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How Onsite LGV Assessors are Bringing Mental Health Benefits to LGV Drivers
Blogs | 2nd Apr 2019
How Onsite LGV Assessors are Bringing Mental Health Benefits to LGV Drivers
Regular driver assessments are an important part of the safety and efficiency of any transport operation, but have you considered that having an RTITB LGV Driver Assessor onsite can help provide much more, including improved mental health for drivers?
An LGV Driver assessment is a one-on-one session between a driver and an LGV Assessor that takes about one hour. Safety, driving ability and minimising fuel consumption or component wear through driving style are some of the typical focusses for most periodic LGV Driver assessments (annually or sooner).
However, while these are all important factors, employers should be aware that these regular one-on-one sessions also provide a valuable opportunity for LGV Drivers to connect with a trusted colleague, in a safe environment, for open discussion and conversation. This is one of the many benefits of having onsite LGV Driver Assessors.
Why are these one-on-one assessments important for mental health?
With limited human interaction, the role of a professional LGV driver can often be a solitary one. During a four-and-a-half-hour drive, or indeed a full ten-hour shift, any minor concerns playing on a driver's mind can easily escalate to feel like major problems. Left untreated, stress and other mental health conditions, such as depression, are likely to worsen, which can lead to lost man hours with drivers calling in sick.
Having an LGV Assessor onsite provides the opportunity for LGV Drivers to regularly share their concerns, and for the LGV Assessor to respond appropriately, either to help alleviate anxiety or, in more serious cases, to highlight concerns to relevant colleagues with a view to offering more suitable support. This can hugely benefit your drivers and your business which may not be so easy if assessments are outsourced.
The benefits of inhouse LGV Assessors
Whether they're employed full-time in the role, or they are a skilled driver with additional responsibility, an LGV Driver Assessor can add significant value to transport and logistics operations.
For example, they can support the recruitment of good driverswith pre-employment driving assessments to ensure potential employees' skills are up to standard. Their valuable skills can help businesses avoid disruption, particularly during peak recruitment times.
For regular drivers they can identify areas where intervention is needed and even assess job specific functions such as company delivery paperwork, loading, unloading or specific vehicle characteristics. It is important to note that the LGV Assessor should not provide remedial instruction, which is the job of LGV Instructors.
Acting as a valuable link between drivers and the transport management team, LGV Assessors may also provide information for compliance or help to plan training schemes. Furthermore, following an incident, Assessors can evaluate drivers which may be exposed to similar risk criteria. Through this analysis, accident causes can be identified, and negated.
How to train onsite LGV Driver Assessors
Available at the RTITB Instructor Academy or delivered on your premises, the RTITB LGV Assessor Training course is designed for very experienced LGV Drivers who want to progress in their careers to assess other LGV Drivers. It is also a useful step for someone interested in becoming an LGV Instructor, as training candidates benefit from an enhanced technical understanding of LGV driving.
What's involved in the LGV Assessor training?
Courses typically cover driver licensing and eyesight checks, the assessment procedure, assessment route selection and directions to drivers. Driver marking sheets are covered along with report writing and accident, vehicle defect and periodical driving assessments.
To pass the LGV Assessor course drivers are usually required to pass an examination consisting of three elements. The first is a personal driving assessment followed by an associated knowledge multiple choice theory paper. They must then conduct a practical assessment of driving ability.
Training from RTITB should always be considered an investment and while mental health is not a specific topic within the LGV Assessor Training, well trained Assessors will possess outstanding communication skills, which are vital in supporting your drivers. In the male dominated logistics and transport industry, mental health is still very much a taboo subject so open communication is important.
For more information about LGV Driver Assessor Training, or to learn more about how an onsite LGV Assessor can benefit your business, please contact us.


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From The Foundry MODO SDK wiki
Forms are displayed in Form View viewports. These viewports exist in layouts, and are common in modo.
Forms can be edited in two ways:
- Through the Form Editor, a tree-based interface for defining and grouping forms and their associated commands.
- Through hand-editing of Config files, for more advanced users.
- Form Categories and Groups provide a straight-forward mechanism to add a form to the beginning or end of another form without modifying the parent, and a way to organize forms within the Form Editor.
- Form Developer Commands to simply exporting specific forms into your own config files and to aid in message table generation.
- Form Filtering

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


1. Each and every human egg collected for stem cell research will be handled with respect for its uniqueness and for the effort involved on the part of the donor in contributing her eggs for research.
 2. Under no circumstances will eggs be exposed to sperm.
 3. Each egg will be cataloged and accounted for at every step of the procedures. Two members of the research team will sign each notation.
 4. Eggs will be cultured, manipulated and studied in secure laboratory surroundings. Security measures should include:
 1. Locked laboratories
 2. Locked incubators
 3. Security surveillance systems as necessary to ensure tampering is not possible during the course of the experiments
 5. Once activated, eggs will not be held in culture for longer than 14 days as intact entities.
 6. Activated eggs will be allowed to cleave and develop solely in vitro.
 7. The end-point outcome of each egg will be documented and signed by two members of the research team.
 8. At the conclusion of each experiment, the investigators will provide the Foundation with a brief statement guaranteeing these guidelines were followed throughout the course of the experiment.
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var test:*; test = sMC // Some movieClip exported for ActionScript var f = new test;
Sorry if the question's a bit lame, but I begin to wonder, what does this asterisk, and the snippet mean?
The asterisk means the variable type is undefined, or a wildcard.
Meaning you can define
Answering your original question and your question asked in a comment:
An asterisk is a wildcard which means the variable will accept any type of info. Example:
All of the above will work.
Variables should be typed as strictly as possible; by this I mean that when you want to assign a MovieClip to a variable, your variable should be typed as a MovieClip. Like so:
This works for anything. If you create your own class, then use that as your type for a variable that holds your class.
An error will be thrown if you try and assign an unrelated type to a variable, like so:
But as long as your variable type is somewhere along the inheritance chain of what you're assigning to it, then it will work.
This can be handy if you want to loop through an array containing an assortment of your own classes that extend MovieClip.
Overall the wildcard type is not a recommendation. At worst use
Hope this all makes sense.


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Wild cherry trees (Prunus serotina) -- also known as black cherry -- grows in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 3 through 9. This 50- to 80-foot-tall tree produces bitter fruit that is generally used to flavor liquors or for jelly and jam making. As with other cherry species, the wild cherry tree is susceptible to various pests including tent caterpillars.
According to the University of Maryland Cooperative Extension, wild cherry trees are the preferred hosts of tent caterpillars. However, they do attack various other trees including hawthorns, peach, plum and flowering crabapples. Several species of tent caterpillars exist, such as the forest tent caterpillar, Western tent caterpillar Eastern tent caterpillar and Pacific tent caterpillar. Forest tent caterpillar (Malacosoma disstria) has a dark blue larva with reddish brown waxy lines and white keyhole markings along its back. The Western tent caterpillar (Malacosoma californicum) is a reddish brown larva with hairy white and orange tufts. The Eastern tent caterpillar (Malacosoma americanum) is dark and hairy with a white stripe down its back and orange, yellow or brown lines on each side and blue spots. The Pacific tent caterpillar (Malacosoma constrictum) generally feeds on oaks and looks similar to the Western species. Unlike the other tent caterpillars, forest tent caterpillars don't create webbing.
Tent caterpillars munch on the foliage of wild cherry trees but won't consume the leaf veins. They create silk-like webs or tents on the foliage, encasing several leaves and branches. The tent caterpillars increase the size of the webs as they grow. In large infestations, tent caterpillars may defoliate entire wild cherry trees. This will result in loss of vigor. If the defoliation occurs early enough in the season, wild cherry trees can replace their damaged foliage.
Controlling tent caterpillars requires pruning infected stems covered with their silken webbing off the tree. However, only cut off stems if they are not major limbs or won't deform the tree. When pruning infected branches, do so at dusk to ensure that the majority of caterpillars have returned to their tents and immediately dispose of the infested plant matter. If the webbing affects major limbs, physically remove them by ripping them off the tree with gloved hands.
Bacillus thuringiensis and spinosad are two pesticides made from bacterium found naturally in soil. Bacillus thuringiensis stops the larvae of various pests -- such as moths and caterpillars -- from feeding and they die of starvation. Bacillus thuringiensis controls tent caterpillars without posing a risk to humans, mammals or beneficial insects. Spinosad kills the unwanted pests through contact or ingestion. It isn't as safe as Bacillus thuringiensis but is still considered safer than other chemical pesticides. Malathion, diazinon and carbaryl are a few other pesticides that will control caterpillars. Unfortunately, these products contain toxic chemicals that can harm beneficial insects. No matter what pesticide you use, create a hole with a stick or break up the nest and spray the chemical inside.
- University of California Integrated Pest Management Program: Tent Caterpillars—Malacosoma spp.
- University of Maryland Cooperative Extension: Eastern Tent Caterpillar and Forest Tent Caterpillar
- Sunset: Tent Caterpillars
- University of California Integrated Pest Management Program:
- Cornell University Cooperative Extension of Schenectady County: Tent Caterpillars
- Missouri Botanical Garden: Prunus Serotina
- Hemera Technologies/Photos.com/Getty Images


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At a press conference on Wednesday, Governor Ralph Northam announced that more than 525, 000 COVID-19 vaccine shots have been given so far in Virginia. While addressing questions concerning the COVID-19 vaccine, he focused on the changes to supply and logistics, and the need for more transparency.
Governor Northam announced that due to increased stability in supply and other factors, the federal government has increased the number of doses sent to every state by 16% allowing Virginia to increase their goal to 50,000 shots per day. Virginia is partnering with CVS and Walgreens to quickly administer vaccines to vulnerable members of the population that are older and in long-term care.
Virginia has changed the process it uses to allocate vaccines to providers of the vaccination and who in the population is prioritized to receive the vaccine.
"Virginia is now allocating shots to communities based on population. The federal government allocated them to states that way, and that makes sense. At the beginning, only healthcare workers were eligible. Now, regular Virginians are eligible so the shots need to go directly to them," said Governor Northam.
The Virginia Department of Health has issued new guidance to local health districts responsible for administering the vaccine:
- • Approximately 50% of the vaccines will go to adults aged 65 and older.
- • Approximately 50% will go to frontline essential workers in priority order, people aged 16-64 with high risk medical condition or disability, and other high risk communities.
After addressing logistics, Governor Northam presented the changes to the system and transparency. Virginia has updated and launched a Vaccine Dashboard to provide more information. The dashboard will show how many doses are coming into Virginia, where the doses have been delivered, and where the doses are sitting. Also the dashboard will include how many people have received their first shot, second shot, and the total population reached.
Governor Northam also announced that he is backing legislation that will make it a requirement to collect certain demographic information when administering the vaccine.
The Virginia Department of Health is creating a statewide registration system and increasing staff at the call center to be able to handle the call volume but both of these will be coming "soon". Currently, if you are eligible and want to sign up to receive the vaccine, you must contact your local health district either by phone or on the website. Each local district has created a vaccine registration system.


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Los Angeles based artist Jonah Fernandez Olson uses printmaking, rubbing, drawing, collage, and other markmaking techniques to investigate the process of landscape formation and the relationships between changing and static, internal and external personal environments. Recently he has been creating work focusing on the San Gabriel Mountains, the fastest growing and fastest eroding mountain range in the world.
"In my case, "drawing" is the formation of any object, and the object acts as landscape. I believe land formation, at its core, is no different from drawing, and the artist forms landscapes in a way that is no different in essence from how the earth's surface is self generating, or how anything is created.
The creation, collection, and re-appropriation of elements colliding to form a topographical object is the drawing. The studio is the "core" containing his ephemeral detritus. Here, material has been melted down, eroded, and regurgitated into layers. Color is used as it surfaces in availability and necessity. Formations become descriptive or obscure. Landscapes endure, or they die at a faster rate and re-enter the core. The crust is fluid. "
See more at BeautifulDecay.com


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Information and Public Awareness Programme
The objective of "Information & Public Awareness Programme" is to disseminate information on new and renewable sources of energy (NRSE) systems/devices through variety of media like electronic, print & exhibition as well as outdoor media, thereby popularizing and creating awareness about such systems and devices. It also brings to the fore benefits, technological developments and promotional activities taking place in the renewable energy arena from time to time. The role of Information and Public Awareness Programme for inculcating the importance of renewable energy amongst masses has been assuming increasing significance in recent times. The Programme is implemented mainly through State Nodal Agencies, Directorate of Advertising & Visual Publicity (DAVP), Doordarshan, All India Radio (AIR), and Department of Posts, etc.
Special Area Demonstration Project Programme
The Special Area Demonstration Project Scheme of the Ministry has been introduced with the objective of demonstrating application of various renewable energy systems in a project mode at places of national and international importance including world heritage sites, heritage monuments, religious locations and places of public interest to create greater awareness of renewable and to supplement the energy requirement at such locations
Human Resources Development Programme
Ministry has been implementing a comprehensive Human Resource Development Programme with the objective of institutionalizing the renewable energy education and training in the country with the following overall goals:
- To update the professionals working in the field of renewable energy on technological, economical and social issues and management of the science and technology and public administration through infusion of scientific temper and accountability;
- To infuse commitment towards building of partnership and participatory decision-making;
- iTo be responsive to the challenge of changing framework needs in policy, institutional, legal, trade, IPR, knowledge management, organizational and technological development;
- To strive for improving performance and efficiency of renewable energy systems and devices to make them cost competitive;
- To provide adequate knowledge of the technical issues that are essential to help executives in Government, banking and financial sector with non-technical background about renewable energy;
- To bring about attitudinal changes among the renewable energy professionals and those working in the mainstream power sector to enhance the use of renewable energy for energy security of the country; and
- To act as a facilitator for improving the skill sets of professionals and executives in the renewable energy industry and also in research and development institutions.
Planning & coordination
The Planning and Co-ordination Division is responsible for overall planning and budgeting plans schemes/programmes of the Ministry and matters related to Reforms, Policy measures, Fiscal concessions, etc. Its work involves maintaining a close liaison with different Programme Divisions of the Ministry and with other concerned Ministries/Departments/States, State Nodal Agencies, etc. on a regular basis.
Seminar & Symposia
The Ministry provides support to universities, academic institutions/colleges, non-governmental organizations, Government Departments, etc. for organizing workshops, seminars, conferences to provide a forum for professionals, students, policy-makers, managers, economists, industry representatives, etc., to interact and share their views on identified thrust areas related to renewable or any other emerging area impinging on technology, innovation in regard to renewables.
Technology Information Forecasting, Assessment & Databank(TIFAD)
Technology Information Forecasting, Assessment and Data Bank (TIFAD) have got a vast potential in terms of establishment of a dynamic mechanism for creation of databank on information for state-of-the-art technology through technology forecasting and assessment.
This can be achieved by way of creation of facilities for utilization of Information Technology Tools at the MNRE Headquarters, State Nodal Agencies, Technology Institutions, manufacturers, NGOs and other organizations in the country and utilization of Internet to access global database in the area of renewable energy.
- Creation of Computerization and Information Technology (IT) facilities for the Ministry Headquarters, its Regional Offices and the Solar Energy Centre.
- Creation of facilities for internet/intranet access and establishing linkages with the Technology Institutions/Technology Providers in the area of renewable energy nationally and globally through VSAT systems, Modems and other IT tools.
- Creation and Updation of Databases/Databanks and establishment of the Technology Information System in the area of renewable energy in the country.
- Involving as well as providing guidelines and financial support to nodal agencies, industries, technology institutions, Consultants and Non-Governmental Organisations, involved in the area of renewable energy in the country, for creation of IT facilities, Databanks and maintaining minimum standards.
- Creation of facilities and development of Software for establishment of Management Information System (MIS) and computerised on-line electronic monitoring of projects and programmes in the area of renewable energy in the country.
- Taking up activities on Patents and Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment in the area of renewable energy.
100% Computerization has been achieved. 250 nos. of computer based workstations have been created for providing computerization facility at the Ministry's Headquarters, its 9 Regional Offices and Solar Energy Centre.
Local Area Network (LAN) has been established in the two building of the Ministry's Headquarters for providing connectivity to various Computers installed in the Ministry. In order to provide connectivity between the Computers installed in the two buildings and fast data communication, LANs set up in these buildings of the Ministry have been integrated through laying of Fiber Optics Cable.
E-mail and Internet facility have been extended to all the Officers at the Ministry's Headquarters. E-mail facility has also been provided to the 9 Regional Offices and the Solar Energy Centre.
All the Officers and officials of the Ministry's Headquarters, its Regional Offices and the Solar energy Centre have been provided training in the use of computers through NIC and other professional organizations.
Specialized Training Programmes on Basic Concepts of Data Management and Networking Services & Applications is being organized at NIC for all the Officers of MNRE, its Regional Offices and Solar Energy Centre.
The MNRE has already prepared its Web-site in English as well as in Hindi through its in-house efforts. The MNRE Web-site gives a comprehensive picture of the development and utilization of renewable energy sources in India.
The Ministry has started Information and Facilitation Centre with Computer facility at its Headquarters for an easy access to various types of information by the visitors coming to this Ministry.

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


Three Most Photogenic Places in The World
We have places in the world where by capturing them in photographs, the beauty of the places double. Most photogenic places in the world impel people to visit there once in their lifetime.
1) Bora Bora In French Polynesia:
There is one island known as Bora Bora is covered with lagoons and is the most famous as an Aqua centre Luxury resort. In the last census of Bora Bora (1997), the population was 8880. There is no public transportation, and the whole economy is tourism centered.
Source :Wikipedia
2) Great Barrier Reef System:( North coast of Australia)
It is the largest coral reef system made of 2900 reefs and 900 islands and spread over of 2300 kilometers off Australia. It is the single largest structure which is made by the sea organisms and is so big that it is seen from an aerial view.
Source :Wikipedia
3.Grand Canyon, USA:
Around 5 million tourists visit the Grand Canyon every year.The canyon came into existence because of forceful flow of river Colorado in the state of Arizona. It was formed due to the result of erosion due to the Colorado river cutting into the earth surface over millions of years in the southern US. The parameters are :length 446 Kms, x breadth 29 Kms,depth 1800 Meters. Around 600 people have lost lives while exploring this wonder since 1870.
Because of colorful looks, it has become sought after tourist hot spot. It may not be the biggest canyon of the world, but has come to fame because of its panoramic look. When you proceed in this canyon, the weather keeps on changing. In winters some places have snowfall
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Macbeth - Further information
Francesco Maria Piave after William Shakespeare
World première on March 14, 1847 - Teatro della Pergola, Florence
Eerily, the characters in Giuseppe Verdi's "Macbeth" take us along on a journey into their unutterable emotions. The music reveals their secrets and masterfully shows us the uniqueness of Italian opera, which Verdi takes radically beyond its traditional borders. In the loveliest tones, the two protagonists reveal their passionate, spooky emotions. But behind this beauty lurks an abyss, which Verdi unveils in one of the cruelest dramas in world literature. To gain power, and, once gained, retain it, Macbeth and his lady commit one murder after another. The unconditionality of their zeal imparts a radicality that had previously been unthinkable in opera. "The subject matter of the opera is neither political nor religious: it is fantastic" wrote Verdi, thus bringing Shakespeare's inspiration closer to a more "romantic" approach. And indeed, the witches, ghosts and apparitions, the mysteriousness, which, along with the singing and the stage action, dominate the entire world of this opera, can all be interpreted as the inner states of its protagonists.
English translation: Donald Arthur
© Bavarian State Opera


Munich Personal RePEc Archive
Growth and Inequality: The Case of Indonesia, _PHONE_
Download (259kB) | Preview
This paper investigates whether the 'Kuznets hypothesis', that economic growth from low levels of GDP per capita is initially associated with an increase in income inequality and later followed by a decline in inequality, is supported by evidence for a less-developed country, Indonesia. The paper outlines the relevant features of the process of rapid growth and structural change, in particular industrialisation since the 1960s. It notes the possible consequences of this process for changes in income distribution, and draws on disparate sets of statistical data to trace trends in income inequality in Indonesia. The paper concludes that the evidence for Indonesia suggests an increase in inequality during the 1970s and a subsequent decrease of inequality until 1997. A comparison of the evidence with historical data for the UK and Japan suggests that income inequality in Indonesia was relatively low.
MPRA is a RePEc service hosted by
the Munich University Library in Germany.


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Sep. 1, 2005 Pomegranate fruit extracts can block enzymes that contribute to osteoarthritis according to a Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine study published in the September 2005 issue of the Journal of Nutrition.
The study looked at the ability of an extract of pomegranate fruit against Interleukin-1b (IL-1b), a pro-inflammatory protein molecule that plays a key role in cartilage degradation in osteoarthritis. Current treatments for osteoarthritis -- which affects 20 million people nationwide, according to the National Institutes of Health -- offer limited effectiveness and do little to slow joint destruction and disease progression.
"This has generated considerable interest in the identification and development of new approaches and reagents to treat and inhibit, if not abolish, the progress of the disease," said Tariq M. Haqqi, Ph.D., professor of medicine at Case.
"Arthritis is one of the foremost diseases for which patients seek herbal or traditional medicine treatments. However, all the extracts and herbs have not yet been scientifically evaluated for their efficacy and safety. Indeed, some of them may even interfere with the current treatments," Haqqi said. "Therefore, careful use of supplements and herbal medicines during early stages of disease or treatment may be made to limit the disease progression."
Plant-based flavonoids found in fruits, leaves and vegetables have attracted a lot of attention for their beneficial health effects in various diseases. Pomegranate, in particular, has been found to possess antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that have potential therapeutic benefits in a variety of diseases. The Case study demonstrated for the first time the ability of pomegranate fruit extracts to slow the deterioration of human cartilage.
"It has been revered through the ages for its medicinal properties," said Haqqi. "Studies in animal models of cancer suggest that pomegranate fruit extract consumption may be anticarcinogenic, whereas studies in mice and humans indicate that it may also have a potential therapeutic and chemopreventive adjuvant effect in cardiovascular disorders."
A bonus with the native Persian fruit is that its antioxidant constituents are rapidly absorbed by the body and are non-toxic.
Using tissue samples of human cartilage affected by osteoarthritis, researchers added a water extract of pomegranate fruit to the culture using a well-established in vitro model. The findings showed a new activity for pomegranate fruit extract -- namely cartilage protection -- in addition to its previously discovered antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
The IL-1b protein molecules create an overproduction of inflammatory molecules including matrix metalloproteases (MMP), which are tightly regulated enzymes necessary for tissue remodeling. When overproduced in a disease state, such as osteoarthritis, they degrade the cartilage resulting in joint damage and destruction.
The Case study results indicate that pomegranate fruit extracts inhibit the overproduction of MMP enzymes in human cartilage cells.
"This suggests that consumption of pomegranate fruit extract may help in protecting cartilage from the effects of IL-1b by suppressing cartilage degradation in OA," Haqqi said.
More studies are needed to determine the absorption rate of pomegranate fruit extracts in the joints. Future plans include animal model studies in osteoarthritis to determine whether the fruit extract promotes cartilage repair, and whether it can also be effective in treating rheumatoid arthritis.
This research was supported in part by grants from the National Institutes of Health National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases and from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
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BrF5 Lewis Structure, Molecular Geometry, Hybridization, and Polarity
Bromine Pentafluoride or BrF5 is a fluoride of bromine and an interhalogen compound which means it is made up of only halogen atoms. In the liquid state, it is a colorless, fuming compound having a pungent odor. For human beings, bromine pentafluoride is highly toxic and must not be inhaled at any cost as it is corrosive to the eyes and inner membranes.
This compound is used to make chemicals for rockets as it can accelerate the burning process of the combustible materials used in them. Bromine pentafluoride releases smoke of hydrofluoric acid when reacts with water present in the moist air.
In case, if left open, Bromine pentafluoride may burst loudly rupturing the vessel, it is kept in. Because of these reasons, this compound is one of the widely studied ones by the aeronautical industry. Bromine pentafluoride is a famous fluorinating agent used to produce fluorocarbons.
Lewis Structure of Bromine pentafluoride (BrF5)
To begin studying the Lewis structure of bromine pentafluoride, it is first crucial to study the Lewis diagrams of participating atoms. The atomic number of Bromine is 35 where its electronic configuration is 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s2 3d10 4p5.
Here, it is important to understand that the electrons from the shells having the highest energy level, participate in the bond formation. In the case of bromine, those are the 4s2 and 4p5 shells, so, the total number of valence electrons in bromine is 7.
Besides this for Fluorine, its atomic number is 9 where its electronic configuration is 1s2 2s2 2p5. The valence electrons are present on the highest principal energy level, the total number of them can be calculated by adding up electrons in the sublevels of those principal high energy levels.
So, we need to add 2 electrons of the 2s and 5 electrons of the 2p to get a total of 7 valence electrons.
Now, let us study the steps involved to draw the Lewis structure of BrF5.
Step 1: Find the total number of valence electrons one molecule of BrF5 has: It is 42 as 7 is coming from each of the fluorine and bromine atoms.
Step 2: Find how many more valence electrons are required by one molecule of BrF5: It is 6 as one valence electron is required by each participating atom.
Step 3: Find the central atom in one BrF5 molecule: It will be bromine as the chemical element present as a single entity is considered as the central atom.
Step 4: Look for the type of bond forming between the central atom and the others: Single covalent bonds are forming between the bromine and fluorine atoms.
Step 5: Now draw the structure by assembling the above-mentioned points: If you realize the structure will be drawn properly which we will discuss now.
BrF5 lewis structure
What is the anomaly in the Lewis dot structure of bromine pentafluoride (BrF5)?
When you begin drawing the structure, 5 fluorine atoms will be drawn around the central atom bromine. A single bond will be drawn between each Br-F interaction which means already 10 valence electrons out of 42 available are exhausted.
Now, after completing the octet of each participating fluorine atom, 40 valence electrons are exhausted in total. Still, we are left with two valence electrons which will be drawn on the bromine atom as lone pair of electrons.
But, as per the octet rule, the outermost shell can have a maximum of 8 eight valence electrons but bromine is having 12 as per the Lewis structure drawn for BrF5.
It is important to understand that chemistry is full of exceptions where Sulfur, bromine can also expand their octet to accommodate a greater number of valence electrons.
Bromine belongs to period four of the periodic table where elements of this group can easily expand their octet in case required by getting excited to a higher energy level.
BrF5 Molecular Geometry
The bond angle between each participating atom is 90 where the structure of BrF5 is square pyramidal. This can be studied with the help of Valence Shell Electron Pair Repulsion (VSEPR) theory, which says the overall shape of a molecule is decided by the total number of bonding and non-bonding electrons along with their orientation around the central atom.
These atoms are arranged in such a manner that the repulsion existing among them is minimal. It is important to understand that the electrons around the central atom tend to remain far away from one another. The structure of BrF5 could have been an octahedron but because of the presence of a lone pair of electrons, the structure rearranges itself into a square pyramidal shape.
According to the VSEPR theory, the lone pair of electrons exerts the greatest repelling effect as they are closer to the central atom in comparison to the bonding pair of electrons.
This is the reason why their effect of repulsion is far greater than the bonding pair of electrons.
BrF5 Hybridization
The hybridization of Br in BrF5 is sp3d2 as one 4s, three 4p and two 4d orbitals take part in the mixing and overlapping giving rise to new hybrid orbitals. To achieve the pentavalent status in bromine, some of the valence electrons move to the 4d orbitals.
Due to this, the two p orbitals become unpaired which sends the bromine atom in an excited state. Here it is when the hybridization process takes place. The left five valence electrons in the bromine atom bonds with the five fluorine atoms with the help of sigma bonds leaving a lone pair of electrons behind that can be found in one of the newly formed hybrid orbitals.
It is crucial to understand that the hybridization takes place when the atomic orbitals of similar energy mixes and overlaps in a manner like, s orbital with p orbital or s orbital with a d orbital.
Redistribution of energy takes place among the orbitals of similar energy, of individual atoms leads to the production of new hybrid orbitals of equivalent energy within a molecule.
BrF5 Hybridization
BrF5 Polarity
Polarity is the separation of electric charge that produces one negatively charged end and one positively charged end. This separation of charges generates a net dipole moment on the overall molecule because of the difference between the electronegativity values of the participating atoms.
The value of this net dipole moment decides how strongly a molecule will attract shared pair of electrons towards itself, also either on the positive end or the negative one.
From the molecular geometry of bromine pentafluoride, it is clear that there will be an asymmetric distribution of charge on the central atom especially because of the presence of a lone pair of electrons. This is the reason why the BrF5 molecule will be polar in nature.
From the Lewis dot structure of BrF5, it is clear that the electron geometry of the molecule is octahedral where the electronegativity values of bromine and fluorine are 2.96 and 3.98. The difference between both the values is 1.02 which is greater than 0.4 so the BrF5 molecule is a polar molecule.
For detailed information, you can also read out the article on the polarity of BrF5.
As electronegativity is the tendency of a molecule to attract shared pair of electrons towards itself, the higher the difference between its values, the larger will be the polarity of the molecule.
One more explanation of polarity in the BrF5 molecule is the presence of a lone pair of electrons that is negatively charged and is not in association with the positively charged nucleus, the net dipole moment generates with making the molecular polar in nature.
Drawing the Lewis structure of bromine pentafluoride cleared that the bromine atom is showing an anomaly in this case. The anomaly is of expanding its octet to accommodate 12 valence electrons in place of 8. Due to this, the 5 fluoride atoms could bond with the bromine atom with the help of a single covalent bond leaving behind a lone pair of electrons.
It is this lone pair that changed the molecular geometry of the bromine pentafluoride to square pyramidal form octahedral. It is important to understand that the electron geometry is octahedron and there is no need to get confused between both.
Moreover, the hybridization of bromine in BrF5 is sp3d2 as one 4s, three 4p and two 4d orbitals are taking part in the mixing and overlapping giving rise to new hybrid orbitals. Lastly, the bromine pentafluoride molecule is polar in nature because of the presence of net dipole moment especially due to a lone pair of electrons on the bromine atom.
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Conference on Censers in Bern, organised by Beate Fricke together with Ittai Weinryb
The burning of incense is one of the most pervasive religious practices today and throughout history. The fragrant smoke filling the air can be witnessed in any tradition, whether polytheistic or monotheistic, whether in the Ancient Near East, Modern US, or Medieval Europe. Censers are ubiquitous among religious paraphernalia, and on a truly global scale. Surprisingly, however, little scholarly attention has been given to censers and the rituals they facilitate. In this conference we propose to explore these commonly used yet seldom studied objects from a comparative perspective. This investigation entails consideration of the material fabrication of censers themselves and their subsequent significations, as well as the role of the incense itself as it vaporizes in the course of religious ceremonies. By comparing we aim to unveil resemblances and differences across various religions that at the same time can give evidence to the particularities of a specific tradition. Through these objects we also hope to interrogate dominant narratives in Art History defined by exclusive categories like "the era of art" or by retrospectively defined periods or artistic developments aligned with dynasties.
The study of censers is particularly timely in the fields of History of Religion, History of Art, Archaeology, material culture and Anthropology, and not only for filling gaps in the objects' documentation. The combination of the solid censer and the ephemeral smoke produced by the burning of incense offers a fertile ground for examining questions central to these fields of study regarding the relation between the material and the immaterial, and between artifacts, biotic substances, and codified practices. Centering on the censer thus not only places the object in a constellation of other religious artefacts, but also relocates the importance of rituals that have long been placed at the margins of the study of religion, art, and ritual. Emerging from this, we hope, is a better grasp of the role of sensorial elements in the fostering of the devotional practices of world religions. Acknowledging the need for an interdisciplinary approach to the profound questions provoked by the censer as object and as site, the project aims to unite scholars from different fields of study in an exploration of the censer and its materiality, ontology, and presence.


Buying a Camping Knife? Consider These Factors to Pick the Best Solution
camping knife
Is there a new camping knife in your future? To make the right choice there's a lot to consider. Whether you're a weekend family camper, a backpacker, or a hardcore wilderness survivalist there are good, better, and best solutions for you.
A camping knife, by old-school definition, is a fixed blade knife with a heavy-duty blade. It has a large handle, and it's basically a big, heavy indestructible knife. The drawbacks of the traditional camping knife are; it's big and it's heavy. Now, imagine you're at your favorite campground and strapping a 14-inch long knife across your chest. This is not a tool for making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the kids.
Enter the modern camping knife. Checkout our comprehensive list of pros and cons plus a glossary of camping knife terms unique to knives below. We've provided all the factors you'll need to consider in making your next selection.
The Camping Knife Glossary of Terms
Knife parts & termsThere are a number of terms unique to knives and you'll find it helpful to know them as you consider making your camping knife selection. Here's a list of the most important.
1. Belly: The curved part of the cutting edge usually close to the point of the knife blade
2. Grind (or main grind): The tapered surfaces of the knife blade going down from the spine (thickest) to the edge (thinnest).
3. Edge: The sharpened side of the blade.
4. Flipper: A protrusion on the tang of a folding knife that sits above the back of the pivot point in the closed position. Pulling back on the flipper with your index finger opens the knife easily.
5. Handle: The portion of the knife behind the blade, which is meant to be held in the hand to guide and steady the knife. Available in many designs, shapes, colors, and materials.
6. Choil: The underground part of the blade where it meats the Ricasso or becomes part of the handle. It is left at the full thickness of the spine for strength.
7. Lanyard Hole: The hole near the end of the knife handle opposite the blade meant for attaching a cord or strap.
8. Pivot Point: The attachment point or axel between the tang of the blade and handle of a folding knife
9. Pocket Clip: A metal clip attached to the back of a folding knife handle used to keep the knife at the top edge of the pocket for easy access.
10. Point: The extreme end of the blade where the lines of the edge and spine meet. There are many different styles of points.
11. Ricasso: The flat section of the blade between the handle and the start of the grind.
12. Spine: The side of the blade opposite the edge where it is the thickest. A traditional camping knife has a very thick spine and a fillet knife has a very thin spine.
13. Tang: The portion of the blade where it connects to the handle.
14: Thumb Stud: On may folding knives, a metal peg sits on the side of the blade where it pivots. By holding the back of the handle between your fingertips and palm, then applying upward pressure on the stud, you can easily open the knife one-handed.
Tip: Shop for knives, pocket knives, knife sharpeners, multi-tools, saws, machetes and axes at Bass Pro Shops here
Tip: Best Knife Sharpener Guide Video & Infographic
Click Choosing Your Camping Knife here for full size view of the infographic.
camp knife buying guid - *** & cons


COVID-19 & the healing environment: Successfully navigating healthcare's greatest challenge
In January 2020, news of the novel coronavirus began to hit headlines. At the time, it was just background noise for most of the population, but Medxcel was already prepared to face what would become one of the greatest healthcare challenges the United States has ever faced. This white paper details how proactive planning allowed for the continuation of hospital operations during COVID-19.
Download this whitepaper for a closer look at:
 - Laying the foundation for a proper emergency plan.
 - How associates can ensure the highest level of care during a crisis.
 - Preparing for future pandemics and other difficult situations.


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Reinforcement Learning from Demonstration through Shaping / 3352
Tim Brys, Anna Harutyunyan, Halit Bener Suay, Sonia Chernova, Matthew E. Taylor, Ann Nowé
Reinforcement learning describes how a learning agent can achieve optimal behaviour based on interactions with its environment and reward feedback. A limiting factor in reinforcement learning as employed in artificial intelligence is the need for an often prohibitively large number of environment samples before the agent reaches a desirable level of performance. Learning from demonstration is an approach that provides the agent with demonstrations by a supposed expert, from which it should derive suitable behaviour. Yet, one of the challenges of learning from demonstration is that no guarantees can be provided for the quality of the demonstrations, and thus the learned behavior. In this paper, we investigate the intersection of these two approaches, leveraging the theoretical guarantees provided by reinforcement learning, and using expert demonstrations to speed up this learning by biasing exploration through a process called reward shaping. This approach allows us to leverage human input without making an erroneous assumption regarding demonstration optimality. We show experimentally that this approach requires significantly fewer demonstrations, is more robust against suboptimality of demonstrations, and achieves much faster learning than the recently developed HAT algorithm.


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The Caucasus Front or Caucasus Campaign is a term to describe the "contested armed frontier" between lands controlled by the Russian Empire and Ottoman Empire during WWI. In Russian historical literature, it is typically considered a separate theater of the Great War, whereas Western sources tend to view it as one of the campaigns of the Middle Eastern theatre.
The front extended from Caucasus to Eastern Anatolia and Iran, reaching as far as Trabzon, Bitlis, Mus and Van in the west and Tabriz in the east. The land warfare was accompanied by the attacks of the Russian navy in the Black Sea Region of Ottoman Empire.
Russian advance on the Caucasus front was halted in 1917 by the Russian Revolution, and the Russian forces at the front line were replaced by the forces of the newly-established Democratic Republic of Armenia (DRA), comprising of the Armenian volunteer units and the Armenian irregular units. Along with Germany, the Ottoman Empire signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Russia, formally recognizing the Ottoman control of Ardahan, Kars, and Batum. The subsequent brief war between the Ottoman Empire and the DRA resulted in the latter's defeat and the signing of the Treaty of Batum. However, the effects of this arrangement were voided few months later, when the Ottoman Empire accepted its own defeat in World War I by signing the Armistice of Mudros.
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BBC News
watch One-Minute World News
Last Updated: Wednesday, 18 April 2007, 11:59 GMT 12:59 UK
Drillers target earthquake zone
By Jonathan Amos
Science reporter, BBC News, Vienna
Ship (Jamstec)
The 210m-long Chikyu is a brand new drill ship
It promises to be one of the grand scientific challenges of this decade.
Researchers are about to drill down into an earthquake zone at the Nankai Trough off the coast of Japan.
The project, which will cost hundreds of millions of dollars over the next 10 years, is being coordinated by the Integrated Ocean Drilling Programme.
It seeks to understand the causes of deadly quakes and tsunami by pulling up cores for study and by putting down sensors to monitor changes in the rock.
The Nankai Trough Seismogenic Zone Experiment (NanTroSEIZE) expects to get under way in September.
There is a strong need in the Japanese community to know what is going on under the sea floor
Masataka Kinoshita, Jamstec
It is focused on a region of the sea floor that has been responsible for immense tremor events, including the 1944 Tonankai (Magnitude 8.1) and 1946 Nankaido (Magnitude 8.3) earthquakes.
"The place we are going to has a history of disastrous earthquakes and tsunami every 100 or 200 years; and these have resulted in the deaths of many people," explained Chief Project Scientist Masataka Kinoshita, from the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (Jamstec).
"There is a strong need in the Japanese community to know what is going on under the sea floor," he told BBC News.
He was speaking here at the European Geosciences Union General Assembly meeting.
Real-time data
NanTroSEIZE is focused on an area of subduction, where a huge slab of Pacific oceanic crust is being pulled down under the continental rock on which Japan sits.
The drilling effort will attempt to cut directly into the faults that trace the grinding interface - the seismogenic zone.
Boys under table for quake drill (AFP)
The project has great relevance for Japan - but goes wider
"These are complex structures," said Cesar Ranero, from the Spanish research council, Icrea.
"They have areas that are very sticky - where the two plates are strongly mechanically coupled - and these are typically the areas where strong earthquakes nucleate.
"And they have other areas which are less sticky, but which may still be involved in the propagation of the quake. One of the goals of the project is to understand why an earthquake will rupture across a smaller or larger area, producing a smaller or larger earthquake."
Drilling operations will be conducted from a new 57,000-tonne ship, the Chikyu.
It will have to sit atop 2,500m of water, holding a steady position as the drill head cuts a series of holes up to 7km under the sea floor.
Tectonic plates (BBC)
(1) Philippine Sea Plate
(2) Pacific Plate
(3) North American Plate
(4) Eurasian Plate
The drilling (red dot) will cut to the interface of the Eurasian and Philippine plates
Core samples will be returned to the laboratory for study and the holes themselves will be instrumented to monitor changes.
Seismometers and tilt meters will follow how the rocks in the faulting zone are moving. The sensor package will also measure changes in temperature and pressure, and provide information to assess any geochemical reactions taking place.
"We'd like to know something about what fluids do at that position," said Nathan Bangs, from University of Texas at Austin, US.
"If there are a lot of fluids there that are under very high pressure, they can essentially act like lubricants and not allow stresses to build up. But if the fluids are not present, the rocks can build up big stresses that can eventually rupture as an earthquake."
Extreme environment
Data from the instruments will be stored by logging devices at nodes on the sea floor. Submersible vehicles will return year after year to retrieve the data packages, although it is hoped that eventually the nodes can be cabled, to bring the information straight on to shore and to the scientists' PCs.
The Integrated Ocean Drilling Programme (IODP) is aware that the venture is a risky one. The instruments will have to be built to survive searing heat, crushing pressures and corrosive fluids. They could fail at anytime.
There are places on the surface of the Earth that scientists can study the types of rocks being sought by the Nankai Trough experiment - but there is no substitute for seeing the true setting, researchers believe.
"To get those rocks up to the surface, they have been exhumed, which means, for example, that any fluids involved in an earthquake will have been lost," explained Paola Vannucchi, from the University of Florence, Italy.
"The process that brings these rocks to the surface from eight kilometres down is also a process of deformation, so you get one superimposed on the other. You don't get a pure signal."
As part of the IODP project, a second series of holes will be drilled off Costa Rica in Central America.
The scientists say the results from both experiments should be applicable to all major subduction zone earthquakes and related tsunami, as well as earthquakes generally.
Plate tectonics graphic
Magma rises from the asthenosphere at mid-ocean ridges
The new crust cools and spreads away from the ridge
Denser oceanic crust sinks back into the mantle at subduction zones
The boundary interface is the source of major earthquakes
Melting feeds volcanoes on the overlying continental crust
Sea floor records ancient Earth
23 Mar 07 | Science/Nature
Project will cable up ocean floor
13 Mar 07 | Science/Nature
Methane ices pose climate puzzle
13 Dec 06 | Science/Nature
Japan conducts huge quake drill
01 Sep 06 | Asia-Pacific
Project opens up quake'machine'
09 Dec 05 | Science/Nature
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Enable a database trigger or triggers.
sp_EnableTriggers( ObjectName, CHARACTER,200,
Options, INTEGER )
ObjectName (I) Name of DD object. Can be a table, view, or a trigger.
Parent (I) Name of table or view when ObjectName is the name of a trigger.
AllUsers (I) TRUE if the setting should affect all users. FALSE for only the current user.
Options (I) Must be zero. Reserved for future use.
Special Return Codes
The sp_EnableTriggers system procedure is used to enable triggers in a database. Triggers can be enabled for the current user or for all users. To enable triggers for the current user, specify empty or NULL strings for ObjectName and Parent and specify FALSE for AllUsers. To enable triggers for all users and all triggers of a database, specify empty or NULL strings for ObjectName and Parent, but specify TRUE for AllUsers. To enable all triggers for a specific table, specify the database table name for ObjectName and NULL or an empty string for Parent. To enable a single trigger, specify the database trigger name for ObjectName and the table name that contains the trigger for Parent. When enabling a single trigger or all triggers for a specific table, the AllUsers flag is ignored. The setting will then affect all database users.
The disabled state of a trigger is determined using the following hierarchy: user, database, table, trigger. This means that the user level disabled state has precedence over the database level. Likewise, the table level disabled state has precedence over the trigger level. Furthermore, the disabled state of a level cannot be altered when a higher level is already disabled. For example, a table's disabled state cannot be altered if triggers are already disabled on the database level. However, this does not apply to the user level in that a user may enable triggers on the database or lower levels despite their current user disabled trigger state.
Changes in the disabled trigger state will take effect immediately. If a user has already begun firing a trigger, the trigger will run as it would normally. However, if a user is in the middle of a recursive trigger or a referential integrity cascade for example, a trigger's disabled state could change in the middle of the overall operation.
Appropriate ALTER permissions are required to enable triggers on the database, table, and trigger levels. For example, ALTER TABLE permissions are required on a table to enable triggers on it. In contrast, no permissions are required for users to enable triggers on themselves.
// Enable all triggers for a single user
EXECUTE PROCEDURE sp_EnableTriggers( NULL, NULL, FALSE, 0 )
// Enable all triggers for all users
EXECUTE PROCEDURE sp_EnableTriggers( NULL, NULL, TRUE, 0 )
// Enable all triggers on a specific table (all users is assumed)
EXECUTE PROCEDURE sp_EnableTriggers( 'customers', NULL, FALSE, 0 )
// Enable a specific trigger on a specific table (all users is assumed)
EXECUTE PROCEDURE sp_EnableTriggers( 'auditTrigger', 'customers', FALSE, 0 )


Financing your studies
Financing your Studies in Germany
Germans are famously systematic when it comes to finance, and this definitely extends to funding student life. When you come to study in Germany, you can't turn up without proof that you can sustain yourself during your course. Without it, there's no chance of obtaining a student visa.
Thankfully, financing your studies isn't complex, and our guides will provide all the information you need.
How to finance your studies in Germany
Learn more about financing your studies in Germany
Is education for international students free in Germany?
Not completely. Education is subsidized in a number of ways, and support is available to help international students, but attending colleges and universities in Germany isn't completely free.
Bachelor's courses tend to have no tuition fees, but do come with administrative fees, costs for accommodation, and living costs. Postgraduate courses always come with some kind of fees. But help is at hand.
Students may qualify for the BAföG, a government-funded payment of up to €861 per month. Students also benefit from preferential health insurance rates.
Can international students get loans or scholarships?
Student loans are not usually provided to international students but may be available via Bildungskredit. Like the BAföG, credit tends to be restricted to very needy students, or those with exceptional ability.
Finally, there's always the option of taking paid employment during your studies. Our student work page explain how to do so without incurring tax penalties.
In our Cost of Living pages, you'll find everything you need to know about how to finance a study period in Germany.
Advanced courses & scholarships
If you are seeking advanced courses, look to non-governmental bodies for assistance. Scholarships from bodies like the DAAD could help advanced students, while private foundations like the Heinrich Boll Stiftung support large numbers of students in specific fields.
Personal Savings
Every arrival is supposed to show evidence that they can finance 1 year of study without relying on the German state, so some savings will be essential for almost all international students who are not from the European Union.
In exceptional cases, German authorities may provide financial support for those who cannot fund their living costs, but most of the time, a blocked account will be required. Without it, you won't be able to obtain a visa to study or work in Germany, so it's an essential part of starting a course.
These accounts are "blocked", and cannot be used like conventional current bank accounts, although they are held with standard banks. Instead of being free to withdraw money when you need it, payments are made in monthly chunks into a second bank account. This usually translates into monthly payments of €861.
Students will be free to choose the provider of their secondary bank account (or Girokonto), and it makes sense to choose a provider that offers flexible, cheap accounts, with minimal or no fees.
Cheap accounts
In recent times, banks like N26 or Monese have emerged, which offer extremely cheap accounts, complete with cards and competitive interest rates. They will generally be a better option than conventional banks.
Parental income
In some cases, international students are able to rely on the resources of their parents or wider family
If this applies to you, there are a few things to think about when relocating to Germany to start your course.
Firstly, even though you have financial resources to spend, it may be useful to start a blocked account. You can still retain some funds in a Girokonto, but the monthly payments from a blocked account can be a handy way to keep your spending low. That way, you can avoid running out of financial resources before your course is finished.
A blocked account has other advantages. If you choose to rely on your parental income totally, it will be necessary to provide evidence of your parents' financial situation to the German Embassy. Not everyone will be keen to hand over this information, and it won't be required if you apply for a student visa with a blocked account.
Mobile bank
It may well make sense to create an account with a mobile bank like N26 to transfer money from your parents as and when you need it. That way, you can keep transfer fees low, and use your funds anywhere in the world.
Blocked Account
What is a blocked bank account and what do I need it for?
These accounts tend to be required to obtain a study visa, and come with certain restrictions that make them different to standard accounts. For instance, withdrawals are "programmed" in advance, and you can't use blocked accounts as simple checking accounts.
This might sound like a bad thing, but it's actually very practical. When coupled with low-cost checking accounts, blocked accounts offer stable sources of finance for students and make accessing German higher education simpler.
If there are any doubts about how to start your account, our step-by-step guide will make everything crystal clear.
How much money do I need to study in Germany?
Blocked accounts provide evidence that you have enough money to study in Germany, and represent a minimum amount required. The amount needed is usually represented as €861 per month. For a one year blocked account, this works out at €10,332. So that's the amount to aim for.
Our pages on blocked accounts will provide all you need to know about this crucial financial tool.
When you have the right amount, or if you need to find out more, head to our website and open your blocked account with Expatrio.
Get started
Expatrio is here to make your relocation easy!
Check our value package with blocked account, current bank account, health insurance and other benefits.


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Copyright Statement: This is an open access article licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, even commercially as long as the original work is properly cited.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) : 10.14569/IJACSA.2017.080231
Article Published in International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications(IJACSA), Volume 8 Issue 2, 2017.
Abstract: The recognition of continuous speech is one of the main challenges in the building of automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems, especially when it comes to phonetically complex languages such as Arabic. An ASR system seems to be actually in a blocked alley. Nearly all solutions follow the same general model. The previous research focused on enhancing its performance by incorporating supplementary features. This paper is part of ongoing research efforts aimed at developing a high-performance Arabic speech recognition system for learning and teaching purposes. It investigates a statistical analysis of certain distinctive features of the basic Arabic phonemes which seems helpful in enhancing the performance of a baseline HMM-based ASR system. The statistics are collected using a particular Arabic speech database, which involves ten different male speakers and more than eight hours of speech which covers all Arabic phonemes. In HMM modeling framework, the statistics provided are helpful in establishing the appropriate number of HMM states for each phoneme and they can also be utilized as an initial condition for the EM estimation procedure, which generally, accelerates the estimation process and, thus, improves the performance of the system. The obtained findings are presented and possible applications of automatic speech recognition and speaker identification systems are also suggested.
Mohamed O.M. Khelifa, Yousfi Abdellah, Yahya O.M. ElHadj and Mostafa Belkasmi, "Helpful Statistics in Recognizing Basic Arabic Phonemes" International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications(IJACSA), 8(2), 2017. _URL_


Squatting & Deadlifting Twice a Week to Build Muscle
Building muscle requires resistance training. Doing squats engages the glutes, quads and hamstrings while deadlifts target muscles in your core, legs and hips. The more weight you lift during your squats and deadlifts the more muscle you will build. However, your muscles also require recovery days between workouts. A study done by Jack H. Wilmore of the University of California-Davis found that 40 minutes of heavy weight training, two days a week for 10 weeks, produced gains in muscle size and strength in both women and men. So it's possible to strengthen your muscles by squatting and deadlifting twice a week.
Program It
Your body responds in different ways to the same exercise, depending on the programing. The International Sports Science Association states, for example, that you can do 12 repetitions of squats or deadlifts using light weights to increase your muscle endurance, but you'll also burn some muscle mass for fuel. The result will be a loss of fat but also a decrease in overall strength. On the other hand, you can perform five to eight reps with heavier weights to increase muscle mass and strength.
Effective Squats
Proper form makes a squat effective. To do a full squat, descend until your thighs are at or slightly below being parallel to the floor. While in the low position, put all of your weight on your heels and make sure your knees don't advance farther than your toes. To rise, squeeze your glutes as you ascend. Without proper form, you will not engage the right muscles and may even injure yourself.
Deadlift for Strength
Like squats, deadlifts are compound exercises. Start with your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, with the barbell in front of you on the floor. Squat to grasp the barbell, keeping your arms straight and your back in a neutral position. With your core engaged, push through your heels and lift straight up, squeezing your glutes as you rise.
Creative Thinking
Many factors help determine which two days per week you work out. Space the workouts so you don't have too much down time between the second session of one week and the first workout of the next week, to avoid losing any progress that you've made. Also, there is no rule that says you have to do both exercises on the same day. You can alternate squatting and deadlifting during different workouts, as long as you leave a day of rest between sessions. Squats and deadlifts work many of the same muscles and you shouldn't exercise the same muscle group on consecutive days.


Spirited Away: Film Review
English Title: Spirited Away
Japanese Title: Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi
Company: Studio Ghibli
Country: Japan
Year: 2001
Australian Rating: PG
Classification: Fiction (anime)
Themes: self belief, courage, love
What's it about?
Chihiro and her family are moving far away from their old home to start a new life in the country. Her father takes a wrong turn and after a stroll all three become trapped in the Spirit World. Her parents are turned into pigs and Sen must sign away her name to work in the bathhouse under Zeniba. Lin takes her under her wing and she gets rather attached to Haku, the boy who took her to the bathhouse to begin with.
The animation is stunning. The story is enjoyable. Chihiro shows a lot of development through the film and becomes to believe in herself and stand up for her friends.
Nothing comes to mind.
Many have made the mistake thinking this is a straightforward story but as with most anime the themes and messages are always a lot deeper. I would use this in the classroom to teach concepts about some Japanese beliefs, such as the shrines and paying respect if younger students are viewing. I would not recommend it for any student below grade 3 as I feel they would have difficulty understanding the actual film and "getting" the point.
The film has some very strong character types and I have used this movie to each about them with grade 6 and 7 students. We focused on Haku, Chihiro, Zeniba and Lin predominately looking at how each character evolves throughout the film.
If you are thinking of using this movie in a standard classroom - use the English version. If you teach a Japanese language class I recommend the Japanese with English subtitles.
Japanese vs. EnglishBoth the Japanese and English versions are well done. I personally prefer the Japanese version slightly over the English and this is more to do with the subtle differences in dialogue than anything else.
There are a few differences between the Japanese and English versions.
* Japanese version the character is Rin / English version Lin
* Haku's fate is worded differently between the versions and does impact on what happens 'after'
* The ending dialogue by Chihiro is not on the Japanese version
Parental Permission* This movie is higher than the standard G rating allowed to be shown in most schools.
* You will most likely be required to get parental permission for your class to view this movie.
More information
1 comment
 at many of the articles I realized it's new to me. Nonetheless,


Sentence Sharing method in language exchanges
As an introvert and someone with aspbergers that's also a language learner I have the greatest level of appreciation for those who share the struggle of interpersonal communication with others for the purpose of learning (or augmenting) their linguistic ability. I recently came across this method I am choosing to dub "sentence sharing" and I on the whole rather like it.
The methodology is to find someone who is keen of learning (augmenting) their skills in a language you speak fluently/native level and for you to desire the same.
As the title goes you are literally sharing sentences you know to be correct with a translation into the other language, bonus points for sharing voice recordings to aid in pronunciation skills. All you need is a good resource book and a bit of desire to find out some phrases you'd likely use and your good to go.
As with all methodologies there will likely be pros and cons but I think the pros will outweigh the cons for most introverted types.
Varied usage of the languages Any sentence you have proficiency in both languages in can be used. This is going to give you a greater outlook then only knowing sentences like "what do you do for a living" and "what's your favourite colour?
No requirement for real-time interaction or even a conversation. Depending on which method you use you can leave each other voice clips (in both languages) for the other person to practise when they next catch a free minute. It leaves you feeling like you don't have to stress out over international time zones and can pick up on exchanging with a methodology that's just a bit more relaxed.
Small talk is unlikely to be found and even if it is found its mostly going to be found in the context of "how to say it" rather than "lets discuss me and you" or the dreaded "tell me about yourself".
Both languages get equal space If it's done as its intended to be carried out then both your intended language and theirs get equal screen time and air time (assuming you are voice recording). Many of us have experienced those times where one language dominates the conversation using other methods and even if this swings in your favour it's not entirely equal.
This will not be for everyone Some people are inherently social and will be looking for a more social means of conducting person to person language exchanges. This might in some ways lower the numbers of people you will be able to do this with. I'd suggest looking for people who are not overly concerned with being social or those who might be seeking higher level proficiency in your language.
Not everything will be useful to you and other bits won't be useful straight away. I have given and received some sentences that might turn out to be useful one day but not now. However that's not a problem as even if you only remember a few words you will be one step closer to understanding the syntax of the sentence. Any level of exposure to a language, particularly when you are practising (with the aid of a native) is a step in the right direction.
I quite like this method and think its a breath of fresh air in comparison to the mainstream way of language exchanging. I love the way you will encounter a greater vocabulary with this method and it even has a non real-time element involved as well which can be very beneficial to many.
If truth be told I didn't find it, It found me but I'm glad it did.
Samantha Eaton
La Reina Razonable


text:
have known about it).
 Comparing the original survey with the existing elevation of the land may still be the most reliable way to measure how much the elevation has changed. But a witness to the grade elevation would help to prove that the survey evidence is correct and that the grade elevation did not result from winds or flood waters depositing material.
 The admissibility of evidence is often a consideration that prompts land trusts to undertake regular inspections. Ratley-Beach et al, supra note 588. If written records rather than memories are the primary evidence that grade elevation has taken place, the records could be challenged as hearsay. See e.g. Fed. R. Evid. 801 and 802. But records maintained in the course of business, such as regular inspections, would generally be admissible under the business-records exception to the hearsay rule. Id. Cf. Fed. R. Evid. 803(6). The most important written record for a rolling easement would be the original survey which would be part of the original conveyance and hence not hearsay. If a survey takes place each time the land is sold, the subsequent surveys should also be admissible either because they are not hearsay either (e.g. they have been accepted by the owner and are signed by the buyer and hence an admission about the condition of the land) or they are a business record. Nevertheless, if a land trust wants to introduce as evidence photos or records of its visual observations about whether the grade had been elevated, the hearsay exception for business records may allow evidence from regular annual surveys that would not be allowed for one-time surveys. Whether decadal inspections would be treated as business records is less clear.
 Converting a possibility of reverter into an estate for years would be relatively straightforward because the land trust would be trading one type of future interest for another. If the land trust holds a conservation easement, it will generally be necessary to persuade a court that this change serves the conservation interest. A courts willingness to accept such a change may depend on how the court views uncertainty and measures designed to reduce litigation costs. If the costs of obtaining such court orders were too high, another option would be to exchange forbearance by the conservancy from then until the projected submerge date in return for the remainder on an estate for years. During most (or all) of that period, the forbearance would have no environmental significance because the submerge date would not yet have arrived.
 IRS regulations appear to allow modifications of the instrument consistent with the objectives, and even allow for judicially approved sale as long as the proceeds are used for the same purpose. 26 C.F.R. § 1.170A-14(g)(6)(i).
 For example, there may be value in having low-lying habitat just above wetland elevation.
 E.g., areas where the submerged land has already been sold to private landowners.
 For example, in Severance v. Patterson, the parcels were in the second row back from the beach when the Open Beaches Act was adopted, but along the Gulf when the case was filed. The owner challenged the application of the law to her home on the grounds that the public easement did not necessarily roll onto her property, and the court agreed. See supra note 566.
This page contains a section from: James G. Titus, Rolling Easements, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. EPA‑430‑R‑11‑001 (2011). The report was originally published by EPA's Climate Ready Estuary Program in June 2011. The full report (PDF, 176 pp., 7 MB) is also available from the EPA web site.
For additional reports focused on the implications of rising sea level, go to Sea Level Rise Reports.


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Schizachyrium scoparium (Little Bluestem) is a species of perennial herb in the family true grasses. They have a self-supporting growth form. They are native to Eastern North America, Western North America, North America, The Contiguous United States, Canada, and United States. They have simple, broad leaves and yellow flowers. Individuals can grow to 151.1 cm.
EOL has data for 78 attributes, including:


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Power Optimizers to Increase Output of Solar Panels
The newest players in the solar energy race are electronic companies who realize that for solar energy arrays to be more efficient they need to modulate their power output. This week three electronic manufacturers -- National Semiconductor, STMicroelectronics and Tigo Energy -- all announced plans to manufacture devices that will optimize the delivery of solar power to grid tie-ins. Tigo received a $10 million investment to produce the Tigo Energy Maximizer. This device will allow solar panels to harvest an additional 20 percent of the collected solar energy by converting direct current into alternating current on each panel. In this way, the full voltage of each panel is converted to power. This type of device will help offset the irregular performance of solar arrays, caused by shade or dropped leaves, by regulating power output across the array and monitoring panel performance.
National Semiconductor announced they will produce the SolarMagic chipset with Green Energy Solar to create junction boxes that adjust voltage to increase the overall flow of energy. STMicroelectronics announced an electronic regulator that can be installed on individual solar panels to equalize their power fluctuations.


Blue tailed damselfly
A new species of Odonata for our lists: a blue tailed damselfly (Ischnura elegans) spotted and photographed near the Dog Pond by Ian Bushell.
This is a mature male, easily identified. The female, which comes in five different colourways, is not so easy to identify but both male and female have a bi-coloured mark on each of their front wings. This is a pterostigma, a group of specialized, coloured and thickened cells that balance the wings and increase their efficiency, but are also of considerable help in identifying a species.
Blue-tailed Damselflies can manoeuvre each of their four wings independently; this makes them superb fliers. A recent study has shown that they can compensate for the loss of a whole wing and still catch prey.
They prey on small flying insects, catching them up by using their legs like a basket while they are flying, or snatching them from leaves. All Odonata are predators.
More damsel flies and dragonflies here:
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Sole Source Suppliers and Escrow. While a sole/single source alliance can benefit both the buyer and the supplier companies through the creation of a more solid business/ partnering arrangement, the downside occurs if the supplier is unable to deliver.
In order to understand the full impact of this"downside", just be reminded of any recent problem you have had obtaining product from your sole source supplier.
What measures can be taken to protect our companies from these downside possibilities? While contracts are limited in their abilities to "solve" a problem, they can be helpful in addressing the issues to facilitate a solution.
Consider requiring that your supplier establish an escrow account in which the supplier deposits all designs, manufacturing data, processes, etc. necessary to manufacture and support the product. In addition, and if the bill of material for the product includes purchase of certain proprietary products, the supplier would deposit authorization that the buyer be able to purchase these proprietary products from third party suppliers. The contract would grant your company a license to use all the information in the escrow account if the supplier does not perform its contract obligations.
Keep in mind that in order to be able to effectively use this information, your company might likely first require technical understanding of the products. If that is the case, your contract will want to obligate the supplier to provide access to and training in the understanding and use of the information and data during the actual contract performance.
- Employee Issues: Confidentiality; Ownership; Nonsolicitation; Noncompete
- Confidentiality. The issue of confidential information and the employee's responsibility is two pronged. The first prong relates to that confidential information which the employee either develops or learns in the course of his or her employment with the company.
In general, state laws provide that an employee may not, either during or after his employment, divulge or use trade secrets which were developed by him during his employment or divulged to him by his employer, even absent an express agreement. The rationale is that a employee is in a relationship of trust and confidence with the company. In addition, most companies require that their employees sign an agreement which acknowledges that the employee will maintain the confidentiality of the company's trade secret information both during and after employment.
The problematic aspect of this issue is raised when the employee wants to go to work for a competitor of the employer. The employee should be aware that under appropriate circumstances, the ex-employer may prevent the employee from going to work at a competitor if the following three factors are found to exist:
(1) The former employee has knowledge of the first employer's trade secrets;
(2) The employee's new job duties (and the products and technology he is working on) are so similar to those in the former position that it would be extremely difficult for him not to rely on or use the first employer's trade secrets; and
(3) The former employee and the new employer cannot be depended upon to avoid using the trade secret information.
The second prong relates to that confidential information provided by a third party to the employee's company.
In those cases in which the employer signs a non-disclosure agreement to maintain the trade secrets of a third party, the employee -as an agent of the recipient company - is bound to the non-disclosure agreement and must abide by the confidentiality provisions. Failure to do so may subject both the company and the employee to damages.
- Ownership of Intellectual Property. If a work was created by an employee as part of his or her job, the law considers the product a work for hire, and the employer will own the intellectual property rights to that work, as explained above. A work for hire is defined as "a work made by an employee within the scope of his or her employment".
In many instances, the courts have considered the intellectual property rights to a product developed by the employee to belong to the employer when the employee used company resources in developing the product, even if the employee's development was done outside working hours.
- Non-Compete and Non-Solicitation Agreements. The non-compete clause prevents the ex-employee from working for a competitor or going into a business which competes with his or her ex-employer. The non-solicitation clause restricts the ex-employee from soliciting the business of the ex-employer's customers or suppliers.
The enforceability of these provisions vary by state. For example, in most employee/employer circumstances, California does not recognize the enforceability of a non-compete clause. Even in those states that do enforce non-compete provisions, the clauses must be narrowly written such that they are reasonable in time and geography limitations. The enforceability of the clause generally revolves around the underlying question of: Is there a legitimate business purpose for such restriction? In the absence of a sound business reason, the courts are reluctant to enforce a non-compete clause.
The non-solicitation clause will come under similar scrutiny in terms of reasonable time period and location, but is more often enforced by courts. A non-solicitation agreement may restrict the ex-employee from doing business with a supplier or customer of the ex-employer for a certain period of time.
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The best VBS leaders are learners, and the best learners enjoy sharing with others what they have learned through trial and error. Following are words of advice that have been collected through the years from great leader-learners just like you.
- Always order extra – it's not fun to run out of student books. Unused leftovers can be returned.
- Make sure your teachers know they do not have to use every teaching activity or everything in their leader pack.
- Pre-cut and organize crafts per day. Bag components in individual zip lock bags.
- Enlist a donations chairperson to oversee a system for receiving donations of snacks, craft supplies, and decorations.
- Prepare envelopes labeled "$5 for 2 Field Kits." "$10 for 4 Field Kits." "$20 for 8 Field Kits" to encourage church members to sponsor the student resources.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION: What advice do you have concerning VBS teaching resources?


The Advantages of The Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) Behavioral Therapy
The Early Start Denver Model is based on the methods used in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) Therapy and has demonstrated remarkable results in infants and toddlers with Autism Spectrum Disorder. We are excited to provide you with an informative post regarding the data-proven benefits of using ESDM versus non ESDM behavioral therapy approaches. ESDM is one of the few approaches of early intervention used with infants and toddlers (12-48 months) that has conclusive data support.
The Necessity of Interaction
Autism often affects young children through a lack of desire for interacting with others. This difference is not a disability in itself, but considering how every interaction an infant has stimulates learning and brain function, those children not seeking out an adequate amount of social interaction do not gain valuable social and communication skills and form critical neural pathways at the same pace as those infants whom have the desire to socially interact.
Young children learn from social interactions of all kinds. If social interaction is less exciting than toys to infants with ASD, then there will be more competing environmental variables when attempting to engage (such as television or any interesting toy). Therefore, Autism could be seen as preventing the child's desire to engage with others, which begins a domino effect of fewer opportunities to learn social cues and will affect future social interactions.
Another point to consider is that play skills are not a natural born ability. They are learned based off engagement with older siblings, parents, daycare workers etc. Pretend play provides vital building blocks for social interactions, and by utilizing the Early Start Denver Model, it provides a myriad of beneficial engagements for children with ASD.
Maximizing Opportunities to Learn
The Early Start Denver Model focuses on creating social experiences that have the child with ASD actively engaged in the family's social activities. Tasks that could appear as normal everyday routines actually have the capability to engage the child with ASD and provide learning opportunities. These activities are as simple as grocery shopping, diaper changes, going down a slide, taking a walk, and even feeding pets. These are important activities where children can learn, and ESDM emphasizes the importance of parents coaching their children as well.
The Data
Research by Geri Dawson in 2010 demonstrates the success of using the Early Start Denver Model in a controlled trial. There were 48 children with ASD between the ages of 18 months and 30 months. The groups were divided into those engaging in 15 hours per week of ESDM as well as additional parent coaching, and the others using community intervention that was available in the city of Seattle at the time. Both groups had similar amounts of time in therapy each week. The children also all had similarly matched IQs at the beginning of the trial, around 60, which is a typical range for children of that age with ASD.
One year later, the children receiving ESDM gained about 17 IQ points on average, compared to the children in the comparison community group that did not include ESDM, gained about 5. The children in the ESDM group increased their IQs so much (to 80) that they no longer fell under the range of intellectual disability.
However, the same is not true for Autism severity, as ADOS scores indicate how much of a gain they can make. The children with more severe autism in the ESDM group did better than the children with severe autism in the community group, but they did not have nearly as high of IQ gain as the children with milder autism to begin with. Neverthless, the ESDM treatment still showed gains with children with severe ASD.
Earlier studies along with Geri's came to the same conclusion: children receiving a variety of interventions do not tend to make as much progress as children who receive a highly focused, and carefully manualized and organized intervention like ESDM.
Another breakthrough for ESDM was that children in the ESDM group also showed similar responses to typical developing children when it came to brain responses to faces. They proved to have faster and stronger electrical brain responses to faces (a discovery acknowledged in Time Magazine) than they did to toys.
The community group proved to still have stronger brain responses to toys than to faces of people.
The Early Start Denver Model has revolutionized ABA therapy, and we hope this informative blog post has given you a greater insight into its effectiveness. Feel free to comment with any questions, comments or additional experiences pertaining to the Early Start Denver Model!
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How Far Can You Shoot With a 200mm Lens?
The 200mm is a telephoto lens that makes subjects appear more prominent in the frame. When you can't adjust the lens barrel, how far can you shoot with a 200mm lens? We're looking into how magnification works on 200mm lenses and how it can reach and photograph faraway subjects.
How Far Can You Shoot With a 200mm Lens?
A 200mm lens lets you shoot subjects about 60 feet away from you to fill the frame. Since lenses can focus at infinity, you can use a 200mm lens to capture subjects beyond 500 feet. However, the effect depends on the subject's size, your shooting position, background, and foreground.
A telephoto lens may not necessarily be a zoom lens, just like in the case of a 200mm lens. However, it still can let you 'reach' subjects in a magnified way. That's why we're going to look at the variable factors that may influence your shooting distance.
Determining the 200mm Lens Reach
The 200mm focal length controls the field of view, which means this lens has a narrow angle of view at long distances. When using a 200mm lens, the subject can easily fill the frame when it's about 60 feet away from you.
A close up shot of a 200mm lens
Hence, if you want to include background and foreground elements, you need to move back until the camera sensor captures the actual size of the subject.
When talking about how far you can take photos with a 200mm lens, this refers to the ability to narrow your field, giving you a close-up perspective of the subject. You can zoom in on anything as long as it's within the closest focus of a 200mm lens.
200mm Magnification Ratio
When it comes to 200mm lenses, the distance of how far you can take pictures refers to the magnification ratio. While the magnification ratio varies depending on the brand, a 200mm lens typically has a 2.85x magnification rate. Thus, a 200mm would make subjects appear 4 to 5 times closer.
Shooting Distance Depending On the Desired Framing
Picture this— even if a tree is 1 foot away from you, it can quickly fill the frame because of the magnification ratio. In contrast, if you're about 40 feet away from it, there would be less subject detail yet more background elements.
Furthermore, any telephoto lens can photograph the sky. However, you would need a narrower field of view if you want the moon or the stars to fill the frame.
As you can see, the question of how far you can shoot with a 200m lens also relies on how you want to frame the subject.
Zooming Distance of a 200mm Lens
A 200mm lens cannot zoom in and out because of its fixed focal length. A telephoto lens like the 200mm produces a pull-in effect, which draws faraway subjects to make them appear closer than they are in reality.
What also gives the impression of a zoomed-in appearance is its perspective compression. This draw-in effect makes far-off subjects near a background look closer together and bigger to the camera.
Photography Scenarios Using a 200mm Lens
Even if the minimum reach of a 200mm lens is 60 feet, it can infinitely focus on distant scenes and objects. However, the actual appearance of the subject on the photo depends on the focal length, the subject's physical size, and the subject's distance to the sensor size.
There's an expected 1.1% growth in the telephoto zoom lens market within 2021-2026. With developing technologies, trends, and features, there are many ways for you to experiment with how far you can shoot using a 200mm lens.
A 70-200mm lens on display
 - Portraits: Despite a person being 100 feet away from you, a 200mm would let you take portraits with some background and foreground elements. However, don't expect to get an ultra close-up shot.
 - Landscapes: A 200mm enables you to make subjects look more dominant than other parts of the frame. For example, when you're 60 feet away from boulders, the mountains in the background look too shallow. Meanwhile, standing father at 150 feet would make the mountains smaller and the boulders mightier.
 - Wildlife: When birdwatching, you can still see the birds flying in the sky even if you're on the ground and the birds are 150 feet away from you. While you can't zoom in on the bird's details, you can capture a portion of the sky and the outline of the birds.
 - Sports: Imagine yourself watching a basketball game, and you're 20 feet away from the sidelines. Even if there are 3 rows of bleachers in front of you, you can get a half-body shot of a player.
Determining how far you can shoot with a 200mm lens depends on some factors, including the subject's size and environmental elements. However, a 200mm lens typically ensures focus within 60 to 520 feet. Make sure to adjust your shooting position to achieve your desired framing and depth of field.


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The Swedish government is pushing for a meat tax to help curb the environmental impact of meat production, but officials don't want to stop there. They would like to see the meat tax enacted throughout all of the European Union to reduce meat consumption.
The proposal was made by Sweden's Board of Agriculture, according to a report by EurActiv.com.
"Environmental regulations and economics incentives like environmental taxes or subsidies are possible alternatives. Preferably they should be implemented at the EU level rather than the national level," the board's report, Sustainable meat consumption: What is it? How do we get there?, said.
Meat is popular among Swedish – and European – consumers. Last year Swedes consumed 191 pounds of meat, but Marit Paulsen, a Swedish Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and vice president of the European Parliament's agriculture committee, said that she would like to see meat consumption in the Scandinavian country drop to 99 to 110 pounds per person annually. Read more from EurActiv here.
In the U.S., the livestock industry is also fighting rumors surrounding meat's environmental impact despite evidence of the contrary. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported that animal agriculture accounted for just 2.8 percent of the country's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and Judith Capper, Ph.D., assistant professor of animal sciences at Washington State University, said in a recent "Meat MythCrusher" video report that the livestock industry has been proactive in reducing environmental impact. Watch the Meat MythCrusher video report here.
This isn't the first time that vegetarianism has promoted from Sweden. In August 2012, scientists at the Stockholm International Water Institute announced that a looming water shortage would force the global population to become vegetarian by 2050. Click here to read, "We'll all be vegetarians by 2050, scientists say."