body, the Sun) requires six independent measurements of vehicle position or velocity.
A number of combinations of quantities might conceivably be measured
12 Mundo, C. J, Aided Inertial Systems, Arma Engineering, vol. 2, No. 2, October-November 1958, p. 15.
13 Ehricke, K. A., Instrumented Comets: Astronautics of Solar and Planetary Probes, Convair Rept. AZP-019, July 24, 1957.
by optical or radar instruments to obtain the six independent measurements. Some possible examples are:
If some rocket thrust is used (an ion rocket, for instance), the trajectory followed by the spacecraft will not be so simply determined as that of an unpowered vehicle, and more frequent measurements will be required for use in more elaborate guidance computations by automatic equipment.15
Precision in guidance depends not only upon the performance of instruments, but also upon the accuracy of the fundamental standards used, directly or indirectly, in the guidance measurements.16-20
One of the most basic and obvious of these fundamental constants is the specification of distance between the starting point and intended target point of a desired trajectory. The precision of this distance is dependent mainly upon the precision of knowledge of the Earth's radius. The current figure for the mean radius of the Earth is probably correct to within an error of a few hundred feet. If the error is, say, 300 feet, the strike error at the end of a 5,500-nautical-mile ballistic trajectory will be a little less than 1,000 feet-there is a magnification factor of about 3 between radius error and impact error at such
14 Porter, J. G., Navigation Without Gravity, Journal of the British Interplanetary Society, voI. 13. No. 2. March 1954.
15 Roberson, R. E., Remarks on the Guidance of Ion-Propelled Vehicles, North American Aviation, Autonetics Division, June 21, 1958.
16 Herrick, Samuel, Formulae, Constants, Definitions, Notations for Geocentric Orbits, Systems Laboratories Corp., Rept. SN-1. May 28. 1957.
17 Herrick. Samuel, R. M. L. Baker, and C. G. Hetton, Gravitational and Related Constants for Accurate Space Navigation, American Rocket Society, Preprint No. 497-57.
18 Buchheim, R. W., Motion of a Small Body In Earth-Moon Space. The RAND Corp Research Memorandum RM-1726, June 4, 1956.
19 Study of High-Precision Geocentric Orbits, Aeronutronics Systems, Inc., Doc. U-094, August 12, 1957.
20 High-Precision Orbit Determination, Aeronutronics Systems, Inc., publication No. U-220, June 27,1958.
a range. The magnification factor increases sharply with increasing range.
Another basic constant is the mean value of gravity at sea level. The current estimate of "g" is probably correct to within an error of less than 0.001 percent. This mean value of g, together with the mean radius of the Earth, effectively defines a quantity proportional to the total mass of the Earth. The total mass of the Earth figures in all trajectory calculations. For example, the period of a satellite is dependent upon this parameter; and, in fact, measurement of satellite periods is a good way to determine the total mass of a parent body. As a result, we have good data on the masses of those planets that have satellites (moons), and less accurate data on the masses of planets without moons.
Since the Earth is not a perfect uniform sphere, it is not enough to specify its mean radius and gravity. It is also necessary to specify the degree of departure from the ideal sphere. The principal one of these additional specifications is the flattening," the measure of difference between the radius of the Earth at the poles and at the Equator. The Earth is about 30 miles thicker across the Equator than from pole to pole.
The net assembly of these geophysical constants is known with a precision that is adequate for most space-flight purposes except for flights to actually contact other planets without midcourse or terminal guidance. Present knowledge is also probably inadequate for circumlunar flights intended to return to a small preset recovery area on the Earth; but the errors here can also be made good by midcourse or terminal guidance.
The mass of the Moon is also a parameter of importance for lunar and interplanetary flights. The Moon's mass is roughly one-eightieth of the Earth's; and current estimates are probably correct to within about 0.3 percent. This precision is adequate for all but very refined lunar flights-particularly for the circumlunar case just mentioned.
The constant of greatest importance in interplanetary flights is the astronomical unit-the mean distance from Earth to Sun. All of the dimensions used by the astronomer in the solar system are known to very great precision in terms of the astronomical unit as a reference base; for example, the distance from Earth to Mars at a given instant can be obtained very accurately, from available data, in astronomical units. However, the length of the astronomical unit in terrestrial dimension standards, like meters or statute miles is rather poorly known; and, therefore, such a measure as the distance from Earth to Mars is rather poorly known in terms of standards like meters or miles. No vehicle using initial guidance alone is likely to make a hit on any of the planets (except by accident) until the length of the astronomical unit is better known in terms of Earth
standards usable in guidance systems. The expected miss in shots to Venus and Mars, from this source of error, is likely to be many tens of thousands of miles.
These physical constants of primary relevance to astronautics are part of the general family of astronomical constants, and any improvements in their precision will be reflected in improvements in others.21
Another related area that needs wholesale improvement is detailed specifications of the high upper atmosphere, which are vital to accurate determination or prediction of satellite orbits.
In the future, it will be necessary to have the same kind of refined knowledge about the other planets as is now needed for the Earth.
21 Clemence, G. M., On the System of Astronomical Constants, The Astronomical Journal vol, 53, No. 6, May 1948.


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[dropcap]N[/dropcap]ew York – Leafy greens like spinach, lettuce and kale could lower the risk of glaucoma by up to 30%, research has found.
A diet of nitrate-rich vegetables is good for blood circulation which means it could prevent primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), one of four types of the condition, Harvard Medical School discovered. Dr Jae Kang explained: "Higher dietary nitrate and green leafy vegetable intake was associated with a lower POAG risk."
The study, published in the journal JAMA Ophthalmol, looked at more than 104,000 patients. It found that those who ate a nitrate-rich diet had lower levels of the rare condition, which involves chronic or acute sudden painful build-up of pressure in the eye.
Increased pressure and a disruption in the flow of optic nerve blood flow have been implicated in POAG. Previous studies suggested nitrate or nitrite, precursors for nitric oxide, is beneficial for blood circulation so scientists from Harvard Medical School looked at the link of diet and POAG.
Assistant Professor of Medicine Jae Kang said: "Evidence suggests that nitrate or nitrite is beneficial for blood circulation, "Dietary nitrate is predominately derived from green leafy vegetables, which contribute approximately 80 percent of nitrate intake.
"To our knowledge, dietary nitrate intake as a specific nutrient has not been evaluated therefore, we evaluated it in a longer-than-25r year prospective study of 63,893 women and 41,094 men. "These findings could have impor tant implications if the association of higher f dietary nitrate and green leafy vegetable intake with a lower POAG risk is confirmed."
The study followed participants in the two studies who were over 40, free of POAG, and had results of eye examinations. Information on diet was updated with questionnaires. During follow-up, 1,483 incident cases of POAG were identified. They were divided into five groups dependent upon nitrate levels in their diet. It was found greater intake of dietary nitrate and green leafy vegetables was associated with a 20 percent to 30 percent lower POAG risk.


PivotTables: Calculated Items
Today's author: David Gainer, a Program Manager on the Excel team.
PivotTables are designed to help users make sense of large amounts of data by providing an easy way to build a summarized report. In addition, PivotTables can be rearranged easily, so that once you have some summary data in a PivotTable, you can look at the same information in many different ways with only a few mouse clicks. For a slightly less brief overview of PivotTables as well as a list of the improvements made to the application in Excel 2007, please check out this blog post.
Today I wanted to take a look at calculated items in PivotTables â€¦ specifically, what they are, how to create them, and some examples of how they can be useful. I find them to be very helpful, so I wanted to do a little evangelism, as well as point out some little-known features.
Let's start with what they are. According to Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 161882, "A calculated item is a user-defined item in a PivotTable field that can perform calculations using the contents of other fields and items in the PivotTable." While that's technically accurate, it may not be clear. Perhaps a simpler way to think about calculated items is that it is a feature that allows you to create new items (that are not part of the original source data) that can appear in fields in your PivotTable. Here's an example (lifted from the aforementioned KBA) â€" a picture may be worth 1000 words.
Assume that you have some sales data that you want to summarize in a PivotTable. You have data for four different sales regions (North, South, East, West) for a few months sales.
With a few clicks, you could create a summary PivotTable that looks like this.
So far so good, but let's now pretend there has recently been a reorganization, and the North and East regions are now the NorthEast region. How can you reflect that in your PivotTable without having to modify all the source data? By creating a calculated item which represents the NorthEast region, of course. To do that, you need to first click one of the "Regions" in the PivotTable report. This gives Excel the context of what you are going to add a calculated item to â€¦ specifically, that you are going to add an item to "Regions". Next, on the PivotTable "Options" contextual ribbon, select the "Formulas" drop-down and then select "Calculated Item â€¦".
This should present you with a dialog thus:
This dialog is used to create calculated items (unsurprisingly enough). While it may look a bit cryptic, it is pretty straightforward. The bottom-left control shows you the fields available in your PivotTable, the bottom-right control shows you the items in those fields, and the top controls allow you to create your calculated items. For example, to create a new NorthEast region, you simply need to type "NorthEast" in the Name control, = North + East in the Formula control â€¦
â€¦ press the Add button, and then press OK to dismiss the dialog. Now you should see your PivotTable with a new item â€" NorthEast â€" listed with the rest of the Regions. You can see that Excel simply aggregated the values for the two regions in questions, which is what we asked Excel to do with our "= North + East" formula. Essentially, you have added new information to your PivotTable, and that information behaves just like all the other data in the PivotTable â€¦ you can sort it, filter it, pivot it, etc., all without restriction.
If I now use standard PivotTable filtering functionality to filter out the North and East regions, I have a simple three-line PivotTable that reflects the reorganized sales regions, not the underlying source data.
The fun is not quite over yet, though. Once you have created a calculated item, you can continue to modify it without necessarily returning to the dialog we just looked at. For starters, you can type over the caption "NorthEast" and Excel will remember the new caption. Additionally, if you click on one of the calculated fields, you will see that you can see the formula you entered in the dialog is also available (and editable) in the Excel formula bar. Here is a shot, for example, of what happens when I select one of the cells reporting data for the new NorthEast region and hit F2 (the hotkey to edit a formula).
From here I could change the formula (=North+South), add a constant (=North+East+100), or use any of Excel's native functions, and the value in the cell would update when I pressed Enter. It is worth bearing in mind that this changes the formula for that intersection only (in this case, "Apr" of the "NorthEast" region only, so if you want to change all the cells in one fell swoop, best to return to the Calculated Items dialog.
So that is an overview of the feature set. Now let's look at a few examples of more interesting usage cases that were created by one of my co-workers. First, let's look at an example where calculated items are used to show relationships between different classes of products.
As you can see the PivotTable above summarizes sales, cost of sales, and margin for different classes of products â€" alcoholic beverages, dairy, beverages, etc. In this case, the report author wanted to add another piece of information â€" the percentage of overall sales that were related to alcoholic beverages. They accomplished this by adding a calculated item to the "Product Department" field that looked like this: =IF('Alcoholic Beverages'=0,NA(),'Alcoholic Beverages'/SUM('Alcoholic Beverages',Beverages,Dairy)). You can see this calculation uses a few Excel functions (IF, NA, SUM) in addition to referencing other items in the field in order to calculate the percentage in question. The reason for the IF and the NA functions is to return _TAG_ if there are no alcoholic sales instead of a divide by 0 error.
Here is another interesting example. It turns out you can use a special syntax to refer to "next" and "previous" items in a field.
In this example, the PivotTable author had actual financial results for FY02 â€" FY04, and wanted to create a forecast for the next fiscal year based on the actual for those three years. You can see in the screenshot above that they used the following formula: =IF(Year[-1]=0,Year[-2],2*Year[-1]-Year[-2]). While at first this may look pretty cryptic, it is actually fairly straightforward. The formula says "if last year's sales (which is what "Year[-1]" means) is 0, the projection is sales from 2 years ago, else the projection is two times last year's sales minus the sales from two years ago." The [-1] modifiers are simply used to tell Excel to refer to previous and next values in that field, and it is particularly (but not exclusively) useful for financial calculations involving time periods.
That summarizes the calculated items feature. There is a closely related feature called "calculated fields" which should be simple enough to figure out after reading this post (and there are other articles out there on MSFT and other web sites you can refer to if you are interested). If you have any feedback on this feature, we are all ears. Thanks!


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Computer Can Pick You Out From Your Eyes In A Crowd: 'Needle in Haystack' Search Capability
Identifying people by acquiring pictures of their eyes is becoming easier, according to a new report* from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). NIST researchers evaluated the performance of iris recognition software from 11 different organizations and found that some techniques produced very rapid results—though this speed was often at the cost of accuracy.
NIST evaluated 92 different iris recognition algorithms from nine private companies and two university labs, all of which submitted software to an open competition held by NIST. The task was to identify individuals from a database of eye images taken from more than 2.2 million people.
"If, for example, you are trying to pick out a fugitive who is trying to cross a national border, you need to know your software can identify that person from among millions of records," says Patrick Grother, a scientist in NIST's Information Access Division. "This ability to pick out a 'needle in a haystack' quickly and accurately is crucial, and we found some algorithms can search a haystack thousands of times larger than others. This is important because often there is no corresponding record, no needle to be found."
Among the results: Accuracy varied substantially across the algorithms the NIST team tested. Success rates ranged between 90 and 99 percent among the algorithms, meaning that no software was perfect, and some produced as many as 10 times more errors than others. Also, the tests found that while some algorithms would be fast enough to run through a dataset equivalent to the size of the entire U.S. population in less than 10 seconds using a typical computer, there could be limitations to their accuracy. A related NIST report showed that accuracy could be improved if operators control image collection more tightly during acquisition, thereby obtaining better quality iris images.
"When combined with the feedback that this study provides to the industry and the use of the iris in combination with other biometrics, the findings will push accuracy toward 100 percent," Grother says. Grother adds that the new findings should be useful to policy makers, who are increasingly incorporating iris recognition in official systems in places as far-flung as India, Mexico and Indonesia, as well as the United States and Canada.
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)


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Timothy J. Vickery, Yuhong V. Jiang; Second-order perceptual grouping. Journal of Vision 2007;7(9):314. doi: 10.1167/7.9.314.
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© ARVO (_PHONE_); The Authors (2016-present)
Grouping principles such as proximity and similarity allow a complex scene to be parsed into a simpler description. Is grouping local, differentiating only those items to which these principles directly apply, or does it "spread" to other elements in a scene? We found that when a set of undifferentiated items is situated adjacent to items that are paired by Gestalt grouping factors (similarity, proximity, etc.), the undifferentiated items appear to be paired. We term this transitive grouping effect 'second-order grouping.' This study investigates how second-order grouping affects visual attention using a method adapted from Beck and Palmer (2002). Subjects searched through a row of mostly alternating squares and circles (target items) for the repeated pair of shapes. An irrelevant set of red and green cross-shaped distracters appeared above or below the targets. The distracters were either ungrouped or they were grouped pair-wise by color. When distracters were ungrouped, detection of the repetition of the target items took equally long whether the distracter items alternated in color or were all in one color. However, when the distracters were grouped, target repetition detection was substantially slower if the repeated targets aligned with two distracters of different colors than if they aligned with two distracters of the same color. Thus, grouping from the adjacent distracter row spreads to the target row. This effect was eliminated by inserting a line between the target and distracter rows, showing that the spread of grouping was not simply attributable to the proximity of the grouped distracters to the target items. We propose that Gestalt grouping factors are extended by transitivity, and such higher-order effects can strongly impact the allocation of attention during visual search.
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