better for your feline. Just keep it to a few, as the sugar in an apple can cause a stomach ache in a cat's stomach.
Answer: NO.
can cats eat avocado
It is not safe to feed your cat avocado!
You should never feed your cat avocado. Cats cannot eat avocados. This is because avocados contain a toxin called persin. This toxin has no effect on people, but can be horrible for your cat.
Some avocados have more persin in them than others do. Guatemalan avocados are known to contain a high level of persin. The time of year avocados are grown, and the conditions play a significant role in the amount of persin in the avocado.
The problem is it's hard to tell how much persin will be in an avocado. While some avocados may not harm you cat at all, the risk is not worth it. Just avoiding feeding your furry friend avocados and you'll be okay.
If your cat does consume some avocado or the leaves, bark, or stem of the avocado tree, you'll want to get in touch with your vet immediately. Too much avocado could lead to the death of a cat. A little bit can lead to difficulty breathing, high fever, and more.
can cats eat baconCats should avoid eating bacon. While bacon is not dangerous for cats, it is not good for them. The problem is that bacon is salty and filled with preservatives. By adding salt and preservatives to your cat's diet, you may upset their stomachs in the present and cause health issues down the road.
This may surprise some cat owners because bacon is a pork product. Pork is perfectly fine for a cat to eat. However, the pork you feed your cat must be untreated. Pork in the form of bacon or low-quality ham should be avoided by your cat at all costs.
Your cat may enjoy the smell of bacon and may coming nudging your leg as you indulge in the delectable meat. If you allow your cat to eat bacon, he or she will. The smell of the meat is intriguing to many cats just like it is to many humans. If you care about your cat's health, then you will not let them eat bacon. There are many other human foods you can use as a treat.
can cats eat baked beans
You can feed your cat beans.
The key, as with most human foods, is to feed your cat beans in moderation. The interesting thing about cats is that many of them enjoy eating beans, especially baked beans.
Beans are a food high in protein. As protein is the most important aspect of your cat's diet – beans can be very healthy for your cat. However, you must remember that cats are carnivores. They need meat to be as strong and healthy as they can be.
As such, you shouldn't make beans a main staple in your cat's diet. Sure, you can feed your furry friend some baked beans as a treat now and then. Just don't make a habit out of it. As well, you'll want to always cook any beans you plan to feed your feline.
Start with small portions and see how your cat reacts. If they seem okay, you can feed your cat a little more beans each time you have them. Luckily, cat's stomachs don't react to beans in the same way human stomachs do.
can cats eat blueberries
Your cat can eat blueberries.
There's no reason your furry friend can't go on a health kick with you and down some berries. Just remember a few blueberries is enough for your cat.
Blueberries should be a treat for your cat – not a main staple of their diet. A couple of blueberries every few days is all your cat will need to get the nutritional benefits of the fruit. Vitamin C is great for your cat (and not a part of their regular diet), and blueberries are rich in the nutrient.
Many cat foods have blueberry extract included due to the nutrients of the fruit and the flavor. The antioxidants in blueberries also are great for your cat and help persevere cat food.
Feed your cat some blueberries, but just like any other human food – start small when introducing blueberries to your cat's diet and monitor changes. Blueberries certainly are a cat-safe fruit.
Answer: NO.
can cats eat chocolate
Just like dogs – cats can't eat chocolate. You should never feed your cat chocolate. Too much chocolate can kill your cat. Even a few chocolate chips can cause severe stomach pain for your furry friend.
Chocolate is made from cacao and contains compound by the name of theobromine. This mixture can cause a cat to:
 - Lose bodily fluids
 - Have an upset stomach
 - Increase in heart rate
 - Nervous system breakdown
Overall, your cat may begin to vomit or have diarrhea after eating chocolate. Seizures are also common. If your cat binges on chocolate, then he or she could fall into a coma or die.
The severity of your cat's reaction to eating chocolate will depend on the type of chocolate and how much was consumed. Darker chocolates contain more cacao and are usually much worse for your cat.
Never feed your furry friend chocolate. If you think your cat has consumed chocolate – you should immediately take them to the vet.
can cats eat corn
Technically – your cat can eat corn. This doesn't mean you should feed your cat corn. Corn is not healthy for you cat, as it is a grain and a poor source of protein. Not only that, but most of the corn grown in the United States is genetically modified. Genetically modified foods are dangerous for your furry friend.
While many cat foods include corn, it's only included because corn is cheaper than high quality ingredients. Corn has no nutritional benefit for cats and is just used as a filler in low-quality cat food.
A diet high in corn can lead to obesity, diabetes, and digestive disorders in cats. Cat food that uses corn as their primary source of protein can also result in organ diseases in many felines. As well, many cats that have suffered from skin and coat problems is directly related to too much corn in their diet.
While your cat can consume corn, it is not recommended to feed your cat corn. Consider an alternative food for your cat.
can cats eat dog food
Your cat can eat dog food. Dog food will not make your cat sick. Nor will you need to rush your furry friend to the vet after chomping down on some dog food. However, you should not try to feed your cat dog food.
Cats and dogs have different nutritional requirements. While it won't hurt your cat to sneak some food out of the dog bowl now and then, you should not allow this to become standard practice. Dog food is created to cover all the nutritional needs of dogs. Cat food is designed to cover all the nutritional needs of cats.
Cat food uses a different form of vitamin A and a few other minerals than dog food does. This is due to the unique nutritional needs of cats. Cats are carnivores and need a diet strict in protein to survive. Dogs are omnivores and can eat a diet based on meats and plant-based foods.
A quick nibble of dog food will have no adverse effect on your cat. A diet of strictly dog food can lead to blindness and ultimately, the death of your furry friend. Avoid feeding you cat dog food on a consistent basis.
Answer: NO.
can cats eat fat trimmings and bones
Your cat should not eat fat trimmings and bones.
Neither will add any nutritional benefit to your cat's diet, but both of these human foods can cause severe problems to the health of your feline.
It's not that your furry friend can't eat fat trimmings. Fat trimmings could be ok for your cat – except they can cause pancreatitis for your cat. As well, a cat that eats fat trimmings has a chance of contracting salmonella or E.coli. Vomiting and diarrhea are also a possibility.
Bones are also a no-go for your cat. While your cat's digestive system won't have too many issues with a bone on occasion (cats do it rats whole) – the splinters a cooked bone is sure to possess can easily puncture your cat's digestive tract as they chew on them.
While you may be able to get away with giving your cat a bone with trimmings now and then – it's best to avoid this practice due to all the health risks.
Keep your cat healthy and throw the bones and fat trimmings in the trash can, not on the floor.
Answer: NO.
can cats eat garlics
Cats cannot eat garlic.
You should avoid feeding garlic to your cat. However, this can be harder than some people suspect. As humans, we enjoy using flavors like garlic to spice our foods. Sometimes we may be enjoying a meal and forget garlic is on our food. Then our furry friend comes around, and one meow is all it takes to get a treat from the table.
You must remember not to give your cat food from the table that was seasoned with garlic. Garlic comes from a species of plants called Allium. All Allium plants (garlic, onions, leeks, etc.) are toxic to your furry friends.
If your cat ingests garlic, he or she may face symptoms like lethargy, weakness, pale gums, vomiting, diarrhea, and more. In severe cases, you cat could suffer organ failure and quite possibly, death.
If you believe your cat has consumed garlic, you should call the vet quickly. When caught early, a vet can induce vomiting and ensure you cat is ok. A blood transfusion can be needed in the


text:
accepts float(1) to float(24) as selecting the real type, while float(25) to float(53) select double precision. Values of p outside the allowed range draw an error. float with no precision specified is taken to mean double precision.
Note: Prior to PostgreSQL 7.4, the precision in float(p) was taken to mean so many decimal digits. This has been corrected to match the SQL standard, which specifies that the precision is measured in binary digits. The assumption that real and double precision have exactly 24 and 53 bits in the mantissa respectively is correct for IEEE-standard floating point implementations. On non-IEEE platforms it may be off a little, but for simplicity the same ranges of p are used on all platforms.
The data types serial and bigserial are not true types, but merely a notational convenience for setting up unique identifier columns (similar to the AUTO_INCREMENT property supported by some other databases). In the current implementation, specifying
CREATE TABLE tablename ( colname SERIAL );
is equivalent to specifying:
CREATE SEQUENCE tablename_colname_seq; CREATE TABLE tablename ( colname integer DEFAULT nextval('tablename_colname_seq') NOT NULL );
Thus, we have created an integer column and arranged for its default values to be assigned from a sequence generator. A NOT NULL constraint is applied to ensure that a null value cannot be explicitly inserted, either. In most cases you would also want to attach a UNIQUE or PRIMARY KEY constraint to prevent duplicate values from being inserted by accident, but this is not automatic.
Note: Prior to PostgreSQL 7.3, serial implied UNIQUE. This is no longer automatic. If you wish a serial column to be in a unique constraint or a primary key, it must now be specified, same as with any other data type.
To insert the next value of the sequence into the serial column, specify that the serial column should be assigned its default value. This can be done either by excluding the column from the list of columns in the INSERT statement, or through the use of the DEFAULT key word.
The type names serial and serial4 are equivalent: both create integer columns. The type names bigserial and serial8 work just the same way, except that they create a bigint column. bigserial should be used if you anticipate the use of more than 231 identifiers over the lifetime of the table.
The sequence created for a serial
column is automatically dropped when the owning column is
dropped, and cannot be dropped otherwise. (This was not true
in PostgreSQL releases
before 7.3. Note that this automatic drop linkage will not
occur for a sequence created by reloading a dump from a
pre-7.3 database; the dump file does not contain the
information needed to establish the dependency link.)
Furthermore, this dependency between sequence and column is
made only for the serial column itself;
if any other columns reference the sequence (perhaps by
manually calling the
function), they will be broken if the sequence is removed.
Using a serial column's sequence in
such a fashion is considered bad form; if you wish to feed
several columns from the same sequence generator, create the
sequence as an independent object.

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


text:
This volume combines songs, poems, stories and charming, detailed illustrations to enhance young children's language skills and comprehension. Developed by a team of educators, this book will inspire parent/child discussions and encourage children to express their feelings, relating what they see in the pictures to what goes on in their own lives, all within a context of Torah values.
Tell Me What You Think!Language development and self-expression for the Jewish child through conversation and song.
By Tzila Margalit
Illustrated by: G. Pollack
10"x13" (112 Pages)Ages 0-3, 4-7 Publisher: Hazon/Feldheim, 2002
The Gold family invite you and your child to share in their everyday adventures. Whether buying new shoes, celebrating the Holidays, going to school or eating supper together, every scene will actively involve the young reader.


text:
Life science suppliers are increasingly seeking new market opportunities where molecular, proteomic and cellular techniques are being utilized for new applications. Researchers in what are referred to as 'applied markets' frequently use many of the same techniques, and hence products, as their colleagues in the traditional life science market. But their more recent adoption of advanced research technologies suggests they are more likely to be open to learning of the broad array of solutions offered by life science suppliers. This hypothesis places a premium on effective marketing tailored to the unique needs of researchers in applied markets.
The Key Findings
- Molecular diagnostic researchers evaluate or purchase new products slightly more frequently than agricultural biotechnology or biodefense researchers.
- A majority of scientists believe that is important to stay abreast of new products and services that are designed for their research applications but this belief is more pronounced among molecular diagnostics scientists than agricultural biotechnology and biodefense researchers.
- The majority of scientists in applied markets save the printed catalogs that they receive from vendors. However, they prefer to use Web-based versions for their product-information needs.
- Molecular diagnostic researchers spend slightly more time per week than either agricultural or biotechnology researchers visiting vendor Web sites.
- Biodefense researchers receive the fewest pieces of direct mail out of the three profiled markets.
- Agricultural biotechnology researchers are visited less frequently by sales reps than their counterparts in biodefense researchers and molecular diagnostics.

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


Following leads to knowing
The UM Reporter has an interview with Bishop Will Willimon about his book Why Jesus?
In one place, the interviewer asks Willimon which comes first, knowing Jesus or following him.
From my experience and as the gospels portray it, following Jesus. The first thing Jesus says to people is, "Follow me." He doesn't say, "Understand me, think about me or get a good concept of me." He just said follow me, and the amazing thing is people did, even when they didn't know who he was or where he was going. Jesus unpacks that in the gospels.
Being a campus minister, I was around people who were trying to figure out if Jesus is historically true—Is he this, that or the other?—before they believed in him, and I kept saying, with Jesus you just have to follow him. And on the way, he sort of tells you who he is and tells you who you are. You follow him.
I know a lot of people who followed Jesus when they didn't have all the evidence and they weren't sure about things, but they just took a step. With every step we take towards Jesus, he's already taken one towards us. Our step is a response. I'd say the following comes first, and that's very Wesleyan. John Wesley tended to teach people good habits before he taught them the latest complicated theology.


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COMMUNITY NAME: Blue Peak Shore
LOCATION: Meriweather Island/Tricana Island (as Natives call it), Atlantic Ocean. Latitude:N 23° 4' 47.0343" - Longitude:W 41° 50' 9.375"
AREA: 5,000 Km2, distributed in a roughly circular shape
TYPE: Volcanic Island. Blue Peak is an ancient volcano that generated the island.
MAXIMUM ELEVATION: Blue Peak Mountain, 2400 mt. It lays close to the border of the Northern side. Today, not lava, but a spectacular waterfall runs from its peak, thus giving it its name.
OTHER ELEVATIONS: Green Ring Chain, a circle of hills running around Blue Peak Mountain, with a diameter of 10 Km, with an elevation of 900 mt.
OTHER REMARKABLE GEOGRAPHYCAL FEATURES:
The Crescent River: It runs through Meriweather Island, from BPM to the sea. Its name is due to the fact that it is curved and assumes the shape of a crescent moon along its path. The river provides to the fresh water needs both of the natives and the resort.
Sky Lake, 90 Km2, a crater lake called like this because of its exceptionally clean and placid surface that mirrors the sky. Its waters are very pure and considered sacred to the natives.
Burial Cliffs: This particular, extended cliff, formed when a portion of the volcano's base collapsed, exposing its base. The cliff is vertical and tall, 700 mts, and impossible to climb.
Jules Verne Caves: it is a vast subterranean network that used to be the volcano's magmatic conduits. It's never been explored, so far (see below), and all we have is a rough map provided by the sensors.
HISTORY: Meriweather Island was accidentally discovered in 1780 by Captain William Spencer-Strathmore during his travel to and from the coasts of South America, from where he imported tobacco, cocoa and coffee. His ship, the WSS Brightstar, was attacked by pirates and severely damaged. It sunk just at a few distance from the shores of the island. There, Strathmore and his family, with whom he always traveled, lived a good life: The local animals, who had never met a human being, made good friends with their guests and assisted them the best way they could. In return, Strathmore promised to buy the island and create a community that would watch over the land and its natives.
Strathmore's promise was to be fulfilled as rescue came on Christmas Eve, in 1799, and this reinforced the determination in the humans to keep their part of the bargain. William Spencer-Strathford lived long enough to invest all of his trade riches into the island, that was rechristened Meriweather Island for its fine climate. His son, Arthur Lionel, created a small community of fishermen on the island's shores. But when he died, penniless, his sons sold the Island to another, richer family. Since then, a series of wealthy families alternated themselves as owner of the island, using it as their private touristic resort.
In 1940, the UK Royal Navy confiscated Meriweather Island to install a base for repair and shelter of their ships to and from the United States.
In 1955, the base, codenamed Blue Peak Shore, was abandoned but not dismantled.
In 1974, the Crown sold Meriweather Island to cover the losses caused by the energetic crisis. The island was bought by Richard Spencers, a descendant of the old Spencer-Strathford family. Richard, owner of a touristic franchise and a petrol company, decided to create a special resort, dedicated exclusively to pet owners and their furry 'relatives'. Also, the resort was to be guarded and maintained by the native fauna, to whom a share of the incomes is still regularly distributed.
FAUNA: Meriweather Island is visited by storms of migrating birds to and from Africa, Spain and Portugal. Its native
population consists of Crested Genets, Spider Monkeys, German Lycaons, Red Wolves, Flying Foxes, Cats, Rats, Rabbits (lots of rabbits and Rats!) and Goats. The tallest point of Blue Peak Mountain hosts a small autonomous ecosystem that is the nest for a breed of white-headed eagles. There is a school of dolphins that lives near the island. They love to play pranks to the natives and the tourists from time to time, but won't go further that in order to avoid retaliation. They are tolerated because they consider that area of the sea their property, and don't want intruders, including sharks.
At Meriweather Island also lives a small population of a living fossil, the Titanic Boa (15 mts x over 1 ton!).
German Lycaons are the current new wild canine population. Time ago, lycaon explorers from Africa happened into the island and estabilished themselves here. After the militaries came with their German Shepherd Dogs, the mixing, facilitated by the inter-species relationships culture, started and within 30 years it produced this new breed that replaced the lycaons. Actually, the German Lycaons believe themselves to be blessed for successfully including the blood of these domestic ancestors, and are a very proud tribe.
Since tourists started to pour in, the natives are trying to mix their bloodlines with the visiting pets' and the research centers staff pets. The zoologists are willing to help in generating an hybrid offspring that doesn't suffer from sterility, by giving advice on the most suitable species and giving free check-ups. All natives are required to perform a complete check up on an every six-months basis.
Rabbits are divided into two subspecies: the 'forestwalkers', those who live in the deepest forests in tight and relatively isolated communities, far from wolves, lycaons and humans. And the 'Dwellers in Darkness', aka the 'cave bunnies': they are the descendants of those who chose to retreat into the underground where they adapted and developed unique features such as catlike eyes, infrared vision and sharp teeth for an omnivore diet.
The 'glowbats' are one interesting part of the fauna: they live in symbiosis with photofore microorganisms which give their body an eerie glowing blue appearance. The bats use that light to attract insects and eat them. The microorganism live off the bats' scories and they make the bats poisonous to the monsters of the Jules Verne Caves.
LANGUAGE: The native population learnt English since the Spencer-Strathmore families came to live on Meriweather Island. The more or less continuous presence of English-speaking humans kept the language flowing, although the natives added some of their inflexion. It's common to listen to them speaking like 'Nice t'mit ya, ma friend. How can ah be of helpe?' or 'Care t' joine our party?' The only sentence they take very seriously and pronounce correctly is 'I love you'. The chieftains and the Shamans speak a fluent language. [NOTE: for commodity, dialectal language will be used while natives are addressing tourists. When talking with staff or between themselves, it's 'instant translator' time]
Naming: German Lycaons use English to name themselves. Other crossbreeds use a mix of English and Native (Just use words that ring good to you). Rabbits use only Native. They put the prefix 'Il-' before the male names, and the suffix '-La' for the female names.
In official introductions, both native species use their villages' names as part of their names, put at the end of them. Cave rabbits are not so formal: they just eat their guests.
POLITICAL STATUS: Meriweather Island is a private property, laying in international waters, not subjected by other State authorites than the rules of its natives, for what concern the territory outside the resort, and by Richard Spencers' rules inside the resort and the nearby community. Staff pets are treated as equals, as far as rights are concerned. Natives rule their territory without interference and are generally friendly to the humans and their pets. The excess food grown and raised by the natives is normally given to the sacred Titan Boas. It is forbidden to take it for any other reason.
SECURITY: Due to the tension with the hostile natives (see below), a small security force comprised of human/K9 units has been brought to Meriweather Island. The Security works mainly on the resorts' premises. Insofar, they hadn't had to escort the tourists during their visits in the mainland…yet.
ECONOMY: Accepted currencies can be of any nature. Everything is paid via electronic money transfer (PayPal for example). There is no local economy to speak of, save for some bargaining the natives may offer in return for what they think they like. All other BPS services are already paid for before embarking
OTHER INFRASTRUCTURES: A helicopter pad, with a Mil V-12 (_URL_
) used for tourism and emergency rescue. The port, which hosts three piers
1. Pier A – It is used to host the Sea Dragon, the luxury, hi-tech cruise ship owned by Spencers for his tourists.
2. Pier B – It is used to host the Research Centers' ships that the staff uses to explore the sea and to go to and from mainland for the periodical rotation
3. Pier C – It is used to host an rescue and emergency ship.
There is a hospital/veterinarian clinic, fully equipped


text:
Physical Sciences Division
The Oxygen Squeeze Play
Scientists first to discover tetraoxygen on the surface of a common catalyst
Oxygen molecules fill reactive pockets on the surface of rutile titanium dioxide. When heated, they split apart, with one oxygen staying put and the other filling a nearby vacancy (Top). When oxygen is added at low temperatures, two oxygen molecules fit into the vacancy. When heated, these molecules form a new species, tetraoxygen. Enlarged View
Results: When it gets cold on the surface of a popular catalyst, four oxygen atoms squeeze into a spot designed for just one, according to scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Initially, the atoms are paired up as two oxygen molecules or
2 O2. But, when the temperature rises, the two molecules react to form a new species, tetraoxygen or O4.
Why it matters: If researchers want to design a catalyst from scratch or improve an existing one, they need to predict how oxygen will react with the surface, said PNNL's Greg Kimmel, the principal investigator on the project. This very fundamental study revealed new information that will help predict oxygen interactions.
Methods: The researchers exposed a sample of rutile titanium dioxide or TiO2(110) to different amounts of oxygen at very low temperatures. Then, they heated the sample and studied the behavior of the oxygen using electron-stimulated desorption and mass spectrometry techniques.
The researchers began with a catalyst whose surface contained scattered reactive pockets, or vacancies, where oxygen atoms had left the surface. Next, they added (or adsorbed) molecular oxygen to see how it would interact with the reactive pockets. The oxygen was adsorbed at about 25 K or -414 degrees Fahrenheit, which required cooling the sample with liquid helium. In one experiment, they added one oxygen molecule per oxygen vacancy. In a second experiment, they added two oxygen molecules per vacancy.
For both experiments, no oxygen was released from the surface as it was heated. Instead the molecules reacted on the surface, but the type of reactions depended on whether the vacancies had one or two oxygen molecules.
For the sample with one molecule per vacancy, the oxygen molecule began to split apart at 150 K: one oxygen atom stayed put filling the vacancy, and the other adsorbed at nearby site on the surface. By 280 K, all of the oxygen had filled in surface vacancies.
However, when the sample that initially had two O2 per vacancy was heated above 200 K, these molecules transformed to tetraoxygen - a 4-atom arch poking up from the reactive pockets. By 500 K, the tetraoxygen decomposed, filling in nearby reactive pockets. But, to drive off all the oxygen and restore the vacancies, the scientists had to heat the sample to 700 K, about the temperature used to bake bread.
What's next? This fundamental research leads to more questions about the behavior of the common oxygen molecule on the catalyst's surface. The researchers plan to continue their research.
Acknowledgments: This research was done by Greg Kimmel and Nikolay Petrik at PNNL. The DOE Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Chemical Sciences Division funded the research.
Experiments were performed in the electron and photon stimulated desorption laboratory located in DOE's EMSL, a national scientific user facility at PNNL.
The work supports PNNL's mission to strengthen U.S. scientific foundations for innovation by developing tools and understanding required to control chemical and physical processes in complex multiphase environments.
Reference: Kimmel GA and NG Petrik. 2008. "Tetraoxygen on Reduced TiO2(110): Oxygen Adsorption and Reactions with Bridging Oxygen Vacancies." Physical Review Letters 100, 196102. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.100.196102.


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Introduction to Marine Surveyors
Marine surveyors perform inspections of vessels of all types including pleasure craft, passenger vessels, tugboats, barges, dredges, oil rigs, ferries, cargo vessels and warships, as well as marine cargo, marine engines and facilities such as canals, drydocks, loading docks and more for the purpose of pre-purchase evaluation, insurance eligibility, insurance claim resolution and regulation compliance.
Surveys typically include the structure, machinery and equipment (navigational, safety, radio). Marine surveyors also are involved in other aspects, including confirming compliance with international treaties associated with such things as pollution, international security, and safety management schemes. They may also examine cargo gear to ensure that it meets the requirements or regulations.
Marine surveyors may perform the following tasks:
- examine and approve design plans of hulls and equipment such as main propulsion engines, auxiliary boilers and turbines, electrical power generating plant, refrigeration and air conditioning plant and pumping systems
- inspect standards of construction and witness tests of materials
- inspect hulls, machinery and equipment during ship construction to ensure standards and legislative requirements are met
- conduct surveys throughout the ship's life to ensure standards are maintained
- perform inspections required by domestic statutes and international conventions
- witness tests and operation of emergency and safety machinery and equipment
- measure ships for tonnage and survey them for load line assignment
- attend court as an expert witness and assist in coronial enquiries
- investigate marine accidents.
Classification Society Marine Surveyor
A classification society marine surveyor inspects ships to make sure that ships, components and machinery are built according to the standards required for their class, and examines accident damage.
Government Marine Surveyor
A government marine surveyor inspects ships to make sure that ships, components and machinery meet crew and passenger safety regulations and construction standards. They may also assess and approve safety reports and plans as well as examine candidates for certificates of competency. Mark Wiater is a MCA accredited surveyor and previously with Malta and the Cook Islands as a government surveyor
Private Marine Surveyor
A private marine surveyor examines ships and their cargoes, investigates accidents in port and at sea (e.g. oil spillages) and prepares accident reports for insurance purposes


Long Distance Correlations in Wind Power
The fact that wind patterns are coherent over large regions means wind power intensity is similar in whole countries. In particular wind generation falls to near zero frequently over whole countries and whole regions of Europe.
Although everybody knows wind fluctuates dramatically in one location, it seems to be a common belief that local lulls are compensated by generation somewhere else in the country so that overall wind generation stays high. This is not in reality the case and this page gives extensive plots as evidence for this.
Correlations between onshore and offshore wind in same country
(Generation data averaged over 1 day)
it can be seen that the correlations between onshore and offshore wind are very high for small countries (Denmark and Belgium) and lower but still very significant for larger countries (United Kingdom and Germany).
The correlation increases for averages over longer periods so the short distance plots above have averages over 1 day while those below have averages over 3 days. While the longer term averages increase the overall correlation the fraction of points wth nearly zero wind generation is reduced.
Correlations between all wind power in different countries
(Generation data averaged over 3 days)
Table of Pearson Correlation Coefficients for wind generation between countriesThe table shows the correlation between wind generation is high between neighbouring countries and decreases with increasing geographic separation.
These strong correlations mean that exchanges between adjacent countries cannot use wind electricity because the peaks and valleys are the same.


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The isolation of lipids from natural sources is based on the fact that they are less polar than most cell components. For this reason, they can be selectively extracted with organic solvents." In the examples given here, the two natural sources are quite different. "Egg yolk is almost liquid, which means the initial extraction procedure is quite easy. Walnut needs to be divided into small portions, as small as possible, so that the contact surface with the solvent will be increased. Briefly heating the walnut/solvent mixture will help release the lipid fraction into the solvent.
Total lipid is extracted with chloroform:methanol (2:1, v/v). This solvent mixture solubilizes lipids, and helps to dissociate lipid-protein complexes from biological membranes. The tissue is homogenized with the solvent mixture, and then filtered, to eliminate the solid or particulate matter. The next step is the addition of CaCl2 to the filtrate, which facilitates the extraction to the aqueous phase of non-lipid materials and diminishes the tendency of acid lipids to dissociate, keeping them in the non polar phase. After removing the upper phase, another solvent mixture, containing more water (chloroform:methanol:water 2:50:50, v/v/v) is added and phases are allowed to separate once again. The lower phase contains the lipid fraction. After evaporating the solvent mixture, you can quantify the total lipid by weighing the residue.
Total lipids extracted in this fashion can be subsequently separated and quantified using chromatographic procedures. There are, however, specific tests for some types of lipids, which allow quantitative analysis without additional separations. An example is the quantification of "total cholesterol" (free cholesterol + cholesterol esters) by the Liebermann-Buchard method. The principle of this method is the reaction of cholesterol and cholesterol esters with acetic anhydride and concentrated sulfuric acid, resulting in the formation of a blue-green complex."10 Thus, you can determine the amount of cholesterol present in lipid extracts with a standard curve of known concentrations of cholesterol.
You can go back to the top, to the extraction or assay procedure for the Cholesterol, or the closing from here.
Materials and Reagents:
CAS Registry Numbers:
Calcium chloride [10043-52-4]
Sulfuric acid [7664-93-9]
Acetic anhydride [108-24-7]
Acetic acid [64-19-7]
Sodium sulfate [7757-82-6]
1. WEAR GLOVES
2. ALL PROCEDURES ARE DONE IN ONE OF THE FUME HOODS
A. Lipid Extraction - Liquid samples (that is: egg yolk):
1. Weigh approximately 1 g of egg yolk in a test tube and record the value to the nearest 0.0001 g.
2. Add 10 mL of chloroform:methanol (2:1, v/v) and strongly vortex the resulting suspension.
3. Using Whatman 1PS filter paper, filter the extract to a graduated test tube, which has been pre-weighed to the nearest 0.0001 g.
4. Measure the volume of filtrate, and add 0.2 times that volume of a 0.02% CaCl2 solution.
5. Homogenize in the vortex and leave in a test tube rack until there are two separate phases.
6. Remove the upper phase carefully with a Pasteur pipette.
7. Double the total volume of the lower phase by the addition of chloroform:methanol:water (2:50:50).
Homogenize vigorously in the vortex and leave in the test tube rack until two phases separate.
8. Carefully remove the upper phase with a Pasteur pipette and record the volume of the lower phase containing the lipids.
9. Transfer 0.5 mL of the total lipid extract to another test tube for cholesterol determination. The remaining lipid extract obtained in 8. is placed in a water bath at 50ºC and evaporated to dryness (you will come back later and weigh the dry lipid residue)."10
- Solid samples (That is: Walnut):
1. Weigh approximately 1 g of sample in a test tube and record the mass to the nearest 0.0001 g, if possible.
2. Grind the sample thoroughly in a mortar with 5 ml of chloroform:methanol (2:1).
3. Transfer to a test tube, washing the mortar with 5 ml of the same solvent mixture into the same tube.
4. Cap the tube and place it in a water bath at 50ºC for 10 min.
5. Using Whatman 1PS filter paper, filter the sample/solvent mixture to a graduated test tube which has been pre-weighed to the nearest 0.0001 g.10
6. Proceed as in 4. above.
"You will need to record the weight of lipid source (g), the volume of lipid extract (lower phase, mL), the weight of empty tube (g), and the weight of tube with "total lipids"(g) for egg yolk and walnut. Subtract the weight of the empty test tube from the weight of tube with dry lipid residue, correct for the volume removed for cholesterol quantification, and present the result as "g total lipids/g walnut" and "g total lipids/g egg yolk".
From the results of the Liebermann-Buchard test, determine the mM concentration of cholesterol in your samples from their absorbance at 550 nm in a Spec 20. From the concentration you find, and the molecular mass of cholesterol, calculate the % or fraction of cholesterol in the total lipids of each sample.10
Discuss the results; here are some suggestions for questions you may want to answer:
1. Which of the cholesterol sources contains more lipid in g/g of lipid source?
2. If you wanted to compare the amount of lipid on a dry weight basis, what additional step(s) would need in the experimental procedures?
3. The blue-green cholesterol/reagent complex has a high absorbance peak at 550 nm. Suggest a way to quantify total cholesterol in the samples, using a spectrophotometer.
4. Organizations concerned with health, such as the American Heart Association, recommend you should limit your dietary intake of cholesterol. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of vegetable vs. animal dietary sources.
NOTE : further information on
lipid structure, function and laboratory work with lipids can be obtained,
among other sources, in:
1. Alexander, R.R., Griffiths, J.M., Wilkinson, M.L. 1985. Basic Biochemical Methods, Ed. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York.
2. American Heart Association, _URL_ (accessed January 2004)
3. Boyer, R.F. 1986. Modern Experimental Biochemistry, Ed. Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., Reading, Massachusetts.
4. Bohinski, R.C. 1987. Modern Concept in Biochemistry. 5th edition, Allyn an Bacon, Inc, Boston.
5. Cyberlipid centre - www site for fats and oils, _URL_ (accessed January 2004)
6. Lipid structure and function, Natural Toxins Research Center at Texas A&M University - Kingsville, _URL_ (accessed January 2004)
7. Tabas. I. "Cholesterol in health and disease." J. Clin. Invest. 2002, 110, 583-590.
8. Rader, D.J., Cohen, J. & Hobbs, H.H. "Monogenic hypercholesterolemia: new insights in pathogenesis and treatment." J. Clin. Invest. 2003, 111, _PHONE_.
9. Law. M. "Plant sterol and stanol margarines and health." BMJ. 2000, 320, 861-864"10
10. Barreto, M. Carmo "Lipid Extraction and Cholesterol Quantification: A Simple Protocol." J. Chem. Educ. 2005, 82, 103-104; and JCE Online.
Author of this page: Terry Helser - _EMAIL_
Web Coordinator: Philip S. Bidwell - _EMAIL_
Or return to the SUNY @ Oneonta Home Page to see where we live and work.
Last Modified on 12/1/2009


custom classes data binding has improved significantly in.NET, taking full advantage of all data-binding-related functionality—especially in rich-client data binding—requires extra effort you don't need to expend with the augmented DataSet. Third, you can take advantage of VS.NET's DataSet-design tools to generate XML-schema-based metadata for DataSets. You have no support for graphical mapping to table fields when you develop custom business objects. Finally, you can implement metadata-based business rules. Custom business objects can use a similar metadata-based approach. However, you must roll your own procedures for metadata generation and loading metadata into the business object, and the algorithm that extracts the metadata information from each node of the data structure. In contrast, DataSet's built-in support for XML schemas at both design time and run time lets you add custom metadata to the VS.NET-provided XML schema and extract the metadata from the ExtendedProperties property at the appropriate time.
The augmented-DataSet approach has its drawbacks too. First, it causes remoting overhead. Transmitting DataSets over process or network boundaries is inefficient. The DataSet memory footprint is large, even when serialized over a.NET Remoting binary channel (because the serialization uses an XML representation). Custom serializable business objects are significantly more efficient. Second, the technique involves untyped programming. You must access business-object fields by position or by keys, so your productivity diminishes because you can't use IntelliSense. The compiler can't help you find programming bugs and misspellings when it accesses data fields; you can trap these errors only at run time. Data returned from the DataSet is loosely typed (the most generic Object type), which can lead to subtle but fatal coding errors you can't detect at compile time. You can address these issues by defining enumerators and string constants with a proper naming standard. This lets you pick up the correct constant quickly to pass to the DataSet, related objects, and indexer accessors without the risk of misspellings. Of course, you must keep enumerators and constants in sync with the DataSet schema, so a tool that generates constants from the XML schema automatically is a requirement for developing a robust application.
A third drawback to the augmented-DataSet approach is its fixed-object structure. The business object's structure is tied to the DataSet's. Moreover, some crucial methods in the underlying objects, such as DataTable and DataRow, aren't virtual, which prevents you from placing further hooks into the DataSet model. As a result, you can't take advantage of some design patterns that require a different kind of object collaboration. However, this issue is mitigated by the fact that most of these patterns apply to the design and implementation of the behavioral part of the business layer, which you move to other classes.
The approach I've described tries to strike a balance between development speed and application robustness. You could improve productivity by developing custom tools—for example, one that inserts custom metadata into the XML schema, or one that generates the string constants defining field and table names from a DataSet schema. The DataSet-based approach might not fit well into highly sophisticated solutions, but smallto middle-sized enterprise applications can no doubt benefit from it.
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text:
The Advanced Open Water Diver Course with ATLANTIC EDGE
When you're ready to take your diving to the next level, take the Advanced Open Water course. We'll take you on five different diving experiences in one weekend—peak buoyancy skills, deep diving, search and recovery, and a couple of others. And as always, it's fun! Our advanced course is done over the course of two days. It consists of five 'special' dives—each one with a particular focus aimed at improving your diving skills.
Among the many things, you will learn as part of this program:
- Underwater navigation
- Peak buoyancy
- Search and recovery
- Deeper water diving (typically anywhere from 18-30 metres/ 60-100 feet)
Students must meet the following prerequisites:
- Be certified the Open Water Diver level (or equivalent)
- Be at least 12 years of age
- Be able to answer "No" to all questions on the PADI/RSTC Medical History form, or secure a physician's approval for diving prior to the start of the course
What is Involved?
The course consists of two parts:
- Knowledge development through independent study. We'll start the day by going over the five knowledge reviews from your Advanced Open Water Diver Manual (we'll mail your manual once registered). The knowledge reviews must be completed prior to arriving at the quarry.
- Open Water Training: Over the course of two days, we'll do five dives (usually 3 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday).
The course is taught during the warmer months of the year (May-October) where we'll meet at Juturna Springs in Frederick Maryland.
When Can You Start?
Check out or schedule below for dates and times.
The course fee is $375 and includes:
- Knowledge review
- Advanced Open Water Diver Manual
- Open water dives
- Certification card
- Tanks and weights
- Use of compass
Course does not include: (Required equipment student are responsible for supplying):
- Mask, snorkel, fins
- Buoyancy Control Device (BCD)
- Regulator/alternate air source
- Depth gauge/timer or computer
- Wetsuit with hoods and gloves (Recommend 7mm)
- Audible surface signal (whistle) - optional
- Surface signal (safety tube) - optional
- Cutting tool - optional
- Slate - optional
- Quarry entry fees
(Equipment can be rented from Atlantic Edge at a package rate)
Advanced Open Water Paperwork
Advanced Open Water Course Description Dutch Springs
Advanced Open Water Course Description Juturna Springs
Advanced Open Water Paperwork Packet
-- EVE Shortcode --
No Courses Found


Monday, March 20, 2006
Proposal: Pie is good
Timed out, failed, 1-4. Josh
Adminned at 23 Mar 2006 10:00:57 UTC
Create a rule named Chaos:
If it's been at least 48 hours since the last one, a Gostak may ask for a Floor relocation by making a post announcing it appropriately. Each Gostak may then vote on it in the same way as on proposals. If the post receives more counted FOR votes than counted AGAINST votes, the Floor Relocation is executed as follows:
* Create a Transdimensional Anchor for each Floor by placing its number in rule The Building (in an orderly manner). Add to Transdimensional Anchors 1 and 13 a hyphen followed by "1" and "13", respectively.
* A DICEX shall be rolled for each Floor, excepting the 13th Floor and the 1st Floor, where X is the amount of Floors. If the resulting number has already been added to a Transdimensional Anchor or is 13 or 1, roll again for that Floor and repeat the actions described in this sentence. Add the resulting number to the Transdimensional Anchor created for that Floor, preceded by a Hyphen. Alternatively, a randomized sequence may be created on for the purpose of assigning Floors to Transdimensional Anchors, provided the outcome is treated as if it were created by DICE rolls (i.e. results of 13 and 1 shall be ignored, and Floors will be assigned in numerical order, skipping Transdimensional Anchors 1 and 13).
* Move each Gostak and Entity to the Floor with the number that has been added to the Transdimensional Anchor which has been created for the Floor e was on prior to the relocation. Each Floor's number will change to the number that has been added to the Transdimensional Anchor which has been created for that Floor, and all references to that Floor's previous number in the ruleset, excepting rule Movement, will change to reflect the Floor's new number.
* Rearrange all Floors in numerical order.
* Remove all Transdimensional Anchors.
If more than half of all counted votes have "I prefer cake" added to them, remove the last sentence of the second bullet point of the rule created by this proposal.
03-20-2006 21:16:16 UTC
against i dont quite understand what this means AND hell and hells hell shouldn't move, but they are moving, and no
03-20-2006 21:19:55 UTC
Ach, getting to the top should not be so easy (or random). Also, if the poster votes FOR eir request for floor relocation immediately after posting, then "If the post recieves more counted FOR votes than counted AGAINST votes…" is satisfied, and the relocation takes place at once. against
03-20-2006 21:21:26 UTC
against Lazy Joe should not leave the Prison.
03-20-2006 21:47:09 UTC
The gist of this is shaking the whole building up, quazie, relocating all things on each floor to another floor. I forgot to put a duration in there for the post to be 'pending', though, which indeed renders this proposal incomplete.
Lazy Joe would move with the prison, by the way (or at least I think so), and I personally liked the idea of hell moving about.
against S-K, but open for suggestions (though I doubt I'll repropose it)
Angry Grasshopper:
03-20-2006 22:41:36 UTC
I like the idea, but when did we add Entities to the ruleset?
Angry Grasshopper:
03-20-2006 23:22:37 UTC
Nevermind that.
Elias IX:
03-21-2006 02:57:59 UTC
I liked the idea. But I'm Idle.
Angry Grasshopper:
03-21-2006 03:02:54 UTC
Well, come back and play with us when you have time for it. ;)


text:
Clearly we can't have three collinear points on a sphere. Look at the "on a sphere" case and assume there is a configuration where they do not all lie on a single sphere.
Any three points define a plane. The locus of points equidistant from these three is a line perpendicular to the plane (through the circumcentre). There are at most two points on such a line which are unit distance from the original three, $P$ and $Q$ say. These are the centres of two unit circles, and one of the remaining two points must lie on each sphere.
Note that $P$ and $Q$ are related by a reflection in the original plane. There are five sets of four points in the original configuration. Each set defines a unit sphere, and if two spheres are the same, then all are. So there are five spheres and the centres are related by reflections in the planes defined by triangles.
[From here is a bathtime intuition which, per comments doesn't work. However note that each pair of centres is related by a reflection, which may not map other centres to centres, and therefore creates an infinite group. I thought I could see the group acting on the centres, but I can't make it work - thanks for comments to put me right]
There is just one group of order 5 - cyclic - and this would imply that the centres of the five spheres formed a regular pentagon. Since this does not provide a suitable configuration, none exists. [Would need three points in each of five planes meeting in a single line, no three collinear]


text: Grades of Green had tons of fun hosting a 4R workshop for the Westside YMCA! Members were invited to attend an afternoon workshop where they could learn about the importance of taking care of the environment, and how they can use the 4R's (reduce, reuse, recycle and rot) in their everyday life. The presentation kept the audience on their toes with an interactive games like "Trashketball" to practice recycling skills, "Natural Resource Matching" to remind students where popular waste items come from, and "How Long til it's Gone" to discover how long it takes for common disposables to decompose in a landfill. The workshop concluded with a veggie stamping activity where each guest was able to make a card for a loved one using veggie scraps and stamps. Grades of Green looks forward to partnering with the YMCA to host more community workshops in the future!


text:
God's Creatures Ministry
By Richard H. Schwartz, Ph.D. November 6, 2006
Not only do animals benefit from our compassion and concern -we, too, benefit by becoming more sensitive and more humane, as Jews and people.
Jewish worshipers chant every Sabbath morning, "The soul of every living being shall praise God's name" (Nishmat kol chai tva'rech et shim'chah). Yet, some come to synagogue during the winter months wearing coats that required the cruel treatment of some of those living beings whose souls praise God.
To decide whether the use of fur is a significant Jewish issue, we should consider several related questions:
Judaism and Animals
Judaism has beautiful and powerful teachings with regard to showing compassion to animals. The following are a few examples:
Moses and King David were considered worthy to be leaders of the Jewish people because of their compassionate treatment of animals, when they were shepherds. Rebecca was judged suitable to be a wife of the patriarch Isaac because of her kindness in watering the ten camels of Eliezer, Abraham's servant. Rabbi Yehuda the Prince, the redactor of the Mishna, was punished for many years at the hand of Heaven for speaking callously to a calf being led to slaughter who sought refuge beside him.
Many Torah laws mandate proper treatment of animals. One may not muzzle an ox while it is working in the field nor yoke a strong and a weak animal together. Animals, as well as their masters, are meant to rest on the Sabbath day. The importance of this concept is indicated by the fact that it is mentioned in the Ten Commandments and on every Sabbath morning as part of the kiddush ceremony.
The psalmist indicates God's concern for animals, stating that "His compassion is over all of His creatures" (Psalm 145:9). And there is a mitzvah (precept) in the Torah to emulate the Divine compassion, as it is written: "And you shall walk in His ways" (Deuteronomy 28:9). Perhaps the Jewish attitude toward animals is best expressed by Proverbs 12:10: "The righteous person considers the soul (life) of his or her animal." The Torah prohibits Jews from causing tsa'ar ba'alei chayim, any unnecessary pain, including psychological pain, to living creatures.
Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, an outstanding 19th century philosopher,
author, and Torah commentator, eloquently summarizes the Jewish view on
treatment of animals:
The Pain of Fur-bearing Animals
Fur is obtained from animals who are either trapped or raised on ranches. Both involve treatment of animals that appears to be far from the Jewish teachings that have been previously discussed:
Animals caught in steel-jaw leg hold traps suffer slow, agonizing deaths. Some are attacked by predators, freeze to death, or chew off their own legs to escape. It has been said that one can get a "feel for fur" by slamming your fingers in a car door.
A Canadian Wildlife service report
gives an idea of the terror that trapped animals face and their
efforts to escape:
Over 100 million wild animals are killed for their pelts every year.
Many species of animals killed for their furs have become endangered or have disappeared completely from some localities.
Millions of animals not wanted by trappers, including dogs, cats, and birds, die in traps annually and are discarded as "trash animals." Many trapped animals leave behind dependent offspring who are doomed to starvation.
Treatment of animals raised on "fur ranches" is also extremely cruel.
Confined to lifelong confinement, millions of foxes, beavers, minks, ocelots, rabbits, chinchillas, and other animals await extinction nothing to do, little room to move, and all their natural instincts thwarted. The animals are simply a means to the maximizing of production and profit, and there is no regard for their physical, mental, or emotional well being.
Because of the enforced confinement and lack of privacy, naturally wild animals often exhibit neurotic behaviors such as compulsive movements and self mutilation. The animals finally suffer hideous deaths by electrocution by rods thrust up their anuses, by suffocation, by poisoning, which causes painful muscle cramping, or by having their necks broken.
According to the International Society for Animal Rights, Inc., to make one fur garment requires 400 squirrels; 240 ermine; 200 chinchillas; 120 muskrats; 80 sables; 50 martens; 30 raccoons; 22 bobcats; 12 lynx; or 5 wolves.
Is Fur Necessary?
Judaism puts human beings on a higher level than animals and indicates that animals may be harmed and even killed if an essential human need is met. However, is the wearing of fur truly necessary for people to stay warm during wintry weather? There are many non-fur coats and hats, available in a variety of styles, that provide much warmth. Imitation fur is produced at such a high level of quality that even among Chasidim there is a small but growing trend to wear synthetic "shtreimlach" (fur-trimmed hats).
Based on the prohibition of tsa'ar ba'alei chayim, Rabbi Chaim Dovid Halevy, Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv issued a p'sak (rabbinic ruling) in March, 1992, indicating that Jews should not wear fur.
Rabbi Halevy asked: "Why should people be allowed to kill animals if it is not necessary, simply because they desire the pleasure of having the beauty and warmth of fur coats? Is it not possible to achieve the same degree of warmth without fur?"
In his book, The Jewish Encyclopedia of Moral and Ethical Issues, Rabbi Nachum Amsel, a modern Israeli educator, states: "If the only reason a person wears the fur coat is to "show off" one's wealth or to be a mere fashion statement, that would be considered to be a frivolous and not a legitimate need."
Rabbi Amsel also points out that hunting for sport is prohibited because it is not considered a legitimate need (Avodah Zarah 18b).
The Talmud teaches that Jews are "rachamanim b'nei rachamanim," compassionate children of compassionate ancestors (Beitza 32b). One has to wonder if the wearing of fur is consistent with that challenging mandate.
Are the words of Isaiah valid today if we fail to show compassion to animals?
Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood. (Isaiah 1:12-15)
What kind of lesson in Jewish values are young people getting when they see worshippers coming to synagogue in fur coats on the Sabbath day?
Not only do animals benefit from our compassion and concern -- we,
too, benefit by becoming more sensitive and more humane, as Jews and
civilized human beings.
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God's Creatures Ministry is committed to spreading God's compassion to all He has made based on The Scriptures. Although we are a Christian Ministry, we encourage all to have their own animal welfare committee in their community. We extend our resources to those who would like to learn more or begin their own God's Creatures Ministry as an extension of us. God created us to have a vegetarian diet and commissioned us to protect His animals. Instead, we have exploited them for our entertainment, fashion, appetite and useless, torturous research. These creatures have the right to live as they were created to live. Because we live IN this world, but are not OF this world, we strive to bring God's mercy and justice to all. We live in God's Kingdom now where Jesus, The Sacrificial Lamb, The Prince of Peace, The Lion of Judah reigns. We look forward to that day when all of creation will be'set free from slavery to corruption and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God' (Romans 8:21) where a little child will lead and guide God's creatures (see Isaiah 11:5-9).
This site is hosted and maintained by:
The Mary T. and Frank L. Hoffman Family Foundation
Thank you for visiting all-creatures.org.


WhyQuit.com Joel's Library How to Quit Freedom Turkeyville Next Article
Joel's Quit Smoking Library
Minimizing the Weight Gained
from Quitting Smoking
You may have heard that you can't deal with weight control issues at the same time as quitting smoking. It may be fine for some people to gorge themselves while quitting smoking and deal with the weight at a later time. The health implication of a minor weight gain is negligible in comparison to the health risks posed by smoking. The average smoker would have to gain over 75 to 100 pounds to put the additional workload on the heart that is experienced by smoking, and this is not saying anything about the smoking cancer risk.
But for aesthetic and emotional reasons, allowing uncontrolled eating and the inevitable weight gain is a mistake that will often undermine the quitting process. Discouragement over appearance can cause some to return to smoking. Then the smoker has the additional problem of the extra weight combined with smoking. Sometimes the weight does not automatically disappear by simply relapsing back to smoking.
Weight gain following smoking cessation can be due to several factors. Smoking can have an effect on a person's metabolism and thus quitting can account for a small weight gain in some individuals. Gains of 5 to 10 pounds over a number of months can be attributed to metabolic alterations in some individuals. But once weight gain exceeds 10 pounds, other factors are more probably responsible.
Snacking between meals or increasing the overall size of meals, can easily result in the consuming of several hundred extra calories per day. Eating just an additional 100 calories a day will result in a one-pound fat gain in just over a month, 10.4 pounds in one year, and an extra 104 pounds in ten years. One hundred four pounds of fat from drinking the equivalent of one extra soft drink per day. This is why you often hear, "I didn't eat that much more but gained excessive amounts of weight!" True, they may not have eaten that much more daily, but they did it everyday, and the cumulative effect can easily account for the "mysterious" weight gain.
Some ex-smokers eat more because they are just hungrier. They find themselves snacking between meals or needing to eat at times that were never necessary before. If they wait to eat too late in the day or there is too much time between meals, they may start to experience symptoms such as headaches, sleepiness or lack of energy. This can be a real side effect of smoking cessation.
The reason for the new sense of hunger is due to the fact that nicotine is an appetite suppressant. Smoking between meals seems to eradicate the need for the snacking behaviors experienced by many ex-smokers. Nicotine does this by elevating the blood sugar and blood fat levels, basically tricking the body into thinking that it has eaten more than it actually has. While that may help to control weight, it does so at a risk. Cigarettes used as an appetite suppressant can cause cancer, heart disease, strokes and a host of other illnesses.
The ex-smoker is no longer constantly administering an appetite suppressant. This does not mean he or she needs to increase caloric intake. It may be a matter of redistributing food normally eaten at single sittings at large meals into numerous smaller meals spaced throughout the day. This can allow for the snacking between meals ex-smokers are notorious for without increasing overall caloric intake. As an example, if breakfast consists of cereal, muffin, eggs, and a glass of juice, instead of eating all that food in one sitting, it can be dispersed over two or three times keeping a more even distribution of blood sugar throughout the morning hours. The same rule can apply to lunch and dinner, allowing for numerous snacking times throughout the day.
A more insidious mechanism of increased caloric intake can be experienced by unwittingly eating more at the end of meals. The smoking of a cigarette used to signify the end of a meal. With no cigarette to serve as a cue, the ex-smoker may continue to consume extra food after every meal whether or not he or she is hungry. The ex-smoker may not even know that he has eaten more in the process.
One solution to this behavior can be planning the meal out in advance. Calculate and prepare the amount of food you used to consume while smoking and acknowledge to yourself that you have finished. Another way is leave the table immediately upon completion of the meal. If you must stay at the table have a glass of cold water or a non-caloric beverage present. Don't leave a plate with scraps or desserts in easy reach.
Another very good solution is getting up and brushing your teeth. This can become the new cue for the end of the meal as well as improve dental hygiene. The clean feeling in your mouth may be a new pleasurable experience for an ex-smoker. While smoking, brushing of the teeth was often followed by a cigarette, compromising the overall cleansing process.
Besides controlling consumption, exercise is another tool to help with weight control efforts after quitting smoking. Twenty to thirty minutes of exercise done every other day can offset the metabolic alteration accompanied by smoking cessation. If you are eating "a little more," then more exercise can help offset that, too. But be realistic. You have to do a lot of activity to burn off a relatively small amount of food. That is not to say it is a waste of time to exercise to lose weight; just don't eat food with a shovel and go for a short walk and expect to work off the difference.
Successful weight control while quitting smoking can be accomplished with a little extra effort and planning. If weight gain is experienced during smoking cessation, steps should be implemented as soon as possible to reverse the process. Then to maintain a healthy lifestyle, watch your food consumption, exercise regularly, and most importantly - NEVER TAKE ANOTHER PUFF!
© Joel Spitzer 1997
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text:
In this Adobe video Photoshop tutorial you will see another possible
photo modification – Black White Solarization.
Solarization is an effect in which black and white image was recorded
as negative when shooting on film but with the difference that the dark
part of the picture will be even darker and bright parts brighter. At
the start of this
- Black White Solarization we want to point out that we do not use the
Solarize filter. The whole treatment will be done by adjustment layer
black and white. The selected image is converted to black and white.
Next, we will continue editing image by using Curves. Follow remaining
steps in this
In dialog box, you select Pencil tool, press the Shift key on your
keyboard and draw with pencil V in the box. The whole treatment picture
- Black and white Solarization is very simple and we recommend it for
beginners as well. Video lesson is treated in great detail.
Finally, we enclose photo which was prepared under this Adobe video
Photoshop tutorial – Black White Solarization.


text:
own place at the top of the social, religious, and political hierarchy. In addition, the system ensured public safety.
In other words, the chief at Cahokia appropriated the celestial cosmology that ordered the religious beliefs of his people to strengthen the social hierarchy he headed. Melvin L. Fowler summed it up well:
The creation of a sacred landscape is accomplished through the building of monumental constructions within, or near, a specific community. These sacred landscapes serve as the focal point of ceremonies in the ritual calendar in which "chiefs acted as gods on earth connected to cosmic forces."
We have seen the cosmological legacy the Mississippians inherited from their predecessorsfor example, the solar calendar at Poverty Pointand we know there are historical analogues of their beliefs in the Amerindian tribes that came after them. The interpretation of Cahokia as a symbolic microcosm seems reasonable at this stage of our understanding.


text:
Nothing can justify violence towards children
In most of Europe today, society tolerates and even approves recurrent forms of violence against children, in particular those inflicted in the home.
No religion, economic situation or "educational" method can justify hitting, smacking, spanking, abusing, humiliating, or any other practice that violates a child's dignity. It is internationally recognised in human rights law that children have a right to protection from all forms of violence, including corporal punishment in all settings – home, school, penal systems, care institutions, wherever children are found.
One third of our member states have made corporal punishment illegal and others are committed to legal reform. But despite these positive developments, corporal punishment remains lawful in most countries. Lawfulness of corporal punishment is also contrary to the right of children to equal protection under the law.
Abolishing it calls for changes in legislation and new policies to ensure implementation and guidance for those working with children and families. It also requires awareness raising to inform the public about children's human rights.
Web Content Display
''Raise your hand against smacking!'' - Launch of 2008 Awareness-raising Action
At the launch of the Europe-wide initiative against corporal punishment of children in Zagreb, (Croatia), on 15 June, Deputy Secretary General Maud de Boer-Buquicchio said there was ''no footnote'' in the European Convention granting human rights to adults only. ''Abolishing corporal punishment is a matter of vision and political leadership,'' she added. Jadranka Kosor, Croatia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Family, Veterans' Affairs and Intergenerational Solidarity said: ''It is important to move from smacking to positive parenting, nurturing and love.'' (More...)


text:
Available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike 4.0 International Licence
The thermal performance of a solar water heating system with 4 m2 flat plate collectors in Dublin, Ireland is presented in this paper. The experimental setup consisted of a commercially available forced circulation domestic scale system fitted with an automated sub‐system that controlled hot water draw‐offs and the operation of an auxiliary immersion heater. The system was tested over a year and the maximum recorded collector outlet fluid temperature was 70.4 oC while the maximum water temperature at the bottom of the hot water tank was 59.9 oC. The annual average daily energy collected was 19.6 MJ/d, energy delivered by the solar coil was 16.2 MJ/d, supply pipe loss was 3.2 MJ/d, solar fraction was 32.2%, collector efficiency was 45.6% and system efficiency was 37.8%. Supply pipe losses represented 16.4% of energy collected.
Ayompe, L. and Duffy, A. Analysis of the thermal performance of a solar water heating system with flat plate collectors in a temperate climate. Applied Thermal Engineering (2013): 58; 447-454. doi:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2013.04.062


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Several factors usually determine if a person will have or experience social anxiety. A few of them are genetics, trauma, their childhood, introversion vs. extroversion, and whether they feel safe in that environment or social situation.
Some people are generally sensitive to social situations and can experience varying degrees of anxiety when confronted with a social situation. Although there is no way to actually tell if someone has social anxiety, there are certain behavioral factors or qualities that make some people more likely to experience social anxiety than others. One of such qualities is the zodiac sign.
In this article, we'll be discussing which is the worst zodiac sign for social anxiety. If you're interested in knowing which is the worst zodiac sign, then keep reading. We'll be providing a list containing 5 signs that have qualities that make them more susceptible to social anxiety.
5 Zodiac Signs Most Susceptible to Social Anxiety
- Virgo (August 23 to September 22) – Virgo is a mutable and grounded sign. It is generally associated with the earth and being well-grounded. Virgos are extremely patient and calm. They tend to suffer in silence and give people several second chances. Virgos are also loyal. The combination of these qualities can lead to heightened feelings of social anxiety. Due to the Virgo's reluctance to discuss what is wrong, they can continue to internalize their issues, and this can manifest in social situations. Virgos also like order and being in control. These are qualities often absent in a social situation. The lack of order and control may cause Virgos to withdraw and feel anxious about the situation.
- Gemini (May 20 to June 21) – Infamously known as the two-faced sign, Geminis can actually be quite dependable. They tend to see both sides of things and have more than one thought process. This helps them to be more patient and calculated in their decisions. Unfortunately, this can also cause social anxiety. They have a tendency to overthink situations, and this can manifest as social anxiety. Gemini will also absorb the energy of others. If they're in a location they do not feel comfortable in; they can become extremely socially anxious and overthink everything they do.
- Scorpio (October 23 to November 21) – Scorpios are deep thinkers and introverts. They have an iron control of their thoughts and expressions. Unfortunately, this makes it hard to spot signs of social anxiety in a Scorpio. If they get too deep in their head around people they don't know well; they can become socially anxious.
- Cancer (June 21 to July 22) – Cancers are a fluid sign as their element is water. They have many emotions and can often feel overwhelmed by their emotions. Due to this, they may get called moody or pessimistic. They simply prefer to stay within people they trust. Being in a place with a lot of people they do not know can make them socially anxious.
- Taurus (April 20 to May 20)- This sign is calm and collected. They prefer calm situations and staying in their comfort zone. Taking them out of their comfort zone can lead to feelings of anxiety.


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There's a piece from Discovery going around right now with a focus on the origins of female genital mutialtion. Inter alia:
While the term infibulation has its roots in ancient Rome, where female slaves had fibulae (broochs) pierced through their labia to prevent them from getting pregnant, a widespread assumption places the origins of female genital cutting in pharaonic Egypt.
- via: How Did Female Genital Mutilation Begin? (Discovery)
Do we have an ancient source that mentions this? Or is this another case of a Latin word leading someone, somewhere to infer that the practice must have been Roman?


European Pond Terrapin (Tortoise)
European Pond Terrapin (Tortoise)
European Pond Terrapin (Tortoise) - Emys orbicularis
Relatively short-limbed terrapin. Its shell grows without ripples or ridges and the terrapin can completely withdraw its head and part of its limbs and tail inside.
Generally dark background colour, ranging from black to reddish-brown. Skin finely spotted with yellow. The males are much smaller than the females (on average 12 and 19 cm long respectively).
It lives in various types of aquatic habitat, including rivers, but prefers still or slow moving waters. During the hotter hours of the day it can often be seen basking out of the water. It spends the winter period hidden in the mud or in the ground near the water banks.
Breeding takes place in spring and summer. The females dig a little hole in the ground, where they lay 7-9 pergameneous (leathery-skinned) eggs at a time. The young hatch out after about 2 months or even the following spring.
The Pond Terrapin feeds on small vertebrates (like frogs, newts, fish and the eggs and fledglings of water birds) as well as aquatic invertebrates (molluscs, arthropods and worms).
This species is included in List II of the Habitat Directive no. 92/43/CEE and List II of the Bern Convention.


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Distribution Line Fires
Burning utility poles may cause downed power lines. Follow these precautions:
- If possible, de-energize lines before extinguishing a pole fire. Only apply extinguishing agents to an energized pole under your incident commander's direction. These agents may include dry chemical or water fog spray using the 30/30/100 rule.
- Do not use water around a utility pole unless the incident commander directs you to do so.
- If transformers are burning, be alert for explosions, smoke hazards and oil releases. Even when the fire is put out, there may still be oil present and power lines may still be energized.
- Create a safety perimeter, and keep bystanders at least 50 feet away. Maintain this perimeter until utility personnel confirms that the lines are de-energized and oil cleanup is complete.


WITCH hack
"backslash", "escape", "hack"
When used inside a regular expression
\ in front of any character will change it from a metacharacter to a literal, or visa versa.
When used in a Signature
\ before a sigilless name is a parcel binding.
\ before a sigilled parameter prevents parcel collapse.
Operators containing this character
Modifying a reduction operator such as [\+] (modification of [+]) creates a lazy feed of intermediary results..
Other Uses
unary \ as a noun in front of an argument or arguments creates a Capture
\ in front of whitespace creates an unspace which is used to jam spaces in where they don't belong.
\o \c \x and \d used inside an interpolated string introduce literal characters


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Saying that profit, not necessity is the mother of invention, economic historian John Steele Gordon starts his column in this week's Barrons. His focus was the 18th century clipper ships that earned people like John Jacob Astor $50,000 for a single voyage between the US and China. Furs went to China, tea returned and, because of the invention of the clipper ship, the voyage was faster than ever before.
More speed, more trips, more profits.
The Gordon column reminded me of a book I always enjoy rereading. In How We Got Here, Andy Kessler looks at a history of technology and markets. Echoing Gordon, Kessler takes the reader through the history of the steam engine. He begins with 18th century English coal mines that flooded because they were below water level. Realizing miners needed something better than their vertical bucket brigade, Thomas Savery invented the Miner's Friend, a steam powered mechanized pump.
Here we can fast forward, from the first steam engines to the steamboat (yes, there is lots in between). But that gets us back to the clipper ship and again, how the quest for profits leads to invention. When steam power became cheap enough, because of their speed and cargo capacity (10 times more than sailing vessels), steamboats replaced clipper ships. Merchants, whose transport costs could run as high as three-quarters of the price of an exported good, saw their opportunity.
Again, more voyages, higher volume, lower prices, bigger profits and soon, the next invention.
Wouldn't Adam Smith (mass production) and David Ricardo (free trade) both be smiling?
Sources and Resources: Happily, here you can easily take a look at the Kessler book (my source for steamship stats) while the Gordon article is here. For good brief bios on Smith and Ricardo, the econlib library, here and here, is a handy link.


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|Compartmented Mode Workstation Labeling: Encodings Format Oracle Solaris 11.1 Information Library|
The value= keyword must be present to specify the internal integer value to be associated with the classification. The smallest integer that can be specified is 0. The maximum size integer that can be specified is 255. The decimal integer specified for the value starts with the first non-blank character following the blank after the keyword, and continues up to the next semicolon or the end of the line. A null integer specification, as in the specification:
is taken to be 0. If value= is specified more than once for the same classification name, all specifications except the last are ignored. Hence, value= should be specified only once. A particular value should be specified only once in the encodings file.


The tutorial shows how to make custom Data Validation rules in Excel. You will find a few examples of Excel data validation formulas to allow only numbers or text values in specific cells, or only text beginning with specific characters, permit unique data preventing duplicates, and more.
In yesterday's tutorial we started to look at Excel Data Validation - what its purpose is, how it works, and how to use built-in rules to validate data in your worksheets. Today, we are going to take a step further and talk about the nitty-gritty aspects of custom data validation in Excel as well as experiment with a handful of different validation formulas.
How to create a custom validation rule based on a formula
Microsoft Excel has several built-in data validation rules for numbers, dates and text, but they cover only the most basic scenarios. If you want to validate cells with your own criteria, create a custom validation rule based on a formula. Here's how:
 1. Select one or more cells to validate.
 2. Open the Data Validation dialog box. For this, click the Data Validation button on the Data tab, in the Data Tools group or press the key sequence Alt > D > L (each key is to be pressed separately).
 3. On the Settings tab of the Data Validation dialog window, select Custom in the Allow box, and enter your data validation formula in the Formula box.
 4. Click OK.
Creating a custom formula-based validation rule in Excel
Below you will find a few examples of custom validation rules for different data types.
Note. All Excel data validation rules, built-in and custom, verify only new data that is typed in a cell after creating the rule. Copied data is not validated, nor is the data input in the cell before making the rule. To pin down existing entries that do not meet your data validation criteria, use the Circle Invalid Data feature as shown in How to find invalid data in Excel.
Excel data validation to allow numbers only
Surprisingly, none of the inbuilt Excel data validation rules cater for a very typical situation when you need to restrict users to entering only numbers in specific cells. But this can be easily done with a custom data validation formula based on the ISNUMBER function, like this one:
Where C2 is the topmost cell of the range you want to validate.
A custom data validation rule to allow numbers only
Note. The ISNUMBER function allows any numeric values in validated cells, including integers, decimals, fractions as well as dates and times, which are also numbers in terms of Excel.
Excel data validation to allow text only
If you are looking for the opposite - to allow only text entries in given range of cells, then build a custom rule with the ISTEXT function, for example:
Where D2 is the uppermost cell of the selected range.
A custom data validation rule to allow text only
Allow text beginning with specific character(s)
For example, to ensure that all order id's in column A begin with the "AA-", "aa-", "Aa-", or "aA-" prefix (case-insensitive), define a custom rule with this data validation formula:
Data validation to allow text beginning with specific characters
Validation formula with the OR logic (multiple criteria)
In case there are 2 or more valid prefixes, add up several COUNTIF functions, so that your Excel data validation rule works with the OR logic:
Excel data validation formula with the OR logic
Case-sensitive validation formula
If the character case matters, then use EXACT in combination with the LEFT function to create a case-sensitive validation formula for entries beginning with specific text:
EXACT(LEFT(cell, number_of_chars), text)
For instance, to allow only those order ids that begin with "AA-" (neither "aa-" nor "Aa-" is allowed), use this formula:
In the above formula, the LEFT function extracts the first 3 characters from cell A2, and EXACT performs a case-sensitive comparison with the hard-coded substring ("AA-" in this example). If the two substrings match exactly, the formula returns TRUE and the validation passes; otherwise FALSE is returned and the validation fails.
Case-sensitive validation formula to allow text beginning with specific characters
Allow entries containing certain text
To allow entries that contain specific text anywhere in a cell (in the beginning, middle, or end), use the ISNUMBER function in combination with either FIND or SEARCH depending on whether you want case-sensitive or case-insensitive match:
 - Case-insensitive validation:
 ISNUMBER(SEARCH(text, cell))
 - Case-sensitive validation:
 ISNUMBER(FIND(text, cell))
On our sample data set, to permit only entries containing the text "AA" in cells A2:A6, use one of these formulas:
The formulas work with the following logic:
You search the substring "AA" in cell A2 using FIND or SEARCH, and both return a position of the first character in the substring. If the text is not found, an error is returned. For any numeric value returned as the result of search, the ISNUMBER function yields TRUE, and data validation is successful. In case of an error, ISNUMBER returns FALSE, and the entry won't be allowed in a cell.
Data validation to allow entries containing certain text
Data validation to allow only unique entries and disallow duplicates
In situations when a certain column or a range of cell should not contain any duplicates, configure a custom data validation rule to allow only unique entries. For this, we are going to use the classic COUNTIF formula to identify duplicates:
=COUNTIF(range, topmost_cell)<=1
For example, to make sure that only unique order ids are input in cells A2 to A6, create a custom rule with this data validation formula:
=COUNTIF($A$2:$A$6, A2)<=1
When a unique value is entered, the formula returns TRUE and the validation succeeds. If the same value already exists in the specified range (count greater than 1), COUNTIF returns FALSE and the input fails validation.
Please pay attention that we lock the range with absolute cell references (A$2:$A$6) and use a relative reference for the top cell (A2) to get the formula to adjust properly for each cell in the validated range.
Data validation to allow only unique entries
Note. This data validation formulas is case-insensitive, it does not distinguish uppercase and lowercase text.
Validation formulas for dates and times
If you want more control over data validation in your worksheets, you can replicate the inbuilt functionality with a custom rule or write your own formula that goes beyond the built-in capabilities of Excel data validation.
Allow dates between two dates
To limit the entry to a date within a specified range, you can use either the predefined Date rule with the "between" criteria or make a custom validation rule with this generic formula:
AND(cell>=start_date), cell<=end_date)
 - cell is the topmost cell in the validated range, and
 - start and end dates are valid dates supplied via the DATE function or references to cells containing the dates.
For example, to allow only dates in the month of July of the year 2017, use the following formula:
Or, enter the start date and end date in some cells (F1 and F2 in this example), and reference those cells in your formula:
=AND(C2>=$F$1, C2<=$F$2)
Please notice that the boundary dates are locked with absolute cell references.
Data validation to allow dates between two dates
Allow weekdays or weekends only
To restrict a user to entering only weekdays or weekends, configure a custom validation rule based on the WEEKDAY function.
With the return_type argument set to 2, WEEKDAY returns an integer ranging from 1 (Monday) to 7 (Sunday). So, for weekdays (Mon to Fri) the result of the formula should be less than 6, and for weekends (Sat and Sun) greater than 5.
Allow only workdays:
Allow only weekends:
For example, to allow entering only workdays in cells C2:C6, use this formula:
Validation rule to allow only workdays
Validate dates based on today's date
In many situations, you may want to use today's date as the start date of the allowed date range. To get the current date, use the TODAY function, and then add the desired number of days to it to compute the end date.
For example, to limit the data entry to 6 days from now (7 days including today), we are going to use the built-in Date rule with the formula-based criteria:
 1. Select Date in the Allow
 2. Select between in the Data
 3. In the Start date box, enter =TODAY()
 4. In the End date box, enter =TODAY() + 6
Validating dates based on today's date
In a similar manner, you can restrict users to entering dates before or after today's date. For this, select either less than or greater than in the Data box, and then enter =TODAY() in the End date or Start date box, respectively.
Validate times based on current time
To validate data based on the current time, use the predefined Time rule with your own data validation formula:
 1. In the Allow box, select Time.
 2. In the Data box, pick either less than to allow only times before the current time, or greater than to allow times after the current time.
 3. In the End time or Start time box (depending on which criteria you selected on the previous step), enter one of the following formulas:
 - To validate dates and times based on the current date and time:
 - To validate


character to have a wider range of skills and better scores in their skills than the normal 16 year old from straight RQ character generation. The characters do have a background, but this does not affect their skills so much as experience.
The prior experience system allows a peasant or townsman character to join a guild to get training in their skills and also to join the militia to gain combat skills. This option is not open to nobles and barbarians, but there are prior experience rules for them too, with barbarians having different skills and weapons for foot or mounted tribes. Characters can join the mercenaries to gain experience with there being different types of unit, so light or heavy infantry or cavalry is possible. From being a guild apprentice a character can have skills that would be the basis of how they live other than by making money adventuring and this is a useful feature for RQ rather than just starting all the characters out as 16 year olds with limited skills and no other option than adventuring. In Appendix F I've shown how it works in practice.
Characters in RQ advance by using their skills or training, this is the most realistic of these three games as the improvement clearly links to what the character has done or experienced. The increase by experience mechanic requires rolling D100 with the current skill level deducted from 100 to give the target meaning that inexperienced characters improve more quickly than highly able characters which again is more realistic that a novice can improve more rapidly than a capable warrior or guildmember. There is a limit on advancing skills due to training with experience being needed over 75%.
Summing Up
The class and level system used in C&C has a strength in simplicity and ease of use, but it does mean that characters are less mechanically differentiated than in say D&D 3.5, WFRP or RQII. In WFRP all characters that complete the same career will have advanced their attributes and obtained roughly the same skills and talents, but at an intermediate stage they can choose what to maximise and which next career to follow. RQII is the most realistic system with skill and attribute use or training giving rise to advancement, but it means that it is harder to design adventures for publication as experienced groups of characters will tend to have widely different skills apart from their combat abilities.
The rest of the review can be found in the following posts:
Part 1 Settings, Characters and Advancement
Part 1a Character Creation
Part 2b Equipment and Encumbrance
Part 3 Melee
Part 4 Magic
Part 5 Conclusions


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Have you been pricked?Created by:
As healthcare professionals, we will always be at risk of neddles stick or shraps injury whilst at work. Have you had a personal experience wth needle stick? Pleases do share.
The following guidance has been taken from an NHS website and this is just a simple reminder on how we deal with such incident, if ever it happens.
"If you pierce or puncture your skin with a used needle, follow this first aid advice immediately:
- encourage the wound to bleed, ideally by holding it under running water
- wash the wound using running water and plenty of soap
- don't scrub the wound while you're washing it
- don't suck the wound
- dry the wound and cover it with a waterproof plaster or dressing
You should also seek urgent medical advice:
- go to the nearest accident and emergency (A&E) department, or
- contact your employer's Occupational Health service, if you injure yourself at work"


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Every ticket is automatically assigned a unique, non-sequential reference mask, like
RYS-07092-012. A contact can provide the first three letters of the mask for quick lookups. The term mask refers to the fact that the randomized reference number (opposed to a numeric ID) doesn't disclose information about your total number of tickets or your daily email volume.
The contacts involved in a conversation are referred to as participants. By default, all participants receive a copy of worker replies to the conversation.
The specific worker who is responsible for a ticket is its owner.
Related tickets from the same participants can be merged together into a single ticket, which combines all of the messages and comments. Conversely, if a ticket conversation diverges into multiple topics that would be better handled by other groups or workers, one or more messages can be split off into new tickets.
The status of a ticket is always one of the following:
- open: the conversation needs worker attention.
- waiting for reply: the conversation is on hold pending client action.
- closed: the conversation has concluded.
- deleted: the conversation is flagged for deletion during the next maintenance window.
You'll most likely have at least one worklist dedicated to open tickets if you're responsible for responding to inquiries from contacts.
When a ticket is changed to the waiting status you can also schedule a wait until date and time, at which point the conversation will automatically return to the open status. This keeps your inbox free of tickets that you can't work on until a later date. It's also a great way to schedule followups on sales or marketing messages.
If a contact adds a new message to a ticket that is waiting or closed it will automatically change back to the open status.
By default, when a ticket is deleted you will have 7 days from its last activity to change it to a different status before it's removed permanently. This is called the undo window.
Drafts automatically save the current progress of a worker's message before they send it. This allows a composed message to be resumed at a later date, and it provides a backup (e.g. the browser crashes or otherwise unintentionally closes).
Drafts are displayed in a ticket's conversation timeline, which instantly lets other workers know that a response is being sent so they can move on to a different ticket. This prevents duplication of effort.
Similarly, a trainee can ask a supervisor to review their draft before they send a message to a client.
However, unlike the traditional paste action, snippets also support sophisticated scripting functionality with placeholders and conditional logic. This means that the content of a snippet can change based on when and where you use it.
In a common use case, an auto-responder message will use placeholders in a snippet like:
The above snippet results in the following text when used by a bot on a new ticket:
Ticket priority is determined by the importance field. You'll encounter importance as a simple slider where you can nudge it up or down as needed.
The importance field can also be automatically adjusted by bots in response to service level committments, escalations, etc.
Cerb records response time information in two fields:
First response: the total time elapsed before the first response from a worker. This focuses on the first response so that it isn't skewed by later delays that may be attributed to the client.
First resolution: the total time elapsed before the ticket was first changed to the closed status. This isn't affected by subsequent changes between the open and closed statuses that may occur when you get stuck in a loop of "Thanks!" and "You're welcome!" – especially because that may occur days after the ticket was actually resolved.
When a worker responds to a specific client message, Cerb also records the response time on the worker's message. This encourages workers to respond quickly, even if it's only to say, "Let me check on that and get right back to you".
Cerb performs a simple statistical analysis of the contents of the first message on new tickets to predict whether a message is spam or not. The predicted probability of being spam is stored as a spam score on the ticket. By itself, this prediction has no effect on tickets. However, the computed score can be used by bots and workers to filter mail when desirable.
The spam predictions improve and adapt over time through training. When a worker replies to a client message, Cerb learns to be more approving of similar messages in the future. When workers click the Report spam button on a ticket, Cerb becomes more critical of similar messages in the future.