text:
iSeries Lead Developer
Posted on Jun 23, 2021 by Responsive Search, Inc.
Des Plaines, IL 60016
$110k - $120k Annual
iSeries Lead Developer/Techno Functional Role:
- Direct and manage the following for our JD Edwards WORLD A7.3 customized environment: tasks and timelines for the definition, design, and development of new application software for small to large complex projects.
- Manage internal and external development staff assigned to projects.
- Create technical design documents.
- Manage the development of the changes.
- Create system and unit test cases.
- Execute unit and system testing.
- Provide user support and complete application system trouble-shooting.
- Adhere to department guidelines of full-life cycle, software development as well as application system development standards, and guidelines.
- Adhere to change control process and procedures.
- Develop technical documentation to support development activities.
- Provide regular communications to IT management on the status of application systems projects.
- Participate in an off-hours support rotation, approximately 8 weeks per year.
- Update knowledge and skills through continuing education and internal/external training activities.
- Keep abreast of trends in application development and support for iSeries and Client Server systems.
- 5+ years STRONG experience with JD Edwards WORLD Software highly preferred. Other ERP experience will be considered.
- 5+ years of previous software development on the iSeries platform using all versions of RPG including SQLRPGLE and RPG Free.
- 5+ years of Functional Supply Chain Experience with an emphasis on distribution is preferred.
- A solid understanding of the financial configuration surrounding distribution (DMAAI).
- Exposure and understanding of XML/CXML.
- Knowledge of other platforms and coding languages a plus
- 5+ years leading large scale development projects.
- Must be able to work independently with minimal supervision with good time management skills.
- Proven track record with analysing business requirements and developing automated solutions.
- Excellent analytical and system development skills with strong project management and user communications skills
- Ability to handle complex development projects from start to finish.
- Excellent inter-personal communication skills and management skills
- The ability to work well with technical and non-technical personnel.
- Some travel may be required.
- Bachelor's Degree Preferred in Computer Science, Information Systems.


columns of A are S[j] = Q[index(R, j + 1)], merged with columns of B. The second example shows a row for all j ≥ 0. Furthermore, the AML expression on the right- (dimension zero) merge. The second example also shows how hand side is merge-balanced. the default value (δ) is used by a mergei operation. It serves two purposes. First, in a dimension j = i, the lengths of the The following two theorems show that sub and merge two arrays may not match. If so, the shorter array (B in Fig. 5) operators can be reordered. In particular, they describe how a is expanded, using δ values, until it matches the length of sub can be pushed through a subsequent merge operator. A the longer array. Second, as the two arrays are interleaved in proof of Theorem 10 appears in Appendix A. dimension i, the operation may exhaust the slabs of one array before it exhausts the slabs of the other. In this case also, slabs Theorem 10 (Pushing sub through merge, version 1). ﬁlled with δ values are used in place of the array slabs from If P = 0, P = 1, Q = 0 and the expression on the left is the exhausted array. merge-balanced, then For some merge operators with particular patterns, the arrays C and C from Deﬁnition 12 are identical. If so, the subi ( Q, mergei (P, A, B, δ)) = merge operator is said to be balanced. mergei (T, subi (R, A), subi (S, B), δ), Deﬁnition 13 (Balanced merge). The merge operation where mergei (P, A, B, δ) is balanced if both of the following conditions hold: R[j] = Q[index(P, j + 1)], 1. For all dimensions j = i, A[j] = B[j]. and 2. C[i] = (A[i] + B[i]). S[j] = Q[index(P, j + 1)], where C is the array deﬁned by the merge. and In Fig. 5, the top merge is balanced, whereas the bottom merge is not. An AML expression in which all merge op- T [j] = P [index(Q, j + 1)], erations are balanced is said to be in merge-balanced form. Theorems 10 and 11 that follow hold only for AML expresfor all j ≥ 0. Furthermore, the merge operation on the right sions that are in merge-balanced form. is balanced. In the running example of Fig. 1, array B can be put on top of array C using the expression Theorem 11 (Pushing sub through merge, version 2). If i = j and the merge on the left is balanced, then D = merge2 (10, B, C). (3) (D is not explicitly shown in Fig. 1.) When the TVI function is subi ( Q, mergej (P, A, B, δ)) = applied to D, the TVI image D results. As Eq. (3) illustrates, mergej (P, subi (Q, A), subi (Q, B), δ). merge can be used to increase the dimensionalities of arrays. Theorems 6–8 follow easily from the deﬁnition of merge. Furthermore, the merge operation on the right is balanced.
6.A.P. Marathe, K. Salem: Query processing techniques for arrays 73 3 dim. 0 2 dim. 1 array A 1 f(A, [2,2]) 0 0 1 2 3 4 f: f(A, [2,1]) f(A, [0,1]) B = APPLY(f, A, 10, 0110) 1 f(A, [0,2]) array B 0 P0 P1 0 1 2 3 Fig. 6. An illustration of the apply operation. The notation f (A, x) refers to the result of applying f to the subarray of A of shape D f at x. Thus, f (A, x) is an array of shape Rf. In this example, D f is 2, 2, and Rf is 1, 2 3.3 The apply operation only if x falls in selected slabs in all d dimensions of the array; that is, only if Pi [x[i]] = 1 for all 0 ≤ i < dim(A). The apply operator applies an externally-deﬁned function to In Fig. 6, the pattern P0 = 10 (which means 101010...) an array to produce a new array. In its most general form, it is selects the ﬁrst and third row slabs, whereas the pattern P1 = written as 0110 selects the second and third column slabs. This leads to a total of four applications of the function f. The dashed B = apply(f, A, P0, P1,..., Pd−1 ), squares in A in Fig. 6 show the four subarrays to which f is applied. Each application of f produces a result of shape where f is the function to be applied, A is the array to apply Rf = 1, 2. These four arrays are concatenated, as shown in it to, Pi 's are patterns, and d = dim(A). Patterns that conFig. 6, to produce the ﬁnal result. sist entirely of ones are often dropped from the notation. In particular, in the expression Deﬁnition 14 (apply). Let A be an array, f be a function B = apply(f, A), that maps arrays of shape D f over domain DA to arrays of shape Rf over domain D, and P0, P1,..., Pdim(A)−1 be all of the patterns are assumed to be ones. patterns. Let f (A, x), where x ∈ A, represent the result of A simple way to deﬁne an operation, like apply, that apapplying f to the subarray of A of shape D f at x. The result plies an externally deﬁned function f would be to insist that of the expression apply(f, A, P0, P1,..., Pdim(A)−1 ) is an f map from arrays of A's shape and domain to arrays of B's array. This array, which will be called B, is deﬁned as follows: shape and domain. The operator would then simply compute B = f (A). However, many common array functions have • DB = D some structural locality: the value found at a particular point • for all i ≥ 0, in B depends only on the values at certain points in A, not on – if A[i] < D f [i] or Pi = 0, then B[i] = 0 the values at all points in A. For example, if f is a smooth- – otherwise B[i] = count(Pi, A[i] − D f [i]) · Rf [i] ing function that maps each point in A to the average of that • for all x in B, B[x] = f (A, y)[x mod Rf ], where y[i] = point and its neighbors, then to determine the value at some index(Pi, x[i]/Rf [i] + 1) for all 0 ≤ i < dim(A) point in B, we need only look at the corresponding point and Several important properties of this deﬁnition are illusits neighbors in A. Such information can be very valuable for trated in Fig. 6. First, although the subarrays to which f is optimizing the execution of an expression involving the array applied may overlap in A, the resulting subarrays do not overoperators. lap in the array B. Second, the arrangement of resulting subThe apply operation is deﬁned so that this kind of strucarrays in B preserves the spatial arrangement of the selected tural relationship can be made explicit when it exists. Apply subarrays in A. Finally, the subarrays to which f is applied requires that f be deﬁned to map subarrays of A of some ﬁxed must be entirely contained within A. In the example in Fig. 6, shape D f to subarrays of B of some ﬁxed shape Rf. The shape this means that even if the subarray at [3, 3] was selected by D f is called the domain box of f, and Rf is called the range the patterns, f (A, [3, 3]) would not be evaluated, since that box. The apply operator applies f to some or all of the subsubarray lies partially outside of A. arrays (of shape D f ) of A. The results of these applications In the running example in Fig. 1, array B results from are concatenated to generate B. This process is illustrated in applying the noise reduction function fnr to the third spectral Fig. 6. band–array B deﬁned by Eq. (2). fnr maps arrays of shape The pattern arguments of apply specify to which of the 3,


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Title: Effect of chlorine dioxide gas on physical, thermal, mechanical, and barrier properties of p[olymeric packaging materials Authors
|Netramai, Siriyupa - MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY|
|Rubino, Maria - MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY|
|Aurus, Rafael - MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY|
Submitted to: Journal of Applied Polymer Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: August 2, 2009
Publication Date: February 5, 2010
Citation: Netramai, S., Rubino, M., Aurus, R., Annous, B.A. 2010. Effect of chlorine dioxide gas on physical, thermal, mechanical, and barrier properties of polymeric packaging materials. Journal of Applied Polymer Science. 115:_PHONE_. Interpretive Summary: In 2001, the FDA approved the incorporation of chlorine dioxide gas (ClO2), a strong oxidizing agent, within food packaging materials to be used for uncooked meats, such as poultry and seafood. If the package is going to be considered as a strategy for the release and application of ClO2 gas, the mass transfer properties of ClO2 need to be determined since it will impact the selection of material with appropriate barrier to such gas. In the first part of our study, permeability, diffusion, and solubility coefficients of ClO2 were determined for 10 types of polymeric packaging materials. However, the exposure of polymeric material to oxidizing agents under different applied conditions could lead to changes in the overall performance of the polymeric materials. Thus, the specific objectives of this work were to determine and evaluate the effects of exposure of gaseous ClO2 on a) chemical, b) physical, c) mechanical, and d) barrier properties of the 10 types of polymeric packaging materials. Changes in characteristics of these packaging materials following exposure to ClO2 varied. Currently, we are evaluating the incorporation of different polymeric material for the development of a film with optimal performance in the presence of ClO2.
Technical Abstract: In the first part of our study we determined permeability, diffusion, and solubility coefficients of gaseous chlorine dioxide (ClO2) through the following packaging material: biaxial-oriented polypropylene (BOPP); polyethylene terephthalate (PET); poly lactic acid (PLA); multilayer structure of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) and ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH) [EVA/EVOH/EVA]; polyethylene (PE); polyvinyl chloride (PVC); polystyrene (PS); nylon. However, strong oxidizing agents such as ClO2 can cause oxidative degradation of these packing materials. The effects of ClO2 on properties, and performance of selected polymeric packaging materials were assessed by their IR spectrum, physical, mechanical, barrier, and color properties. The samples were exposed to 3,600 ppm ClO2 at 23 C for up to 14 days. The IR spectra of the exposed samples indicated many changes in their chemical characteristics, such as the formation of polar groups in polyolefins, the changes in functional groups, the main chain scission degradation, as well as, the possible chlorination in several sample types. The exposed PEs samples showed a decrease in tensile properties. Decreases in barrier to moisture, oxygen and/or carbon dioxide were observed in PVC, PET and multilayer EVA/EVOH/EVA. On the other hand, significant increase in barrier to O2 was observed in the exposed nylon, which could be the result of the molecular reordering in the exposed sample, as implied through the increase in the crystallinity of the material.

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


Schools, healthcare and housing: are we becoming overcrowded?
The potential overcrowding of public services and social infrastructure like schools, healthcare and housing has always been a major political and public concern and continues to be so. If demand rises and supply does not, people will find access to services more difficult, leading to longer waiting times, less space, or worsening overall service. To find out if Britain is becoming overcrowded we try to answer the following questions: are school classes really getting larger? Are waiting times for elective care and emergency services in the NHS becoming longer? Is the housing stock getting more or less crowded?
You can find the answers to these questions in our report: CSI 6: Overcrowding


text:
FREQUENCY DOMAIN CHARACTERIZATION OF OPTIC FLOW AND VISION-BASED OCELLAR SENSING FOR ROTATIONAL MOTION
Gurel, Nil Zeynep
Horiuchi, Timothy K
MetadataShow full item record
The structure of an animal's eye is determined by the tasks it must perform. While vertebrates rely on their two eyes for all visual functions, insects have evolved a wide range of specialized visual organs to support behaviors such as prey capture, predator evasion, mate pursuit, flight stabilization, and navigation. Compound eyes and ocelli constitute the vision forming and sensing mechanisms of some flying insects. They provide signals useful for flight stabilization and navigation. In contrast to the well-studied compound eye, the ocelli, seen as the second visual system, sense fast luminance changes and allows for fast visual processing. Using a luminance-based sensor that mimics the insect ocelli and a camera-based motion detection system, a frequency-domain characterization of an ocellar sensor and optic flow (due to rotational motion) are analyzed. Inspired by the insect neurons that make use of signals from both vision sensing mechanisms, advantages, disadvantages and complementary properties of ocellar and optic flow estimates are discussed.


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Considering a tropical island getaway sometime soon? Does the idea of sitting on a sandy beach and indulging in fresh coconut milk brought to you by friendly locals sound fun? If this is the holiday you have in mind then we have just one suggestion for you stay far away from North Sentinel Island. The island belongs to a string of islands in the Bay of Bengal known as the Andaman Islands and the locals don't want you to visit. Period.
After the massive tsunami that wrecked havoc on the Islands of the Indian Ocean in 2004, a coast guard helicopter was attacked by the local population. Flying low to survey any damages and look for possible survivors of the tsunami in need of assistance, the helicopter was welcomed by the barrage of arrows and hostility. The Sentinelese are considered an "un-contacted tribe" and have very little contact with outsiders. They still practice traditional hunting and gathering practices and never attempted to leave their native island.
In 1880 a British expedition captured six natives from the island and returned those who didn't die immediately from illness with gifts. This common practice at the time had zero effect on the tribesman, who were largely left alone into the mid 20th century. The tribe made international headlines in 2006 when the bodies of two murdered fisherman were discovered by aerial cameras. The men approached the island illegally and paid the highest price for their folly. After this incident a 3 mile safety radius was imposed to protect both the tribe and any unlucky tourists.
The Sentinelese people have violently opposed contact and consequently preserved the integrity of their culture over time. For the last 60,000 years they have called the North Sentinel Island home and have no desire to relinquish it to outsiders. Their population is estimated to between 50-200 people but no visitors have lived to confirm the account to date…


Distance Belgrade Salamanca. Directions, total distances, average speed, travel time, calculate cost and fuel consumption
Road distance Belgrade Salamanca
The total distance represents the road distance in km or miles between Belgrade and Salamanca. Initially this is displayed in km but you can always change it using the settings (by selecting the distance in miles or the distance in km):
Average speed
The average speed for the route Belgrade - Salamanca is calculated by taking into account the speed limit on each road segment as well as their length.
Travel time
The time required for a car to travel the distance between Belgrade and Salamanca, taking into account the speed allowed for each road segment.
Time of arrival
The time of arrival in Salamanca is calculated considering that you are departing immediately from Belgrade It takes into account the total travel time.
Fuel price
Total consumption
It represents total fuel (in liters or gallons) needed to travel the road distance from Belgrade to Salamanca.
Calculate a new route
Addresses containing a street number: - 10 Street Name, Belgrade
points of interest: - ATM Belgrade or Hotel Name, Salamanca
postal codes: - 012345


Schoolbus or RV? Why we chose a bus
You might be a bit confused at this point, so if you have no idea why someone would say School Bus and RV in the same sentence, go check out my other post What is a Skoolie? first. Now that we're on [relatively] the same page, let's get into it. Naturally, when I


Take the 2-minute tour ×
I have an array with a bunch of strings and I want to check if a certain string is contained in the array. If I use the containsObject: message on the array, I'm getting correct results. Do all NSString objects with the same string point to the same object? Or why is the containsObject: working?
NSArray *stringArray = [NSArray arrayWithObjects:@"1",@"2",@"3",anotherStringValue, nil];
if([stringArray containsObject:@"2"]){
share|improve this question
2 Answers 2
up vote 89 down vote accepted
Yes, hard-coded NSStrings (string literals) (that is any @"..." in your source code) are turned into strings that exist indefinitely while your process is running.
However NSArray's containsObject: methods calls isEqual: on its objects, hence even a dynamically created string such as [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%d", 2] would return YES in your sample snippet.
This is because NSString's isEqual: (or more precisely its isEqualToString:) method is implemented to be content aware (vs. comparing pointer identities) and thus returns YES for any pair of strings containing the very same sequence of characters (at time of comparison), no matter how and when they were created.
To check for equal (pointer-)identity you'd have to enumerate your array and compare via
NSString *yourString = @"foo";
BOOL identicalStringFound = NO;
for (NSString *someString in stringArray) {
 if (someString == yourString) {
 identicalStringFound = YES;
(which you most likely wouldn't want, though).
Or in a more convenient fashion:
BOOL identicalStringFound = [stringArray indexOfObjectIdenticalTo:someString]!= NSNotFound;
(you most likely wouldn't want this one either).
Summing up:
So the reason you're getting a positive reply from containsObject: is NOT because literal strings share the same constant instance, BUT because containsObject: by convention calls isEqual:, which is content aware.
You might want to read the (short) documentation for isEqual: from the NSObject protocol.
share|improve this answer
containsObject: performs a value check, not a pointer check. It uses the isEqual: method defined by NSObject and overridden by other objects for testing. Therefore, if two strings contain the same sequence of characters, they will be considered the same.
The distinction between pointer testing and value testing is very important in some cases. Constant strings defined in source code are combined by the compiler so that they are the same object. However, strings created dynamically are not the same object. Here is an example program which will demonstrate this:
int main(int argc, char **argv) {
 NSAutoreleasePool *p = [NSAutoreleasePool new];
 NSString *constantString = @"1";
 NSString *constantString2 = @"1";
 NSString *dynamicString = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%i",1];
 NSArray *theArray = [NSArray arrayWithObject:constantString];
 if(constantString == constantString2) NSLog(@"constantString == constantString2");
 else NSLog(@"constantString!= constantString2");
 if(constantString == dynamicString) NSLog(@"constantString == dynamicString");
 else NSLog(@"constantString!= dynamicString");
 if([constantString isEqual:dynamicString]) NSLog(@"[constantString isEqual:dynamicString] == YES");
 else NSLog(@"[constantString isEqual:dynamicString] == NO");
 NSLog(@"theArray contains:\n\tconstantString: %i\n\tconstantString2: %i\n\tdynamicString: %i",
 [theArray containsObject:constantString],
 [theArray containsObject:constantString2],
 [theArray containsObject:dynamicString]);
The output of this program is:
2011-04-27 17:10:54.686 a.out[41699:903] constantString == constantString2
2011-04-27 17:10:54.705 a.out[41699:903] constantString!= dynamicString
2011-04-27 17:10:54.706 a.out[41699:903] [constantString isEqual:dynamicString] == YES
2011-04-27 17:10:54.706 a.out[41699:903] theArray contains:
constantString: 1
constantString2: 1
dynamicString: 1
share|improve this answer
Your Answer


text:
I have a value saved in a variable called $date, which contains the date in format 03/04/1986. The excel document I am working with has a lot of rows and columns. One row contains dates for the next 5 years. What I want to do is match the value of the date variable to the current date somewhere in the row, so iterate across the whole row until $date matches the date, so I know what column to update. How should I go about doing this?
Can you provide an example file?
Hello, i would suggest that you use filter, inside it, choose $date1 = $date2.
This will choose only the rows that contain that date, than you can use a for each, and update your excel file with the data you want.
Let me know if this helped
Hi _USER_ what would this look like? Is it the filter inside the read range activity? I can't seem to find where I would enter the filter, $date1 = $date2 at. Also, say $date1 = 02/05/65, what is $date2? Essentially how do I say look at this row in excel and keep going till it matches so that $date2 has a value
If you share an example file it will be easy to troubleshoot
1 - Read the data from your excel file, using Read Range Activity inside, Excel Scope Activity.
2 - Filter your excel data, where the column which has the dates, contains the date you want to exclude or find, outside the Excel Scope.
3 - An If activity, so that if the date found, than… etc.
4 - Update your column, using Write Range Activity, Inside Excel Scope.
Hope this clears things for you


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GNU MIX Development Kit (MDK)
MIX is Donald Knuth's mythical computer as described in his monumental work The Art Of Computer Programming. As any of its real counterparts, the MIX features registers, memory cells, an overflow toggle, comparison flags, input-output devices, and a set of binary instructions executable by its virtual CPU. You can program the MIX using an assembly language called MIXAL, the MIX Assembly Language.
So, what's the use of learning MIXAL? The MIX computer is a simplified version of real CISC computers, and its assembly language closely resembles real ones. You can learn MIX/MIXAL as an introduction to computer architecture and assembly programming: see the MDK documentation for a tutorial on MIX and MIXAL.
MDK (MIX Development Kit) offers an emulation of MIX and MIXAL. The current version of MDK includes the following applications:
- mixasm A MIXAL compiler, which translates your source files into binary ones, executable by the MIX virtual machine.
- mixvm A MIX virtual machine which is able to run and debug compiled MIXAL programs, using a command line interface with readline's line editting capabilities.
- gmixvm A MIX virtual machine with a GTK+ GUI which allows you running and debugging your MIXAL programs through a nice graphical interface (see screenshots).
- mixguile A Guile interpreter with an embedded MIX virtual machine, manipulable through a library of Scheme functions.
- mixal-mode.el An Emacs major mode for MIXAL source files editing, providing syntax highlighting, documentation lookup and invocation of mixvm within Emacs (since version 22, mixal-mode is part of the standard Emacs distribuition).
- mixvm.el An elisp program which allows you to run mixvm within an Emacs GUD window, simultaneously viewing your MIXAL source file in another buffer.
Using the MDK tools, you'll be able to
- write, compile and execute MIXAL programs,
- set breakpoints and run your programs step by step,
- set conditional breakpoints (register change, memory change, etc.),
- collect execution timing statistics,
- trace executed instructions,
- inspect and modify the MIX registers, flags and memory contents at any step,
- simulate MIX input-output devices using the standard output and your file system.
The user's manual is distributed with the source tarball in texinfo format, which is converted to info files during the installation process. It is also available in a variety of formats in the documentation section.
- Repository: git://git.sv.gnu.org/mdk.git
- Development branch: master
- Online access here
You can get the sources using the following incantation:
git clone git://git.sv.gnu.org/mdk.git
or, for those of you behind a firewall,
git clone _URL_

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


text:
NASA appears to have resolved problems with a new urine recycling system on the International Space Station, bolstering hopes it will be able to expand the research outpost's crew next year, officials at the space agency said on Tuesday.
Reusing wastewater is essential for doubling the size of the crew living aboard the station from three members to six, especially since the space shuttles, which produce water as a by-product of their electrical systems, are to be retired in two years.
The device, part of a $250 million new life-support system aboard the station, shut down during three previous attempts to purify urine. NASA wants the visiting shuttle Endeavour crew to bring home processed samples for analysis before declaring the water purification system suitable for use.
Two rounds of modifications to stabilise the device's centrifuge appear to have worked, flight director Brian Smith said on Tuesday. It completed a full five-hour run on Monday and was nearing completion of a second full run early on Tuesday.
Engineers planned to keep the device operating all day in hopes of producing enough processed urine before Endeavour's departure on Friday. The device was ferried into orbit and installed in the station's Destiny laboratory after the shuttle arrived on 16 November.
The shuttle's stay at the station was extended a day to wait for the samples.
"We're going to try to keep it going all day and have the crew just reload the (urine) tank as it gets low," Smith said.
Also Tuesday, NASA tested the station's newly repaired solar wing rotary joint, which was cleaned and restored during four spacewalks by Endeavour astronauts.
The joint had been contaminated by metal filings, prompting NASA to lock it in place to prevent damage. Immobilising the wing, however, prevented panels from tracking the Sun for full power.
While the crews slept, engineers on the ground watched as the joint automatically pivoted to track the Sun for the first time in a year.
"There's months worth of testing left to go before we can really determine what impact all four (spacewalks) had on that joint," Smith said.
Endeavour is due back at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sunday after 16 days in orbit.
NASA plans eight more flights to the station, a $100 billion project of 16 nations, before the shuttles are retired in 2010.
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Have your say
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Only personal subscribers may leave comments on this article
Tue Nov 25 23:37:32 GMT 2008 by Andos
So, the stabilising and vibration dampening rubber stand that the water recycler was originally attached to actually amplified vibrations and made the centrifuge unstable? Damn.
It's good that they got it working. I wonder why the original design worked out so counter-actively? I guess with these things you just have to get them up there and try them out to find out what works best.
Quote Of The Week
Wed Nov 26 02:01:59 GMT 2008 by Dann
ABC News (Australia) covered this story recently. I quote:
"A spokesman said their number one priority was to get a sample of recycled water back to Earth for testing."
'Number one' priority indeed... :-)
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Crime and Punishment (1935): Von Sternberg's Version of Dostoevsky
Sternberg at Columbia Pictures, _PHONE_
The shakeup that followed bankruptcy at Paramount in 1934 led to exodus of talent. Producer Schulberg and screenwriter Furthman were hired by the head of Columbia Pictures, Harry Cohn. As loyal former colleagues, they sponsored Sternberg's work at the low-budget studio for two-picture contract.
Crime and Punishment (1935)
An adaption of the 19th-century Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment was Sternberg's first project at Columbia.
Making literary masterpieces for the mass public was prevalent in the 1930s, and as copyrights on these works were expired, the studio paid no fees.
Sternberg invested Dostoevsky's work with style, but any attempt to convey the complexity of the author's character analysis was suspended in favor of straightforward detective story. However, Sternberg proved an able craftsman, dispelling the myths regarding his eccentricities and the film proved satisfactory to Columbia.
The King Steps Out (1936)
Sternberg's next feature, The King Steps Out, starring soprano Grace Moore, was based on Fritz Kreisler's operetta Cissy. A comedy of errors about Austrian royalty set in Vienna, the production was undermined by personal and professional discord between opera diva and director.
Sternberg was unable to adapt his style to the demands of operetta. Sternberg quickly departed Columbia Pictures after the film's completion. The King Steps Out was the only movie he insisted to be expunged from retrospectives of his work.
From 1935 to 1936, Sternberg travelled in the Far East for future artistic endeavors. During these excursions he made the acquaintance of Japanese film distributor Nagamasa Kawakita – they would collaborate on Sternberg's final movie in 1953. In Java Sternberg contracted abdominal infection, requiring his immediate return to Europe for surgery.
I, Claudius (1937)
The Epic That Never Was, a 1966 BBC documentary by London Films, directed by Bill Duncalf, addresses the making of the unfinished I, Claudius and the reasons for its failure.
The docu includes interviews with surviving members from the cast and crew, as well as director Josef von Sternberg. Contrary to the revised version of the docu, the Sternberg-Laughton quarrels were not central factor in the film's undoing. Despite objections from Merle Oberon, the film was not so far advanced in production that she could not be replaced; a substitute actress was a feasible option.
Moreover, Sternberg "cut in the camera", i.e. he did not experiment on the set with multiple camera configurations that would provide raw material for the cutting room. On the contrary, he filmed each frame as he wished it to appear on the screen.
Film historian Andrew Sarris offers this assessment: "Sternberg emerges from the documentary as an undeniable force in the process of creation, and even his enemies confirm his artistic presence in every foot of the film he shot."
While convalescing in London, the dir
ector, his creative powers still intact, was approached by London Films' Alexander Korda. The British impresario asked Sternberg to film novelist and poet Robert Graves's biographical account of Roman Emperor Claudius. Already in pre-production, Marlene Dietrich had intervened on Sternberg's behalf rather than British director William Cameron Menzies.
Played by Charles Laughton, Claudius is an aging, erudite and unwitting successor to the Emperor Caligula. When thrust into power, he initially governs upon the precepts of his heretofore virtuous life. As emperor, he warms to his tasks as a social reformer and military commander. When his young wife, Messalina (Merle Oberon) proves unfaithful while Claudius is away campaigning, he launches his armies against Rome and signs her death warrant. Proclaimed a living god, the now dehumanized and megalomaniacal Claudius meets his tragic fate: to rule his empire utterly alone. The dual themes of virtue corrupted by power, and the cruel paradox that degradation must precede self-empowerment were immensely appealing to Sternberg both personally and artistically. Korda was eager to get the production underway, as Laughton's contract would likely expire during shooting.
Korda had already assembled a talented cast and crew when Sternberg assumed directorial duties in January 1937. When shooting commenced in mid-February Sternberg, a martinet who was prone to reducing his performers "to mere details of décor," soon clashed with Laughton, the Oscar-winner actor.
Laughton required the intervention of the director to consummate a role–"a midwife" according to Korda. Sternberg, who had clear insight cinematically and emotionally as to the Claudius he wished to create, struggled with Laughton in frequent artistic arguments. The actor announced five weeks into the filming that he would be departing London Film when his contract expired in April 1937. Korda, now under pressure to expedite the production, discreetly sounded Sternberg. With only half the picture done, Sternberg exploded, declaring he was engaged in artistic endeavor, not race to a deadline.
In March, with growing personnel animosities and cost overruns, Merle Oberon was seriously injured in automobile accident. Though expected to recover, Korda seized upon Oberon's mishap as pretext to terminate the ill-fated venture.


Emphasis and Word Order
Емваза со поредиям словес
21.1 The Particle же
The particle же źe has two functions: simple emphasis and contrastive emphasis.
When preceded by an interrogative, as has previously been mentioned, же strengthens the force of the question. It is usually written cliticized to the interrogative. If the interrogative ends in a vowel, it reduces to simply -ж ; if it ends in /j/, it becomes -иж -iź.
1 Какож оне тако буистрѣ суди приходиле?
Kákoź óne táko buístrě sudí prihódile?
how-emph he.nom so fast-adv to_here arrive-past-masc
"How the heck did he get here so quickly?"
After any other part of speech, же serves a contrastive function. In such a role it is always written as a separate word, even though it is phonetically unstressed and tends to cliticize to the preceding word. This form does not reduce to ж.
It most commonly appears after nouns and adjectives. It indicates that only the preceding group specified by the previous word is involved, and not any other. Both are demonstrated below:
2 Яс повастале обух друж туоих, но Рая же мнѣ кағьеци симпатнейшей.
Iás povástale óbuh drúź tuojíh, no Ráia źe mně́ káğjeci simpatnéiśei.
I.nom meet.pf-past-masc both-gen friend-gen.pl your-gen.pl, but Ráia-nom emph I.datins seem-3sg-mid nice-comp-datins.sg.fem
"I've met both of your friends, but Ráia seems nicer to me."
3 Принези плави же тарѣлки со шкавѣ, прусим.
Prinezí plávi źe tarě́lki so śkávě, prúsim.
bring_over.pf-2sg.imper light_blue-nom.pl emph plate-nom.pl from_off cabinet-gen.sg, please
"Grab the blue plates from the cabinet, please. (and not any of the others)"
If же and the topical marker то fall on the same word, they merge into a single invariable form -че če, attached to the word by a dash. In older texts this may also be written -тже -tźe or -тше -tśe. If the word would normally take the inverted topical marker -от, the combined emphatic/topical marker is spelt -оче -óče.
4 Оғо ѣм, но паста-че моей прѣлубимой ѣдой.
Oğó iě́m, no pásta-če moiéi prělubímoi iědói.
all.acc.sg.neut eat-1sg, but pasta-nom.sg-emph.top Ø my-datins.sg.fem intens-beloved-datins.sg.fem food-datins.sg
"I'll eat anything, but pasta I love the most."
21.2 The Particle и
The particle и i is a verbal emphatic (as in example 5 below), which is placed before the verb to be emphasized, though phonetically it cliticizes to the previous word. It can also be used to emphasize adverbs modifying the verb. However, this is a long-distance effect; the emphatic is still placed before the verb, as in example 6.
5 Тако и бадет.
Táko i bádet.
thus emph be.fut-3sg
"It will be so."
If the noun preceding it is a masculine singular fourth-declension noun ending in -е or a nominative fifth declension noun, in either the nominative or inanimate accusative case, the case ending elides.
6 Суде кеняз и жиле.
Sudé keniáz i źíle.
here price-nom.sg emph live-past-masc
"The prince lived here."
21.3 Word Order
Novegradian has free word order, meaning the main elements of a sentence can be rearranged with few restrictions. However, each possible ordering carries its own subtle meanings. To fully explain the subtleties of each may be impossible, but the following should provide a rough idea. The simple sentence Яс лублун тебе "I love you", with only a subject, object, and verb, will serve as an example.
SVO: Neutral word order, with primary emphasis placed on the object: Яс лублун тебе "I love you
SOV: Neutral word order, with primary emphasis placed on the verb: Яс тебе лублун "I love you"
VSO: Strong emphasis on the verb and the subject's connection to that verb: Лублун яс тебе "I do love you"
OSV: Strong emphasis on the uniqueness of the object and its relation to the subject: Тебе яс лублун "You I love (and no one else)"
VOS: Strong emphasis on the quality of the verb and the object's relation to the subject: Лублун тебе яс "I definitely love you"
OVS: Strong emphasis on the identity of the object and its relation to the subject: Тебе лублун яс "You I truly love"
Note, however, that the presence of any additional elements complicates the meanings. When a topical marker is present, there is a tendency for it to go on the most strongly emphasized word, but by no means an absolute one. This is highly context-dependent.


text:
This Outsiders Game for Chapter 6 is the perfect addition to any novel unit!
According to research, using games when teaching increases student participation, comprehension, as well as fostering emotional and social learning.
Today's 21stcentury student needs to be fully engaged in learning to gain knowledge and then apply it in meaningful ways. Many teachers find that traditional comprehension questions are not engaging and often do not reinforce understanding. Both teacher and student often find answering the traditional chapter questions tedious and uninteresting.
Help your students become fully engaged with S.E. Hinton's"The Outsiders" by incorporating these short, fun games into your unit.
The review game for chapter 6 includes 15 quality and varied questions that reinforce students' understanding. Questions asked are based on:
❒ Literary elements
❒ Everything you would ask in traditional comprehension questions
Students will answer questions to review the chapter in this Invaders arcade-style game. Answer correctly and dispose of the space invaders, and save the universe. Everyone wins when they are learning and having fun!
The games created are interactive, engaging, and varied to maintain student interest. Each game includes a different theme with different challenges. Some games have game-show quiz-style questions, while others are like mini breakout rooms. Even better, the games require no preparation for the teacher. Other than an internet connection, nothing else is required! Merely share the game link with students; they're off to work independently. The games also inform students of the correct answer to all questions, so they will learn the necessary information before moving on to subsequent material.
Students can play these games as a group or individually. Create a class challenge to see who can complete the games in less time. The possibilities are endless! These games are also a great way to engage students in learning online.
The activities will take 5 to 10 minutes, depending on the game and the student's abilities.
I love doing this activity at the beginning of my lessons to review the previous chapter, facilitating discussions and class activities.
The games can be played on any PC, laptop or tablet, Smartphone, Mac, or Chromebook. Anything that can access the internet can be used to access the games.
You may also be interested in the following products:
It's teaching made easy!
Does not apply


text:
Cortex Futura: Algorithms of Thought, Political Science and Context-Dependent Insight
December 04, 2020
In this episode, we talk with Lukas Kawerau, aka. Cortex Futura on Twitter! A known Roaman in the personal knowledge management space, Cortex is an educator through the Roam courses Galaxy Brain and Cite to Write, to help you build deeper knowledge and think better.
In the middle of getting a Ph.D. in Political Science, he has done work on governance, cyber security, and data analysis throughout his career. With that comes the itch to make things, connect, to write notes down, and create his own personal workflows until stumbling into Roam. In this episode we talk about:
- The name Cortex Futura: Where does it come from?
- Lukas' origin story and how Roam blew his mind
- The Cortex Ph.D. workflow: Using Google Scholar, Zotero, Synchronous Reading, and more
- The principles of context-dependent insight, and how it differs from progressive summarization
- Algorithms of Thought, how tools of thought will expand and make an impact on existing institutions
- What Naval said on the Tim Ferriss podcast that made Lukas upset, and why
LinksSupport the show


text:
Autism and Special Needs: Fall themed TRACE AND COPY words and sentences by Jan McCleskey, MA, OTR - The Fine Motor Store on TPT.
SIMPLE word and sentence practice. Have students place their pencil on the dot, and trace and copy the letters within words and sentences. This file contains:
1. Primer List Dolch sightwords: Trace and copy words
2. 30 fall themed trace and copy word pages
3. 27 fall themed trace and copy sentence pages
All words and sentences have picture support to help students read and comprehend the sentences.
These printable worksheets are perfect for preschoolers, Kindergarteners or students with special needs. Very simple - no complex handwriting lines. Students just put their pencil down on the dot and trace. The simple dots help cue copying the letters as well. Students can practice working on sequencing letters correctly as they generalize to writing words and sentences. Very simple, very functional, and students begin to associate words with reading and writing. The picture cues help emerging readers, as well as sight-readers. Even better - the file contains all the beginning primer rightwards as a file to trace and copy each word. Then the sentences in the file, contain all the primer rightwards. Students also learn that it is important to begin to write with lower case letters, and special upper case letters are to be used for the beginning of a sentence, name, etc.
So many uses for this file. Use your creativity. Perfect for reading practice. Perfect for handwriting generalization. Perfect for differentiated curriculum. Perfect for preschoolers and pre-K students.


In this regular feature, Anna Clark, the president of EarthPeople, conducts interviews with leading lights in the green business movement to learn about how entrepreneurs can make green work for them. Anna is also the author of Green, American Style, a book that explores how businesses and individuals are using innovative methods to save money while reducing their environmental impacts.
A series of localized events in the run-up to the United Nations COP21 climate talks highlights new approaches to personalizing global challenges.
Successful companies know how to gauge when stress is leading to risky decisions — and how to mitigate and manage that risk.
For oil and gas companies, any failure to meet environmental rules can bring massive costs. That's why preparation has such a high ROI.
TreeHouse cracks the code to green retail by making it easy for its customers to figure out what to buy and how.
The pharmaceutical giant's czar of all things health, safety and sustainability talks overhauling supply chains.
Environment, health and safety and corporate social responsibility shouldn't be on different worlds. As co-pilots, they take companies to new worlds.
Green initiatives set sail with grand ambitions, only to encounter bad weather and accrue barnacles along the way. Here's how to keep things shipshape.
Envision, a sustainability rating system for public works projects, gives tools to civil engineers and planners.
The company's drive for "outstanding" experiences extends to minimizing pollution and disaster relief.


text:
Area History of the Doan Brook
1796: First permanent settler came to the Cleveland area.
1799: Nathaniel and Sarah Doan and their six children settled beside the Doan Brook. This area became the ford on the main road between Buffalo and Cleveland; now it's the intersection of Euclid Avenue and East 105th Street).
1811: Jacob Russell, a Revolutionary war veteran, purchased 475 acres of land in the upper Doan Brook watershed. They return the following year to build a cabin, plant crops, and relocate their extended family of 20. It is now the intersection of South Park Boulevard and Lee Road.
1822: The North Union Shaker Community was started by Ralph Russell, JacobRussell's son, who had become a Shaker. The community, with as many as 300 members, originally occupied the area along Lee Rd. between Shaker Blvd. and South Park. The Shakers built the two Shaker Lakes, Lower Lake and Horseshoe Lake, on Doan Brook to power their sawmills, grist mills and woolen mill.
Early 1880s: Jephtha Wade, William Gordon, John D. Rockefeller, Laura Rockefeller, Nathan Ambler and other philanthropists donated land along Doan Brook to create the line of parks along the stream from Lake Erie to Horseshoe Lake in Shaker Lakes.
The Cleveland Parks Commission built roadways to connect the parks and commissioned architect Charles Schweinfurth to design bridges to carry streetcar lines across the lower park areas. Inner-city Cleveland residents and workers gain access to the parks.
May 1896: In all, almost 44,000 people are reported to have walked or driven along the brook in Rockefeller Park, showing the popularity of the park in this age.
19th Century: Doan's Corners and the North Union Shaker flourished. Much of the surrounding areas became farms and villages, including the Village of Glenville, located near the brook valley between Doan's Corners and Lake Erie.
1900: The Doan Brook watershed began to develop.
1930: Nearly the entire watershed in Shaker Heights, Cleveland Heights and Cleveland was developed.
1960: Citizens opposed and defeated the Clark and Lee Freeways extension plan. The freeway would have paved over Doan Brook and its parks from Lower Shaker Lake to Horseshoe Lake and beyond.
1970: Dike 14-dredge spoil disposal area at the mouth of Doan Brook began to be constructed by the Corps of Engineers.
1974: The cities of Cleveland Heights, Shaker Heights, and Cleveland with interested citizens form the Joint Committee on Doan Brook Watershed.
2000-2001: Partnership Transition Committee of the Joint Committee investigates different structures for the new organization.


text:
Super Alice ushers in a new wonderland of green computing
University's new supercomputer launched
Issued on 20 July 2010
Photo opps at 4.30pm on Monday 19th July in the Physics Building, University of Leicester
Alice, the University of Leicester's new 'green' supercomputer, will go into operation this month.
The University is aiming to make the £2.2 million facility the most energy efficient in the sector.
Alice is ten times more powerful than the system it replaces, and is expected to help attract high quality researchers and millions of pounds in research grants to Leicester. Researchers will use the high-performance computer to help find the answers to questions ranging from the effects of different government policies on the financial markets to the future of our galaxy.
The new service, supplied by HP, offers computational power equivalent to thousands of desktop PCs by clustering large numbers of central processing units. It will make it possible to analyse much bigger data sets than before, get responses more quickly, and therefore help find the answers to more and different kinds of questions.
High performance computing produces an enormous amount of heat, so keeping the equipment cool is a major challenge. If a traditional cooling solution had been used this would have been both expensive to run and bad for the environment. Instead, the new Leicester computer room will, for the first time, use an advanced water-cooling system -- a bit like a glorified car radiator.
An existing computer room was completely redesigned and re-equipped to accommodate the new groundbreaking Ecofris cooling technology, supplied by Keysource Ltd. It is the first installation of this technology in academia or in any small to medium sized data centre.
Every year the system will save an estimated £130,000 and reduce CO2 emissions by 800 tons compared with the technology it has replaced. The supplier now plans to enter the facility into an international competition to identify the most efficient small data centre in Europe.
Researchers in Leicester's Physics and Astronomy, Engineering and Economics departments have been piloting the computer, but after its launch this month it will become freely available to any researcher in the University.
Mary Visser, Director of IT services at the university, said: "It's fascinating to see how researchers work these days – looking for patterns in huge datasets and simulating complex phenomena.
"Usually, you need to be a real techie to engage with this kind of work. But we have social scientists and economists with big problems to solve who didn't sign up to be computer programmers. Our team aims to help make the facility accessible for them, too.
She added: "The amount of data produced is going up by around 50 per cent a year, so we need to get much cleverer about how we manage it, make it searchable, and decide what to keep for the next generation. That is a massive challenge for the whole sector – one that calls for new kinds of support and training for researchers at every stage of their careers."
The supercomputer will be launched at an event at 4.30pm on Monday 19 July in the Physics Building, University of Leicester.
NOTE TO NEWSDESK: For interviews contact
David Carter, Senior Project Manager, IT Services, Tel: 0116 _PHONE_
For more information, please contact:
Ather Mirza, Press and Corporate Communications, University of Leicester, Tel: 0116 _PHONE_, Email: _EMAIL_
Tony Tysome, Director, Media FHE, Tel: 01629 650910, Email: _EMAIL_


Next: , Previous: Guru Interface, Up: FFTW Reference
4.6 New-array Execute Functions
Normally, one executes a plan for the arrays with which the plan was created, by calling fftw_execute(plan) as described in Using Plans. However, it is possible for sophisticated users to apply a given plan to a different array using the "new-array execute" functions detailed below, provided that the following conditions are met:
The alignment issue is especially critical, because if you don't use fftw_malloc then you may have little control over the alignment of arrays in memory. For example, neither the C++ new function nor the Fortran allocate statement provide strong enough guarantees about data alignment. If you don't use fftw_malloc, therefore, you probably have to use FFTW_UNALIGNED (which disables most SIMD support). If possible, it is probably better for you to simply create multiple plans (creating a new plan is quick once one exists for a given size), or better yet re-use the same array for your transforms.
For rare circumstances in which you cannot control the alignment of allocated memory, but wish to determine where a given array is aligned like the original array for which a plan was created, you can use the fftw_alignment_of function:
 int fftw_alignment_of(double *p);
Two arrays have equivalent alignment (for the purposes of applying a plan) if and only if fftw_alignment_of returns the same value for the corresponding pointers to their data (typecast to double* if necessary).
If you are tempted to use the new-array execute interface because you want to transform a known bunch of arrays of the same size, you should probably go use the advanced interface instead (see Advanced Interface)).
The new-array execute functions are:
 void fftw_execute_dft(
 const fftw_plan p,
 fftw_complex *in, fftw_complex *out);
 void fftw_execute_split_dft(
 const fftw_plan p,
 double *ri, double *ii, double *ro, double *io);
 void fftw_execute_dft_r2c(
 const fftw_plan p,
 double *in, fftw_complex *out);
 void fftw_execute_split_dft_r2c(
 const fftw_plan p,
 double *in, double *ro, double *io);
 void fftw_execute_dft_c2r(
 const fftw_plan p,
 fftw_complex *in, double *out);
 void fftw_execute_split_dft_c2r(
 const fftw_plan p,
 double *ri, double *ii, double *out);
 void fftw_execute_r2r(
 const fftw_plan p,
 double *in, double *out);
These execute the plan to compute the corresponding transform on the input/output arrays specified by the subsequent arguments. The input/output array arguments have the same meanings as the ones passed to the guru planner routines in the preceding sections. The plan is not modified, and these routines can be called as many times as desired, or intermixed with calls to the ordinary fftw_execute.
The plan must have been created for the transform type corresponding to the execute function, e.g. it must be a complex-DFT plan for fftw_execute_dft. Any of the planner routines for that transform type, from the basic to the guru interface, could have been used to create the plan, however.


text:
This draft Geospatial Concept of Operations (GeoCONOPS) has been developed as a starting point for understanding how the coordination of disaster response geospatial activities can be improved at the Federal level. The intended audience for this draft document are the geospatial communities that support emergency management activities of the Federal government under the National Response Framework (NRF). This includes individual Emergency Support Functions (ESFs), the Joint Field Offices (JFO) and operations centers, including the National Response Coordination Center (NRCC). Stakeholders and actors representing ESFs, operations centers, and involved in other NRF activities have been extensively engaged in providing input for this document.To download, click the link below (Note: Latest version is also always available via a link in right side bar):
Comment: Three thoughts:
1.) Please note this document represents an effort to coordinate geospatial efforts among Federal partners. States and metro regions will need to develop their own Geospatial CONOPS to sort out relationships on those levels.
2.) CONOPS are designed to facilitate cross-talk among agencies. Everyday nuts and bolts "operator type" instructions are normally passed along in "Standard Operating Procedures" or similar. Two of the better ones in that regard are:
- The National Alliance for Public Safety's Standard Operating Guidance (SOG), and
- The National Wildfire Coordinating Group GIS Standard Operating Procedures on Incidents
3.) Don't get too comfortable with Version 4.0......word on the street is some good folks are working real hard to get Version 5.0 to press before the snow sticks. In it, there is going to be some illuminating information....


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Given two integers a and b, is there an efficient way to test whether there is another integer n such that a ≤ n2 < b?
I do not need to know n, only whether at least one such n exists or not, so I hope to avoid computing square roots of any numbers in the interval.
Although testing whether an individual integer is a perfect square is faster than computing the square root, the range may be large and I would also prefer to avoid performing this test for every number within the range.
 - intervalContainsSquare(2, 3) => false
 - intervalContainsSquare(5, 9) => false (note: 9 is outside this interval)
 - intervalContainsSquare(9, 9) => false (this interval is empty)
 - intervalContainsSquare(4, 9) => true (4 is inside this interval)
 - intervalContainsSquare(5, 16) => true (9 is inside this interval)
 - intervalContainsSquare(1, 10) => true (1, 4 and 9 are all inside this interval)
share|improve this question
Your third example is incorrect if a <= n^2 < b, because the interval includes the lower bound. Either change the definition to a < n^2 < b or modify the third example. – duffymo Jun 29 '10 at 12:28
_USER_: but n^2 < b part is violated, as 9 is not less than 9. – Amadan Jun 29 '10 at 12:35
Fair enough, I agree. – duffymo Jun 29 '10 at 12:35
_USER_: a ≤ n² < b is equivalent to (a ≤ n²) ∧ (n² < b). The logical and operator returns false an soon as any of the operands is false. – Andreas Rejbrand Jun 29 '10 at 12:45
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9 Answers
up vote 25 down vote accepted
Computing whether or not a number is a square isn't really faster than computing its square root in hard cases, as far as I know. What is true is that you can do a precomputation to know that it isn't a square, which might save you time on average.
Likewise for this problem, you can do a precomputation to determine that sqrt(b)-sqrt(a) >= 1, which then means that a and b are far enough apart that there must be a square between them. With some algebra, this inequality is equivalent to the condition that (b-a-1)^2 >= 4*a, or if you want it in a more symmetric form, that (a-b)^2+1 >= 2*(a+b). So this precomputation can be done with no square roots, only with one integer product and some additions and subtractions.
If a and b are almost exactly the same, then you can still use the trick of looking at low order binary digits as a precomputation to know that there isn't a square between them. But they have to be so close together that this precomputation might not be worth it.
If these precomputations are inconclusive, then I can't think of anything other than everyone else's solution, a <= ceil(sqrt(a))^2 < b.
Since there was a question of doing the algebra right:
sqrt(b)-sqrt(a) >= 1
sqrt(b) >= 1+sqrt(a)
b >= 1+2*sqrt(a)+a
b-a-1 >= 2*sqrt(a)
Also: Generally when a is a large number, you would compute sqrt(a) with Newton's method, or with a lookup table followed by a few Newton's method steps. It is faster in principle to compute ceil(sqrt(a)) than sqrt(a), because the floating point arithmetic can be simplified to integer arithmetic, and because you don't need as many Newton's method steps to nail down high precision that you're just going to throw away. But in practice, a numerical library function can be much faster if it uses square roots implemented in microcode. If for whatever reason you don't have that microcode to help you, then it might be worth it to hand-code ceil(sqrt(a)). Maybe the most interesting case would be if a and b are unbounded integers (like, a thousand digits). But for ordinary-sized integers on an ordinary non-obsolete computer, you can't beat the FPU.
share|improve this answer
Yes that's the optimization I hoped would be possible. Thanks. – finnw Jun 29 '10 at 13:39
I think you have a mistake in the algebra: it should be (b+a-1)^2>=4ab – Eyal Schneider Jun 29 '10 at 13:50
Adam, you're misreading what I said. – Greg Kuperberg Jun 29 '10 at 14:12
_USER_, Greg is describing quick test that can save computations. It states that if the difference is greater then 1 that implies there exists a perfect square root (and it does as then you for sure have at least one whole integer between the two squares). If the test fails (difference less then 1), then it is inconclusive - then you have to resort to more expensive methods. – Unreason Jun 29 '10 at 15:03
_USER_, Eyal's formula is equivalent to Greg's. He squared the first line in Greg's derivation, rearranged terms, and squared again. – brainjam Jun 29 '10 at 16:43
show 5 more comments
Get the square root of the lower number. If this is an integer then you are done. Otherwise round up and square the number. If this is less than b then it is true.
You only need to compute one square root this way.
In order to avoid a problem of when a is equal to b, you should check that first. As this case is always false.
share|improve this answer
+1 for avoiding two sqrt computations. – Aryabhatta Jun 29 '10 at 12:59
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If you will accept calculating two square roots, because of its monotonicity you have this inequality which is equivalent to your starting one:
sqrt(a) <= n < sqrt(b)
thus, if floor(sqrt(a))!= floor(sqrt(b)), floor(sqrt(b)) - 1 is guaranteed to be such an n.
share|improve this answer
Not exactly. Your condition on 6,9 returns true, which is incorrect. Note that b is not inclusive, so maybe you should check against b-1. – Eyal Schneider Jun 29 '10 at 12:37
And there are cases when floor(sqrt(a)) = floor(sqrt(b))-1 (eg [5,10)) when there is such an n, so this answer is incomplete. – Aryabhatta Jun 29 '10 at 12:39
_USER_: What I meant is: floor(sqrt(a))!= floor(sqrt(b-1)). It will return true for 5,10. – Eyal Schneider Jun 29 '10 at 12:42
_USER_: I wasn't refuting your comment :-). I saw your comment only after I posted mine. – Aryabhatta Jun 29 '10 at 12:46
_USER_: I see. And by the way, extreme cases (b-1<=a) should also be handled. – Eyal Schneider Jun 29 '10 at 12:49
show 1 more comment
 1. get the square root of the lower number and round it up
 2. get the square root of the higher number and round it down
 3. if 1 is lower or equal 2, there will be a perfect square
share|improve this answer
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Find the integral part of sqrt(a) and sqrt(b), say sa and sb.
If sa2 = a, then output yes.
If sb2 = b and sa = sb-1, then output no.
If sa < sb output yes.
Else output no.
You can optimize the above to get rid of the computation of sqrt(b) (similar to JDunkerly's answer).
Or did you want to avoid computing square roots of a and b too?
You can avoid computing square roots completely by using a method similar to binary search.
You start with a guess for n, n = 1 and compute n2
Consider if a <= n < b, you can stop.
If n < a < b, you double your guess n. if a < b < n, you make it close to average of current + previous guess.
This will be O(logb) time.
share|improve this answer
Yes it would be better if I can avoid square roots completely – finnw Jun 29 '10 at 12:40
_USER_: You can compute the integral part of a and b using binary search, in O(log a) and O(log b) time, if that works for you. This has only integer multiplications and you can avoid floating point and btw, the stackoverflow question you linked to, seems to provide a fast method for finding that too. – Aryabhatta Jun 29 '10 at 12:41
add comment
In addition to JDunkerley's nice solution (+1), there could be a possible improvement that needs to be tested


text:
National Transportation Safety Board
Office of Public Affairs
Washington, DC - The National Transportation Safety Board determined today that the probable cause of the 2007 pipeline rupture near Carmichael, Mississippi was the failure of a weld that caused the pipe to fracture along the longitudinal seam weld, a portion of the upstream girth weld, and portions of the adjacent pipe joints.
On November 1, 2007, a 12-inch diameter pipeline segment operated by Dixie Pipeline Company was transporting liquid propane at about 1,405 pounds per square inch gauge, when it ruptured, releasing about 431,000 gallons of propane, in a rural area near Carmichael, Mississippi. As a result, the propane began to vaporize and form a cloud that expanded over nearby homes. Local emergency responders received calls informing them of the smell of gas and the sighting of white gas. Approximately seven-and-a-half minutes after the rupture, the vapors ignited, creating a fireball. There were two fatalities and several minor injuries.
The accident pipe was manufactured in 1961 using the lowfrequency electric resistance welding (ERW) process for longitudinal seam welds. The majority of ruptures in ERW pipe involve the longitudinal seams. At the time of the accident, no confirmed in-service pipeline ruptures in girth welds had been reported for the entire pipeline since it was installed. Additionally, segments of the accident pipe had been inspected multiple times since 1998, using in-line inspection tools.
As a result of the investigation, the Safety Board issued recommendations to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, the Clarke County Board of Supervisors, the American Petroleum Institute, and Dixie Pipeline Company on testing of pipeline, public awareness, and training and drills for 911 personnel.
A summary of the findings of the Board's report is available on the NTSB's website.
NTSB Media Contact:
Terry N. Williams
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent federal agency charged with determining the probable cause
of transportation accidents, promoting transportation safety, and assisting victims of transportation accidents and their families.


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|This article does not cite any references or sources. (April 2013)|
The military sports are sport mainly practiced by the military, the subject of international competitions, with an objective relates to the physical training of military, preparation for combat, skill, toughness, the development of physical qualities of the warfighter and improve the professional proficiency based on the different areas of the military action: land, sea and air.
Since the founding of the International Military Sports Council in 1948, was purpose of this organization structure a body of evidence that adapt and serve as training for the different branches of the armed forces.
There are 26 disciplines recognized by CISM; some are exclusively military sports.
- * — purely military sport
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Old-New Synagogue
Staronová Synagóga
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The Old-New Synagogue (Staronová Synagóga), built around 1270, is the oldest functioning synagogue in Europe. It is also one of only three synagogues in Prague's Jewish Quarter 'Josefov' still used for services.
The rather small building in early gothic style consists of one central hall bordered by a number of smaller rooms. The vaulted hall is supported by two octagonal pillars. Only men are allowed to attend services in the
Old-New Synagogue, Prague
Old-New Synagogue
central hall, women can access the rooms near the hall. Small windows in the wall, added in the 18th century, allow the women to view the services.
Angelic Protection
It is almost a miracle the synagogue has survived until today. During its more than 700 years of existence, the building has survived several pogroms, fires and a 19th century redevelopment of the Jewish quarter.
Legend has it that the synagogue is protected by Angels who brought the stones to build the synagogue from the ruins of King Solomon's Temple. In time the synagogue will be dismantled and the stones will be used to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem.
The Name
The same legend gives an explanation for the building's strange name: it would be an incorrect translation from its Hebrew name 'At-Tnay Synagogue'. Misinterpreted as alt-neu (old-new in English), it literally means 'on condition', meaning that the synagogue only exists conditionally - until the Jews return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple of Solomon.
A much easier explanation for the name could be that the original name 'New Synagogue' was changed in the 16th century into 'Old-New Synagogue' after newer synagogues were built.
The Old-New Synagogue is located in the center of Josefov, the Jewish quarter just north of Old Town.
Pařížská en Červená
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Consumers - energy
The Commission is responsible for establishing the service standards that the electricity and gas network businesses ElectraNetSA Power Networks and Australian Gas Networks, must deliver to South Australian customers.
The majority of South Australian customers have entered into a market contract arrangement with the energy retailer of their choice. This means that they receive the benefits of the consumer protections established and administered by the Australian Energy Regulator, but the prices they pay are set by their energy retailer.
icon-electricity Electricity Industry
Electricity retailers buy electricity through the National Electricity Market (NEM) and sell it to consumers.
Network service providers (transmission and distribution companies) transport (or "supply") the electricity (sold to retailers) from generators to consumers and charge consumers network charges for use of the network.
In the electricity supply industry, each customer has a separate contractual relationship with a retailer and the distributor, SA Power Network (formerly known as ETSA Utilities).
 icon-gas Gas Industry
Gas retailers sell and supply gas to "end use" consumers such as residential households and businesses.
As is the case in the electricity retail market, the gas retail market is subject to competition and gas retailers can decide what prices to charge customers on market contracts.


Manjunath Prabhu: I am a Software Engineer working at Intel as part of Intel Distribution for Apache Hadoop, Professional Services. I've been working in the Hadoop world for a four years on and MapReduce, Hbase Hive, Pig & Sqoop but have enjoyed every bit of it.
During the RDMS days, schema design was the backbone of every project in terms of performance, scalability as well as stability. In today's NoSql world, designing an HBase table in itself is an important task.
In order to successfully design an HBase Table there are multiple factors that come into play:
 - Row key: This is one of the most important factors that should be taken into consideration while designing an HBase table. Most users depending on the use case promote use of static business keys as a row key. Row keys can be divided into the following types:
 1. Sequential key: They are used in the case where data is to be read sequentially from HBase. Let's assume that the key is (country + userID + productID). Here we can do a partial scan on country in order to get products sold per country or (country + userID) to get all the products bought by users in that country.
 2. Random Key: Keys written sequentially might be slower in the case where all keys may go to one region server. This scenario is known as hot spotting where one region might get busy due to extra load while there isn't any load on the others. To overcome this we use random keys where the load is balanced over different region servers. Random keys can be easily generated by hashing the key.
 3. Salted Key: In this case we select random keys from any range (say 1 to 10) and prefix it with salt which are then distributed into n buckets. This also overcomes the issue of hot spotting and at the same time we can make use of n scanners to get the data in parallel.
 - Number of column families: This is also an important factor that needs to be taken into consideration and should be kept as small as possible because of the following reasons:
 1. HBase stores data in HDFS at $HBASE_HOME/TableName/regionId/ColumnFamily/HFiles.
In the case where we might have multiple regions out of which some are sparsely populated while the others have multiple column families, it is possible that the region is split when it exceeds the size of an hdfs block. When this happens even the sparsely populated regions will be split and HBase will have to open multiple handlers to read multiple splits even though the data volume is small.
 - All the table configurations like block size compression, version etc can be set per column family. If we need to store and manage data in different ways we should split it into different column families.
 - 3. Block size: Over here we are not talking about hdfs block size but HFile block size which is by default set to 64kb. Each HFile has a byte offset marking its starting and ending position. Smaller the block size the better it is for random gets. Block size should be determine based on the use case, for example If the use case does random gets we should make the block size small but not too small so that one row spans over multiple blocks. Also there is an overhead involved in creating and maintain block indexes. If the use case involves scans instead of gets then it is advisable to set it to zero such that we have as few as possible blocks.
 - Block Cache: This is what keeps HFile blocks in memory after they are loaded and is helpful when you know that you will be scanning/accessing rows from the same block multiple times. This is not very helpful in the case of random gets and is by default set to true.
 - Compression: Even though HFile file format stores data in a very smart manner and is much better in performance as compared to map-file format, we can still compress these files per column family. Most recommended compression algorithm is snappy because of its low compression and decompression time. There is also an option to use different compression algorithms for different column families in the same table.
 - Bloom filter: This helps in reducing I/O operations and is as simple as asking a question, whether a row or column exists in a file or not. The answer can be yes, no or maybe based on the meta-index maintained in the HFile. HBase will scan the file only in the case of yes or maybe and is helpful / useful in the case where you know the most commonly used filter columns or rows.
 - In memory: This should not be confused with block cache and is by default set to false. This tries to keep the mem-store in memory as long as possible.
 - Time to live (TTL): This specifies the time after which a record is deleted and is by default set to forever. This should be changed if you want HBase to delete rows after certain period of the time. This is useful in the case when you store data in HBase which should be deleted after aggregation.
 - Min Version: As we know HBase maintains multiple version of every record as and when they are inserted. Min Version should always be used along with TTL. For example if the TTL is set to one year and there is no update on the row for that period the row will be deleted. If you don't want the row to be deleted you would have to set a min version for it such that only the files below that version will be deleted.
 - Max version: This is the maximum number of versions of a row that will be stored in HBase and is by default set to three. This value is useful when you are updating the same row over and over again and do not care of older versions. If you are replacing the whole row every single time and do not need row histories at all you can set this value to one.
Here is simple example of table creation in HBase:
{NAME=>'BASIC', VERSIONS => '1', COMPRESSION => 'NONE', TTL =>'_PHONE_', BLOCKSIZE => '65536', IN_MEMORY => 'false', BLOCKCACHE => 'false'}
To find out more about Hadoop @ Intel, please check out the Intel(r) Distribution for Apache Hadoop* (IDH) at


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Ancient Blacksmiths, The Iron Age, Damascus Steels, And Modern Metallurgy
The history of iron and Damascus steels is described through the eyes of ancient blacksmiths. For example, evidence is presented that questions why the Iron Age could not have begun at about the same time as the early Bronze Age (i.e. approximately 7000 B.C.). It is also clear that ancient blacksmiths had enough information from their forging work, together with their observation of color changes during heating and their estimate of hardness by scratch tests, to have determined some key parts of the present-day iron-carbon phase diagrrun. The blacksmiths' greatest artistic accomplishments were the Damascus and Japanese steel swords. The Damascus sword was famous not only for its exceptional cutting edge and toughness, but also for its beautiful surface markings. Damascus steels are ultrahigh carbon steels (UHCSs) that contain from 1.0 to 2.1% carbon. The modem metallurgical understanding of UHCSs has revealed that remarkable properties can be obtained in these hypereutectoid steels. The results achieved in UHCSs are attributed to the ability to place the carbon, in excess of the eutectoid composition, to do useful work that enhances the high temperature processing of carbon steels and that improves the low and intermediate temperature mechanical properties.
Thermec 2000, International Conference on Processing and Manufacturing of Advanced Materials, Las Vegas, Nevada, December 4-8, 2000


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Battelle Memorial Institute, a non-profit applied science and technology development company, was commissioned to perform a study on the effectiveness of water softeners on household water use.
The published report was released in March, 2010. The study attempted to compare hot water tank and tank-less heaters, automatic dishwashers, washing machines, shower heads, and fixtures when used with hard water versus soft water.
Water softener benefits – The report conclusions are as follows:
6.1 Instantaneous Gas Water Heaters
Reviewing the results in Table 5-2, for natural gas consumption, Battelle concludes that use of a water softener to reduce the scale forming compounds in water will result in natural gas savings. This natural gas savings will lead to direct economic savings. Because of the need to have the instantaneous water heater delimed or cleaned periodically, the economic savings can lead to recover of the cost of a water softener and operating supplies in a period as short as months, if the inlet water is sufficiently hard. Further, the lower use of natural gas leads to reductions in the carbon footprint, see Table 5-9, in proportion to the decrease in total energy consumption. Total consumption accounts for both natural gas to fire the water heater and electricity to operate the softener.
6.2 Gas Storage Water Heaters
Similar to the conclusions for the instantaneous gas water heater, reviewing the results in Table 5-4, for natural gas consumption, Battelle concludes that use of a water softener to reduce the scale forming compounds in water will result in natural gas savings. Because of the much lower energy intensity of a gas storage water heater, BTU input rate per unit time and volume of water, the natural gas savings for a storage water heater are much lower than those for the instantaneous water heater, being approximately one-half the savings that might be found when using an instantaneous water heater. This energy savings will lead to direct economic savings in proportion to the reduced natural gas consumption. Further, the lower use of energy leads to reductions in the carbon footprint, see Table 5-9, in proportion to the decrease in total energy consumption. Total energy consumption accounts for both natural gas to fire the water heater and electricity to operate the softener.
6.3 Electric Water Heaters
Because of plugging of piping on the water heater outlet Battelle was unable to conduct a sufficient number of days of testing to demonstrate any changes in electricity consumption or potential cost savings for the electric storage water heaters. As discussed in Section 5.4.2, no difference in the electricity consumption between two electric storage water heaters, one receiving softened and the other un-softened water, is expected. Given this lack of a difference in electricity consumption for water heating, the additional electricity required to operate a water softener would mean the softened water case would use more electricity than the unsoftened water case, thus the carbon footprint would be higher. However, because the electric water heater receiving softened water would be expected to have a longer life, there is expected to be cost savings supporting the use of softened water.
6.4 Fixtures and Appliances
Low flow shower heads and faucets using un-softened water clogged in less than seven days of accelerated life testing, whereas those units using softened water made it through the test without any problems. Under the testing conditions at Battelle with high hardness of the inlet water, a water softener will significantly increase the life of faucets and fixtures.
Learn more about our Water Softeners.
The entire report consists of 237 pages and may be viewed at _URL_


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by Reid Draper
Eventual consistency is everywhere. DNS is the canonical example, but it's becoming more important in mobile applications with sporadic connectivity and databases with high availability requirements. One of the difficulties with these systems is resolving conflicting writes. Some cases allow for last-write-wins, but other domains require a mechanism which doesn't lose data. knockbox is an open source Clojure project that takes data-structure implementations that support automatic conflict resolution, and wraps them up to be used just like any other Clojure seq, set, or map. This talk will explore the motivation behind knockbox, the data-structures themselves, using knockbox with Riak, and issues like garbage collection and synchronization.
16th–17th March 2012


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In this lesson, let's take a look at how to say "they say…", "I hear that…", or how to re-tell someone what you've heard from someone else. The main 2 ways to say this in Korean are (ㄴ/는)대(요) and -(이)래(요). If you studied Level 5, Lesson 17, you may have learned something similar to this, but using these 2 endings is easier and more commonly used in spoken Korean.
You can view a free PDF for this lesson here, or if you want to study with our TalkToMeInKorean textbooks, you can get them here. And after you learn the basics, try writing your own Korean sentences and get corrections from native speakers through HaruKorean, our 1:1 correction service.


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Lameness can be caused by a number of different things. Sprains, infections caused by cuts or splinters in the foot, dislocation of the hip, muscle damage, pinched nerves and dietary deficiencies.
Staphylococcus Bacteria cause a condition commonly called Bumblefoot that can cause a swollen abscess on the underside of the foot. Less common are hereditary problems. Fast growing meat chickens suffer from leg problems due to their large size / weight and rate of growth.
Tenosynovitis or tendon inflamation can be more common and painful for older birds. Kidney disease causes lameness or loss of the legs because the nerve that goes to their legs passes through the kidneys.
In old birds, lameness can be caused by arthritis. Mycoplasma synoviae (see tab below) which can cause the hocks to become infected causes lameness and Marek's disease can cause birds to lose their legs.
Waterfowl can go lame or off their legs when they have worms. If an adult duck goes lame, the first thing to check is that they have been wormed recently. Waterfowl can also go lame due to a dietary deficiency of niacin, biotin / Vitamin B which is uncommon if feed is fresh / in date but a more common problem is if there is an imbalance of calcium to phosphorus in the diet.
Layers feeds contain a lot of calcium that is needed by (you've guessed it!) laying birds to form egg shells. Ensure young / growing waterfowl (over 5 weeks) are fed the correct diet of waterfowl growers pellets and not layers pellets. Waterfowl should also have access to wheat fed under water. A bowl or shallow bucket is ideal for ducks and a normal bucket for geese. This also encourages them to dip their heads under water to keep their eyes clean. Non laying adults should always have access to wheat ad-lib. Layers pellets should be offered but for drakes / non layers wheat will make up most of the diet. Waterfowl should have easy access to water and not have to struggle to get in and out of troughs. If you do use troughs, think about burying them half way into the ground to help them with access and provide a ramp on one side and a ramp to get out again.
Waterfowl are on the floor of their house at night and if the bedding is dirty and wet, it can cause cracks and abrasions to the bottom of the feet that can become sore or infected.
Ducklings go off their legs if chick crumbs or growers pellets are fed to them that contain anti-coccidiostats (ACS), a drug designed to prevent coccidiosis in young chickens. Ducklings eat more than chicks and will effectively be having an overdose of the drug.
Symptoms: Can be a sudden or gradual limp. Sprains usually cause swelling as can infection. Dietary deficiency usually causes trembling legs that suddenly give way whilst standing or after a short run. Also legs can be bent or twisted at the hock joint. Leg(s) can feel hot and look swollen with Mycoplasma synoviae or Staphylococcus.
Treatment: Examine the legs and feet for signs of injury - cuts, grazes or bruises. Check the bottom of the foot for any sign of abscess (called Bumblefoot). This is usually caused by a cut on the bottom of the foot. Never catch or pick birds up by the legs, it is very easy to dislocate the leg.
In birds that are otherwise healthy, they can be kept in confinement but ideally where they can see the other birds so they are not stressed. Keep birds in a small clean pen or cage (A large dog crate is useful for this) in a quiet environment where they will not be startled. Feed them the correct diet and ensure they can reach it easily. Fresh water is essential, a vitamin drink can be added to this.
For waterfowl, if possible, provide a small clean pen, again with feed and water in easy reach but also clean swimming water with easy access - this can really help the legs to recover. A small tub buried in the ground with a ramp to get out can work well.
If dietary difficiency is the problem, use a vitamin supplement in the feed / water immediately. Feed ducklings growers pellets (Smallholder feeds in the UK make waterfowl pellets), not layers pellets. The phosphorus:calcium ratio should be in the range of 1:1 to 1.0:1.5.
Joint conditions can be serious and even fatal so if it is not an obvious or superficial problem, don't hesitate to go to your vet.


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Hip Size of Mothers Linked To Breast Cancer In Daughters
02/21/11 Portland, Ore.
In a study of the maternity records of more than 6,000 women, David J.P. Barker, M.D., Ph.D.,and Kent Thornburg, Ph.D., of Oregon Health & Science University discovered a strong correlation between the size and shape of a woman's hips and her daughter's risk of breast cancer. Wide, round hips, the researchers postulated, represent markers of high sex hormone concentrations in the mother, which increase her daughter's vulnerability to breast cancer.
A woman's hips are shaped at puberty when the growth of the hip bones is controlled by sex hormones but is also influenced by the level of nutrition. Every woman has a unique sex hormone profile which is established at puberty and persists through her reproductive life. The study's findings show for the first time that the pubertal growth spurt of girls is strongly associated with the risk of breast cancer in their daughters. The study, carried out with colleagues in Finland and the United Kingdom, is described in an article just published online by the peer-reviewed American Journal of Human Biology. The authors followed up on 6,370 women born in Helsinki from 1934 to 1944 whose mothers' pelvic bones were measured during routine prenatal care. The study found that breast cancer rates were more than three times higher among the women in the cohort, born at or after term, whose mothers had wide hips They were more than seven times higher if those mothers had already given birth to one or more children.
A woman's vulnerability to breast cancer, the study found, was greater if her mother's "intercristal diameter" - the widest distance between the wing-like structures at the top of the hip bone - was more than 30 centimeters, or 11.8 inches. The risk also was higher if these wing-like structures were round. The breast cancer risk was 2.5 times higher for the daughters of women in whom the widest distance was more than 3 centimeters greater than the distance at the front.
Barker, professor of medicine (cardiovascular medicine) in the OHSU School of Medicine as well as professor of clinical epidemiology at the University of Southampton in the U.K., is internationally known for discovering the relationship between low birth weight and the lifetime risk for coronary heart disease and other medical disorders, which the British Medical Journal has named the Barker Hypothesis. He has published more than 200 papers and written or edited five books about the developmental origins of chronic disease. He was honored in 2005 with the prestigious Danone International Prize for Nutrition for his pioneering research.
The OHSU study published today proposes that breast cancer is initiated in the first trimester of a pregnancy by exposure of the embryo's developing breast tissue to the mother's circulating sex hormones. The primary mammary cord, which gives rise to milk-producing breast lobules, develops in the fetus at 10 weeks. The fetal breast is known to be stimulated by circulating hormones; the intensity of the stimulation is such that half of all newborn babies have breast secretions.
"Our findings support the hypothesis that wide round hips reflect high levels of sex hormone production at puberty, which persist after puberty and adversely affect breast development of the daughters in early gestation," the authors commented. They could only speculate, they said, on the exact nature of this adverse effect but pointed out: "Catechol estrogen, a metabolite or estradiol, is thought to cause chromosomal instability by breaking DNA strands. High catechol estrogen concentrations in the maternal circulation could produce genetic instability in differentiating breast epithelial cells, which would make the breast vulnerable to cancer in later life."
"Epidemiological findings of this kind aren't designed to define precise biological or molecular mechanisms," said Grover Bagby, M.D., deputy director of the OHSU Cancer Institute. "However, for those of us involved in identifying the earliest molecular causes of cancer, these fascinating results define the types of questions we need to ask. This is a wake-up call telling us to pay attention to stem cell populations at the time of birth … a good deal earlier than we might have otherwise done. It is important to consider these cell populations because only by understanding the initial cause can we begin to develop rational strategies to prevent this very common cancer."
The daughters who were the subjects of the study were all born during _PHONE_ at either Helsinki University Central Hospital or City Maternity Hospital, the two maternity hospitals in Finland's capital. The occurrence of breast cancer among them was ascertained from national registers of all hospital admissions and deaths in Finland. Three hundred of them had had breast cancer of whom 48 died from the disease. Their mean age when they were diagnosed was 54.
The findings shed new light on the link between breast cancer and nutrition. "Mothers whose daughters developed breast cancer were of similar height to the other mothers," Barker and Thornburg reported. "This suggests that they had similar nutrition through childhood. Our findings do not therefore indicate that good nutrition through childhood is linked to breast cancer in the next generation. But they do show that the pubertal growth spurt of girls, which reflects the level of nutrition, is strongly associated with the risk of breast cancer in their daughters."
The authors of the journal article besides Barker and Thornburg, who is director of the OHSU Heart Research Center and professor of cardiovascular medicine in the OHSU School of Medicine, were Clive Osmond, senior scientist at the Medical Research Council Epidemiology Resource Center at the University of Southampton; Eero Kajantie and Tom J. Forsen, both of Finland's National Public Health Institute; and Johan G. Eriksson, who holds positions at both the National Public Health Institute as well as with the University of Helsinki's Department of Public Health. Barker and Osmond have collaborated with Eriksson and his Finnish colleagues for the past 12 years tracing some 20,000 men and women in the Helsinki Birth Cohort Study.
The American Journal of Human Biology is published by Wiley-Liss, Inc., a subsidiary of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. The full text of the study, entitled "A possible link between the pubertal growth of girls and breast cancer in their daughters," is available in "Early View" at _URL_ The link to the abstract is: _URL_