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Detecting cancer clusters in a regional population with local cluster tests and Bayesian smoothing methods: a simulation study
1 Institute of Epidemiology and Social Medicine, Medical Faculty, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Albert-Schweitzer-Campus 1 D3, D 48149, Münster, Germany
2 Institute for Geoinformatics, Geosciences Faculty, Westfälische Wilhelms Universität Münster, Münster, Germany
3 Epidemiological Cancer Registry North Rhine-Westphalia, Münster, Germany
International Journal of Health Geographics 2013, 12:54 doi:10.1186/1476-072X-12-54Published: 7 December 2013
There is a rising public and political demand for prospective cancer cluster monitoring. But there is little empirical evidence on the performance of established cluster detection tests under conditions of small and heterogeneous sample sizes and varying spatial scales, such as are the case for most existing population-based cancer registries. Therefore this simulation study aims to evaluate different cluster detection methods, implemented in the open soure environment R, in their ability to identify clusters of lung cancer using real-life data from an epidemiological cancer registry in Germany.
Risk surfaces were constructed with two different spatial cluster types, representing a relative risk of RR = 2.0 or of RR = 4.0, in relation to the overall background incidence of lung cancer, separately for men and women. Lung cancer cases were sampled from this risk surface as geocodes using an inhomogeneous Poisson process. The realisations of the cancer cases were analysed within small spatial (census tracts, N = 1983) and within aggregated large spatial scales (communities, N = 78). Subsequently, they were submitted to the cluster detection methods. The test accuracy for cluster location was determined in terms of detection rates (DR), false-positive (FP) rates and positive predictive values. The Bayesian smoothing models were evaluated using ROC curves.
With moderate risk increase (RR = 2.0), local cluster tests showed better DR (for both spatial aggregation scales > 0.90) and lower FP rates (both < 0.05) than the Bayesian smoothing methods. When the cluster RR was raised four-fold, the local cluster tests showed better DR with lower FPs only for the small spatial scale. At a large spatial scale, the Bayesian smoothing methods, especially those implementing a spatial neighbourhood, showed a substantially lower FP rate than the cluster tests. However, the risk increases at this scale were mostly diluted by data aggregation.
High resolution spatial scales seem more appropriate as data base for cancer cluster testing and monitoring than the commonly used aggregated scales. We suggest the development of a two-stage approach that combines methods with high detection rates as a first-line screening with methods of higher predictive ability at the second stage.


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During December, we often fill our plates with holiday treats. Traditional foods like ham, turkey, latkes or brisket are often the star of our meals, but there is still plenty of room on your plate to celebrate root vegetable month.
Root vegetables – which include items like radishes, carrots, onions, potatoes, rutabagas, turnips, parsnips, and beets – are categorized as vegetables whose underground roots are edible. In addition to their nutritional benefits, these often under-used veggies can add color and variety to your meals.
As a kid you were probably told that carrots make your eyesight better, but there are several other nutritional goodies found in root vegetables. For example, sweet potatoes are high in potassium and can help you maintain healthy blood pressure. Like carrots, they are also an excellent source of Vitamin A and an important part of keeping your eyes and skin healthy as well as protecting you from infections.
Beets and radishes are low-calorie foods that can also help lower your cholesterol, and many root vegetables store nutrients in their leafy tops. Turnip leaves, often eaten as greens, are a great source of Vitamin C.
Here at USDA, the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) does its part to help ensure the safety of root vegetables and other produce. We offer audit services to verify that fruit and vegetable farmers, packers and handlers have implemented food safety programs which follow best practices to minimize the risks of microbial food safety hazards.
Our Good Agricultural Practices/Good Handling Practices Program (GAP & GHP) verifies participating farming and food operations are following U.S. Food and Drug Administration food safety guidelines as well as generally recognized food safety practices. By meeting the requirements of our audit program – including things like having a documented food safety plan, testing of water sources and requirements for employee hygiene – farmers and businesses build trust with their customers. This assures customers that the produce they served at their holiday meals was grown, packed and handled by a farmer who takes food safety seriously.
With the holidays right around the corner, celebrate by finding creative ways to feature root vegetables on your dinner menu. One of our favorite recipes is the roasted root vegetable recipe found on the USDA's Snap-ed Connection page. Give it a try this holiday season or any other time of year.

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


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by Marko Susimetsä, reviewed on
From the creators of System Shock II
Irrational Games, developers of the hugely popular System Shock II, are coming back with a game that has been popularly called the most expected game of 2007, especially for PC: BioShock. The game will be published by 2K Games for Xbox360 and Windows systems later this year (though not exclusively for Vista, as was feared at some point). Both versions of the game are going to be identical and add-ons for both will be downloadable later on. But before going ahead of ourselves, let's look at what the game is going to be all about, shall we?
There have been many attempts to create a Utopian society on Earth by various strong-willed enthusiasts. Thus far, all of them have failed for one reason or another? usually having to do with the differing aims of the people who try to establish them, or merely their inability to make their Utopia work with the surrounding non-Utopian society. History books are full of interesting accounts of why and how they all failed.
But there is one utopia out there that is not mentioned in any history book and its failure is the greatest story of them all. This utopia is called Rapture and it was founded by Andrew Ryan in 1946 in a city built on the bottom of the ocean, far from any external forces that might cause its downfall. Andrew Ryan gathered the best and brightest people to inhabit his hidden city and closed off practically all contact from the outside world. His version of Utopia was to be the ultimate capitalist and individualist paradise (deviating a bit from the usual socialistic real-world Utopias). Unfortunately, there was one outside influence that Ryan didn't count on.
Ruptures in Rapture
To the general populace, stem cells are best known from the branch of research that might have saved the Superman but was banned in the US. But in BioShock, stem cells manage to wreak havoc in the Utopia of Rapture when two scientists find a new species of sea slug that produces pure stem cells. These stem cells, affectionately named Adam, end up changing the whole Utopian society by providing a way to enhance one's body, improve physical and mental abilities, cure diseases and heal injuries. In short order, Adam became the main currency of the society and was so sought after that a war broke out between Andrew Ryan and one of the scientists, Tanenbaum, who had made the initial discovery. The war and the environmental disaster that it brought on, forced the inhabitants to use the stem cells to modify and improve their bodies in order to survive. When the war finally ended, all natural sources of Adam were spent and the whole biosphere fell in disrepair to the point of almost failing.
Enter the player
The player has avoided the fate of the inhabitants of Rapture as he was living outside of the underwater city while all the turmoil took place. I'm pretty sure that he would have preferred it to stay that way but an unfortunate plane-crash put him in the vicinity of a lighthouse. Rather surprisingly, the lighthouse was standing in the middle of an ocean. Being the sole survivor of the crash, the player finds safety at the floating lighthouse, but instead of staying around and waiting for the rescuers, he commits the stupidest trick in the book and starts exploring the place. He eventually finds a bathysphere that descends him to the bottom of the ocean and into the city of Rapture.
When the player enters the underwater city, he encounters a self-sufficient system that has little to do with human societies. The city is populated with four major factions: aggressors, gatherers, protectors and -perhaps less scary but still dangeroussecurity bots. Aggressors are the remnants of Andrew Ryan's army and even if they were once human, they are now anything but? genetically enhanced and violent. The aggressors roam the city with the sole purpose of taking Adam away from anyone they can find. The Gatherers, also called Little Sisters, were created by Tanenbaum. They roam around the city harvesting Adam from dead bodies with special tools. They actually eat the Adam that they can find and their bodies reprocess it back into a usable form, called Eve. The Protectors are the Gatherer's only protection from the Aggressors and they follow the little ones anywhere they go, keeping them safe.
The imagery of the creatures roaming the corridors of Rapture reminds one of Silent Hill, which was populated with creatures that aimed to disgust and disturb more than horrify. Clearly, the first lesson to be learned is that using stem cells to heal one's injuries can lead to nothing but disfiguration and inhumanity. Thus, it comes as a complete surprise that the player will actually want to join this society and start playing with this Adam stuff as well? using it as a currency and improving his own body. Thus far, no one has explained this discrepancy to my satisfaction, but I'm sure it will come.

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


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Life Science Student Text (3rd ed.)
Life Science Student Text (3rd edition) provides a thorough overview of the life sciences but now in two volumes with larger format and single-column text. Activity pages with color illustrations and photographs are included in the back of the student text. Objectives are listed at the beginning of each section, and self quizzes and regular review questions are at the end of each chapter. There is increased emphasis on Bible integration as well as career features, increased compliance with national and state science standards, enhanced appendices on classification and biomes, and an expanded glossary and index.
The following resources are available at bjupress.com:
Rated 4.5 out of 5 by 2 reviewers.
Rated 5 out of 5 by HJGHG Hard Cover Would Be Better We plan to use another science curriculum next year because of the cost of this text. This is primarily because the text is soft cover and contains the students' work pages. Most publishers at this level have a hard text and a seperate workbook, which is much less expensive. We are having to find ways to cut our costs, and this is by far are most expensive curriculum item. June 12, 2013
Rated 4 out of 5 by CitrusTeacher Life Science Student Text Review Use this text in a class of 14. The text is understandable by the students and what is not understood I am able to explain. Labs at times, are difficult as resources are limited. Labs that can make use of more 'household' type items and equipment would be welcome. March 10, 2013
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Constantly seeking to expand his movement language, Kristopher Estes-Brown has worked in multiple dance idioms and on many theater arts projects. He has worked as a dancer, teacher, director, technical director, choreographer, and consultant. His interests range from the studio to the stage and every step in the middle.
CoNcept zero
CoNcept zero
American Youth Ballet
American Dance Center
Through the unique aesthetic of Artistic Director Kristopher Estes-Brown, Concept Zero creates theatrical productions that are experienced like a work of art. The contemporary dance idiom is expanded to explore the nature of the 21st century world. The limits of movement are explored as a median to evoke human understanding. Searching out an experience of dance and imagery that is visceral and involuntary.
"Working for Kristopher was such a pleasure of mine. He lead the group of dancers in a professional manner with high expectations, yet was positive and offered moments of comic relief to the intense rehearsals which is always appreciated! He valued each artist's unique sense of movement and choreographed to their strengths without sacrificing his intentions as a choreographer."
-Nadia Iozzo
Alberta Ballet and Kansas City Ballet
A not for profit performance company, the American Youth Ballet is dedicated to presenting quality original dance performances and creating future generations of dance artists. The company consists of pre-professional dancers who aspire to achieve a high level of excellence in performance. Kristopher Estes-Brown and Jennifer Tierney are the founding Artistic Directors of the American Youth Ballet.
"Teaching the American Dance Center students was an absolute joy. they are incredibly strong dancers, daring in their approach to movement and possessing a clear sense of weight and energetic focus. In addition, they pick up material at lightning speeds and exhibit a curiosity and an openness essential to processing new ways of movement. Behind these great young students are their guiding teachers, Kristopher and Jennifer, fighting the great fight in shaping a new generation of professional dancers and artists."
— Katarzyna Skarpetowska,
NYC based freelance choreographer


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In this lesson students will calculate an estimate of the number of dandelions growing in their schoolyard. They will learn a common subsampling protocol used by ecologists to estimate population size. Students will help set up the experiment, collect data, and calculate their results.
1. Students will be able to define a population and understand why distribution and abundance of individuals is important.
2. Students will be able to set up a subsampling protocol and collect data in individual plots
3. Students will know how to estimate a population based on a subsampling protocol and be able explain why estimation is important.
- 2 Measuring tapes at 15m long for marking the study plot
- 2 metal stakes, one for the study plot and one for marking the center of the sampling plot
- 1 1m measuring tape with "eyelet" at the end
- Field guides for dandelions
- Data sheet on clipboard or piece of firm cardboard
- Random numbers table or other way to choose random numbers
Begin by bringing in some examples of dandelion plants with unopened buds or no flowers, or bring students outside to a grassy area and see if students can identify the plants just by looking at leaves. Then show students the plant with the flower and again ask for identification. Have a brief discussion about what students think about dandelions and why it might be important to know how many are in their lawn. Define the word population and describe that when you are discussing the number of dandelions in a lawn you are discussing population size. Ask students to come up with their own example of a population. Then ask how they can figure out how to determine the population size. Discuss that measuring population size is a necessary step in addressing one of the BIG QUESTIONS in ecology: What factors determine the population size of a species in a given place?
1.Have students predict the number of dandelions they think they will find in the plot, have them give a reason for their predictions. Before setting up the plots, make a list with the students of other observations about the site (is it shady? a high traffic area? what other plants do they see? etc)
2. Define the area you will be studying. Layout a 10m x 10m study plot (teachers may want to do this in advance or if there is time it may be done with students)
- Choose the part of the schoolyard lawn you want to study.
- Mark the lower left corner with one of the metal stakes, running it through the metal tab of the first meter tape.
- Run the tape along one of the sides of the plot to just beyond 10m.
- Run the second meter tape out in a roughly perpendicular direction and use the second stake to mark the 10m point along this side.
- Square the plot corners by using the second meter tape and measuring 14m, 14cm from the 10m point on first tape to the second stake. Adjust the stake accordingly.
- Go back and lay the second tape out from the first corner stake to this point, and you have two sides of a perfectly square 10m x 10m study plot (see diagram below).
3. Identify random locations for sampling (time permitting this may be done with student or you might want to do this in advance).
- Randomly pick 10 spots to sample in your 10m x 10m plot. You can use a random numbers table to pick random coordinates for 10 sample points, blow up a balloon partially, let it go and sample where it lands, or draw coordinates out of a hat. Record these coordinates on the data sheet.
- Go to each sample point by proceeding to the appropriate point along one of the measuring tapes, then moving into the plot until you're adjacent to the appropriate point on the other tape.
4. Sample dandelions. First demonstrate to the students how to set up the circular plot using the procedure that follows. Alternatively you may use hula hoops to delineate plots as long as you know the area inside the hula hoop that is being sampled. Once student understand how to mark their randomly selected plot, have them work in groups to begin sampling. You should be circulating among the students making sure they are collecting good data and are setting up their plots successfully.
- Place the metal stake at the randomly-located point in the study area.
- Make a 0.5 m2 circular plot by placing the eyelet of the 1 m tape over the stake and holding the tape at the 40 cm mark. NOTE: a circle with a radius of 40 cm is almost exactly 0.5 m2 in area.
- Carefully examine the entire area within the circular plot for dandelions. Only count plants whose center is inside the circular plot.
- Record the total number of dandelion plants you see.
- Repeat these procedures at all 10 spots.
5. Discuss with students the data collected. Where there more or less dandelions then they expected? What other observations about the site did they notice? Why did they get the number of dandelions they did?
6. Data Analysis: With the data collected students can now estimate the number of dandelions per meter squared and in the entire 10x10m plot.
- Calculate the average number of dandelions per circular plot and multiply this by 2 (remember each plot is.5 m2) to get the average density of dandelions per m2.
- Calculate the total number of dandelions in the entire study plot by multiplying your estimate of average density by the area of the plot (i.e. 100 m2).
Populations are defined as a group of individuals of a single species inhabiting a specific area. We might express the size of a population as the total number in an area (e.g., the number of people in Poughkeepsie) or in the population density (e.g., the number of people per city block in downtown Poughkeepsie).
Two characteristics that are important when discussing populations are distribution and abundance. Distribution of organisms refers to the spatial arrangement of organisms in a population. Distribution of organisms is limited by the physical environment. On a small scale populations may be distributed in three ways:
Random – an individual has an equal probability of occurring anywhere in an area
Regular – individuals are uniformly spaced through the environment
Clumped – individuals live in areas of high abundance separated by areas of low abundance
Abundance is defined as the total number of individuals of a species present in a specified area. Often it is impossible to actually count the number of individuals so being able to estimate the abundance of a species is required. Once ecologist know the abundance of a species they can then use this information over time to determine if a population is growing, staying the same or declining.
When studying a population, determining the number of individuals ( abundance) and why the species lives where it does (distribution) can help us make decisions on how best to manage the environment for or against the success of that species. In this study you will use a point-centered circular plot technique to estimate dandelion plant density. By examining a number of plots located randomly within the study area, you will determine a mean density which, multiplied by the area, will give you an estimate of the total number of dandelions. This activity gives students practice implementing a common sub-sampling technique used by ecologists and helps them understand the importance of estimation.
1. What is your best estimate of dandelion abundance? How reliable is your estimate?
2. Did dandelion density vary from place to place within the study plot? What might account for these differences?
3. Were you impressed or surprised by the number of dandelions you estimated?
1. By sampling more than one 10mx10m plot in the school yard students can begin to understand how physical environmental conditions can affect the distribution of species. Some ideas for comparisons are sun vs. shade, close to the building vs. far away, highly disturbed vs. less disturbed, and mowed vs. unmowed. In addition to counting the number of dandelions students can also collect data on physical characteristics of the site such as temperature, soil type, and rainfall amounts. Alternatively, you can manipulate the plots and observe how this affect the population (watering, adding fertilizer, mowing, etc).
2. To extend the concept of populations students can research a population that is currently at risk, either locally or globally. What environmental factors are contributing to its decline? Is there something that can be done to reverse the decline? If this population becomes extinct how will it affect the populations of other organisms it interacts with?
3. Revisit your plot multiple times during the school year and record the phenology of the dandelions. Keep track of when you start seeing buds and flowers appear. Visit Project Budburst to contribute your data to a larger database that monitors plants as the seasons change
Based on the activity they just completed have students work alone or in pairs to come up with their own study that estimates a population of an organism of their choosing. Students should use key concepts they learned in this lesson: subsampling, estimation, abundance and distribution.


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It is always tricky when you have Identity column and that is a Primary Key for the table.
Based on my experience dealing with T-Rep and Merge, I would recommend to use
NOT FOR REPLICATION to NO. By default it is set to YES. You can do it on sql 2005 and up dynamically (without affecting replication) using
If you are not updating the data on subscriber side, you should be fine.
To answer your question :
Say we were to reseed an Identity Column on a Table on Server A (for whatever reason), how would this affect the data on Server B?
Considering, you are not updating the data on subscriber, when you want to reseed, you should always take the max value from the identity column and then reseed the value accordingly.
You can use below sql to find that out :
SELECT QUOTENAME(SCHEMA_NAME(t.schema_id)) + '.' + QUOTENAME(t.name) AS TableName,
c.name AS ColumnName,
IDENT_CURRENT(SCHEMA_NAME(t.schema_id) + '.' + t.name) AS CurrentIdentityValue,
IDENT_INCR (SCHEMA_NAME(t.schema_id) + '.' + t.name) as Identity_increment
FROM sys.columns AS c
INNER JOIN sys.tables AS t ON t.[object_id] = c.[object_id]
WHERE c.is_identity = 1
-- write here the table name if you want to filter for specific table
and t.name like '%TABLE_NAME%'
for example consider below customer table :
TableName ColumnName CurrentIdentityValue Identity_increment
[dbo].[customer] id 7 1
Now if you want to somehow reseed the identity value, you can run
dbcc checkident ('customer',reseed,8 )
This means that it will set the current Identity value to 8, so next time any row is inserted into the table, it will have current identity value as 8 (CurrentIdentityValue) + 1(Identity_increment) = 9.
You have to be careful doing this as this can cause identity gaps.
Other things you can do are :
- Manual identity range management solutions using
sp_addaritcle with parameters like
_USER_,_USER_ and _USER_
Read up on :
- The identity crisis in replication - by Hilary Cotter
- All about "Identity Range Management" - by Chris Skorlinski


text:
- 1 Change Proposal: Add role attribute and enhance ARIA lexical processing guidance
Change Proposal: Add role attribute and enhance ARIA lexical processing guidance
Complete section 3.2.7 WAI-ARIA to provide complete language support by introducing appropriate attributes and their definitions.
Lexical processing requirements for ARIA role, state, and property attributes are vague in HTML. While they are defined in other places, authors must know to follow a series of links to find all the requirements. This proposal provides more explicit references to additional processing requirements.
This change proposal provides the data needed to address Issue 199: Define complete processing requirements for ARIA attributes.
Clarify the existing ARIA section
People seemed to be misreading the relationship of the parts of the section so this editorial change should help to distinguish them better. Add the following structure to 3.2.7 WAI-ARIA to accommodate the remaining additions.
- Before the paragraph beginning "The following table defines the strong native semantics..." add a header "Strong Native Semantics".
- Before the paragraph beginning "Some HTML elements have native semantics that can be overridden" add a header "Implicit ARIA Semantics".
Define ARIA attributes
ARIA Role Attribute
Add a new section to 3.2.7 WAI-ARIA before the header "Strong Native Semantics" proposed above. The new section header is "ARIA Role Attribute" with the following content:
Every HTML element may have an ARIA
roleattribute specified. This is an ARIA Role attribute as defined by the Accessible Rich Internet Applications (WAI-ARIA) specification Section 5.4 Definition of Roles.
The attribute, if specified, must have a value that is a set of space-separated tokens representing the various WAI-ARIA roles that the element belongs to.
[Implementer only section] The WAI-ARIA role that an HTML element has assigned to it is the first non-abstract role found in the list of values generated when the
roleattribute is split on spaces.
State and Property Attributes
Add a new section to 3.2.7 WAI-ARIA before the header "Strong Native Semantics" proposed above and after the section "Role Attribute" proposed above. The new section header is "State and Property Attributes". The section should have the following content (known to need wording enhancement to improve readability; expectation is the implementing editor will wordsmith and check with the group before finally committing to the spec):
Every HTML element may have ARIA state and property attributes specified. These attributes are defined by the Accessible Rich Internet Applications (WAI-ARIA) specification in Section 6.6, Definitions of States and Properties (all aria-* attributes).
These attributes, if specified, must have a value that is the ARIA value type in the "Value" field of the definition for the state or property, mapped to the appropriate HTML value type according to Section 10.2 Mapping WAI-ARIA Value types to languages using the HTML 5 mapping.
ARIA State and Property attributes can be used on any element. They are not always meaningful, however, and in such cases user agents might not perform any processing aside from including them in the DOM. State and property attributes are processed according to the requirements of the sections [Strong Native Semantics] and [Implicit ARIA semantics], the WAI-ARIA User Agent Implementation Guide [ARIA-IMPLEMENTATION], and the Accessible Rich Internet Applications 1.0 [ARIA] specification.
- Provides an explicit hook for ARIA in HTML 5.
- Allows forwards compatibility of ARIA roles by not disallowing unrecognized values.
- Does not explicitly permit custom roles, but does not define consequences for using them aside from noting that such roles could later be defined by ARIA.
Conformance Classes Changes
This change proposal should have the effect only of clarifying lexical processing for ARIA without introducing conformance changes. It is possible conformance checkers with incorrect processing due to earlier ambiguity would need to be updated.
Implementers must use several specifications to arrive at a complete implementation model for ARIA in HTML 5. This increases the risk that implementations will be incomplete or erroneous.
This change proposal was originally drafted by Michael Cooper, and reflects an attempt to harmonize with Ted O'Connor's counter proposal according to discussion of this and Ian Hickson's critique in the 3 May 2012 HTML WG Face to Face discussion of the topic.


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Oklahoma Nanotechnology Education Initiative
The ONEI is addressing new workforce challenges by integrating microtechnology and nanotechnology concepts into career and technology education courses, and the OSU Institute of Technology developed nanotechnology courses. The ONEI has sponsored summer camps for eighth-, ninthand 10th-grade students to introduce them to nanotechnology. These camps also introduce students to nanotechnology's application to Oklahoma industry.
Role of CareerTech:
CareerTech has developed instructional resources schools can use to integrate nanotechnology into existing disciplines and offers summer camps to introduce students to nanotechnology.
Sheryl Hale – _PHONE_ – _EMAIL_


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Where the trees are naturally musical
For centuries, the spruces of the Violin's Forest have been used in the world's finest instruments
Geography and climate have conspired to produce extraordinary trees in the forests east of Predazzo. Managed for 900 years by the Magnifica Comunità di Fiemme, their timber resonates with an unusually clear and consistent tone, and they have inspired both instrument makers and musicians for centuries.
In winter, all forests feel magical. Hushed and white beneath their mantles of snow, they're beautiful places in which to strap on a pair of snowshoes, and go for a walk.
But for music lovers no forest is more bewitching than la Foresta dei Violini, just east of Paneveggio in the Val di Fiemme. Called, in English, the Violin's Forest, it was colonized long ago by red Italian spruces, and they grow straight and slow along its chilly and sheltered slopes. As a result, their wood is dense and consistent, and makes near-perfect soundboards for musical instruments. Stradivarius used it, and it's still sought after for the world's finest violins, cellos, pianos and guitars. In fact, 10% of the trees here are suitable for this sacred purpose, compared with an average of 0.8%.
The Violin's Forest is just east of the visitor centre of the Nature Park of Paneveggio–Pale di San Martino, which has a small museum dedicated to these musical trees. It also offers guided walks, where you'll learn about the history of the forest, and its careful management. It is, for example, thought that trees intended for soundboards are best harvested during a waning moon in early winter, so that there is less sap in the timber.
The more adventurous should also seek out il Bosco che Suona – "the Valley of Harmony" – which is a 5km walk from the car park at the Miola restaurant, in the Valmaggiore. Here too there is a near-perfect micro-climate for musical trees, and in a remarkable new project, musicians are being invited to adopt a tree, and play a piece of music inspired by it. Download the app "Il Bosco che Suona", on Google Play before you go, and you can listen to the results as you walk through the forest.


US Plastic Recycling
To learn more about a mutant enzyme that eats plastic with the key data points: Is this a viable alternative to help reduce the growing pile of plastic which is deemed non-recyclable? Is it environmentally safe to use this enzyme? Is the enzyme being sold on the US market?
Early Findings
A Mutant Plastic-Eating Enzyme
 - The mutant plastic-eating enzyme comes from a bacteria, Ideonella sakaiensis 201-F6, which was discovered in 2016 by Japanese researchers, who subsequently found that it could completely break down a thin layer of low-quality plastic within six weeks.
 - A Structural biologist named John McGeehan of Portsmouth University, England and his team have taken that enzyme and genetically engineered it so that it can begin the process in a matter of days. McGeehan shared in 2018 that his team wants to speed up the process even more, and find ways to scale it for industrial use.
 - At the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in the US, scientists are also working on the enzyme that is specifically referred to as PETase because it can eat PET plastic to make it work faster.
 - This mutant enzyme discovery is a viable alternative to help reduce the growing pile of plastic which is deemed non-recyclable. It takes centuries for polyester, scientifically known as polyethylene terephthalate or PET, to degrade naturally. This new development could finally allow the ability to fully recycle plastic bottles for the first time and slow down the rate that they are piling up in landfills and oceans.
 - This plastic-eating enzyme is considered to be environmentally safe to help create more environmentally friendly recycling.
 - In France, a startup called Carbios has developed its own enzyme, which can fully break down PET plastic so it can be recycled into new, consumer-grade plastic of the same quality as virgin PET. Major corporations including PepsiCo and Nestlé are now partnering with the company, which began building its first demonstration plant last year.
 - Research was unable to confirm that Petase or a similar enzyme developed by Carbios is currently available on the US market. However, the Carbios supply of enzymes "is guaranteed for the industrialization of CARBIOLICE and the commercial launch of EVANESTO® this year."
Research proposal:
Only the project owner can select the next research path.
Need a similar proposal? Let's launch your next project!


text:
In early July 2012, Asian clam shells were spotted in Turtle Bay of Otisco Lake by an Otisco Lake Preservation Association member. The alert went to Cornell Cooperative Extension Onondaga, and the presence of Asian clam was later confirmed by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Using the iMapInvasives program, a report and map of the exact locations was made to alert the general public and initiate a regional action plan.
In early September, Cayuga County Planning Department and Onondaga County Department of Health investigated further and found live clams in two areas of Otisco Lake, confirming that thriving colonies of the aquatic invader are polluting another Finger Lake. With Asian clams now occupying lakes to the East and West of Skaneateles, rapid reporting is the best means we have to prevent, contain and respond to this new threat.
On Oct. 18, CCE will teach anyone with basic computer skills how to use iMap to report new finds.
iMapInvasives New York is the complete invasive species database for the state. It offers downloadable public maps which serve as an important tool for land managers, conservation agencies and municipalities.
With iMap, local groups and citizen scientists can plot, inventory and track the spread of a particular species, like Eurasian watermilfoil or the Asian clam. This data can be used to build maps, and analyze the spread of a species. iMap can also be applied in schools; teachers utilizing GIS in senior projects and high school science clubs may be interested in combining this community service with math and geoscience classes.
However, training is required to enter data into the program.
The iMapInvasive Mapping Workshop will be held from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 18 at the Baldwinsville Public Library on 33 East Genesee Street, and is open to interested individuals of all ages. Registration is required and space is limited.
During this workshop, learn new identifying traits and desired habitat of common invasive plants and animals, like the Asian clam, hydrilla, feral swine, giant hogweed and emerald ash borer.
Participants will become registered users of the iMap database, with the skills necessary to collect information and pictures of invasive pests and enter data, displayed as interactive maps to the public. Alerts can be created and e-mail lists inform users of species' spreading patterns and new locations.
For more information and to register, call _PHONE_, or visit the website watershed.extendonondaga.org.


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Our Third Ear: A Multi-Sensory Experience of Sound
Mills, David Robert
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Our Third Ear aims to create a multi-sensory experience by fusing sight, touch, and sound. By creating a means of physically feeling music, listeners can connect with songs, bands, and individual musicians on a profoundly personal level. The potential for unintended applications like learning to play an instrument, broadening the understanding of music for people with hearing impairments, or providing a means of therapy are also exciting prospects. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the process involved in creating a multi-sensory experience of music from concept to prototype. The culmination of interdisciplinary research and a broad range of creative technologies resulting in a working system. The multi-sensory experience consists of primarily tactile, but also visual responses triggered by music and executed in conjunction with aural music. Tactile investigation involved varied tactile sensations such as vibration, temperature, pressure, proprioception, and touch. Further research questioned the practicality, feasibility, and psychological impacts of using such sensations as well as where on the body such sensations would optimally be received. Visual research involved the visual representation of notes, chords, and sounds, as well as, how music could directly affect visuals in a real time environment. Additional research explored active interaction and passive interaction of visual cues using human computer interfaces.
- Masters Theses


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November 12, 2010
The 1940 documentary short "Quicker'n a Wink" fascinated people with its slow-motion imagery of things like the beating of a hummingbird's wings; it won a 1941 Academy Award. One of the revelations from the movie was that a cat curls its tongue backwards into a "J" when it goes to take a drink of liquid, letting the top of its tongue touch the surface first.
But kitties aren't using their tongues like ladles, scooping up water, says a new study published yesterday in Science. Cats simply have to brush their tongues along to the surface of the liquid and let the power of physics bring it into their mouths.
The scientists used high-speed imaging to watch cats—including one researcher's own pet, Cutta Cutta—lapping up milk, sometimes spending hours just waiting for the cat to get thirsty. Each cat would dip its tongue towards the liquid, just brushing the surface, not piercing it. When it lifted its tongue, the liquid adhered to the tip of the tongue and was drawn upward in a column (as in the above photo), thinning as the cat drew its tongue into its mouth. Just before the column would break, the cat would close its mouth and trap the milk, storing it in cavities inside and swallowing after every three to 17 of these lapping cycles.
This small act seems to defy gravity, but in actuality the cats have figured out how to keep a delicate balance between inertia—the tendency of the liquid to keep moving in the same direction—and the gravitational forces pulling the milk back into the bowl. Domestic cats don't bring up a lot of liquid in each lap, only about a tenth of a milliliter, but they do it quickly, at a rate of about four laps per second.
When the scientists watched high-speed and YouTube video of larger kitties, such as lions and tigers, they found that the bigger cats' tongues worked the same way, but they lapped at a slower rate. The researchers were able to develop an equation that predicted lapping frequency based on animal mass.
"The amount of liquid available for the cat to capture each time it closes its mouth depends on the size and speed of the tongue. Our research…suggests that the cat chooses the speed in order to maximize the amount of liquid ingested per lap," says study co-author Jeffrey Aristoff, a mathematician at Princeton University. "This suggests that cats are smarter than many people think, at least when it comes to hydrodynamics."
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East Bend Elementary students found themselves trying to escape from a smoky house using fire skills instilled in them throughout the years on Oct. 10.
The East Bend Volunteer Fire Department held its annual fire safety event for East Bend Elementary students throughout the day.
"The purpose of this program is to instill into them the fire safety," said Ronnie Boles, East Bend Volunteer Fire Department Fire Chief. "Most of these kids have been through this program ever since pre-school and we run every grade level through every year."
Depending on their grade level, students were given a tour of the fire department starting with the fire truck, then the turnout gear that every fire fighter must wear, a video on the fires that East Bend fire fighters have found themselves in and finally the smoke house.
The smoke house is a mobile trailer that simulates a house for the students. In each room fire fighters talk with children about potential fire hazards that they may find around their house and how to prevent them if they see them. The tour takes them through a living room setting, a kitchen setting and a bedroom setting.
"The fire safety trailer is to show them different rooms and things that they can look for to prevent stuff," Boles said. "If they can prevent it before it gets started then that is huge for us."
First grade and forward were allowed to participate in the smoke room which simulates a fire situation and has the children practicing an escape.
"With the pre-school classes we start out real basic," Boles said. "We'll go through some basic things that we feel like that they can absorb. We don't put them through any smoke or any situations that would make them really nervous. As they get older we add more to it.'
Boles said that the program continues to go more in depth as the kids get older. He says that they try to incorporate things the students may be learning in the classroom and tie it back to what fire fighters do in their job.
"We try to sprinkle in stuff that interests them along with the education," Boles said. "As the kids get older they need to learn more about math and reading and those kinds of things. We try to teach them that just to be a fireman you have to learn to read and you have to learn math. We hope that makes them more interested to learn about those things in the classroom. We ask them questions and we let them respond back to us and then we know how far in depth we need to go with it."
Boles said that he has the benefit of having a child who is a student at East Bend Elementary and so he goes to him on guidance for what the kids want to learn and what activities would be most interesting to them.
"I pick his brain a little bit to see what they want to see," Boles said. "This is the educational part that I want them to have. When I ask him what he would want to see he always tells me things like the trucks, our gear and that they want to see what our job is. Those are the things that interest them."
Boles said that East Bend shares its fires safety smoke house with other schools in the area once they complete their program at East Bend. The trailer was purchased used seven years ago. Today they can take it to surrounding fire departments and allow them to train their local students in fire safety.
"When we purchased it we took it to these other locations and we trained the other fire departments with it so that we don't have to be there," Boles said. "We can just drop it off and leave it. That way the kids at Forbush Elementary School are seeing the guys from the Forbush Fire Department. They can start putting names with faces and start getting to know each other."
Boles said that this year's fire safety theme is "know two ways out." The theme is decided each year by the National Fire Protection Agency.
"We base a lot of our education on what theme they decide to set," Boles said. "They take the data from when the fire departments file reports and they compile a report for the whole nation and they see where the focus needs to be based on what kind of calls the departments have been responding to the most."
Boles said that the fire safety event would not be possible without the help of his volunteers who are dedicated to giving their time to make sure that children and their family are safer.
"Every one of these guys have jobs that they had to take a vacation day from in order to be here," Boles said. "We couldn't hold this event without these guys who are willing to give their time. We have a really great group of volunteers here."
Reach Lindsay Craven at _PHONE_ or at _EMAIL_.


Maintenance compressed air system
Tuesday - 01/01/2019 23:09
The maintenance compressed air systems are often specified in the system documentation, provided by the manufacturer.
bao duong may nen khi hanshin, Maintenance compressed air sytem
Maintenance compressed air sytem
In this artical Minh Phu would like to introduce some rules of maintenance according to general regulation.
- Check air filters and pneumatically handling equipment, condensate water discharge and contaminants properly regulated; Adjust the pneumatic lubricator (if used).
- Exxchange to the operator to know about the operation status of the system, does anything unusual happen?
- Check for the leakage in parts and air pipes; Note whether or not the air pipes are kinked or damaged by physical damage.
- Check the abrasion status, dirt in the signaling parts.
- Check the bushings in the cylinder and check the cylinder.
sua chua may nen khi compair, bảo dưỡng máy nén khí,Screw air compressor working principle
Screw air compressor working principle
1.Maintenance plan:
-Condensate discharge from the filter if the ambient air is high humidity and the system does not use an automatic discharge. The common rule is that when the compressed air container has a large capacity, it is necessary to install a water separator with an automatic exhaust.
-Cheeck oil level in the lubricator of the compressed air (if available) and check the oil quantity.
- Check the signaling unit .
- Check pressure gauge of pressure regulator
- Check the operation of the lubrication unit.
Every 3 months:
- Checking the seals whether they are leaking or not. Tighten the connectionso,If necessary,
- Replace air pipes connecting to moving units.
- Check the leakage of discharge air outlet
- Clean filters.Use soapy water to clean (do not use solvents), then use compressed air to dry (blow in the opposite direction to the working air flow).
Every 6 months:
- Check the erosion of connecting rod in the cylinder and replace if necessary.
- Replace O-ring and Craper ring.
See more : Shell Corena S3R air compressor oil, Why musst compressed air be concerned.
Minh Phu provides maintenance and repair services for air compressors, in addition Minh Phu also provides spare parts for air compressors with high quality at reasonable prices. For further information, please contact (+84)919 23 28 26. Sincerely thank you for your interest and your trust of our service. Maintenance compressed air system, maintenance air compressor,
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In 2006, Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study founders Gene Likens and Herb Bormann, together with Tom Gross, a member of the Hubbard Brook Research Foundation Board of Trustees, established a facilitated-dialogue model for linking Hubbard Brook science with environmental issues of local, regional, and national significance. This program was rooted in the belief that a small number of people who don't ordinarily come together, can, through dialogue, harness the power of "ecosystem thinking" to address complex problems.
In 2014, the Hubbard Brook Research Foundation received a three-year grant from the National Science Foundation to investigate the roundtable model as a method of advancing informal science learning among citizens and stakeholders in the rural regions of the Northern Forest. The Forest Science Dialogues project also worked to build capacity for scientists and public engagement practitioners to support outcomes of dialogue activities. The project involved a series of Hubbard Brook Roundtables with invited scientists and stakeholder participants representing major networks across the Northern Forest, including woodlot owners, consulting foresters, corporate and nonprofit land managers, maple syrup producers, loggers, outdoor recreation leaders and business owners, informal and formal educators, economic development organizations, conservation organizations, and state and federal agencies. An external evaluation of the project was conducted by RMC Research Corp. Forest Science Dialogues resulted in new insights about convening intentional dialogues among scientists and stakeholders, overcoming barriers to public engagement with science, understanding scientists' and stakeholders' motivations for participation, and what participants valued about the events.
Hubbard Brook Roundtables typically involve:
- 1–2-day facilitated dialogue sessions
- 10–25 invited participants
- Focus on "gatekeepers" of formal and informal stakeholder networks
- Pre-meeting interviews and synthesis report to inform the agenda
- Outcome activities or products co-designed as part of the dialogue
- Post-dialogue report
It used to be that foresters, of all agencies and groups, would get together to talk. We don't anymore. Times have changed and technologies have changed. Your programs do this — they bring people together."


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Nursing Home Defense Strategies
Thursday, June 17, 2021
1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. ET
10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. PT
This CLE webinar will review nursing home litigation defense strategies to counter the plaintiff's theories for frequently alleged injuries, such as pressure sores, falls, malnourishment, medication errors, neglect, or infection. The program will help counsel anticipate and curb plaintiffs' discovery and deposition strategies, mount defenses to liability, and navigate around the plaintiff's attacks on unavoidability, comorbidities, third-party fault, and failure to thrive. The program will also address when and how to invoke the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act.
Litigation is inevitable for almost all long-term care facilities. Defense counsel must anticipate plaintiff strategies that often revolve around nursing homes and medical professionals' noncompliance with complex and elaborate regulations, internal procedures, or best practices.
Defense counsel must prepare to address broad discovery requests and scores of deposition notices as plaintiffs seek gaps or inconsistencies in medical records, care plans, and nurses' notes. A facility's best defense may be a strong documentary record.
Nursing home counsel should understand PREP Act and other defenses for cases related to or arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Listen as our authoritative panel of practitioners provides an overview of nursing home laws and regulations, discusses common types of injuries, and covers how to handle medical records and other discovery issues unique to these cases.
 1. Relevant laws, regulations, surveys
 2. Pleading and affidavit requirements
 3. Common types of injuries
 4. Common defenses and plaintiff strategies
 1. Demonstrating compliance with regulations
 2. Unavoidability
 3. Comorbidities
 4. Third-party fault
 5. The role of survey data
 5. Independent actor vs. enterprise negligence
 6. PREP Act
The panel will review these and other crucial issues:
 - Can a case be won or lost at a deposition?
 - Are the burdens of proof different under some statutory schemes than regular negligence?
 - How does counsel show the defendants provided all reasonable care?
 - What is the effect of state laws and PREP Act on defense strategies?
Ken Yood, Partner and Member, Healthcare Team at Sheppard Mullin will serve as a co-panelist.
Mr. Yood represents a wide range of healthcare providers and healthcare companies, including specialty and general acute hospitals (including local district, nonprofit and for-profit facilities), home health agencies, specialty pharmacy and infusion centers, pharmaceutical vendors, nursing facilities, and health information and management providers.
Click here for more information, including CLE credits by state and registration. (Early Registration Discount Deadline, Friday, May 28, 2021)
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|Module 3: Interpreting Data|
2. Using data to support an argument
To test a theory or answer a question a study is designed, sampling is conducted and the data is collected. The process of descriptive statistics then involves presenting the data in tables and graphs. The data may seem to indicate a clear conclusion about the population which has been sampled. But how strongly do the data support that conclusion? Is there strong evidence for the link between data and conclusion? How can you be sure that the effect observed is due to the experimental treatment and is not just an accidental result?
Deciding on the strength of the link between data - and making conclusions about the population - involves interpretation. The basis of how to make interpretation lies in another statistical process called inferential statistics. Inferential statistics involves the use of statistical methods and models to make measurable claims about populations (and population parameters) on the basis of samples (and sample statistics).
Usually researchers do not know the value of population parameters - they have to estimate them. But they do have measurements made on a sample -these are sample statistics. Researchers also realise that if they used a different sample from the same population to produce more data, the new sample statistics would be different to the first ones.
Inference uses probability to account for this sample variability. However, to make inferences you need to have designed a reliable, unbiased study so that the data that are produced are accurate and valid. Therefore, in order to make useful interpretations about data, or to assess the appropriateness of other interpretations, you need to first ask about how the data were produced and presented.
This page last updated 31 August 2009


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The oldest predecessor of the carousel came from Byzantium in the 6th century. At that time, people hitchhiked with the basket, which was tied to a pole in the middle to carry the rider. But the real inspiration for modern carousels came from cavalry games and sprints in Europe and Asia in the 12th century. At that time, in a riding competition, a group of riders rode in a circle, throwing fragile balls filled with perfume against each other, which required superb skills.
This game (known as the "little baton" in Garosero in Italy and Carosella in Spain) changed in the 17th century, starting with the riders, who tried to pierce the small hanging on the pole above the head Ring and tear it off. The cavalry ended the riding, but the cavalry game remained, and civilians began to participate. At that time, the first mock-up carousel children appeared.
Larger carousels, first appeared in the late 18th century when they began to spread in Central Europe and the United Kingdom, where they became popular in outdoor playgrounds. The first platform carousel was made in the 19th century. They are called Dobbys and have a platform that rotates with animals and tanks fixed on the platform and is manually operated.
The first steam-driven carousel was invented by Thomas Bradshaw in 1861 and was part of the Elsham Market. Frederick Savage began making carousels in 1870 and invented the classic mechanism to make the carousel move up and down like a gallop. Soon, modern carousels traversed the Atlantic Ocean and were very popular in the United States before the Great Depression began. After the depression, they came back slowly, but never as glorious as before. Today, there are many variants of the carousel, and only a few carousels from the golden age can still work normally after repair.
The largest carousel in the world is in a house on the rock. It has 269 hand-carved carousel animals. The carousel basically has three postures: all four legs are on the ground, called "standers", two legs are on the ground, two legs are in the air (called "jumpers"), all the legs are in the air, called "Jumper". The "jumper" can also move up and down. Wooden carousels are rarely made of a piece of wood. The central part is usually connected by wooden boards to wooden blocks and then formed. This forms a hollow body with the head, legs, and tail attached to it.
Today, carousels and other animals are made of aluminum and fiberglass but are usually modeled after classic horses.
The oldest carousel known to work in the United States was Salem, Massachusetts. It worked in 1799 and was called "Trojan Circus Ride".
The oldest carousel operating platform in the United States is the Pegasus Carousel at Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts. It was designed and built by Charles Dale in 1876.


Vitamin A and micronutrient deficiencies post-bariatric surgery: aetiology, complications and management in a complex multiparous pregnancy
Adequate vitamin A is essential for healthy pregnancy, but high levels may be teratogenic. We present a patient who underwent bariatric surgery, prior to child bearing, and suffered maternal and foetal complications during eleven pregnancies, possibly associated with vitamin A deficiency, amongst multiple micronutrient deficiencies and risk factors including smoking and obesity. Maternal complications included visual disturbance, night blindness and recurrent infections. Recurrent foetal pulmonary hypoplasia and microphthalmia led to foetal and neonatal loss, not previously described in the medical literature. Current guidance on vitamin A deficiency in pregnancy is focused on developing countries where aetiology of vitamin A deficiency is different to that of women in developed countries. We describe nutritional management of the micronutritient deficiencies, focusing on vitamin A, during her last pregnancy. The need for specific antenatal nutritional guidance for pregnant women post-bariatric surgery is becoming more urgent as more mothers and offspring will be affected.
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We thank Mr Michael A Burdon for his ophthalmology expertise.
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Correspondence to Fiona L. Mackie.
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Dr SC Cooper has received honoraria and participated in advisory boards for Covidien, honoraria from Baxter, and educational sponsorship from Calea. Ms LJ Whitticase has participated in an advisory board for Fresenius Kabi.
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Mackie, F.L., Cooper, N.S., Whitticase, L.J. et al. Vitamin A and micronutrient deficiencies post-bariatric surgery: aetiology, complications and management in a complex multiparous pregnancy. Eur J Clin Nutr 72, 1176–1179 (2018).
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Nanou Djiapo
NANOU DJIAPO pronounced "Na – No" "Ja –Po" is an African drum and dance group that empowers young artists in the Metro Detroit area through the performing arts. Nanou Djiapo's mission is to foster growth and development of youth based on their historical cultural center, using the highest values and ethics for social development. Their purpose also is to educate youth using the arts of African dance, Djembe Drum instrumental music, and visual interpretation, on culture, traditions, and social responsibility, to self and community.
Final Girls
Final Girls is a collective of professional female filmmakers living and working in Metro Detroit. The filmmakers Andrea Claire Morningstar and Jasmine Rivera co-founded it. They say the name of the collective is derived from a horror film trope coined by film theorist Carol J. Clover in her 1992 book Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film.
About twenty filmmakers work in Final Girls. They share resources, host film screenings, network events (latest event: workshop with Sundance). They also hold the monthly meeting of the Detroit chapter of Film Fatales.
Beyond the fact that Final Girls is a female collective, it also dedicates itself in making movies in Detroit, telling the stories of Detroiters.
The Whiskey Charmers
Brought together by a mutual friend, musicians Carrie Shepard and Lawrence Daversa formed the Whiskey Charmers in 2012. Shepard, who first performed publicly in 2008, found refuge in country music by icons like Merle Haggard, George Jones, and Loretta Lynn. In stark comparison, Lawrence Daversa's early interest in AC/DC played a major role in defining his musical style, bringing him around the United States, touring with the Tarantulas, and eventually meeting Shepard. The two established the Whiskey Charmers as a musical convergence, drawing from Shepard's country upbringings, and Daversa's heavy metal background, and have been regularly performing since.


Munich Personal RePEc Archive
Cultural Beliefs, Values and Economics: A Survey
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The present work reviews the relation between culture and economics; in doing so, we often distinguish between the historical component of culture (i.e. inherited values) and its contemporaneous component (i.e. social interactions). First, the paper emphasizes which cultural traits are relevant in economics, reviews situations where culture affects economic outcomes and addresses the relevance of culture across time and space. Then, it explains the theoretical framework of reference for the transmission of both contemporaneous and inherited culture. Finally, it presents econometric techniques available to the researchers and suitable to investigate the impact of culture on economic outcomes, providing suggestions for future research.
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Bones Made Of Titanium
Tue, 07/31/2012 - 8:41am
Tim Daro, Siemens
Sinumerik 840D.jpgSubstantial legal requirements result in more complex functional specifications for the implant manufacturers: From the design - including the materials — through production, the complete process chain must be documented and validated. CNC-controlled high-tech machines support the prosthetics manufacturers, and permit high-quality products to be manufactured despite the continuing pressures of high cost.
The idea for a new medical implant normally arises to meet a practical need. It is a long process before the implant can be produced in quantity — it takes approximately 12 to 18 months from the first drawing, including the design and job planning, through the completed, approved implant.
"After receiving a request for a new product from an orthopedist, we first design and develop a prototype", explains Hans-Joachim Mahr, production manager at implantcast Corp. in Buxtehude, Germany. "The CNC controller assumes an important function for the transfer of the CAD/CAM data to the actual production. It supports the idea and the virtual model in a workpiece that the orthopedist can then hold in his hands for the first time."
Artificial bones made of titanium are mainly manufactured using the stock-removal process. The production of hip implants runs on DMG turning-milling centers equipped with the Siemens CNC Sinumerik 840D sl (Figure 1).
Each implant has an associated, specially-tailored set of instruments required for the implantation. This includes a surgical rasp used to prepare the bone (Figure 2).
The fast data processing of the 840D sl is a particular advantage for the standard implants produced in quantity. implantcast also offers, for particularly complicated applications such as cancer patients, the manufacturing of patient-specific implants. In this case, the implants and instruments are cut perfectly to the associated bone structure with the help of a CT or MRI picture. For this single-part production, implantcast uses the comprehensive setup functions of the Sinumerik for fast machine setup.
The CNC user interface has, on all levels, self-explanatory icons that can be configured as popular keys. Many intelligent functions are available to assist the measuring of tools and workpieces. These measuring functions can be used both for the setup and process measurement, that is, the overall quality assurance during the machining. The 'Sinumerik Operate' user interface also integrates simple swivel commands that simplify the machine setup. The Cycle 800 swivel cycle is characterized by its easy handling, despite its high-level functionality. The swivel functions are available both for the swiveling in a machine axis and also in an axis of the workpiece coordinate system. The CNC immediately handles any required coordinate transformation.
Irrespective of the one-off or quantity run, the highest demands are placed on each individual medical engineering workpiece. It is obvious that no letdown may be permitted from rigorous quality and precision standards. Furthermore, the manufacturer is responsible for validating the complete production process, which means that even prototype construction must satisfy the same conditions as the subsequent volume runs.
Bone rasps.jpgArtificial Hip Sockets in Twelve Standard Sizes
The number of artificial bone implants is continually increasing. Operations, such as the use of a replacement hip made of titanium, also belong to the standard daily program in orthopedic surgery today. In 2010, one million artificial hip and knee joints were implanted in the USA. Forecasts expect this number to exceed 4 million by 2030. This large number, however, does not obviate the fact that the highest demands are placed on each individual medical implant, whether a one-off or production run.
Standard implants are now available in various sizes as required for the physique of the patient. The NC programming that defines the functions for machining the workpiece, and consequently includes all associated details concerning the form and technology, is very fast. "Thanks to the user-friendly 'Sinumerik Operate', we save a significant amount of time," explained Axel Robiller, manager of the stock removal department at implantcast. "One reason is that the human-machine interface (HMI) has the familiar Windows style." The Sinumerik 840D sl provides a comprehensive range of powerful turning and milling cycles. Because all operator functions and cycles are supported with animated elements, the operator intuitively knows how the function is to be used without needing to consult the instruction manual. Dynamic vector graphics can be used when the animated elements do not suffice to explain the purpose of the individual input values, such as the parameterization of complex cycles. These graphics reflect the current input values with their proportional representation.
Work Economically & Efficiently Despite the Complexity
At EMO 2011 in Hanover, Germany, Siemens will present dual-channel production of bone rasps on machines with two slides. This allows turning-milling centers, such as the DMG CTX alpha 450TC to be operated more effectively, because the complete programming functionality is available in both channels. The 'Programsync' function synchronizes the machining channels, whether or not the programs have been programmed in DIN/ISO, standard cycles, or ShopTurn — the proprietary Siemens software.
The increasing complexity of the turning-milling machines and the possible production programs also increase the risk of programming errors that, under some circumstances, can cause machine damage. For this purpose, the Sinumerik 840D sl offers a simulation program that shows the stock removal process in virtual 3D. In addition to the complete representation of the cutting actions, the expected machining time corresponding to the programmed technology values is displayed before the production of a single workpiece.
A short machining time, however, is critical for the economy of quantity production. The turning-milling center with the Siemens 840D sl used at implantcast, with cross slides for Y and B axes, permits five-axis simultaneous machining (Figure 3), and significantly reduces the processing time. The implants are manufactured in a single operation, with parallel machining on the main and counter spindles. For the complete machining, the Sinumerik 840D sl provides turning-milling functions that can be used in combination. The complete scope of all milling functions is available here — from the cycle technology to the simultaneous free surface machining.
Sinumerik Operate user interface.jpgSimple Parts Do Not Exist
Bone rasps are an example of very complex workpieces. Their basic form represents a significant challenge in machining, namely, a rasp body with many rasp teeth located on the contoured outer surfaces. The Sinumerik MDynamics technology package ensures the required surface quality at high machining speed. Even for difficult materials, the "Advanced Surface" motion control produces milling results that meet the stringent requirements placed on medical implants and instruments.
Each individual part is subjected to a comprehensive quality control. Sensing probes check the accuracy of the contour and the peak-to-valley height and scan the surface for even the smallest damage. To check the material structure, X-ray examinations are also made on some parts. Only when all these hurdles have been overcome are the implants passed to the internal department at implantcast for sterile packaging and subsequent shipping.
A Patient Stands at the End of Each Process Chain
A patient with bone prosthetics receives a prosthesis pass. This document allows the complete manufacturing process of the prosthesis to be reconstructed at any time. Whereas in other industry sectors, such as automotive or food processing, products must have trackability. This tracking requirement in the orthopedic world is specific to each individual patient's medical implant. This is a major challenge, considering implantcast produces approximately 3,000 items, each week.
Despite the extensive use of highly sophisticated technology, at the end of the process chain there is a suffering patient who must be helped. The difference between the manufacturer of turned, milled, and ground parts used in the medical technology, and one that produces parts for machinery construction, makes itself apparent.
"The patient whose prosthesis is in the package would need to wait one day longer for his/her operation if we did not act immediately", explains Mahr. For such very late requests, and these are not infrequent, it is quite possible that he will personally start the prosthesis on its journey to a patient in need.
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text:
Throughout 1999, the people of Saudi Arabia will be commemorating the
centennial of the recapture of Riyadh by King Abdul Aziz Ibn Abdul
Rahman Al-Saud, an event that led to the founding of the modern Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia. The official logo of the centennial appears above.
Celebrates the Centennial of a Historic Event
Over the past century, Saudi
Arabia has been transformed from a society which relied on rudimentary
agriculture and limited trade to one that is now a showcase of industry,
commerce, agro-industry, education, health and other areas of human
A Century of
buildings of old Jeddah are being preserved as part of the nation-wide
programs marking the centennial of the recapture of Riyadh by King Abdul
Aziz Ibn Abdul Rahman Al-Saud.
Jeddah's Historic Buildings
The King Fahd
University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) in Dhahran, an
internationally recognized institution offering technical and scientific
curricula, produces a cadre of Saudi professionals who help run the
country's rapidly growing petroleum and minerals industries.
KFUPM: A Jewel of a
University on Arabian Sands
Masmak Fortess in Riyadh


text:
- Should she remain or move on?
- The man is explaining why he made a particular decision. Is he being truthful?
- What does the brunet's body language say?
- The blond should leave. If the brunet would have turned her feet (to point towards you the viewer), the other woman would have been welcomed into the group. She didn't so this is a private matter.
- With his palms exposed and by forcefully gesturing while making his point, he feels he's telling the truth as he knows it.
- She'd rather not be involved in this conversation. Three indicators: her distance from the man, her lean away from him, and her hands protecting her torso. Her smile is simply a "cover" and the least reliable of the cluster of gestures.


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text:
One of several types of brand metaphors, the cultural brand metaphor derives its potency from references to cultural references shared by consumers. Of the different types of brand metaphors, this one has the most potential to slide into "theme-iness," but when executed well, it can also be the most useful as a source of creativity and inspiration due to the richness (and ease of recognition) of the cultural icons from which they're drawn.
Coke is an olive branch
In many of their campaigns over the years, CocaCola has used the brand metaphor of an olive branch, a symbol of peace dating from the 5th century BC in Greece, where it was associated with the goddess of peace, Eirene.
The symbol was later adopted in early Christianity, with St. Augustine writing that "perpetual peace is indicated by the olive branch which the dove brought with it when it returned to the ark." While the symbol is rarely used literally anymore in contemporary contexts, the symbolic reference has remained part of Western culture to the present day.
Over the course of at least five decades, Coca-Cola has been using this brand metaphor to imply that the beverage has an almost magical ability to bring peace (either temporarily or permanently), between conflicting parties.
Apple liberates us from a dystopian future
Apple's "1984" commercial introducing the Macintosh computer (developed by Chiat/ Day and directed by Ridley Scott) portrays an unnamed heroine saving humanity from conformity, borrowing elements of George Orwell's famous novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four. Orwell's story describes an authoritarian future, where citizens are forced into obedience and indoctrinated by propaganda from the televised "Big Brother."
Prior to previewing the commercial at the 1983 Apple Keynote address, Steve Jobs said, "It is now 1984. It appears IBM wants it all…. Dealers initially welcoming IBM with open arms now fear an IBM dominated and controlled future. They are increasingly turning back to Apple as the only force that can ensure their future freedom."
Their strong use of brand metaphor, extending and infusing it with their own ideas (making it unique from the novel that inspired it), resulted in this commercial being one of the most memorable and successful American television commercials of all time.


AW: do plants really follow the sun
Buschmann, Henrik buschmann at
Fri Jan 21 08:19:46 EST 2000
in principle every cell should be able to detect the direction of light.
Practically this should be true for leaf tissues (+flowers) and tissues of
the stem. The ability to "follow" the sun should be restricted to actively
growing parts. Leaves and flowers of sunflower plants follow the sun during
its daily course. This is also known as solar tracking. Not every plant (how
many at all?) does this.
-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
Von: patrickhall at [mailto:patrickhall at]
Gesendet am: Freitag, 21. Januar 2000 06:38
An: plantbio at
Betreff: do plants really follow the sun
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Print 63 comment(s) - last by Visual.. on Jul 23 at 6:29 AM
It has been challenging for the engineers to find jobs that pay as well as NASA
Engineers that once earned six-figure incomes with NASA's space shuttle program are now looking for work or taking jobs that are far below their skill level due to the retirement of the Discovery, Endeavor, and Atlantis shuttles.
Last year, NASA retired each of the three remaining spacecraft in the U.S. space shuttle program, which lasted nearly 30 years. In February 2011, Space Shuttle Discovery was the first of the three to launch on its final mission with Space Shuttle Endeavour following in May 2011. Space Shuttle Atlantis was the last to go in July 2011.
Since the space shuttle fleet's retirement, about 7,400 engineers from the Kennedy Space Center in Brevard County, Florida (also known as the Space Coast) were laid off. Today, there are only 8,500 workers at the Kennedy Space Center total when there used to be around 15,000.
A majority of those laid off were individuals in their 50s and 60s who made in the realm of $80,000 to over $100,000 annually. But now, these engineers are finding it difficult to locate jobs at their skill level that pay as well as NASA did. In fact, local Brevard County employers have asked that the Brevard Workforce, which is an unemployment agency, stop sending ex-space employees to them because they want salaries that are comparable to what they made at the Kennedy Space Center.
"STOP sending former Space Center employees," wrote one local employer. "They have an unrealistic salary expectation."
Aside from money issues, another problem the former engineers are facing is age. Many have been working for the Kennedy Space Center for decades. Other engineering options mainly take in the younger generations.
"Nobody wants to hire the old guy," said Terry White, a 62-year-old ex-project manager for the space shuttle program who was laid off last summer. "There just isn't a lot of work around here. Or if so, the wages are really small."
NASA's space shuttle fleet is gone for good, but some saw hope in the private sector, such as SpaceX. SpaceX is a California-based space technology company that recently stepped in when NASA retired the space shuttle program. Its Dragon spacecraft made history recently when it made the first private spaceflight to the International Space Station (ISS).
However, SpaceX didn't require nearly as many employees as NASA did for its space shuttle fleet.
To make up for the loss, many former engineers are stuck having to either retire early, take lower-paying jobs, or collect unemployment.
Source: MSNBC
Comments Threshold
RE: Obama creating jobs....NOT
By Rukkian on 7/17/2012 10:23:15 AM, Rating: 3
So they wont get off their asses and move to where the work is, they expect a job equal to their old job to fall in their laps, and you think they will move to other countries?
There are plenty of jobs for these people if they were willing to move to another location Boeing, Northup, SpaceX I am sure would hire them if they were good at what they were doing.
I am not sure how you can be all over Obama, and then also claim that Newt was right to want a moon base. I do not like most of what obama does, but frivously spending money that we dont have on a moon base would be idiotic at this point. Lets figure out how to live within our means before we poor several trillion more to make a moon base.
RE: Obama creating jobs....NOT
By Reclaimer77 on 7/17/2012 3:02:32 PM, Rating: 2
What do you mean "where the work is"? The United States no longer has a space program. At all. We literally have none. Where exactly should these people move to get to "the work"? China?
Well step 1 of living within in our means is defeating Obama this election. Until that happens, we can forget any talk of fiscal responsibility.
RE: Obama creating jobs....NOT
By Ringold on 7/17/12, Rating: 0


text:
Soldering and desoldering
Soldering is a way of joining wires together by melting metals so they stick together. It's related to welding but occurs at a much lower heat and does not join the metals together.
Soldering is defined as "the joining of metals by a fusion of alloys which have relatively low melting points". In other words, you use a metal that has a low melting point to adhere the surfaces to be soldered together. Soldering is more like gluing with molten metal than anything else. Soldering is also a must have skill for all sorts of electrical and electronics work. It is also a skill that must be taught correctly and developed with practice.
Soldering requires a metal with a low melting point - the solder.


text:
Data in literature that use methods for studying the learning and memory processes suggest that GABA and especially GABAB receptor antagonists may be active against amnesia. The aim of our study was to examine the effects of three new GABAB-antagonists on learning and memory processes. Active and passive avoidance tests with negative reinforcement in rats were used. The rats treated with different GABAB receptor antagonists showed improving effects in both tests (active and passive avoidances)on learning as well as on memory retention. There are some differences in their activities, probably due to its chemical structures. The phosphinic analogue CGP63360A is potent to the point that the benzoic one CGP76290A and the left isomer of the benzoic analogue CGP76291A has no effect. It may be concluded that the obtained results on the GABAB receptor antagonists could contribute to their pharmacological characteristics and might be of interest for potential clinical implication.
 C. Castellano, J.D. Brioni and J.L. McGuaugh: "GABA-ergic modulation of memory", In: L. Squire, E. Lindenlaub (Eds.), The Biology of Memory, Symposia Medica Hoechst, Schattauer, Stuttgart/New York., 1990, pp. 361–378.
Financed by the National Centre for Research and Development under grant No. SP/I/1/77065/10 by the strategic scientific research and experimental development program:
SYNAT - "Interdisciplinary System for Interactive Scientific and Scientific-Technical Information".


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Explanatory note on DNA sequence similarity searches in the context of the assessment of horizontal gene transfer from plants to microorganisms
Guidance of the EFSA Panel on Genetically Modified Organisms assists applicants in the preparation and presentation of their applications by describing elements and data requirements for the risk assessment and monitoring of genetically modified (GM) plants. This note to the guidance provides a scientific rationale and further instructions for the use of bioinformatic analyses to identify GM plant sequences with sufficient identity to promote homologous recombination and impact on horizontal gene transfer from plants to microorganisms. The evaluation of the extent of identity between GM event DNA sequences and the DNA present in microbial genomes, with bioinformatic analyses, is considered necessary to perform a proper problem formulation to define the probability for horizontal gene transfer in the environmental risk assessment of GM plants. Further details on how to perform such analyses are outlined and include a complete description of all sequences present in the insert, and recommendations on the algorithms, parameters and databases to be used as well as on a relevant length of sequence identity between the GM plant sequences and those present in microbial genomes.
This report replaces the 2015 version: EN-916 published on 17 December 2015.


text:
Investigation of the effect of REM sleep deprivation on epileptic seizures caused by pentylenetetrazole in mice
Aim: To investigate whether different periods of rapid eye movement sleep deprivation (REM SD) contribute to seizure susceptibility, hippocampal oxidative status and balance of inhibition-excitation in the acute epilepsy model.
Methods: REM SD was performed using the modified multiple platforms method on adult male BALB/c mice. Pentylentetrazol (PTZ) was injected to induce seizures and hippocampal total antioxidant status (TAS), total oxidant status (TOS), gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA), and glutamate levels were measured using the ELISA method.
Results: PTZ-induced seizures following 8 h and 72 h REM SD significantly reduced the hippocampal TAS levels, but did not affect the TOS levels. In REM SD groups, especially after 8 hours of REM sleep loss, there was a significant increase in glutamate in PTZ induction. The hippocampal GABA levels were increased by PTZ-induced seizures after 72 h REM SD. PTZinduction after 8 hours of RAM SD leads to a significant increase in the seizure duration.
Conclusion: It can be speculated that the REM SD can contribute to seizure susceptibility by changing the oxidant-antioxidant balance and excitatory and inhibitory tone in the hippocampus.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Experimental Biomedical Research journal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.