text:
When filling your gas can to refuel outdoor power equipment, are you paying attention to the ethanol level in the gas you are pumping? Do you know that some ethanol-containing fuel can damage your small engine and may be illegal to use in small engines like outdoor power equipment?
OPEI on the Dangers of Ethanol Gas to Small Engines
Don't worry, you are not alone. According to a Harris Interactive study conducted for the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI), nearly three-guards of American adults are "not at all sure" if it is illegal to put high-level ethanol gas (anything more than 10 percent) in their small engines such as those in boats, mowers, chain saws, snow mobiles, generators and more.
That's why the OPEI recently announced a new ethanol education and awareness campaign, "Look Before You Pump" to help educate consumers about the ill-effects of high-level ethanol containing gas. The visual to be displayed at pumps is a visible and simple reminder to consumer to make sure that they aren't using anything more than a 10 percent ethanol fuel in their small engines. The goal is to remind consumers that the gas they put in their car may not be right for their small engines.
3 Tips to Avoid Engine Damage from Fuel
To avoid engine damage that ethanol gas can cause to your small engines consider the following:
- Never use any fuel higher than 10 percent ethanol in your small engines
- Even with a 10 percent ethanol gas, use a fuel stabilizer to counteract any damage it can cause, especially if your equipment will be sitting idle for long periods of time
- Consider canned-fuel products to guarantee that your outdoor power equipment will remain fee of damage caused by ethanol containing gas


text:
You are here: REHACARE Portal. Up-to-date. Archive. USA.
Robotic Arm's Big Flaw: Patients Say It's 'too Easy'
Maybe one day the robotic arm can
help people do things the cannot do
on their own; © Jason Greene/UCF
One touch directs a robotic arm to grab objects in a new computer program designed to give people in wheelchairs more independence. Researchers thought the ease of the using the program's automatic mode would be a huge hit. But they were wrong – many participants in a pilot study didn't like it because it was "too easy."
Most participants preferred the manual mode, which requires them to think several steps ahead and either physically type in instructions or verbally direct the arm with a series of precise commands. They favored the manual mode even though they did not perform tasks as well with it.
John Bricout, the associate dean for Research and Community Outreach at the University of Texas at Arlington School of Social Work, said the study demonstrates how people want to be engaged – but not overwhelmed – by technology. The psychology theory of Flow describes this need to have a balance between challenge and capacity in life.
"If we're too challenged, we get angry and frustrated. But if we aren't challenged enough, we get bored," said Bricout, who has conducted extensive research on adapting technology for users with disabilities. "We all experience that. People with disabilities are no different."
The computer program is based on how the human eye sees. A touch screen, computer mouse, joystick or voice command sends the arm into action. Then sensors mounted on the arm see an object, gather information and relay it to the computer, which completes the calculations necessary to move the arm and retrieve the object.
Assistant Professor Aman Behal is seeking grants to translate the study's findings into a smoother "hybrid" mode that is more interactive and challenging for users and features a more accurate robotic arm. Laser, ultrasound and infrared technology coupled with an adaptive interface will help him achieve his goals.
The key is to design technology that can be individualised with ease, Behal said. Some patients will have more mobility than others, and they may prefer a design closer to the manual mode. Though the automatic mode wasn't popular in the pilot study, it may be the best option for patients with more advanced disease and less mobility.
REHACARE.de; Source: University of Central Florida
- More about the University of Central Florida at _URL_
( Source: REHACARE.de )

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


text:
Japanese relocation during world war ii affected 117,000 people of japanese operated by a proprietor of japanese ancestry during a pre-evacuation. The japanese internment the internment of japanese americans during world war ii was the result of japanese-american evacuation and resettlement during world. Debating the issues in world war ii: be taken against residents and canadians of japanese ancestry for the mass evacuation was not because of the. Japanese-american internment rounded up 120,000 people of japanese ancestry for researching the internment of japanese-americans during world war ii.
Trump and the 75th anniversary of the japanese of japanese-americans during wwii: 'evacuation' of the to do" with any mass evacuation of japanese. An overview of world war ii japanese american relocation sites nearly 113,000 people of japanese ancestry but opposed to any mass evacuation of. Japanese americans underwent during world war ii their actions against people of japanese ancestry in an "evacuation," which implies the. Which resulted in the mass evacuation and internment of japanese americans during world war ii 1976: bamboo people based on their ancestry during world war ii. German and italian detainees (along with 2,264 people of japanese ancestry) secret history of italian american internment and evacuation during world war ii.
Even though we were also fighting them during world war ii these people a mass evacuation even since there were so many people of japanese ancestry. One of the army's largest undertakings in the name of defense during world war ii was the evacuation mass japanese evacuation japanese ancestry.
When an analysis of the when considering an in-depth analysis of an analysis of the mass evacuation of people of japanese ancestry during wwii any given. 74 years ago: the racist internment of japanese people of japanese ancestry during world war ii of all people of japanese ancestry from.
Japanese internment camps were the sites of the forced relocation and incarceration of people of japanese ancestry in the western united states during ww2.
You'll read roger daniels' "the decision for mass evacuation of people of japanese in of japanese american during world war ii. Wartime and the bill of rights: the korematsu case during world war ii he believed that people of japanese ancestry. An analysis of the mass evacuation of people of japanese ancestry during wwii pages 5 words world war two, mass evacuation, japanese americans. The japanese internment the logistics of the exclusion of 120,000 people of japanese ancestry to secured areas of farming during wwii.
And there was no need for mass evacuations of japanese for security pushed for wholesale japanese evacuation all people of japanese ancestry. In defense of internment american internment japanese americans japanese ancestry japanese washington west coast evacuation world world war ii. In the united states court of federal claims docket no 98 policy concerning persons of japanese ancestry during world war ii during the evacuation. Images document the places that played a role in the evacuation of japanese americans during world war ii of japanese ancestry evacuation of all.

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


Xiaoqiang XQ-miniGeneral purpose ROS develping platform
Lightweight, flexible and quick to move
J2900 8GMemory 64G SSD}
LIDAR RGBD Mono Camera
Application Videos
 - real-time map and location of lidar
 When Xiaoqiang is equipped with the laser radar, it can make environment mapping and robot navigation easy and quick. In the use of LIDAR, the robot is required to provide more accurate odometer information. Xiaoqiang's odometer is fused with a gyroscope and encoder, with high accuracy. From this video, As we can see that in a large range (200mx400m) the map built by Xiaoqiang is still very accurate.
 - Visual Navigation
 Xiaoqiang uses the camera to collect the ambient image and uses its powerful computational ability to identify the 3D structure of the environment. The red and green dots in the video are the environmental feature points that it recognize. The map in the lower left corner of the video is its identified environment. As we can see that Xiaoqiang can run the Visual Slam program smoothly, and provide very accurate positioning information.
 - RGBD
 Obstacles are randomly placed on the ground. Xiaoqiang obtains the information of the obstacle through the depth camera. The green curve in the video is the target line and location of Xiaoqiang. Xiaoqiang planning its path in real time according to the situation of obstacles. That is, the blue curve in the video. It can be seen that even in a very complex obstacle environment, Xiaoqiang can move smoothly to the target position.
 - Robot Arm Example
 Xiaoqiang has extensive extensibility and can be equipped with a robotic arm. Xiaoqiang controls the robotic arm, and grab the cup in front of it
 - Inertial navigation
 Inertial navigation is to use only the information provided by the car'sown gyroscope and encoder for navigation. The car in the video walked a 1M x 1M square under the control of the inertial navigation program.The image on the left is the actual movement of the car, and the right is the real-time position display of the car in the computer interface.
 - Speech recognition and follow
 Xiaoqiang recognizes target's voice commands and then initiates the following program. Follow the movement of the target.
Xiaoqiang is a general purpose ROS develping platform. It has powerful computational power, long battery endurance and the nimble movement ability. Xiaoqiang is very suitable for developmenting the Ros navigation and the computer vision algorithm. Xiaoqiang has four-wheeled structure, the front two active wheels, and two omni-directional wheels on the back. Such a structure can guarantee the accuracy of the turning angle. The wheel used the rubber material which is not easy to skid to ensure the accuracy and stability of the movement again. Xiaoqiang's main controller is a i7 processor mini computer, contains 8G memory and 64G solid-state drives. This hardware configuration guarantees the strong compute ability of the Xiaoqiang. The battery is 12V 20AH lithium polymer battery, which can be guaranteed to be used for seven hours continuously.
Xiaoqiang XQ-mini has a smaller size, more flexible movement and a cheaper price. It is a perfect choice as a lightweight ROS development platform.
Hardware Info
 - J2900 Core Duo processor 2.6GHz CPU
 4G Memory
 64G SSD
 - The power supply battery is 12V 10AH polymer lithium battery.
 Rated Rated output current is 5 A, output power 60W. Xiaoqiang mini can be used for up to 4 hours under high power usage.
 - Max Speed: 0.8m/s
 Maximum Acceleration: 1.5m/s^2
 Max Angle Speed: 230 deg/s
 Maximum angular acceleration: 660 deg/s^2
 - 5 USB with one USB3.0 and four USB2.0
 60fps 178° camera
 MPU9250 9-axis high-precision gyroscope
 Maximum load：5kg


The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Jasper
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JASPER, an impure quartz, less hard than flint or even than common quartz, but which gives fire with steel. It is entirely opaque, or sometimes feebly translucent at the edges, and presents almost every variety of color. It is found in metamorphic rocks and often occurs in very large masses. It admits of an elegant polish and is used for vases, seals, snuff-boxes, etc. There are several varieties, as red, brown, blackish, bluish, Egyptian. Ribbon or agate jasper is jasper in layers.


Take the 2-minute tour ×
For example, Watch around 2:10 here. What is this false stop called? is there a single word?
share|improve this question
The only term I've heard used is False Ending – Digital Chris Feb 22 at 4:01
The accepted answer is good - but let me recommend music.stackexchange for future questions about musical terminology. – Carl Witthoft Feb 22 at 16:07
add comment
2 Answers
up vote 7 down vote accepted
In classical music tradition such a dramatic break in the music (not so much a false ending) is called a grand pause, a caesura, or very informally, railroad tracks.
A grand pause is a more expansive break, often notated with a whole measure of rest, sometimes with the initials "G.P." over the bar.
A caesura is typically a shorter break that often happens abruptly. It's notated with two right-slanting parallel lines (looking like railroad tracks, whence the informal label) that can be placed at any point within the measure.
Your Yanni example is somewhere in the middle of the two, and could be appropriately called either one - either a shorter grand pause or a caesura.
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In music theory, it simply referred to as a whole rest or a blank measure. But in sound engineering and electronic music design, the simulation of a malfunction, false-start/stop etc is referred to as an "edit" which comes from "edited glitch" and is also sometimes shortened to "itch" for the meaning of the word itch and how an intentional error in a composition creates the feeling of an itch that needs to be scratched, the scratch being the point in the composition where the edit resolves itself, having temporarily tricked the listener into thinking that something may have gone wrong.
For wild examples of edits in electronic music, see the works of composer/producer James Holden, especially his piece "a break in the clouds" which was meant to introduce the edit-techno genre as the first release on his record label "border community" -- better still, see his dub remix of Britney Spears' "Breathe on Me" _URL_ which is almost 100% edits & itches with ONE final satisfying scratching of the edit-gl/itch.
share|improve this answer
Do you have a reference for this? – Peter Shor Feb 22 at 15:08
_URL_%28music%29 is close, points to a lot of relevant things, which, in terms of finding a citation, is probably in an indie record label's mission statement or interview with an electronic musician. only reason i know this particular terminology is that i and/or people with whom i've worked (as the band "meerkat") had to invent a lot of the terminology ourselves. -- (Warp Records is particularly established, you might find a good mission statement there, or something from their artists such as Aphex Twin or Boards of Canada) – miercoledi Feb 22 at 17:04
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Fincash » Asset Management
What is Asset Management?
Updated on February 23, 2021, 10 views
Generally, asset management is known as a systematic approach executed by a financial service institute, whether an individual or an investment Bank. The approach is directed toward handling either a part or an entire portfolio of the client.
Asset Management
The process might be applied to both intangible and tangible assets, such as buildings, intellectual property, equipment, financial assets and more. Basically, the primary aim of asset management is to develop, operate, maintain, upgrade and dispose of assets in a cost-effective manner.
Explaining Asset Management
Essentially, this process has a double command that includes appreciating the assets of a client over a period of time while simultaneously mitigating all of the risks. However, with asset management, investment minimums come into the picture.
This means that this service is typically available only for high net-worth financial intermediaries, corporations, government entities and individuals. The role of an asset manager comprises figuring out the investments to avoid or make so as to grow the client's portfolio.
By using both micro and macro analytical tools, the manager has to conduct rigorous research to find out:
 - Existing Market trends
 - Interviews with the officials of the company
 - Strategies to achieve the said goal of client asset appreciation
Most commonly, advisors invest in multiple products at a time, such as Mutual Funds, commodities, real estate, fixed Income, equity and other alternative investments. Moreover, accounts that financial institutes hold generally include:
When somebody deposits money into an account, it is generally placed into a money market fund that provides a higher return. One of the additional advantages that account holders get to avail is that their extra Investing and banking needs get serviced by a similar institution instead of having different banking options and brokerage accounts.
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Types of Asset Management
There are different types of asset management. Some of the major ones are jotted down below:
* Financial Asset Management
The most common type is financial management, also known as investment management. This concept is applied to such part of the financial industry that manages segregated client accounts and investment funds. From analysing the assets of the clients to planning and tracking the investment, everything is covered under this type.
* Physical and Infrastructure Asset Management
This one is a combination of engineering, economic, financial, management and other practices that are applied to physical assets. The objective behind this management type is to offer the best value services against the involved cost.
It comprises regulating the complete cycle, such as designing, construction, commissioning, operation, maintenance, repairing, modification, replacement and decommissioning or disposal.
* Enterprise Asset Management
The systems of Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) support the management of assets within an organization. This approach includes an asset registry (asset inventory and their attributes) along with a Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) and additional modules, like materials management or inventory management.
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This article was updated on August 22, 2018.
In many organizations, the HR department acts as the eyes and ears of the workforce. They're supposed to know what employees are thinking and feeling. Businesses can then use the HR perspective to address issues when they occur and understand what employees enjoy about their work.
The Importance of Boundaries
If HR is going to be tuned into what the workforce is thinking, they need to be building rapport with employees. But this can be a tricky subject. HR wants employees to confide in them while, at the same time, they want to respect work boundaries. At every level of the organization, HR should be viewed as objective and impartial. So, how can HR professionals come across as friendly and build rapport without being seen as friends? Here are five things to consider.
1. Set Expectations About the Role of HR
While HR departments have similar functions, it's reasonable to assume every firm views the role of HR a little differently. HR departments would be well served to explain their role during the hiring process and orientation. This can help employees understand how to best work with their HR leaders.
2. Be Approachable and Authentic
Contrary to how some media outlets might portray HR departments, HR professionals are human too. It's perfectly acceptable to let employees see the fun and human side to HR. Employees may be more willing to open up and talk to people they have a connection with.
3. Have a Personal Social Media Policy
In today's technology-driven workplaces, it's important to have a personal philosophy on who you will connect with on social media channels. This is different from an organizational policy. There are several factors to consider such as the best way to handle disciplinary action if you're connected with an employee. HR pros need to ultimately decide the best way to handle social media requests from employees.
4. Don't Be the Last One to Leave a Gathering
Whether it's coffee in the afternoon or drinks after work, employee gatherings can build relationships and start conversations. HR is often invited, and there's nothing wrong with making an appearance. But HR leaders need to be keenly aware of the balance between stopping by and overstaying their welcome.
5. Address Confusion Directly
It's possible that an employee will misinterpret the role of HR. Don't delay or be subtle about addressing these types of situations. Have a private conversation with the employee and explain your role and boundaries that must be in place. They will likely appreciate the upfront honesty and respect.
HR professionals need to create relationships at every level of the organization. Their roles depend on it. So, have some fun and spend time building rapport with employees. It's absolutely possible to do so and still maintain objectivity.
Tags: People Management and Growth Company Culture Employee Engagement and Productivity Large Business Research & Insights Articles HR


text:
Sometimes after an accept method has read some input from the user, it may be necessary to insert a modified version of that input back into the input buffer. The following two functions can be used to modify the input buffer:
Arguments: stream new-input
start end buffer-start rescan
Summary: Replaces the part of the input editing stream stream's input buffer that extends from buffer-start to its scan pointer with the string new-input. buffer-start defaults to the current input position of stream. start and end can be supplied to specify a subsequence of new-input ; start defaults to 0 and end defaults to the length of new-input.
replace-input queues a rescan by calling queue-rescan if the new input does not match the old output, or if rescan is t.
The returned value is the position in the input buffer.
Arguments: stream object type view
buffer-start rescan query-identifier for-context-type
Summary: Like replace-input, except that the new input to insert into the input buffer is obtained by presenting the object object with the presentation type type and view view. buffer-start and rescan are as for replace-input, query-identifier is as for accept, and for-context-type is as for present.
If the object does not have a readable representation (in the Lisp sense), presentation-replace-input may create an "accept result" to represent the object and insert it into the input buffer. For the purposes of input editing, "accept results" must be treated as a single input gesture.
The following two functions are used to read or write a token (that is, a string):
input-wait-handler pointer-button-press-handler click-only
Summary: Reads characters from the interactive steam stream until it encounters a delimiter, activation, or pointer gesture. Returns the accumulated string that was delimited by the delimiter or activation gesture, leaving the delimiter unread.
If the first character of typed input is a quotation mark (
will ignore delimiter gestures until another quotation mark is seen. When the closing quotation mark is seen,
will proceed as discussed previously.
If the boolean click-only is t, then no keyboard input is allowed. In that case, read-token will simply ignore any typed characters.
input-wait-handler and pointer-button-press-handler are as for stream-read-gesture. Refer to 15.2.1, The Extended Input Stream Protocol for details.
Arguments: token stream
is the opposite of
; given the string token, it writes it to the interactive stream stream. If
and there are any characters in the token that are delimiter gestures (see
will surround the token with quotation marks (
Typically, present methods will use write-token instead of write-string.


text:
IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin (TDB 09-60 p26-27)
English (United States)
2 pages / 89.7 KB
Magnetic Storage Drum
A magnetic drum of increased storage capacity consists of a plurality of V- shaped annular grooves around the periphery of the drum, which cooperate with complementary heads corresponding to each groove. Recording is effected on the magnetizable sides of the grooves.
One head configuration is illustrated in the lower drawings. The left-hand one is an enlarged fragmentary sideview of the right hand drawing. The head 10 consists of a core 11 which is provided with a coil 12 and V-shaped pole pieces 13 shaped complementary to the grooves 14 on drum 15. The two pole pieces 13 terminate to provide an air gap 17.
In this configuration, the read and write signals occur on both faces of the pole pieces 13 and the grooves 14.
The heads can be constructed to operate on one side of a groove only.


Ritalin for elderly
Ritalin for elderly
Is Ritalin safe for seniors?
Geriatricians who have prescribed the drug say it can quickly combat depression and apathy in seniors suffering from a variety of illnesses, including stroke, dementia and cancer. Though the drug makes hyperactive children slow down and focus, it works differently in older patients, helping them get up and moving.
Does Ritalin help dementia?
Conclusions. Methylphenidate treatment of apathy in Alzheimer's disease was associated with significant improvement in 2 of 3 efficacy outcomes and a trend toward improved global cognition with minimal adverse events, supporting the safety and efficacy of methylphenidate treatment for apathy in Alzheimer's disease.
What effect does Ritalin have on adults?
Does Ritalin improve working memory?
Methylphenidate administration has been shown to increase blood flow to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, posterior parietal cortex and right cerebellum; these increases correspond to improvements in working memory (Mehta et al., 2000).
Does Ritalin help depression?
Does Ritalin make you depressed?
If you take a large dose, the quick rise in dopamine can produce a temporary feeling of euphoria. Taking Ritalin in high doses or for a long time can be habit-forming. If you stop taking it abruptly, you may experience withdrawal. Symptoms of withdrawal include sleep problems, fatigue, and depression.
You might be interested: Elderly cat shaking head
Does Ritalin damage the brain?
Does Ritalin give you energy?
How Long Does Ritalin 10mg last?
Ritalin's effects last about three to four hours. School lasts about six hours, and most children are awake for at least twelve. Yet many children do very well all day on just one dose of Ritalin, taken before they leave home in the morning.
What happens if I take Ritalin without having ADHD?
Does Ritalin suppress immune system?
Taking more than the prescribed dose of Ritalin can also put pressure on the heart, nervous system, and immune system, leading to long-term health complications. In rare cases, Ritalin might trigger an allergic reaction.
Is Ritalin good for studying?
Ritalin, which increases the concentration of certain neurotransmitters in the brain that control reasoning, problem-solving and other behaviors, is frequently used by college students as a " study enhancer."
How effective is Ritalin for ADHD?
You might be interested: Best stool softener for elderly
How does Ritalin improve learning?
The research demonstrated that one type of dopamine receptor aids the ability to focus, and another type improves the learning itself. The scientists also established that Ritalin produces these effects by enhancing brain plasticity – strengthening communication between neurons where they meet at the synapse.
Is poor working memory a sign of dyslexia?
Alice Sparrow
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Disputing PharmCAS GPA Calculations
Disputing Your GPA Calculations
 1. Note that:
 - PharmCAS GPAs are not the same as the GPAs found on your transcripts.
 2. Review Calculating Your PharmCAS GPAs.
 3. Identify the area you believe is causing the incorrect calculation (e.g., Post-Baccalaureate Science GPA) and calculate the GPA yourself using the GPA calculator
 - Indicate the problematic area.
 - Provide your calculations.
PharmCAS does not accept GPA review requests by phone.
 - Was this article helpful?


text:
Horizon Lines The C-9 class ship Horizon Spirit is a 268-meter steam powered container ship that will make the Los Angeles to Hawaii run as part of the Horizon Lines fleet for ARM's MAGIC campaign. It is an American made ship built in the late 1980s. Image: Flickr/ARM Climate Research Facility
Some new cargo is officially sailing today between Los Angeles and Honolulu, part of an atmospheric research expedition to understand how clouds influence weather patterns around the world.
The 892-foot Spirit, a container ship owned by Horizon Lines, is now home to a Department of Energy mobile laboratory designed to study the atmosphere. It is the second time the department is conducting such an experiment in the hopes of getting better data on clouds to improve global climate models.
"This is going to be the longest study of its type that's ever been done," said Ernie Lewis, the principal investigator and an atmospheric scientist in the environmental sciences department at Brookhaven National Laboratory. The project, known as MAGIC, will run until September 2013, with collaborators across the country including Argonne National Laboratory and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The project's name reflects its history and the amalgamation of experiments now on the high seas. MAGIC stands for Marine ARM GPCI Investigation of Clouds. ARM stands for Atmospheric Radiation Measurement. GPCI stands for GCSS Pacific Cross-section Intercomparison. GCSS stands for GEWEX Clouds Systems Study. And GEWEX is the Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment.
Basically, the instruments measure the atmosphere -- particularly clouds -- from the bottom up, tracking how they form and disperse. Using radars, spectrometers and laser detection systems crammed into the three 20-foot shipping containers that constitute the second ARM Mobile Facility (AMF2), the equipment will track black carbon, aerosols, cloud stacks, ozone, light transmission, wind speeds and temperatures. Two on-board technicians will also launch weather balloons and monitor more than 50 instruments. Lewis said the data could help modelers develop a better picture of the global climate.
Clouds are especially important in understanding how the atmosphere behaves. They reflect sunlight back into space, trap heat and carry moisture, all of which can have contradictory impacts. Varieties like puffy, cottony cumulus clouds; wavy stratocumulus clouds; and tall, thundering cumulonimbus clouds behave differently as well.
In this case, researchers are investigating low marine boundary layer clouds over the Pacific Ocean. "We don't have a good understanding about how clouds and white clouds form the way they do, especially in that region," Lewis said. "To get this understanding, we need more than just a global view; we need a very detailed measurement."
Getting 'closer to the action'
Joao Teixeira, a researcher at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory who worked on AMF2, explained that most of the existing global climate models do not have the resolution to interpret clouds. Many break the atmosphere into 100-kilometer-by-100-kilometer boxes, too large to reflect how clouds form.
"The fundamental question is really how do you represent the small-scale processes that you cannot explicitly model," he said, adding that clouds are a major source of uncertainty in climate projections.
As the global climate changes, the clouds may also subtly shift, creating different feedbacks and mechanisms in models. "You're not going to have a whole new type of cloud. They will be vaguely the same but occupy different regions," Teixeira said.
AMF2 will also help validate measurements from other sources, like satellites and aircraft. Teixeira said measurements from above clouds often have to use proxies to find out information like temperature and wind speed. Comparing these data with measurements from the sea upward could give scientists a better understanding of the variables at play.
Tracking these parameters at sea also helps fill another critical information void. Most atmospheric measuring stations are on land, but water covers two-thirds of the planet, where air circulation and moisture behave differently. MAGIC gives researchers a narrow but important window to the skies over the ocean that they can extrapolate to other parts of the world.


text:
- Research article
Incidence of depressive symptoms among sexually abused children in Kenya
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Healthvolume 12, Article number: 40 (2018)
Children who experience sexual abuse undergo various negative psychosocial outcomes such as depressive symptoms. Unfortunately, not many studies have been conducted on the incidence of depressive symptoms among sexually abused children in Kenya. This study sought to ascertain the incidence of depressive symptoms among children who have experienced sexual abuse in Kenya.
This was a longitudinal study design. It was conducted at Kenyatta National Teaching and Referral Hospital and Nairobi Women's Hospitals in Kenya. One hundred and ninety-one children who had experienced sexual abuse and their parents/legal guardians were invited to participate in the study. The study administered the Becks Depression Inventory and the Child Depression Inventory to the children.
The incidence of depressive symptoms after 1 month of sexual abuse revealed that amongst children who were below 16 years old, 14.6% had minimal-mild depressive symptoms while 85.4% had moderate-severe depressive symptoms. In comparison, children who were 16 years or older, 6.4% had minimal-mild depressive symptoms while 93.6% had moderate-severe depressive symptoms. Children below 16 years old whose parents were separated were found to have depressive symptoms (p < 0.001) as well as those who were presented early for medical care (p < 0.004), while children aged 16 years and above who were abused by strangers were more likely to have depressive symptoms (p < 0.024) and those who were not attending school (p < 0.002).
Sexual abuse of children is world-wide and the Kenyan situation is comparable. Being the victim of sexual abuse as a child has major psychological and emotional sequlae which need to be addressed in Kenya. Children who experience sexual abuse have very high incidence of developing depressive symptoms. All the sexually abused children studied suffered from depressive symptoms and a large majority suffered from major depressive symptoms that should be promptly and effectively addressed to ameliorate psychological suffering among children.
Violence against children is a widespread global problem, causing detrimental health and social outcomes to the child, the family and society. The global estimated prevalence of sexual abuse among girls ranged from 7 to 36% and 5 to 10% among boys. Globally, an estimated one billion children were exposed to violence during the year 2014 compared to two billion children in 2013 who experienced either physical, emotional or sexual violence. Children were found to be affected by sexual abuse across different age groups globally. Sexual abuse had been common among girls than boys and girls were at a higher risk of re-exposure than boys.
Accordingly, the odds of having been exposed to sexual abuse had been shown to be greater among girls than boys (OR 1.29; 95% CI 1.2–1.48; p < 0.001). In Ethiopia, among 267 children who were treated at two hospitals after experiencing sexual abuse, 75.7% were girls and 24.3% were boys. A review paper of African countries in 2014 reported that the odds for girls experiencing sexual abuse was higher than boys (OR 1.85–3.85 and p < 0.01). In the year 2011, a Tanzanian study on children aged 13–17 years old found out that nearly two-thirds (63.9%) of the girls and slightly over a third (38.7%) of the boys had experienced sexual abuse. In a Ugandan study of 2014, more girls than boys experienced sexual abuse [X2(1407) = 12.44; p < 0.0005]. The prevalence of sexual abuse among children under 18 years of age in Kenya over a period of 5 years (2007–2013) reported that 11.8% of the girls and 3.6% of the boys had been exposed to sexual abuse. An earlier study during the period 2006–2009 found out that 28.3% of the sexual abuse cases among children assessed and treated at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), Nairobi Kenya were young and below 18 years of age. Psychosocial outcomes associated with sexual abuse included depression, post traumatic-stress disorder (PTSD) and declining school grades among many other negative outcomes. The Ugandan study of 2013 found out that among 1587 children who had experienced childhood traumas had a higher risk of developing depressive symptoms. In the Ethiopian study of 2009, students who reported experiencing different forms of sexual abuse were nearly twice as likely to be classified as having moderate depressive symptoms compared to those who had not been sexually abused. Similarly, in the study of 2015 among 1456 boys in Kenya aged 13–24 years who had experienced sexual abuse, it was found out that 90% of them had depressive symptoms and 14.8% had experienced sexual abuse before the age of 18 years. Another study of 2015 on adolescents aged 13–18 years in Kenya found out that 80% of those who had experienced sexual abuse and other traumatic events had varying degrees of depressive symptoms and 89.2% of them had experienced difficulties in academic performance. This study sought to determine the incidence of depressive symptoms among Kenyan children who had been sexually abused. The children were followed up for a period of 1 year in order to highlight the importance of psychosocial support and to improve the mental health of these children.
This paper was part of a Kenyan longitudinal study on the psychosocial outcomes associated with sexual abuse among children aged 7–17 years who were treated at the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), the National Teaching and Referral Hospital. The study was also conducted at a specialised private Gender-Based Violence (GBV) hospital, the Nairobi Women's Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya. The two are the leading and specialized hospitals in (GBV) in Kenya, based in Nairobi City. Sexually abused children are medically cared for at the two hospitals with 24-h service at the Gender Based Violence Recovery Centres (GBVRC) or at the Accident & Emergency (A&E) departments. Physical and mental state assessments are conducted by trained medical officers and psychiatrists respectively and data secured confidentially. post exposure prophylactic, emergency contraception, treatment for sexually transmitted infections (STI) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are routinely offered to the survivors who fill in locator forms. The KNH, GBV service centre treats and supports an average of 6 survivors per day while the GBV service centre at the Nairobi Women's Hospital's (NWH) treats and supports an average of 10 survivors. Both centres provide a one stop patient management. This includes provision of emergency post rape medical care, collection and preservation of forensic evidence, Legal Aid, medical intervention, creation of awareness about GBV, trauma counselling, outreach programmes and establishment of support groups for survivors of GBV.
This study was approved by the Ethical and Research Committee (ERC) of the KNH/University of Nairobi. The study population comprised of GBV survivors aged 7–17 years. A minimum sample size was set [N = 191] at baseline including an assumed attrition rate of 20% [24, 25]. Four months later, at the first follow up, the attrition rate was 6%, 8 months later it was 6 and 4% at the end of the study period. The cumulative attrition rate was 14% well within the 20% anticipated attrition rate. The attrition was attributed to relocation of the family to the rural areas while others did not return for follow up despite several telephone reminders. The study participants were recruited into the study when they were presented by their care takers for medical and psychosocial care at the two study sites. They were recruited using systematic and purposive (by gender) sampling techniques. After a child had been randomly selected to participate in this study after 1-month exposure to the sexual abuse incidence, the parents/legal guardians were approached to give informed consent to participate in this study and assent from the children. The children were put on the standard prophylactic and therapeutic treatments regimes, usually provided at the GBVR centres in both hospitals. This included Post exposure Prophylaxis (PeP) against HIV and contraceptive prophylaxis (CP), treatment of physical injuries and psychosocial care in the hospitals and or referred to legal services providers. The study participants who were found to be in need of medical care were referred to physicians at the two centres.
A locally designed questionnaire on socio-demographic and sexual abuse profile was administered to the GBV survivors aged 7–17 years. The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was used for screening depressive symptoms among children aged 16–17 years because adolescents were considered as mature youth in the study and the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) was used for screening depressive symptoms in the children aged 7–15.5 years. On the CDI tool, minimal and mild depressive symptoms were regarded as insignificant and moderate and severe depressive symptoms were regarded as pathological. The CDI used was a downward extension of the BDI. Higher scores on the BDI denoted greater severe depressive symptoms. The CDI had high correlational reliability for depressive symptoms with a Cronbach's alpha value of 0.86 for a psychiatric sample and 0.82 for a paediatric medical sample. The total score was the sum of all the separate item scores. Reliability and validity had been established over many years of empirical research. The CDI had been successfully used in the Kenyan children's population. It had also been


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Who Lives Here? Polar Animals
The polar regions are home to amazing animals whose bodies are built for living in the extreme cold. Emperor penguins, snowy owls and beluga whales all have special ways of staying warm, finding food and raising their young in a polar habitat of thick ice and snow. The Who Lives Here? series looks at animals in their natural habitats - rain forests, polar regions, deserts and wetlands - and explains how the body and habits of each animal are suited to the place it lives. Charming, realistic illustrations, playful language and intriguing facts make these books a perfect read for young children.


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Profound impacts are already being felt by students－and parents and teachers－due to closure of schools in Asia in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and urgent action is needed to limit further damage to students and the broader economy.
School closures have affected more than 1.5 billion students in 195 countries, and could potentially impact their employment opportunities and future earnings, according to UNESCO. The learning and earning losses will also have long-term impacts on economic growth, poverty alleviation and reducing inequality. A recent study I co-authored estimates that school closures could cost the global economy $943 billion by 2030.
The loss of earnings due to school closures, which reduces labor productivity, will cause GDP to fall in almost all countries.
In societies where school…


The Real Reason There's An Absorbent Pad In Meat Packages
When you buy meat, you've likely noticed the pad that comes in the packaging, and you've thrown it away without giving it any thought other than trying not to drip meat juice all over yourself, the floor, or the counter. However, the pad actually does serve an important purpose.
The reason it's there is not surprising — it's to soak up liquids from the meat or poultry to prevent them from pooling in the package. This serves multiple purposes. For one, it makes the cooking process less messy, which is important for hygiene in the home (via MyRecipes). It is also a food safety measure. The liquids from meat, unappetizingly referred to as "purge," can contain bacteria, and by absorbing the liquids, it prevents as much live bacteria as possible from leaking, as well as preserving the meat or poultry because the liquid would otherwise cause more bacteria to grow. This would increase the risk of foodborne illnesses (via My Fearless Kitchen).
What is the pad made of?
The absorbent pads are made from specific forms of paper with a plastic liner, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the agency in charge of the production, packaging, and safety standards of food made in the United States.
The packaging is regulated and overseen by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ensure that it doesn't contain harmful chemicals. Every piece of material that goes into meat or poultry packaging has to be individually petitioned and approved by the agency before it can be put into the pack with meat (via USDA).
The pads are made from silica gel, purified sand, or from cellulose, which is a purified plant fiber. The pads are then coated in a non-toxic, perforated plastic wrap, which allows the liquid to seep into the pad and remain there, sort of like the wicking fabric in workout clothing holds the sweat off your body so wet clothes aren't against your skin.
Is this absorbent pad safe?
As a result of the regulatory process, these pads that can hold up to 40 grams of liquid are generally safe. While eating the absorbent pad is obviously not recommended, if you find that it sticks to your meat and you accidentally cook it, so long as the pad isn't melted, torn, or broken open after the meat has been cooked, the meat is still safe to eat. Any bacteria that may have lingered on the pad would have been killed during the cooking process. Just remove the remaining bits and enjoy your meal.
Even if you do accidentally ingest a piece of the pad, it isn't digestible so it should move straight through your digestive tract without breaking down so you will likely be fine though best to try to avoid it in the first place.


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I am looking for a matlab function that is working similar to polyfit, but where I can use two different input function but instead of having just one linear term, I need two. At the moment the regression looks as follows:
and the code to compute R^2 is the following:
x= changePriceWithoutNaN; y=changeFWithoutNaN; p = polyfit(x,y,1); f = polyval(p,x); plot(x,y,'o',x,f,'-')
yfit = polyval(p,x); yfit = p(1) * x + p(2); yresid = y - yfit; SSresid = sum(yresid.^2); SStotal = (length(y)-1) * var(y); rsq_full = 1 - SSresid/SStotal
Instead of having just one linear term, the term I am looking for is the following:
Is there anybody how knows a function that is solving a least squared optimazation in the way to coe above does? Importat is that I do not look for a quadratic solution and therefore from what I can see polyfit(x,y,2) is not an option
No products are associated with this question.
Locks, it seems like you are interested in multiple linear regression. If you have the stats toolbox you can use the REGRESS function to do that. If you don't then you can use a simple '\' as follows:
x = dataT(:,2); %is the implied volatility y = dataT(:,10); z = dataT(:,15); p = [x z ones(length(dataT))]\y
p will have the 3 coeff you desire. We are essentially solving a linear system in a least square sense.
There are several multi-dimensional polynomial fitters on the FEX, e.g.,


. The one attack that literally involves this, Dream Eater, is not in their level-up movepool, although they can learn it by TM.
 - Abra is said to sleep through most of the day, teleporting away from danger in its sleep. They are not immune to being inflicted with the the Sleep status, and are affected by it normally (ie they can't use Teleport).
 - Its evolved form, Alakazam, remembers everything — but can still learn only four moves.
 - Cubone is said to wear the skull of its dead mother, but you can freely breed Cubone without any ill effects on the mother.
 - Many Pokédex entries for the Slowpoke line make mention of Shellder biting onto a Slowpoke's tail/head in order to evolve. Having a Shellder is not required for Slowpoke to evolve, and the evolution can happen on top of a mountain miles away from ocean.
 - Similarly, Magneton is said to be the result of three Magnemite being linked together by a powerful magnetic force. Three separate Magnemite are not required for obtaining a Magneton. Diglett and Dugtrio are more ambiguous, as the Pokedex entries seem a bit indecisive as to whether or not Dugtrio has three heads or is a case of The Dividual. However, they are often claimed to be triplets.
 - Arcanine is renowned for its impossible speed, but its Speed stat isn't that high and easily beaten by other Pokémon. (Gen 2 did fix this somewhat by letting it learn the rare, increased priority move Extremespeed by level up.)
 - Doduo is stated to be a poor flyer that makes up for it with its fast ground speed. Nothing impedes it from learning Fly, and using that move to travel from one side of the map to the other while carrying a ten-year-old that weighs as much as it does. Vullaby is even worse, being explicitly flightless and still able to learn the move. Meanwhile, there's a lot of Flying-types that seem like they should be able to fly around while carrying a person, but can't learn Fly (Noivern, Gyarados, Scyther, Togekiss, and especially Yanmega, which has has a dex entry claiming it can carry people while flying).
 - Unown are supposed to become stronger in numbers, greater than the sum of their parts. Carrying multiple Unown in your party doesn't influence their strength at all.
 - Magcargo's body temperature is supposedly hotter than the surface of the sun. While this should kill everything on Earth, it doesn't.
 - Qwilfish is often referred to as a bad swimmer, but one of its abilities is Swift Swim (which doubles its Speed in rain).
 - Staring into the hole in Shedinja's back is supposed to mesmerize and then steal the soul of the victim. All of its player-side battle sprites have the hole clearly visible, but nothing unusual ever happens to the player character.
 - Regice is stated to be so cold that it can be dipped in magma without harm and can freeze anything that gets near it. Fire-type moves will still harm it and Pokémon can make contact with it without any ill effects.
 - Spiritomb is supposed to be made up of 108 souls sealed in a stone, but it can breed and create more Spiritomb.
 - Wailord is supposedly 14.5 meters tall and is presumably the length of a real blue whale, yet its battle model shows it smaller than its trainer. This is obviously so it doesn't take up the whole screen and force the camera to be zoomed ridiculously far out. Some even say that its Dynamax form is how big it really is normally.
 - Female Unfezant are claimed to be better flyers than their male counterparts (possibly as a nod to how the long flashy tails of some real male pheasants tend to weigh the birds down when they're flying). The base stats for both sexes are exactly the same.
 - The Pokédex entry for Escavalier says it flies around at high speed. Its base speed is twenty, making it one of the slowest Pokemon in the entire game.
 - Goomy's entry describes it as the weakest of all Dragon-types. Stat-wise, that designation belongs to Noibat.
 - Feebas is stated to be a very common Pokemon that flocks in stagnant ponds and is often ignored by trainers due to its ugly appearance and low stats. When it was first introduced, it may have been the single hardest Pokemon to find in the wild at the time. Also, the only place you could find it at was a river, not a pond, and it was highly sought after by players, since evolving it was the only way to get Milotic. Mercifully, it was made much easier to find in later generations, but it's still far from common.
 - Many entries for legendary Pokémon describe them as having various kinds of powers that should devastate the local area or the world (Lugia for example is said to have the ability to cause days-long storms by just flapping its wings). While legendary Pokémon do have high stats in-game, they aren't strong enough to decimate their opponents easily and can be taken down by more common Pokémon. Likewise, legendary Pokémon don't make a dent in the area if you use them in battle.
 - Certain pairings of Pokémon that canonically have a rivalry are able to breed with no issue; Zangoose and Seviper are the most infamous example. Similarly, Mareanie kill and eat Corsola, but they can breed.
 - Similarly, any Pokémon can have any nature, regardless of how its species is described in the Pokédex. Piplup can be Modest. Loudred can be Quiet. Exeggcute can be Lonely. Misdreavus can be Serious. Archen can be Brave. Necrozma can be Docile. Mewtwo can be Gentle...
 - The Tales Series is generally pretty bad about plot-based injuries and the fact that you're usually carrying around a ton of medicine or food items that you can cook with. It's often Hand Waved by the healers, trying First Aid for a couple seconds and going "there's nothing I can do" or "they're too far gone." And then all the games have their own little quirks...
 - In Tales of Symphonia while Colette can fly, her in-battle motion only changes its animation, not its nature. She never uses her flight to bypass any of the random puzzles, even though she does use her flight to pick up a vital key — once, in the game's 40-hour plotline.
 - In Tales of the Abyss, Guy, one of the protagonists, has a crippling fear of women (to the point that being glomped by one early in the game is sufficient to give him a momentary Heroic BSoD). This doesn't seem to pop up when in battle, even against female enemies. It's indicated that he can overcome it given sufficient motivation, like when he grabs Anise's arm to pull her up when she almost falls off a cliff, so it's possible battle is one such case (or else, that he never physically comes into contact with them during it).
 - In Tales of Legendia, once Grune gets her memory back and is revealed to be an all-powerful Physical God, you'd think she'd get stronger now that she actually knows who she is, what her powers are, and how to properly use them. Nope. Although there is some Integration here, as her battle quotes (and even the pitch of her voice!) all change to reflect her sudden change in personality.
 - Tales of Berseria:
 - Regardless of how modest, prim and proper whatever costume you choose to dress Velvet up in might be, certain NPCs will comment on the scandalous nature of Velvet's clothing as if she's wearing her default outfit.
 - Flamestone is said to be increasingly rare due to the global cooling and therefore increasingly valuable. Despite this, the Flamestone Chips you can find lying around as a random treasure specks on the ground sell for only a pittance and always for the same amount.
 - Ultima:
 - Ultima VI: Despite being a Wide Open Sandbox, not all NPCs respond accurately to what's going on in the game world. Casting your best healing spell on Matt the cook does nothing, nor does it help the wounded soldiers Ed, Artegal, Gertan and Gilron in Cove. Thindle the weaver points to your stomach in dialogue even if you are wearing full armor. Freeing Boskin or other prisoners in Yew will not alter their behavior or dialogue. Solving the Skara Brae murder does nothing in-game. Like most Ultima games, dialogue about other characters being alive will remain that way even when the character has been killed, unless there is a specific flag triggered by that character's death such as Phoenix. Some characters will have different dialogue about each other if another character is in the party or in proximity, but only if scripted to; otherwise moving another character close by will have no effect. Terri mentions silver and copper pieces as standard currency; only gold can be found in-game. Selganor's questions about Mandrake Root prepared with a silver fork, the cap of Nightshade Mushrooms used in spellcasting, and Black Pearls being used as a propellant, are not evident in game, though there are cannons and powder kegs. The Compendium states reagents are prepared at the moment of spellcasting, with descriptions for each reagent which are not reflected


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Pekingese Dog Breed
The Pekingese, also called the Peking Palasthund, the Pekinese, the Peiching Kou, the Pekin Spaniel, the Pekinese Spaniel, the Dragon Dog, the Mandarin Pug, the Peking Palace Dog or simply the Peke, originated in China thousands of years ago and is one of the most exotic and distinctive breeds in the canine world. At one time, they were known as the Lion Dog, because of their massive fronts, heavy manes and slender hindquarters. They also were called Sun Dogs, because of their prized golden-red coats. And, the very smallest Pekingese were called Sleeve Dogs or Sleeve Pekingese, because they were carried tucked into the sleeves of members of the imperial household.
The Pekingese is known for its distinctive physical characteristics. It has a flat face and an extremely short muzzle that puts its nose right between its eyes, creating a "smiling" look. Their small size makes the Pekingese a good choice for apartment or city dwellers, although they can be difficult to housetrain. The Peke was first registered by the American Kennel Club in 1906, as a member of the Toy Group. The Pekingese Club of America was accepted as a member of the American Kennel Club in 1909.
The mature adult Pekingese should weigh 14 pounds or less, with a compact, muscular body and short legs. The average height is between 6 and 9 inches at the withers. Pekingese have a long, coarse, straight outer coat and a thick, soft undercoat. The coat forms a massive mane about the neck and shoulders. There is long fringe on the ears and on the tail, which is set high and curled over to one side. All coat colors and markings are acceptable without preference given to one over another. Despite its dense coat, which requires daily attention to prevent matting, the Pekingese is fairly easy to care for.
The earliest known record of a dog resembling the Pekingese dates to the T'ang Dynasty of the 8th century. These small dogs were treated as sacred by the Chinese and could only be owned by members of the imperial family, who pampered them beyond reason and kept their bloodlines pure. So revered were the small fluffy dogs that their likenesses were carved in ivory and bronze and studded with precious gems, and theft of a
The Pekingese originated in the Imperial courts of China. They were held in high regard and often given as gifts among the nobility. This regal air is still common in modern Pekingese, who believe themselves to be royalty, and expect their families to treat them as nobility and not helpless lap dogs. According to the AKC Standard, Pekingese "should imply courage, boldness, and self-esteem rather than prettiness, daintiness, or delicacy." Pekingese make excellent companions for
The Pekingese is a small dog, but sturdy in build and is heavier than he looks. They sport a thick, straight coat of hair that stands away from the body in halo-like fashion. The skull is flat at the top, rather than domed and the face is wide and flat. Breeders look for "brick shaped" heads as the ideal. The eyes of the Pekingese are large, round, and dark. They are set wide apart and
The saying goes, "a picture is worth a thousand words". Check out the many different Pekingese Pictures and Pekingese images. Get an in depth look at the Pekingese and see the many things that this breed has to offer.


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Transnational Mexican-origin families : ways of knowing and implications for schooling
MetadataShow full item record
Transnational Mexican-origin Families is a qualitative study of four working class, Mexican-origin families who resided in the metropolitan Washington, D.C. region and who also made return visits to Mexico at least every two years. Through critical ethnographic case studies, the researcher worked with the families for over two years in multi-sited ethnography, with locations in the U.S. and Mexico. The dissertation examines the following question: What are the ways of knowing of Mexican-origin transnational students and their families in the Washington, D.C. area, and how do these transnational families experience their ways of knowing regarding education in formal schooling contexts? Using transnational theory and Gloria Anzaldúa's theory of conocimiento, or knowing, this study shows how transnational families' ways of knowing are situated in three mutually-constituted domains. They are: 1) chained knowing, including the ways participants are chained to the Mexican-U.S. border and to their communities in Mexico and the U.S., 2) sobrevivencia or survivalist knowing, in terms of how the families both survive and thrive, highlighting what I call their "underdog mentality" as well as the matters of life and death on both sides of the border, and 3) Nepantlera knowing, or an in-between knowing, which allows for attempts at bridge buildings and creation of Third Spaces. In regards to schooling, the transnational aspects of these families' lives remained hidden, despite the students' eagerness to share about their transnationalism. Schools tended to respond to their transnational families along the "continuum of the comfortable," or a line where schools increased their outreach to these families only moderately and only along their terms. The intention of this research is to disrupt assimilationist discourses about immigrants, particularly in light of the need to be able to navigate an increasingly globalized world. Preliminary findings suggest the need to begin to reframe immigrants as transnational, value their language heritages, disrupt the comfort of educators in their outreach to transnational families, and for educators, in particular, to learn to do the work of border crossing in their outreach to transnational families.


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Read about Andrés García, Ph.D., in the March 2005 issue.
When he was 11 years old, Andrés García had pins inserted into his thigh bones to keep them from degenerating. Inspired by the healing power of biomaterials, he now is studying how cells interact with these synthetic products.
He has built a tool that lets him and others study how and why cells stick to a surface, like the pins in his leg. It could lead to a new framework for studying the role of cell stickiness in human health and biology, as well as new implantable medical devices.


Small. Fast. Reliable.
Choose any three.
In-Memory Databases
An SQLite database is normally stored in a single ordinary disk file. However, in certain circumstances, the database might be stored in memory.
The most common way to force an SQLite database to exist purely in memory is to open the database using the special filename ":memory:". In other words, instead of passing the name of a real disk file into one of the sqlite3_open(), sqlite3_open16(), or sqlite3_open_v2() functions, pass in the string ":memory:". For example:
rc = sqlite3_open(":memory:", &db);
When this is done, no disk file is opened. Instead, a new database is created purely in memory. The database ceases to exist as soon as the database connection is closed. Every :memory: database is distinct from every other. So, opening two database connections each with the filename ":memory:" will create two independent in-memory databases.
The special filename ":memory:" can be used anywhere that a database filename is permitted. For example, it can be used as the filename in an ATTACH command:
ATTACH DATABASE ':memory:' AS aux1;
Note that in order for the special ":memory:" name to apply and to create a pure in-memory database, there must be no additional text in the filename. Thus, a disk-based database can be created in a file by prepending a pathname, like this: "./:memory:".
The special ":memory:" filename also works when using URI filenames. For example:
rc = sqlite3_open("file::memory:", &db);
ATTACH DATABASE 'file::memory:' AS aux1;
In-memory Databases And Shared Cache
In-memory databases are allowed to use shared cache if they are opened using a URI filename. If the unadorned ":memory:" name is used to specify the in-memory database, then that database always has a private cache and is this only visible to the database connection that originally opened it. However, the same in-memory database can be opened by two or more database connections as follows:
rc = sqlite3_open("file::memory:?cache=shared", &db);
ATTACH DATABASE 'file::memory:?cache=shared' AS aux1;
This allows separate database connections to share the same in-memory database. Of course, all database connections sharing the in-memory database need to be in the same process. The database is automatically deleted and memory is reclaimed when the last connection to the database closes.
If two or more distinct but shareable in-memory databases are needed in a single process, then the mode=memory query parameter can be used with a URI filename to create a named in-memory database:
rc = sqlite3_open("file:memdb1?mode=memory&cache=shared", &db);
ATTACH DATABASE 'file:memdb1?mode=memory&cache=shared' AS aux1;
When an in-memory database is named in this way, it will only share its cache with another connection that uses exactly the same name.
Temporary Databases
When the name of the database file handed to sqlite3_open() or to ATTACH is an empty string, then a new temporary file is created to hold the database.
rc = sqlite3_open("", &db);
A different temporary file is created each time, so that just like as with the special ":memory:" string, two database connections to temporary databases each have their own private database. Temporary databases are automatically deleted when the connection that created them closes.
Even though a disk file is allocated for each temporary database, in practice the temporary database usually resides in the in-memory pager cache and hence is very little difference between a pure in-memory database created by ":memory:" and a temporary database created by an empty filename. The sole difference is that a ":memory:" database must remain in memory at all times whereas parts of a temporary database might be flushed to disk if database becomes large or if SQLite comes under memory pressure.
The previous paragraphs describe the behavior of temporary databases under the default SQLite configuration. An application can use the temp_store pragma and the SQLITE_TEMP_STORE compile-time parameter to force temporary databases to behave as pure in-memory databases, if desired.


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Taxes and other revenues: 37.5% of GDP (2012 est.)
Definition: This entry records total taxes and other revenues received by the national government during the time period indicated, expressed as a percent of GDP. Taxes include personal and corporate income taxes, value added taxes, excise taxes, and tariffs. Other revenues include social contributions - such as payments for social security and hospital insurance - grants, and net revenues from public enterprises. Normalizing the data, by dividing total revenues by GDP, enables easy comparisons across countries, and provides an average rate at which all income (GDP) is paid to the national level government for the supply of public goods and services.
Source: CIA World Factbook - Unless otherwise noted, information in this page is accurate as of February 21, 2013
© 2013 IndexMundi. All rights reserved.


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Geography of Bihar
Talking about the first category of the geography and history of Bihar, i. e. geography, we assume the following:
- Area - 94,163 square kilometers.
- Latitude - 21°58'10" and 27°31'15" North.
- Longitude - 82°19'50" and 88°17'40" East.
- Boundaries - West Bengal, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, the Himalayas and Nepal.
- Capital - Patna.
- Population - 8,28,78,796.
- River - Ganga, Sone, Poonpoon, Falgu, Karmanasa, Durgawati, Kosi, Ghaghara, etc.
The vast area included in Bihar makes it one of the largest states in India. It is located in the eastern part of the country. The area of Bihar has been estimated to be 94,164 square kilometers
The entire area of the state has been politically divided into 9 divisions and 37 districts with Patna as its capital.
The total strength of the population inhabiting the area is around 82.88 million out of which the majority are males and the rest are females, the sex ratio being 100: 92.
The people occupying the vast area of Bihar have a literacy rate of 47.53 % and the most widely spoken language is Hindi.
Apart from the valleys of the Ganges, the area included in Bihar houses the hilly regions as well which you will see if you go to the places like Rajgir, Ranchi and so on. These hills make Bihar a cradle of natural beauty.
The area of Bihar can be topographically narrated as a rich alluvial plain lying on the north consisting chiefly of the Gangetic Valley. The plains on the north starts from the foothills of the Himalayas and extends to the south of the river Ganges.
Soil and Vegetation
The soil and vegetation of Bihar constitute two of its most important natural resources. Nearly all the economic activities of the state are directly or indirectly determined by the nature of the soil and vegetation. Thus the soil and vegetation forms the foundation of its agricultural and industrial development.
There are three important types of soil in Bihar:
Piedmont Swamp Soil - found in northwestern section of west Champaran district.
Terai Soil - found in northern section of the state along Nepal border
Gangetic Alluvium - covering the Bihar plains
Bihar falls within the tropical to sub tropical zone. Rainfall is the single most important cause that decides the type of vegetation. Bihar possesses a monsoon climate with an average annual rainfall of 1200 mm.
The sub Himalayan foothill of Someshwar and Dun ranges in Champaran comprise a broad belt of moist deciduous forests. The characteristic trees are Shorea Robusta (Sal), Shisham, Cedrela Toona, Khair and Semal.
The fertile alluvial plain of Bihar stretches from the foothills of the Himalayas in the north to a few miles south of the river Ganges. Extensive farmland and luxuriant orchards are scattered throughout the state. The most important crops are paddy, wheat, lentils, sugarcane, jute. Cane grows naturally in the marshes of West Champaran. The chief fruits are mangoes, banana, jack fruit and litchis. This is one the very few areas outside China which grows litchi.
Topography of Bihar shows a distinctive pattern. Bihar portrays an undulating topography giving rise to short-range variations in terrain and soil and water conditions; thereby influencing the crops that are grown in this region.
Talking in terms of topography, Bihar is divided into three main divisions, which are characterized by distinctive soil pattern, viz.:
The upper terraces or uplands - light-textured soil.
The middle terraces or medium lands - heavily textured soils.
The lower terraces or lowlands - heavily textured soils.
The soil texture, an indelible part of the topography of Bihar, influences the soil moisture storage capacity, which along with the water-table depth, determines the availability of moisture for the cropping pattern.
Further, the topography of Bihar is subject to various intensities of use, viz.:
Harsh soils, erosion and unsuitable water conditions make this topography of Bihar unfit for cultivation.
Barhi, the uplands (also known as 'tanr') close to the homesteads are supplied with water from the dug wells and are suitable for growing vegetables, high-yielding variety of potato, wheat, rice, etc.
The lower portions of the uplands, i. e. the mid-uplands (known as 'ajan' in Giridih and 'kanali' in Purulia) are suitable for rice varieties.
The lowlands in spite of being the most fertile has a limited cropping pattern which is confined to growing rice due to excessive moisture and poor drainage.
The climate of Bihar embodies the general climatic pattern of the Indian subcontinent. It shows a continental monsoon climate due to considerable distance from the sea.
The factors regulating the climate of Bihar are:
Its lying between 22-degree north to 27-degree latitude within a tropical to sub tropical zone.
The Himalayan Mountains in the north determine the monsoon rainfall.
Bihar connects with the Ganga delta and Assam.
The climate of Bihar is represented by the following seasons :
Cold weather season - December to February
Hot weather season - March to May
Southwest monsoon - June to September
Retreating southwest monsoon - October to November
The onset of the rainy season takes place when a storm from the Bay of Bengal passes through Bihar. However the monsoon may set in as early as the last week of May or as late as the first or second week of July. The winter days are warm and mild but after sunset, the temperature drops abruptly, creating a sense of sharp coldness. Average temperatures in November in Bihar range between 19.6°C to 22.26°C. with January usually the coldest month. The average minimum temperature is between 7.56°C to 10.56°C though temperatures in Netarhat even fall to 7.56°C.
Similar to most of northern India, Bihar witnesses thunder-storms and dusty winds in summer. The hot winds (loo) of Bihar plains blow in April and May averaging a speed of 8-16 kilometers per hour. The rainy season begins in June. The rainiest months are July and August. In three particular zones, rainfall surpasses 1800 mm. The south-west monsoon normally retreats in early October and is accompanied by tropical cyclones arising in the Bay of Bengal and typhoons from the south China sea.
History of Bihar
Further, analyzing the second aspect of the geography and history, viz. the history of Bihar, we can summarize the following points:
- History of Bihar dates back to the reign of Bimbisara.
- Many famous emperors, including the Guptas, had their capital in Patiliputra.
- Mohammad Bin Bakhtiar Khalji was the first Muslim ruler to spread his domain in this region.
- Khaljis were followed by the Tughluqs and the Mughals.
- Mughals had worked wonders in the administration of Bihar.
- But with their downfall, the Nawabs got an upper hand over Bihar.
- In the Battle of Buxar, Bihar passed on to the British.
- In 1931, the states of Bihar and Orissa were curbed from the Bengal Presidency.
- Ultimately, on 15th November, 2000, a separate state known as Jharkhand was culled out.
Ashoka, the great king of the Mauryan dynasty of Bihar is known to the people all over the world as the greatest preacher of the words of Lord Buddha. Ashoka at first was a powerful warrior and believed in the extension of his territory through fights. He started his journey of conquering more and more kingdoms. He was extremely successful.
But it was a very notable day when Ashoka suddenly realized that it was useless to conquer lands which involved brutal killings. He actually could not bear the sight of the river filled with blood of the innocent people and had a massive set back.
Emperor Ashoka thus became a follower of Lord Buddha and started on his way to win the hearts of the people rather than their kingdoms. He started propagating the ideals of Buddhism in and around India.
Ashoka was also known as Priyadarshi or Priyadassi. If you go to the sites where there was the Kingdom of Ashoka you will find the edicts inscribed on stone pillars. These edicts of Ashoka were established all across his kingdom.
The pillars, better known as the Ashokan pillars are always provided with the statue of one or more lions crowning a pedestal. The pedestal bears the inscriptions with symbols of wheels.
Ancient kingdoms of Magadh
The ancient kingdoms of Magadh and Lichhavis in Bihar have a unique place in the history as well as the economic background of India. The kingdom flourished in the region at about 7-8th century BC.
The rulers of the kingdoms of Magadh and Lichhavis in Bihar were very efficient and had developed a method of administration which actually paved the way to the modern economic concepts of the country at present. They had a strong foresightedness and could visualize the things beyond their time. The economic strategies that they have made were so efficient that they made Magadh one of the most prosperous kingdoms in India.
The kingdoms of Magadh and Lichhavis in Bihar boasts to be the abode of Kautilya, the author of Arthashastra. He was


text: Why are the units of force used when applying coulombs law (N-M^2)/(C^2)? This is actually a three part question. 1. Why are the units of the permitivity constant (C^2)/(N-M^2)? 2. Why do Q1 and Q2 not contribute to the final units? Each charge is measured in coulombs, but those units don't reflect in the final units. 3. Units of force are newtons. Why then can we say that coulombs law equals force? What's going on with the other units that makes it so that we can still refer to it as a force?


text:
A mechanism of samplers and sample playback synths in which, when a given note is played, the actual sample that sounds depends not only on the note played but also the velocity. Depending on the capabilities of the sampler, as an example, it might divide the range of possible velocities into four bands, and choose a sample to play based on which band the velocity value falls into.
Velocity switching is most often used in imitative synthesis to more accurately reproduce the sounds of accoustic instruments whose tonality varies depending on how hard or loudly they are played. By sampling the instrument at several volume levels, and then mapping each sample to an appropriate band of velocity values, the sample can realistically reproduce the sound of the instrument at different playing volumes. Compare to multisampling.


text:
Insights on service system design from a normal approximation to Erlang's delay formula
Coauthor(s): Peter Kolesar.
We show how a simple normal approximation to Erlang's delay formula can be used to analyze capacity and staffing problems in service systems that can be modeled as M/M/s queues. The numbers of servers, s, needed in an M/M/s queueing system to assure a probability of delay of, at most, p can be well approximated by s ≅ p + z***I-p+, where z1-p, is the (1 - p)th percentile of the standard normal distribution and ρ, the presented load on the system, is the ratio of Λ, the customer arrival rate, to μ, the service rate. We examine the accuracy of this approximation over a set of parameters typical of service operations ranging from police patrol, through telemarketing to automatic teller machines, and we demonstrate that it tends to slightly underestimate the number of servers actually needed to hit the delay probability target—adding one server to the number suggested by the above formula typically gives the exact result. More importantly, the structure of the approximation promotes operational insight by explicitly linking the number of servers with server utilization and the customer service level. Using a scenario based on an actual teleservicing operation, we show how operations managers and designers can quickly obtain insights about the trade-offs between system size, system utilization and customer service. We argue that this little used approach deserves a prominent role in the operations analyst's and operations manager's toolbags.
Source: Production and Operations Management
Kolesar, Peter, and Linda Green. "Insights on service system design from a normal approximation to Erlang's delay formula." Production and Operations Management 7, no. 3 (September 1998): 282-293.


Fishermen, farmers, and fiestas continuity in ritual of traditional villages on the northwest coast of Peru /
by Schaeffer, Nancy Ellen.
Abstract (Summary)
This dissertation is an attempt to explain aspects of sacred ceremonial expression of the Peruvian northwest coastal farmers and fishermen in the Moche Valley. The study is informed primarily by sacerdotes andinos (healer-priests), ancianos (elders), and native fishermen and farmers. Specifically, sacerdotes andinos are the teachers of ritualistic dances and myths. Lessons learned from the sacerdotes are not only an intellectual exercise; they are "lived." The myths of fishermen and farmers are initiated and experienced with the sounds of the sacerdote "ancestor" conch trumpet, the maraca (seed) rattle and song-chants in ceremony, but not by everyday language. The initiation ritual of the Diablada dancers takes place on top of the huaca (sacred place) of the Chimú ancestor in Chan Chan from vi midnight to dawn. Then, with the siete ñustas de wiracocha (essence of seven mystical plants) combined with the sounds of the ocean waves breaking on the shore and the constant rattle and chanting of the sacerdote, one travels and learns. These historical-mythological adventure-traditions are repeated frequently, remembered and passed on from one generation to the next through sound. The dances of the Diablada, the Ingas and Ñustas, and the processional journey to the Moche River tell stories about the community, the land, relationships and the culture of the people. For each village, there is a distinct structure and style of expression. Traditional farming and fishing techniques, village relations, ceremonies, rituals, dances, music, and myth continue to exist and orient the people. vii
Bibliographical Information:
School:The University of Texas at Austin
School Location:USA - Texas
Source Type:Master's Thesis
Keywords:folklore mythology peruvian oral tradition fishers farmers religion moche river valley peru
Date of Publication:
© 2009 All Rights Reserved.


© 2014 Shmoop University, Inc. All rights reserved.
The City of Ember
The City of Ember
by Jeanne DuPrau
Power Theme
We've got two kinds of power going on in The City of Ember, and while they couldn't be more different on the surface, the more we dig, the more we realize they're intertwined. First, there's the power of energy—the river, the generator, and the electricity that lights the city. But that power is controlled by the people in power, mainly, the mayor. That gives him a whole lot of control over the citizens of Ember, since he's in charge of supplies and information. But while Lina and Doon may seem like just a pair of powerless kids, over the course of the novel, they learn that sometimes having power means taking matters into your own hands, no matter what The Powers That Be might do to you.
Questions About Power
 1. How might Lina and Doon have better addressed the power imbalance in Ember? What would you have done if you were in their shoes?
 2. Where does the power that runs the city's electricity come from? Do you think they'd have a chance to figure out how to make it work again?
 3. Who's more powerful, the mayor or Looper? What makes you say so?
 4. How do the guards figure into Ember's power structure?
Chew on This
The mayor only has power because people agree to give it to him.
It was pretty stupid of the Builders to leave the population of Ember without any idea of how their city is powered. That just goes to show that more than anything, knowledge is power.
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text:
Protractors - Engineering & Drafting
By the end of the 18th century, protractors were routinely manufactured by machinery, with the invention of dividing engines, such as Jesse Ramsden's, particularly important for enabling the precise division of a circle into fractions of angles. Makers produced protractors that read minute fractions of angles, particularly when a vernier was added to the instrument.
Mechanics or machinists also used protractors to draw designs for new types of machinery. For instance, there were several forms of limb protractors for draftsmen that both functioned as T-squares and provided angle measurement. Similarly, protractors assisted with the preparation of architectural drawings. The instruments were only displaced by the advent of computer-aided drafting in the late 20th century.


text:
APPLE VALLEY, Minn. (AP) — The 20 tiny butterfly larvae being cared for by a Minnesota Zoo biologist could represent the last hope for a species that used to be ubiquitous across the state's prairies.
The Poweshiek Skipperling used to flit and float above more than 2 million acres, but for reasons that aren't entirely clear they've virtually disappeared, according to a report in the St. Paul Pioneer Press (_URL_
"They just fell off the map. It may already be extinct in the state," said Erik Runquist, the Minnesota Zoo conservation biologist who leads its butterfly conservation efforts.
The Poweshiek, a brown butterfly with white stripes, is about the size of a quarter as an adult. It hasn't been seen in the state since 2007, and its near-extinction suggests that the butterfly's habitat is ailing.
"When you consider the prairie ecosystem, and things start dropping out, something is not right," said Robert Dana, an ecologist with the state Department of Natural Resources.
The butterflies aren't entirely gone, as populations still exist in Wisconsin and Michigan. That's where zoo officials obtained the tiny green butterfly larvae, each about the size of a grain of rice.
Runquist and other ecologists are hoping the larvae can survive the winter and eventually breed, perhaps leading to clues as to what killed off the butterflies' predecessors.
"It would be nice to be able to find out what's killing them," Dana said. "Right now, we have no corpse to do a postmortem."
Possible causes include aggressive use of pesticides, the introduction of nonnative predators or the overzealous use of fire in managing the remaining prairie land.
Because of the lingering uncertainty — and because the zoo has so few larvae — officials' expectations are modest. They don't expect the Poweshiek population to ever return to its former levels, but they hope they can at least show how to help small numbers survive, said Tara Harris, the zoo's director of conservation.
"That's something no one has ever accomplished," she said.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.


text:
Making Sense of Pattern Grading
by Terry Horlamus
Excerpted from Threads #101, pp. 66-70
The term pattern grading may initially conjure up visions of complicated measurements and fancy rulers, but once the basic concept is understood, the actual process of grading is easy, especially using the method I outline here. This means that you—the home sewer, custom dressmaker, or independent designer—can do just as good a job as Vogue, Burda, Calvin, or Donna.
|Why grade? The purpose of grading is to proportionally increase or decrease the size of a pattern, while maintaining shape, fit, balance, and scale of style details (dress, original design).|
The basic concept
Historically, the science of grading went hand-in-hand with the advent of commercial patterns and the mass-production of pattern-built clothing some 150 years ago. To properly fit a pattern to a range of sizes, each pattern piece needed to be graded, or systematically increased or decreased. Today, pattern companies and apparel manufacturers take a middle-sized pattern (typically a size 12) and grade it up for larger sizes and grade it down for smaller sizes (see One pattern, three sizes).
|One pattern, three sizes|
|A base size 12 pattern (left) can be graded up to a size 16 (center) using the cut-and-spread method, and similarly graded down to a size 6 (right) by cutting and overlapping along specified cut lines.|
Methods of grading
There are three basic methods of grading: cut and spread, pattern shifting, and computer grading. No one method is technically superior and all are equally capable of producing a correct grade.
|Cut-and-spread method: The easiest method, which is the basis of the other two methods, is to cut the pattern and spread the pieces by a specific amount to grade up, or overlap them to grade down. No special training or tools are required—just scissors, a pencil, tape, and a ruler that breaks 1 in. down to 1/64.|
|Pattern shifting: Pattern shifting is the process of increasing the overall dimensions of a pattern by moving it a measured dis-tance up and down and left and right, (using a specially designed ruler) and redrawing the outline, to produce the same results as the cut-and-spread method.|


text:
It seems strange doesn't it? That a seemingly fragile material such as ceramics are used to make our toilets? Toilets have to undergo constant usage on a daily basis. Shouldn't we use more hardened material?
Well you're in for a surprise! Ceramics, or vitreous china, are actually rather durable. Let's take a look at some of the properties of ceramics:
they are water proof
resistant to heat and cold so they don't expand or contract during the different seasons
abrasion and scratch-resistant
hygienic as the glazing does not allow bacteria to stick on and fester
made from natural raw resources like clay and other earthen elements hence are completely safe for daily exposure to skin
As Duravit explains:
"The basic ceramic mass consists of the natural raw materials clay, kaolin, quartz and feldspar. Quartz, chalk, feldspar and the mineral stone dolomite are mixed to make the glaze. The extreme high temperature resistance allows a firing temperature of approx. 1280°C. This results in a very high level of hardness, which is particularly advantageous in public sanitary facilities. The hygienically smooth surface glaze is wear and scratch-resistant, easy to clean and thus ideal for the use in the health sector. Sanitary ceramic is skin friendly as well as heat and fade resistant."
Sounds like it is the perfect material!
Probably why we've been using ceramics for more than 1500 years!
Now that's a fun fact.


text:
Elinor Ostrom, the only woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Economics died on June 12 in Indiana. According to various press reports, Ostrom shocked her peers when she was catapulted to fame, because, in a field mostly dominated by men, she reached well beyond the usual mathematical modeling of economists.
Ostrom's best-known research was on the management of the commons. As noted in Slate, "Standard economic thinking about commons focuses on the idea of a 'tragedy of the commons'…" According to many economists, individuals acting in their own self-interest, would ultimately deplete a resource like a common pasture, which is open to everyone. This idea was used to demonstrate the need for government regulation or control by private industry.


Between the Lines Book Club: Race in My Antonia
between the lines book club logoWelcome to Between the Lines Book Club! Our book this month is My Antonia, by Willa Cather. We'll be meeting to discuss the book on September 22, 2018, at Arden Dimick Library, at 10:30AM.
Most of the characters in My Antonia are "other" in some way. The Shimerda's are strange to the Burden family, with their outpourings of emotion and their dried mushrooms. The Hired Girls all come from recent immigrant families, and are both admired and shunned by the area's more well-established residents.
In Book 2, Chapter 7, Jim meets a blind, Black piano player, known as Blind d'Arnault. Jim admires d'Arnaults's independence (he "refuses to be led") and his musical ability. However, despite expressing admiration for d'Arnault, Jim describes him in racist and stereotypical terms.
This led me to think of the following questions:
1. How can we read between the lines, and how much does Cather intend for us to do so? Does Martha hide her mixed-race son because he's "ugly", or because she's afraid he'll be sold and/or she'll be punished for the possibility that she was raped by her male owner? Is d'Arnaut really "docile" or is this simply what people around him like to believe? Does he retain a strong sense of personality separate from what we hear Jim say about him? Do Cather and Jim see d'Arnault the same way?
2. Is d'Arnault autistic? He is slow to talk, rocks back and forth constantly, and is a musical savant. How is he portrayed in contrast to Antonia's disabled brother?
3. How does Cather's description of d'Arnault differ from her proper "Americans," the shrill and canny Shimerdas, the morose Russians Pavel and Peter, the ethereal scholar Gaston Cleric, and other characters?
4. What is the purpose of this passage?
5. A lot of readers and critics seem to ignore this passage altogether. How should we treat passages like this in older fiction (My Antonia was first published in 1918). How does the passage affect your opinion of the book overall?
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Healthy Living Blog
The Importance of Positive Interactions
April 11, 2019 | Rachel Velishek, LPCC
How do you feel when someone says something nice to you or about you? How do you feel after exchanging a hug with a person you care about?
Part of being a sincere, genuine human being is the ability to give and receive fondness, admiration, and appreciation. It is important to communicate our appreciation for to those around us, the role they may have in our lives, and be able to accept the same genuine feedback in return.
A psychological method called Transactional Analysis (TA) refers to an individual's ability to address a person's interactions and communications with the purpose of establishing and reinforcing individuality, in other words, that each person is valuable and has the capacity for positive change and growth. The interactions or communications between two people are often called "strokes" and the positive strokes are what contribute to a healthy pattern of communication and positive living.
Positive strokes are necessary in developing and building our self-image and encouraging emotional connections with others. They have the ability to increase compassion for others and ourselves. Positive strokes create the opportunity to develop trust and be vulnerable.
Strokes can be verbal or nonverbal. It may be a smile or a hug from a person you care deeply for. Positive strokes are critical for developing minds, but still vital for us adults. Strokes can also be negative. Based on some research by Eric Berne, the founder of Transactional Analysis, any stroke (positive or negative) is better than no stroke at all. Receiving some recognition is better than no recognition at all and being ignored. It is often why a child who doesn't receive enough positive strokes will often develop negative behaviors that will at minimum result in negative strokes because anything is better than nothing.
Berne has classified strokes as "conditional" and "unconditional," he stated that unconditional strokes are related to what you are and conditional strokes are about what you do. For example, an unconditional positive stroke (compliment) is "I love you," or "you're wonderful." An unconditional negative stroke (insult) is "I hate you," or "You're an idiot." Conditional positive strokes are similar to statements like, "I like when you smile," "You look pretty," and "You've done a great job." Negative conditional strokes may sound like, "You are really stupid for failing that test," "Your work is unacceptable," or "I don't like you when you act like this."
Studies in Transactional Analysis suggest that when a person does not receive enough positive strokes we seek out acceptance by chasing negative strokes. When those negative strokes are accepted, we only reinforce that behavior and so the cycle continues. This is unhealthy for not only us as the individual, but also for the person who issued the negative stroke. When we accept only positive strokes, we are reinforcing positive interactions.
I encourage you to take some time and really think about that for a moment. Are you accepting only positive strokes and reinforcing the positive? Or are you seeking out negative strokes and reinforcing negative behaviors? Are you a person who has more negative strokes — interactions where people are more critical of you or others or just leave you feeling more down and drained? Or do you radiate positive energy and feelings of joy when around others? Be honest with who you are and what you say and do. There are benefits to being a "radiator" for yourself and others instead of being a "drain."
If you want to be a radiator or surround yourself with radiators consider this: oxytocin is a neurotransmitter that acts as a hormone. It has been linked to the regulation of trust and morality. It is released in the body when we feel safe and connected. In a TED talk, Dr. Zak prescribed a minimum of 8 hugs per day to feel happier and more connected, and to nurture relationships. He recommended this because physical touch has been shown to stimulate the most potent release of oxytocin. According to his research, a 20 second hug with a romantic partner can achieve a spike in oxytocin levels and can trigger a decrease in blood pressure, heart rate, and cortisol levels. A 20-second hug with a person you care for is a positive stroke that has emotional, physical, and mental benefits. Take the time to communicate unconditional and conditional positive strokes to others. Verbally express appreciation, fondness, and admiration as it will only increase positive growth, compassion, and trust in yourself and others.
The fact is, all of us need to be seen and recognized by others. Positive strokes are free. They are great motivators and have the ability to improve a person's overall perspective on life. Across our lifespan, expressions of appreciation, fondness, and admiration in addition to positive strokes contribute to high self-esteem and confidence. Expressing appreciation in others and receiving positive feedback is the simplest yet, one of the biggest investments that can be made in the emotional and psychological wellbeing of all people.


American Woodcock Bird Call iPhone Ringtone
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Also known as a "Timberdoodle", this superbly camouflaged snipe-like bird has a football-shaped body, small head, and a very long beak. Unlike other shorebirds, Woodcocks feed in young forests where their camouflage coloring makes them difficult to see hidden in the leaf litter. They take slow steps, using their long, flexible beaks to probe the soil for their favorite food, earthworms. Their eyes are positioned on the sides of their head, but very far back and up high, making it possible for them to feed with their heads down while keeping watch for predators above. Woodcocks are known for their special buzzy "peent" sound, which the males make when they are doing aerial displays for females. For such bulky, quiet, and unassuming birds, their mating displays at dusk and dawn are something special to see, and the easiest way to see them.