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Assets and Liabilities of Australian Securitisers methodology
Reference period
September 2020
Explanatory notes
 1 The securitisation process is a means of creating a liquid market for assets, such as mortgages and credit card loans, which are illiquid. In addition, the process can be used to improve the liquidity of assets such as bonds.
 2 In its simplest form, a securitisation program can operate in the following way:
 - The manager of the program arranges for the creation of a special purpose vehicle (SPV) which is usually a trust.
 - The manager then arranges for the SPV to buy a specific pool of assets from a financial enterprise or arranges the creation of assets through credit assessment and loan approval processes by agents (called originators). The assets are usually reasonably homogeneous (e.g. good quality, fixed term, fixed rate mortgages) which should provide a steady income stream.
 - The SPV finances the initial purchase of assets by using a line of credit (sometimes from a parent or associated company). The SPV then issues debt securities which can be short or long term in nature. Money raised from the issue is used to repay any line of credit and to purchase more assets to securitise. The investors receive the income and repayment of principal from the asset (via the SPV) over the lifetime of the securities. To ensure maximum marketability for the issue, managers usually arrange enhancement facilities (e.g. guaranteed credit lines, asset insurance, etc.) and have the issue rated by at least one of the major rating agencies.
 - The manager can arrange for the SPV to issue securities, provided there is a specific and separate pool of assets backing each issue.
 3 For the purpose of these statistics, securitisers are those legal entities which issue short and/or long term debt securities, using specifically selected assets to back them and generate the payment streams necessary to fulfil interest and principal requirements of investors.
 4 A securitisation program must have:
 - A specifically created SPV - usually a trust - which is resident in Australia and which is not required to provide data to the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) under the Financial Statistics (Collection of Data) Act.
 - Specifically selected assets (e.g. mortgages, receivables, etc) backing its liabilities in the form of debt securities. In the case of mortgages, these may be on the balance sheet of the SPV or that of the originator. If the latter, the SPV will have a lien over them.
 5 From the September quarter 2009 issue of the Australian National Accounts: Finance and Wealth (cat. no. 5232.0), Australian securitisers are classified to the Securitisers subsector. The securities issued - asset backed securities - are classified as either Short term debt securities (subcategory one name paper) or Long term debt securities depending on their original term to maturity.
 6 The scope of these statistics is all resident SPVs which securitise any type of asset (including mortgages, credit card receivables, lease receivables, short and long term debt securities) and which are not regulated or registered with APRA and therefore are not required to report to APRA under the Financial Statistics (Collection of Data) Act.
 7 Coverage is limited to those SPVs which are independently rated by a recognised rating agency. Internal securitisation is excluded from this survey. Internal securitisation, also referred to as self-securitisation, is a process in which an originator sells a pool of assets to a related special purpose vehicle (SPV), and the SPV in turn issues debt securities, which are held entirely by the originator. These securities are eligible for use as collateral in repurchase agreements (repos) with the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA).
 Basis of valuation and consideration
 8 Data are at market values. Any holdings of asset backed securities issued by other programs within the same group have been eliminated on consolidation from both assets and liabilities aggregates.
 Definitions and descriptions of data items
 9 Residential mortgages refers to a loan which is secured by a residential property.
 10 Non-residential mortgages refers to a loan which is secured by a non-residential property.
 11 Credit card loans and trade receivables refer to debt accessed through credit cards and monies owed to businesses for services or goods provided.
 12 Cash & deposits refers to all types of deposits (including those denominated in foreign currency) with Australian banks and all non bank financial intermediaries such as merchant banks, finance companies and cash management trusts.
 13 Holdings of short term securities refers to holdings of money market instruments. It includes securities such as certificates of deposit of Australian banks, bills of exchange and promissory notes.
 14 Holdings of asset backed bonds refers to holdings of asset backed securities issued by securitisers outside the group.
 15 Holdings of other long term securities refers to holdings of interest bearing securities, other than asset backed bonds, which have an original term to maturity greater than one year. It includes debentures, secured and unsecured notes and bonds.
 16 Other loans & placements refers to all loans other than loans secured by mortgages and credit card loans. It includes operating lease and lease finance receivables and secured loans to originators.
 17 Other assets refers to non financial assets and sundry financial claims.
 18 Asset backed securities, issued overseas, refers to asset backed securities issued in non resident markets.
 19 Asset backed securities issued in Australia, short term refers to asset backed securities which have an original term to maturity of one year or less.
 20 Asset backed securities issued in Australia, long term refers to asset backed securities which have an original term to maturity of more than one year.
 21 Loans and placements refers to loans and advances from Australian banks, non bank financial intermediaries (e.g. money market corporations), and from other sources such as related companies.
 22 Other liabilities, resident refers to other sundry amounts payable.
 23 Other liabilities, non resident refers mainly to repatriated loans from offshore entities.
 Effects of rounding
 24 Where figures have been rounded, discrepancies may occur between sums of the component items and totals. Published changes in dollar value and percentage terms are calculated using unrounded data and may differ slightly from, but are more accurate than, changes calculated from the rounded data presented in this publication.
 Related publications
 25 Users may also wish to refer to the following publications which can be downloaded free of charge from the ABS web site:
 Show all
 $bbillion (thousand million) dollars
 $mmillion dollars
 ABSAustralian Bureau of Statistics
 APRAAustralian Prudential Regulation Authority
 RBAReserve Bank of Australia
 SPVSpecial Purpose Vehicle


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IGNATIUS OF JESUS (Ignazio di Gesù). An Italian missionary in Persia and a scholar of the Persian language. Carlo Leonelli was born near Pesaro in Italy in 1596 and died in Rome in 1667. He entered the Discalced Carmelite Order (see CARMELITES) taking the name Ignatius of Jesus, and was sent as a missionary to the East. He lived in Persia (Isfahan, 1629-34; Shiraz, 1634-41), and in Mesopotamia and Syria from 1629 to 1663 (Ambrosius à Sancta Teresia, 1944, pp. 182-83; Chick, A Chronicle II, pp. 898-900; Orsatti, 1981). In Isfahan he resided in the country's oldest Carmelite mission (founded in 1608), where Pietro Della Valle (q.v.) had sojourned before him (1617-21) and learnt the rudiments of Persian under the guidance of the Carmelites. Ignatius also began to study Persian, Arabic, and probably Turkish there (Orsatti, 1981, pp. 57-58).
Ignatius is renowned mainly for his studies on religion and on the customs of the Mandaeans or Christians of St. John, a Gnostic sect speaking an Aramaic language and settled at that time near Basra (Orsatti, 1981, p. 61). His work is also very important in the history of the study of Oriental languages and cultures in Europe. He mastered Persian, Arabic, Turkish, and Mandaean to perfection. He wrote a series of works in Latin devoted to the study of these languages for Europeans (not only for missionaries), some of which either remained in manuscript form or were lost (Ambrosius à S. Teresia, 1940). He was among the first to promote the tradition of Persian studies in Europe. He wrote a Grammatica Linguae Persicae (Rome, 1661) printed by the Propaganda Fide, the third Persian grammar to be published in Europe, following that of the Dutch scholar Ludwijk de Dieu (Leiden, 1639), and that of the Oxford grammarian John Greaves (London, 1649). He was also the author of a Latin-Persian dictionary, which remained in manuscript form (Vatican Library, ms. Borg. pers. 15; cf. Rossi, pp. 170-71; Orsatti, 1981, pp. 74-83). Ignatius's grammar was conceived as part of a more extensive work to be used in the teaching of Persian and Arabic: Scrinium Duarum Linguarum Orientalium, which remained in manuscript form (Rome, National Library, ms. Fondi Minori 69 [S. Maria della Scala 42]; cf. Piemontese, no. 268). He also made a Persian translation, and both a literal and a free retroversion into Latin, of the Dottrina Cristiana by Cardinal Roberto Bellarmino (_PHONE_; Rome, National Library, ms. Fondi Minori 67 [S. Maria della Scala 27]; cf. Piemontese, no. 270), which is different from that made by the Jesuits of Lahore a few years earlier (Camps, p. 175). It is said that during the last years of his stay in the East, Ignatius devoted his time to composing a Scrinium Quatuor Linguarum Orientalium, i.e., Persian, Arabic, Turkish, and Mandaean, now lost (Orsatti, 1981, p. 63).
Ignatius's linguistic works are characterized by their strong practical purpose: to teach people to speak languages well and in a short time. Although his Persian grammar was influenced by the Latin grammatical tradition, it is more concise and effective than that by L. de Dieu, which was mainly intended for erudite European scholars, and was strongly influenced by the Hebrew linguistic tradition (Jeremiás). In his Dictionarium the Persian equivalents in the original Arabic script are always preceded by a transcription of their pronunciation in Latin characters (for a historical-linguistic study of the transcription of Persian words, cf. Orsatti, 1984); and much space is devoted to phraseology and examples of usage. The layout of his Scrinium Duarum Linguarum is also worthy of note. It includes, not only Persian and Arabic grammar, but also a Latin-Persian and Latin-Arabic dictionary arranged by subject and, for each language, lists of words by grammatical category (pronouns, adverbs, verbs), ways of greeting people, and examples of dialogue, indicating when and to whom they should be addressed. With his linguistic and religious works, Ignatius is one of the most typical representatives of the Oriental missionary tradition.
Ambrosius à S. Teresia, Bio-bibliographia missionaria ordinis Carmelitarum Discalceatorum (_PHONE_), Rome, 1940, nn. 202, 228, 230, 261, 288, 289, 290, 291, 423.
Idem, Nomenclator Missionariorum Ordinis Carmelitarum Discalceatorum, Rome, 1944.
Arnulf Camps, "Persian Works of Jerome Xavier, a Jesuit at the Mogul Court," Islamic Culture 35, 1961, pp. 166-76.
Herbert Chick, A Chronicle of the Carmelites in Persia and the Papal Mission of the XVIIth and XVIIIth centuries, 2 vols., London, 1939 (based on documents from the Archivio di Propaganda Fide and Casa Generalizia dei Carmelitani Scalzi in Rome).
Éva M. Jeremiás, "Grammatical Rule and Standard in the First Persian Grammars Written in Latin (XVIIth century)," in Mirko Tavoni, ed., Italia ed Europa nella linguistica del Rinascimento: confronti e relazioni/Italy and Europe in Renaissance Linguistics: Comparisons and Relations, Proceedings of the International Conference, Ferrara, 20-24 March 1991, 2 vols., Modena, 1996, II, pp. 569-80.
Idem, "The Impact of the Semitic Linguistics on the First Persian Grammars Written in Europe," in Shaul Shaked and Amnon Netzer, eds., Irano-Judaica IV. Studies Relating to Jewish Contacts with Persian Culture throughout the Ages, Jerusalem, 1999, pp. 159-71.
Paola Orsatti, "Grammatica e lessicografia persiana nell'opera di P. Ignazio di Gesù," Rivista degli Studi Orientali 55, 1981, pp. 55-85.
Idem, "Sistema di trascrizione e fonetica neopersiana nel Dictionarium Latino-Persicum di P. Ignazio di Gesù," AIUON 44, 1984, pp. 41-81.
Angelo Michele Piemontese, Catalogo dei manoscritti persiani conservati nelle biblioteche d'Italia, Rome, 1989.
Ettore Rossi, Elenco dei manoscritti persiani della Biblioteca Vaticana: Vaticani, Barberiniani, Borgiani, Rossiani, Studi e Testi 136, Vatican City, 1948.
Originally Published: December 15, 2004
Last Updated: March 27, 2012
This article is available in print.
Vol. XII, Fasc. 6, pp. 619-620

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


text: Ability to pay is a principle in taxation that speaks about tax fairness. According to this principle, taxes must vary according to the amount of wealth, or amounts of income earned by individuals. Hence, individuals who earn income in different amounts must be taxed at different rates. Individuals who earn more income must pay more tax because they have the ability to pay more and it is not because they use more government goods and services that they are taxed higher. The principle of ability to pay is applied in cases of progressive taxation.


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We are looking for an early stage industry collaboration partner to further develop and test the technology with a view to a commercial licence of the intellectual property.
Contact our IP Commercialisation Business Development Manager:
Tel: +61 8 9266 4925
Summary of technology
Due to the very high attenuation of electromagnetic waves in water, sound is often the only viable means of underwater wireless communication. However, due to reflection effects from the surface and the seabed, and background noise due to sea creatures, it has been difficult to achieve reliable acoustic communication over long range at data rates to make many applications viable, for example transmission of real-time video. Our novel technology draws on deep signal processing expertise within the research team, using innovative channel estimation, tracking and equalisation algorithms to analyse the incoming signal and reliably identify the transmitted data, enabling data rates of around 4 kbps over distances of 10 km.
This technology has the potential to enable a wide range of applications, particularly those in shallow waters or close to shore where noise effects are greatest.
These applications include:
- subsea monitoring and control applications in the oil and gas industry
- gathering data from sensors and actuators in the subsea internet of things
- covert communications between submarines and surface ships.
The team consists of Professor Yue Rong, Professor Sven Nordholm and Dr Alec Duncan, who have complementary experience in acoustics, signal processing, communications and real-time systems.
Stage of development
An engineering proof of concept has been completed and successfully tested in the ocean. A complete real-time underwater communication system has undergone a successful tank trial, and a river trial over a distance of approximately 1 km is planned for later in 2017.
Intellectual property is owned by Curtin University. The algorithms are a trade secret and there is potential for protection of aspects of the system design via patents.

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


Harpers (Forgotten Realms)
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The Harpers are a fictional and semi-secret organization in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting of the role playing game Dungeons & Dragons.
The organization was created near the founding of Myth Drannor by elven elders, generals, and priests, and led by an elven mage named "Lady Steel" (and advised by a young Elminster.) Over time, and after the fall of Myth Drannor, this organization evolved into a new group, founded by Elminster and other influential and powerful individuals, with support from many freedom loving and good-aligned deities and churches (although the churches don't always agree with Harper aims, the deities themselves do.) The deities who sponsored the Harpers are; Deneir, Eldath, Liira, Mielikki, Milil, Mystra, Oghma, Selune, Silvanus, Tymora, and The entire Seldarine. Most of the Seven Sisters, especially Storm Silverhand, are dedicated Harpers.
Pushing for Balance as well as what is right, they oppose all evil organizations such as the Zhentarim and the Red Wizards of Thay. The Harpers strive for many small, allied kingdoms, keeping rulers close to their people and too occupied with actively helping their subjects to be concerned with making war and conquering their neighbors. They are also concerned with maintaining a balance between nature and civilization, keeping woodlands and other natural areas safe from too much destruction, and with preserving all knowledge and learning, especially history, music and art. They recruit a variety of people, but the majority tend to be human, elven, and half-elven rangers and bards (people who are free to roam around a lot); there are more female than male Harpers. Harper members are recognizable by their magically imbued silver pins, which grant various magical protections (such as immunity to electricity, and to magic missiles.)
Harpers are hated in many countries such as Thay or Tethyr, for a variety of reasons, but especially for their vehement opposition to the practice of slavery. The Tethyrian government has a grudge against the Harpers for assassinating their last recognized leader, driving the country of Tethyr into a swirling chaos of civil war and assassinations. However, the Harpers were framed by another, unknown, secret organization.
In 1371DR - The Year of the Unstrung Harp (1 year previously to the start of the 3rd edition campaign) - there has been growing divisions between the Harpers who wished to further the cause of Balance (neutral-aligned) and those who wished to combat evil (good-aligned). A schism happened after the Harper Khelben "Blackstaff" Arunsun made a deal with Fzoul Chembryl, leader of the Zhentarim. He was expelled from the Harpers, and, with his wife Laeral Silverhand of the Seven Sisters, he went on to form the Harper splinter organization known as the Moonstars.
Other media[edit]
Baldur's Gate[edit]
The Harpers are also part of the plot of the Forgotten Realms computer game Baldur's Gate.
Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn[edit]
The Harpers also play an important role in Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn.[1]
 1. ^ Chan, Chris (October 23, 2000). "A hero faces his greatest challenge yet". New Straits Times. Retrieved November 21, 2012. – via HighBeam Research (subscription required)
Additional sources[edit]


room. This is a form of importance sampling, also called importance driven final gathering. We also subdivide anytime there are significant differences between neighbors to reduce noise, this is called adaptive sampling. NumAdaptiveRefinementLevels controls how many refinement levels there are, AdaptiveBrightnessThreshold controls how big of a neighbor difference there must be to refine a sector.
As to the Lightmass WorldSettings options, IndirectLightingSmoothness operates on the settings in step 4), the amount of irradiance cache smoothing.
IndirectLightingQuality increases the number of samples and depth of refinement in steps 5-7, the final gathering.
Sky light method (assuming static skylight, stationary is a bit different):
 1. The sky light HDR texture is exported to Lightmass as an 3 band spherical harmonic, which you can think of as an extremely low resolution cubemap (2x2 on each face approx). So if you have a very bright spot in the sky cubemap it will be spread out over a large region. This is basically prefiltering to avoid noise.
 2. We do a mini final gather at each lightmap texel and compute sky lighting with a very low number of rays. This is cached on the surface and will become the first bounce of skylight GI once the final gather accesses it.
 3. During the final gather, any rays that hit the scene look up the cached sky direct lighting from step 2), which now becomes first bounce sky lighting. Any rays that miss the scene and hit the background lookup from the sky SH, this is sky direct lighting. We refine the final gather based on brightness differences between sectors of the hemisphere, but no importance sampling is done because we don't have any photons from the sky.
So now you can see why static sky lights have limited quality and only support one indirect lighting bounce. This is something we could improve, but it's a lot of work and complexity. Specifically, we should actually export a cubemap to Lightmass, and do importance sampling of the cubemap's contents (trace more rays to the brighter texels).
This is pretty much Chinese to my hear but I'm happy to see devs interested in improving lightmass for arch-viz users!
You may have a potentially HUGE market in sight because everybody in arch-viz communities are talking about real-time/Unreal. I think eventually we all want to go real-time!
This is where I would like to get to in Unreal - not sure it's possible? It's just an HDRI and a Sun in Blender/Cycles render engine. There is some post processing in Photoshop.
What kind of method cycles use for G.I? path tracing?
Heh, maybe I got too technical.
Short answer - not without some significant work on our part. Pure HDRI quality is lacking. But I hear you guys loud and clear, that's how you want to light (as opposed to directional or spot lights).
while we're talking about lightmass…is there a way (or is it planned, even possible) to calculate lighting for just selected objects? for example, if we add single object/move or add a light, the engine tells us how many objects need their lightmaps calculated. if the engine can tell that, why not enable lighmaps calculations only for affected geometry? it would speed up things even further instead of waiting another hour and a half for light calculation to finish for the whole level when only one object was added…
These explanations are spot on (Made so many things easy and this is the minimum information required to understand lightmass). Till you guys made HDRI Lighting awesome in unreal engine, kindly let us know how to resolve some common issues which come when we simulate HDRI lighting with added support of Punctual lights.
Link to download above scene file - Dropbox - Error
Thanks Raghu, I'll take a look at that scene when I get a chance, hopefully monday.
It's possible, although a fair amount of lightmass processing (editor export, lightmass import, photon mapping) have to be done no matter what you want to build. Only the blue part in the Swarm visualizer (double click the swarm icon hiding in the taskbar when building lighting). It's not something we have planned just due to not enough time though.
My two cents
99% of the time I notice that if you go over a value of 2-3 on the "Indirect light intensity" ( on the main sun light I mean ) you'll have those light leaks all over.
I usually use, to boost up the intensity of the interiors, a skylight with a limited amount of intensity ( 0.2/0.5 ) and 1-2 of Indirect lighting.
Then bounce cards all over the place.
_USER_: +1 Raghu, to be able to build the lighting only for certain object will be a godsend, since if you're working on different environments and you just want to test part of the scene it'll be great to process only a portion of that or if you move some objects just reuild the lighting for those ( and the affected surfaces of course )
Okay, thank you. At least I know not to try and transfer my techniques over to Unreal and just work with what it gives me. Sure would be nice to be able to light scenes this way though. :slight_smile:
A workaround for that, which is what I am doing in my current project is organize the scene outline on different parts. I have exterior yard, ground level and level 1. As now I am working only on the level 1 I simply select all actors which are grouped in a folder from exterior yard ( easier if you arrange by type so you can only select static meshes) and simply set to movable and all the lights to not affect world. They will be ignored in lightmass. Might not be as easy as having an option like you mentioned ( which I also hope will be implemented at some point ) but does the job of lowering the building time.
I did some quick tests
 - I used "Static Lighting Level" 0.07 and "Indirect Lighting Smoothness 1.3"
 - It's possible to achieve the same lighting quality from vray
 - Kola's work it's pretty much the same as Alex Roman's vray works. The secret is in the
 shaders and the contrast. In the lighting pass you will definitely spot a lot of lighting errors. Even
 in Alex Roman's work, you can see lighting erros from Irrmap + LC solution. Darkness is our best friend
 in this case.
 - Here is a nice article for understanding better the photomapping process :
Have a nice study!


What Does Biased Mean?
What is meant by being biased?
Is bias good or bad?
Bias is neither inherently good nor bad. Biases can clearly come with upsides—they improve decision-making efficiency. … Biases are the leanings we have when it comes to making judgments.
What does biased mean in statistics?
A statistic is biased if it is calculated in such a way that it is systematically different from the population parameter being estimated. … Selection bias involves individuals being more likely to be selected for study than others, biasing the sample.
Why is bias not good?
Why Is bias a problem?
A problem of bias occurs because to identify the relevant features for such purposes, we must use general views about what is relevant; but some of our general views are biased, both in the sense of being unwarranted inclinations and in the sense that they are one of many viable perspectives.
What are the 3 types of bias?
What is an example of biased?
Bias means that a person prefers an idea and possibly does not give equal chance to a different idea. … Facts or opinions that do not support the point of view in a biased article would be excluded. For example, an article biased toward riding a motorcycle would show facts about the good gas mileage, fun, and agility.
What is bias in simple words?
What are some biased words?
Examples of Biased LanguageBiased LanguageAlternativesHe has had the physical handicap since he was 5 years old.He has had the physical impairment since he was 5 years old.There are many elderly people in our town.There are many senior citizens (or seniors) in our town.1 more row•Jul 17, 2019
Why should you avoid bias?
How do you use the word bias?
Bias in a Sentence 🔉After a long court battle, the firm was found guilty of showing bias against females in its promotion practices. … Your bias against male nannies is causing you to ignore the best caregiving option for your infant. … As a judge, Mary cannot let her personal bias lead her to make an unfair ruling.More items…
How is bias created?
What is bias mean in English?
(Entry 1 of 4) 1a : an inclination of temperament or outlook especially : a personal and sometimes unreasoned judgment : prejudice. b : an instance of such prejudice. c : bent, tendency.
What is a biased sentence?
The definition of biased is unfairly showing favoritism towards something or someone. If you favored one of the candidates going into a contest over the other, this is an example of when you were biased. … Marked by or exhibiting bias; prejudiced. Gave a biased account of the trial.
What does biased love mean?
The tendency to judge in favor of people and symbols we like is called the bias from liking or loving. We are more likely to ignore faults and comply with wishes of our friends or lovers rather than random strangers. We favor people, products, and actions associated with our favorite celebrities.
What is biased writing?
What are some common biases?


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21 Jul The CodeBenders
Codebending is the fifth elemental art of bending, specifically, the psychokinetic ability to control and manipulate behavior of machines. The peaceful Zege Clan utilize this type of bending in their everyday lives.
Code is the element of innovation and invention. The Zege clan detached themselves from worldly problems and concerns; finding peace and freedom was the key to solve their flaws in life. Codebenders continually seek for technological enlightenment, and, as a result, all children born into the Zege Clan were innovators. The first codebenders learned their art from the Matrix.
The key to codebending is flexibility and finding and following the path of least resistance though unconventional thought. Codebending is notable for being almost entirely innovative, as well as the most dynamic of all bending arts. Codebenders can overwhelm many opponents at once with large and powerful attacks that could prove fatal; however, due to the pacifist nature of the Zege Clan, such attacks are rarely used. Codebenders seek to create a better balance of life through technology
If you think you are THE ONE, we summon you for your destiny. If you think you know THE ONE, their destiny awaits them!


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This article was originally distributed via PRWeb. PRWeb, WorldNow and this Site make no warranties or representations in connection therewith.
SOURCE: The Mount Sinai Medical Center
Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have validated new genetic links for sagittal craniosynostosis, a common birth defect in which the bones that form the sides and top of the skull, fuse prematurely.
New York, NY (PRWEB) November 18, 2012
Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have validated new genetic links for sagittal craniosynostosis, a common birth defect in which the bones that form the sides and top of the skull, fuse prematurely. The genome-wide association (GWA) study and replication, published online November 18th in the journal Nature Genetics, provides the first strong evidence of genetic variants contributing to non-syndromic sagittal craniosynostosis.
Craniosynostosis is one of the ten most common birth defects, occurring in about 1 out of every 2,500 live births. The sagittal form of craniosynostosis, which impedes growth of the skull so that the shape becomes elongated, occurs in about half the cases, or 1 in 5,000 live births. Unless it is treated surgically to release pressure on the brain within the first year of life, it interferes with brain growth causing neurologic deficits. Non-syndromic sagittal craniosynostosis is not associated with other abnormalities.
Until now, efforts to improve the health outcomes of infants born with sagittal craniosynostosis have been limited to surgery performed by neurosurgical and plastic surgery teams. But researchers have been focusing on the contribution of genetics, as well as environmental triggers.
To investigate the genetic associations, the International Craniosynostosis Consortium studied 130 trios (the affected child and both parents). "Very strong associations for genetic markers near the BMP2 [bone morphogenetic protein] gene on chromosome 7 and also within the BBS9 [Bardet-Biedel syndrome 9] gene on chromosome 20 were found, and we replicated it with 172 cases and 548 controls" said Ethylin Wang Jabs, MD, PhD, Professor of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, and Pediatrics at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. "This association suggests that individuals carrying these genetic markers may have more than a four-fold risk of having sagittal craniosynostosis," added Inga Peter, PhD, Associate Professor of Genetics and Genomic Sciences. "To find so much power, this is a big breakthrough."
The findings open the door to more genetic research. "Investigators will pursue sequencing studies, perhaps finding other loci and genes of interest," Dr. Jabs added.
Other Mount Sinai coauthors include Monica Erazo, Xiaoqian Ye, Edmond Ainehsazan, Lisong Shi, and Peter J. Taub.
The National Institutes of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention supported this research. Genotyping was performed at the Center for Inherited Disease Research at the National Institutes of Health. Participants were recruited and evaluated through the collaborative effort of the International Craniosynostosis Consortium.
One of the first of its kind in the New York area, Mount Sinai's Congenital Anomalies and Craniofacial Program led by Dr. Jabs has been at the forefront of genetics and clinical research in congenital abnormalities, especially those of the head, neck, and limbs. Patients are seen by clinical geneticists that are experts in dysmorphology as well as by the Craniofacial and Cleft Clinic with a multidisciplinary team of geneticists, pediatricians, speech therapists, dentists, otolaryngologists, plastic surgery, maxillofacial surgeons, neurosurgery, and ophthalmologists, co-directed by Drs. Lester Silver and Peter Taub. The research focus of Dr. Jabs' laboratory at Mount Sinai has been to increase our understanding of the molecular basis of human malformation disorders and to develop new preventive and therapeutic interventions.
About The Mount Sinai Medical Center
The Mount Sinai Medical Center encompasses both The Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Established in 1968, Mount Sinai School of Medicine is one of the leading medical schools in the United States. The Medical School is noted for innovation in education, biomedical research, clinical care delivery, and local and global community service. It has more than 3,400 faculty in 32 departments and 14 research institutes, and ranks among the top 20 medical schools both in National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding and by US News and World Report.
The Mount Sinai Hospital, founded in 1852, is a 1,171-bed tertiaryand quaternary-care teaching facility and one of the nation's oldest, largest and most-respected voluntary hospitals. In 2011, US News and World Report ranked The Mount Sinai Hospital 14th on its elite Honor Roll of the nation's top hospitals based on reputation, safety, and other patient-care factors. Mount Sinai is one of 12 integrated academic medical centers whose medical school ranks among the top 20 in NIH funding and US News and World Report and whose hospital is on the US News and World Report Honor Roll. Nearly 60,000 people were treated at Mount Sinai as inpatients last year, and approximately 560,000 outpatient visits took place.
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Bureau of Economic Geology, The University of Texas at Austin (_URL_).
BEG Seminar, November 18, 2005
Petrography Reality and Chemical Diagenesis
Spatial distribution of features arising from chemical diagenesis is foremost a reflection of rate-limiting processes. This is to say that, of all the many chemical processes that may factor into the formation of a particular mineral, it is always the slowest of these that determines the mineral's characteristic pattern of occurrence. It applies to secondary pores (mineral dissolution) as well. Examples of possible rate-limiting processes include nucleation, precipitation, dissolution, diffusion, and advection.
The efficacy of predictive models of chemical diagenesis depends on identifying the particular rate-limiting processes that apply to individual minerals in the system being modeled. Petrographic evidence concerning mineral localization provides useful clues for this determination and suggests that authigenic minerals can be grouped into two main classes: those that are precipitation controlled and those that are transport controlled.
At the surface and at comparatively shallow depths, petrographic evidence suggests that processes of precipitation and dissolution are not strongly linked, either spatially, temporally, or mechanistically. For example, feldspar dissolution exploits crystal defects, whereas precipitation of clays may be localized at available sites of nucleation. Differences in individual rates among processes sets up an inherent disconnect between many individual reactions responsible for observed compositional and textural features. Thus, rate controls for dissolution and precipitation are not strongly linked to either solubilities or transport controls, and, hence, not to each other. Indeed, halo textures and other manifestations of spatial linkages between dissolution and precipitation are not generally reported at temperatures characteristic of diagenesis.
The diversity of chemical controls operative within mineral assemblages has implications for determination of mass balance. For minerals limited by precipitation rate, data on mineral volume carry no inherent information on elemental sources, their location, or their volume. Simultaneous solution of rate equations for all major co-occurring dissolution and precipitation processes does have the potential for indicating length scales for elemental transfers, however.


Does a Buddhist temple have a place on a college campus?
The temple was given to UTEP by the people of Bhutan after it was built for the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington D.C. in 2008. Photo credit: Kate Gannon
EL PASO — Separation of church and state, unless we're talking about a Buddhist temple at the University of Texas at El Paso? To celebrate its centennial, UTEP is undergoing a major physical transformation and a very visible part of the makeover is the placement on campus of a Lhakhang, or Buddhist temple.
The temple was given to UTEP by the people of Bhutan after it was built for the Smithsonian Folklife Festival that took place in Washington D.C. in 2008. It was later shipped to El Paso and kept in a warehouse until money was raised to place it on campus.
The Bhutanese architecture at UTEP is undeniably beautiful and so is Bhutan, it's people and culture. But does that give UTEP the right to put a big temple in the middle of the new Centennial Plaza?
UTEP has crossed this line several times. Bhutan prayer flags outline the art museum, a Bhutan altar greets you in the library and, in November 2012, UTEP was host to former Buddhist monk Losang Samten who worked for four weeks in the Bhutan Cybercafe in the UTEP Union East building crafting a Kalachakra sand mandala.
Time-lapse video by Steve Osborne of Lobsang Samten and Kalacakra Mandala in El Paso
The sand mandala involves using sand to create artistic forms,. Accompanying ceremonies and viewings symbolize the Buddhist doctrinal belief in the transitory nature of material life.
According to Wikipedia, "The Kālacakra tradition revolves around the concept of time (kāla) and cycles (chakra): from the cycles of the planets, to the cycles of human breathing. It teaches the practice of working with the most subtle energies within one's body on the path to enlightenment."
These sand portraits feature deities within a complex structure and geometry. Although impressive, it is a religious tradition and its place in the heart of a public university campus should be questioned.
Losang Samten also showed onlookers how to meditate. This is a form of prayer and, in a country that outlaws prayer in public institutions. one wonders if that only applies to the ones praying to God.
So why was Samten allowed to teach people about the Bhutanese religion? This clearly crosses several lines in the church and state debate, so why is it being allowed? If the goal is to model the buildings after the beautiful architecture of Bhutan then what does a monk praying to his deities have to do with that?
In a 2011 interview with, UTEP's Executive Vice President of Legal Affairs and Oversight Ricardo Adauto said, "UTEP's ties to Bhutan are cultural, not religious."
This claim that the structure is cultural and not religious seems to lack validity after the demonstration held in the Bhutan Cybercafe. Another interesting quote from from Aduato in the same interview is, "Nobody is asking (students and staff) to practice anything other than looking at the architecture."
One wonders about the statements made by Aduato when a former Bhutanese monk spends four weeks on campus teaching people how to pray and what the religion of Bhutan consists of.
El Paso needs to ask why the lines that separate church and state continue to be crossed in a public institution. Building campus structures in a particular style is one thing, but a temple is something else.
4 thoughts on "Does a Buddhist temple have a place on a college campus?
 1. quit whining, this is cultural and add beauty to the campus. Do you think students are going to go pray in the "temple" before a test?
 2. Helen, I support separation of church and state. However, the issue here as I see it is truly about cultural exchange. Few UTEP students, faculty, or staff have the opportunity to visit Bhutan. Most importantly, as Mr. Adauto stated no one is asking people to pray or follow Bhutan's religious traditions. When various monks have visited campus, I have only seen people pass by, stop for a few moments, and continue with their day. Admiring the skill required to create a Kalachakra and observing how one is made enriches UTEP's cultural life.
 Many universities have both a Baptist and/or a Catholic student union in this part of the country, people discuss abortion on campus (for many this topic is tied to religion), other topics of religion are discussed in myriad ways on campus.
 Perhaps the most egregious crossing of the church/state line occurs when the clergy publicly comment on political candidates, for example, on television news shows. It seems to me we can only benefit from the cultural interchange that takes place between UTEP/El Paso and Bhutan.
 3. Teaching 'about' a religion is not the same as promoting it. This principle has held up many times in church-state cases (which the author of this piece should have researched more carefully, rather than displaying her misunderstanding of the concept.) UTEP also has a religious studies program that teaches 'about' Islam, Catholicism, Bahai, Judaism… and none of those religions are being promoted either.
 It's too bad that the author of this poorly informed editorial chooses to view other cultures and religions as threats, rather than as opportunities for learning.
 4. Querido amigo: Photography is all consuming. I have tried leaving it "cold turkey" but you recognize my weakness. They talk loudly and we love what they have to say. I hear your beautiful story.
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Gaining elevation
A/B Street is both a game and a very powerful tool that allows you to download a detailed street map of an area and test out changes to the configuration of roads:
A short video of A/B Street in action showing a user adding bike lanes and changing traffic signal patterns
It uses OpenStreetMap as a data source. OSM has impressively rich data on things like the number of lanes a street has, where bike lanes and turn restrictions go, and so on, but one thing it lacks is detailed elevation data. The developers noticed that it was suggesting absurd routes for cyclists in Seattle, including routes that no-one who's actually tried cycling would ever repeat because of the hills involved. So they brought me in to figure out how to add elevation data.
I wrote a simple Python tool that reads in paths as plain lists of coordinates, and writes out statistics for each one: the start and elevations, and cumulative elevation gain and loss along each path. A/B Street incorporates this into a data load by exporting each road segment as a series of points every metre along the way, getting as fine-grained a picture of a route's hilliness as the source data allows.
By default, elevation_lookups uses data from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, because that source provides fairly high quality data for most of the world's land. I learned about SRTM while making this tool, and I'm still sort of star-struck that we have a global dataset like this, freely available to anyone who has a use for it. But it is also relatively low resolution, so I built in the ability to override the data source with higher resolution sources where known. It comes preconfigured with examples of both raster (LIDAR source) and vector (contour source) datasets for the Seattle area.
This is an open-source project. I hope it can be useful for other applications, and I have more ideas for it then I have time to implement. I'd love contributions from anyone this appeals to, and have some suggested starting points (not all requiring programming skills!).
I also ran into some technical surprises, which are below the fold in case the information is useful to anyone else


View Full Version : Geospatial Question concerning Country/Population Center Point
01-05-2014, 06:30 PM
I dabble in geographic information systems, specifically with arcmap software and wanted to try out some isotherm maps using data from some of the admixture populations.
My question is: would it be more accurate/appropriate to use the geographic center for a country, the mean population center point (population center of gravity) or something else?
For example, if you look at this map from 23andme results, the centroid for the UK for example appears to be just off the English coast in the North Sea which isn't near the pop center or geographic center.
01-09-2014, 12:33 AM
Thought I would share some of my geospatial "dabblings" with the Eurogenes K13 Admixture data based on my results/values from five K13 populations.
Please realize a lot of assumptions went into creating these maps. For example where to place a point representing a population group. Move the points a little and the results will obviously change.
Also the choice of which interpolation tool affects the map results. I chose the natural neighbor interpolation tool, but others might more appropriate for this type of data. I just don't have enough experience with these tools at the present.
In addition, these maps are not ready for prime time from a cartographic view point. i.e. they need still need some work.
The black bands on the maps represent +/- 5% from my K13 values for:
1. North_Atlantic
2. Baltic
3. West Med (band expanded to +/- 7.5% to create an overlap)
4. West Asia
5. East Med (on next post)
I stopped at 5 groups because my values for the remaining K13 groups was quite small (less than 2% of my makeup). The last map on the next post is a composite all 5 maps at the same time, showing where they all overlap.
01-09-2014, 12:51 AM
Here are the East Med and composite maps mentioned above. Couldn't get them all in one post.
01-09-2014, 01:02 AM
Population centroid seems the most sensible to me, unless all your ancestry from within a population is from a single known spot.
01-09-2014, 01:24 AM
I used the population centroid when I could find it. I have them for all the European countries, but some of these populations are a subset of a country. e.g. where exactly is the population centroid for Southeast England, or North Sweden or South Italy.
For those situations above and for countries where I couldn't find a population centroid, I reviewed population density maps for the specific area and made an educated guess as to the most appropriate spot to place the point.
01-09-2014, 03:12 AM
That seems like a good fallback.


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PSR's Environment and Health Program amplifies the voices of health professionals and other advocates on the catastrophic consequences of climate change and other environmental hazards to health.
Long Term Goals
- Support efforts at the local, state and federal level to oppose fracking, fracked-gas pipelines, compressor stations, and fossil fuel exports.
- Promote investment in clean, safe renewable energy and energy efficiency.
- Protect federal policies and programs that safeguard clean air and our climate.
- Educate and mobilize health professionals to speak about climate change as a health crisis.
PSR Climate Ambassador Program
Do you have a passion for PSR's mission to protect present and future generations from catastrophic climate change? If so, then you may be interested in becoming a PSR Climate Ambassador.


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bladder.
- High calcium content in the diet.
- Genitals injured.
- Blood clots.
- Disorder in reproductive organs, especially in unspayed female guinea pigs.
Guinea pigs show changes in physical activities before blood flows along with urine.
Observe if your guinea pig has a bloated abdomen and injury or swelling around the bladder. These are the symptoms of bladder stones.
The antibiotic course is usually suggested for treatment. The diagnosis will help us to determine the exact cause.
In severe cases, surgery is also done. Blood transfusion is done in rare instances when much blood is lost through urination.
Why does my guinea pig's urine smell so bad?
Guinea pig's urine left for some time starts giving a foul smell. That is because of the bacterial activity in the urine, which produces ammonia.
It can damage the inner lining of the nasal passage and cause respiratory infection in your pet if inhaled. The bad smell of urine does not mean that the guinea pig is ill.
The following steps can reduce the foul smell:
- Guinea pigs can be neutered/spayed as they produce less smelling urine.
- Litter trains your guinea pig. Put a litter box at the spot and reward your pet on performance.
- Place hay around the litter box as the guinea pig eats while urinating. Try to restrict the waste at one location.
- The litter tray should be cleaned once daily. The guinea pig won't if it smells terrible. Remove any urine-stained hay. Hutch need not be cleaned very often but check around the litter box.
- The litter tray can be cleaned with white vinegar. That helps to get rid of the foul smell and also clean the calcium residue. Wash the litter box to remove the traces of white vinegar.
Is guinea pig urine harmful to humans
Guinea pig's urine is not harmful to humans and is safe to handle. Its smell may be offensive. Still, it would be best if you were careful from a parasite found in the urine.
Encephalitozoon cuniculi or E. cuniculi is the bug found in most rodents' urine, including guinea pigs. This bug is less prevalent in guinea pigs. The infection is mostly subclinical but can be fatal if the pet is immunocompromised.
The parasite is transmitted through urine. Guinea pig's immune systems can fight this bug. It is thought that once infected, the guinea pig will be the lifelong carrier of the parasite.
Humans with low immunity are more susceptible to be infected by this disease. Children and elderly ones should be careful while handling guinea pig's urine.
Guinea pigs infected with Encephalitozoon cuniculi may appear healthy, but it may compromise their growth. Antibiotics are used for the treatment of the infection. It would be best if you were careful while cleaning the cage until the problem exists.
Check the pee of your pet, whether it is clear and fluid. You should handle cloudy or milky urine carefully. You should once consult your vet, and else it can be painful.
Source: MSD VET MANUAL, Sawneeanimalclinic, Urine sampling, ureteral obstruction in a pet guinea pig, Composition, and characteristics of urinary calculi from guinea pigs, Development of the urinary system in guinea pig females, Cystitis, urolithiasis and cystic calculi in aging guinea pigs.


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Phase transformations in steels: Volume 2: Diffusionless transformations, high strength steels, modelling...
Elena Pereloma, David Edmonds,
2012 | ISBN-10: _PHONE_ | 680 pages | PDF | 49 MB
The processing-microstructure-property relationships in steels continue to present challenges to researchers due to the complexity of phase transformation reactions and the wide spectrum of microstructures and properties achievable. This major two-volume work summarizes the current state of research on phase transformations in steels and its implications for the emergence of new steels with enhanced engineering properties.
Volume 2 reviews current research on diffusionless transformations and phase transformations in high strength steels, as well as advances in modeling and analytical techniques which underpin this research. Chapters in part one discuss the crystallography and kinetics of martensite transformations, the morphology, substructure and tempering of martensite as well as shape memory in ferrous alloys. Part two reviews research on phase transformations in high strength low alloy (HSLA) steels, transformation induced plasticity (TRIP)-assisted multiphase steels, quenched and partitioned steels, advanced nanostructured bainitic steels, high manganese twinning induced plasticity (TWIP) and maraging steels. The concluding two parts review advances in modeling and the use of advanced analytical techniques to improve the understanding of phase transformations in steels.
Download links (3% recovery):


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Do Dogs Prefer Certain Foods Over Others?by Jasey Kelly
Your pooch may prefer the taste of certain foods over others, something that you may have noticed when offering healthy treats or switching brands of kibble. At the same time, if you live in a multi-dog home, you may notice that one pooch prefers certain things while the other turns her nose up at them.
Wild vs. Canine
In the wild, wolves don't tend to be picky about what they eat. They hunt, eat their prey and survive based on what and when they can eat. Over thousands of years of domestication, however, many pet dogs have developed taste preferences. While some pet dogs still "wolf down" their meals quickly like their ancestors, many dogs will eat at leisure and be much more picky about what's in their bowls because they know their meals are steady and they won't go hungry.
Making Dog Food Tasty
Dog food manufacturers have long tried to make their foods palatable to dogs by adding flavor enhancers. Many of these enhancers are proteins crushed into a powder or formed into small pieces of kibble. Some foods even add ingredients that are similar to junk foods for humans. This is why some dogs will prefer a lower-quality kibble over a high-quality kibble, just as a human might prefer a coated, flavored tortilla chip over a natural corn tortilla chip. A dog's sense of smell may also contribute at first, with dogs preferring something that smells like meat over a bland, odorless diet. At first, dogs will go for the tasty-smelling dish, but after time they will have no preference unless there is a significant taste difference as well.
As they've evolved and been bred, the domesticated dog's diet more closely mimics that of their human counterparts. In addition to the change in diet from raw, fresh prey to an enormous variety, dogs will take cues from humans over what to eat. A study published in "Public Library of Science ONE" states that dogs in a trial would first choose an option of a larger portion over a smaller one; that is, until, a human showed more interest in the smaller portion. After seeing a cue from a human being who preferred a smaller portion, most dogs would choose the smaller over the larger.
Another interesting aspect of a pet's food preferences is the novelty effect. A dog fed a diet for long periods of time, whether he thoroughly enjoys it or not, will often choose a new, different tasting food or kibble over his regular diet. Conversely, some dogs will refuse a seemingly palatable food that they have never experienced before.
The domesticated dog is such a diverse species that it's nearly impossible to say every dog will like one thing. Humans have interfered with the dog's genes through selective breeding for certain traits, and science is unsure about the effects in regards to taste preferences. In general, however, dog taste buds react greatly to sweet and umami flavors in foods, much like human taste buds. The most common taste buds in a dog respond primarily to "sweetish" tastes, which could account for the preference of raw meat and carrion. A dog's sense of smell is also prevalent in the preference of certain foods over others; anosmic dogs don't show much preference between different meats or foods.
- The Journal of Nutrition: The Evolutionary Basis for the Feeding Behavior of Domestic Dogs (Canis familiaris) and Cats (Felis catus)
- AFB International: Principles of Pet Food Palatability
- Public Library of Science ONE: Do Dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) Make Counterproductive Choices Because They Are Sensitive to Human Ostensive Cues?
- Oxford Journals: The Role of Olfaction in Canine Food Preferences
- Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images


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Every user who can log in on the system is identified by a unique number called the user ID. Each process has an effective user ID which says which user's access permissions it has.
Users are classified into groups for access control purposes. Each process has one or more group ID values which say which groups the process can use for access to files.
The effective user and group IDs of a process collectively form its persona. This determines which files the process can access. Normally, a process inherits its persona from the parent process, but under special circumstances a process can change its persona and thus change its access permissions.
Each file in the system also has a user ID and a group ID. Access control works by comparing the user and group IDs of the file with those of the running process.
The system keeps a database of all the registered users, and another database of all the defined groups. There are library functions you can use to examine these databases.


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More capacity due to process optimisation?
It is often thought that there is a lack of production capacity. In many cases there is still space, although you often don't see that yourself anymore. That's why it makes sense to have someone from outside investigate the possibilities. AQM International Consulting helps to increase productivity by process optimisation and making the best possible use of working methods.
Applied technics at production processes:
- Thorough as-is Analysis;
- Visualising as is and to be situation;
- Value Stream Mapping (VSM);
- Visual management;
- Significant lead-time shortening,
- Capacity increase,
- Higher customer satisfaction,
- Cost reduction,
- Quality improvement,
- Lay-out (with takt-possibility).
|Turnover increase||Increase output by 40%|
|STARTING SITUATION||STARTING SITUATION|
|This client, with clear growth ambitions, wanted to achieve 50% more turnover in two years. The aim for the coming year was to harvest 25% and the year after the remaining 25% increase in turnover. Capacity measures therefore seemed necessary, because they found little room left in the existing situation. Nevertheless, two requirements were set. The extra turnover had to be achieved with the current employees, still on day shift. There were a number of reasons for this, but they are irrelevant here. Another tricky point was the delivery of material to the machines.||The planning was 10 machines per week. Due to regular overtime, they succeeded to assemble this desired number. In the existing situation was no evenly and continuous flow. Given the market demand, the management wanted at least 30% more production output. The wish was therefore to make better use of the existing capacity. In other words: Increase the output in a normal working week of 40 hours, without overtime. To be achieved by a better flow of materials and products.|
|CHOSEN APPROACH||CHOSEN APPROACH|
|Read more by clicking here.||Read more by clicking here.|
Too little capacity to work on the production capacity?
It is always time consuming to implement capacity improvements in a production line or production process. Internally, the current problems must first be mapped out in order to determine where solutions need to be found. Then solutions must be sought. In addition to the normal work, this requires extra deployment of the main functions. Then help with an analytical, pragmatic and project-based approach is more pleasant and practical. AQM International Consulting offers extensive experience in the optimal use of capacity. In what way? Just contact us. You'll see, we take away a lot of the time consuming.© 2020 AQM International Consulting


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The western tower of this gothic church dates from the 15th century. The choir, the transept and the 3 aisled nave date from the 17th century. In 1826 a new tunnel vault was added.
In the western tower, there is a bell from 1309. According to some sources, this would be the eldest church bell in Europe! We contradict this, as in the Netherlands there is a bell from 1284 and one from 1285 in museums. During the second Worls War, the Germans wanted to steal this church, but the pastor managed to change thier minds... The Maria bell carries a text and <<+ ANNO o DNI o M o CCC o IX o N o DCB o + MARIA>>. The diameter of the bell 96 cm and it's 80 cm heigh. It's shape is comparable to one made in 1353 in a church in Saalfeld in Germany. It's wrtings are similar to the ones of the bell in the Saint Peters' church of Aachen. This brings us to the dia that proably this bell was made in Germany.
In the interior, there are quite some interesting treasures. We name
A funny story is related to the stone owls which are standing in the belfry windows. They were put there to scare off the pigeons. But as this failed, they had to close the belfry windows by gauze.
For more info and pictures, click here.


't separate. If it wants to go to Dal Quor, it goes there in one piece. So it doesn't "dream", but it could planar travel. This ties to the second point. The mortals of Eberron are touched by all planes. War and peace, light and darkness, madness and dream; all of these things shape mortal minds. An immortal is a creature of one shade. It is PURE war, unadulterated madness or dream. It is a physical embodiment of the core ideas of its plane. A rakshasa or a Fernian balor has no innate connection to Dal Quor; dreams aren't part of their core identity.
Having said that, could a Khyberian Overlord find a way to project itself into Dal Quor? Sure. If that's the story you want to have happen, make an explanation. Perhaps Bel Shalor's connection to the Silver Flame lets it ride mortal spirits into Dal Quor. Perhaps the followers of the Voice In The Darkness have created an eldritch machine that lets her push into the realm of dreams. If you want it to happen, decide what it takes. But it's not normal, and it would be a significant event.
Furthermore, it also states that "the only way to reach Dal Quor from the Material Plane is through the psychic projection of dreaming." Does this mean that only mortals on the material plane dream? What about mortals on other planes? What about mortals from the material plane traveling to other planes?
As noted above, creatures of Eberron are inherently shaped by all of the planes, and it its this connection to Dal Quor that lets us go there when we dream. Many of the planes don't HAVE mortal inhabitants… or their mortal inhabitants are immigrants (or descendants of immigrants) from the material plane. I would say that most native mortals don't go to Dal Quor when they sleep; in this I'll point to the Eladrin, who don't dream. Do traveling mortals dream? I'd say it depends on the plane. In Fernia, you might dream in Dal Quor; however, planes such as Baator (well, demiplanes) or Dolurrh might have a spiritual gravity that prevents you from escaping through dreams.
Do some noble lords have their own armies, as in feudal societies?
Yes and no. If you look to Karrnath, while the army has a national command structure, individual forces are raised and maintained by the noble families; the leaders of each family are known as warlords. So while the army typically serves the coordinated vision of the king, every soldier is personally loyal to a specific warlord, and any warlord could choose to remove his support from the king – something Kaius has to keep in mind. While this has been specifically called out in Karrnath, I imagine it's the basic model for most of the nations: nobles are charged to raise and maintain elements of the national armies. Beyond this, there's nothing stopping nobles from having their own private forces. The only restriction that's ever been mentioned is the Korth Edicts, which prevent Dragonmarked Houses from having armies. If a noble of Galifar wants an army and can afford to maintain it, that's their business.
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Ubiquitous Video: Can Libraries Offer It? (Or Can Libraries Adapt?)
1:30 pm to 3:30 pm
Is your library embracing the demand for streaming video content? Video is becoming a ubiquitous medium, and educators are demanding more content and easier access. Hear from a librarian, a faculty member, and a content developer as they discuss the changing demands for multimedia access and delivery; how libraries can adapt collection development strategies and access methods to meet these needs; and how video collections are conceptualized to meet the needs of their academic markets.


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Background: Good-quality artemisinin drugs are essential for malaria treatment, but increasing prevalence of poorquality artemisinin drugs in many endemic countries hinders effective management of malaria cases. Methods: To develop a point-of-care assay for rapid identification of counterfeit and substandard artemisinin drugs for resource-limited areas, we used specific monoclonal antibodies against artesunate and artemether, and developed prototypes of lateral flow dipstick assays. In this pilot test, we evaluated the feasibility of these dipsticks under different endemic settings and their performance in the hands of untrained personnel. Results: The results showed that the dipstick tests can be successfully performed by different investigators with the included instruction sheet. None of the artemether and artesunate drugs collected from public pharmacies in different endemic countries failed the test. Conclusion: It is possible that the simple dipstick assays, with future optimization of test conditions and sensitivity, can be used as a qualitative and semi-quantitative assay for rapid screening of counterfeit artemisinin drugs in endemic settings.
- Artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs)
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
- Infectious Diseases


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Photo: Ellen Morris Bishop
Fossils of Metasequoia, commonly called "dawn redwoods" are abundant in Oregon's fossil record particularly near the Painted Hills and the towns of Mitchell and Fossil.
Past citizens of Oregon can be found in rocks throughout the state ranging in age from 10 thousand to hundreds of millions of years old. Marine fossils can be found along today's coast or far inland, marking ancient coastlines. One of the world's greatest records of life after the dinosaurs and before the Ice Age is found in the John Day Basin. Arid eastern Oregon is home to Ice Age fossils, records of a colder, wetter time. Keep your eyes open as you explore Oregon, you may just meet one of its past citizens!
In this window, you can learn what is a fossil and how marine fossils are found not only along the coast, but also hundreds of miles inland! You can also see representations of the eight main communities of fossils from the John Day Fossil Beds-one of the best preserved and most complete records of life ranging from more than 44 to 7 million years ago. Learn about a "mammoth" discovery in one Oregon child's backyard and get to know Metasequoia, Oregon's state fossil, living examples of which were discovered in China in the 1940s!
Know before you go:
All fossils are irreplaceable past citizens of Oregon. Fossils cannot be collected within any National Park Service land or state parks. Fossil collection is restricted on US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management land as well. It is your responsibility to check with the local land owner or land management agency for information and regulations. There are opportunities to legally collect fossils, visit the websites below for more information!
Digging Deeper: For more information, visit these websites:
John Day Fossil Beds National Monument (Take the virtual tour!) (National Park Service):
Oregon Paleo Lands Institute:
Learn more about Oregon's state fossil Metasequoia (while you're at the Capitol, stroll through the Willson Park garden, can you find the Metasequoia planted there?):
House Joint Resolution 3 (_URL_ established Metasequoia as the state fossil.
North American Research Group:
The John Day Fossil Beds contain some 14 different genera of fossil horses! Visit Fossil Horses in Cyberspace to learn more about their fascinating evolutionary story:
Oregon Fossils, including a list of museums where you can see Oregon fossils, and rules on collecting fossils in the state:
For a small fee, you can collect fossils, including the state fossil Metasequoia, at a classic locality behind Wheeler County High School in Fossil Oregon.
Digging Deeper: For more information, give this sample of books a read:
Fossil Shells from Western Oregon by Ellen J. Moore (2000, Chintimini Press
Oregon Fossils by Elizabeth L. Orr and William N. Orr (1998, Kendall/Hunt
Geology of Oregon, 5th Edition by Elizabeth L. Orr and William N. Orr (2000, Kendall/Hunt [_URL_ Professors at the University of Oregon, the Orr's have been writing about Oregon's geology for decades.
In Search of Ancient Oregon by Ellen Morris Bishop (2003, Timber Press
[_URL_ Take a photographic journey through time and see Oregon's ancient places.


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In this short video, Professor Elie Bou-Zeid shows how he is using the Princeton campus as a base to study how local environments affect and are affected by the global climate. Seen here, Bou-Zeid stands in front of a meteorological station that is part of the wireless sensor network deployed across campus to monitor the microclimate of Princeton.
Video stills courtesy of Volker Steger
Video feature: Global lessons from Princeton's microclimate
Posted July 28, 2011; 12:00 p.m.
In mapping the microclimate of Princeton's campus, Elie Bou-Zeid, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, hopes to better understand how local environments affect the global climate -- and vice versa.
In this video excerpt of a full-length video produced by the School of Engineering and Applied Science Bou-Zeid describes his research and his method for collecting data. So far he has placed a dozen sensing nodes across campus to gather data on energy, water and carbon that ultimately will lead to a more complete understanding of how different building materials and vegetation interact with the local climate.
Play the video "Princeton's Microclimate: Global lessons from local buildings".
"Global climate models will tell you what's happening at the very large scale," Bou-Zeid said. "What we try to do is downscale these climate predictions to the local level. So we want to see how a small city will respond to a climate change given by these global climate models."
View real-time data from the sensor network.


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©_URL_ Image by: ©_URL_
Useful for more than just warding off vampires and unwanted kisses, this flavourful bulb will also help kick your cold to the curb. Garlic contains an enzyme called alliin that when crushed or cut produces allicin, a sulphuric compound that has antiviral properties.
DIY dose: Kate Whimster, a naturopathic doctor at Wavelength Wellness in Toronto, recommends avoiding garlic pills. Since allicin is quite volatile it is rarely properly preserved in pill form and it's much cheaper to use the real thing. Peel and dice a clove or two of garlic, let them sit for a few minutes and then eat them raw. Do this twice a day until your symptoms have subsided (and cancel all scheduled social engagements).
"When people get sick they often take cold medication to suppress their symptoms so they can go to work," says Whimster, "but those symptoms are signs that your body is trying to heal itself, so you want to facilitate that."
She recommends performing a water-based ritual – known as hydrotherapy – once or twice at the beginning of illness to promote warmth, relaxation and rest, and to ultimately feel better faster. She also recommends taking at least one day off from work – both your body and your coworkers will thank you.
DIY dose: First, use a neti pot: Dissolve a 1/4 tsp of sea salt with a mixture of boiling and filtered water in a 1 cup neti pot so that it's warm, then take it to the shower and perform a rinse to dramatically decrease decongestion. A contrast shower will also help. Stay in the hot water for two minutes (concentrating on the areas where you're experiencing symptoms), and then switch the water to cold for 30 seconds. Repeat for four cycles. Always check with your doctor before starting a new health regime.
"It's first a little unpleasant, but after that your temperature sensors are so confused that you adjust," says Whimster. "This helps the blood out of all the tiny capillaries in your skin and gets you really warm."
Finally, just before you go to bed, soak a pair of cotton socks in ice water, wring them out and put them on your feet. Then put a pair of dry wool socks overtop. "This brings a lot of blood to your feet and out of your head, which reduces congestion, gets your feet nice and warm and gets circulation going," explains Whimster. "You'll wake up feeling much better."
3. Oil of oregano
This isn't the flavourful herb you've come to know and love in your pasta dishes; rather, it's an extremely potent extract from the same plant that's a lot less palatable. Two of its main components are thymol and carvacrol, which have antimicrobial effects.
Don't overuse it though, warns Whimster. "It's very powerful and kills a lot of bacteria and viruses," she says, "but if you're taking it every day, you're disrupting that whole ecosystem of good organisms in your mouth, stomach and body that actually prevent you from getting an infection."
â€¨DIY dose: At the first signs of a sore throat or cold, place a drop in a shot glass full of water, gargle with it and swallow so it gets into your system. Do this twice a day until symptoms have abated. Whimster also recommends brushing your teeth with oil of oregano (a drop on the brush followed by toothpaste) to clean your mouth during and after illness.
Though it has long been touted for its ability to cure nausea, the cure-all root also works fantastically on cold symptoms. "It has that spicy, warming quality, and the warmer you are, the better your body is at fighting off a virus," says Whimster.
DIY dose: Add slices of ginger to a hot broth or brew a strong cup of ginger tea to soothe your sinuses almost immediately.
"I always keep ginger in my house, but it goes bad very quickly, so a good storage tip is to freeze it, and then it grates really easily," adds Whimster. Don't let it defrost before grating, though, or it will turn to mush.
Hot water vapours will help moisturize your dry throat, skin and nasal cavities, and will loosen up your mucus membranes, making it easier to clear your sinuses or a congested chest.
DIY dose: Fill a large bowl with boiling water and then stand over it with a towel covering your head. Close your eyes and breathe deeply, allowing the steam to enter your nose and mouth. Whimster recommends adding a drop of thyme oil (which also contains thymol) to the water, as it's an excellent decongestant.
Check out some other treatments for the common cold, including how not to spread your cold to friends and family.


expensive but is worth the investment.
Is 100 degrees Celsius hot for a GPU?
100 degrees Celsius is way too hot for a GPU at any point in time. If the GPU operates at this temperature consistently, you can run into serious problems like those highlighted earlier.
 - Replace your stock fan/heatsink setup, with an aftermarket alternative from a reputed manufacturer.
 - Ensure proper cable management and correct fan positioning so that there is unrestricted airflow and the case has an ambient temperature.
 - All the tips specified earlier can also help to reduce the GPU temperature.
NVIDIA GPU overheats when playing games
Players have experienced their NVIDIA GTX GeForce 1060 overheating when it's under load when playing games.
The reasons a NVIDIA GTX GeForce 770 can overheat is because of a dusty GPU, clogged radiator, or a faulty fan controller.
 - Fans spinning fast or not working
 - Dusty or dirty GPU
 - Clogged radiator
 - Defective fan controller
 1. Check the spinning rate of the fans and do an adjustment to their settings using MSI Afterburner or such tools.
 2. Get rid of the dust or dirt accumulated on the GPU using compressed air. Also, remove the graphics card and clean it.
 3. Check for clogs in the radiator and remove them using mild pressure.
 4. Invest in a water cooling system. It's often worth the expense.
 5. Check if the GPU has a defective fan or fan controller. You should do a complete fan replacement in this case.
 6. Lessen the number of applications that have access to the graphic card.
Radeon GPU overheats when playing games
Some users have noticed that their Radeon RX470 or Radeon 520 overheats when playing intense games. The fans may not spin at all.
A small amount of users have experienced their Radeon RX480 overheating and shutting down their PC. These problems are likely because of the following:
 - The case is too small
 - The driver update is not done
 - Dried-up thermal paste
 - Clogged fans
 1. If your case is too small, the airflow may be limited. Consider investing in a bigger custom case.
 2. Check if the thermal paste on the card has dried up. Do a reapplication if necessary.
 3. Check to see if your graphics card driver has had an update. A rollback could bring it back to the temperature it was before overheating.
 4. Replace the stock cooler with a good one from a reputed manufacturer like Corsair.
 5. Use a frame limiter to lower the maximum frame rate. This reduces the GPU usage and results in less heating.
 6. Uninstall third-party tools like MSI Afterburner and use AMD Wattman from the manufacturer instead, to configure the settings. Some third-party tools show signs of incompatibility with graphic cards from the manufacturer.
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In this first step, we use a gene-specific primer of ALK to obtain a 5' extended cDNA. Work on wet ice while setting up the reaction and use sterile gloves and RNAse free materials. Supersript™ II RT is not inhibited significantly by ribosomal and transfer RNA, and may be used effectively to synthesize first strand cDNA from a total RNA preparation.
1. Add the following to a thin-walled PCR tube
DEPC-treated water to a final volume of 15.5 pE
2. Incubate the mixture 10 min at 70°C to denature RNA. Chill 1 min on ice. Collect the contents of the tube by brief centrifugation and add the following in the given order:
10X PCR buffer 2.5 (L
Final volume 8.5 (L
3. Mix gently and collect by brief centrifugation. Incubate for 1 min at 42°C.
4. Add 1 pL of Superscript™ II RT. Mix gently and incubate for 50 min at 42°C. (see Note 3).
5. Incubate at 70°C for 15 min to terminate the reaction.
6. Centrifuge 10-20 s and place reaction at 37°C.
7. Add 1 pL of RNAse mix, mix gently but thoroughly and incubate for 30 min at 37°C.
8. Collect the reaction by brief centrifugation and place on ice. The procedure may be stopped at this point.
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commissioner, Indiana High School Athletic Association
To the editor:
Recently a newspaper article has been written about a change in the by-laws of the Indiana High School Athletic Association which speaks directly to attempted undue influence exerted upon students below the level of Grade 9 and their parents. While I appreciate the attention this initial coverage has brought to this topic, its flavor is tainted with inaccuracies that need to be addressed.
For more than 109 years, the Indiana High School Athletic Association has provided structure and context for high schools in our state to conduct interscholastic athletic competitions. In the second article of incorporation, language is provided that supports the proper priority that education-based athletics in our state should hold. In part, the article reads as follows:
"All such interschool athletic competition coming under regulation by this corporation shall be subservient to and complementary to the academic or curricular functions of the member schools for which are their primary purposes."


Tagged: Professor Peter Widulski
Federal Judge Recommends Reform of Plea-Bargaining Process
Federal District Judge Jed S. Rakoff has a long-standing reputation for being an honest, open-minded, and fair jurist when presiding over criminal cases. He has continually shown the courage to address some of the most profound issues within our criminal justice system, and has always taken the "high road" in doing so. Many criminal defense practitioners have lauded Judge Rakoff's judicial wisdom as well as his "no-nonsense" attitude when dealing with prosecutors that play fast-and-loose with their ethical obligation to disclose favorable evidence.
According to Professor Peter Widulski of Pace Law School, who once served as a law clerk for Judge Rakoff:
Judge Rakoff is one of the most brilliant and respected members of the federal bench. He is a man of the highest integrity, and his dedication to the law is a model for all jurists and lawyers. This dedication is manifested not only in his work on the bench but in the extensive teaching he has done for many years at Columbia Law School.
Recently, Judge Rakoff has proposed innovative changes to help reform the plea-bargaining process. He suggested a new process whereby magistrate judges would hear evidence and issue plea bargaining recommendations pre-trial. Such proceedings would allow both the prosecution and defense an opportunity to present relevant facts, and to weigh-in on the evidence likely to be presented by the government at a trial.
Judge Rakoff explained that such a process would bring "plea bargaining from behind closed doors and relieve pressure on the defendants deciding whether to risk a longer sentence by heading to trial." He also noted that judges should become more involved in the process to protect defendants from feeling bullied into pleading guilty and help prevent overzealous prosecutors from using mandatory minimum sentences as a coercive bargaining chip.
Judge Rakoff estimates that from 1% to 8% of the prison population may be the result of false guilty pleas. He notes that the "current process is totally different from what the founding fathers had in mind." He explained that more needs to be done to protect innocent people from coerced pleas –as "even 0.5% [of false pleas] would total more than 10,000 [innocent] people" in prison.
In 2009, Judge Rakoff was also outspoken about sentencing inequities created by mandatory minimums for firearm offenses. In Unites States v. Ballard, Judge Rakoff refused to submit to the government's request to impose a Guideline range sentence on non-gun counts, and to stack consecutive mandatory sentences for each firearm conviction on the defendant's armed robbery counts. He noted that the case did not warrant the 64-year sentence advocated by the prosecution and refused to become a party to such an "unconscionable result." He found that the imposition of a one-month sentence for the non-firearm counts was proper given the two consecutive 25-year sentences required under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c).
Judge Rakoff explained that the case was illustrative of the distorting effects of mandatory minimum sentences, given that a co-defendant was given a plea bargain excluding mandatory minimums, and obtained a sentence of 168 months in prison. He observed that the extreme sentencing disparity between the co-defendants was simply a result of one exercising his constitutional right to go to trial –while the other defendant did not. He noted that
[w]hen the letter of the law so far departs from justice as to become the instrument of brutality, common sense should call a halt.
In 2006, Judge Rakoff also took a courageous stance against the disproportional sentencing recommendations that may occasionally arise in a case under the Sentencing Guidelines. In United States v. Adelson, Judge Rakoff imposed a non-guideline sentence of 42 months imprisonment to a defendant convicted of conspiracy, securities fraud, and the three of the false filing counts -although the Government argued that the Sentencing Guidelines, if properly calculated, called for a sentence of life imprisonment.
Judge Rakoff noted that what the case "exposed, more broadly, was the utter travesty of justice that sometimes results from the guidelines' fetish with abstract arithmetic, as well as the harm that guideline calculations can visit on human beings if not cabined by common sense." He concluded that "[t]his is one of those cases in which calculations under the Sentencing Guidelines lead to a result so patently unreasonable as to require the Court to place greater emphasis on other sentencing factors to derive a sentence that comports with federal law."
It is to be hoped that all members of the Bar will rally behind Judge Rakoff to help facilitate reform to correct the injustices caused by the combination of our plea-bargaining process and harsh mandatory minimum sentencing.
A true leader of his time, "Judge Rakoff enjoys well-deserved admiration for fairness, and he has the courage and insight to address important issues of law and the administration of justice, without fear or favor" said Professor Widulski.
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Month: November 2011
Appropriate Checkin Comments
I read this post today with a list of funny checkin comments today. Some of them are funny simply because of the lacking description. Here are some comments I've seen in my personal experience:
 - many small changes
 - Microsoft IE sucks!
 - cleanup
 - oops
 - fix the bug
Worse, I've seen entirely empty changeset comments.
The above lists, along with those found on the funny checkin comments page provide some examples of inappropriate commit comments. Why? They are unprofessional and lacking in detail and meaning. Some projects are audited and reviewed by external third parties. As a project manager or architect, would you be embarrassed for an auditor to see the comment "fix sucky code?" I would. Even worse than being embarrassed, there is a productivity problem that can arise from poor checkin comments.
What is an appropriate comment? An appropriate comment must (minimally) have a few things:
1. Appropriate level of detail about the change, including why the change was made, what impact there may be, etc.
2. Appropriate to the changeset. Along with this, a single changeset should, as much as possible, reflect a single ticket or change. Many lazy developers check in a large set of code with a number of intertwined changes that are unrelated. When it comes time to revert a particular change or track a defect this creates problems, and ultimately it defeats one major purpose of version control.
3. Details about the completeness of the change. Generally a changeset should complete a ticket or work item, but this is not always the case. If there is remaining work to be done, "TODO" items or further functional requirements that impact the changeset, this should be noted.
4. Finally, perhaps the most important part, the checkin comment should refer to a ticket. Not all changesets have tickets written, sure, but in general, if the ticket is a defect, enhancement or requirement implementation, there should be one or more tickets that are related. Any modern version control and ticket system will be able to tie these together.
One developer writes:
Many developers are sloppy about commenting their changes, and some may feel that commit messages are not needed. Either they consider the changes trivial, or they argue that you can just inspect the revision history to see what was changed. However, the revision history only shows what was actually changed, not what the programmer intended to do, or why the change was made. This can be even more problematic when people don't do fine-grained commits, but rather submit a week's worth of changes to multiple modules in one large pile. With a fine-grained revision history, comments can be useful to distinguish trivial from non-trivial changes in the repository. In my opinion, if the changes you made are not important enough to comment on, they probably are not worth committing either.
Getting developers to write good checkin comments seems to be an ongoing battle. In the business of writing software, its easy to convince oneself that checkin comments are a waste of time. The real waste of time is later, when trying to track the introduction of a defect or trace requirement implementation to code. There is simply no good excuse for lacking checkin comments.
Is the checkin comment "cleanup" appropriate? Yes, in some cases, as long as its true. If I am cleaning up formatting of code, including things like indents and spacing and correcting whitespace, then yes, "cleanup" is an appropriate changeset comment. Generally, however, real comments are required.
[Vistamix: The Humor of Code Checkin Comments]
[Loop Label: Best Practices for Version Control]
What Every *GOOD* Developer Should Know: Quality Assurance
I'm currently reading "The Clean Coder," and Robert Martin puts emphasis on the importance of software engineers incorporating QA practices into their regular work much better than I can. Here are a few quotes of his on the subject:
"Software is too complex to create without bugs. Unfortunately that doesn't let you off the hook. The human body is too complex to understand in its entirety, but doctors still take an oath to do no harm. If they don't take themselves off a hook like that, how can we?"
"Some folks use QA as the bug catchers. They send them code that they haven't thoroughly checked. They depend on QA to find the bugs and report them back to the developers. Indeed, some companies reward QA based on the number of bugs they find. The more bugs, the greater the reward."
"…So automate your tests. Write unit tests that you can execute on a moment's notice, and run those tests as often as you can."
I am really enjoying this book. Its a fun and easy ready.
[Amazon: The Clean Coder]
What Every *Good* Developer Should Know
I came across this guy's blog post titled "10 Things Every Good Web Developer Should Know." The post is geared toward web developers, but it did get me thinking a bit about the more general questions. I've noticed shortcomings among developers (myself included) for a many years. What are some of the things that all GOOD developers SHOULD be expected to know? This list is hardly comprehensive, but I can think of a few things right away:
1. Linux/Unix
If you can't do basic editing in vi you may find yourself in for a world of hurt at some point. I've known many programmers who attempt to write software in the safety of their IDE running on Windows only to find severe problems when it comes time to deploy on the server (and the server is typically some flavor of Linux). I recall a fellow software engineering student in my college days saying of his code, "It all works, it just won't compile!" It sounds silly, right? Assuming software that is written, build and deployed in Windows will built and deploy just fine in another OS is equally as silly (yes, this goes for Java as well).
2. How to debug
Duh, right? Not so. I have helped many, many engineers with basic debugging. I don't know if it is that I am particularly good at debugging (I'd like to think so), or that (some) others are particularly poor at it, but for most of my career I've heard, "Matt, this isn't working, can you help?"
Generally this question is asked by an engineer who has spend a fair amount of time staring at the screen hoping to gain some diving inspiration and fix a bug. It never works this way. You have to be willing to dig into the code and actually find where the error is. Look through that stack trace! Run the debugger! When all else fails, start sticking print lines all over your code! Staring at the screen will rarely reveal a complex bug. A compile error, sure, but a bug, no.
3. Basic knowledge of C/C++ and or Assembly
In the day of virtual machines, powerful IDEs, scripted languages, OOAD and encapsulation on top of encapsulation on top of encapsulation, it can be too easy to write code and never understand exactly how much stuff has to happen for that code to work its magic. I have not written anything in assembly since college, and I have not written C code for 10 years, but I rely on my knowledge of the low-level "stuff" every time I write code. It helps to understand fundamentals of computer science, optimization, memory handling and what exactly makes all the magic of a 4GL come together. Many people get by without knowledge of assembly language, sure, but these people will not be "superstar" engineers… They'll be programmers.
4. Version Control
There's no excuse for not using version control. I would say it borders on negligent not to.
5. HTML, CSS, Javascript
This one may seem like another no-brainer, but I have run into many developers over the course of my career who simply do not have anything more than the most basic understanding of HTML.
6. System Administration
Just the other day sendmail quit working for me. I use sendmail to alert the team about project activity in Redmine, Subversion and Jenkins CI. I run project management software that is served using Ruby and Rails, Apache and Tomcat. I have written perl scripts for handling batch jobs and specialized email alerts. I have written bash scripts that tie in to various subversion triggers. I have installed Ant, Maven, Git, Subversion, Tomcat, Apache, GTK, GCC… You name it… All with NO help from a Linux administrator. Like it or not, these activities become the responsibility of the lead software engineer. If you embrace it and enjoy it, life will be easy. If you are lost, and waiting for the help of a system administrator, you may be in for a very long wait!
7. Database Design
EVERY good programmer MUST understand things likes normalization, joins, foreign keys, natural keys, sequences, race conditions, locking, and on and on. We cannot rely on a database designer. Even the largest companies I have worked for have, the ones with database administrators, have little if anything to say about database design. Database design is the responsibility of the software engineer. A poor design can cripple what may otherwise be good software.
8. Quality Assurance
Our goal as engineers it to deliver a high quality product with no defects. We all know that there will be defects, but this fact does not change the goal.
9. Communication, Documentation, Technical Writing
Even if your company does have the means to hire a dedicated technical writer, that employee will have no idea what your code is doing. Strong documentation is on the engineer (us).


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Spatially Modulated Ultrasound Radiation Force (SMURF)
Changes in tissue stiffness have long been associated with disease. Quantification of tissue stiffness is needed to reveal diffuse disease, e.g. liver fibrosis. There is strong evidence that in some cases quantification of tissue stiffness can supplement or replace hazardous biopsy methods.
Spatially Modulated Ultrasound Radiation Force (SMURF) imaging is a technique for quantitative elastography (imaging of shear modulus) developed in our laboratory. The principle of SMURF imaging is to use acoustic radiation force to generate a shear wave of known wavelength (λ) in a material of unknown shear modulus and measure the temporal frequency of the propagating shear wave to determine the shear modulus of the material. The frequency (ƒ) of this wave, which depends solely on its point of generation and not the surrounding environment, is then measured to determine the shear modulus (G) of the tissue using the relationship G=(λƒ)2ρ, where ρ is the tissue density (˜ 103kg/m3). The frequency is estimated from tissue motion tracked ultrasonically using the same transducer that generated the radiation force beam. The pulsed nature of the shear waves avoids interference from standing waves inherent in continuous wave methods, while the use of acoustic radiation force to generate the shear wave at the point of interest eliminates difficulties in propagating a shear wave from the body surface to the region of interest, i.e. attenuation, refraction, and slip boundaries between tissues.
Our preliminary in vitro studies have shown that SMURF imaging is capable of providing rapid estimates of shear modulus in good agreement with values obtained through standard mechanical testing methods.


Document Type
Publication Date
welfarism, empirical research, utilitarianism, cost-benefit analysis, subjective well-being
A growing body of research on happiness or subjective well-being (SWB) shows, among other things, that people adapt to many injuries more rapidly than is commonly thought, fail to predict the degree of adaptation and hence overestimate the impact of those injuries on their SWB, and, similarly, enjoy small or moderate rather than significant changes in SWBg in response to significant changes in income. Some researchers believe that these findings pose a challenge to cost-benefit analysis, and argue that project evaluation decision-procedures based on economic premises should be replaced with procedures that directly maximize subjective well-being. This view turns out to be wrong or, at best, premature. Cost-benefit analysis remains a viable decision procedure. However, some of the findings in the happiness literature can be used to generate valuations for cost-benefit analysis where current approaches have proven inadequate.
Library of Congress Subject Headings
Social welfare, Utilitarianism, Cost effectiveness