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Head Parking and the Landing Zone
When the platters are not spinning, the heads rest on the surface of the disk. When the platters spin up, the heads rub along the surface of the platters until sufficient speed is gained for them to "lift off" and float on their cushion of air. When the drive is spun down, the process is repeated in reverse. In each case, for a period of time the heads make contact with the surface of the disk–while in motion, in fact.
While the platters and heads are designed with the knowledge in mind that this contact will occur, it still makes sense to avoid having this happen over an area of disk where there is data! For this reason, most disks set aside a special track that is designated to be where the heads will be placed for takeoffs and landings. Appropriately, this area is called the landing zone, and no data is placed there. The process of moving the heads to this designated area is called head parking.
Most early hard drives that used stepper motors did not automatically park the heads of the drive. As a safety precaution, small utilities were written that the user would run before shutting down the PC. The utility would instruct the disk to move the heads to the landing zone, and then the PC could be shut off safely. A parameter in the BIOS setup for the hard disk told the system which track was the landing zone for the particular model of hard disk. Usually, it was the next consecutive-numbered track above the largest-numbered one actually used for data.
Modern voice-coil actuated hard disk drives are all auto-parking. On some disks, a weak spring is attached to the head assembly that tries to pull the heads to the landing zone. When power is applied the actuator is able to overpower the spring and position the heads normally. When the power is shut off, the electromagnetic force from the voice coil abates, and the spring yanks the heads to the landing zone before the platters can spin down; this can sometimes be heard on older drives as an audible clunk when you turn the power off. Other disks use a different mechanical or electronic scheme to achieve the same goal. Some even make use of the rotational energy remaining in the spindle motor to move the heads off the data surface when the power is cut off! This means that modern hard disks will automatically park their heads–even in the event of a power failure–and no utilities are required. The BIOS landing zone parameter for modern drives is ignored.
Some people still think that it is necessary to manually park the heads of modern hard disks, but this is not true. I sometimes think of head parking utilities as the disk drive's equivalent of a screen saver. In both cases, the software was invented as a preventative measure, and one that made sense for use with the technology that prevailed at the time it was thought up. And in both cases, the technology has evolved to the point where utility is no longer necessary, yet many people still think it is.
IBM has developed an alternative to conventional head parking that I think is really a great idea. Instead of letting the heads fall down to the surface of the disk when the disk's motor is stopped, the heads are lifted completely off the surface of the disk while the drive is still spinning, using a special ramp. Only then are the disks allowed to spin down. When the power is reapplied to the spindle motor, the process is reversed: the disks spin up, and once they are going fast enough to let the heads fly without contacting the disk surface, the heads are moved off the "ramp" and back onto the surface of the platters. IBM calls this load/unload technology. In theory it should improve the reliability of the hard disk as a whole, by eliminating most contact between the heads and platters entirely. I am unaware of any other drive manufacturers using it at this time.
Another feature related to reducing damage to the hard disks caused by wear from the heads is wear leveling, which moves the heads over the surface of the drive to avoid "wearing out" one section of the drive.
By Charles M. Kozierok


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Fusion experiment back on track
Raymond J. Fonck
Raymond J. Fonck (large image)
The newly remodeled Pegasus laboratory
After nearly two years of planning and upgrades, the Pegasus Plasma Experiment is back online and better equipped to address the challenges facing low-aspect-ratio toroidal fusion experiments.
A fire in a power diode sidelined Pegasus in late-spring 2002, damaging the lab's superstructure and rendering the experiment's capacitor banks unusable. Cleanup and reconstruction began in summer 2002. "We took a very long look at it and with the help of the college and the state insurance company, we came up with a solution that is far, far better," says Professor and Pegasus Director Ray Fonck.
What once was a crowded laboratory now is airy and organized. A major part of the solution involves the experiment's power supplies. Gutting the lab, the group moved the old capacitors out-for good-and replaced inactive high-voltage transformers in an adjacent exterior underground vault with new nonflammable power supplies.
In the resulting lab space, an enclosed room now safely shields all of the cabling and control equipment from electrical noise and interference from the high power of the experiment itself.
With help from University of Washington fusion scientists (some of whom are UW-Madison alumni), the group installed advanced switching technologies on the lab's mezzanine. Those technologies will enable Pegasus researchers to break new ground in university fusion research. "We're making very flexible, high-energy, high-power energy supplies that give us what we call waveform programmability," says Fonck. "That allows us to control in real time what the currents and the magnets are doing."
Because of the infrastructure needed, it's a capability typically found in the national laboratories and Fonck says he hopes Pegasus will be a prototype for a new generation of university experiments. "The big difference between the small experiments and the national labs has always been how much control do you have over the magnetic structure and how much variability do you have," he says. "And these start to give us the tools to do that."
In addition to the new switches and power supplies, his group added a new interlocking magnet to the high-magnetic-field magnet in the experiment's center. The change is key to conquering plasma instabilities that previously held the researchers back. It also gives Pegasus a unique capability: "We can, in a few milliseconds, change our magnetic-field strength dramatically," says Fonck. "It allows us to sit at a very high magnetic field and make a high-quality plasma and then slam that field down. That gets us into the special high-pressure regime."
After the fire, Fonck had the unenviable task of breaking the news to several top-notch graduate students who had just joined the program. To his delight, they chose to attend UW-Madison anyway and with the lab's technical staff, have shouldered much of the reconstruction effort. "The really positive side is that the students are experiencing everything from the ground up," he says. "It's something that most people in large physical science laboratories don't get."
During the reconstruction, the group's $2.7 million Department of Energy grant remained intact. Now, in its place as the third-largest experiment of its kind in the world, Pegasus still will adhere to its mission, which is to test basic theoretical ideas about magnetic geometry and the ability to confine plasmas at very high pressure, says Fonck.
But the door of possibility is wide open. "From our point of view, because we've changed the magnetic structure and the power supplies are completely changed and we have a new generation of graduate students, this is a new program for us," he says.
The group will "catch up" within the context of the world fusion community and then embark on a new research direction by the end of 2004. "We have to stabilize these instabilities that were holding us back, we have to go beyond them and we have to get to very high-pressure plasmas in a regime where no one else has been," says Fonck. "We think we can do it with these tools."


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Our Year 7 Academic Extension Program is well underway and students are progressing well. Below is a summary of what the academic extension students have been working on so far this term.
The students in Science have been working on their measuring skills - using thermometers, rulers and balances to make accurate measurements. They have also looked at how to design an experiment, and most of them now have their Bunsen licenses.
The students have been learning about percentages, decimals and BIMDAS (order of mathematical operations). The students are now moving onto fractions whilst also starting to practice for the Mathematics Olympiad Competition.
Humanities and Social Sciences:
The students have been learning about the foundational concepts of economics. Through this topic, they have been building on their research skills, practicing recording information and analysing the reliability of information found on websites. They have also been writing bibliographies.
The students have been working on their "My Life" booklet where the students presented information about themselves and were learning about writing letters. The students are now moving onto reading skills. Students have read a book of their choice and completed a book review. They will now commence studying a class novel.

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


text: Most environmental regulations follow a similar evolutionary path. A law is passed in Washington, DC., outlining the requirements of the law and assigning, typically to the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the authority to promulgate federal regulations for implementing those requirements. These regulations take a minimum of two years to navigate the regulatory promulgation process. When finalized, the regulations provide the basis for "how to comply" with the law. Federal laws and regulations often require the states to develop programs that are "at least as stringent" as the federal version. States require another minimum of two years to promulgate their state-specific "least as stringent" programs for which they may then receive approval from the EPA to implement and enforce. This approval may be for an entire program, such as the RCRA Hazardous Waste Program, or for a portion of a program, such as the Clean Water Act. In all cases, the federal EPA retains oversight and enforcement capabilities.

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


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(Phys.org)—Tried-and-true techniques could help optimize oilseed yield for biodiesel production, according to studies conducted by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists.
For more than 30 years, near infrared (NIR) reflectance spectroscopy has been used as a rapid and nondestructive method for measuring protein, moisture, and oil levels in whole grains. Now Agricultural Research Service (ARS) research leader Dan Long is studying how to use remote sensing tools to quickly assess seed oil quality and quantity before and after harvest.
ARS is USDA's chief intramural scientific research agency, and this research supports the USDA priority of developing new sources of bioenergy.
Long, who works at the ARS Columbia Plateau Conservation Research Center in Pendleton, Ore., used a special NIR sensor to assess seed oil content in 226 canola samples from Montana, Washington and Oregon. Seed oil concentration is used to estimate extraction efficiency, which is the percentage of oil recovered in relation to the amount of oil in seed.
Using this technique, Long was able to determine that oil concentrations in the samples ranged from 32 percent to 46 percent, and that the NIR sensor estimated seed oil content with an average error of 0.73 percent. A bout of abnormal weather affected results from one group of seeds in this study. If this group had been excluded from the analysis, the overall error rate would have been less than 0.5 percent.
Long believes that NIR sensors could be installed in seed crushing facilities to rapidly and continuously measure the oil content of clean seeds flowing into the expeller, where they are crushed to obtain the oil. Using NIR to monitor extraction efficiency might enable workers to adjust the choke setting on the expeller to compensate for oil loss in meal.
This would boost profits associated with seed processing, and lower the costs of the oil feedstock that is converted into fuel. NIR measurements might also help reduce the number of acres needed for oilseed feedstock production by maximizing seed oil extraction rates in the seed crushing facilities.
Explore further: Researchers identify new target to boost plant resistance to insects and pathogens
More information: Findings from these studies were published earlier this year in the Journal of Near Infrared Spectroscopy.


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Could Gondolas Be Part of the Future of Public Transit?
As cities grow more crowded, what's the best solution for public transportation? New rail systems are expensive: light rail costs about $35 million per mile, and subways are $400 million per mile. In some cities, dedicated bus lanes make buses a viable option, but in many places narrow city streets don't accommodate buses well. Michael McDaniel, a designer at Frog Design, is proposing a new solution for Austin, Texas: a network of gondolas that run high above the city from neighborhood to neighborhood.
The gondola system is considerably cheaper to build; Frog estimates it may cost around $3 million per mile. It can transport up to 10,000 people an hour. That can replace 100 bus trips, or 2,000 rides in a car. Unlike trains, Frog says, the gondolas can run almost anywhere, and the system can easily be expanded. It's best suited for cities with a network of skyscrapers, because transfer stations can be incorporated into the buildings without the need to build new, high platforms.
Critics point out that gondolas don't work well in windy conditions, and congestion can also be addressed by limiting car traffic. But it's an interesting idea. Watch the designer explain more in the video below.
Images courtesy of Frog Design


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A person 'X' invests 'P' dollars at once. In 7.25 years, if the amount doubles, then what would be the amount in terms of 'P' for 29 years?
So, I see that every 7.25 years we have P+P. Now, 7.25 goes into 29 4 times. Thus, we should have (P+P)^4=(2P)^4=16P^2.
how does this look?


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The Reading and Literacy Discovery Center (RLDC) is a program within the Communication Science Research Center that integrates neuroscience, genetics and behavioral research methods with evidence-based reading interventions to improve childhood literacy by identifying reading difficulties before they happen. Through ongoing research and collaborative partnerships with universities, community organizations, local schools, and parents, the RLDC aims to enable every child to discover reading as a path to learning.
The RLDC staff is made up of researchers, educators, pediatricians, speech pathologists and reading specialists. With a common focus on improving childhood literacy, the RLDC staff provides children and their families with a comprehensive approach to addressing reading difficulties and potential reading disorders by providing evaluations, resources and referrals.
Services provided by the RLDC include an informational website for educators, parents and clinicians that reviews scientific research of evidence-based literacy practices and interventions, comprehensive reading evaluations and targeted literacy interventions for struggling readers, educational training opportunities in early childhood literacy and response to intervention, and educational partnerships with local universities.


Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology
A doctor of philosophy (Ph.D.) in sociology allows students to expand upon their knowledge of the human mind and society in general and gives you access to courses that aid in understanding the best ways to collect and analyze data.
Our Ph.D. program prepares students for the academic job market or other professional careers through a challenging, comprehensive and integrated curriculum that trains doctoral students to (1) theorize from a variety of sociological perspectives and (2) analyze using a variety of methodologies. The curriculum also focuses on advanced training in the specialty areas of race/ethnicity/gender, sociology of health and illness, and global/transnational/comparative sociology.
Career insights


How to Dissect a Fixed Rate
Not all Fixed Rates are the Same
We are often asked if a fixed rate quoted by a bank is competitive. Seems like a simple question, but in practice, it's a difficult one to answer without proper analysis. Numerous factors determine how a lender arrives at a fixed rate. In this month's report, we will explain differences in how fixed rates are calculated and the subtle nuances in doing so that can make a big difference in making the right financing decision.
Let's start with how we dissect a fixed rate quote a bank has offered to begin the process of competitive analysis.
Banks are Vulnerable to Interest Rate Risk
Casinos are very averse to risk (they don't gamble), and despite some of the risks banks have taken (the credit crisis of 2008 and Dot-Com bubble come to mind), interest rate risk remains their core risk. A bank's main concern is protecting the credit spread they charge the borrower. If the loan is indexed to 1-Month LIBOR plus a credit spread, the bank isn't necessarily at risk if variable rates rise because the borrower assumes the rate risk. Of course, if variable rates rise beyond the ability of the borrower to pay, the bank is subject to interest rate risk. On highly levered loans, banks may require the borrower to hedge the variable rate risk with an interest rate cap or swap.
If the borrower wants a fixed rate loan, the bank will offer an interest rate swap (a very profitable product for a bank and should not be entered into without an independent consultant) to synthetically fix the rate by entering into a contract to pay the borrower the variable rate in exchange for a fixed rate.
What is a Community Bank?
Community banks serve the needs of small local businesses and focus more on relationships. The bankers who make the credit decisions live in the community and know their customers. Most small businesses often have to rely on a community bank because, even though the borrower might be considered low risk, larger banks have more structured underwriting requirements. While a relationship with a larger bank is important, credit decisions are often made outside of the community.
Generally, community banks offer fixed rate term loans with 5-year maturities and some can offer fixed rate terms up to 10 years. Unlike large commercial banks, defining the community bank's cost of funding, and hence the competitiveness of any fixed rate financing they offer, can be a challenge.
Deconstructing a Bank's Fixed Rate
There are various benchmarks banks use to quote fixed rates. Community banks will often use the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) term rate and add their credit spread. When quoting a 10-year loan, more often than not, community banks will quote a fixed rate for 5-years with a reset after year 5 that sets the fixed rate for the last 5 years of the loan. If the quote is for 10-years without a 5-year reset, the spread over the index is generally higher. In the event the loan is paid off early, community banks typically have an interesting way of calculating the cost to pre-pay the loan. We call it a "5-4-3-2-1" program, meaning that if the borrower pays off the loan after 3 years, the cost to the borrower to do so is 3% of the outstanding loan balance.
Let's assume the following:
$10MM loan balance
Funding Date: 12-1-18 (important to provide a best estimate)
Maturity Date: 12-1-28 (a 10-year loan term)
Amortization: 20 year mortgage-style
Bank fixed rate quote: 5.75%
No Free Lunch
Let's apply these concepts to our loan assumptions: We recently reviewed a proposal with a 5-4-3-2-1, but the term was for 10 years and fixed. This means the borrower could pay-off the loan with no pre-payment penalty after five years, but this leniency from the bank meant that the borrower paid a higher credit spread over the index in return. Makes sense, because the risk to the bank is if interest rates go down and the borrower has an option to take advantage of lower rates. What a borrower needs to consider is if the additional cost is worth the more lenient prepayment terms. We can quantify the cost of this optionality to better compare terms with other credit providers ( we recommend hiring an independent advisor to provide the analysis).
Comparing Apples to Apples
Without going into the complexities of valuing the no pre-payment optionality, our first step when analyzing a fixed rate offer is to figure out what credit spread is added to a universal benchmark, like the swap rate. The swap rate is based upon what the futures market expectations are for 3-Month LIBOR over a given period of time. While the LIBOR futures market is based upon 3-Month LIBOR contracts, most banks index their variable rate loans to 1-Month LIBOR plus a credit spread. For an apples to apples comparison, some interpolation needs to be priced into the swap rate, especially if the loan is amortizing. This type of swap is called an over-the-counter derivative ("OTC") because it is customized, and the value is "derived" from the 3-Month LIBOR (Eurodollar) futures market.
Determining the Credit Spread and Swap Fee
Using the above assumptions, let's assume the market swap rate at the time of the fixed-rate offer is 3.10%. The swap rate is an approximation of the lender's cost of money and market expectations of where LIBOR will roughly average over that period of time. To determine the credit spread the bank is charging, from our assumptions above, take the quoted fixed rate and subtract the swap rate: 5.75% – 3.10% = 2.65%. In this case, 2.65% represents the lender's gross credit spread. If we change the amortization to a fixed principal payment for 10 years, the swap rate is 3.05%. Obviously, a 20-year mortgage style amortization schedule means a lower monthly payment. The yield curve is very flat at present, thus one needs to be cognizant that term rates in the current interest rate environment will be only a few basis points apart. This means LIBOR is expected to average at about the same rate for 3 to 10 plus years.
An apples to apples comparison: 5.75% fixed compares to 1-Month LIBOR + 2.65% floating. It's that simple? Not really. The present value of 1 basis point (aka "PV01") for a 10-year, level principal, fully amortizing loan is $4,658 and the PV01 for the 10-year deal with a 20-year level payment is $7,477. The longer amortization schedule has more exposure if term interest rates fall. Even though there is more risk to terminate a swap that amortizes over 20 years, the lower payment needs to be taken into consideration as a benefit. While the difference in the all-in fixed rate for the 10-year term/20-year amortization ("10/20") and 10-year term/10-year fully amortizing ("10/10") is only 5 basis points, a 1 basis point increase in term rates will cost the borrower either $7,477 or $4,658.
There is one additional risk to consider: the bank is taking more risk by fixing a loan for 10-years amortizing over 20 years than by executing a fully amortizing 10-year pay fixed swap. This is a very important point to understand because the additional risk the bank is taking will be embedded into the swap rate or higher credit spread. The calculation to quantify the additional risk is quite complex with many variables, and some of the reasons are not related to interest rate risk. The bank may have discounted one service only to make up it by raising the swap rate.
Consider an example we come across all the time. A bank adds 30 basis points ("bps") to a 10/10 swap; the bank's fee is: 30 x $4,658 (the PV01) = $139,740 and if 30 bps is added to a 10/20 swap the fee is $224,310. Is 30 basis points a fair spread? The justification for doing so isn't transparent. However, we do know the 10/10 swap spread should be lower.
What's your Day Count?
Day count is often overlooked when comparing credit options, to a borrower's detriment. A $10mm loan with a fixed rate of 5.75% for 30 days and a day count Act/360 = $47,917 in interest, but if we change the day count to Act/365 the interest would be $47,260. We all know there are more than 360 days in the year. The difference over a year equates to $8,000. That's not chump change.
The Importance of Payment Periods
Now we need to add another component to the mix and that is payment periods. If you borrow $10mm and pay interest monthly, but your index is based upon 3-Month LIBOR you should assume the interest cost is going to be higher. A dollar today is worth more than a dollar in 3 months.
Most CMBS and Life loans


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Theorem: If A and B are two independent events, then the probability that both will occur is equal to the product of their individual probabilities.
Proof: Let event
A can happen is n1ways of which p are successful
B can happen is n2ways of which q are successful
Now, combine the successful event of A with successful event of B.
Thus, the total number of successful cases = p x q
We have, total number of cases = n1 x n2.
Therefore, from definition of probability
P (A and B) =P(A∩B)=
We have P(A) =,P(B)=
If, there are three independent events A, B and C, then
=P(A) x P(B) x P(C).
In general, if there are n independent events, then
Example: A bag contains 5 green and 7 red balls. Two balls are drawn. Find the probability that one is green and the other is red.
Solution: P(A) =P(a green ball) =
P(B) =P(a red ball) =
By Multiplication Theorem
P(A) and P(B) = P(A) x P(B) =


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A bashi-bazouk or bashibazouk (Turkish başıbozuk, or delibaş, literally "damaged head", meaning "free headed", "leaderless", "disorderly") was an irregular soldier of the Ottoman army. They were particularly noted for their lack of discipline.
Although Turkish armies always contained bashi-bazouk adventurers as well as regular soldiers, the strain on the Ottoman feudal system caused mainly by the Empire's wide expanse required heavier reliance on irregular soldiers. They were armed and maintained by the government, but did not receive pay and did not wear uniforms or distinctive badges. They were motivated to fight mostly by expectations of plunder. Though the majority of troops fought on foot, some troops (called akinci) rode on horseback. Because of their lack of discipline, they were incapable of undertaking major military operations, but were useful for other tasks such as reconnaissance and outpost duty. However, their uncertain temper occasionally made it necessary for the Turkish regular troops to disarm them by force.
The Ottoman army consisted of the following:
- The Sultan's household troops, called Kapıkulu, which were salaried, most notable being janissary corps.
- Provincial soldiers, which were fiefed (Turkish Tımarlı), the most important being Timarli Sipahi (lit. "fiefed cavalry") and their retainers (called cebelu lit. armed, man-at-arms), but other kinds were also present.
- Soldiers of subject, protectorate, or allied states (the most important being the Crimean Khans)
- Bashi-bazouk usually did not receive regular salaries and lived off loot.
Under the best conditions, an Ottoman commander-in-chief would be able to muster hundreds of thousands of soldiers and lead an excursion into Austria or Iran, whichever posed the greatest threat, capturing or extorting sufficient lands or money to cover the expenses of the next campaign in the process. Frequently, the actual number of soldiers deployed to the battlefield was one order of magnitude less.
On the eve of battle an Ottoman commander would tap any source of manpower he saw fit; hiring mercenaries was one of them. The hiring process occurred in an open market, with prices determined by negotiation between the mercenary troop leader and an Ottoman commander. Prices were affected by the quality and quantity of mercenary troop available as well as the commander's requirements. Oral negotiations usually led to a written contract. Some of these documents survive today, often showing small mercenary leaders contracting for very high amounts.
The bashi-bazouk were notorious for being brutal and undisciplined, thus giving the term its second, colloquial meaning of "undisciplined bandit" in many languages. A notable example of this use is in the comic series Tintin, where the word is often used as an expletive by Captain Haddock.
Their use was abandoned by the end of the 19th century. However, self-organized bashi-bazouk troops still appeared later.
The term "bashibozouk" has also been used for a mounted force, existing in peacetime in various provinces of the Ottoman empire, which performed the duties of gendarmerie.
See also
Further reading
- Ottoman warfare, _PHONE_ by Rhoads Murphey. London : UCL Press, 1999.
- Özhan Öztürk (2005). Karadeniz (Black Sea): Ansiklopedik Sözlük. 2 Cilt. Heyamola Yayıncılık. İstanbul. ISBN _PHONE_-9.
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bashi-bazouk|
- Montgomery, Viscount Bernard (1968). A History of Warfare, The World Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-688-01645-6.


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Noun(1) (astronomy(2) a bodily passage or tube lined with epithelial cells and conveying a secretion or other substance(3) long and narrow strip of water made for boats or for irrigation
Verb(1) provide (a city
(1) Keeping enough water in the canal to guarantee ships passage has become a problem.(2) Normal wax builds up in the outer part of the ear canal, not near the eardrum.(3) These waves are channeled through the ear canal to hit the eardrum, causing vibrations.(4) The surgeon seats a femoral bone plug into the medullary canal to provide an end-stop for the cement.(5) He said after the excessive rain, villagers were forced to make a breach in the canal to allow flood waters to flow.(6) The scan shows a mild focal dilatation of the central canal of the spinal cord over two vertebral levels in the mid-dorsal region.(7) the ear canal(8) Each cord maintains its connection with the abdominal cavity via the canal, whence the vas joins the urinary tract below the bladder.(9) This canal is the top canal of the inner ear so it is actually right under the brain.(10) The plan is that one day the Wilts and Berks canal will allow boats to cruise what is known as the Wessex Waterway Network.(11) Under direct vision the excessive hair follicles of the external ear canal and pinna were targeted by the laser beam.(12) Unusual muscle fibers may be found in the facial canal along with the facial nerve.(13) Swelling of the ear canal may make your child complain of a full or uncomfortable feeling in the ear.(14) In cases of absence of the internal carotid artery, the carotid canal may also be absent.(15) The true origin of the glandular neoplasms of the external ear canal is controversial.(16) Lowell was soon drawing Mars crisscrossed with a vast canal system.
(1) root canal :: రూట్ కెనాల్
1. inland waterway ::
2. watercourse ::
3. channel ::
5. canalize ::
Different Formscanal, canalization, canalize, canalizes, canals
English to Telugu Dictionary: canal
Meaning and definitions of canal, translation in Telugu language for canal with similar and opposite words. Also find spoken pronunciation of canal in Telugu and in English language.
Tags for the entry "canal"
What canal means in Telugu, canal meaning in Telugu, canal definition, examples and pronunciation of canal in Telugu language.


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Indiana Code Title 9. Motor Vehicles § 9-21-8-59 is the Indiana law that addresses texting and driving in Indiana. The code reads as follows:
(a) A person may not use a telecommunications device to:
(1) type a text message or an electronic mail message;
(2) transmit a text message or an electronic mail message; or
(3) read a text message or an electronic mail message;
while operating a moving motor vehicle unless the device is used in conjunction with hands free or voice operated technology, or unless the device is used to call 911 to report a bona fide emergency.
(b) A police officer may not, without the consent of the person:
(1) confiscate a telecommunications device for the purpose of determining compliance with this section;
(2) confiscate a telecommunications device and retain it as evidence pending trial for a violation of this section; or
(3) extract or otherwise download information from a telecommunications device for a violation of this section unless:
(A) the police officer has probable cause to believe that the telecommunications device has been used in the commission of a crime;
(B) the information is extracted or otherwise downloaded under a valid search warrant; or
(C) otherwise authorized by law.


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Common Reasons for External Hard Drive Disconnecting
An external hard drive is a convenient storage device that allows you to expand your computer's storage capacity and easily access files. However, it can be frustrating when your external hard drive keeps disconnecting. This issue can disrupt your work and potentially lead to data loss. Understanding the common reasons behind this problem can help you troubleshoot and resolve the issue effectively.
One of the common causes of an external hard drive disconnecting is a faulty or damaged USB cable. A damaged cable can result in unstable connections, causing the drive to disconnect intermittently. Inspecting and replacing the USB cable can often resolve this issue.
Another potential reason is an insufficient power supply. If your external hard drive is not receiving enough power, it may disconnect frequently. This can be due to a weak power source or using multiple power-hungry devices simultaneously. Connecting the drive to a different power source or using a powered USB hub can help alleviate this issue.
A corrupted USB driver can also lead to frequent disconnections. The USB driver is responsible for facilitating communication between the external drive and your computer. Updating or reinstalling the USB driver can sometimes fix the problem.
Incorrect power management settings can cause the external hard drive to disconnect. The computer's power settings may be set to conserve power by turning off USB devices when not in use. Adjusting the power management settings to maintain the connection can resolve this issue.
A faulty USB port on your computer can also contribute to frequent disconnections. To check if this is the cause, try connecting the external hard drive to a different USB port. If it remains stable, you may need to repair or replace the faulty port.
Software conflicts can disrupt the connection between the external drive and your computer. Certain programs or applications may interfere with the USB communication, leading to disconnections. Closing unnecessary programs or running a malware scan can help identify and resolve these conflicts.
Physical damage to the external hard drive itself can cause it to disconnect. If the drive has been dropped or subjected to impact, it may have internal components that are damaged or loose. In such cases, professional assistance may be required to repair or recover the data.
Overheating can also cause the external hard drive to disconnect. If the drive gets too hot, it may automatically shut down or disconnect to prevent damage. Ensure proper ventilation and avoid placing the drive in areas with excessive heat to prevent overheating issues.
Lastly, operating system issues can contribute to frequent disconnections. Outdated or incompatible operating systems may not properly recognize or support the external hard drive. Updating the operating system or seeking compatibility fixes from the manufacturer can resolve this problem.
By understanding these common reasons for an external hard drive disconnecting, you can troubleshoot the issue effectively and ensure reliable and uninterrupted access to your data.
Faulty or Damaged USB Cable
A faulty or damaged USB cable is one of the common culprits behind an external hard drive frequently disconnecting. USB cables are essential for establishing a stable connection between the external drive and your computer. When the USB cable is defective, it can lead to intermittent disconnections, causing frustration and potential data loss.
There are several reasons why a USB cable may become faulty or damaged. Over time, constant twisting, bending, or tugging can wear out the internal wires, resulting in poor connectivity. Additionally, accidental pulls or drops can cause physical damage to the cable, weakening its overall integrity.
To determine if a faulty or damaged USB cable is the cause of the disconnection issue, there are a few troubleshooting steps you can take. Firstly, try using a different USB cable to connect your external hard drive. If the disconnection problem resolves, it confirms that the original cable was indeed faulty.
Inspect the USB cable for any visible signs of damage, such as frayed wires, bent connectors, or loose connections. If you notice any of these issues, it's best to replace the cable. Even minor damage can have a significant impact on the stability of the connection.
When purchasing a new USB cable, ensure that it is compatible with your external hard drive and computer. Consider investing in a high-quality, durable cable that is designed to withstand regular use and minimize the risk of future damage.
Proper handling and care can also help prevent USB cable damage. Avoid bending or forcefully pulling the cable, as this can strain the internal wires. Instead, grasp the connectors firmly and disconnect them gently. When not in use, store the USB cable in a safe and secure location, away from potential hazards.
Regularly inspecting and maintaining your USB cables can help prolong their lifespan and prevent connectivity issues. If you notice any signs of wear or damage, promptly replace the cable to avoid further complications.
In summary, a faulty or damaged USB cable can cause an external hard drive to frequently disconnect. By troubleshooting and replacing the cable if necessary, you can restore a stable connection and ensure uninterrupted access to your data.
Insufficient Power Supply
One of the common reasons why an external hard drive may keep disconnecting is an insufficient power supply. External hard drives require a sufficient amount of power to operate reliably and maintain a stable connection with the computer. When the power supply is inadequate, it can result in frequent disconnections, disrupting your workflow and potentially causing data loss.
There are a few possible causes for an external hard drive not receiving enough power. One common reason is using an underpowered USB port on your computer. USB ports can differ in power output, with some providing higher power levels than others. Connecting the drive to a different USB port, preferably one that is specifically designed for high-power devices, may resolve the issue.
Another factor to consider is the total power load on your computer. If you are using multiple power-hungry devices simultaneously, such as printers, scanners, or other external hard drives, the combined power draw may surpass the capacity of your computer's power supply. This can result in insufficient power being allocated to the external hard drive, leading to disconnections. Connecting the drive to a separate power source, such as a powered USB hub or an external power adapter, can help provide the necessary power and stabilize the connection.
In some cases, a weak power source can also contribute to the problem. If you are using a laptop or a computer with a low-wattage power supply, it may struggle to supply enough power to all connected devices. Upgrading to a higher-wattage power supply or using a dedicated external power source for the drive can help alleviate this issue.
It's important to note that some external hard drives come with their own dedicated power supply. If you are using such a drive, ensure that it is properly connected and receiving power. A loose connection or a faulty power brick can also result in insufficient power supply and frequent disconnections.
To diagnose if an insufficient power supply is causing the disconnection problem, you can try connecting the external hard drive to a different power source or using a powered USB hub. If the drive remains stable and the disconnections cease, it confirms that the power supply was indeed the issue.
By ensuring a reliable and adequate power supply for your external hard drive, you can minimize the risk of frequent disconnections and enjoy uninterrupted access to your data.
Corrupted USB Driver
A corrupted USB driver can be a common cause of an external hard drive frequently disconnecting from your computer. The USB driver is responsible for facilitating communication between your computer's operating system and the external drive. When the USB driver becomes corrupted or outdated, it can result in unstable connections, leading to repetitive disconnections.
There are several reasons why a USB driver may become corrupted. System updates, software conflicts, or malware infections can all contribute to driver issues. Additionally, improper installation or removal of USB devices can also lead to driver corruption.
To determine if a corrupted USB driver is causing the disconnection problem, you can follow a few troubleshooting steps. First, you can try updating the USB driver to the latest version. You can typically find the appropriate driver on the manufacturer's website or through your computer's Device Manager. Updating the driver can fix any bugs or compatibility issues that may be causing the disconnections.
If updating the driver does not resolve the issue, you can try uninstalling and reinstalling the USB driver. This process will remove any corrupted files associated with the driver and install a fresh copy. To uninstall the driver, go to the Device Manager, locate the USB driver, right-click on it, and select "Uninstall." Once uninstalled, restart your computer, and the driver should automatically be reinstalled.
In some cases, you may need to completely remove all USB drivers from your computer and perform a clean installation. This process ensures that any hidden or problematic drivers are removed, allowing for a clean slate. To do this, you can use specialized driver removal tools or follow detailed instructions provided by your operating system's support resources.
If manually updating or reinstalling the USB driver does not resolve the issue, you can also try using third-party driver update software. These programs scan your computer, detect any outdated or corrupted drivers, and automatically download and install the latest versions. However, exercise caution when using such software and ensure that you download from reputable sources.
It's important to note that if you are uncomfortable or unfamiliar with driver installation or troubleshooting, seeking professional assistance is recommended.
By ensuring that your USB driver is up-to-date and not corrupted, you can resolve connectivity issues and prevent frequent disconnections of your external hard drive.
Incorrect Power Management Settings
Incorrect power management settings can often be the culprit behind an external hard drive frequently disconnecting. Power management settings control how your computer handles power consumption and may include options to conserve energy by turning off USB devices when they are not in use. However, these settings can sometimes interfere with the stable connection of your external hard drive and lead to disconnections.
When power management settings are misconfigured, your computer may mistakenly turn off the USB port that your external hard drive is connected to, causing it to disconnect. This can


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and accounted for the next time the queue is serviced. Beginning with Cisco IOS Release 12.1, you need not be as accurate in specifying byte counts as you did when using earlier Cisco IOS releases that did not take deficit into account.
Note Some protocols, such as Internetwork Packet Exchange (IPX), will negotiate the frame size at session startup time.
Determining the Byte Count
To determine the correct byte counts, perform the following steps:
Step 1 For each queue, divide the percentage of bandwidth you want to allocate to the queue by the packet size, in bytes. For example, assume the packet size for protocol A is 1086 bytes, protocol B is 291 bytes, and protocol C is 831 bytes. We want to allocate 20 percent for A, 60 percent for B, and 20 percent for C. The ratios would be:
20/1086, 60/291, 20/831 or
0.01842, 0.20619, 0.02407
Step 2 Normalize the numbers by dividing by the lowest number:
1, 11.2, 1.3
The result is the ratio of the number of packets that must be sent so that the percentage of bandwidth that each protocol uses is approximately 20, 60, and 20 percent.
Step 3 A fraction in any of the ratio values means that an additional packet will be sent. Round up the numbers to the next whole number to obtain the actual packet count.
In this example, the actual ratio will be 1 packet, 12 packets, and 2 packets.
Step 4 Convert the packet number ratio into byte counts by multiplying each packet count by the corresponding packet size.
In this example, the number of packets sent is one 1086-byte packet, twelve 291-byte packets, and two 831-byte packets, or 1086, 3492, and 1662 bytes, respectively, from each queue. These are the byte counts you would specify in your CQ configuration.
Step 5 To determine the bandwidth distribution this ratio represents, first determine the total number of bytes sent after all three queues are serviced:
(1 * 1086) + (12 * 291) + (2 * 831) = 1086 + 3492 + 1662 = 6240
Step 6 Then determine the percentage of the total number of bytes sent from each queue:
1086/6240, 3492/6240, 1662/6240 = 17.4, 56, and 26.6 percent
This result is close to the desired ratio of 20/60/20.
Step 7 If the actual bandwidth is not close enough to the desired bandwidth, multiply the original ratio of 1:11.2:1.3 by the best value, trying to get as close to three integer values as possible. Note that the multiplier you use need not be an integer. For example, if we multiply the ratio by two, we get 2:22.4:2.6. We would now send two 1086-byte packets, twenty-three 291-byte packets, and three 831-byte packets, or 2172/6693/2493, for a total of 11,358 bytes. The resulting ratio is 19/59/22 percent, which is much closer to the desired ratio that we achieved.
The bandwidth that a custom queue will receive is given by the following formula:(queue byte count / total byte count of all queues) * bandwidth capacity of the interface
where bandwidth capacity is equal to the interface bandwidth minus the bandwidth for priority queues.
Window size also affects the bandwidth distribution. If the window size of a particular protocol is set to one, then that protocol will not place another packet into the queue until it receives an acknowledgment. The CQ algorithm moves to the next queue if the byte count is exceeded or no packets are in that queue.
Therefore, with a window size of one, only one frame will be sent each time. If your frame count is set to 2 kilobytes, and your frame size is 256 bytes, then only 256 bytes will be sent each time this queue is serviced.
Why Use CQ?
You can use the Cisco IOS QoS CQ feature to provide specific traffic guaranteed bandwidth at a potential congestion point, assuring the traffic a fixed portion of available bandwidth and leaving the remaining bandwidth to other traffic. For example, you could reserve half of the bandwidth for SNA data, allowing the remaining half to be used by other protocols.
If a particular type of traffic is not using the bandwidth reserved for it, then unused bandwidth can be dynamically allocated to other traffic types.
CQ is statically configured and does not adapt to changing network conditions. With CQ enabled, the system takes longer to switch packets than FIFO because the packets are classified by the processor card.
PQ allows you to define how traffic is prioritized in the network. You configure four traffic priorities. You can define a series of filters based on packet characteristics to cause the router to place traffic into these four queues; the queue with the highest priority is serviced first until it is empty, then the lower queues are serviced in sequence.
For information on how to configure PQ, see the "Configuring Priority Queueing" module.
How It Works
During transmission, PQ gives priority queues absolute preferential treatment over low priority queues; important traffic, given the highest priority, always takes precedence over less important traffic. Packets are classified based on user-specified criteria and placed into one of the four output queues—high, medium, normal, and low—based on the assigned priority. Packets that are not classified by priority fall into the normal queue. Figure 3 illustrates this process.
Figure 3 Priority Queueing
When a packet is to be sent out an interface, the priority queues on that interface are scanned for packets in descending order of priority. The high priority queue is scanned first, then the medium priority queue, and so on. The packet at the head of the highest queue is chosen for transmission. This procedure is repeated every time a packet is to be sent.
The maximum length of a queue is defined by the length limit. When a queue is longer than the queue limit, all additional packets are dropped.
Note The priority output queueing mechanism can be used to manage traffic from all networking protocols. Additional fine-tuning is available for IP and for setting boundaries on the packet size.
How Packets Are Classified for Priority Queueing
A priority list is a set of rules that describe how packets should be assigned to priority queues. A priority list might also describe a default priority or the queue size limits of the various priority queues.
Packets can be classified by the following criteria:
-Protocol or subprotocol type
Keepalives sourced by the network server are always assigned to the high priority queue; all other management traffic (such as Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (IGRP) updates) must be configured. Packets that are not classified by the priority list mechanism are assigned to the normal queue.
Why Use Priority Queueing?
PQ provides absolute preferential treatment to high priority traffic, ensuring that mission-critical traffic traversing various WAN links gets priority treatment. In addition, PQ provides a faster response time than do other methods of queueing.
Although you can enable priority output queueing for any interface, it is best used for low-bandwidth, congested serial interfaces.
When choosing to use PQ, consider that because lower priority traffic is often denied bandwidth in favor of higher priority traffic, use of PQ could, in the worst case, result in lower priority traffic never being sent. To avoid inflicting these conditions on lower priority traffic, you can use traffic shaping or CAR to rate-limit the higher priority traffic.
PQ introduces extra overhead that is acceptable for slow interfaces, but may not be acceptable for higher speed interfaces such as Ethernet. With PQ enabled, the system takes longer to switch packets because the packets are classified by the processor card.
PQ uses a static configuration and does not adapt to changing network conditions.
PQ is not supported on any tunnels.
RSVP, CBWFQ, LLQ, IP RTP Priority, Frame Relay IP RTP Priority, and Frame Relay PIPQ can all reserve and consume bandwidth, up to a maximum of the reserved bandwidth on an interface.
To allocate bandwidth, you can use one of the following commands:
-For RSVP, use the ip rsvp bandwidth command.
-For CBWFQ, use the bandwidth policy-map class configuration command. For more information on CBWFQ bandwidth allocation, see the section "Class-Based Weighted Fair Queueing" in this module. For LLQ, you can allocate bandwidth using the priority command. For more information on LLQ bandwidth allocation, see the section "Frame Relay PVC Interface Priority Queueing" in this module.
-For IP RTP Priority, use the ip rtp priority command. For more information on IP RTP Priority bandwidth allocation, see the section "IP RTP Priority" in this module.
-For Frame Relay IP RTP Priority, use the frame-relay ip rtp priority command. For more information on Frame Relay IP RTP Priority, see the section "Frame Relay IP RTP Priority" in this module.
-For Frame Relay PVC Interface Priority Queueing, use the frame-relay interface-queue priority command. For more information on Frame Relay PIPQ, see the section "Frame Relay PVC Interface Priority Queueing" in this module.
When you configure these commands, be aware of bandwidth limitations and configure bandwidth according to requirements in your network. Remember, the sum of all bandwidths cannot exceed the maximum reserved bandwidth. The default maximum bandwidth is 75 percent of the total available bandwidth on the interface. The remaining 25 percent of bandwidth is


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— July 2002
|This popular port is a living museum and a window to America's seafaring past.|
Mystic's lifeblood has been the sea since its settlement in the 1600's. Some 600 vessels were built on its shores between 1784 and 1919, and most of its citizens were shipwrights who worked their farms in the summer and spent the rest of the year building the sloops and schooners that plied the rich New England waters as well as those of the southern states and the Caribbean.
Long an important fishing and whaling port, Mystic changed in 1838 when George Clark and Thomas Greenman set up their shipbuilding business on what would become the site of the Mystic Seaport Museum. Over the next 40 years, the Greenman yard launched almost 100 vessels, including sloops, clipper ships, and steamboats. The nearby Mallory shipyard, now the museum's restoration yard, also built clippers and steamboats.
American's inexorable tie to the sea is nowhere more evident than in Mystic. It's one of my favorite destinations while cruising in New England, and after you stop by, it will surely become one of yours.
TO GET THERE
This article originally appeared in the January 2003 issue of Power & Motoryacht magazine.


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Romantic oceanfront lodging and dining on the Mendocino Coast
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History of Albion River Bridge
Posted: 07/09/2014
Albion River Bridge July 2001, shot at the bay side at very low tide
The first permanent bridge that crossed the Albion River was a draw bridge which allowed the logging tugboat "Zenith" access up the river. This bridge was a part of the first county road that connected the lumber towns together. The bridge is long gone now but the wood members of the bridge pillar are still exposed in the South bank across the river. The old county road crossed Albion Flats where the road is today but it no longer has the sawmill at 18 feet above ground covering it.
As traffic increased, the county constructed a new wood bridge that crossed just up river. This bridge is seen in the upper half of the above photograph east of the sawmill. The bridge was 512 feet long and 16 feet wide with no wheel guards on the sides. Two of the three bridge footings were in the water and are still visible in the river east of the campground. In August 1933, the bridge and road became a part of the state highway system, subject to state maintenance. Soon after the state took over the road maintenance, the declared the bridge as badly worn from overloaded traffic and started the design of a replacement bridge. When the state was ready for materials, World War II had started.
A prolonged battle with the War Resources Board ensued over allocation of the needed steel. California finally prevailed and started construction on the existing bridge in 1942. The final plans allowed for just enough steel to reinforce the two concrete pillars and to build the 130 foot long truss between them. The rest of the bridge is specially treated redwood. Specifications for the bridge are 26 feet wide, 969 feet long, and 150 feet above the river.


Saturday, November 28, 2015
National Drought Mitigation Center
Comparison of Major Drought Indices: Surface Water Supply Index
Description: The SWSI (pronounced "swazee") is designed to complement the Palmer in the state of Colorado, where mountain snowpack is a key element of water supply; calculated by river basin, based on snowpack, streamflow, precipitation, and reservoir storage.
Pros: Represents water supply conditions unique to each basin.
Cons: Changing a data collection station or water management requires that new algorithms be calculated, and the index is unique to each basin, which limits interbasin comparisons.
Developed by: Shafer and Dezman, 1982.
The Surface Water Supply Index (SWSI) was developed by Shafer and Dezman (1982) to complement the Palmer Index for moisture conditions across the state of Colorado. The Palmer Index is basically a soil moisture algorithm calibrated for relatively homogeneous regions, but it is not designed for large topographic variations across a region and it does not account for snow accumulation and subsequent runoff. Shafer and Dezman designed the SWSI to be an indicator of surface water conditions and described the index as "mountain water dependent", in which mountain snowpack is a major component.
The objective of the SWSI was to incorporate both hydrological and climatological features into a single index value resembling the Palmer Index for each major river basin in the state of Colorado (Shafer and Dezman 1982). These values would be standardized to allow comparisons between basins. Four inputs are required within the SWSI: snowpack, streamflow, precipitation, and reservoir storage. Because it is dependent on the season, the SWSI is computed with only snowpack, precipitation, and reservoir storage in the winter. During the summer months, streamflow replaces snowpack as a component within the SWSI equation.
The procedure to determine the SWSI for a particular basin is as follows: monthly data are collected and summed for all the precipitation stations, reservoirs, and snowpack/streamflow measuring stations over the basin. Each summed component is normalized using a frequency analysis gathered from a long-term data set. The probability of non-exceedence—the probability that subsequent sums of that component will not be greater than the current sum—is determined for each component based on the frequency analysis. This allows comparisons of the probabilities to be made between the components. Each component has a weight assigned to it depending on its typical contribution to the surface water within that basin, and these weighted components are summed to determine a SWSI value representing the entire basin. Like the Palmer Index, the SWSI is centered on zero and has a range between -4.2 and +4.2.
The SWSI has been used, along with the Palmer Index, to trigger the activation and deactivation of the Colorado Drought Plan. One of its advantages is that it is simple to calculate and gives a representative measurement of surface water supplies across the state. It has been modified and applied in other western states as well. These states include Oregon, Montana, Idaho, and Utah. Monthly SWSI maps for Montana are available from the Montana Natural Resource Information System.
Several characteristics of the SWSI limit its application. Because the SWSI calculation is unique to each basin or region, it is difficult to compare SWSI values between basins or regions (Doesken et al., 1991). Within a particular basin or region, discontinuing any station means that new stations need to be added to the system and new frequency distributions need to be determined for that component. Additional changes in the water management within a basin, such as flow diversions or new reservoirs, mean that the entire SWSI algorithm for that basin needs to be redeveloped to account for changes in the weight of each component. Thus, it is difficult to maintain a homogeneous time series of the index (Heddinghaus and Sabol, 1991). Extreme events also cause a problem if the events are beyond the historical time series, and the index will need to be reevaluated to include these events within the frequency distribution of a basin component.
Back to the Crop Moisture Index | On to the Reclamation Drought Index
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Copyright 2015 National Drought Mitigation Center


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Monday 19 December 2022 12:39pm
Dr Isaiah Immanuel is finding families aren't able to use clinical support systems in place to help manage their child's disease.
Improving type 1 diabetes control in Pasifika children
Growing up in a village near the Fijian city of Lautoka, Dr Isaiah Immanuel witnessed first-hand the poorer outcomes for people living with chronic disease caused by delays in care and treatment.
Now, the medical graduate and father-of-five is shining a light on the inequities of care that Pasifika youth in Aotearoa New Zealand are struggling to overcome in the management of their type 1 diabetes.
Based at the University of Otago, Christchurch, he is conducting a one-year study, funded by Research for Children Aotearoa, to discover why Pasifika youth with type 1 diabetes are experiencing problems maintaining good control of their disease.
Shoulder-tapped by Paediatric Department leaders Dr Kiki Maoate and Associate Professor Tony Walls to take a year out from clinical work to complete the study, Immanuel says the opportunity has ignited his interest in child research.
So far, his findings suggest poor diabetes control for many young Pasifika patients.
"In many cases it's not so much a lack of resource, but a lack of engagement or ability to engage," he says. "It seems many families aren't able to utilise the clinical support systems already in place to help manage their child's disease, such as attending regular clinic visits or staying in touch with the clinical team."
"That begs the question why is this happening? We need to get to the bottom of the why, then we can fix it."
Utilising the Department's paediatric endocrine data, study results gathered so far suggest there has been little progress from five years ago in three key areas: the HBA1C glucose markers in the patient's blood; patient use of insulin pumps; and their regularity in receiving continuous glucose monitoring.
"Five years ago, Pasifika children and youth were four to five times less likely to be using their insulin pump for glucose control compared to European New Zealand patients. Analysis of the current data shows only around one in seven Pasifika patients are using an insulin pump, which is still low.
"Continuous glucose monitoring is another issue. Having access to a monitor can save the young person from the pain of having to prick their finger to extract blood five to six times daily.
The fact is, most Pasifika families struggle to afford one of these monitors. The cheapest on the market is around $4,000 with some up to $10,000. The database shows our young Pasifika patients are five times less likely to be using continuous glucose monitoring as a result."
Immanuel says these disparities matter. While there may only be an estimated 115 Pasifika children and teens with type 1 diabetes in Aotearoa New Zealand (making up 7 per cent of total paediatric disease incidence) their levels of hospitalisation due to a lack of diabetes control are higher than they should be in percentage terms.
"A lack of disease control can be life-threatening. In type 1 diabetes the body cannot produce the insulin it needs to utilise the glucose we get from food.
This causes glucose to hang around the body longer in toxic concentration levels which are harmful over time. If children don't get their insulin, they can present to hospital very sick and even die within a week. Long-term they can lose their sight, kidney function and suffer nerve damage."
Immanuel says his interviews with specialist paediatric diabetes nursing teams in Auckland and Wellington have been invaluable in exposing the challenges some Pasifika families face in accessing vital care and support.
"Type 1 diabetes requires a lot of management and often both parents work long, unsociable hours. Although some services are government funded and already at the table, some Pasifika families are struggling to even get to the table."
Immanuel says specialist diabetes nurses are reporting difficulties engaging with some families due to language and cultural barriers. He hopes the results of his study will help suggest a model of care aimed at bridging the gaps for Pasifika families.
Research for Children Aotearoa
More stories about early career researchers
This story is part of the research publication 'He Kitenga 2022: Talented Futures', which presents the different pathways into research that early career researchers follow.


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Small Changes Big Influence
For most people, persuading others is a part of daily life. Whether it be persuading your kids to tidy their room, an employee to complete a task or a customer to make a purchase, persuading others is something most of us have to do.
Scientists have researched the persuasion process for many years and have found that often, very small changes in approach can lead to extraordinary changes in outcome. Three renowned authorities in persuasion science, Noah Goldstein, Robert Cialdini and Steve Martin conducted research for their recent book – The Small Big, into the persuasion process and in particular how small changes in approach can lead to significant improvement in persuasive effectiveness.
The graphic below shows the outcomes of some of these studies and the incredible real world results achieved during the research. From increasing voter turnout or saving government departments millions of pounds to getting the best price when buying a used car, they show how these small changes in approach resulted in vastly different outcomes.


Types of Heat Exchangers Shell and tube, Plate type
In almost any power, chemical, or mechanical system, heat must be transferred from one place to another or from one fluid to another. Heat exchangers are used to transfer heat from one fluid to another. A basic understanding of the mechanical components of a heat exchanger is important to understand how they function and operate.
Types of Heat Exchangers
Introduction to Heat Exchangers
1. To heat a cooler fluid by means of a hotter fluid.
2. To reduce the temperature of a hot fluid by means of cooler fluid.
3. To boil a liquid by means of a hotter fluid.
4. To condense a gaseous fluid by means of cooler fluid.
5. To boil a liquid while condensing a hotter gaseous fluid. Regardless of the function the heat exchanger fulfills, in order to transfer heat, the fluids involved must be at different temperatures and they must come into thermal contact. Heat can flow only from the hotter to the cooler fluid. In a heat exchanger, there is no direct contact between the two fluids. The heat is transferred from the hot fluid to the metal isolating the two fluids and then to the cooler fluid.
Classification and types of Heat Exchangers
Heat exchangers are classified in many ways:
- According to the type of construction (shell and tube type or plate type);
- In terms of fluid flow through the heat exchanger (recuperator, regenerator or evaporative type).
Types of heat exchangers Shell and tube type
The most basic and the most common type of heat exchanger construction is the shell and tube type. This type of heat exchanger consists of a set of tubes in a container called a shell. The fluid flowing inside the tubes is called the tube side fluid and the fluid flowing on the outside of the tubes is the shell side fluid. At the ends of the tubes, the tube side fluid is separated from the shell side fluid by the tube sheet(s). The tubes are rolled and press-fitted or welded into the tube sheet to provide a leak-tight seal. In systems where the two fluids are at vastly different pressures, the higher pressure fluid is typically directed through the tubes and the lower pressure fluid is circulated on the shell side. This is due to the economy, because the heat exchanger tubes can be made to withstand higher pressures than the shell of the heat exchanger for a much lower cost. Animation of typical shell and tube type heat exchanger is shown in the picture.
Animation_of shell and tube heat exchanger
Animation_of shell and tube heat exchanger
Plate Type Heat Exchangers
Plate Heat Exchanger
Plate Heat Exchanger
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Definition of Tumor registry
Tumor registry: Recorded information about the status of patients with tumors. Although a registry was originally the place where information was collected (in registers), the word registry has also come to mean the collection itself. A tumor registry is organized so that the data can be analyzed. For example, analysis of data in a tumor registry maintained at a hospital may show a rise in lung cancer among women.
Last Editorial Review: 3/19/2012
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NBI human factors team is comprised of individuals with expertise in various areas of psychology (experimental, organizational, educational, clinical), as well as other related fields such as cognitive science, behavioral neuroscience, medical science, physiology, pharmacology, kinesiology, and engineering.
Peer-reviewed data and case facts, and the use of widely accepted scientific methodologies, enable human factors experts at NBI to identify the cause of the accident, as well as to offer advice on reducing unsafe behaviors and practices. The application of knowledge about human behavioral and cognitive characteristics, abilities, and limitations provides an in-depth understanding of how people perform in various environmental conditions.
Human Factors Experts in Los Angeles
The Department of Human Factors at the National Biomechanics Institute (NBI) provides expert witness testimony in civil and criminal courts for both defense and plaintiff attorneys. NBI human factors team works across different sectors, and also provides consulting on human behavior and human error to insurance agencies, municipalities, and government entities.
Our experts rely on scientific knowledge of psychological, behavioral and engineering approaches and methods to help clients understand how people interact with, and react to, the environment and/or technology. We base our technical, forensic opinions upon various psychological principles such as cognition, information processing, decision-making, sensation, perception, attention and memory to analyze how people think and make decisions across different contexts.
- Driver accident avoidance strategies
- Speeding in accident causation
- Perception-reaction time and stopping sight distance requirements
- Driver judgement of speed and distance of other vehicles
- Driver "blind spots"
- Driver behavior and distraction, and use of in-vehicle technologies
- Driving and the effects of weather phenomena (e.g., rain, fog, dust, and snow)
- Driving and the effects of glare from sun and headlights
- Pedestrian perception and behavior
- Behavioral and cognitive effects of alcohol and marijuana
- Behavioral and cognitive effects of fatigue, sleep deprivation, and shift work
- Behavioral and cognitive effects of OTC medications (e.g., opioids, benzodiazepines, anti-depressants) and illicit drugs
- Cognitive load, and working memory failure
- Cognitive expectancy, reaction time and response selection
- Sensory detection, and perceptual ability and failure (e.g., visibility, visual disturbance, motion processing)
- Illumination, nighttime visibility, and pedestrian conspicuity
- Psychosocial development, and adolescent risk-taking behavior and impulsivity.
- Monocular vision, and depth perception and field of view
- Awareness, attention and distraction (e.g., inattention blindness, visual attention, visual search behavior)
- Advance traffic warning signs, and risk perception and hazard anticipation
- Situational awareness, and individual differences
- Motor behavior, movement control, gait, coordination, and loss of balance
- Slip resistance, changes in walkway level
- Ergonomics, and workplace layout
- Product and equipment design-induced errors
- Design and maintenance of roadways, work zones, and parking lots
- Design and maintenance of floors, ramps, stairways, and stair handrails
- Design and maintenance of signs and lighting
- Eyewitness identification, perception, and memory precision and bias
- Police-involved shootings, and excessive force
- False confessions, and police interrogation tactics
- Decision-making, performance and memory under conditions of acute or chronic stress
- Age-related changes in behavior, performance, cognition, and learning and memory
IN OUR WORK, WE USE THE FOLLOWING TOOLS TO ASSESS FACTORS THAT AFFECT HUMAN BEHAVIOR, PERFORMANCE, AND ERROR:
- Luminance meter for measuring photometric brightness;
- Rangefinder for assessment of distance;
- Interactive Driver Response Research (I.DRR) software for including human factors in accident reconstruction process
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON TOOLS AND SOFTWARE THAT NBI HUMAN FACTORS EXPERTS USE IN THEIR FORENSIC WORK:
- Luminance meters are detectors that measure photometric brightness (i.e., they measure the amount of light reflected to the eye from the object and its background). "Luminance" refers to the amount of light that is available for vision. Human factors experts, for example, may use these detectors to measure object contrast, which refers to the relationship between the luminance of an object and the luminance of the object's background.
- Through a process of ranging, the rangefinder device is used to assess distance from the observer to a target. Estimating distance is an essential part of nearly every human activity such as walking or driving. The key to safe driving is anticipation, and, for example, a driver could hardly perform effectively without a reasonably accurate knowledge of her distance from the vehicle in front to calculate a safe following distance on the road.
- I.DRR software allows for inclusion of human factors in the process of accident/crash reconstruction. This software allows human factors experts to evaluate various factors such as age, gender, disability, fatigue, temporary distraction, general visibility, glare and dark adaptation that impact cognition, perception, reaction time and behavior in the context of driving performance.
HUMAN FACTORS IN DRIVING PERFORMANCE, ROAD SAFETY, AND ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION
There are more than 6 million police-reported traffic crashes annually, resulting in more than 1.7 million injuries and 32,000 fatalities. The medical bills and productivity losses associated with crash injuries and deaths exceed $63 billion in a one-year period. Statistics show that human-related behavioral factors are the single most important cause across all traffic accidents.
HUMAN FACTORS INFLUENCE THE PROBABILITY OF TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS:
Various factors influence driving capability by shaping visual perception, judgment, decision making, and reaction time. Factors like inexperience, advanced age, disability and chronic disease can reduce capability for an extended period of time, whereas fatigue, sleep deprivation, temporary distraction, and acute stress or alcohol/drug intoxication are typically associated with short-term reduction of capability.
PERCEPTION-REACTION TIME (PRT) AND BRAKE/STEERING RESPONSE ANALYSIS:
The time needed to respond to a stimulus while driving must be estimated correctly. NBI experts rely on their professional experience, academic education, primary research, and peer-reviewed data whileexamining the facts of a particular casein order to estimate driver response times and the total stopping sight distance.The following are some of the variables that have an influence on response time while driving:
- Direction from which the hazard emerges (e.g., rear-end accident);
- Time to collision (e.g., car following distance);
- Traffic density (e.g., rush-hour traffic);
- Time of day and lighting (e.g., nighttime);
- Roadway surface and weather conditions (e.g., rain, fog);
- Driver distraction (e.g., in-vehicle technologies, passengers);
- Driver characteristics (e.g., inexperience, advanced age);
- Driver medical history (e.g., diabetes, cataracts).


Exercise 2 | Forward/Backward Moves & Spins (1-2-Whoosh)
1-2-Whoosh spins within forward/backward moves are a good challenge. They are more challenging than within side moves, yet great for building your stability and balance.
Start with feeling the music, finding its rhythm, and feeling the 1-2-Whoosh within you. When ready, get into your forward/backward moves, 1-2-Whoosh style. Feel poised and encourage your movement to rotate, aka bend. The more general rotation you have the more naturally spins happen.
Now, prepare your spin on the Whoosh of the previous move. Then feel yourself spin on the 1-2 and landing it on the Whoosh. Spinning as you travel straight forward or backward is challenging, so when you spin allow yourself to spin to the side if that feels better.
Incorporate all the elements of movement and use this exercise to solidify your 1-2-Whoosh timing and your stability. Explore and play with your spin possibilities.
Practice with the Spotify playlist and your favorite tunes.
Fun times ahead.


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Journal of Control Science and Engineering
Volume 2012 (2012), Article ID 964242, 5 pages
Discrete Model Reference Adaptive Control System for Automatic Profiling Machine
College of Electromechanical and Information Engineering, Dalian Nationalities University, Dalian 116605, China
Received 3 December 2011; Revised 15 May 2012; Accepted 6 June 2012
Academic Editor: Yunjun Xu
Copyright © 2012 Peng Song et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Automatic profiling machine is a movement system that has a high degree of parameter variation and high frequency of transient process, and it requires an accurate control in time. In this paper, the discrete model reference adaptive control system of automatic profiling machine is discussed. Firstly, the model of automatic profiling machine is presented according to the parameters of DC motor. Then the design of the discrete model reference adaptive control is proposed, and the control rules are proven. The results of simulation show that adaptive control system has favorable dynamic performances.
Automatic profiling machine is a movement system which has a high degree of parameter variation and high frequency of transient process, and it requires an accurate control in time. The traditional linear control methods, such as PID, cannot meet present needs or requirements of advanced performance. The adaptive control not only solves the problem that the control plant cannot be observed directly, but also improved the abilities of resisting interference. The applications of adaptive control to movement system are widespread [2–4], but it is infrequent in automatic profiling machine. A practical adaptive controlling scheme is proposed for automatic profiling machine in. In this paper, a discrete model reference adaptive control (MRAC) method is applied to automatic profiling machine. The discrete control method is convenient for program and contributes to application of adaptive control theory in practice.
2. The Mathematics Model
The control system is double closed-loop control system whose current loop is PI control and speed loop is MRAC. The DC motor parameters of automatic profiling machine are shown in Table 1. The equivalent plant of speed loop is consisted of current loop and motor, and the transfer function is
3. The Design of MRAC System
The difference equation of the plant is where and are the output and input of the plant, respectively; is delay operator; is the discrete-time variable.
The difference equation of the reference model is where and are the output and input of the reference model.
The output error and its prediction are given by where and the other variables with "∘" represent the predictions.
The structure of the adaptive control system is shown in Figure 1 where
From Figure 1, the following relationship can be obtained
According to the Hyperstability theory, the discrete system control laws are where where where
cannot be found directly in the operations above, so it can be replaced by. According to (10), becomes
The prediction error can be gained:
4. Simulation Studies
The reference model takes the form as follows:
The simulation results are shown in Figures 3–5. To make a calculation, the percentage overshoot is 6%, the rise time is 1 s, the settling time is 2 s (). Figure 3 is shown that the maximal error value is less than 40 r/min, so the control plant could better track reference model. Input the interference signal into the front of plant transfer function between 10 s and 20 s. The simulation results (in Figure 4) indicate that the control plant could be stable in 2 seconds. Input white noise into the reference input of plant not the reference input of model, and the result is shown in Figure 5. Obviously the figure has no visible variation. So the control system has better abilities of resisting interference.
The discrete model reference adaptive control system of automatic profiling machine is discussed in this paper. The results of simulation show that adaptive control system has favorable dynamic performance. The discrete design method is easy to realize by computer. The work in this paper will lay a foundation for the application of adaptive control in practice.
This paper was supported by the National Science and Technology Support Program Project (2009BAH41B05) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities.
- S. C. Wu and Z. Q. Wu, Adaptive Control, China Machine Press, Beijing, China, 2005.
- G. K. Xu and X. C. Zhao, The Adaptive Control of Drive System For HS2000 Electric Vehicle, The Research and Development of China Electric Vehicle, Beijing Institute of Technology Press, Beijing, China, 2005.
- P. Song, W. Q. Long, G. K. Xu, and X. C. Zhao, "Research on discrete-time model reference adaptive control of electric vehicle driven motor," Journal of System Simulation, vol. 19, no. 18, pp. 4261–4264, 2007.
- G. K. Xu, L. R. You, X. C. Zhao, P. Song, and C. H. Liu, "A research on adaptive speed controller of a 4M gantry planning machine," Control Theory and Applications, vol. 24, no. 5, pp. 846–850, 2007.
- L. R. You, F. Qiao, and G. K. Xu, "Adaptive controller for automatic profiling machines," Control Theory and Applications, vol. 21, no. 6, pp. 1025–1028, 2004.
- G. K. Xu, Z. Y. Chu, and S. C. Wu, The Adaptive Controller Design For Movement System, Chinese Technology Press, Beijing, 2004.


The importance of fair algorithms for consumer trust
Tim Draws, Benjamin Timmermans & Monique van Maare
Posted on May 15, 2020
Consumers are increasingly interacting with artificial intelligence (AI) systems that aim to help them navigate through life. This is no different in banking, where so-called robo-advisors have begun to aid consumers with personal finance tasks such as investing, saving, and picking the right mortgage. Because they can perform these tasks without human interference, robo-advisors are extremely cost-efficient and accessible as compared to human financial advisors (van Thiel, Goedee, Reijnders, 2008). This makes digital robo-advisors promising tools for assisting consumers with financial decision-making (Malhotra & Malhotra, 2006).
A robo-advisor needs to fulfill two key criteria in order to be effective. Firstly, it has to make accurate predictions about the outcomes of its user's prospective financial decisions. Inaccurate predictions would result in wrong advice, which consumers are unlikely to benefit from. Secondly, consumers need to trust the advice of the robo-advisor. The digital tool needs to be trustworthy: any advice is useless if the recipient has no trust in it and does not follow through on it for that reason.
Whereas AI research is constantly pushing the limits of machine learning algorithms by improving their accuracy, little attention has been paid so far to the important role of trust in the interaction between AI and humans. Therefore, it is the second characteristic of an effective robo-advisor – trustworthiness – that we focused on in our TFI research project.
To trust or not to trust... robo-advisors
Trust in robo-advisors cannot be taken for granted. People are still reluctant to hand over control to AI systems, and research has demonstrated that even whilst people initially trust AI systems, their trust deteriorates as soon as the AI visibly makes a wrong prediction (Dietvorst, Simmons & Massey, 2015). A recent example of this is Apple's credit card PR disaster. Consumers quickly lost trust in in the "smart" credit card after its algorithms turned out to discriminate against female customers by giving them significantly smaller loans compared to male customers.
In our research, we aimed to investigate the influence of AI's "algorithmic fairness" on consumer trust in robo-advisors. For our first study, we recruited 489 participants (51% female, 49% male; average age of 41.9) via the crowdsourcing platform Figure Eight. Our study was conducted entirely online in the month of June in 2019. Participants were recruited from the Figure Eight pool of participants (476).
We introduced our study participants to a hypothetical scenario in which they were offered to use a robo-advisor – referred to as "the AI advisor" -- in their banking app. The AI advisor's function was said to continuously monitor the user's financial situation in order to recommend steps to improve the user's financial health. These recommendations could entail saving strategies or investment tips.
In our experiment, we first showed participants a statistic comparing customers who used the AI advisor with those who didn't (suggesting that users of the AI advisor generally benefited from using it), to measure the participants' trust in and perceived benefit from the AI advisor.1 In the next step, each participant was assigned to one of four groups. Participants in each group were shown similar statistics of AI benefits as in the step before, but now split by gender. For one group, the statistic given suggested that male and female customers equally benefited from using the AI advisor. For the other three groups, however, the statistic displayed per group differed in the degree to which men and women faced AI unfairness, suggesting that male customers benefited more than female customers. Again, we measured trust and perceived benefit.
Table 1a
Table 1a.
Figure 1a & 1b
Table 1b.
Two tables shown to participants before the first (Table 1a) and second moment of measurement (Table 1b). Whereas Table 1a contained the same numbers for all participants, Table 1b was adapted depending on the group the participant was placed in. Table 1b was shown to the most extreme unfair group.
Fairness is key for consumer trust in robo-advisors
Our results suggest, in line with previous research, that perceived algorithmic unfairness negatively affected consumer trust. In our statistical analysis we looked at how much our participants' self-reported trust level changed after they saw the second table containing the statistics split by gender. The level of unfairness shown in this second table had a negative effect on trust for both male and female participants. Whereas trust did not change for participants in the fair scenario, participants in the three unfair scenarios reported decreases in trust. Similarly, participants in the unfair scenarios were less likely to say they would use the AI advisor after seeing the second table compared to participants in the fair scenario.
In general, our male participants reported higher trust in the AI advisor than women in all scenarios, which could reflect higher financial literacy or risk tolerance of men. However, men also reported decreases in trust as the conditions became more unfair. Thus, despite apparently benefiting from the gender bias in the AI advisor, both men and women doubted the trustworthiness of the system.
Perhaps the most interesting finding of this study was that although women's perceived benefit decreased with trust in the unfair scenarios, men's perceived benefit was the same in all groups. This means that the decrease in trust that male participants reported was not due to a distrust in the statistics that were shown. Men in all groups believed that they would personally benefit from the AI advisor, but distrusted the system nevertheless when they realized that the statistics exhibited a gender divide.
Future implications
What do these results tell us? Most importantly, they confirm that algorithmic unfairness affects consumer trust negatively and suggest that this holds for both advantaged and disadvantaged groups. Furthermore, it does not seem to be enough to make one subgroup believe that they will benefit from using an AI system despite an apparent unfairness. This study provides evidence that if algorithmic unfairness is present, people will distrust the service even if they believe that they would personally benefit from using it but others would not.
It should be noted that, in the fictional scenario in our experiment, the bank openly exposed the algorithmic unfairness underlying the AI advisor. Real-world companies are currently unlikely to disclose such statistics if algorithmic unfairness is present. However, companies should not rely on the assumption that 'no one will find out'. As the previously mentioned Apple case shows, there are countless ways in which this might happen. Moreover, it's not unreasonable to suspect that increased consumer activism or new legislation may require this openness going forward, in the same way that food ingredients, both the healthy ones and the ones less so, must be visible on a product label.
Robo-advisors can only benefit consumers if consumers trust them. Our results show that when robo-advisors act visibly unfairly, consumer trust deteriorates. In order to help consumers to make better financial decisions, it is critical to put algorithmic fairness high on the requirements list when building robo-advisors, also when the target audience could benefit disproportionately from the service. Consumers meanwhile should remain critical when putting their faith in robo-advisors and may expect transparency about the reasoning behind decisions or advice being offered.
 1. Trust and perceived benefit were measured using 7-point Likert scales, where a higher score indicated a higher level of trust / perceived benefit.
 - Dietvorst, B. J., Simmons, J. P. & Massey, C. (2015). Algorithm aversion: People erroneously avoid algorithms after seeing them err. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 144(1), 114.
 - Malhotra, R. & Malhotra, M. K. (2006). "The impact of internet and e-commerce on the evolving business models in the financial services industry," International Journal of Electronic Business 4:1, 56-82
 - Van Thiel, D., Goedee J. and Reijnders, W. J. M. (2008). "Riding the waves. The future of banking starts now," Pearson Prentice Hall


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The Cult of the Chronogram in 18th Century Bohemia
Tamara Ayrapetova and Ksenia Larionova
Villamarin M. Alejandro
The present paper proposes the application of Semiotic Engineering theory to Content Management Systems (CMS) focusing on the analysis of how the use of different ontologies can affect the user's efficiency when performing tasks in a CMS. The analysis is performed using the theoretical semiotic model Web-Semiotic Interface Design Evaluation (W-SIDE model).
The Ontology Translation concept is proposed as a practical enhancement for the W-SIDE model. The enhanced model is validated by using a proof of concept based on test cases of a fictitious scenario. The validation process is carried out modifying an open source CMS. The testing of the modified CMS if performed by a volunteer tester that fits both the Ontology Translation concept and the fictitious scenario. Finally, the results of the experiment are critically evaluated establishing limitations, conclusions, and recommendations for future studies.
The project follows the development of a Java Software Tool that extracts data from Flat File (Fixed Length Record Type), CSV (Comma Separated Values), and XLS (Microsoft Excel 97-2003 Worksheet file), apply transformation to those sources, and finally load the data into the end target RDBMS. The software refers to a process known as ETL (Extract Transform and Load). Those kinds of systems are called ETL systems.
The analysis involved research on the theory behind the ETL process as well as the theory behind the various phases of the applied methodology. Also an in-depth look at the design and architecture of the software has been made. To create a complete design needed to be used for the implementation, different techniques and diagrams where used to visualise and refine ideas: UML class diagrams, System Architecture Diagrams, Physical Data Model, and Project Timeline.
The implementation of the project involved the translation of the system architecture into working software using the Extreme Programming Methodology and the Java programming language. A mapping algorithm module and design patterns have been used in the implementation phase. A transformation syntax has been defined to achieve data transformation.
The testing of the software was done in the form of a unit test. A formal test plan was prepared to ensure that the main features of the system worked as defined. An error handling code implementation has been developed to avoid an unexpected crash of the system and to communicate to the user problems or errors.
This study focuses on the differences in power consumption between beam-forming and relaying data transmission methods in a sparse wireless ad-hoc network. These two methods are observed for the same parameters using an identical network topology in a simulation programme that was developed as a part of this study.
This paper introduces the reader the background of sensor networks and exposes the aims of this study and methods used to simulate these networks. Finally, the results of a simulation are analysed and the two methods are compared, followed by the conclusion of the study and the project itself.
Tran Van Ngoc
Barter is the direct exchange of goods or services without using a medium of exchange, such as money. Barter faced a number of limitations, and according to Smith (1776), these limitations led to the emergence of money. However, trading with money also exposes traders to the problems of monetary economy such as inflation, deflation, currency de-valuation, and currency exchange fluctuation. According to Statista.com (2015), in 2016, global Business to Customer (B2C) e-commerce sales will reach 1.92 trillion US dollars. On the other hand, online barter solutions are rare on the market. The only attempts to tackle online barter are mobile applications, carried out by small businesses. The market gap is caused by the unsolved inefficiencies of barter. The aim of this thesis is to identify the problems of barter, propose an IT solution for the problems of barter, and finally, produce an artefact, which is the realisation of the proposed IT solution by utilising computer systems and computer algorithms.


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Brazil's National Department of Mineral Production (DNPM) is coordinating an analysis of the largest Brazilian sylvite beds found in the state of Amazonas, with the objective of establishing partnerships for exploration.
Sylvite is a mineral from which potassium chloride (KCl) is extracted to be used as a fertilizer. Currently, Brazil imports 85% of the total potassium chloride consumed in the country.
The remaining 15% come from the Taquari-Vassouras mine, located in the state of Sergipe, in the Northeast of the Brazil.
Amazon sylvite beds were found in the 1980s, by Petrobrás. Estimated reserves are to the order of 1 billion tons, more than twice the 450 million-ton beds found initially in Sergipe, where sylvite is explored by the Companhia Vale do Rio Doce.
Current annual production of potassium chloride is 600 thousand tons, which supplies part of the Center-South of the country.
One of Brazil's government priorities is to invest in mineral research and exploration, says minister of Mines and Energy, Dilma Rousseff.
According to the minister, if Brazil is to have development in mining, the government has to have an updated and modern mining department.
Brazil was told last year that Canadian mining interests could invest as much as US$ 2 billion in gold, nickel, copper and diamond operations in Brazil.
Last year the DNPM inaugurated a data bank network connecting its 25 districts nationwide at a cost of US$ 25 million.
Translation: Andréa Alves