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Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship
Winter 2016
What I've Been Reading
What Can Design Thinking Do for Libraries?
Michael Fosmire
Head, Physical Sciences, Engineering, and Technology Division
Purdue University Libraries
West Lafayette, Indiana
Many of the readers of Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship are experts on understanding and searching for engineering information resources. We can locate standards, conduct classification searches of patents, and track down those pesky conferences and technical reports that are so hard to find. However, how often have we tried to use the products of engineering to improve our practice, the services we provide to our users? I recently had the opportunity to co-teach a section of an Introduction to Design Thinking course at my institution (the rationale was to get a deep, end-to-end look at how information literacy was being integrated into the course), and came away thinking how useful it would be to apply Design Thinking in the development of our own library services.
The story starts with the bold assertion by Bruce Archer (1979a) "that there exists a designerly way of thinking and communicating that is both different from scientific and scholarly ways of thinking and communicating and as powerful as scientific and scholarly methods of enquiry, when applied to its own kinds of problems." [p.17] Fundamentally, he posits (1979b) that 'designerly thinking' provides a way to tackle the ill-defined problems typical of engineering design (and familiar to those of us who work with problem-based learning), helping to define what the true problem is and constructing and testing potential solutions against the cardinal virtues of Plato: Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, and Temperance, paraphrased as: what is realistic, what is ethical, what is thorough, and what is economic/sufficient. Archer summarizes design thinking as follows "where Science is the collected body of theoretical knowledge based upon observation, measurement, hypothesis and test, and the Humanities is the collected body of interpretive knowledge based upon contemplation, criticism, evaluation, and discourse, the third area is the collected body of practical knowledge based upon sensibility, invention, validation, and implementation." [p. 20] While we have a language for 'numeracy' and 'literacy' to describe scientific and humanistic methods, each with its own representation (mathematical notation, natural language), Archer posits the need for a design language that enables 'those ideas which are expressed through the medium of doing and making,' using the representation of'modelling.' Archer calls this way of thinking 'Design with a big D,' and doesn't limit its application to engineering, but any field that adapts or affects the material world in some way (including architecture and the performing and fine arts).
Nigel Cross (1982) expands the treatment of 'designerly ways of knowing' relative to scientific and humanistic traditions as shown in Table I. Both Archer and Cross advocate not only for the acknowledgement of Designerly Thinking as a discipline, but indeed the importance of integrating it into a general education program as a fundamental 'way of knowing.' Rather than casting it as the development of occupational skills, Cross creates a broader justification. Just as all educated students should be scientifically literate in order to understand arguments made, for example, about climate change or public health policies, they need to be designerly literate to actually be able to do something about them.
Table 1: Comparison of Scientific, Humanistic, and Designerly Ways of Thinking (Cross 1982)
Phenomenon Studied Methods of Inquiry Values of Discipline
Natural World
Controlled experiment, classification, analysis
Objectivity, rationality, neutrality, concern for 'truth'
Human Experience
Analogy, metaphor, criticism, evaluation
Subjectivity, imagination, commitment, concern for 'justice'
The Man-Made World
Modelling, pattern-transformation, synthesis
Practicality, ingenuity, empathy, concern for 'appropriateness'
Cross describes designerly thinking as focusing on 'abductive reasoning' rather than deductive or inductive reasoning common in science and the humanities. Abductive reasoning can be loosely defined as 'finding the best explanation,' given an incomplete set of information (Douven 2011). Whereas deductive reasoning, for example, guarantees a conclusion is true given certain premises, and inductive reasoning attempts to find a general principle based on individual observations (e.g., all bears are brown because I've only ever seen brown bears), abductive reasoning acknowledges that complete knowledge is impossible and tries to make the best guess at what is going on based on what is known.
But, What Is Design Thinking Good For?
So, having determined that design thinking is different from the traditional scientific and humanistic approaches to problem solving, how can it work for libraries? In the academy, we can be enamored of the search for Truth and Beauty, which can lead to paralysis in actually developing and implementing new services. A design thinking perspective can help get past the need for a perfect solution in favor of developing an effective one. The modern day inheritors of 'designerly thinking' are the design thinking process pioneered by IDEO (Kelley and Littman 2001) and Norman's (2013) user-centered design approach. With the growth of user experience expertise and human-centered design in the libraries, some of that spirit is already coming through, although frequently limited to the online environment. However, design thinking provides a broader framework for innovating while utilizing many techniques also found in the user experience movement.
From my own experience, design provides an end-to-end process for conceptualizing a problem or project, generating solutions, and testing and refining both the solutions and the underlying problem statement. Design as articulated by IDEO combines humanistic approaches to gathering data and developing empathy with a particular user or stakeholder, with pragmatic rapid prototyping and testing techniques to provide feedback and explore different solution options efficiently.
As I was looking for a way to concisely encapsulate the design thinking steps, I ran across the Design Thinking for Libraries toolkit (IDEO 2015), itself a design activity to create resources for libraries as they seek to innovate in our rapidly changing information environment. Stanford's bootcamp bootleg ( 2013) also provides many engaging activities that help one develop a design mindset, and it was a resource we use heavily in the Introduction to Design Thinking course.
The Three "I's of Design Thinking
In the lingo of Design Thinking for Libraries, you need Inspiration, Ideation, and Iteration to create a high-quality, responsive final solution.
Inspiration: one can use a variety of techniques to try and achieve a deep understanding of the needs of a particular user, what IDEO frequently refers to as developing empathy. Open-ended interviews, observations, immersive experiences, and analogic activities can all help you see a situation from the user's point of view. There are many parallels in this stage to the participatory or ethnographic studies that Nancy Fried Foster popularized in libraries (e.g., Foster and Gibbons 2007). Design thinking methods provide ways of translating that empathy for a particular user into a problem statement. The bootcamp bootleg suggests writing Point-of View Madlibs ( 2013, p. 21) of the form "[User] needs to [Need] because [Surprising Insight]." The POV statement focuses on defining the user, articulating a specific need (and not a potential solution), and requires that the person base their assertion on evidence, the'surprising insight,' they've gathered to justify that need.
One challenge common to engineering students is a'solution fixation,' where students immediately start thinking about a solution before they have really understood the problem. It can be very difficult to get students to consider alternatives to their initial idea, and frequently this shows up in a problem statement that already contains a solution, such as 'people need to use geothermal energy to heat their homes, since….' The need is not geothermal energy, but rather to heat their homes in an environmentally responsible and cost-effective manner. Similarly, for libraries, we also often think about design problems with the solution in mind, which can short-circuit creative and transformative solutions. For example, if the problem statement is 'our faculty need to receive interlibrary loan materials within two days,' rather than 'our faculty need timely access to unsubscribed information resources...,' the potential solution space is much narrower, shutting off options such as consortial licensing, vanpools to regional depositories, pay-per-view subscriptions, etc.
We can frequently feel a rush to start work on a solution, after all it is easy to feel like you're making progress when you're sketching out solutions, but it is much easier to make changes at the beginning, before a lot of effort has been expended building out a solution to a problem no one has. Thus, getting a tightly focused, specific, vivid problem statement will get you far toward the solution, while generic problem statements will leave you spinning your wheels and coming up with generic, uninteresting solutions.
Ideation: After understanding deeply what the unmet need is, and to some extent the 'why,' the next step is to figure out ways to meet that need. The most important aspect of this stage is to keep a fully open mind to a wide range of possibilities.
Frequently alternating rounds of divergent and convergent thinking are encouraged in order to explore potential solution spaces. Starting out with a wide-ranging brainstorming session that identifies as many solutions as possible, the wilder the better, one can then winnow down the most promising solutions based on how well they meet the constraints and requirements of the problem. By using divergent thinking, one can elicit 'out of the box' thinking that yields truly innovative solutions, while convergent thinking brings the process


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|Oracle Solaris Trusted Extensions Developer's Guide Oracle Solaris 10 8/11 Information Library|
This chapter describes the Trusted Extensions APIs for performing basic label operations such as initializing labels, and comparing labels and clearances. This chapter also describes the APIs for accessing the label of a process.
For examples of how the Trusted Extensions APIs are used in the Oracle Solaris OS, see the Oracle Solaris source code. Go to the OpenSolaris web site and click Source Browser in the left navigation bar. Use the Source Browser to search through the Oracle Solaris source code.
This chapter covers the following topics:
Chapter 3, Label Code Examples provides code examples for the programming interfaces that are described in this chapter.

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


Mineral Processing
Note: The context of the process mineralogy data requested and supplied should be very clear, and needs to represent the deposit/material to be processed as closely as possible. Mineral processing is performed at many tonnes per hour, and for years, so any information obtained on small and non-representative samples is often useless. In the development and operation of mineral processing plants, large economic decisions are based upon mineralogy, and if the samples provided for study are not representative of potential run-of-mine ore, flow sheet and process development will be less than ideal and will lead to long term loss of recovery and expensive mill retrofitting.
Coarse-grain placer monazite (notice scale @ 500um)
Residual primary bastnäsite grains with web-like secondary REE minerals being produced from them due to weathering.
Below are a few questions that need to be addressed in the process mineralogy studies, if not already addressed in the geological mineralogy work:
 - What are the REE-bearing minerals, and how much of each exists? Examples are bastnäsite, monazite, xenotime, synchysite, allanite, etc.
 - Are there any possible economic by-product minerals? Examples are barite, fluorite, pyrochlore, columbite, uranium and lithium minerals, etc.
 - Are the REE minerals a by-product? REE bearing minerals can often be a by-product of other process operations. In these cases, REE recovery will be directly affected by the operating company's interest and relative economics.
 - Are there both minor and major hosts of the REE? Examples of minor REE-bearing minerals are apatites and zircons—these minerals can often contain a few tenths of a percent REE.
 - What percentage of each REE is carried by each REE host mineral?
 - Are there any silicate-based REE minerals? These minerals are known for difficulty in the hydrometallurgy stage.
 - Are the REE minerals primary or weathered/altered (also known as "supergene") Historically, weathered/altered REE minerals are difficult to process due to extreme fine grain size, needle or dendritic-like structure.
 - What is the shape/structure of the REE minerals?
 - If reasonably round, what is the average size and size distribution of the REE minerals?
 - After grinding, what is the % free REE mineral surface area as a function of particle size? i.e. how much REE mineral liberation exists as a function of particle size?
 - What is the chemistry/assay of the REE minerals? i.e. based upon microprobe/equivalent analysis what is the % of each important element in the REE mineral? Having this information will allow an estimate of the grade of potential mineral concentrate.
 - What are the gangue minerals, their amounts and characteristics?
 - Are there any impurity elements of concern, and in which minerals do they reside? i.e. thorium, uranium, arsenic, lead, etc.
Some definitions regarding Mineral Processing:
MINERAL LIBERATION – The relative amount of surface area, after grinding, of a particular mineral grain. For example, a 30% liberated bastnäsite grain means that 30% of the surface area of that grain is bastnäsite and 70% is something else. The something else is one or more other minerals. Mineral liberation is essential for the mineral processing engineer, in that high grade mineral concentrates cannot be made without sufficient amounts of REE mineral liberation. This mineral liberation is produced during size reduction procedures (such as grinding) where finer grinding usually means increased liberation.
MINERAL PROCESSING SCOPE – The development of a REE processing flow sheet is composed of three major stages, with complete success and understanding required at each stage before the next stage is attempted:
 1. LAB SCALE – The first is lab scale batch tests, also referred to as scoping studies. The sample amounts per test are in the gram to a few kg range. These are a snap shot of a particular lab procedure on a particular sample, which may or may not be representative of the bulk geological material of the mineralized region in question. Often the best (and easiest to obtain) samples are tested first.
 2. PILOT PLANT – The second stage of lab testing is termed pilot plant scale. It is continuous, and intended to be scalable to full production. It utilizes somewhere in the range of 10-100 kg per hour, and runs for days/weeks and includes a variety of potential ore types. Engineering data for feasibility studies and scale up is obtained during this process.
 3. PRODUCTION – Full or production scale procedures are the industrial equivalent of the pilot plant, continuously operated with 50 to 1000 tonnes per hour as feed.
PROCESS RECOVERY – The percentage of the REEs that show up in the product or midstream process relative to that of the mined ore or previous process step. Results are usually given in % values. Typical values are in the 50-90 % range.


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For the first time, scientists have produced the "cardiac proteome," a map of all of the tens of thousands of proteins contributing to the success of every single heartbeat. The new map provides an "atlas" of what a healthy human heart looks like. Because to know what goes wrong in a diseased heart, one first must determine what a healthy heart looks like, in cellular detail.
Front: drawing of a cardiac muscle, Background: excerpt from a so-called "heatmap", an overview of the proteins analyzed for the cardiac proteome. (image: Doll, Kraue, Menzfeld / MPIB)
Lead author Sophia Doll and her team of researchers, brought together by a collaboration between the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry (MPIB) and the German Heart Centre at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), collected 150 tissue samples to catalogue the type and number of individual proteins found in every type of cell that exists in the heart's tissues.
Specifically, Doll looked at the protein composition of three main cell types of the heart: cardiac fibroblasts, smooth muscle cells, and endothelial cells. These cell types are spread out over various heart regions, including the heart valves, cardiac chambers, and major blood vessels. Using mass spectrometry, researchers identified close to 11,000 different proteins in the heart.
Surprisingly, the right and left sides of the heart appeared to have a similar protein composition, despite a large difference in their functionalities.
"Looking at the protein atlas of the human heart, you can see that all healthy hearts work in a very similar manner," Sophia Doll explained. "We measured similar protein compositions in all the regions with few differences between them."
Changes in the DNA that contains the code for protein production or changes in the proteins themselves can both contribute to heart disease. Using the new cardiac proteome, scientists began to compare a healthy heart versus a diseased heart, starting with proteomes of patients with atrial fibrillation, a common disorder characterized by an irregular heartbeat.
They saw that a large majority of the differences between the two proteomes was in proteins that provide energy to other heart cells. However, it seems that each individual diseased proteome contains slightly different changes compared to the health cardiac proteome, stressing the importance of personalized medicine.
"Although all the patients had very similar symptoms, we see from the data that a different molecular dysfunction was responsible in each case," said TUM's Markus Krane. "We need to learn to recognize and treat such individual differences - especially in cardiac medicine."
The present study was published in the journal Nature Communications.


Policy and Procedure Statement on the Authorised Use of the Meal Entertainment Card
The purpose of this statement is to provide guidelines on the authorized use of the Meal Entertainment Card (MEC) and to communicate to employees the audit procedure and sanctions that will apply if the MEC is used by an employee to pay for unauthorized expenses.
Employees should note that on application for an MEC they are declaring that the MEC will only be used for meal entertainment expenses.
Strict adherence to this policy and procedure statement is a condition of use of the MEC and is required to ensure that the MEC complies with ATO rules.
The MEC is provided to employees as part of the salary packaging arrangements at your Employer. The MEC can only be used to pay for qualifying meal entertainment expenses as explained in the following.
1. What expenses can an employee pay with the MEC?
Meal entertainment expenses are expenses representing provision of:
(a) entertainment by way of food and drink; or
(b) accommodation or travel in connection with, or for the purpose of facilitating entertainment by way of food and drink.
While this definition taken from the legislation is a little vague, what is clear is that the provision of food or drink in all circumstances is not meal entertainment. In order for food or drink to qualify as meal entertainment, there must be some element of entertainment present.
Entertainment in this sense does not refer to a performance or the like, but more generally to some gathering of people to carry out some activity with a view to enjoying themselves.
In cases of doubt an employee needs to consider:
(a) Why is the food or drink being provided? For example, food or drink provided for the purpose of refreshment would not generally be meal entertainment, whereas food or drink provided at a social function for enjoyment would be meal entertainment.
(b) What food or drink is being provided? Light meals such as morning tea are less likely to be meal entertainment as opposed to more elaborate meals.
(c) When is the food or drink provided? Food or drink during working hours is less likely to be meal entertainment than food or drink provided after hours.
(d) Where is the food or drink being provided? Food provided in a social setting, e.g. hotel, restaurant, café, coffee shop, etc. is more likely to be meal entertainment.
2. Examples of expenses that are likely to be meal entertainment
- Breakfast/lunch/dinner with friends or family at a restaurant/café.
- Drinks/food at a bar or nightclub.
- Purchases of food or drink for a party, BBQ, etc.
- Drinks/food while on holidays at a resort/hotel, etc.
- Taxi travel to a club/restaurant, etc. for the purposes of obtaining food/drink.
3. Examples of expenses that are not likely to be meal entertainment
- Purchase of general household food and drink.
- Purchase of alcohol to be consumed generally at home.
- Tickets to movies, sporting or cultural events.
- Travel/accommodation costs for local or overseas holidays for recreation purposes.
- Foreign currency transaction charges when the MEC is used to pay for expenses overseas
4. What an employee should do if they are not sure if an expense is meal entertainment
If an employee is not sure that an expense is a meal entertainment expense, the employee should not pay for it with the Meal Entertainment Card. An employee can of course pay for such expenses with their Employee Benefits Card, if they have one.
5. What an Employee can't pay for with the MEC?
Employees should also not that the following transactions are not permitted with the MEC:
- Periodical payments or direct debits cannot be set up on the card.
- The card cannot be used to withdraw cash; e.g. from ATMs, or when making EFTPOS transactions.
6. How are overseas transaction charges on the card treated?
The MEC may be used to pay for qualifying meal entertainment expenses incurred overseas. However if used overseas, all transactions will incur a foreign currency transaction fees which will be separately identified on the MEC monthly statement.
Audit Procedure
The following outlines the audit procure and sanctions that will apply for unuathorised use of the MEC.
1. Simplygreen will randomly audit employee card statements provided by Westpac.
2. Employees will need to provide hand written annotations on any items appearing on the statement that are not obviously meal entertainment from the entry appearing on the statement (eg items purchased from a supermarket.)
3. The annotation needs to clearly explain the entertainment connection of the food or drink purchased (eg for birthday party on such and such date)
4. Items that are not food or drink do not qualify in any circumstances unless the items are travel or accommodation for the purpose of facilitating entertainment by way of food or drink. In these circumstances the annotation needs to identify the particular meal entertainment event connected with the travel and/or accommodation expenses charged to the MEC. (eg taxi travel for meal at such and such restaurant on such and such date).
5. Simplygreen may request further information from the employee where the information provided together with the statement is not adequate.
6. Employees need to write at the end of the statement the following:
"I declare that the hand written annotations on this statement are true and correct"
Employees should then sign their name and enter the date signed.
Sanctions for Unauthorised Use of the MEC
Employees are hereby put on notice that in the event of the use of the MEC to pay for unauthorized expenses, your Employer may cancel the employee's card without further notice and disqualify the employee from applying for another MEC for a period of time determined at the discretion


Pronunciation of Outdraw
English Meaning
To draw out; to extract.
 1. To extract or draw out.
 2. To remove a gun from its holster, and fire it, faster than another.
 3. To attract a larger crowd than.
Malayalam Meaning
 Transliteration ON/OFF | Not Correct/Proper?
പുറമേ - Purame ; ;
Found Wrong Meaning for Outdraw?
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The Princeton shield, which is derived from the University's official seal, appears in many forms across campus, from mugs (above) to architectural details.
Photos by Neil Mills
Video feature: 'Finding the Enduring Shield of Princeton'
Posted December 27, 2012; 12:00 p.m.
The Princeton University shield has a widespread presence throughout the campus. With a keen eye, one can catch a glimpse of this icon in campus architecture — from interiors to facades — and it also adorns sport venues, commercial items, publications and more. Whether small or large, sculptural, carved, or printed in ink, the University shield serves as an emblem of Princeton's rich traditions.
Play the "Finding the Enduring Shield of Princeton" video.
The symbol, as seen in this video, is derived from the University's official seal, which was adopted in its current version in 1896 when Princeton changed its name from the College of New Jersey to Princeton University. The seal, which serves as the University trustees' corporate signature on diplomas and other official documents, was described in the trustees' minutes of Feb. 13, 1896, as: "a shield resting upon a circle. In the upper part of the shield an open Bible with Latin characters VET NOV TESTAMENTUM signifying the Old and New Testaments. … In the lower part a chevron, denoting the rafters of a building." It also includes the Latin phrase "DEI SUB NUMINE VIGET" (Under God's Power She Flourishes), which is the University's official motto, and "seal of Princeton University" in Latin.
In the shield's formal application, it appears with the motto in a ribbon below the icon. In 2007, the shield was redesigned to be wider and rounder than the previous shield, and the black outline around the outside was removed to simplify and modernize its look.

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


text: Rapid diagnostic assays for Pf CRT mutations are already employed as surveillance tools for drug resistance. Here, we review recent field studies that support the central role of Pf CRT mutations in chloroquine resistance. Plaquenil sideceffects Pool chloroquine tablet Used to treat malaria infections Quinine This drug inhibits DNA synthesis Chloroquine This drug antiprotozoan drug damages DNA Metronidazole This antihelminthic drug is used for infections of worms Praziquantel This antihelminthic drug works by paralyzing the worm allowing the body to be excrete Praziquantel Chloroquine is a medication used to prevent and to treat malaria in areas where malaria is known to be sensitive to its effects. Certain types of malaria, resistant strains, and complicated cases typically require different or additional medication. In addition, any of the regimens listed for the treatment of chloroquine-resistant malaria may be used for the treatment of chloroquine-sensitive. P. falciparum. malaria. Prompt initiation of an effective regimen is vitally important, so using any one of the effective regimens that is readily available would be the preferred strategy. Recognition of the value of chloroquine was delayed, and it was not brought forward until it was reevaluated in the United States and designated the drug of choice against malaria near the end of World War II. These studies suggest chloroquine resistance arose in ⩾4 distinct geographic foci and substantiate an important role of immunity in the outcomes of resistant infections after chloroquine treatment. Investigation of the resistance mechanisms and of the role of immunity in therapeutic outcomes will support new approaches to drugs that can take the place of chloroquine or augment its efficiency Early in the 20th century, intense demands for an effective quinine substitute launched the discovery and evaluation of a series of organic compounds (beginning with methylene blue), which led to pamaquine and quinacrine after World War I and ultimately produced chloroquine in 1934 [1, 2]. Chloroquine-resistant malaria may be treated with quizlet How Malaria Is Treated - Verywell Health, Chloroquine - Wikipedia Hydroxychloroquine 400 mg tabletsAao plaquenil pppPlaquenil reduces preeclampsiaHydroxychloroquine 200 mg acetaminophen 400 mgArtemisinin and chloroquine structure Chloroquine does not treat the hypnozoite liver stage forms of Plasmodium and will therefore not prevent relapses of malaria due to P. vivax or P. ovale. Additional treatment with an anti-malarial agent active against these forms, such as an 8-aminoquinoline, is required for the treatment of infections with P. vivax and P. ovale. Chloroquine - FDA prescribing information, side effects and uses. Treatment of Malaria Guidelines for Clinicians United.. Chloroquine plus proguanil chloroquine malaria. In special circumstances and after consultation with malaria experts available through the CDC Malaria Hot-line _PHONE_, primaquine may be used for prophylaxis for travel to areas with or without chloroquine-resistant P. falciparum Aralen chloroquine is an antimalarial drug used for the treatment of malaria and extraintestinal amebiasis. Common side effects are reduced hearing, tinnitus, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Dosage, drug interactions, and pregnancy and breastfeeding safety are provided. In areas with chloroquine-resistant P falciparum, quinine sulfate, mefloquine, or atovaquone/proguanil is suggested. Because these chemoprophylaxis agents do not eliminate P vivax and P ovale forms of the parasite that remain in the liver, primaquine phosphate treatment is recommended when living in endemic areas.


A pair of microtektites found inside ancient clam shells.
Image: Kristen Grace, Florida Museum
Glass beads were found inside fossil clams in a Florida quarry, and researchers believe that they're the first particle evidence of ancient meteorite strikes in the area.
Researchers picking through the contents of fossil clams from a Sarasota County quarry found dozens of tiny glass beads, likely the calling cards of an ancient meteorite.
Analysis of the beads suggests they are microtektites, particles that form when the explosive impact of an extraterrestrial object sends molten debris hurtling into the atmosphere where it cools and recrystallizes before falling back to Earth.
They are the first documented microtektites in Florida and possibly the first to be recovered from fossil shells.
Mike Meyer was a University of South Florida undergraduate when he discovered the microtektites during a 2006 summer fieldwork project led by Roger Portell, invertebrate paleontology collections director at the Florida Museum of Natural History.
As part of the project, students systematically collected fossils from the shell-packed walls of a quarry that offered a cross-section of the last few million years of Florida's geological history. They pried open fossil clams, washing the sediment trapped inside through very fine sieves. Meyer was looking for other tiny objects -- the shells of single-celled organisms known as benthic foraminifera -- when he noticed the translucent glassy balls, smaller than grains of salt.
"They really stood out," said Meyer, now an assistant professor of Earth systems science at Harrisburg University in Pennsylvania. "Sand grains are kind of lumpy, potato-shaped things. But I kept finding these tiny, perfect spheres."
After the fieldwork ended, his curiosity about the spheres persisted. But his emails to various researchers came up short: No one knew what they were. Meyer kept the spheres -- 83 in total -- in a small box for more than a decade.
"It wasn't until a couple years ago that I had some free time," he said. "I was like, 'Let me just start from scratch.'"
Meyer analyzed the elemental makeup and physical features of the spheres and compared them to microtektites, volcanic rock and byproducts of industrial processes, such as coal ash. His findings pointed to an extraterrestrial origin.
"It did blow my mind," he said.
He thinks the microtektites are the products of one or more small, previously unknown meteorite impacts, potentially on or near the Florida Platform, the plateau that undergirds the Florida Peninsula.
Initial results from an unpublished test suggest the spheres have traces of exotic metals, further evidence they are microtektites, Meyer said.
Most of them had been sealed inside fossil Mercenaria campechiensis or southern quahogs. Portell said that as clams die, fine sediment and particles wash inside. As more sediment settles on top of the clams over time, they close, becoming excellent long-term storage containers.
"Inside clams like these we can find whole crabs, sometimes fish skeletons," Portell said. "It's a nice way of preserving specimens."
During the 2006 fieldwork, the students recovered microtektites from four different depths in the quarry, which is "a little weird," Meyer said, since each layer represents a distinct period of time.
"It could be that they're from a single tektite bed that got washed out over millennia or it could be evidence for numerous impacts out on the Florida Platform that we just don't know about," he said.
The researchers plan to date the microtektites, but Portell's working guess is that they are "somewhere around 2 to 3 million years old."
One oddity is that they contain high amounts of sodium, a feature that sets them apart from other impact debris. Salt is highly volatile and generally boils off if thrust into the atmosphere at high speed, Meyer said.
"This high sodium content is intriguing because it suggests a very close location for the impact," Meyer said. "Or at the very least, whatever impact created it likely hit a very large reserve of rock salt or the ocean. A lot of those indicators point to something close to Florida."
Meyer and Portell suspect there are far more microtektites awaiting discovery in Florida and have asked amateur fossil collectors to keep an eye out for the tiny spheres.
But no one will be recovering microtektites from the original quarry any time soon. It's now part of a housing development.
"Such is the nature of Florida," Meyer said.
Peter Harries of North Carolina State University also co-authored the study.
The above story is based on Materials provided by Florida Museum of Natural History. Original written by Natalie van Hoose.


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Cluster Analysis of Health Data Involving General Disease Cluster Shapes and Multiple Variables
MetadataShow full metadata
This dissertation research develops new methods to automatically detect clusters of general shapes in disease data involving multiple variables. Disease cluster detection is important in public health surveillance as well as in disease control and prevention. A number of techniques were proposed and developed for identifying compact clusters, yet few of them can detect clusters with irregular shapes efficiently. Furthermore, most researchers failed to notice the combined influence of multiple variables on human disease, focusing only on the impact resulting from a single variable. This dissertation research has two primary objectives. The first one is to develop two new methods, a maximum-likelihood-first algorithm and a non-greedy algorithm, which can be used to detect disease clusters of arbitrary shapes. These new methods were applied to detect clusters of murine typhus disease cases in southern Texas from 1996 to 2006. The second objective is to develop a procedure for detecting line segment clusters based on visual exploration (parallel coordinates technique) and spatial analysis techniques. Similar to, but unlike the parallel coordinates technique, this procedure can be used to detect concentrations of the simultaneous occurrence of the instances of two properties represented by two variables. Although numerous projects have focused on cluster analysis of disease point data, this research is the first systematic investigation on both point and line clusters. This dissertation research contributes to the literature of spatial cluster analysis in detecting arbitrary-shaped patterns of disease point data. The method and results from the line cluster interpretation helps public health officials utilize line cluster techniques in identifying the relationship of multiple variables with the help of visualization techniques.


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If topological analysis explains what the system is about, what it consists of/in, what it is, use of.
If it is the purpose of the system, in a broad sense, use for.
In many cases, both would be possible and correct, in which case of is usually preferred. Sometimes one of these prepositions would be incorrect for no apparent reason, even though it should have been possible if you consider its meaning:
- a cup of tea
-? a cup for tea — [sounds odd: it's just that we're too much used to "tea-cup" in this sense]
Topological-analysis system (you need a hyphen) looks acceptable but a bit less stylistically pleasing than the other two. I'd use such noun adjectives mainly with short words, such as hot-water tap. Because there is no preposition, the reader will have to guess what kind of connection there is between one noun phrase and the other. In addition, he needs to read a large part of the sentence and understand what it is about before he can tell which word belongs to which; consider this example:
The spectrometer robots system analysis utilizes is malfunctioning.
Is it spectrometer robot and system analysis? Or spectrometer robot system and analysis? Or spectrometer and robot system analysis? Compare to this sentence:
The spectrometer analysis of the robots system utilizes is malfunctioning.
This is still a terribly ugly sentence, but at least the reader will see that there is only one possible reading after a few tries. This is just a demonstration of the fact that noun adjectives generally provide less information about the structure of a sentence than other, wordier constructions. (To make this sentence acceptable, add that after spectrometer.)


text:
A Digital Mathematical Performance to Support the Physical Embodiment of Balanced Equations
Stephen Chen, Steven Khan, Alireza Moghaddam, Immaculate Namukasa, and Darren Stanley
One of the topics of exploration at the UWO Symposium on Digital Mathematical Performance was on how the combination of physical performances and digital technologies could improve mathematics teaching. Our working group developed, performed, and recorded a skit that attempts to help students learn the concept of balanced/imbalanced equations with respect to the process of solving equations.
The following eight video clips in.wmv (original recording and smaller downloads) and.mp4 formats represent the key highlights of our presentation at the UWO Symposium.
Video 1 -- The Skit
In the skit, one of the actors is carrying a heavy load of single items and grouped items. The actor wants to balance this load -- i.e. carry the same amount in each arm. Upon reaching his destination, the actor needs to be unloaded in such a way that he remains in balance at all times. A result of this unloading process is that a set of single items eventually balances a set (of one) grouped items -- and thus isolating and solving for the unknown. In the process of unloading, several common errors are enacted that cause the actor to become imbalanced. The actor over reacts to these situations and creates a physically embodied understanding for the concept of balanced/imbalanced equations.
There are several goals to this skit. First, there is the goal of teaching the topics of balanced/imbalanced equations and the solving of equations. To help students learn the concept of imbalanced equations, a physical movement/full-body gesture is created. It is hoped that teachers and students will be inspired by our performance and re-enact the skit. It is hypothesized that the physical embodiment of the mathematical concept and the opportunity to role-play will both help the students to learn the mathematical material better.
Video 2 -- The Mathematics of the Skit
The actor in the skit is carrying one bag and three cups in one hand
and two bags and one cup in the other. Thus, the equation is x +
3 = 2x + 1. To isolate x quickly, a student might take the 3 away
from the left hand side -- which leads to an imbalance. Upon
learning that they have to take away from both sides, a common error is
to take away a unit from one side and a group from the other.
These two common errors are part of the skit. Another error that
was not acted is to remove all of the units (e.g. 3 from the left and 1
from the right).
It is hoped that the students will enjoy the skit. And, just as important, it is hoped that by performing the skit, it will help them learn the associated mathematics more easily. Similar to the expected classroom use of this digital mathematical performance, the skit and the role playing are done first and then followed by the mathematical lesson.
Video 3 -- The Digital Mathematical Performance
In this video, we discuss the purpose of the skit.
Video 4 -- The Lesson Goals
In this video, we discuss the objectives of the skit in terms of a classroom lesson plan.
Video 5 -- A Relevant On-line Resource
To follow up with the skit, we suggest the following on-line resource which we believe is highly relevant. This on-line resource allows equations to be balanced and solved in an animated visualization.
Video 6 -- Why use Digitial Mathematical Performances?
In this video, we discuss the potential benefits to using a digital mathematical performance to teach the topic of balanced/imbalanced equations.
Video 7 -- David Pimm discusses Physical
Rituals as a part of Learning
In this video, David Pimm provides an example of how a gesture used to help students learn a mathematical concept then become almost a required physical ritual that was a part of the mathematical concept.
Video 8 -- John Mighton discusses how to handle
One of the limitations of the skit (and of the selected model/metaphor) is that it doesn't handle negative values. In this video, John Mighton describes how he has taught the topic in such a way as to avoid this limitation.


text:
1560 (aged 68) (disputable)
Bowman Wright was a skilled metal charmer who lived in Godric's Hollow sometime during the Middle Ages. Born to a witch mother and a Muggle father, he invented the Golden Snitch as a replacement for the endangered Golden Snidget, combining his interest in science, magic, and sports.
The English "wright" is a word referring to a skilled craftsman.
Behind the scenes
- The dates given for Bowman's birth and death on his Famous Wizard Card (_PHONE_) do not agree with the timeframe laid down in Quidditch Through the Ages, which would indicate that he was alive towards the end of the 1300s.
- Bowman shares the same last name as Bonnie Wright, who portrays Ginny Weasley in the Harry Potter films. Incidentally, Bonnie Wright's parents, Gary Wright and Sheila Teague, are both jewellers.
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game) (Appears on a Famous Wizard Card)
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (video game) (Appears on a Famous Wizard Card)
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Mentioned only)
- Quidditch Through the Ages
- J. K. Rowling Official Site
- Pottermore (Appears on a Famous Wizard Card)


text:
Title: Structure and Action Mechanism of Ligninolytic Enzymes Author
Submitted to: Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: May 5, 2008
Publication Date: May 1, 2009
Citation: Wong, D. 2009. Structure and Action Mechanism of Ligninolytic Enzymes. Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology. 157(2):174-209. Technical Abstract: Lignin is the most abundant renewable source of aromatic polymer in nature, and its decomposition is indispensable for carbon recycling. It is chemically recalcitrant to breakdown by most organisms because of the complex, heterogeneous structure. The white-rot fungi produce an array of extracellular oxidative enzymes that synergistically and efficiently degrade lignin. The major groups of ligninolytic enzymes include lignin peroxidases, manganese peroxidases, and laccases. The two peroxidases are heme-containing enzymes with catalytic cycles that involve the formation and reduction of compound I and compound II intermediates. LiP has the unique ability to catalyze oxidative cleavage of C-C bonds and ether (C-O-C) bonds in non-phenolic aromatic substrates of high redox potential. MnP oxidizes Mn(II) to Mn(III), which facilitates the degradation of phenolic compounds or in turn oxidizes a second mediator for the breakdown of non-phenolic compounds. Laccases are multi-copper-containing proteins that catalyze the oxidation of reducing substrates with concomitant reduction of molecular oxygen to water. This review covers the chemical nature of lignin substrates, and focuses on the biochemical properties, molecular structures, reaction mechanisms, and related structures/functions of these enzymes.


About Seesaw Sign Up
Teachers, save "Stable or unstable? That is the question." to assign it to your class.
Candace Lorcet
Student Instructions
Stable or unstable? That is the question.
1. Tap the add add button. 2. Upload a file of a picture of a person in an action shot from any sport you choose (preferably one where they are touching the ground). 3. Use the label label and drawing drawing tools to add 3 labels to your picture showing the Centre of Gravity (COG) of the individual, their Base of Support (BOS) and the Line of Gravity (LOG). 4. Then use the mic microphone to explain whether the person is stable or unstable. Be sure to justify your answer by referring to COG, LOG and BOS. 4. Tap check check to add to your portfolio. See an example below.
11th Grade, 10th Grade, 12th Grade, Physical Education, Science
369 teachers like this


In The Rabbit Hole Urban Survival Podcast Album ArtHosts Aaron and Jonathan discuss Survival CHI and its origins. The foundation of the entire show and blog, Survival CHI is what guides it all. It's what keeps In The Rabbit Hole all about rational practical preparedness.
Eight months have passed since Survival CHI was first unveiled and explained. By popular demand it's back with the story of how it was made and tips on how you can use it to improve your life today and survive the possible disasters of tomorrow.
 - How Survival CHI was formed.
 - What Survival CHI is.
 - How it impacts your life.
 - How the principles are intertwined.
 - How practicing the principles has changed Aaron and Jonathan's lives.
 - Implementing the principles in your life today.
 - Homework assignment!


text:
Multi-meters are in the markets since a long time and have evolved at the stage where it's use is not only restricted to maintenance work but it can work as reference measurement devices in different calibration and testing labs or during product testing to measure various outputs such as current, voltage, resistance, frequency, duty cycle, digital outputs and other reference parameters. New communication protocols integrated in the multi-meter devices makes the data recording and test report creation a closed-loop automated process hence removing manual error and keeping a low cycle time for the entire process.
Various measurement results are recorded during product testing on production lines and at labs for testing & calibration purpose and to produce the expected test and calibration reports and guarantee product performance.
Since the required measurement parameters or sample count can be too much in some cases, it can be a nightmare for the product tester or lab technician to note down each and every measurement point and average it without any human error or typographical errors which may lead to incorrect or inappropriate results and can result in added time required to do the already manual work. Multi-meter with communication can be integrated into a PC software or a mobile app to form a closed loop automated testing and report generation program thus solving the above problem.
A multi-meter can work with plug and play communication ports such as standard USB or Bluetooth communication mode of data transmission. When it is connected to a PC or a mobile app for data processing via a closed loop automated testing program, it can simplify the process for product tester on production lines or lab technicians responsible for testing the reference values.
Rishabh make multi-meters provide such a feature to users and are in use on many shop floors and labs.
The process avoids human errors and reduces time required to record the test value which then flow to the digitally generated reports which are digitally signed. If the process requires, then the values can flow back to the testing program and form a closed loop calibration and testing cycle.
This helps in testing multiple values with respect to the set tolerances hence passing or failing a certain product during production process or simply records the values in a lab ensuring complete traceability for the lab technician by the use of software with the generation of the report in PDF or desired format.
Benefits of Rishabh 60XX series multi-meters
- Data logger & view function (up to 32000 readings)
- Plug and play USB connectivity with PC or Bluetooth connectivity with mobile & PC with Android and iOS app
- 100kHz bandwidth for voltage measurement
- 1kHz low pass filter mode
- NO-GO function
- VAC with 1M impedance
- 4-20mA/0-20mA scale type measurement
- Single fuse for mA & A
- Adjustable square wave output
- Temperature measurement with J, K, Pt100 & Pt1000 sensors
- External power adapter for long hours of measurements
- Selectable clamp ratio for current measurement
- Conductance measurement
- Frequency / time period measurement
- Up to the mark installation category safety with 1000 V CATIII / 600 V CATIV


Qualifying Conditions for Medical Marijuana in Pennsylvania
If you or a loved one is struggling with PTSD, you should know that medical marijuana is now available in Pennsylvania for treating symptoms of this neurological condition.
Post-traumatic stress disorder, also known as PTSD, is an anxiety disorder caused by a traumatic experience. Living with PTSD can be incredibly challenging. Many patients commonly deal with unexpected anxiety attacks, which often leads to a poor quality of life. When a person experiences a traumatic event such as combat, a car accident, abuse, or assault, it's not always easy to move past that experience. And while a combination of therapy and medication offers some patients relief, many of them find it difficult to recover.
Compassionate Certification Centers is here to help you understand the benefits of medical marijuana for PTSD and how it can help cope with negative emotions. We can also help you legally qualify for a medical marijuana card in Pennsylvania. See below for more information.
An Overview of PTSD
A person with PTSD may experience fear, nausea, dizziness, depression, and insomnia as a result of a traumatic experience. In most cases, these symptoms last for several weeks, but there any many people who experience symptoms for decades. There are three main characteristics of PTSD:
 1. Re-living a traumatic event (e.g. flashbacks and nightmares)
 2. Increased arousal (e.g. paranoia)
 3. Avoidance (e.g. self medicating or relationship sabotage)
Due to the nature of PTSD, many sufferers are reluctant to seek professional help, thereby making it difficult to approximate the number of individuals living with this condition.
How to Diagnose PTSD
A doctor who has experience helping people with mental illnesses, such as a psychiatrist or psychologist, can diagnose PTSD. To be diagnosed with PTSD, a patient must have all of the following for at least 1 month:
 - At least one re-experiencing symptom
 - At least one avoidance symptom
 - At least two arousal and reactivity symptoms
 - At least two cognition and mood symptoms
Statistics to Consider
 - There are approximately 8 million adults who experience PTSD in the United States
 - Around 7-8% of the U.S. population has experienced PTSD at some or the other point in their lives
 - PTSD is typically more common in women
 - Around 10% of women population in the United States develop PTSD in the course of their lives
Common Symptoms of Anxiety
Individuals afflicted with PTSD typically exhibit pronounced symptoms, which include:
 - Psychological: flashbacks, fear, severe anxiety, emotional detachment
 - Mood: loss of interest or pleasure in activities, guilt, loneliness
 - Sleep: insomnia, nightmares
Medical Marijuana for PTSD
There are several studies that demonstrate how medical marijuana helps alleviate the negative mental and physical symptoms of PTSD. Medical marijuana contains cannabinoids, which are chemical compounds with therapeutic properties. Among the cannabinoids are THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) and CBD (cannabidiol), which are structurally similar to the molecules in the human endocannabinoid system. They interact with one another to trigger neurotransmitters responsible for positive emotions.
The relief that medical marijuana can offer to PTSD patients also helps reduce the risk of substance abuse and self-medication, two of the biggest risks associated with this disorder. Many studies also show that the use of medical marijuana helps curb alcohol and drug addition in Veterans.
How to Get a Medical Marijuana Card for PTSD
Due to the seriousness of the disease, many states have legalized the use of medical marijuana for PTSD. Below is a step-by-step guide on how to get your medical marijuana card in the state of Pennsylvania:
 1. Register for the PA Medical Marijuana Program with Compassionate Certification Centers
 2. Have a physician certify that you suffer from PTSD
 3. Purchase a medical marijuana ID card
 4. Get medical marijuana from an approved dispensary in Pennsylvania
Compassionate Certification Centers is here to provide you with the support, care, and guidance you need to get certified in the Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Program. Schedule an appointment with us at _PHONE_ to start your evaluation process!


text:
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Back in the 1800s, when ambitious New York-based painters went looking for dramatic landscapes, they found them a ferry-ride away, on Staten Island.
At the time, the Island's high, central hills were still wooded and sparsely settled. Much of the level land was green farmland. The surrounding waters were clean and filled with picturesque sailing vessels. The place was a landscape painter's dream come true.
The era will be documented for the first time in "Staten Island Scenery: _PHONE_," a new book by Barnett Shepherd, the New Brighton-based historian who is director emeritus of Historic Richmond Town and an advisor to the Staten Island Museum.
The book, published jointly by Richmond Town and the museum, will be released later in the year. Both collections preserve paintings of Island scenes from the 19th Century
"At the time, our Island was regarded as a glorious representation of all of America," Shepherd said. "There were scenic views of the the harbor, acres of woods, grassy meadows, marshy wetlands and, the hills, which towered over the terrain other boroughs. These were perfect scenes for artists to recreate."
Landscape paintings became popular with the public. Eventually painters left the city and sailed up the Hudson River looking for new views. Even after they headed west, artists who specialized in dramatic, unpopulated American landscapes became known as Hudson River School painters.
"Staten Island Scenery: _PHONE_" will be accompanied by documentary DVD, narrated by Shepherd and directed by award-winning director Ed Wiseman, who is also executive director of Historic Richmond Town.


text:
2000 GMC Sierra Truck Change Rear Emergency Brake Shoes
GMC trucks, like most other modern automobiles, come with a hand brake that helps lock the vehicle into place. Although termed an "emergency brake," using it while also applying the foot brakes increases the likelihood of losing control. That's why it's more accurately called the parking or hand brake. Ideally, the emergency brake is used only when the truck is parked, and even then only when it is parked on an incline. Avoiding overuse can extend the life of the brake shoes. When they do wear out, you can replace them in a few hours.
|2 wheel blocks|
|2 jack stands|
|Ratchet with socket set|
|Replacement brake shoes|
|Safety goggles (optional)|
Change Rear Emergency Brake Shoes
- Install wheel blocks over the front two wheels to keep them from moving while changing the brake shoes.
- Lift the rear end of the truck using the floor jack. Place the jack stands underneath a solid area of the frame and lower the truck onto the stands. Remove the jack once the weight is placed solidly on the stands.
- Loosen the lug nuts on the rear wheel using the lug wrench. It's best to finish changing one brake pad before removing the second wheel. Pull the wheel off by hand once each of the lug nuts has been removed. Put the wheel and lug nuts in a safe location.
- Place the drip pan beneath the brake assembly and thoroughly spray the assembly with the brake cleaner. Be sure to cover or hide your eyes from the brake cleaner as any mist can lead to severe irritation. Use goggles if necessary.
- Remove the brake caliper bolts using the ratchet and correct socket. Be cautious of the brake line. Lift the caliper off the rotor and let it hang without pulling on the line. Again, place the caliper bolt in a safe place, but away from the other pieces.
- Locate and remove the parking brake retainer clip.
- Remove the cable from the brake by pulling it forward, then disconnect the cable from the emergency brake lever.
- Spread the shoes apart and remove the adjuster screws and springs from both of the brake shoes.
- Remove the emergency brake shoes. Keep the spring and level in place for now. Spray the brake area with brake cleaner.
- Take apart the brake shoe assembly. Pay attention to the location of the different parts as these will illustrate how to assemble the new brake shoes.
- Reinstall the assembly onto the plate with the screws and pins on the new brake shoes. Install the adjuster screw and spring. Make sure the new shoes don't touch the rotor unless needed, and that the lever cable and brake line connections are intact.
- Reinstall the brake caliper bolts and tighten them into place.
- Place the wheel back onto the rotor and tighten all of the lug nuts until the wheel is secure.
- Repeat step 3 through 13 on the other wheel.
- Lift the truck off the stands using the floor jack. Remove the stands and lower the truck to the ground. Test the emergency brake by pulling on the lever in the cabin.


Laws of Quantum Mechanics Learned by AI Algorithm
by Byrne Anderson
0 comment
The rapid development in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) is pretty impressive. Globally, different industries are investing in AI due to the benefits it brings and could bring to their various endeavors. Technology sites like have been closely following the progress in AI technology.
Recently, news broke out that AI algorithms can now be taught to learn the laws of quantum mechanics. A group of researchers at the University of Warwick, the University of Luxemburg, and the Technical University of Berlin have developed a groundbreaking AI method that can predict molecular wave functions and digital properties of molecules.
Chemists can use this deep machine learning method to accelerate the simulation efforts within the design of drug molecules or new compounds. If you want to learn more about this technological and scientific breakthrough and its importance, read on below.
A Revolutionary Study
In the mind-boggling field of quantum chemistry, chemists used artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms to calculate vital chemical properties and foretell experimental outcomes. But, for the sake of accuracy, AIs must have a clear understanding of the fundamentals of quantum mechanics.
According to an interdisciplinary crew of chemists, computer scientists, and physicists from the universities mentioned above, machine learning frameworks in the past are not quite capable of making accurate quantum predictions.
It's not to say that previous AI algorithms were not useful, but the thing is that they failed to pinpoint some of the most vital characteristics of quantum chemistry. Specifically, previous AI frameworks have neglected to consider in these trials how many changing factors are needed to mark out a particular state of a system.
Quantum mechanics commonly allows states to exist and not exist at the same time. If scientists utilize degrees of freedom, they can know and understand how to describe a system with a certain degree of accuracy and utility.
Failing to account for such degrees of freedom, former AI algorithms have described these quantum chemistry trials in more classical tensor, vector, and scalar fields. This knowledge gap means that more time and effort are required for calculation and prediction.
Thanks to this new study, an AI method can now look deeper into the quantum structure and behavior of molecules with much accuracy. The research team has designed a model that will describe these molecular structures and behaviors in a faster and more quantumly accurate form of ground-state wavefunctions.
Reinhard Maurer, an assistant professor at the University of Warwick's Department of Chemistry and one of the authors of the study, said that their AI algorithm is quantum-savvy and flexible, which makes it an essential tool for quantum chemistry.
According to Maurer, the study has been conducted for three years, and it required expert knowledge in computer science to develop an AI algorithm that can determine the structure and behavior of wave functions accurately. Physics and chemistry know-how are also vital to represent and process quantum chemical data that can be managed by the algorithm.
A Synergy of Quantum Chemistry and Machine Learning
The research team said in a statement that their deep machine learning model known as SchNOrb enables them to estimate molecular orbits with a quantum chemical accuracy. As such, the framework also helps them predict the electronic structure of molecules and chemically interpret the reaction dynamics of said molecules.
This deep machine learning algorithm shows promising capabilities that will help chemists design a highly-effective "purpose-built molecules" that can be used in the field of medicine and various industries.
However, every one of us should understand that the standard rules that we make in the visible world don't always apply in quantum mechanics. After all, quantum mechanics work at the sub-atomic level.
Although SchNOrb can be a useful framework in quantum chemistry, the high number of atomic orbitals it can process also makes it open to a high number of prediction errors. And if many prediction errors are accumulated over time, chances are there will be congestion in the prediction process.
The authors of the study said that they would need to learn more about the algorithm and improve it to prevent the problem mentioned above.
Still, the researchers are confident that the breakthrough they just made will open a way for a more effective synergy between quantum-savvy AIs and quantum chemists.
Artificial intelligence has done the world an excellent service even though there's a lot of detractors that often roll out a long list of AI's supposed absurd threats to humanity. Right now, a new AI algorithm is being hailed as an essential tool in advancing the field of quantum mechanics.
This AI model known as SchNOrb can dig deeper into the structure and behavior of molecules, which, in turn, speed up the simulation efforts in the design of drug molecules and new compounds. Of course, this innovative discovery is proof that artificial intelligence can bring about a positive impact if it's incorporated into various scientific fields.
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text:
Arm angle is the angle at which a pitcher throws the ball. The lower the arm angle the more lateral movement a pitcher's breaking pitches and fastball have.
There are four common arm angles used by pitchers:
Overhand: the ball is released with the pitcher's arm near perpendicular to the ground.
3/4: the ball is released at about a 45 degree angle with the ground; more diagonal to the ground than the overhand slot. There is also a low 3/4 arm slot where the ball is released with the pitcher's arm slightly above shoulder level.
Submarine: the ball is released with the pitcher's arm below shoulder-level and close to the ground.
The overhand arm angle is considered to be the safest arm action, while side-arm is the most violent angle and mostly used by relief pitchers.


Copyright © University of Cambridge. All rights reserved.
'Auditorium Steps' printed from
Show menu
The challenge follows on from Wrapping Presents.
Here's a model of a small auditorium. There are four squares at the bottom inside and there are three sets of steps to the top. To help to visualise it I've coloured each face of the cube blocks according to which way they are facing.
Your challenge is to imagine that this is a small model that is a present for someone and so it has to be carefully wrapped up with paper. We do not want to waste paper so the wrapping needs to be from a cut shape so that each visable face (no matter where you are viewing it from) needs to be covered CLOSELY with ONE LAYER OF PAPER ONLY and there is to be just ONE piece of wrapping paper.
Draw the shape of that wrapping paper which would need to be cut out.
Describe how you went about it and say what you can about the paper shape.
Then ask yourself "I wonder what would happen if I...?"


text:
Textures and UVs
Textures are pixel maps, usually image files, you use to control surface values such as color, opacity, displacement, and so on.
To map textures to surfaces, Houdini must know which parts of the pixel map should appear on which parts of the surface. You do this by putting UV coordinates attributes on the surface, which map to pixels in the texture. In Houdini, you need to add UVs to all surface types. NURBS surfaces do not automatically have UV coordinates.


text:
Declines in snowfall because of global warming are shortening the winter ski season in the United States and harming the economy, according to a report from two environmental groups.
In poor snow seasons such as last winter, visits drop to ski areas in states such as Colorado and New York, costing ski resorts $1 billion in revenue over the past decade, the Natural Resources Defense Council and Protect Our Winters said in the report released Thursday. The winter sports industry contributes more than $12 billion a year to the U.S. economy, the study said.
"Climate change spells trouble for all businesses dependent on winter weather, from snowmobiling, snowboarding, and ice fishing to snowshoeing and skiing," the groups said in the report.
In the U.S., average temperatures from December through February have increased by 2.2 degrees Fahrenheit (1.2 Celsius) since 1970, according to the report. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Thursday the first 11 months of 2012 were the warmest start to any year in the contiguous 48 states since the U.S. began keeping records in 1895.
Carbon-dioxide emissions since the Industrial Revolution have led to a warming of the Earth's temperature, which threatens to cause extreme weather, drought and coastal flooding, according to the U.S. Global Change Research Program.


text: The giant fiber system (GFS) of Drosophila melanogaster provides a convenient system in which to study neural development. It mediates escape behaviour through a small number of neurons, including the giant fibers (GFs), to innervate the tergotrochantral jump muscle (TTM) and the dorsal longitudinal flight muscles. The GFS has been intensively studied physiologically in both wild-type and mutant flies, and is often used as a system to study the effects of neural mutations on the physiology of the adult nervous system. Recently, much information has been gleaned as to how and when synaptogenesis, with its major target neurons, is achieved. However, little is known of the earlier development of this neuron. Here we have used an enhancer-trap, marking parts of the GFS, in conjunction with BrdU labelling, to attempt to follow the birth, axonogenesis, and the early morphological meeting of the GFs with their target neurons. From these anatomical observations we propose that the GF cell is not born during the larval or pupal stages and, therefore. appears to be a persistent embryonic cell. The axons of the GFs develop during the third instar. During the early pupal stages the GFs contact other identified neurons of the GFS. In addition, we see some aberrant development of the network, with some flies carrying only one GF, and yet others with extended axons. We present a model for the initial joining of the GFs and tergotrochanteral motorneurons (TTMns).


Dali, Erhai Lake, Cangshan Mountain
Dali (大理) is the historical home of the Bai ethnic minority and the one-time capital of the Kingdom of Dali. A popular phrase when talking about the attractions of Dali is 风花雪月, referring to the breeze in Xiaguan Town, the flowers in Shangguan, the snow on Cangshan Mountain (苍山) and the moon-shaped Erhai Lake (洱海).
An exploration of Dali usually starts in the ancient town, full of traditional buildings and rich in Bai culture. A stones throw away is ear-shaped Erhai Lake, a large highland lake. It is a pleasant drive around the lake to visit the surrounding villages such as Xizhou (for well-preserved Qing Dynasty Bai architecture) and Shuanglang (a traditional fishing village).
Moving further along Erhai's perimeter you will find the three iconic pagodas of Chongsheng, symmetrically arranged near the foot of Cangshan Mountain. Cangshan can be explored either by cable cars or hiking and is the best place to get a bird's eye view of the lake and Dali old town.
Related: 6-Day Scenic Holiday: Kunming, Dali, Lijiang
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Help and Advice
Select a shower type and hit 'Apply'
Why does the water temperature from my mixer shower sometimes fluctuate from very cold to very hot?
your mixer shower is a manual type and not thermostatic. Common reasons for this symptom are:
 - Water being drawn off at other outlets or appliances is adversely affecting the pressure and flow to the shower.
 - Shower plumbed in wrong i.e. cold mains and gravity-fed hot water.
We always recommend thermostatic mixer showers.
The flow from my gravity fed mixer shower is less than I expected?
Flow rate from mixer showers varies depending on the available head of water (the hight of your cold water tank) and restrictions within the supply pipe work and shower valve. Commonly flow rates are between 3 and 5 litres per minute. To ensure optimum performance from a gravity fed shower the following guidance should be followed.
 1. Follow manufacturer recommendations regarding pipe size
 2. Ensure the mixer is specified for low pressure application
 3. check if suitable for a booster pump to increase flow/pressure
For gravity-fed systems Aqualisa mixer valves will usually provide better flow rates than other manufactures.
Is my water system suitable for a mixer shower?
Mixer showers manual or thermostatic, are compatible with the following plumbing systems,
 - Gravity-fed hot and cold supplies (Tank in loft and hot water cylinder in airing cupboard or both in loft)
 - Fully-modulating combination boiler / gas water heater
 - Mains pressurised unvented system
 - Mains pressurised thermal store
 - Gravity-fed hot and cold supplies via remote pump
if you have an existing gravity fed shower you can add a pump for a better preforming shower.
When I turn on my electric shower water starts leaking out from the bottom of the unit, why?
If water is leaking from a clear plastic tube or small plastic elbow,a small red rubber ball in Mira shower units then the Pressure Relief Device (PRD) has been activated.
The PRD is a safety device designed to relieve abnormal pressure from within the heater assembly of an electric shower when a restriction occurs.
The most common reasons for the PRD to activate are that the showerhead has become blocked or there is a restriction in the shower hose, if you squeeze or kink the shower hose while on, the pressure build up could blow the PRD.
What size supply fuse /mcb is required when installing an electric shower?
The mcb size must be equal to or the nearest size above the kilowatt rating of the shower see table below. Older type wire fuses are not recommended for electric showers
 - 7kW = 32amp mcb
 - 7.5kW = 32amp mcb
 - 8kW = 40amp mcb
 - 8.5kW = 40amp mcb
 - 9.5kw = 40/45amp mcb
 - 10.5kW = 45/50amp mcb
Shower isolation switch
A common problem regarding electric showers is the pull cord Switch, we replace this with a 50amp switch manufactured by MK or Crabtree as the cheaper alternatives do not seem to last.
Remember if the red light on the pull switch is on, it means power is getting to the switch but the switch may still be faulty, not allowing full power to reach the shower unit,It may have bad connections (high resistance) there must be 230v/240v in the shower unit connector block.
My electric shower is indicating low pressure what should I check?
Check you have good water pressure and flow at kitchen sink or outside tap,these are fed from the mains supply as is your shower.
Check stop cock and shower isolation valves and are fully open Check inlet filter is not blocked with debris if above all check out then you will probably require a new flow/regulator valve fitted
Which electric shower is suitable for a retrofit replacements?
It all depends on the layout of the shower you are replacing. Is the wall tiled behind the shower? not always, this may involve additional tiling or a shower with a larger footprint. There is no magic one shower will fit all.
The Triton T80Z is recommended as a replacement for all previous models of Triton T80, T80Mk3, T80i, T80si and T80xr.
The T80Z is also an ideal replacement for other makes and models as water and cable entry points can be connected to the left and right hand side of the unit.
The Mira jump specifically designed for replacement of right hand side water inlet electric showers, Retrofits Triton, Aqualisa and many other electric showers
The New Bristan range also has multiple cable and water inlet configurations and was designed as a replacement shower, and is available in four models.
All these showers have a good lay out for retrofits, with more flexibility in both the pipe inlet and electrical connections. And a decent footprint to cover existing holes in your wall.
There is no magic one shower will fit all.
Remember we can supply and fit a suitable shower, or alter your services to suit, if you want a particular model of shower.
Having reset the MCB my electric shower is now not heating the water fully, why?
The most likely reason why the unit is not heating the water fully is that a heating element has failed. Which would cause the mcb to trip.
Note: If an element has failed other parts within the unit may have been affected it is therefore important to check all the electrical circuits in the unit for signs of failure, Depending on the shower type and cost of replacement parts we might recommend a replacement shower.
Why does my electric shower cycle between hot and cold continually?
Electric showers heat cold water on demand via an integral heater tank. Should the water inside the heater tank become excessively hot, a safety device known as the thermal cut out switch ( t c o ) is activated which isolates the electrical supply to the heater tank and allows the water to cool. Once the water has cooled. to a safe temperature, the heater tank's electrical supply is restored so the shower will again and deliver heated water.
Any build-up of dirt soap hair etc. in the shower head restricts the flow, meaning water cannot escape quickly enough through the shower and remains in the heater tank for longer than necessary. The water will then overheat and cool down. (cycling)
 To fix this problem, you should ensure that the shower head is cleaned on a regular basis, Also a kink or blockage in the shower hose will also restrict the flow and result in this symptom, shower hoses and heads are available with different flow rates so check if these have been replaced and revert to the originals, make sure the main stop cock and any isolation valves to the shower are fully open to allow a full flow of water..If this doesn't work you will need to call us out to inspect the shower.
Can I seal or tile up to an electric shower on the wall?
Under no circumstances should an electric shower be sealed to the wall There are feet in each corner of the shower's rear-casing which keep it proud of the wall by a few millimetres and allow ventilation around the side and back of the shower unit Without this ventilation it will be prone to over heating which will subsequently cause failure or damage to the internal components.
If I have an existing combination boiler can I install a mixer shower?
It depends if your boiler is fully-modulating or step-modulating as far as showering is concerned your boiler must be fully-modulated.
Newer boilers are generally fully modulated, and are suitable for mixer showers.
If you are unsure whether your old combination boiler / gas water heater is fully-modulating or step-modulating you should check your instructions or contact the manufacturer for advice.( Most combination boilers are suuitable )
A wee bit techi....!
The heat output from a fully-modulating combination boiler can be varied from full off to full on, giving fine control between the minimum and maximum temperatures it produces. This is performed by the boiler's gas control valve automatically varying the amount of gas it allows through in direct relation to the water outlet flow (Good for mixer showers)
check your instructions or contact the manufacturer for advice. Link for manufactures contacts
The water temperature from my mixer is too cool, what can I check?
Check that the hot water temperature at basin taps is acceptable (this should be approximately 55 to 60°C). If it is not, then the thermostat on the hot water system (e.g. hot water cylinder or combination boiler) needs adjusting.
Check whether the showering temperature is acceptable by pressing the'maximum temperature stop' override button (if fitted on the mixer) and increasing it to a higher setting? If it is then you can reset the'maximum temperature stop. If these steps don't work, then we would have to inspect the shower valve and check the thermostatic cartridge
Why will my mixer shower not turn off?
This is due to failure of the flow control valve, there should be separate isolation valves fitted to the shower supply pipe. Turn these off, if you can not locate these turn main stop cock off.
What is the difference between a pressure-balanced mixer shower and a thermostatic mixer shower?
Mixer showers are supplied with hot and cold water and these supplies can vary in temperature and pressure. A pressure-balanced mixer shower recognises and compensates for fluctuations in the incoming water pressure in order to maintain a showering temperature within +/- 2°C.
However, pressure-balanced mixer showers do not make allowances for fluctuations in the incoming water temperature and under such circumstances the


Code-excited linear prediction
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Code-excited linear prediction (CELP) is a speech coding algorithm originally proposed by M. R. Schroeder and B. S. Atal in 1985. At the time, it provided significantly better quality than existing low bit-rate algorithms, such as residual-excited linear prediction and linear predictive coding vocoders (e.g., FS-1015). Along with its variants, such as algebraic CELP, relaxed CELP, low-delay CELP and vector sum excited linear prediction, it is currently the most widely used speech coding algorithm. It is also used in MPEG-4 Audio speech coding. CELP is commonly used as a generic term for a class of algorithms and not for a particular codec.
The CELP algorithm is based on four main ideas:
The original algorithm as simulated in 1983 by Schroeder and Atal required 150 seconds to encode 1 second of speech when run on a Cray-1 supercomputer. Since then, more efficient ways of implementing the codebooks and improvements in computing capabilities have made it possible to run the algorithm in embedded devices, such as mobile phones.
CELP decoder[edit]
Figure 1: CELP decoder
Before exploring the complex encoding process of CELP we introduce the decoder here. Figure 1 describes a generic CELP decoder. The excitation is produced by summing the contributions from an adaptive (aka pitch) codebook and a stochastic (aka innovation or fixed) codebook:
where e_{a}[n] is the adaptive (pitch) codebook contribution and e_{f}[n] is the stochastic (innovation or fixed) codebook contribution. The fixed codebook is a vector quantization dictionary that is (implicitly or explicitly) hard-coded into the codec. This codebook can be algebraic (ACELP) or be stored explicitly (e.g. Speex). The entries in the adaptive codebook consist of delayed versions of the excitation. This makes it possible to efficiently code periodic signals, such as voiced sounds.
The filter that shapes the excitation has an all-pole model of the form 1/A(z), where A(z) is called the prediction filter and is obtained using linear prediction (Levinson–Durbin algorithm). An all-pole filter is used because it is a good representation of the human vocal tract and because it is easy to compute.
CELP encoder[edit]
The main principle behind CELP is called Analysis-by-Synthesis (AbS) and means that the encoding (analysis) is performed by perceptually optimizing the decoded (synthesis) signal in a closed loop. In theory, the best CELP stream would be produced by trying all possible bit combinations and selecting the one that produces the best-sounding decoded signal. This is obviously not possible in practice for two reasons: the required complexity is beyond any currently available hardware and the "best sounding" selection criterion implies a human listener.
In order to achieve real-time encoding using limited computing resources, the CELP search is broken down into smaller, more manageable, sequential searches using a simple perceptual weighting function. Typically, the encoding is performed in the following order:
 - Linear Prediction Coefficients (LPC) are computed and quantized, usually as LSPs
 - The adaptive (pitch) codebook is searched and its contribution removed
 - The fixed (innovation) codebook is searched
Noise weighting[edit]
Most (if not all) modern audio codecs attempt to shape the coding noise so that it appears mostly in the frequency regions where the ear cannot detect it. For example, the ear is more tolerant to noise in parts of the spectrum that are louder and vice versa. That's why instead of minimizing the simple quadratic error, CELP minimizes the error for the perceptually weighted domain. The weighting filter W(z) is typically derived from the LPC filter by the use of bandwidth expansion:
W(z) = \frac{A(z/\gamma_1)}{A(z/\gamma_2)}
where \gamma_1 > \gamma_2.
See also[edit]
 - MPEG-4 Part 3 (CELP as an MPEG-4 Audio Object Type)
 - G.728 - Coding of speech at 16 kbit/s using low-delay code excited linear prediction
 - G.718 - uses CELP for the lower two layers for the band (50–6400 Hz) in a two-stage coding structure
 - G.729.1 - uses CELP coding for the lower band (50–4000 Hz) in a three-stage coding structure
 - Comparison of audio coding formats
 - CELT is a related audio codec that borrows some ideas from CELP.
External links[edit]
Selected readings[edit]
 - B.S. Atal, "The History of Linear Prediction," IEEE Signal Processing Magazine, vol. 23, no. 2, March 2006, pp. 154–161.


text:
2 1 0. 1998) Both the Q and the RMR classification systems would be improved if input of other block size measurements than RQD had been used. joint density. more efforts should be made to work out instructions and information on the block size measurements. the application of RQD in rock engineering calculations may lead to inaccuracy or errors. People involved in jointing characterization should be better informed how to perform adequate block size. Correlations between different methods for block size measurements As the joint spacings generally vary greatly. On the other hand.3Jv. Caused by the above.8 0. 1984. Milne et al. Variations of block sizes in a volume expressed by RQD can.2.4 0. as have been mentioned above and indicated on Figure 23. it is often expected that defined blocks will not be found. and block volume measurements.. RQD = 0) (for Jv < 4. the characterisation of the block volume should be given as an interval rather than a single value.5 0 10 25 50 75 90 95 100 RQD (for Jv > 44.5Jv Jv = 44. Figure 23 shows correlations between some of these measurements. as they per definition express average of the jointing in a location. while "RQD is a practical parameter for core logging. the difference in size between the smaller and the larger blocks in a location can be significant. Vb = 36 Jv -3. A new correlation between RQD and Jv has been presented as RQD = 110 –2. where the jointing is irregular. But still there may be severe inaccuracies in the RQD to characterize block size. Consequently.3 Volumetric joint count (Jv) RQD = 110. Where less than three joint sets occur. It has been shown that it is a poor correlation between the RQD and other types of block size measurements. RQD is not very suitable for correlations with other measurements. in most cases random joints or other weakness planes will contribute to define blocks. However. be found from boreholes or scanlines in different directions. it can be difficult to recognise the actual size and shape of individual blocks.18 9 CONCLUSIONS Measurements of the block size are often difficult and therefore encumbered with imprecise registrations. (Bieniawski. which may give somewhat better results that the commonly used RQD = 115 – 3.
pp. Olav T. Many thanks also to the two referees who have given valuable critical comments and suggestions. Trondheim. Trans. Rock mass strength – a review. John Wiley & Sons. Vol 15. Dec. 10 REFERENCES Barton N. ISRM News. 1998. Blindheim for useful comments. eds. and Lessard J... Proc. Deere D.E. pp. The reliability of rock mass classification used in underground excavation and support design. 1.S. Bieniawski Z. Grenon M. Balkema Publ.344.. Barton N. Norwegian Concrete Association. 137-142. Int. 1-20. 1993: Engineering geology. 6. S..Y. 72 – 75. and Brown.. Int.. Engineering classification of rock masses for the design of rock support. and Lunde J. 189. 1993. Butterworth. Int. 1968. U. Geotech. 1973.A.T. & Mining Sciences 41.. 31-55. Thesis. Grimstad E. Fagernes.. Rock quality designation (RQD) after 20 years. Hadjigeorgiou J. New York.T..Techn.236. Univ. Technical description of rock cores for engineering purposes. MS: Waterways Experimental Station. pp.U.D. Symp. Rock Mechanics Mineral Science & Geomechanics Abstract... 2000. On the blastability of rocks (in Norwegian).. No 12.Zienkiewicz.R. Rotterdam.. 335. 1984.ing.C. John Wiley & Sons.. 15. and Park H. Oslo. pp. Deere. CIM Bulletin. Vol.Stagg and O. No. J. pp. Vicksburg. Lien R. Lic. _PHONE_.... pp. 16. Vol. 237 – 247. Geological considerations. No. Rock in engineering construction. 1989.Heinemann Ltd.. Boston. No 1. A.. Rotterdam. pp. 320 p. Luleå University of Technology. Int. 1. Rock Mechanics in Engineering Practice. and Hadjigeorgiou J. Scale effects or sampling bias? Proc.. Grenon M. 1974. GeoEng2000 workshop on classification systems.22. Civ. 385 p.. K.T.T. on Sprayed Concrete. and Barton N. 2001. 2003. 132p. Bieniawski Z. Vol. Oxford. J. 2004. Balkema.. 1020. Contract Report GL-89-1. Determining rock mass deformability: Experience from case histories. Felsmechanik und Ingenieurgeologie.19 Acknowledgement The author wishes to thank Dr. J. Hoek. E. 1974.. Goodman R. D. Rock mechanics design in mining and tunneling. Updating the Q-system for NMT. Rock Mechanics 6. E. Soil Rock America 2003. 20 pp. of Norway. Geological Inst. Variation of the rock quality designation (RQD) with scanline orientation and length: a case study in Korea. Engineering geological mapping. London 1968. Techn. Evaluating discontinuity network characterization tools through mining case studies.221. Army Corps Engrs. of Rock Mech.U.. Engineering classification of jointed rock masses. African Instn. Bergh-Christensen J. Norway 1993. Defining in-situ block size. 1973. pp. 207. pp. 1978.F. 1991. Deere D. 1963. 91. ASCE 106(GT9). 1990. Bieniawski.U. Z. Engrs. Dearman W. 1968. Choi S. 272 pp. Technical Report. Vol. Vol.G. 2003. 2 p. 3. Engng Div. 1980. Empirical strength criterion for rock masses. Workshop Scale Effects in Rock Masses.. Edelbro C. pp.
Palmstrom A. 49. 115. on Engineering Geology and Underground Constructions. 13. 9. News Journal. Vol 16.R. Discontinuities and rock mass geometry. 1946. Abstr. The deformation modulus of rock masses. 1982. 1996. White) 1. Int..1 – 41. pp. Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology. 16. Int. (eds R. Suggested methods for the quantitative description of discontinuities in rock masses. No. & Geomech. 1133. University of Oslo. OH: Commercial Shearing and Stamping Company. No. No. New Delhi.T.. 2002. No. 17-99. Letter to the editor. and Pakalnis R.. Palmstrom A. Rock mass characterization for underground hard rock mines...362. 319-368. 383. Int. Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology. Vol. Milne D. Blindheim O. The weighted joint density method leads to improved characterization of jointing. 1994. 1979.A. 41.. 1995.97. 2004. and Eissa E. Oslo. Rock Mech. (in Norwegian) Norwegian annual tunnelling conference on Fjellsprengningsteknikk / Bergmekanikk / Geoteknikk. 26 p. 1998. Application of seismic refraction survey in assessment of jointing. 1982. 6. Sonmez H. Volumetric rock quality designation.. and Pereira J. Terzaghi. pp. Engn. 1974..1346. Proctor and T. 3. Vol. RMi – a rock mass characterization system for rock engineering purposes. 5. Palmstrom A. Rock Mech.. Symp. 1965. Proc. Vol. Palmstrom A. Berdal. pp. Sharma V. Rock Mech. Vol 15. 2. Min. New Delhi. Vol. pp..1144. pp. Palmstrom A. Hudson J. Palmstrom A.L. Measurement and characterization of rock mass jointing. The Q system – possibilities and limitations. In 'In-situ characterization of rocks'. and Priest S. V. L. Sci & Geomech. Balkema publishers. A. J. Sources of error in joint surveys.153.A.. 1979. 2001. Commission on standardization of laboratory and field tests. Int. 117. K.. 1991.4 pp. Palmström A..M. IAEG Congress.A. 287-304.P. 37 (5)..20 International Society for Rock Mechanics (ISRM)...A useful and simple measure of the degree of rock mass jointing.391. New Delhi.131. Serafim J. Rock defects and loads on tunnel supports.B. 1983. pp. Terzaghi R. Palmström A. 2 p.. Sen Z.221 – V. Determin


Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Codecademy Learn Java tutorial walkthrough 10: relational operators
Codecademy basics tutorials always cover relational operators for each programming language taught. Relational operators refer to the!=, >, ==, <= in (5!=3) or (5>3) or (5==5) or (5 <= 7). Each is a test to see if the left and right side of the relational operator has the said relation. For example, 5!=3 will evaluate to true because it is testing for whether it is true 5 doesn't equal to 3, and that is indeed the case, so the result is true. What about (5==3)? It tests if 5 equals to 3, and the answer is no so it evaluates to false. The result of a statement with a relational operator almost always only returns only true or false. Do you remember what's the name of the data type that can only be true or false? Yes a Boolean. A Boolean can either be true or false. Why are relational operators useful?
For example in the previous exercise, we used Modulo to see if z % 2 is zero, which means z is even. We can ask the program to do something only of z is even. Below so the pseudo code to do that (pseudo code is descriptive English words that explains what the code which is yet to be written is intended to do).
if ( (z % 2) ==0) print "z is even!"
This code reads first calculate z % 2, and if that is 0, print out a message saying z is even
See the screenshot above for one of the many solutions to this exercise. Remember Codecademy requires you to use two whole numbers. And don't forget to end the line with a semicolon, else you may get a confusing error.
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Machine-readable Table Standards
Last updated: Thursday
The AAS Journal's machine-readable tables follow most of the conventions for ASCII tables developed and used by the CDS. The meta-data header provides the key to interpreting the data that follows. Under the section labeled "Byte-by-byte Description of file:" a five column table is used to describe the data. These columns include:
 1. the starting and ending byte locations of the data column separated by a dash.
 2. the format of the data column where:
 - An represents a character string of width n
 - In represents an integer number of maximum width n
 - Fn.m represents a real number of maximum width n and m digits after the decimal.
 - En.m represents a real number of maximum width n and mdigits after the decimal
 3. the units of the data column. Most of the common astronomical units have predefined symbols. Note that the standard is to use SI units. Thus Angstroms are given as 0.1nm and ergs/s/cm2 are mW/m2. Units are written as a single word with "/" to represent division, "." to represent multiplication, and "+" and "-" for exponential notation (e.g. 10-7 W/cm2 is written as 10-7W/cm2). In cases where the column data is a logarithm, the unit is surrounded by "[ ]"s. Unitless values are represented by "---".
 4. the label or column header. Some of the most common astronomical values have predefined labels. These labels are recognized by our software and check for values exceeding certain limits (e.g. if the label Rad is used for radius, any data in the column with values less than 0 will be flagged). Data columns that reference other columns also have predefined labels. The most common is "e_label" which is given to the +/- error data of the data referenced by "label".
 5. the Explanation provides information about the column data. If the description is followed by a number surrounded by "( )"s addition information is provided in the "Notes" section which follows this meta-header table. The description can also be preceded by other characters which have special meaning. The two most common are "?" and "[ ]". The "?" flag is used to indicate that NULL values are allowed in a numeric (but not a string) column. The values between the brackets are the only allowed values that may appear in the data column. All other values are flagged in the data checking programs.