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Sustainability Solutions University of Maine Michael J. Eckardt David D. Hart Vicki L. Nemeth A critical investment priority identified in NSF's Strategic Plan (2006) is "fostering research that improves our ability to live sustainably on Earth". Producing knowledge and linking it to actions that meet human needs while preserving the planet's lifesupport systems is one of science's most fundamental challenges. The process for generating natural science and engineering knowledge must be fundamentally reorganized, because such knowledge by itself is necessary but not sufficient for producing a transition to sustainability (Kates et al., Science, 2001). The goal of linking knowledge to action requires analyses of interactions among research and decisionmaking (Cash et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 2006). Maine's project in sustainability science is designed to research the coupled dynamics of social-ecological systems (SES) and the translation of knowledge about SES dynamics into informed decision-making processes by stakeholders. These efforts will involve the overlap of ecology, economics, and social sciences; consequently, researchers are from a number of SES-related disciplines (climate change, hydrology, biogeochemistry, ecology, economics, spatial engineering) interacting with knowledge-to-action disciplines (communication, anthropology, sociology, political science, public policy, risk analysis, regional planning, law, and organization theory). Maine has a number of interesting characteristics that make it particularly suitable for studying the dynamic interactions between nature and society. 1. History of developing novel solutions to sustainability challenges such as water pollution (many streams and lakes), habitat conservation, and forest management (90% forested). 2. Many of Maine's solutions have focused on private land, which is subjected to heterogeneous patterns of public regulatory control (contrast with publicly owned, homogeneous and exclusive jurisdiction). 3. Most previous research has involved ecosystems already in crisis (e.g., Everglades, Chesapeake Bay), while Maine ecosystems have generally not reached a crisis point, allowing Maine to be a valuable model system for exploring more proactive, cost-effective approaches to sustainable development. Location of Sustainability Science Conceptual Model of Sustainability Research Our research project focuses on three interacting drivers of landscape change that profoundly affect Maine and other regions. Landscape change was identified as one of the grand challenges in environmental sciences by the National Research Council (2001). 1. urbanization 2. climate change 3. forest ecosystem management Urbanization What is Alternative Futures Modeling? Spatially explicit models that depict future landscapes under various "drivers of change" & land use policies… • Socio-demographic From • Economic this… • Biophysical Anticipates future landscape To conditions by modeling a wide this… range of alternative scenarios Benefits of Alternative Futures Modeling Requires input from a wide range of disciplines Engages stakeholders in scenario development & assessment… Provides a common visual reference for decisionmaking… California's Mojave Desert (4 vs 20 people/ha) Alternative development footprints for 2020 Modeling Landscape Change… 2009 Modeling Future Development USDA Forest Service 2005 Applications for Maine Modeling Future Development Assessing Risks from Climate Change Protecting Working Forests & Ag Lands Industrial Sector Development Protecting Public Health & Safety Energy & Transportation Planning Municipal Fiscal Impact Analysis Tourism Sector Planning Protecting wetlands from over development has been an ongoing concern at the federal level (Clean Water Act), and recently, has involved the U.S. Supreme Court and renewed legislative activity (Clean Water Authority Restoration Act). Maine was notified that it was in violation of certain aspects of the federal legislation on wetlands and in response established vernal pool regulations and clarifying legislation in 2008. Aram Calhoun is an expert on vernal pools and is one of the leaders in the urbanization section of landscape change in Maine's NSF EPSCoR project. Climate Change Global climate change is a fact: temperatures are increasing, Arctic and Antarctic ice sheets are melting Naturally occurring, induced by man, interactions What do we do about it? (I will come back to this) Senator George Mitchell Center for Environmental and Watershed Research (David Hart) Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 George Mitchell was majority leader of the U.S. Senate and led the successful reauthorization. Curb three major threats to the nation's environment and to the health of millions of Americans. 1. Acid rain 2. Urban air pollution 3. Toxic air emissions In the mid-1980s a group of UMaine faculty members began an experimental study of acid rain in the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine. Today, that project continues under the leadership of Professor Ivan Fernandez (one of the leaders of the climate change section of the current NSF EPSCoR) East Bear Brook Reference West Bear Brook Treated Helicopter treating watersheds Treatments Initiated November, _PHONE_ eq ha-1 yr-1 (NH4)2SO4, or 25.2 and 28.8 kg ha-1 yr-1 N and S Added in 6 bi-monthly applications Inside the Box Tree foliar chemistry Tree physiology Understory vegetation Litterfall and decomposition Roots Soil chemistry Soil microbiology Soil solutions Trace gas flux Groundwater Stream chemistry Stream sediments Hydrology Ecosystem mass balance …etc. 800 Treatments Begin East Bear West Bear NO3 (eq ha-1 yr-1) 600 400 200 0 88 989 990 991 992 993 994 995 996 997 998 999 000 001 002 003 004 005 006 007 19 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 Figure 2 – Tim e series of East Bear (gray) and W est Bear (black) stream NO 3 concentrations. 1987 Pre-treatment Monitoring Begins 1988 Treatments Begin _PHONE_ Nitrogen Surprise #1 (native N) _PHONE_ Nitrogen Surprise #2 (regional N) _PHONE_ Stochastic Event – Caterpillars 1995 Surprises and Transitions Base Cation Surprise 1996 at BBWM 1997 - The First Two Decades - 1998 SO4 Surprise Stochastic Event – Ice Storm _PHONE_ 2001 2002 Nitrogen Surprise #3 (N retention) 2003 Forest Growth Surprise #1 - BAI 2004 P surprise 2005 2006 Forest Growth Surprise #2 - roots 2007 Emerging evidence of P limitations 2008 The Future? What are the local effects of climate change? Jacobson, G.L., I.J. Fernandez, P.A. Mayewski, and C.V. Schmitt (editors). 2009. Maine's Climate Future: An Initial Assessment. Orono, ME: University of Maine. _URL_ Cite individual sections using Team Leader as first author. Design and production: Kathlyn Tenga-González, Maine Sea Grant Printing: University of Maine Printing Services SP0163, LD 460, item 1, 124th Maine State Legislature Resolve, To Evaluate Climate Change Adaptation Options for the State SP0163, LR 529, item 1, First Regular Session - 124th Maine Legislature The Maine Department of Environmental Protection is directed to create a stakeholder group to evaluate the options available to Maine people and businesses for adapting to the most likely impacts of climate change and to focus on the climate impact assessment by the University of Maine that concluded that climate change is already occurring in the State as a result of increased levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Forest Ecosystem Management Maine is the most heavily forested state in U.S. (90%; 16.9 million acres) More than 96% of its timberland is privately owned Maine is among the highest in the U.S. in percentage of certified forests (37%) Sustainable Forestry Initiative Forest Stewardship Council Forest-based manufacturing provides 4.2% of Maine's total economy, with wages and salaries totaling $1.0 billion. Changing Ownerships The health of the industry depends upon access to forests… Hagan et al. 2006 Coupled Natural-Human Systems In the 1970s & 1980s, the spruce budworm infested millions of acres of Maine's woods… Modeling Forest Health UMaine is working with industry partners to better predict the timing, severity & spatial distribution of future budworm outbreaks… Spruce budworm risk (4 million acres) Over 10 million acres 2010 in Maine are at risk to 2020 2030 future outbreaks… (Sader, Wilson & Legaard 2008) Coupled Natural-Human Systems In the 1970s & 1980s, and salvage the spruce budworm clearcutting of passage Which led to infested millions of acres the 1989 Forest public outcry Practices Act of Maine's woods… FPA lead to a huge decline in clearClear-cutting & cutting herbicides created excellent snowshoe But vastly increased hare habitat the area impacted by harvests Which in turn created Which may now excellent lynx habitat undermine the future of lynx habitat Habitat Protection 2002 Canada lynx listed as "threatened" 2009 F&WS designated 39,000 mi2 as "critical habitat" Designation could affect forest management on 6.1 million acres Habitat Protection A 2008 partnership between the F&WS, UMaine & Maine's forest products industry seeks to… Develop landscape models that depict longterm interactions between


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The Weekly Newsmagazine of Science
|Recently on MathTrek:|
March 6, 1999
For a truly cool experience, there's nothing like transforming a 12-foot, 20-ton block of manufactured snow into a giant sculpture. That's the premise underlying the Breckenridge snow sculpture championships in Colorado, held annually in January.
This year, the international competition featured 15 four-member teams representing 10 countries. It also had a striking mathematical component. Noted mathematical sculptor Helaman Ferguson, joined by math professors Dan Schwalbe and Stan Wagon (see Riding on Square Wheels, July 11, 1998) and student Tamas Nemeth of Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn., labored intensively for 65 hours to carve a spectacular version of a minimal geometric structure known as the Costa surface. Wolfram Research sponsored the team, and Ferguson's wife, Claire, photographed the event.
The equations for this minimal surface were discovered in 1984 by the Brazilian mathematician Celso J. Costa. The figure's curvature resembles that of a potato chip, which typically starts out as a flat, thin slice of moist potato. As it dries out during frying, the chip shrinks. Minimizing its area, it curls into a saddle shape. Every little section of the Costa surface has this saddle configuration. Indeed, one can imagine the surface as the sum of an infinite number of saddles.
From certain angles, the Costa surface has the splendid elegance of a gracefully spinning dancer flinging out her full skirt so that it whirls parallel to the ground. Gentle waves undulate along the skirt's hem. Two holes pierce the skirt's lower surface and join to form a tunnel that sweeps upward. Another pair of holes, set a right angles to the first pair, lead from the top of the skirt downward into a second tunnel.
Several years ago, Ferguson created a number of marble and bronze versions of the Costa surface. Carving one in snow, however, presented a host of new challenges.
In fact, when Wagon first approached Ferguson with the idea of submitting a proposal to the by-invitation-only competition, Ferguson was initially somewhat reluctant to get involved. "I do granite; I don't do snow," he replied.
Ferguson's interest, however, increased as he and Wagon began to discuss which of his many pieces would look best in snow. It forced Ferguson to think about what material properties snow and stone might have in common.
Stone, for example, can carry weight. It has compressive strength. But it can't be stretched very much, so it has significantly less tensile strength. You can make an arch out of stone. Snow has similar characteristics. An igloo is really a system of arches. And a minimal surface can also be thought of in terms of arches. In effect, every point seems to be the keystone of a cluster of arches.
What about sculpting snow into the Costa surface? Marble can be carved fairly thin. Could the same be done with compacted snow?
Ferguson wanted to test the feasibility of carving snow into the required shape, but there was a dearth of snow in the month of May in Maryland. He ended up retrieving several cubic feet of high-consistency snow (shaved ice) dumped by a Zamboni ice-smoothing machine outside a local ice rink.
On a warm afternoon, using a giant kitchen spoon and spatula, Ferguson carved a minimal-surface form with lots of holes. As it melted in the late afternoon sun, he watched its walls get thinner and thinner. The sculpture, however, maintained its basic structure.
"It seemed that a Costa form could be carved in snow, and without any special equipment," Ferguson says.
The Wagon-Ferguson proposal to create a Costa form, titled "Invisible Handshake," was accepted. The team was the only one in the competition with no prior snow-sculpting experience.
To work out the technical details of carving snow into the Costa surface, Ferguson got permission from the manager of the ice arena where the Washington Capitals hockey team practices to get additional Zamboni snow at various times between May and the competition date in January. Those details included determining the types of tools to use, what sort of clothing to wear for the anticipated long days of snow carving, and how best to coordinate the actions of team members, who were mathematicians, not sculptors.
Remarkably, it all came together in four and a half days of intense labor. By the end of the competition's third day, the rough Costa shape was visible, just in time for the arrival of a class of kindergarten children, who crawled and slid along the surface's intriguing tunnels. The team continued to shave the outside walls down until they were only 4 inches thick.
The final day of the competition was warm, bringing with it the threat of melting. The Costa surface, however, held up nicely. A week after the event, the other sculptures had all lost detail, and one had even imploded. The only significant change in the "Invisible Handshake" was that its walls had become thinner still.
"It was a real blast," Wagon says. "We will be back next year."
Comments are welcome. Please send messages to Ivars Peterson at _EMAIL_.
Ivars Peterson is the mathematics/computers writer and online editor at Science News. He is the author of *The Mathematical Tourist, Islands of Truth, Newton's Clock, Fatal Defect, and The Jungles of Randomness. His current work in progress is Fragments of Infinity: A Kaleidoscope of Mathematics and Art (to be published in 1999 by Wiley).
MATHEMUSEMENTS: Look for math-related articles by Ivars Peterson every month in the children's general-interest magazine Muse (_URL_) from the publishers of Cricket and Smithsonian magazine.
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Diabetes awareness, management, and access to care and supplies have become a priority in the developed world. But diabetes also affects a growing number of children in developing countries.
For many children in the developing world, diabetes is an urgent, life-threatening condition. A lack of insulin, syringes, monitoring equipment, and care prevents these children from controlling the symptoms of this disease. The consequences are daunting, and include complications such as blindness, amputation, and kidney failure. Without access to insulin, children with diabetes can die in just one week.
Access to insulin and syringes is the first step to saving a diabetic child's life. The Life for a Child program is helping children in over 40 countries by providing them with insulin, monitoring equipment, and supplies they need.
Diabetes advocate Shelley Goodstein has never let her type 1 diabetes define who she is. A model, mom, beauty blogger, author, and morning show co-host, Shelley has proven to many and even herself that you can still live your dreams even after being diagnosed with diabetes.
Watch as she tells The Diabetes Site how it felt when she was first diagnosed, how she's become an inspiration to other diabetics, and the importance to "click-to-give" at The Diabetes Site to help fund research for a cure!


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Title Recipients_Women who suffer from inferiority complex
Posted by KIP Type 2 Psychological Disorder (ip:)
 - Date 2021-06-06
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[Recipients_Women who suffer from inferiority complex]
Everyone has some kind of and some degree of inferiority complex. No human being is perfect, but if you think that you must be a perfect person in every aspect, it indicates that you may have the sense of pride which is another way for inferiority complex to be manifested. Such people are considered to have higher degree of inferiority complex than other people. Especially in women, excessive interests in and worries about appearance are a common type of inferiority complex. Such inferiority complex may also be manifested as over-confidence on their appearance. Women's inferiority complex on appearance indicates that psychological wounds are operating to be manifested as compulsion, anxiety, suppression, and then to be transfered to overly focusing on appearance at the conscious level.
It is only natural that we all have some degree of inferiority complex, which drives us to make efforts to overcome it and pursue happiness and self-actualization. However, excessive inferiority complex which includes excessive self-confidence and pride make us suffer from diverse individual and relational problems. The root cause of women's inferiority complex is psychological wounds in the unconscious, and it actually aggravates the condition when you are overly self-conscious and attempt various practical solutions.
It must be also noted that what you consider as your weaknesses can be considered as your strengths from other people's point of view. Women with inferiority complex tend to have a distorted idea that what they consider as their weaknesses are also viewed so by other people. When you are conscious about your weaknesses, you are activating negative thoughts and emotions. Then, you may try to get out of the negative thoughts and emotions by getting immersed into positive moods. However, it serves only as a temporary solution through diversion, but wounds in mind continue to stay and keep operating. When you get used to diversions by temporarily transfering to positive moods, you become to seek more and more fun and pleasure and become even more self-conscious about your weaknesses. Therefore, women with inferiority complex need to adjust their unconscious to achieve balanced psychological operation instead of depending on diversions.
This mechanism may apply to women who :
- Feel that their appearance is not good enough
- Are physically challenged
- Think they are not smart enough
- Feel that they are not successful enough
- Feel that they are not loved and not happy
- Think that their past life is a failure
- Feel that they are not sexy or have no sexual ability
- Have failed in diet many times
- Have had plastic surgery repeatedly or are thinking about getting it
- Think that they look much better than other women
- Have become self-confident after getting plastic surgery
Many women who suffered from inferiority complex restored happy mind and turned their weaknesses into strengths by adjusting their unconscious through KIP Psychology Treatment Training. In addition, many of them were able to direct themselves to the life path they wanted and actually achieved what they have dreamed of after taking KIP Psychology Treatment Training.
Also, when you achieve balanced psychology by adjusting your unconscious, your efforts for desired physical appearance such as diet and exercises may bring about much better results than when your psychology operates in an unbalanced way. KIP Psychology Treatment Training will help you accurately understand the operational mechanism of human mind and psychology and build the ability to restore your mind and psychology at the unconscious level.
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As you type in HTML, we offer suggestions via HTML IntelliSense. In the image below, you can see a suggested HTML element closure as well as a context specific list of suggested elements.
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You can trigger suggestions at any time by pressing ⌃Space (Windows, Linux Ctrl+Space).
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Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: _URL_
- The use of traditional, complementary and alternative medicine in Sri Lankan cancer care: results from a survey of 500 cancer patients
Nayar, K. R.
- The University of Newcastle. Faculty of Health, School of Medicine and Public Health
- While the introduction of biomedicine within the Sri Lankan healthcare system has resulted in reduced reliance on traditional, complementary and alternative medicine (TCAM) over the last century in Sri Lanka, treatment modalities such as Ayurveda, Sinhala and traditional religious practices still receive considerable public support. Cancer is an increasing burden in Sri Lanka, and whilst Sri Lankans are known to use TCAM for everyday ailments, there has been no research examining the role of TCAM in the context of cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and patterns of TCAM use by cancer patients. The study design was a cross-sectional survey. Data were obtained from two Sri Lankan hospitals using a consecutive convenience sample of 500 cancer patients currently receiving biomedical treatment, over a 10-week period in 2008. Analyses showed that 67.4% of those surveyed used one or more TCAM in conjunction with biomedicine for cancer treatment. The most common were Sinhala, Ayurveda and traditional religious practices. Of those patients who used TCAM, 95.0% gave the main reason for usage as 'they thought it would cure their cancer'. The strongest reason for not using TCAM was on advice from their doctor (80.5%). The high use of TCAM amongst cancer patients in Sri Lanka raises numerous important issues, including those related to patient safety, potential benefit, interactions with biomedical cancer treatments, and delays in seeking biomedical cancer care. Further research is needed to explore the decision-making processes of cancer patients, including the perceived benefits/limitations of key processes in biomedical and TCAM care.
- Public Health Vol. 124, Issue 4, p. 232-237
- Publisher Link
complementary and alternative medicine
- Resource Type
- journal article


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Pipe bursting is a trenchless rehabilitation method for replacing both pressure and gravity lines with new pipe. Pipe bursting involves the breaking of an existing pipeline by brittle fracture, using mechanically applied force from within. While the deteriorated pipe fragments are forced into the surrounding ground, a new pipe of the same or larger diameter is pulled in to replace the original pipe. Pipe bursting is performed by the insertion of a conically shaped bursting head into a deteriorated pipe, causing it to shatter by pneumatic or hydraulic action. The diameter of pipe being burst typically ranges from 2 to 30 inches, although pipes of larger diameters can be burst. Pipe bursting is commonly performed size-for-size or one size above the diameter of the existing pipe. Larger upsize (up to three pipe sizes) has been successful. However, the larger the pipe upsizing, the greater the force required to burst the existing pipe and pull the new pipe, and the greater the potential for ground movement (upheave).
Static pipe bursting is compatible with all pipe types that can be fused or locked together mechanically. The combination of the static pipe bursting with restrained-joint polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe is a relatively new match, however. Restrained-joint PVC pipe provides improved mechanical properties, higher-pressure ratings, and better flow performance than other thermoplastic materials. Static pipe bursting with PVC also allows communities to stick to a proven long-lasting material that works seamlessly with existing infrastructure and simplifies installation.


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Tryon County, as Montgomery County was originally known, was set off from Albany County in 1772 on the petition of Sir William Johnson and named Tryon in honor of his friend, the Colonial Governor William Tryon. Johnstown was set up as the county seat. After the close of the Revolutionary War, the name of the county was changed to Montgomery in honor of General Richard Montgomery. All the land south of Oneida Lake and west of Utica to the present city of Buffalo was named Whitestown, in honor of early pioneer Hugh White, and was added to Montgomery County.
Visit the U.S. Census Website for an array of demographic information.
U.S. Census information
Your link for the official Montgomery County Website.


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Child care providers, teachers and parents alike should partner together to teach children of all ages, and especially youngsters about fire safety. Ready.gov provides kids with short lessons about fire escape planning, smoke alarms, and other general home fire safety information. The lessons are also followed by questions used to test children's knowledge of the subject after they have worked through the lesson(s). In addition, you will find fun games that will help reinforce the information learned in the lessons. It is recommended for an adult to guide children through the lessons.
Take Pedro the Penguin's Fire Safety Challenge on Alexa or Google Home!
Just say, "Alexa, enable Pedro's Fire Challenge by American Red Cross" or "Hey, Google, talk to Pedro's Fire Challenge."
Pedro's Fire Challenge is a fun and engaging interactive game created by the Red Cross for children ages 4-8 years old that teaches age-appropriate skills for handling a home fire emergency and other stressful situations. Pedro the penguin guides children through a set of activities on topics such as home fire safety, coping skills, and good old-fashioned Penguin fun! At the end of the challenge, children earn a fire safety badge.
Device Compatibility: This experience can be enabled on Amazon Alexa-enabled devices such as Amazon Echo and Echo Show, and Google Assistant enabled devices such as Google Home and Nest Hub.

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News Release
Cave secrets unlocked to show past drought and rainfall patterns
University of New South Wales
In a study published recently in the prestigious journal Nature Communications, UNSW Sydney scientists led an international group of researchers to amass the data of 163 drip sites in 39 caves on five continents.
They found that in climates that have a mean average temperature of less than 10oC, isotopes of oxygen in cave drip water were similarly composed as those measured in rainwater. As UNSW's Dr Andy Baker explains, this follows what you would expect in colder climates with less evaporation of rainfall.
"This oxygen in the water drips from the stalactites and onto the stalagmites," says Dr Baker, from UNSW's School of Biological and Earth and Environmental Sciences.
"The drip water originally comes from rainfall, providing a direct link to the surface climate. Understanding the extent to which the oxygen isotopic composition of drip water is related to rainfall is a fundamental research question which will unlock the full climate potential of stalagmites and stalactites."
But when the researchers examined the oxygen isotopes in drip waters in warmer areas, the oxygen isotopes in the drip waters corresponded to just some of the rain events, as revealed in the stalagmites. Dr Baker says that in such climates, evaporation not only reduces the amount of rainwater that eventually makes its way to the groundwater (a process known as rainfall recharge), but the oxygen isotopes themselves are changed by this process.
"In hotter climates, recharge to the subsurface doesn't occur from all rain events, rather it likely only occurs after very heavy rain, or seasonally. This study identifies this for the first time and also provides a range of temperatures constraints - this was never known before," he says.
In effect, he says, oxygen isotopes in stalagmites in warmer climates display the balance between wet weather events and prolonged periods of drying.
"For stalagmites in warm regions it suggests that the oxygen isotope composition will tell us about when recharge occurred - in other words, when, and how often," Dr Baker says.
"And that is as valuable as it is unique. In regions like mainland Australia, with extreme weather events like drought and flooding rains, it's a tool to see how often both occurred in the past."
Dr Baker says that with this knowledge it will help us understand how important rainfall is in the replenishment of our groundwater resource.
"This knowledge will improve our understanding of how sustainable our use of groundwater is, especially in regions where groundwater is only recharged by rain," he says.


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I've begun putting together an online database tutorial and expanded this entry and added horizontal scrolling to it. You can find the improved version of the blog post as blog page here.
Surrogate keys are interesting structures in databases. They're essential if you want to make sure you optimize your design. They're also very useful when you want to capture the automatic numbering value for a prior
INSERT statement and reuse the automatic numbering value as the foreign key value in a subsequent statement. It was interesting to see how they're implemented differently across Oracle, MySQL, and SQL Server while providing the same utility.
Below is a synopsis of how you implement these in Oracle, MySQL, and SQL Server.
The first thing to qualify is that Oracle is generally always in a transactional mode. That means you don't need to do anything special to set this example up.
Oracle doesn't support automated numbering in tables. However, you can use sequences to mimic automated numbering. A sequence is a structure in the database that holds a current value, increments by a fixed value – typically 1. Sequences are available in SQL and PL/SQL scopes through two pseudo columns. The pseudo columns are
.currval (note the two r's because it's not a stray dog).
sequence_name.nextval call in any session places the next number from the sequence into your Personal Global Area (PGA), which is a memory context. After you've called the sequence into memory, you can access it again by using
sequence_name.currval. The sequence only changes when you call it again with the
.nextval pseudo column.
-- Conditionally drop data sturctures - tables and sequences. BEGIN FOR i IN (SELECT TABLE_NAME FROM user_tables WHERE TABLE_NAME IN ('ONE','TWO')) LOOP EXECUTE IMMEDIATE 'DROP TABLE '||i.TABLE_NAME||' CASCADE CONSTRAINT'; END LOOP; FOR i IN (SELECT sequence_name FROM user_sequences WHERE sequence_name IN ('ONE_S1','TWO_S1')) LOOP EXECUTE IMMEDIATE 'DROP SEQUENCE '||i.sequence_name; END LOOP; END; / -- Create base table and sequence. CREATE TABLE one ( one_id INT NOT NULL CONSTRAINT pk_one PRIMARY KEY, one_text VARCHAR(10) NOT NULL ); CREATE SEQUENCE one_s1; -- Create dependent table and sequence. CREATE TABLE two ( two_id INT NOT NULL CONSTRAINT pk_two PRIMARY KEY, one_id INT NOT NULL, two_text VARCHAR(10) NOT NULL ); CREATE SEQUENCE two_s1; -- Insert rows into the tables with sequence values. INSERT INTO one VALUES (one_s1.NEXTVAL,'One!'); INSERT INTO one VALUES (one_s1.NEXTVAL,'Two!'); INSERT INTO two VALUES (two_s1.NEXTVAL, one_s1.currval,'Other Two!'); -- Display the values inserted with sequences. SELECT o.one_id, o.one_text, t.two_id, t.two_text FROM one o JOIN two t ON o.one_id = t.one_id;
If you mimic automatic numbering with database triggers, you may not have access to the
.currval value for the second
INSERT statement. This occurs when you provide a
NULL value expecting the trigger to manage
.NEXTVAL call for you.
Transactions require that you keep the primary key value for the first table in a locally scoped variable for reuse. Then, you can pass it to the next
INSERT statement. You do that with the
You can make a potentially erroneous assumption that you're the only user updating the table. Operating under that assumption, you can query the highest sequence number from the table before an insert, add one to it, and then attempt the
INSERT statement. In a multi-user system, it's possible that somebody beats you to the finish line with their
INSERT statement. Your insert would then have a duplicate surrogate key value for the
one_id column, and fail on an
ORA-00001 error for a uniqueness violation on a primary key column.
A database trigger can help you avoid a race condition. The trigger would ensure sequence values are unique but it may also introduce problems. A common Oracle trigger with a pseudo automatic numbering paradigm is represented by the following trigger (found in APEX generated code).
CREATE OR REPLACE TRIGGER one_t1 BEFORE INSERT ON one FOR EACH ROW BEGIN :NEW.one_id := one_s1.NEXTVAL; END; /
Caution is required on this type of automated sequence trigger. There are two problems with this type of trigger.
One scenario is where you include a call to
sequence_name.NEXTVAL in your
INSERT statement. It then increments the sequence, and attempts to insert the value whereupon the trigger fires and repeats the behavior. Effectively, this type of logic creates a sequence that increments by one when you submit a null value in the values clause and by two when you submit a
Another scenario occurs when you attempt a bulk
INSERT operation on the table. The sequence call and substitution occurs on each row of the sequence.
You face another problem when you rewrite the trigger to only fire when a surrogate primary key isn't provided, like this:
CREATE OR REPLACE TRIGGER one_t1 BEFORE INSERT ON one FOR EACH ROW WHEN (NEW.one_id IS NULL) -- Asynchronous with bulk insert operations when a value is provided by the bulk operation to the surrogate key column. BEGIN :NEW.one_id := one_s1.NEXTVAL; END; /
This trigger design causes a problem only with bulk
INSERT statements. Effectively, the sequence remains unaltered when you provide surrogate key values as part of inserting an array of values. The next non-bulk
INSERT statement would then grab the
.NEXTVAL value, attempt to use it, and raise a unique constraint violation because the bulk operation probably already used the value from the sequence.
The fix to bulk operations requires that you lock the table, disable a trigger like this, and get the
.NEXTVAL value. Then, you assign the
.NEXTVAL value to two local variables. One of these remains unchanged while the other increments as you populate the array for the bulk insert operation. After assigning the result from the
.NEXTVAL, you drop the sequence and find the highest key value for the bulk insertion operation, add one to the highest key value, and store it in another locally stored variable. You perform the bulk insert operation and then recreate the sequence with a value one greater than the highest value in the table, which should already be in a locally scored variable. Don't forget that you'd locked the table, so unlock it now.
You should note that database triggers run in a subshell with access only to the immediate shell that fired them. Therefore, you can't set a bind variable in a SQL*Plus session and subsequently reference it inside the trigger body because it doesn't have access to the variable.
MySQL supports automatic numbering but not a default transactional mode like Oracle. You need to disable auto commit and start a transaction. You also need to assign the last automatic numbering value to a variable before using it in a subsequent
INSERT statement. You must also provide an overriding list of mandatory columns when you opt to exclude the automated numbering column value. The one thing that we should all appreciate about MySQL is their desire to stay close to and comply with ANSI standards.
-- Conditionally drop the tables. DROP TABLE IF EXISTS one; DROP TABLE IF EXISTS two; -- Create the tables with a surrogate key that automatically increments. CREATE TABLE one ( one_id INT PRIMARY KEY AUTO_INCREMENT, one_text VARCHAR(20)); CREATE TABLE two ( two_id INT PRIMARY KEY AUTO_INCREMENT, one_id INT, two_text VARCHAR(20)); -- Start transaction cycle. START TRANSACTION; -- Insert first row, transfer auto increment to memory. INSERT INTO one (one_text) VALUES ('One'); -- Assign last auto increment to local scope variable, the = works too. SET _USER_ := last_insert_id(); -- Insert second row with auto increment and local scope variable. INSERT INTO b (one_id, two_text) VALUES (_USER_,'Two'); COMMIT; -- Display the values inserted with auto incremented values. SELECT o.one_id, o.one_text, t.two_id, t.two_text FROM one o JOIN two t ON o.one_id = t.one_id;
SQL Server supports automatic numbering but they call it the identity value. There are two ways to use it but the one I'm showing is for SQL Server 2005 or newer. You can replace the older
@@identity for the
SCOPE_IDENTITY() function call but Microsoft has already removed first level support from SQL Server 2000. While they've not said
@@identity is deprecated, it sure appears that's possible in a future release.
USE student; BEGIN TRAN; -- Conditionally drop tables when they exist. IF OBJECT_ID('dbo.one','U') IS NOT NULL DROP TABLE dbo.one; IF OBJECT_ID('dbo.two','U') IS NOT NULL DROP TABLE dbo.two; -- Create auto incrementing tables. CREATE TABLE one ( one_id INT NOT NULL IDENTITY(1,1) CONSTRAINT pk_one PRIMARY KEY, one_text VARCHAR(10) NOT NULL ); CREATE TABLE two ( two_id INT NOT NULL IDENTITY(1,1) CONSTRAINT pk_two PRIMARY KEY, one_id INT NOT NULL, two_text VARCHAR(10) NOT NULL ); -- Insert the values, and magically no override signature required. INSERT INTO one VALUES ('One!'); INSERT INTO one VALUES ('Two!'); INSERT INTO two VALUES (SCOPE_IDENTITY(),'Other Two!'); -- Query the results. SELECT o.one_id, o.one_text, t.two_id, t.two_text FROM one o JOIN two t ON o.one_id = t.one_id; COMMIT TRAN;
You should note that T-SQL doesn't require an override signature when you use an automatic numbering column. This is different, isn't it?
While the prior example works


text:
It's no secret that the Pacific Coast is one of my absolute favorite places in the USA to road trip. Below are some of the animals in the tidal pools that you'll see on the Oregon Coast as well as up and down the Pacific Coast.
Ochre Sea Star
These big purple and orange starfish are always my favorite to look for on the Oregon coast tidal pools! The further north I travel on the coast the more I tend to see although you can find these sea stars along the entire coastline.
Definitely look for them at Canon Beach and the northern areas of the Oregon coast clinging to rocks!
Fun Facts about the Ochre Sea Star:
- Its Latin name is Pisaster ochraceus.
- They come in purple, orange and brownish-red.
- Scientists aren't sure how the sea star gets its colors.
- Ochre sea stars can live for over 20 years!
- They eat barnacles, snails, limpets and mussels.
If you're looking for sea slaters you'll be looking for cliffs on Oregon coastal beaches like Seal Rock and Ecola Beach State Park where sea slaters love to hide inside the cracks. (Although they can be found along the entire Oregon coastline.
These are very skittish creatures and it took me quite a while to get the photo I did above as they move quickly! These critters tend to hang out in rock crevices at around high tide lines so don't look too low if you're searching for them.
Fun Facts About the Sea Slater:
- Its Latin name is Ligia pallasi.
- Also known as a rock louse or sea roach.
- Sea Slaters are isopods.
- They breathe using pleopods which require the animal to stay moist.
- They live up to 2 years.
Check out this interactive map to see where Sea Slaters live!
Giant Green Anemone:
Giant green anemone are easy to spot and prolific along the Oregon coastline! These were easiest and the first wildlife for my children to spot along the coastline as we drove up the Pacific Coast Highway.
If you gently lay your one finger on the top of the anemone you can watch it's sticky feeling tentacles close up around your finger. You are triggering it's response to capture its prey.
Fun Facts about the Giant Green Anemone:
- Its Latin name is Anthopleura xanthogrammica.
- They can be found as far north as Alaska and as far south as Mexico.
- It mostly eats small fish, crabs and mussels.
- They use stinging cells to capture prey (although they are harmless to humans).
Purple Sea Urchin:
These fragile beauties are a little harder to spot in tidal pools than anemone but just as beautiful! You never know when you peer over that next rock into a tidal pool when you'll find an army of purple sea urchins!
Fun Facts about the Purple Sea Urchin:
- Purple sea urchins are edible! People eat the meat inside called uni.
- Sea otters and sea stars also eat purple sea urchins.
- Overpopulation of purple sea urchins are damaging California's kelp forests.
- Purple sea urchins can "walk".
- The toothlike plates that surround an urchin's mouth are called "Aristotle's lantern."
Shore crabs: (like the one shown above)
Shore crabs are the most common crabs found on the coastline. These guys can be found both in the water and on the shore!
Contrary to popular belief hermit crabs can actually smell dead or dying snails and then will use their shells as a home, they do not kill snails for their shell. Although they may battle other hermit crabs over the same shell.
As hermit crabs grow larger they need to continually find larger shells. They are also nocturnal which makes them hard to be found on the shore line!
Sand crabs look far different than your typical "crab" appearance you might expect, and can be found burrowing in the shifting sand of the shore line under the waves. These wave breaks bring fresh plankton which is food for the sand crab.
You can actually monitor the health of a beach based on the sand crabs. It is also referred to as the Pacific Sand Crab or Mole Crab. DID YOU KNOW? Sand crabs can only move backwards! Not side to side or forward!
Other Animals in the Tidal Pools:
- Sand Dollar
Other Sea Creatures that Wash Up on the Beach:
One of my FAVORITE ways to see new sea creatures that wash up on Oregon beaches is by following the Seaside Aquarium FB page! They do a fantastic job of posting curious things washing up on the beach and educating the public about what they find!
During our trip to Hug Pointe State Park, one of my favorite spots on the Oregon Coast, my daughter found a huge jellyfish on the shore front at low tide!
I HIGHLY recommend NOT touching anything washed up if you don't know what it is! Several types of jellyfish (among other sea creatures) can still leave quite the sting if touched!
Man times you'll find jelly blobs on the beach which I've always generically referred to as comb jellies growing up in Florida. However jelly blobs can be a huge number of different things such as sea gooseberry, hooded nudibranch, eggs from sand snails, lugworm eggs, jellyfish and much more!


text: The purpose of this study was to explore and describe themes of resilience in the expressions and behaviours of six-year-old children with regard to the mother-child relationship, where the mothers are infected with HIV&AIDS. Themes of resilience were investigated within the framework of positive psychology. A study of limited scope was conducted from a phenomenological paradigm. I followed a mixed method methodological paradigm based on a case study design. I purposefully selected eleven six-year-old participants whose mothers are infected with HIV&AIDS from a five-year randomised control trail study (Kgolo Mmogo). Qualitative data collection methods included the transcriptions of structured baseline interviews relating to the Kinaesthetic Family Drawing (KFD), as well as the KFD per se. I utilised the scores from the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale (Vineland) as uantitative data collection strategy. The transcriptions were analysed by means of an inductive thematic analysis. For the analysis of the KFD I developed and piloted a framework of analysis. The raw scores from the Vineland were compared with the appropriate age norms and compared with themes of resilience identified from the KFD as well as the transcripts of the interviews. I identified both internal and external resources of resilience. The findings of my study illustrate the presence of themes of resilience as well as non-resilience within the participants and the mother-child relationships. More factors of resilience (protective factors) than non-resilience (risk factors) were identified. Secondly, it seems possible to use the KFD with the Vineland when exploring resilience as insights from both mother and child participants are measured. The integrated results from the different data sources indicate that although the results of the KFD and the transcriptions did not correlate with the results obtained from the Vineland, the results from the different data sources supplement one another. The use of the KFD as a measure to generate data related to resilience made it possible to evaluate adaptation and resilience in a specific cultural context unlike the Vineland. The results from the data sources indicate resilience and/or non-resilience in the mother-child relationship in terms of three categories namely, protective factors (Expressive Language Skills, Interpersonal Relationships and Play and Leisure Time), risk factors (Coping Skills and Gross Motor Skills) and a balance between protective and risk factors (Receptive Language, Daily Living Skills, personal and domestic, as well as Fine Motor Skills). It is feasible to use the KFD as a measure to identify themes of resilience and non-resilience when the drawing is accompanied by an interview.


text:
Math Competitions are a great way for students to have fun and develop advanced mathematical skills. If you're considering getting your child involved in competition math, here are 5 major benefits to consider.
#1. Your Child Will Build Exceptional Problem-Solving Skills
Parents commonly have the misconception that competition level math questions simply require students to learn above grade-level concepts.
This is only partially true.
While some concepts may be harder than what your child sees in class, the biggest difference between school classwork and math competition questions is the problem-solving process.
A competition math question may be built on skills your child already fully understands, but what is different is the demand to recognize and identify what skills to apply. Regularly, these questions will be detailed word problems, for which the solution path isn't immediately clear. The ability to digest and pick apart key words or phrases to identify what skill to apply is the clear difference.
Consequently, your child builds up advanced critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
#2. Your Child Will Boost Their Creativity
In education, we often don't speak about creativity and math together. But we should. Advanced mathematical solving involves a great deal of innovation. After all, while real-world problem-solving requires logical reasoning, it also requires out-of-the box thinking.
Thus, what makes a good competition question is the foundational requirement that it be solved via creative solutions. A good question is more than just stating what process to apply. It is about creating a realistic word problem in which students must decide which processes to apply without being directly told to do so.
#3. Your Child Won't Get Bored
Any student who is ahead of their average grade-level peer in math can benefit from math competitions.
The competition math environment allows for the strongest students, who may be bored or disengaged in school due to a lack of challenge, to really flourish and apply themselves fully. It is a place for the best of the best math students to be properly challenged outside of class time.
Through math competition training, children can continue to nurture their math skills, stay engaged with learning, and stretch their abilities.
#4. Your Child Will Have Fun
One of the most obvious benefits of math competitions is that they are fun. Friendly competition adds motivation and enjoyment for many students. And the unique style of competition math question-types allows students to flex their analytical and creative muscles in gratifying ways.
Many competitions give an array of awards and prizes, which can boost your child's confidence and give them a well-earned sense of accomplishment.
#5. Your Child Can Boost Their Academic Resume
If your child is thinking about applying to a private high school or prestigious magnet schools, especially with a heavy-STEM emphasis, math competitions are a great way for your child to boost their academic resume.
Your child's participation in these competitions will showcase to an admission officer your child's passion for math. And any awards or recognitions they receive will demonstrate their talent.
If you've decided math competitions are a great fit for your child, check out our MAPC – math competition program! This course helps 4th-7th graders deepen their understanding of mathematical concepts and become competition ready!
You can contact us today to learn more and schedule an academic evaluation to find the best MEK math program for your child!
Plus, check out these popular math competition for young students, some of which MEK host every year!
- Continental Math League (hosted at MEK Review center)
- Math Kangaroo (hosted annually at MEK Review center)
- American Mathematics Competitions
- MATHCOUNTS Competition Series
- Math Prize for Girls
- John Hopkins Math Tournament


text:
Creating a fairer Britain
A duty on the public sector to promote gender equality was introduced across Britain in 2007 following similar duties in relation to race and disability in 2002 and 2006. This means that all public bodies, including Local Authorities, should be assessing the needs of women and men and taking action to meet these needs. Local authorities should carry out research on prevalence and use other local information to help them do this.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission has published guidance on the Gender Equality Duty.
Under the Sex Discrimination Act it is permissible to limit the provision of facilities or services to one sex in a number of circumstances, including services provided by women's refuges if they are providing special care comparable to that provided at a hospital, as would rape crisis centres if they were providing medical or psychiatric care. It is also lawful to provide single sex services where female users are likely to suffer serious embarrassment at the presence of men. This could include rape crisis centres and women's refuges if they involve group provision of services involving intimate personal matters.
The law in this area does not change because of the gender duty: if something was lawful before the duty was introduced, it remains lawful. However, this is a complex area of law with a number of exemptions, and further details are set out in Chapter 6 of the Code of Practice on the gender equality duty
The gender duty cannot be used as grounds to cut or refuse funding to single sex services. It would equally be inappropriate to interpret the gender duty as meaning that services should be provided on the same scale for both men and women. For instance, because the majority of victims of domestic violence and rape are women, it would not be appropriate for a local council to fund or provide refuge services on an equal numbers basis for men and for women.
For example, when Ealing Council's new funding policies threatened the survival of a long-standing domestic violence support group, the Southall Black Sisters (SBS) the decision was overturned following a legal challenge at the High Court. The new criteria required those applying for funding to provide domestic violence services to all people in Ealing 'irrespective of gender, sexual orientation, race, faith, age [and] disability' for the same amount of money that had previously been given to SBS. This would effectively result in less funding for the highly specialised services targeted at ethnic minority women offered by SBS. This was challenged in the courts by two service users of SBS. The EHRC intervened and argued that the council had failed to carry out their legal obligations under the Race Equality Duties to assess the impact of changes in funding criteria and that the Council did not understand the correct interpretation of the Race Relations Act 1976, which allowed for the targeting of domestic violence services to particular 'hard to reach' communities as a form of lawful positive action to achieve equality and encourage integration. Ealing Council conceded the claims during the hearing, with the effect that they will need to re-consider the funding criteria and the process for inviting bids for domestic violence services.
Local Authorities should ensure that they are compliant with both the Concordat and the Compact. Sustainable funding is essential for specialised services to continue and develop - this means funding cycles of at least three years. Services often find it difficult to secure core costs yet these are critical for effective provision.
In many cases, the support provided by specialised voluntary sector services saves the statutory sector money, particularly health, social services and the police. More information can be found in the Map of Gaps and Map of Gaps 2 reports.
Developing new provision in an area should only be undertaken in partnership with specialised organisations such as those in neighbouring areas or national umbrella bodies such as Rape Crisis and Women's Aid. Issues such as start-up costs, recruiting staff with sufficient experience and knowledge and developing referral pathways require consultation and careful consideration.


Directed by
Ideas for growth
Directed by
Ideas for growth
Money or power? Choosing COVID-19 aid in Kenya
Participants in an experiment comparing demand for cash transfers and electricity subsidies in urban Kenya, overwhelmingly prefer cash given the proliferation of mobile money via platforms like M-PESA and preference for short-term liquidity. Conversely, in rural Kenya, slightly more respondents opted for electricity token transfers given that they face saving constraints with the concern that they might spend money on extraneous items due to social pressure. Electricity consumption increases more with token as compared to cash transfers.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 100 countries introduced aid programmes that lowered the cost of utilities such as electricity, water, transport, and mobile money fees. Economists, however, are divided about what kind of transfers – in-kind or cash – best address the unique challenges of public health crises. Cash transfer programmes are often touted for the flexibility they provide recipients, but in places where the transaction costs of paying for utilities are high – especially during crises – in-kind transfers like electricity transfers could be more effective. In which contexts should policy makers choose each of these different policy options? What would the recipients themselves prefer?
To answer these questions, we surveyed more than 3,000 respondents from May through October of 2020 in urban and rural Kenya, and ran an experiment to compare the demand for cash transfers and electricity subsidies. We sorted respondents into four groups:
 - The first group was offered three prepaid electricity token transfers, each worth US$ 5;
 - The second was given the choice between the same electricity token transfers worth US$ 5 each, and three cash transfers worth US$ 5 each;
 - The third was offered the choice between the same three US$ 5 electricity token transfers, and three cash transfers worth US$ 3.50 each.
 - The fourth group was a control.
We surveyed respondents before and after all three transfers had been made, to measure the impacts of these transfers on a broad range of socioeconomic outcomes.
Recipients overwhelmingly prefer mobile money over pre-paid electricity tokens
Our main finding is that participants overwhelmingly prefer cash, and are willing to accept a substantial discount to receive mobile money rather than an electricity transfer. This is especially true in urban areas, where mobile money is widespread and transaction costs are low: 96% chose cash in the US$ 5 group, while 87% chose cash in the US$ 3.50 group.
Why might respondents prefer cash so strongly over electricity?
 1. Mobile money is widespread in Kenya: 97% of households have an M-PESA account, and 68% live within 1 km of an M-PESA agent. The 2013 launch of Lipa-na-MPESA ('Pay-with-MPESA') facilitated the use of mobile money for commercial transactions, including purchasing electricity tokens from Kenya Power. It helped further integrate mobile money into the economy, charging no fees for transactions below US$ 2 in value. Since mobile money can be converted to electricity at a relatively low cost, this may explain why many respondents chose cash.
 2. Our electricity transfers are large, and may be well above what an average household would choose to spend on electricity. The token transfer of US$ 5 represents 2.9 months of average electricity spending in our sample. While electricity top-ups do not expire in the short term, cash may provide households – who have trouble borrowing – with better short-term liquidity.
Figure 1: Demand for electricity tokens in choice arms
Demand for US$ 1 of electricity expressed in US$ of mobile money. In an equal trade-off, 13.4% and 4.5% of rural and urban respondents, respectively, prefer electricity. Even when US$ 1 worth of electricity costs only US$ 0.70, only 33.7% 17.8% of rural and urban respondents, respectively, choose electricity.
Some recipients prefer electricity tokens over cash
In rural areas, slightly more respondents opted for tokens: 13% chose electricity in the US$ 5 group, while 33% chose it in the US$ 3.50 group. Why is this? First, some respondents face saving constraints, expressing concern that they may spend the money on something else – due to social pressures, for example. Receiving the electricity directly ensures the money is spent on electricity alone. Furthermore, respondents who do not use mobile transactions may need to purchase tokens in-person, and receiving direct electricity transfers allows them to avoid the travel time required to buy tokens from a vendor.
In related work in Ghana, we find that residents of Accra have an even stronger preference for prepaid electricity tokens. This may be due to the lower penetration of mobile money in this context, as well as the higher transaction costs for purchasing electricity. We therefore emphasise the importance of understanding the local context when deciding what aid programme to implement.
Electricity transfers increase electricity consumption significantly more than cash transfers
Electricity transfers significantly increase electricity usage, by around 30 kWh (worth US$ 3) for the rural sample and 43 kWh (worth US$ 4) for the urban sample. We also observe higher metre balances at the endline survey for both groups. On the other hand, being given the choice between US$ 5 cash or US$ 5 in tokens – a group in which 96% of urban respondents chose mobile money – had no effect on electricity usage. Given that electricity is storable and transaction costs for using mobile money to purchase electricity tokens is low, there is no reason for the electricity transfers in the direct token transfer group to generate a larger increase in electricity usage. Instead, mental accounting, or increased attention to electricity usage due to the treatment, might account for increased electricity consumption amongst the token group.
Optimal policy depends on context
Should policy makers give electricity subsidies or cash transfers during an economic crisis? Based on the different preferences of urban and rural respondents, and on comparing these results to a similar survey in Ghana, we argue that the surrounding context of the local mobile money infrastructure and the transaction costs of topping up electricity are crucial. In Kenya, where mobile money is already widely used, and transaction costs for topping up electricity are relatively low even in rural areas, cash transfers are preferred by most recipients. In other contexts, where mobile money is not yet used by the majority of residents, in-kind transfers like electricity subsidies may generate more benefits.
Editor's note: This article is based on this IGC project.
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text:
The suitability of three experimental devices: biofilm reactors™ (BR), biofilm exosamplers™ (BE), and modified robbins devices (MRD), for the analysis of water distribution pipe biofilms was examined in situ within an urban water distribution system (Rouse Hill Development Area, New South Wales). Stainless steel (ss) and unplasticized polyvinyl chloride (uPVC) coupons were conditioned with biofilm in each device for a period of 70 days. Biofilm removal techniques (sonication and stomaching) were evaluated and optimized for this study. A multiparametric quantification of biofilm biomass using total protein (NanoOrange™ protein determination) and carbohydrate (phenol-sulfuric assay) content, total number of bacterial cells (BacLight™ Live/Dead® Bacterial Viability Kit) and total number of heterotrophic bacteria (R2A plate counts) is proposed. The presence of biofilm-associated faecal indicator organisms (Enterococci, E. coli, somatic, F-RNA and B40-8 bacteriophages) was assayed for each biofilm homogenate. Variability both within and between biofilm devices was observed. Notwithstanding the shortcomings of the inherent heterogeneity observed with biofilm quantification, the relatively inexpensive biofilm devices were shown to yield reliable and comparable information on biofilm growth within an urban water distribution system. Furthermore, the multiparametric measurement of biofilm biomass was shown to provide a reliable and holistic quantification of distribution pipe biofilms.
- Biofilm exosampler
- biofilm reactor
- modified Robbins device
- multiparametric biofilm analysis
- © IWA Publishing 2002


Home Asia Investment Outlook 2021 Asia Frontier Markets: Economic growth full steam ahead
Asia Frontier Markets: Economic growth full steam ahead
Asia Frontier Markets Outlook 2021, Asia Frontier Capital
The Asian frontier markets have done exceptionally well in the Covid-19 crisis so far, says Ruchir Desai, co-fund manager of the AFC Asia Frontier Fund, Asia Frontier Capital.
2020 has been a year like no other. It started with the outbreak of Covid-19 across the globe leading to panic in financial markets and countries closing their borders and locking down their economies. At the start of the pandemic there were concerns regarding both the healthcare and economic impact on developing countries like Asian frontier markets.
As we approach year end, Asian frontier markets have done exceptionally well with respect to managing the healthcare as well as the economic impact of the pandemic. Countries like Vietnam have amongst the lowest case numbers globally. The mortality rate in Asian frontier markets is also amongst the lowest worldwide.
(Source: Bloomberg, as of 18th November 2020)
Besides closing their borders at the onset of the pandemic, a very young population has led to a more manageable pandemic situation for Asian frontier markets as the median age of our universe is only 28.
(Source: United Nations Population Division)
Being able to control the pandemic has allowed Asian frontier markets to re-open their economies. Vietnam's lockdown only lasted for three weeks in April which has enabled it to see a strong recovery in its economy since then. Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have also witnessed a sharp recovery in economic metrics such as industrial production, automobiles sales, cements sales and exports. This ability to manage the pandemic situation relatively well is the key factor as to why some Asian frontier countries like Bangladesh, Uzbekistan and Vietnam will still manage to show positive GDP growth in 2020.
(Source: Asian Development Bank, International Monetary Fund)
The ability of Asian frontier countries to manage the pandemic and re-start their economies sooner than other developing countries will allow them to show stronger economic growth. Between 2021-2025, Asian frontier countries are expected to post an average GDP growth of 5.5% which is the highest globally compared to other regions. Asian frontier countries like Bangladesh, Myanmar, Uzbekistan and Vietnam are expected to post robust GDP growth rates of 6-7% over the next five years. We believe this divergence in economic growth between Asian frontier markets and other countries will be one of the bigger trends in 2021 and beyond.
Biden presidency positive for Asian frontier markets
Besides stronger economic growth, a Biden presidency in the U.S. will also be a major positive for Asian frontier markets. Compared to Donald Trump, the consensus is that the Biden administration will most likely take a less antagonistic and less hostile approach to resolving issues with China. This looming hostility between China and the U.S. over the past few years has had an impact on investor sentiment in Asia and less aggressive relations between the two countries can have a tremendously positive effect on investor sentiment in the region.
One of the most important trends that we foresee in 2021 and the coming years is the accelerated de-risking of supply chains in the face of the Covid-19 crisis. Most notably, Asian frontier economies like Vietnam are already witnessing a big benefit from this trend as both foreign direct investments and exports grew in 2020 despite the impact of the pandemic on the global economy. To elaborate further, Samsung now assembles the majority of its mobile phones in Vietnam and Apple's suppliers have also begun manufacturing operations in the country in the last few months.
Countries like Bangladesh and Pakistan are also witnessing garment export orders being diverted from China due to the lower costs that both these countries offer. Further, over the past decade Bangladesh has transformed into the world's second largest garment exporter after China.
The probability is also increasing that a viable vaccine to treat Covid-19 will be released in the first half of 2021. This will be another positive for Asian frontier markets as many of these countries like Cambodia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Vietnam have a large tourism sector. We believe that cyclical stocks in the airlines, airport and hotel sectors could outperform in 2021 as international travel becomes a reality again towards the latter part of 2021.
These positive developments are backed by extremely attractive valuations with Asian frontier markets trading at a big discount to their emerging market peers. With global interest rates anticipated to remain low for the foreseeable future and Asian frontier markets posting strong GDP growth backed by structural changes in supply chains which will benefit them, it is only a matter of time before these markets rally further after their very strong run since March 2020.
Ruchir Desai
Co-fund manager, AFC Asia Frontier Fund
Asia Frontier Capital
Ruchir Desai is the co-fund manager of the AFC Asia Frontier Fund and has been with Asia Frontier Capital since July 2013. As part of managing the fund, he covers markets such as Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, Myanmar, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. He holds an MBA in Finance from CUHK Business School, The Chinese University of Hong Kong during which time he spent a semester on exchange at The Fuqua School of Business, Duke University. He is also a CFA charterholder.


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Noisy Fields: Interference and Equivocality in the Sonic Legacies of Information Theory discusses the ways in which noise causes interferences within disciplinary fields. Noise tends to bring diverse disciplinary approaches together, interfering in their constitution and their dynamics. I understand noise to be more than either positive revolutionary potential or negative disruption; instead, noise functions equivocally, possessing aspects of each pole in varying degrees. As such, it is vital to follow the machinations of noise. Considering noise as a material-discursive phenomenon, I trace its intersections with sonic practices and information theory. Noise was a key point of contention in the early debates surrounding the development of information theory, and I examine some situations that provide alternatives to the standard formulations. I then trace the interrelationships between information theory, noise, and early electronic music in the 1950s, outlining how artistic experiences necessitated the development of new information theories. Considering the confluence of sound and information in finance, I show how noise is both understood as a potential source of monetization while ultimately confounding attempts at complete capture. I turn to the nexus of speech, the voice, and noise, to consider situations of parrhesia, or "fearless speech", that consists of noisy interferences within social systems via the activity of robotic performing objects. Finally, I listen to the electronic vocal manipulations of Maja Ratkje and Holly Herndon to consider a micropolitics of the noisy voice. In sum, I show how the analysis of noise requires a transdisciplinary approach in order to elucidate the complicated dynamics of its interferences.
Please contact me if you would like a copy of the dissertation.


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The optimal distribution of material to minimize the vertical deflection of the free end of a horizontal cantilever is determined. The beam is only subjected to its own weight. Large deflections are considered, and the structure is modeled as an inextensible elastica. A minimum-area constraint is included, and is active in a region near the tip. After the problem is formulated, numerical results are obtained with the use of a shooting method. The moment of inertia is assumed to be proportional to the area or its square or cube. The results depend on this relationship, the minimum-area constraint, and a nondimensional parameter depending on the beam's density, length, and modulus of elasticity. In the numerical results presented, if the minimum area is 1/20 of the area of the uniform beam, the tip deflection for the optimal design is 78–89% smaller than that for the uniform beam. An experiment is conducted and the data are in close agreement with the numerical results.
Optimal beam Cantilever Self-weight Minimum deflection Large deflections Elastica
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The authors are grateful to the reviewers for their helpful comments.
Ansola R, Canales J, Tárrago JA (2006) An efficient sensitivity computation strategy for the evolutionary structural optimization (eso) of continuum structures subjected to self-weight loads. Finite Elem Anal Des 2:1220–1230CrossRefGoogle Scholar


Home / Flowers / Why Is My Pothos Not Vining? What Should I Do?
Why Is My Pothos Not Vining? What Should I Do?
If there is to be named the best flowering plant to decorate walls with its vines, it has to be pothos.
These vining plants are straightforward to grow and require little attention to thrive. When they are well pruned, their bright green color is a delight to have hanging in the office or home.
Moreover, they are one of the few plants that blossom without direct sunlight.
Why is my pothos not vining
Unfortunately, it becomes unexpected and disappointing when the pothos is not vining. On these rare occasions, they don't have climbers as expected.
Have you ever wondered why other people's pothos plants have vines, and yours doesn't? Maybe you got your plant the same time with friends and propagated the cuttings at the same time too.
On the other hand, their pothos is vining while yours isn't. What could be the problem? Why is your pothos not vining?
If you have pothos planted in your home or office and you are wondering why they are not vining, these four reasons will make you know better.
4 Reasons Your Pothos Is Not Vining
1. Pests
Pest invasion of your houseplant can prevent your pothos from vining. Mealybugs are common pests that invade the plants even they are planted indoors. Unfortunately, these insects don't only feed on the plants but also damage them.
Besides, if uncontrolled, they can increase in number and damage your houseplants. Check the foliage to see if there are mealy bugs on your plant.
If you find any, the mealybugs are the ones preventing the plant from vining, and you need to control them.
2. Direct Sunlight
Pothos make good houseplants because they thrive in bright light but not under direct sunlight. Therefore, when they receive too much direct sunlight, the foliage will start to burn before it has an opportunity to grow its vines.
However, they don't also thrive in low light. When they are placed in a low-light room, they lose their variegation, which is one of the distinctive characteristics of the plant.
Hence, you have to be careful not to deprive the plant of too much light.
3. Too Much Watering
Before you get confused on why your pothos is not vining, ask yourself this question: am I overwatering? Here is one fact you may not know: Pothos like their soil dry from time to time.
Don't get it wrong. For them to remain healthy, you need to water them occasionally too.
Yet, overwatering can cause their roots to decay. Once they have decaying roots, it will be difficult for the plant to grow vines. Of course, the reason is simple.
Every plant gains its nutrients from the soil, and the root is the part that helps to absorb the nutrients from the soil. Therefore, decaying roots are a sign that the pothos is dying.
4. Late Transfer Into The Soil
Most plant owners love this flowering plant because they are easy to grow.
Photos can be propagated in water as much as in soil. On the other hand, if you propagated them in water for a long time before transferring them to the soil after, your pothos may find a hard time vining.
That is because the cuttings have gotten used to water as their habitat after being rooted in there. Subsequently, when planted in soil, they begin to have a hard time adjusting to their environment. Hence, they may not vine as early as expected.
What You Should Do
1. Protect From Mealybugs
Mealybug can be destroyed with neem oil, horticultural oil, and insecticidal sprays. Apart from spraying the insects, you can also spray the plants so the insects will die when they come in contact with the plant. Also, you can apply soap on mealybugs to destroy them immediately.
2. Keep Away From Direct Sunlight
The best thing to do is to place the plant in a room with bright light. Additionally, it is preferable to place them near a shut window without blinded curtains so that bright enough, but not direct daylight can penetrate through the room.
3. Plant In A Well-drained Soil
If your plant is planted in a flowering pot, ensure that there are drainage holes under the pot.
However, if you already have drainage holes under the pot, confirm that the holes are not too small. If they are, you need to water them less often so your soil will not get drenched. Moreover, doing so will make the soil dry out quickly before the next watering.
4. Avoid Waterlogging The Soil
For plants formerly rooted in water and later transferred into the soil, always keep the soil damp but not drenched. How can you achieve that?
After watering the soil, allow the top three inches to dry before watering again. A change in the color of leaves from a green shade to a brown shade is a sign that the foliage is not getting enough water.
5. Add Fertilizers
Adding fertilizers is not necessary for the pothos plant. However, adding some to the soil when the vines have refused to grow isn't a bad idea. Generally,
Nitrogen enhances the healthy growth of the plant.
You can add nitrogen-based fertilizer to the soil once in two months while the vines are still struggling to sprout. Also, adding phosphorus to the soil can help the roots become healthy.
6. Keep Away From Cold Temperature
Keep the plant at a room temperature of 65oF to 75oF. Also, they like high humidity, so until your pothos starts to vine properly, keep the humidity rate high.
Most times, pothos do not climb on their own. The reason is; naturally, pothos grows towards the light.
Hence, when they are planted in their natural habitat, they climb on trees providing sufficient bright light.
Therefore, when planted indoors, they may refuse to climb the way you want them to. Hence, you may need to provide supports like fishing lines or totems to make them climb the way you want.


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This is an elementary question but I do not know the answer to it. During a phase transition such as melting a solid to a liquid the temperature remains constant. At any lower temperature the heat provided went to kinetic energy and intermolecular potential energy. Why is it that at the melting point no energy goes into kinetic (that would increase the temperature)?
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Because the substance uses that energy for the phase transition. – Anuar Dec 2 '12 at 18:43
2 Answers 2
Roughly speaking, this additional energy will be at first step kinetic, it will increase molecule bouncing around there equilibrium points, until it will be enough to take them out of that equilibrium, and then this energy spent to make the phase transition.
More precisely your confusion is because of the fact that the statement you mentioned "temperature will not change.." is right in quasi-statistical equilibrium processes, that is it's right when looking on the process from macro point of view and on a long term, but locally on the particle level and for a small period of time situation is seems different because you didn't reached yet the equilibrium state of your system yet.
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In general, it will not be true for mixtures either. – Bernhard Dec 2 '12 at 20:21
_USER_: can you please be more precise? – TMS Dec 2 '12 at 20:24
The transition from liquid to solid will follow a trajectory, so the temperature of completely solid will be different from completely liquid. – Bernhard Dec 2 '12 at 20:57
Ok, and how this happens to contradict with what I mentioned? – TMS Dec 2 '12 at 21:02
It was an addition to "t's right when looking on the process from macro point of view and on a long term" – Bernhard Dec 2 '12 at 21:05
Imagine a container containing just ice at $-1^\circ C$. When you heat it, the energy goes into kinetic motion of the molecules, and its temperature increases. Similarly, if the container is filled with liquid water at $1^\circ C$ its temperature will increase for the same reason.
But now imagine the container is filled with 90% ice and 10% water at $0^\circ C$. If you heat the water part up, it's temperature will temporarily increase a little. But now the water is hotter than the ice, so heat will be transferred from the water to the ice. When the ice is heated above $0^\circ C$ it melts, and this uses up some energy, cooling the water. This will continue until the ice and the water are the same temperature again, so you'll end up back at $0^\circ C$, but with a higher proportion of liquid water and less ice.
This is why, if you heat a mixture of the two phases slowly enough, all the energy will go into melting the solid rather than increasing the temperature. It continues until all the solid has melted, which is when the temperature starts increasing again. The same thing happens in reverse if you decrease the temperature.
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I realise TMS already made all these points, but I felt it could be clearer. – Nathaniel Dec 3 '12 at 5:25
Thanks very much Nathaniel, it is much clearer and simpler now. I now also understand what TMS was saying! I thank you both. – Andreas Dec 3 '12 at 6:30
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Royalty-free WS-ReliableMessaging republished
by David A. Chappell
Related link:…
WS-ReliableMessaging was republished on Tuesday of this week. The most substantial change was in the legal language, which grants royalty-free rights to implement. The most important technical difference is the relaxing of a restriction that used to require that a recipient keep track of message sequences beyond the receipt of a TerminateSequence message. The recipient is now allowed to disregard any straggling messages that arrive after a sequence has been terminated. For more information -
2005-09-15 04:07:54
Sequence protocol forces recipient complexity
I've recently been reading the WS-RM specs and they seem clear and well thought out.
The only thing that surprises me is that only one model of sequence resending seems to be supported.
The standard example message exchange (reproduced in most articles) shows how msg 2 in a 3 msg sequence is dropped and how this is then resent.
For this to be useful to the recipient it would have to implement a temporary store of incoming messages which it can use to fill in the gaps following resends.
In other protocols the recipient has the option of telling the sender that a set of messages were missing and that it would like all messages starting at the first missing message resent. In this way the recipient can be implemented without a temporary store. One example of a protocol like this is the FIX session protocol.
Do you know if these sort of models were considered?


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An Investigation of the Baishatun Matsu Volunteer Associations in Central Taiwan
Gong Tian Temple, the religious center of Baishatun of Miaoli County, was founded in 1863. The Baishatun Matsu pilgrimage has more than a century of history. One major characteristic of Baishatun Mazu pilgrimage is that it is without a fixed route. The unique feature of the pilgrimage is that Matsu directs the schedule and the route. The Baishatun Matsu pilgrimage starts from Tonghsiao in Miaoli County to Beigang Chao-Tien Temple in Yunlin County. The common route of the Pilgrimage is across the coastal area of Miaoli County, Taichung City, Chang-Hua County, and Yun-Lin County. Some sincere polgrims calls for their friends and families to do something about the Baishatun Matsu pilgrimage. They prepare food, water, and plain raincoat, then they send to the people who follow the Baishatun Mazu pilgrimage by foot (xiang-deng-jiao). These people set up volunteer association to do more things about Baishatun Matsu pilgrimage. This examination was guided by the following research questions: What reasons cause those people to do such voluntary work? Where do they come from? In considering the structure of the volunteer associations. This start the field research of the Baishatun Matsu pilgrimage form 2012 to 2015, and talk with the key members of these volunteer associations. Most of them say that they organize the association because the Baishatun Matsu palanquin once parked in front of their house. Before that, these founders of the associations don't understand about the pilgrimage. The important finding from these data suggests two types of organization; One type can be called as missionary type, which means that they just sent out food, water, and plain raincoat to the "xiang-deng-jiao". Another type can be called as normal type which means that they run more like a normal Matsu association. They tend to do more things for Baishatun Matsu. Such the finding may account in part for the reason of the people to do such voluntary work. The results of the present study that might profitably be addressed by future researchers in the area. Accounting for why more than more people from another County of Taiwan to follow the Baishatun Mazu pilgrimage by foot remains for future research.
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The final new animation tool is Bones, a simple inverse kinematics system that allows you to connect symbols together so that moving one affects another as if they were physically connected. The bones metaphor is appropriate because it enables you to set-up systems such as a representation of a hand where moving the end of a finger makes all of the other parts move to follow it. It can also be used to modify single shapes by building 'bone structures' within them in a similar way to AE's Puppet tool.
Bones creates more realistic-seeming structures that can either be used to make animating parts of your movie easier, or to rather nifty effect as part of your movie's interaction (so in the previous example, if the user moved the end of the finger, the rest would follow).
Also new are improved fill options using the Grid Fill and Vine Fill options within the new Deco tool – which fills objects with simple patterns of symbols or organic branches, with elements such as leaves, flowers or distributions of any symbol you wish. You can use the Symmetry Brush option to produce patterns of symbols outside of others. It's a simple tool, but effective if used sparingly.
Other new functions include support for H.264 video, export to Adobe's AIR Web development format, and the ability to bring in InDesign and After Effects projects. The former works well but is really only useful for simple online versions of magazines or brochures, and the latter has some major limitations – for example, text doesn't remain editable in Flash. Both have to be exported from the other tools as XFL files – you can't import either natively, which will be a pain in some workflows.
While Adobe could have gone further, the improvements to Flash's animation tools are welcome both to long-term users and motion graphics artists and animators used to other tools who would like to try the software.


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People who are stressed out are more likely to lapse back into easy habits rather than to work toward their goals, and now researchers say they may know why.
Healthy study participants who took stress hormone pills were more likely to keep performing the same task, which earned them chocolate as a reward, even after they'd had their fill, whereas people given a placebo changed their course and worked harder to earn a different treat.
Brain images of the "stressed out" participants suggested that the interaction of two stress hormones — cortisol and adrenaline — lowered the activity of brain regions involved in goal-directed behavior. The hormones didn't affect brain regions involved in habitual behaviors.
"This impairment of the goal-directed system produces habit behavior," and is likely to hamper people's abilities to make changes in their behavior, the researchers wrote in their study published July 25 in the Journal of Neuroscience.
Stress, chocolate milk and orange juice
The study involved 69 healthy, normal-weight university students. Researchers screened the students to make sure they liked orange juice and chocolate milk, which were used as rewards in the study. Participants were divided into four groups: one group took hydrocortisone pills, which raise cortisol levels; another group took a drug called yohimbine, which raises the body's adrenaline levels; a third group took both drugs; and a fourth was given a placebo.
To test the hormones' effects, participants were given a computer task that involved selecting certain symbols, and were rewarded for completing it by being allowed to eat as much of one treat — either oranges or chocolate pudding — as they wanted.
This at-will consumption "weakens the value of the reward," said study researcher Lars Schwabe, a cognitive psychology researcher at Ruhr-University Bochum in Germany. For example, people who eat as much chocolate pudding as they want lose their attraction to cocoa, he said. The same happens to those who eat a lot of oranges — they lose their appetite for orange juice.
Participants were then given a new computer task, in which they could keep up their old habit — selecting the same symbols as in the first task, and earn a very similar treat (chocolate milk or orange juice) — or they could select different symbols, which was a harder task, and earn a new treat.
Results showed that participants who received the placebo were satisfied with one treat, and worked toward earning the other. Additionally, those treated with one hormone but not the other showed this goal-directed behavior.
But for those treated with both stress hormones, satiation had no effect. Participants who had eaten chocolate pudding, for example, opted for the easier task of continuing to select the same symbols, and earning themselves chocolate milk.
MRIs of these participants' brains showed reduced activity in two regions, called the orbitofrontal cortex and the medial prefrontal cortex, linked with goal-directed behaviors. In contrast, brain regions important in habitual learning were similarly active in all participants.
Stress and addiction
The results may explain not only why many people return to unhealthy habits when they are stressed, but also one reason why people with addictions tend to relapse.
"It is well known that stress is a major risk factor for addiction, particularly for relapse to addictive behavior," the researchers wrote.
The finding that two hormones are involved in reducing brain activity needed for goal-directed behavior has implications for how people with addiction disorders may be treated, they said.
Pass it on: Stress makes it easier to fall back into old habits because it reduces the brain's ability to work toward goals.Copyright 2012 MyHealthNewsDaily, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Field Trip - Flagstaff Middle School Pond
At the Flagstaff Middle School pond, students get their first outdoors hands-on practice at water quality testing. The students were instructed to follow protocols set by the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE). GLOBE is an international network of scientists, educators and students conducting scientific research.
Within view of the San Francisco Peaks, students listened to hydrologist, Dr Aregai Tecle, speak about the importance of hydrology. Dr Tecle covered topics ranging from our dry southwestern climate, declining water supplies in underground aquifers and the need to be conscious of our own water use. He also addressed these topics to get students to think more about a college education and careers in hydrology. With a degree in hydrology students will be able to return their communities in order to address their environmental problems.
Dr. Tecle was very excited to be working with Summer Scholars because as a hydrologist, he is concerned about the future of our water resources.
"Here, it is the scientific method they are learning…to engross their interest in academics, that way they have something to aspire for," Tecle said.
Students used this field trip to practice the water quality protocols: temperature, pH, conductivity, turbidity and dissolved oxygen (DO).