text:
Braised brisket with tzimmes, a classic dish for Rosh Hashanah, takes a new direction with the addition of hard apple cider. Slowly cooked and tenderly watched, grass-fed beef brisket is first seared in tallow then doused in homemade beef stock and hard cider and roasted in a clay baker or Dutch oven for several hours. Sweet potato, carrot and prunes – a traditional combination of fruits and vegetables for the Ashkenazic dish called tzimmes – are added several hours after the meat has begun to roast so that they retain their texture without overcooking. Later, pan juices combine with even more cider for a mildly sweet and decidedly smooth reduction sauce. Sweet dishes, for a sweet year, are typically celebrated during Rosh Hashanah with both apples and honey featuring prominently in traditional menus while the naturally sweet tzimmes is a beautiful accompaniment.
Beef seems to get a bad rap and while conventionally raised, grain-fed beef is certainly deserving of its ill reputation, grass-fed beef offers quite a different story. Grass-fed beef is rich in micronutrients – particularly B vitamins and trace minerals. Just a 100-gram portion contains over half the RDA for zinc, a mineral that is critical for immune function and reproductive health; moreover, brisket is also a good source of niacin and vitamins B6 and B12. Similarly, beef tallow – though much loathed by conventional dietary dogma – is a potently rich source of conjugated linoleic acid, a naturally occurring fatty acid with strongly anti-carcinogenic and antioxidant properties. This beneficial fat decreases significantly with the introduction of grain into cattle's diet, meaning that grass-fed beef offers the most potent source while grain-fed, conventionally raised beef offers only minimal amounts – underscoring the importance of purchasing beef from farms and ranches following the sustainable model of holistic management in which cattle are rotationally grazed on rapidly growing green grasses, ensuring their meat and fat is of the highest nutritional quality.
In brisket, monounsaturated fat and saturated fat are served up in roughly equal portions with monounsaturated fats (the dominant fat in avocado, olive oil, bacon fat and lard) only very slightly outweighing saturated fats. Brisket also contains a small amount of polyunsaturated fatty acids. In conventionally raised cattle fed on grain, those fragile polyunsaturated fatty acids are primarily composed of omega-6 fatty acids while in grass-fed beef, they are fairly equally composed of both omega-3 fatty acids (also found in ocean-going fish) and omega-6 fatty acids. This improved ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids promotes good cardiovascular and metabolic health. This article, published in the journal of the Weston A Price Foundation – Wise Traditions, provides a good case for the value of fat in the human diet.
While this grass-fed beef brisket, slowly simmered with tzimmes certainly derives much of its flavor from the use of a good quality grass-fed beef tallow, that flavor is further complemented by the sweetness of of carrots, prunes and sweet potatoes. Vegetables, like meat, are also good sources of micronutrients, including carotenoids and minerals like manganese. Evidence indicates that the vitamins and antioxidants found in these foods are better absorbed when eaten with fat = making the combination of grass-fed beef and tallow with the tzimmes even more valuable.
- 2 to 3 tbsp grass-fed beef tallow
- 4 to 5 lbs grass-fed beef brisket
- 1 quart homemade beef stock
- 1 pint hard cider
- 6 large carrots, (peeled and chopped into bite-sized coins)
- 3 large sweet potatoes or garnet yams, (peeled and chopped into bite-sized pieces)
- 2 cups pitted prunes
- 2 tbsp grass-fed beef tallow
- 2 shallots, (peeled and thinly sliced)
- pan juices from the brisket: and tzimmes
- 1 additional cup hard cider
- Preheat your oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Heat the tallow in a large skillet or griddle until it melts and becomes quite hot.
- Sear the brisket on each side, about three to four minutes, then place it in a clay baker, pouring one quart homemade beef stock and one pint cider over the brisket.
- Braise the brisket, covered, at 300 degrees for three hours before preparing the tzimmes.
- After three hours, or so, add the chopped carrots and sweet potatoes or yams to the brisket. Continue to roast at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for another hour.
- After the brisket has roasted for four hours, and the carrots and sweet potatoes or yams have cooked for one, add the pitted prunes to the clay baker, increase the heat to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and continue to bake for thirty to forty-five minutes.
- Remove the brisket and tzimmes from the oven, placing the brisket on a serving dish to rest and surrounding it by the tzimmes, straining the liquid from the clay baker as you do. Keep the brisket and tzimmes warm by allowing them to rest in your hot oven with the heat turned off while you prepare the reduction sauce.
- Melt two more tablespoons of tallow over a medium flame, adding two thinly sliced shallots to the hot fat.
- When the shallots release their fragrance and begin to caramelize a bit, add the braising liquid and additional cup of hard cider to the saucepan. Simmer slowly until the liquid is reduced by half.
- Slice the brisket, serve with tzimmes and reduction sauce.


text:
Countries must take urgent steps to value their natural capital – such as forests, peatlands and coastal areas – as part of their economic development, the World Bank has urged.
Placing a monetary value on natural ecosystems is a key step on the road to "green" economic growth, according to the World Bank, which published a report on green growth on Wednesday at a conference in Seoul, Korea.
By making such estimates, countries can develop policies that ensure the pursuit of economic growth does not occur at the expense of future growth potential, by destroying natural assets such as water sources or polluting air, rivers and soil.
Rachel Kyte, vice president for sustainable development at the bank, said that the patterns on which economic growth had been achieved in recent decades were unsustainable, because of the amount of environmental degradation involved.
She said: "At current rates, we are in danger of undermining the basis on which growth has been achieved in the last decades. We do not believe that current growth patterns are sustainable."
She gave the example of the government of Thailand, which has moved towards more environmentally sustainable growth by attempting to place a value on its mangrove swamps. The exercise has been illuminating – chopping down mangrove for wood gives a return of less than $1,000 per hectare; removing the mangroves to make room for a shrimp farm might generate nearly $10,000 per hectare; but if the mangrove swamps were retained and their importance in providing a barrier against floods was taken into account, they could be valued at more than $16,000 per hectare.
Kyte acknowledged that few countries had so far taken steps to evaluate their natural systems in this way, and said the failure to do so had contributed to countries allowing their environment to be degraded in the pursuit of short term economic growth.
In 2010, India said it would become the first country in the world to publish accounts of its natural wealth as well as financial measurements such as GDP.

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


text: The NJROTC program was established by Public Law in 1964 and may be found in Title 10, U.S. Code, Chapter 102. The program is conducted at accredited secondary schools throughout the nation, by instructors who are retired Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard officers and enlisted personnel. The NJROTC curriculum emphasizes citizenship and leadership development, as well as our maritime heritage, the significance of sea power, and naval topics such as the fundamentals of naval operations, seamanship, navigation and meteorology. Classroom instruction is augmented throughout the year by community service activities, drill competition, field meets, flights, visits to naval activities, marksmanship training, and other military training. Uniforms, textbooks, training aids, travel allowance, and a substantial portion of instructors' salaries are provided by the Navy.

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


text:
AWS offers 14 databases that support diverse data models and include the following types of databases: relational, key-value, document, in-memory, graph, time series, and ledger databases. In this article, we'll cover the following AWS databases:
To dive deeper into Amazon databases, check out Cloud Academy's Working with AWS Databases Learning Path. This learning path introduces you to the different AWS database services and some of the features relating to AWS database types.
Data has become more and more valuable to organizations. The information that can be extracted from it has brought rise to the use of data lakes which provide a deeper insight into all of your data, enabling a greater business strategy. As a part of this, the Internet of Things (IoT) industry has also exponentially grown, along with the data that these systems provide. Much of this data can be classified as time-series data — essentially data that assesses how events change over time. To help gather, maintain, and query this data, AWS has developed a new database called Amazon Timestream.
Amazon Timestream is a serverless database offering that is specifically focused on time-series data. Much like other AWS database services, Amazon Timestream is fully managed and takes much of the administration and maintenance out of your hands, giving you time to work with and manage your data. As your data grows, so does your storage. It's fully scalable, ensuring you never run out of space. Other features include its ability to automatically configure retention, tiering, and data compression. When these features are combined, all of these benefits help to provide a service at a reduced cost.
One of its key features is that it can store and process trillions of events every single day — with huge cost savings against typical relational databases — and it operates at just 1/10th of the cost in fact. Not only is it cost-effective, it can also run 1,000 times faster than these other databases too. Amazon Timestream is optimized to assess, query, and store timestream data by storing data is set time intervals, ranging from milliseconds, microseconds, and even nanoseconds. Whereas, other relational databases are not as efficient to handle data sets across a specified time interval effectively.
There are several use cases where Amazon Timestream would make an effective choice of database. For example, store and analyze clickstream data at scale, where possible, and then use Timestream's built-in analytic function to gain further insight in the data to understand the customer's path-to-purchase. Or you might decide to use Amazon Timestream to store IoT time-series data. Using functions such as smoothing, approximation, and interpolation, you can quickly and easily process and analyze this data.
Once you have your time-series data stored within your Amazon Timestream database, you can then use other business intelligence tools or machine learning services to extract information and gain additional insight into the data.
Amazon RDS on VMware
AWS and VMware have partnered when AWS launched the service "VMWare on AWS." But this time AWS and VMware are collaborating again, but to provide essentially the Amazon RDS service within on-premises VMware environments. It features the same benefits and advantages, such as being a managed-database service. This ensures the administration and management operations — such as patching, database setup, backups, point-in-time restore automatic scaling, and health monitoring — through integration with CloudWatch. However, the actual provisioning of hardware, such as the servers and storage components, are provisioned by you as the customer. It's important to understand that the service allows you to run Amazon RDS on top of your VMware control plane. There are no AWS physical resources installed in your data center like what AWS Outposts offer. To allow AWS to perform management capabilities, a dedicated VPN tunnel is configured between your AWS environment and your data center.
Having RDS on-site makes it very easy for you to operate and integrate Amazon RDS on VMware within your existing VMware vSphere private data centers. If you are familiar with using Amazon RDS, then the same interface to manage Amazon RDS on VMware is used. And you have the option of running database engines such as Microsoft SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL, and MariaDB database engines, with Oracle to follow shortly after.
The great thing about Amazon RDS on VMware is that you can still leverage the power of the AWS cloud with this service. For example, backup and scaling:
Source: Amazon RDS on VMware
As the service is provisioned over the top of your existing infrastructure on-site, by default the data is also stored on your local volumes. From a backup perspective, you can then leverage the capabilities of Amazon S3 to store the backup snapshots of your data, giving you the comfort of the 11 9's of availability (99.999999999%) that S3 provides. You will also have the ability to create an Amazon RDS database in AWS using one of the snapshots created from your RDS on VMware resources.
You can also implement other common RDS features, such as standby instances, to provide a level of geographical resiliency and business continuity in the event your primary on-premises instance fails. When configured, a secondary RDS instance, known as a standby, is deployed within the AWS cloud environment. It will then provide a failover option for a primary Amazon RDS on VMware instance. Note that this standby instance is not to be used as a secondary replica to offload read-only traffic — this is the role of the read replica, which is very different.
Speaking of read replicas, it's also possible to implement these with RDS on VMware as well. Read replicas offer you the ability to serve read-only traffic to remove some performance hit against your primary instance, which is best used for write traffic. For example, let's assume your RDS on VMware instance — which serves both read and write traffic — has a large amount of read-intensive traffic being directed to it for queries, and the performance of the instance is taking a hit. To help resolve this, you can create a read replica within the AWS environment. This read replica will then maintain a secure link between itself and the primary database. At this point, read-only traffic can be directed to the read replica to serve queries and perhaps from business intelligence tools. Again, the same APIs and interface is used to manage all of these resources as is used when operating Amazon RDS instances.
Similarly to AWS Outposts, you may have a requirement to keep data local within your own data center due to compliance or latency. This makes it a great service to help maintain that level of localized functionality with the additional benefits of controlling all of your Amazon RDS instances through a single pane of glass.
If and when you choose to perform a migration of your RDS on VMware from your local data center to Amazon RDS, then you can do so with a simple one-click migration. This allows you to quickly and easily migrate your databases to multiple regions within AWS, easily and simply without interrupting your customer base. As with all AWS services, security is key. As a result, you can encrypt all of your data both at rest and in transit.
Before getting started with RDS on VMware cloud, do be aware that you will need the following:
- VMware vSphere 6.5+ cluster with active VMware support
- Outbound connectivity to the internet
- Administrative privileges to the cluster
- An AWS account
Amazon Quantum Ledger Database (QLDB)
The final database to be discussed is the Amazon Quantum Ledge Database (QLDB), which was introduced by Andy Jassy alongside the Amazon-Managed Blockchain service. In my "What is Blockchain?," article, I mentioned that the service integrated with QLDB to allow Managed Blockchain to replicate its network activity to QLDB, and then provide an immutable history of blockchain network activity.
Despite that, what actually is QLDB? It's yet another fully managed and serverless database service, but one that acts as a ledger database. This means its a great use case for recording financial data over a period of time. For example, it would allow you to maintain a complete history of accounting and transactional data between multiple parties in an immutable, transparent, and cryptographic way through the use of the cryptographic algorithm SHA-256, making it highly secure.
This means you can rest assured that nothing has been changed or can be changed through the use of the database journal which is configured as append-only, essentially the immutable transaction log that records all entries in a sequenced manner over time. This service, therefore, negates the need for an organization to develop and implement their own ledger applications.
This may sound similar to the blockchain technology I discussed in a previous blog, where a ledger is also used. However, in a blockchain, that ledger is distributed across multiple hosts in a decentralized environment; whereas, QLDB is owned and managed by a central and trusted authority. This removes the requirement of a consensus of everyone across the network, which is required with blockchain. Often, ledger applications to fulfill these requirements are added to relational databases. This quickly becomes difficult to manage since they are not immutable, which makes errors difficult to trace — especially during audits.
I mentioned earlier that QLDB is serverless. So again, the administration of having to maintain the underlying infrastructure is removed, and all scaling is managed by AWS which includes any read and write limitations of the database.


E10-daily zoo
(Emmen, NL)
Aránzazu Montero, Jesús Isla, Joaquín Longhi, Javier Sanz-Viveros
Daily Zoo is a redefinition of the urban system whose main objective is to fulfill the transition from coexistence to conviviality through convivence. Transformed through affection, architecture and open spaces in DZD are susceptible of establishing empathic links between buildings and users. Opposite to the traditional zoo, DZD promotes free or spontaneous intervention, overcoming the visual experience further into haptic senses. In DZD, this sort of Involving Urbanism, propagable and repeatable, aims the implementation of the city through the dynamic engagement of newcomers and already living citizens. In terms of housing DZD proposes a new concept of scale which takes into account the inhabitant experiences of limits, street, group of ages, ludic spaces and so on to generate a complex group of rich spaces within a maximum of three stories.


text:
Security Analysis of a 13th Century Venetian Election Protocol
I love stuff like this: "Electing the Doge of Venice: Analysis of a 13th Century Protocol," by Miranda Mowbray and Dieter Gollmann.
This paper discusses the protocol used for electing the Doge of Venice between 1268 and the end of the Republic in 1797. We will show that it has some useful properties that in addition to being interesting in themselves, also suggest that its fundamental design principle is worth investigating for application to leader election protocols in computer science. For example it gives some opportunities to minorities while ensuring that more popular candidates are more likely to win, and offers some resistance to corruption of voters. The most obvious feature of this protocol is that it is complicated and would have taken a long time to carry out. We will advance a hypothesis as to why it is so complicated, and describe a simplified protocol with very similar features.
Venice was very clever about working to avoid the factionalism that tore apart a lot of its Italian rivals, while making the various factions feel represented.
Posted on July 27, 2007 at 12:08 PM • 11 Comments


Porting previous plugins
Because of the changes done to support Qt for Python, previous plugins won't work anymore in Substance Designer.
In particular, please note the following:
Plugin loading and unloading
Plugins are now loaded when Substance Designer starts and are unloaded when the Designer exits.
As such, it's not necessary for plugins to inherit from'sdplugins.Plugin' anymore.
For more information, check the Plugin basics section.
Creating user interface elements
Plugins don't need to define a'sdplugins.PluginDesc' anymore.
Instead, plugins can use the new UI manager object and Qt for Python to create any user interface elements they need.
You can find small code samples in the Creating user interface elements section.
Replacing uses of Location Context
The 'SDLocationContext' class has been removed from the Python API.
Plugins can use the UI manager object to access the currently active graph and selection.
You can find some examples in the Accessing graphs and selections section.


text:
This critical summary of a review published by Lulic et al in 2007 has just been published under the auspicies of the American Dental Association Center for Evidence-Based Dentistry. For 80 years Ante' law has influenced standard textbooks of prosthodontics. It stated:-
the total periodontal membrane area of the abutment teeth must equal or exceed that of the teeth to be replaced.
The summariser notes that the Lulic review only includes 6 retrospective studies and there were some apparent methodological shortcoming with the review. The original review concluded that:-
The long-term prognosis of a fixed dental prosthesis (FDP) with abutments that have severely reduced periodontal support depends on the maintenance of a healthy periodontium.
The quality of the evidence available to address this question is limited, but it does suggest that Ante's is not supported.
Lulic M, Brägger U, Lang NP, Zwahlen M, Salvi GE. Ante's (1926) law revisited: a systematic review on survival rates and complications of fixed dental prostheses (FDPs) on severely reduced periodontal tissue support. Clin Oral Implants Res. 2007 Jun;18 Suppl 3:63-72. Review. Erratum in: Clin Oral Implants Res. 2008 Mar;19(3):326-8. PubMed PMID: _PHONE_
Ante LH The fundamental principles of abutments. Mich State Dent Soc Bull 1926;8:14–23


Obesity-related hospital admissions are at a record high in Lincolnshire, which health bosses say is putting the NHS under 'unnecessary strain'.
The figures, which reveal the problem is worsening across the country, come as new research suggests obesity puts you at greater risk from coronavirus.
There were 12,035 admissions to hospitals across Lincolnshire between 2018 and 2019, where obesity was a primary or secondary factor.
Of that number, 45 were having bariatric surgery, which can include stomach stapling, gastric bypasses and sleeve gastrectomy.
The total number of admissions is up 29% from 9,325 admissions the year before, and is the highest figure seen since at least 2013/14 - the earliest year comparable figures are available at a local level.
That year there were just 5,750 admissions to hospitals in our area related to obesity, meaning the number has doubled since then.
An NHS spokesperson said: "With a 20% increase in hospital admissions nationally over the last five years directly linked to obesity, it is clear that obesity is causing diseases including cancer, heart attacks, stroke and type 2 diabetes, while putting unnecessary strain on NHS services.
"The NHS is playing its part through our Long Term plan, but other industries must also step up and prevent the harm obesity is causing, particularly to young people."
As well as increasing the risk of the diseases listed here, early research suggests being obese may also make people more vulnerable to catching Covid-19, and at risk of becoming more ill if they do.
Studies have shown that people who are obese - those with a body mass index (BMI) of more than 30 - are disproportionately represented in patients critically ill with coronavirus in UK intensive care units.
They are also at greater risk of dying from the virus, even when other health conditions linked to obesity were taken into account.
An enzyme called ACE2, present in cells and thought to be found in high levels in fatty tissue in particular, has been discovered as the main way for the virus to enter the body.
Meanwhile, the immune response is not as good in people who are obese, due to inflammation driven by immune cells called macrophages that invade our fat tissue, interfering with how our cells respond to infection.
Being overweight also affects your fitness levels and lung capacity - meaning the more overweight you are, the more you'll struggle to get oxygen into the blood and around the body.
Obesity often comes with other health issues, such as a weak heart or lungs, a poorly-functioning kidney or type 2 diabetes, all of which put extra stress on the body when a severe infection such as Covid-19 develops.
Meanwhile, it is more difficult to intubate obese patients in intenstive care, to scan them because of weight limits, and they may also be more tricky to turn, or prone, in order to relieve their breathing.
Women made up around two thirds of all admissions across Lincolnshire, with 7,840 admissions for women and 4,195 for men.
Nationally, there were 875,663 admissions to hospitals in England with a primary or secondary diagnosis of obesity in 2018/19.
In 7,011 cases, the patient was being admitted for bariatric surgery.
The total number is up from 710,562 admissions the year before, and is the highest seen since at least 2008/09, when there were 102,987 such admissions. For the first time, the national figures compare the number of admissions with deprivation.
The analysis shows that people living in the most deprived areas of the country are more than twice as likely to be admitted to hospital for an obesity-related condition as those in the least deprived areas.


text:
Did you know that many of our interactive animations are available to embed or download from the CORE-Materials repository of Open Educational Resources?
|Page 6 / 8|
Property Charts: Thermal Conductivity I
Manufacturing advantages and improved recyclability are clearly benefits of using all-aluminium for heat exchangers, but what about material properties and the choice of alloys, and the competition with copper alloys?
Good thermal conductivity is the first consideration, so we will use charts displaying this property. Strength, density and price are all important, so we compare alloys on charts showing these properties.
Heat exchanger design must also take account of less easily quantified material characteristics - in particular the corrosion response.
Aluminium alloys vs. copper alloys
The material property chart below shows thermal conductivity vs. yield stress, with a number of common heat exchanger alloys included.
Al heat exchanger alloys
1000 series alloys (e.g. 1050 and 1197) have the highest thermal conductivity, which is not influenced by strengthening by cold working. Higher alloy content non-heat-treatable alloys (e.g. 3102, 5000 series) show lower conductivity but potentially higher strength. Heat-treatable (age hardening) alloys have the highest strengths, with a greater spread in conductivity (depending on the exact composition and heat treatment).
Al alloys vs. Cu alloys
Pure Cu offers thermal conductivity up to 1.5 times higher than aluminium, with comparable strength. On these properties, some Cu alloys overlap with the Al alloys. Standard Cu alloys (e.g. brass) have similar strengths but their thermal conductivities are typically 1.5-2 times lower than 1000 or 3000 series Al alloys (due to the high Zn content of brass). All other metals (except silver!) have much lower thermal conductivity.
The dominance of 1000 and 3000 series alloys suggests that strength is not
an over-riding concern after thermal conductivity, so what else is important?


_USER_ {export:144766, abstract = {
Static analysis tools aim to find bugs in software that correspond to violations of specifications. Unfortunately, for large and complex software, these specifications are usually either unavailable or sophisticated, and hard to write. This paper presents ANEK, a tool and accompanying methodologyfor inferring specifications useful for modular typestate checking of programs. In particular, these specifications consist of pre and postconditions along with aliasing annotations known as access permissions. A novel feature of ANEK is that it can generate program specifications even when the code under analysis gives rise to conflicting constraints, a situation that typically occurs when there are bugs. The design of ANEK also makes it easy to add heuristic constraints that encode intuitions gleaned from several years of experience writing such specifications, and this allows it to infer specifications that are better in a subjective sense. The ANEK algorithm is based on a modular analysis that makes it fast and scalable, while producing reliable specifications. All of these features are enabled by its underlying probabilistic analysis that produces specifications that are very likely. Our implementation of ANEK infers access permissions specifications used by the PLURAL [4] modular typestate checker for Java programs. We have run ANEK on a number of Java benchmark programs, including one large open-source program (approximately 38000 lines of code), to infer specifications that were then checked using PLURAL. The results for the large benchmark show that ANEK can quickly infer specifications that are both accurate and qualitatively similar to those written by hand, and at 5{\%} of the time taken to manually discover and hand-code the specifications.
}, author = {Nels E. Beckman and Aditya V. Nori}, booktitle = {PLDI '11: Programming Languages Design and Implementation}, month = {June}, publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery, Inc.}, title = {Probabilistic, Modular and Scalable Inference of Typestate Specifications}, url = {_URL_ year = {2011}, }


text: Daniel L. Schacter Daniel Schacter is William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. Dan received his B.A. degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He subsequently developed a keen interest in amnesic disorders associated with various kinds of brain damage. He continued his research and education at the University of Toronto, where he received his Ph.D. in 1981. He taught on the faculty at Toronto for the next six years before joining the psychology department at the University of Arizona in 1987. In 1991, he joined the faculty at Harvard University. His research explores the relation between conscious and unconscious forms of memory, the nature of distortions and errors in remembering, and how we use memory to imagine future events. Many of Schacter's studies are summarized in his 1996 book, Searching for Memory: The Brain, The Mind, and The Past, and his 2001 book, The Seven Sins of Memory: How the Mind Forgets and Remembers, both winners of the APA's William James Book Award. Schacter has also received a number of awards for teaching and research, including the Harvard-Radcliffe Phi Beta Kappa Teaching Prize, the Warren Medal from the Society of Experimental Psychologists, and the Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions from the American Psychological Association. In 2013, he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.


text:
Visualizing the Invisible
Students will study black holes through visual representations available on the Web. After viewing many animations and simulations of black holes, students will investigate several means for creating their own visualizations. Ultimately, students will create animated GIFs from their own illustrations.
How the Internet is used in this lesson:
Students follow bookmarked links to view animations.
Students learn how to create animated GIFs.
Students use the Internet for research.
Science, Language Arts
Students will be able to:
Understand the basic concepts of black holes and the story of their discovery.
Understand the use of visualization in cosmology.
Apply creative and individual visualizations to illustrate black holes.
This lesson was developed by Master Teacher Al Doyle, and was funded by the Louis Calder Foundation.


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Temp Tables in SQL Server
By Dinesh Asanka, (first published: 2004/02/11)
Temporary tables are always a great help for a developer. In the early days when I used Access I used to create tables that I treated as temporary and then delete them whenever I finished my task. Using SQL Server this is much simpler. Or is it?
Types of Temporary tables
There are two types of temporary data types. They are namely Local and global. Let me first give you and example to start the temporary table. Following example is taken from Books on Line of Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2000.
"For example, if you create a table named employees, the table can be used by any person who has the security permissions in the database to use it, until the table is deleted. If you create a local temporary table named _TAG_, you are the only person who can work with the table, and it is deleted when you disconnect. If you create a global temporary table named ##employees, any user in the database can work with this table. If no other user works with this table after you create it, the table is deleted when you disconnect. If another user works with the table after you create it, SQL Server deletes it when both of you disconnect."2
Note: 1,2 above is taken from the book on line sub heading Creating and Modifying
Unlike in the access days, you do not have to delete these temporary tables manually, instead you can rely SQL Server to do it automatically.
Use of Temporary Tables
Temporary tables are used in several ways. Most commonly uses to keep the result of a called stored procedure, to reduce the number of rows for joins, to aggregate data from different sources, or to replaces cursors and for parameterized views. SQL Server cursors have huge overhead. Maintenance of code is much easier if you use temporary tables to the T-SQL. It will be much easier to debug your stored procedure when your using temporary tables as the data will be saved in temporary tables.
Alternatives to Temporary Tables
There are few alternatives to temporary tables. Using a derived table is one them. In SQL Server 2000, new data type called "table" offers same properties as temporary tables. Its main purpose is for the temporary storage of a set of rows. "table" act as a local variable. "table" is created in memory unlike the temporary table which will create in tempdb, which is obviously much faster. Another fact is that "table" uses limited resources than that of temporary tables.
Limitations of Temporary Tables
Temporary tables are created in the tempdb database and create additional overhead for SQL Server, reducing overall performances. SQL Server has numerous problems with operations against temporary tables.
Using Temporary Tables Effectively
If you do not have any option other than to use temporary tables, use them affectively. There are few steps to be taken.
 - Only include the necessary columns and rows rather than using all the columns and all the data which will not make sense of using temporary tables. Always filter your data into the temporary tables.
 - When creating temporary tables, do not use SELECT INTO statements, Instead of SELECT INTO statements, create the table using DDL statement and use INSERT INTO to populate the temporary table.
 - Use indexes on temporary tables. Earlier days, I always forget to use a index on temporary. Specially, for large temporary tables consider using clustered and non-clustered indexes on temporary tables.
 - After you finish the using your temporary table, delete them. This will free the tempdb resources. Yes, I agree that temporary tables are deleted when connection is ended. but do not wait until such time.
 - When creating a temporary table do not create them with a transaction. If you create it with a transaction, it will lock some system tables (syscolumns, sysindexes, syscomments). This will prevent others from executing the same query.
Generally, temporary tables should be avoided as much as possible. If you need to use them follow the steps above so that you have the minimum impact on server performance.
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text:
38006 is a Level IV Special work element.
Understand the theory of operation of heat detectors of the fixed temperature, rate compensation, and rate-of-rise principle of operation. Know the proper and improper applications of heat detectors, the way each type of heat detector responds to a fire, and the methods used by testing labs to determine the suitability of a heat detector for listing. (NFPA 72, UL-521, Fire Protection Handbook)
Fire Protection Handbook
NICET TEST PREPARATION HANDBOOKS are now available for this element and for every element in level 1 through level 4.


HPLC Column Silicone Matrix Properties and Scope of Application
Hawach introduced the properties and application range of HPLC column stationary phase in the silica gel matrix.
Silica gel matrix:
Silica gel, weakly acidic, has a strong memory, used to separate non-polar, weakly acidic compounds, oils, etc.;
C18, a silica-based uncapped reversed-phase C18 column with high bond and density, low loss, high recovery, etc.
C8 octyl, the retention of non-polar compounds is weaker than C18;
CN Cyano, a silica-based cyanopropyl column with moderate polarity for reversed phase or normal phase separation, suitable for carbohydrates and cationic compounds;
NH2 amino group, silica-based aminopropyl stationary phase, used for the separation of phenol and phenolic pigments, petroleum hexaphenol, sugars, drugs and metabolites;
PSA-propyl ethylenediamine, a stationary phase similar to NH2, PSA has two amino groups, which is more ion exchangeable than NH2, and PSA can also chelate with metal ions for extracting metal ions;
SAX strong anion exchange, bonded with quaternary ammonium salt functional groups, mainly used for the separation of weak anionic compounds;
COOH carboxyl group, the bonding functional group is a carboxylic acid, used for the separation of quaternary ammonium salts or other strong cations;
PRS propane sulfonic acid, the bonding functional group is a sulfonic acid, used for weak cations, widely used in the analysis of malachite green;
SCX strong cation exchange, bond, and the functional group is benzenesulfonic acid, used for separation of organic base compounds and biological macromolecule desalting.


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Guardianship for adults
A guardian is a person appointed by QCAT to help adults with impaired decision making capacity by making certain personal and health care decisions on their behalf. This makes sure that the adult's needs are met and their interests are protected.
Generally, guardians can be given the authority to make decisions on behalf of the adult such as:
- where they live
- what support services they receive
- with whom they have contact or visits
- general health care matters
- the approval of containment and seclusion in certain limited circumstances
- the approval of chemical, physical or mechanical restraint
- restricting access to objects
- other day-to-day issues.
Guardians are not permitted to make decisions about:
- financial or property matters unless they have also been appointed as the adult's administrator or as attorney for financial matters under an enduring power of attorney
- special health care matters including sterilisation or tissue donation
- special personal matters including making or revoking a will or consenting to marriage or relinquishing a child for adoption.
If an adult can communicate their views and wishes, guardians should take these into account when making any decisions.
Guardianship Information Service
If you have been appointed as a guardian, you can find out more from the Office of the Adult Guardian's Guardianship Information Service (GIS). The GIS is a free service which can help understand more about the guardianship process and requirements.


text:
The Economic Security
of Unmarried Women
Today nearly half of women are unmarried--a transformational societal change from 1960 when only one-third of women were unmarried. And today virtually every woman will spend at least part of her adult life as the sole supporter of herself or her family. With so many women living on their own, it is crucial that lawmakers take seriously unmarried women's economic security needs.
Unfortunately, the economic circumstances of unmarried women are troubling. They face greater economic insecurity compared to the general population or their married counterparts by almost any measure. They must confront disproportionate unemployment, poverty, and lack of health insurance, as well as other hardships. Despite being just under half of the female population, they represent 63 percent of unemployed women, 60 percent of women without health insurance, and three-quarters of women in poverty.
There are many roots of these inequities. First, like all women, unmarried women face gender-based wage discrimination and segregation into lower-paying occupations, and they earn less on average than married women. Second, many unmarried women hold low-wage jobs that do not support an adequate standard of living, especially for a family or a woman living on one income. And these low-wage jobs often do not provide benefits like health insurance, sick time, or other basic necessities. Factors like race or sexual orientation too often result in additional discrimination and unequal job opportunities.
Third, many unmarried women have family responsibilities-to their partners, children, parents, or extended family-but too many workplaces are not family friendly. For many unmarried women, finding quality child or elder care is difficult and may be very expensive-more even than their own income.
Finally, the definition of "family" in policy is outdated, stuck in the 1950s notion of a nuclear family that excludes too many of today's nontraditional families. Many policies, particularly sharing of health insurance and retirement plans, are based on one's marital status regardless of the fact that nearly half of the population today is unmarried. The combination of these factors puts too many unmarried women in a unique but unfortunately precarious economic position.
Despite the economic disparities unmarried women face, they make major contributions to the economy and their communities. Most unmarried women work outside the home, and they are more than a fifth of the nation's workers. They are a sizeable and growing consumer group, too, who are already demonstrating their economic prowess and independence by purchasing homes, representing a fifth of homebuyers in 2008. They are also heads of households and caregivers who are taking care of our elders and raising the next generation, and they are serving as the economic decision makers for enormous numbers of people-affecting all major sectors of our economy. But their potential contribution is unrealized.
Fortunately, many current and proposed policies will benefit unmarried women. This report outlines an economic security agenda for unmarried women that focuses on the key areas of legislation in the 111th Congress that would benefit them, including good jobs; policies for single mothers and their children; quality, affordable health care; adequate, affordable housing; financial protection; and a secure, dignified retirement.
The report is intended to serve as a resource for policymakers and advocates concerned about the economic security of unmarried women. It examines legislation under discussion, rather than ideal recommendations, and there is ample room for improvement, which will be examined in future work at the Center for American Progress and by Women's Voices. Women Vote. Still, each of the new laws and proposed policy changes described in this report has its place in an agenda to improve unmarried women's economic conditions. Together, this legislation would make significant progress.
Congress doesn't need to wait to get started on this agenda, either. The top four policy proposals described in this report that are likely to move through Congress quickly and would have a significant impact on the economic security of unmarried women are:
- The health care system overhaul currently pending in Congress, which would fill a major gap in public policy by greatly expanding the availability and affordability of health insurance.
- A proposed reauthorization and expansion of the Child Care and Development Block Grant, which provides subsidies for child care to low-income families.
- The expected reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act, which Congress can use to focus on the workforce development needs of single women. Bills such as the Pathways Advancing Career Training Act and the Women WIN Jobs Act would target opportunities for job training and good jobs to women.
- The Paycheck Fairness Act, which the Senate is expected to consider this year and the House passed in January 2009. Women continue to face gender-based pay discrimination, and this bill would strengthen legal protections against wage discrimination.
Unmarried women--and our country--will be helped when public policy recognizes new ways of living, encourages and supports selfand family-sustaining employment, and ensures that all people and all families, regardless of their marital status, can achieve and maintain a good standard of living and a well-balanced life.
Download the executive summary (PDF)
Download the full report (PDF)


text:
The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961 is an international treaty, accepted by 189 states till date, that defines a guideline for diplomatic relations between numerous independent countries. It specifies the privileges of a diplomatic mission that enable the diplomats to perform their diplomatic functions without the fear of any legal trouble or harassment from the host country. This forms the legal basis for the diplomatic immunity. The articles of the Vienna Convention are considered as a cornerstone for modern international relations.
According to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961 (VCDR), diplomatic immunity is granted to only certain individuals depending on their rank and the amount of immunity they require to carry out their official duties without legal harassment from the host nation. Diplomatic immunity allows foreign representatives to work in host countries without fully understanding the customs of that country. However, diplomats are expected to respect and follow the laws and regulations of their host countries.
Article 31 of the Convention exempts diplomatic agents from the civil and criminal jurisdictions of host states, except for cases in which a diplomatic agent (1) is involved in a dispute over personal real property, (2) has an action involving private estate matters or (3) is in a dispute arising from commercial or professional business outside the scope of official functions.
The Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 1963 (VCCR) is an international treaty that defines the guidelines for consular relations between the independent countries. A consul normally operates out of an embassy in a different country, and performs two functions: (1) protecting the interests of the country and the countrymen of the consul, and (2) furthering the commercial and economic relations between the two countries. While a consul is not a diplomat, they work out of the same premises, and under this treaty they are afforded most of the same privileges, including a variation of diplomatic immunity called consular immunity. This treaty has been accepted by 176 countries.
Consular immunity offers protections similar to the diplomatic immunity, but these protections are not as extensive, given the functional differences between consular and diplomatic officers. For example, consular officers are not given absolute immunity from a host country's criminal jurisdiction (they may be tried for certain local crimes upon action by a local court) and are immune from local jurisdiction only in cases directly relating to their consular functions.


text:
This video of the moon was taken by the NASA GRAIL mission's MoonKAM (Moon Knowledge Acquired by Middle School Students) camera aboard the Ebb spacecraft on Dec. 14, 2012. At the time the images were taken, the spacecraft was about 6 miles (10 kilometers) above the northern hemisphere of the moon's far side, in the vicinity of the Jackson impact crater.
This imagery was acquired as part of a final checkout of spacecraft equipment prior to its planned impact on a mountain near the moon's north pole on Dec. 17. The first video clip, taken by the forward-facing camera head aboard the Ebb spacecraft, is made up of 931 individual frames. The second video clip was taken by the rearward-facing camera head. It is comprised of 1498 individual frames. The playback occurs at six times the rate of the spacecraft's true orbital motion.


text:
A poster to visually remind students to cough and sneeze into their elbows.
Stop the spread of germs in your classroom by encouraging your students to cough and sneeze into their elbow rather than their hand.
A classroom display to use when working on social-emotional skills.
Foster students' emotional intelligence and develop emotional vocabulary by exploring a range of real-life scenarios.
Help students learn the facial expressions and body cues that accompany the most common emotional states with this set of classroom display posters.
Explore students' emotional intelligence and develop emotional vocabulary through real-life scenarios.
Get crafty and teach your early years students about fire safety with a writing prompt and craft template.
Encourage your students to use positive self-talk on a daily basis with this motivational classroom poster.
Explore the differences between 'tattling' and 'telling' with this simple worksheet.
Help older students identify and manage angry feelings with this self-reflection and action plan worksheet.
Help students identify and manage their anger with this self-relfection worksheet.
Explore the differences between 'tattling' and 'telling' with this hands-on sorting activity.


text:
Making it Personal
Sellers are people! Buyers are too. Sellers are trying to move out of a home; buyers are looking for a home to move into. A match to be made!
Most real estate consumers appreciate "the real story." Here are some things to share:
- What is the story of the house? Any history to be shared? Who did current owners buy the home from? Tell a story. Write it down.
- Did sellers do renovations/updates? If so, are there "before" and "after" pictures that can be shared?
- A home is so much more than the bricks and sticks. What are the neighbors like? Are there block parties? Neighborhood get-togethers? Progressive dinners?
- Marketing tags throughout a listed house (to tell more about some of the features of the home, or potentialities, or a part of the story).
- Leave valuable info out for buyers to see – age of mechanics, other updates, community newsletters.
- What attracted the current owners to the home when they purchased? Why are they moving? What will the sellers miss?
Making it real makes people feel comfortable and builds trust. This is the foundation of a successful transaction.


Research Papers in Physics and Astronomy
Date of this Version
JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS 110, 093719 (2011); doi:10.1063/_PHONE_
Copyright 2011 American Institute of Physics
Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), electron-nuclear double resonance (ENDOR), and thermoluminescence (TL) are used to characterize the primary electron and hole trapping centers in a lithium tetraborate (Li2B4O7) crystal doped with Ag+. Three defects, two holelike and one electronlike, are observed after exposure at room temperature to 60 kV x-rays. The as-grown crystal contains both interstitial Ag+ ions and Ag+ ions substituting for Liþ ions. During the irradiation, substitutional Ag+ ions (4d10) trap holes and two distinct Ag2+ centers (4d9) are formed. These Ag2+ EPR spectra consist of doublets (i.e., the individual 107Ag and 109Ag hyperfine lines are not resolved). One of these hole centers is an isolated unperturbed Ag2þ ion and the other is a Ag2+ ion with a nearby perturbing defect. EPR and ENDOR angular-dependence data provide the g matrix and the 107Ag and 109Ag hyperfine matrices for the more intense isolated hole center. In contrast, the electronlike EPR spectrum produced during the irradiation exhibits large nearly isotropic hyperfine interactions with 107Ag and 109Ag nuclei and a neighboring I¼3/2 nucleus (either 7Li or 11B). This spectrum is assigned to a trapped electron shared between an interstitial Ag ion and the substitutional I¼3/2 ion. Upon warming, the radiation-induced trapped electrons and holes seen with EPR recombine between 100 and 200 degrees C, in agreement with a single strong TL peak observed near 160 degrees C.
Included in
Physics Commons


From Conservapedia
(Redirected from Tzar)
Jump to: navigation, search
For similar terms, please see Czar (disambiguation).
A tsar or (tzar or czar - царь) is an emperor or monarch of certain Slavic countries. In Russia, the original title was first adopted by Ivan IV in 1547 and was in use until the People's Revolution if 1918, when the people of Russia executed Nicholas II and his entire family. Russia adopted a system of pseudo communism as advocated by Lenin and Stalin. Currently, modern Russian and other Slavic languages use Tzar interchangeably with "king" or "monarch".
The word traces its roots back to the word "Ceasar" from the Roman Empire, the same roots that are used in the German word Kaiser, their term for emperor.
The term is also now used in America and the United Kingdom[1] to refer to bureaucrats in charge of carrying out some aspect of United States Government policy, such as the Drug Czar.
The New American Desk Encyclopedia, Penguin Group, 1989
 1. As in this article from the Independent newspaper.


text:
Shown here is the basic closed-loop (a complete cycle) control diagram:
The point of a control system is to get your robot actuators (or anything really) to do what you want without... ummmm... going out of control. The sensor (usually an encoder on the actuator) will determine what is changing, the program you write defines what the final result should be, and the actuator actually makes the change. Another sensor could sense the environment, giving the robot a higher-level sense of where to go.
error - The error is the amount at which your device isnt doing something right. For example, if your robot is going 3mph but you want it to go 2mph, the error is 3mph-2mph = 1mph. Or suppose your robot is located at x=5 but you want it at x=7, then the error is 2. A control system cannot do anything if there is no error - think about it, if your robot is doing what you want, it wouldnt need control!
proportional (P) - The proportional term is typically the error. This is usually the distance you want the robot to travel, or perhaps a temperature you want something to be at. The robot is at position A, but wants to be at B, so the P term is A - B.
derivative (D) - The derivative term is the change in error made over a set time period (t). For example, the error was C before and now its D, and t time has passed, then the derivative term is (C-D)/t. Use the timer on your microcontroller to determine the time passed (see timer tutorial).
integral (I) - The integral term is the accumulative error made over a set period of time (t). For example, your robot continually is on average off by a certain amount all the time, the I term will catch it. Lets say at t1 the error was A, at t2 it was B, and at t3 it was C. The integral term would be A/t1 + B/t2 + C/t3.
tweak constant (gain) - Each term (P, I, D) will need to be tweaked in your code. There are many things about a robot that is very difficult to model mathematically (ground friction, motor inductance, center of mass, ducktape holding your robot together, etc.). So often times it is better to just build the robot, implement a control equation, then tweak the equation until it works properly. A tweak constant is just a guessed number that you multiple each term with. For example, Kd is the derivative constant. Idealy you want the tweak constant high enough that your settling time is minimal but low enough so that there is no overshoot.
P*Kp + I*Ki + D*Kd
What you see in this image is typically what will happen with your PID robot. It will start with some error and the actuator output will change until the error goes away (near the final value). The time it takes for this to happen is called the settling time. Shorter settling times are almost always better. Often times you might not design the system properly and the system will change so fast that it overshoots (bad!), causing some oscillation until the system settles. And there will usually be some error band. The error band is dependent on how fine a control your design is capable of - you will have to program your robot to ignore error within the error band or it will probably oscillate. There will always be an error band, no matter how advanced the system.
ignoring acceptable error band example:
The Complete PID Equation
Actuator_Output = Kp*P + Ki*I + Kd*D
or in easy to understand terms:
Better yet, rarely will you need the integral term. Thats right, just delete and ignore it! The only time you will need this term is when acceleration plays a big factor with your robot. If your robot is really heavy, or gravity is not on it's side (such as steep hills), then you will need the integral term. But out of all the robots I have ever programmed, only two needed an integral term - and both robots were over 30 lbs with a requirement for extremely high precision (millimeter or less error band). Control without the integral term is commonly referred to as simply PD control.
There are also times when you do not require a derivative term, but usually only when the device mechanical stabalizes itself, works at very low speeds so that overshoot just doesnt happen, or you simply dont require good precision.
Sampling Rate Issues
The rule of thumb is that the sample time should be between 1/10th and 1/100th of the desired system settling time. For a typical homemade robot you want a sampling rate of about 20+/second (very reasonable with today's microcontrollers).
Has this site helped you with your robot? Give us credit -
link back, and help others in the forums!
Society of Robots copyright 2005-2013


Cosmetology Degree Programs
What are "personal appearance workers?"
The term "personal appearance worker" is a very broad description for professionals who perform services associated with beauty and personal grooming. The term is widely inclusive and is used to describe cosmetologists, all manner of sub-specialties of cosmetology, hairstylists, manicure/pedicurists, estheticians and shampooers.
What is a cosmetologist?
A cosmetologist is a licensed professional who specializes in beauty treatments. "Cosmetology" is a broad term that encompasses a number of sub-specialties. A cosmetologist can offer a full array of services and treatments, or specialize in one or more areas.
Cosmetology as an industry includes hair styling, including cutting, styling and chemical treatments such as coloring and permanents; nail treatments including manicures and pedicures; cosmetic services, including skin and color analysis, eyebrow or eyelash tinting, application training and special event cosmetic application; and skin getting a haircut by a cosmetologistcare services, including facials and skin treatments. Some individuals may choose to specialize in just nail care, including manicures and pedicures and will be licensed only as "nail technicians." People who choose to specialize in skin care through esthetician training may pursue a sub-specialty of the profession and become an "esthetician."
What is the difference between a cosmetologist and an esthetician?
While a cosmetologist has license to offer a wide range of general services and may offer skin care treatments or sell skin care products, an esthetician – or facialist – is a professional who has specialized in skin care and treatment of the face exclusively. In some states, becoming licensed to perform esthetic treatment of the face and surrounding areas – including hair removal by use of depilatories (chemical or wax), electrolysis or mechanical tweezing – requires specialized training and licensure. In all cases, skin care treatments by a cosmetologist or esthetician can only affect the topmost layer of skin, the epidermis. This may include exfoliation, chemical peels or microdermabrasion. Any treatments that involve live skin cells (the dermis) can be rendered only by medical professionals.
Do I need a license to offer beauty services?
The delivery of beauty services is a sophisticated process that requires a basic understanding of anatomy and human biology as it pertains to the skin and skin conditions. These skilled professionals are granted licensure based on their masterful understanding of sanitation practices, proper use of equipment, proper use of products, and potential conflicts in treatment when used in combination with other treatments and certain products.
In short, estheticians and all other cosmetologists must have a full understanding of the limitations inherent to the delivery of beauty services as it pertains to the treatment of possible medical conditions. For these reasons, all states require the professionals who offer these services to be licensed. The scope of the license varies from state to state, with some states offering vary broad licenses for "beauticians" or "cosmetologists" that include the full array of services that might be provided, and with some states offering licenses with a more narrow scope that only apply to services performed to the face or hands. In all states, the license application requires applicants to provide evidence of an education through state-approved institutions including a specified number of hours spent in hands on clinical training, as well as proof of having passed a competency exam administered by the state.
What other types of services can a cosmetologist provide?
In addition to the more traditional services of hair care, skin care, nail treatments and cosmetic services, a cosmetologist can pursue supplemental training to provide more specialized services including electrolysis and laser hair removal, tooth whitening treatments and spa treatments. In most of these cases, being allowed to perform these specialized procedures is dependent on attaining specific certifications through targeted programs. Many state boards do not include these procedures in the standard cosmetology license; so being legally qualified to provide these specialized services is dependent on specialized training and certification.
Continuing education through cosmetology schools is common in the personal appearance industry as techniques, styles, trends and procedures are constantly evolving. Professionals in spa-type salons may also work closely with massage therapists or other body workers to provide a holistic approach to beauty and wellness all in one place. It is important to note that although a cosmetologist or esthetician may offer some massage treatment to the upper body, face or neck, most states require specific licensure for massage therapists who perform whole body massage or deep tissue manipulation. Some cosmetologists may even pursue training to learn how to apply "permanent make-up," or cosmetic tattoos, usually eyebrows, or eye or lip-liner.
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How to pair your hearing aid with a mobile phone
With Oticon hearing aids, it is possible to connect your hearing aid directly to a mobile phone and get the sound streamed directly in your ears.
Choose the guide that matches your hearing aid
Don't know if your hearing aid has Bluetooth or not?
Check your instructions for use, contact your HCP, or see our tips to find out
Pairing your hearing aid with your iPhone
If your hearing aid has Bluetooth you can pair your hearing aid directly to the iPhone.
Turn on your hearing aid and place it close to your iPhone
and follow the 5 steps below:
 - 1. Settings
 (TIP: If you upgraded to iOS 13 you can skip step 1 and directly choose Accessibility when entering your Settings)
 - 2. General
 - 3. Accessibility
 - 4. Search & Select
 Your iPhone will show you detected devices from which you can choose your hearing aid.
 - 5. Pair
 If you have two hearing aids, pairing confirmation is needed for each hearing aid
Pairing your hearing aid to a mobile phone using Streamer Pro
If your hearing aid does not have Bluetooth you can connect your hearing aid to a smartphone by using Streamer Pro.
Streamer Pro must be handed out and paired to you hearing aid by your dispenser.


Gender: Female
Origin: Greek
Meaning: Amber
What is the meaning of the name Elektra?
The name Elektra is primarily a female name of Greek origin that means Amber.
Electra is a classic play (and title character) by Sophocles. Mourning Becomes Electra is a play cycle written by American playwright Eugene O'Neill. Carmen Electra is a famous model and actress.
Different Spellings of the name Elektra:
People who like the name Elektra also like:
Odessa, Ava, Aurora, Jasmine, Phaedra, Cora, Aria, Xander, Andreas, Ronan, Etienne, Kian, Sebastian, Evander
Names that sound like Elektra:
Stats for the Name Elektra
checkmark Elektra is currently not ranked on the Baby Names Popularity Charts
checkmark Elektra is currently not ranked in U.S. births
Listen to the Podcast


text:
Native Azaleas for Northern States
From "The Green Mountain Grower" No. 86, November 77
Dr. N. E. Pellett, Editor
Dept. of Plant and Soil Science
University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont
Several deciduous azaleas native to the eastern United States have potential for wide landscape use in Vermont. Rhododendron roseum, popularly known Mountain Pink is native in southern regions of Vermont, occurring as far north as Johnson. Admirers familiar with its colorful pink flowers often ask nurserymen for this plant. Unfortunately it is not commonly available in the trade. Other native deciduous Rhododendron species potentially useful in Vermont include flame azalea, R. calendulaceum; swamp azalea, R. viscosum; pinkshell azalea, R. vaseyi; rhodora, R. canadense and R. arborescens. The Vermont Agricultural Experiment Station has received a grant from the U. S. D. A. Plant Introduction Station to collect native azaleas and rhododendrons with potential for cold regions. Seeds or superior selections of eastern species are being collected from native stands in the northernmost or coldest part of their range.
Small samples of seed are available to experiment stations, Arboreta and Vermont nurserymen. Seeds available now include:
Rhododendron roseum from Lake Dunmor near Brandon.
R. viscosum from near Amherst, Mass.
R. canadense from near Island Pond.
Kalmia latifolia from near Brattleboro.
The following procedure is recommended for seed propagation of native azaleas:
January - Start seeds under fluorescent lights (16 hr day). Sow seeds on pressed surface of pre-moistened shredded sphagnum moss. Carefully sprinkle with water. Cover with polyethylene or glass and put under lights at 70°F. When seeds germinate remove cover & plant so plants are within 6" of lights. As plants develop, fertilize regularly with a dilute fertilizer solution (i.e., ½ tsp of Rapid-gro in 1 gallon at every watering). Plants can be grown in the greenhouse, but plants need long days to continue growth.
March - When seedlings range from 1 to 2" tall, transplant into individual pots or flats. The following soil media has given good results:
peat; perlite 1:1, per cubic ft. of soil, mix in:
Gypsum, 3 tablespoons Epsom salts, 3.5 teaspoons
Fritted trace elements, ½ tsp.
Continue to fertilize plants regularly.
If they show chlorotic foliage, use an acid-reacting fertilizer. Pinching the terminal of new growth will promote branching.
June - Plants should be six inches tall, branched and ready to line out in field rows or grown on as container plants out-of-doors. Plants should be saleable the following spring.


text:
Volume 6 (2006), Number 2. Abstracts
E. Bannai, M. Koike, M. Shinohara, and M. Tagami. Spherical Designs Attached to Extremal Lattices and the Modulo p Property of Fourier Coefficients of Extremal Modular Forms [PDF]
A theorem of Venkov says that each nontrivial shell of an extremal even unimodular lattice in Rn with 24|n is a spherical 11-design. It is a difficult open question whether there exists any 12-design among them. In the first part of this paper, we consider the following problem: When do all shells of an even unimodular lattice become 12-designs? We show that this does not happen in many cases, though there are also many cases yet to be answered. In the second part of this paper, we study the modulo p property of the Fourier coefficients of the extremal modular forms f = ∑ i ≥ 0aiqi (where q = e2πiτ) of weight k with k even. We are interested in determining, for each pair consisting of k and a prime p, which of the following three (exclusive) cases holds: (1) p|ai for all i ≥ 1; (2) p|ai for all i ≥ 1 with p \not|i, and there exists at least one j ≥ 1 with p \not|aj; (3) there exists at least one j ≥ 1 with p \not|j such that p \not|aj. We first prove that case (1) holds if and only if (p−1)|k. Then we obtain several conditions which guarantee that case (2) holds. Finally, we propose a conjecture that may characterize situations in which case (2) holds.
Keywords. Spherical design, extremal lattice, extremal modular form, Assmus–Mattson theorem, Lehmer conjecture
2000 Mathematics Subject Classification. Primary: 05Exx; Secondary: 05B05, 11E12, 11F11, 11F30, 11F33
S. Bautista and C. Morales. Existence of Periodic Orbits for Singular-Hyperbolic Sets [PDF]
It is well known that on every compact 3-manifold there is a C1 flow displaying a singular-hyperbolic isolated set which has no periodic orbits. By contrast, in this paper we prove that every singular-hyperbolic attracting set of a C1 flow on a compact 3-manifold has a periodic orbit.
Keywords. Singular-hyperbolic set, attracting set, periodic orbit
2000 Mathematics Subject Classification. Primary: 37D30; Secondary: 37D45
S. Gindikin. The Horospherical Cauchy–Radon Transform on Compact Symmetric Spaces [PDF]
Harmonic analysis on noncompact Riemannian symmetric spaces is in a sense equivalent to the theory of the horospherical transform. There are no horospheres on compact symmetric spaces, but we define a complex version of the horospherical transform, which plays a similar role for harmonic analysis on them.
Keywords. Symmetric space, horospherical transform, spherical Fourier transform, Cauchy–Radon transform, inversion formula, Plancherel formula
2000 Mathematics Subject Classification. 14M17, 22E46, 44A15
R. Ismagilov, M. Losik, and P. Michor. A 2-Cocycle on a Symplectomorphism Group [PDF]
For a symplectic manifold (M,ω) with exact symplectic form, we construct a 2-cocycle on the symplectomorphism group and indicate cases in which this cocycle is not trivial.
Keywords. Group extension, symplectomorphism
2000 Mathematics Subject Classification. 58D05, 20J06, 22E65
D. Khmelev and M. Yampolsky. The Rigidity Problem for Analytic Critical Circle Maps [PDF]
It is shown that if f and g are any two analytic critical circle mappings with the same irrational rotation number, then the conjugacy that maps the critical point of f to that of g has regularity C1+α at the critical point, with a universal value of α > 0. As a consequence, a new proof of the hyperbolicity of the full renormalization horseshoe of critical circle maps is given.
Keywords. Critical circle mapping, rigidity, renormalization
2000 Mathematics Subject Classification. 37E10
V. Malyshev. One-Dimensional Mechanical Networks and Crystals [PDF]
We propose a rigorous model of one dimensional crystal or of a biological mechanical network. We prove the thermal expansion and Hooke's law for this model.
Keywords. Gibbs distribution, biological mechanical network, crystal, thermal expansion, Hooke's law
2000 Mathematics Subject Classification. 60Kxx, 82C99
D. Schleicher and M. Stoll. An Introduction to Conway's Games and Numbers [PDF]
This note attempts to furnish John H. Conway's combinatorial game theory with an introduction that is easily accessible and yet mathematically precise and self-contained and which provides complete statements and proofs for some of the folklore in the subject.
Conway's theory is a fascinating and rich theory based on a simple and intuitive recursive definition of games, which yields a very rich algebraic structure. Games form an abelian GROUP in a very natural way. A certain subgroup of games, called numbers, is a FIELD that contains both the real numbers and the ordinal numbers. Conway's theory is deeply satisfying from a theoretical point of view, and at the same time it has useful applications to specific games such as Go.
Keywords. Conway game, surreal number, combinatorial game theory
2000 Mathematics Subject Classification. 91-02, 91A05, 91A46, 91A70
D. Timashev. Equivariant Symplectic Geometry of Cotangent Bundles, II [PDF]
We examine the structure of the cotangent bundle T*X of an algebraic variety X acted on by a reductive group G from the viewpoint of equivariant symplectic geometry. In particular, we construct an equivariant symplectic covering of T*X by the cotangent bundle of a certain variety of horospheres in X, and integrate the invariant collective motion on T*X. These results are based on a "local structure theorem" describing the action of a certain parabolic in G on an open subset of X, which is interesting by itself.
Keywords. Cotangent bundle, moment map, horosphere, symplectic covering, cross-section, invariant collective motion, flat
2000 Mathematics Subject Classification. Primary: 14L30; Secondary: 53D05, 53D20
Moscow Mathematical Journal


Tesla detects crash before it happens
Tesla detects crash before it happens
Tesla produces a system that detects a crash before it happens
Not long ago, the images on a Tesla's board were shared around the world. Happening on a Dutch highway, the imminent impact alarm was immediately triggered and the automatic pilot managed to stop the car on time.
Immediately after you hear that beep you can see an accident just a few yards ahead. Even if many are skeptical about the safety of these cars, the clip below can not be disputed.
In late September, Tesla introduced a new software that comes with an extra trafficking system that can detect the danger when images are not enough.
The automatic pilot can predict an accident due to the radar signal, which tells him the position and speed of the front car.
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text:
ids exist along this stretch, particularly at the junction of side canyons where boulders have been washed into the river by creeks. Long quiet pools exist between these rapids. Several road crossings divide this section into convenient segments for recreational use. Waterway features and distance between each are as follows:
FM 1980 - 2 miles east of Iraan.
County road crossing - off SH 349, 2 miles south of Iraan. (3 miles)
Riffle Canyon - enters on the right. (5 miles)
County road crossing - off SH 349, 6 miles south of Iraan. (2 miles)
County road crossing - off SH 349, 12 miles south of Iraan. (9 miles)
Six Mile Draw - enters on the right. (2 miles)
Dear Canyon - enters on the left. (1 mile)
Four Mile Draw - enters on the right. (3 miles)
Musk Hog Canyon - enters on the left. (4 miles)
US 290 crossing - 4 miles east of Sheffield. (4 miles)
US Highway 290 to Pandale Crossing
This section of the Pecos River is located in Pecos, Terrell, Crockett, and Val Verde Counties. This isolated stretch is approximately 64 miles in length following through some very wild and rugged country with the land on both sides being semi-arid to arid ranchland. No development other than ranching activities exist. The Pecos River and its tributary creeks cut through this rolling terrain and form deep canyons.
The water level during normal periods is rather shallow for the first half of this section. However, from the point where Independence Creek joins the Pecos, there is usually adequate water for recreational use. During periods of heavy rainfall, flash floods frequent both the side canyons and the Pecos Canyon itself. Many rapids are found along this section, particularly at the mouths of side canyons where boulder outwashes are present. Waterway features and distance between each are as follows:
US 290 crossing - 4 miles east of Sheffield.
First Canyon - enters on the left. (10 miles)
Second Canyon - enters on the left. (2 miles)
County road crossing - off US 290, 14 miles southeast of Sheffield. (1 mile)
Third Canyon - enters on the left. (1 mile)
Reagan Canyon - enters on the right. (1 mile)
Independence Creek - enters on the right. (9 miles)
Private Camp - A guest ranch is located at the mouth of Independence Creek, and access to the river is available at this point for a fee. Facilities for camping are available.
Six Shooter Canyon - enters on the left. (6 miles)
Indian Canyon - enters on the left. (1 mile)
Richland Canyon - enters on the right. A private camp is located in this vicinity. (2 miles)
Liveoak Canyon - enters on the left. A private camp is located in this vicinity. (2 miles)
Geddes Canyon - enters on the right. (8 miles)
Big Hackberry Canyon - enters on the right. (7 miles)
Private Camp - on the left. (9 miles)
Pandale Crossing - FM 2083 crossing, 4 miles south of Pandale. (3 miles)
Two additional private camps are located on this section. Exact locations are not available.
Pandale Crossing to US Highway 90
This isolated 55-mile section of the Pecos River in Val Verde County is the best section of the entire river for recreational use. The Pecos River and its tributary creeks have worn away at the Chihuahuan Desert to form a spectacular network of canyons. These canyons progressively increase in depth downstream from the Pandale Crossing to eventually rise several hundred feet above the river in the vicinity of the US 90 high bridge.
Many rapids exist along this section, particularly at the mouths of the side canyons where outwashes of boulders and rocks have been deposited in the river by flash floods. Some of the rapids are tricky but all are negotiable. The water level during most periods of the year is shallow but sufficient water is available for recreational use at all times. During and shortly after rainy periods, this section of the Pecos has excellent water levels for recreational purposes. Flash flooding is common during heavy rains and extreme care needs to be exercised during periods when this hazard exists. A few miles upstream from the US 90 high bridge, the backwaters of Amistad Reservoir are found. The sheerest and tallest canyon walls on the Pecos are located at this point. Waterway features and distance between each are as follows:
Pandale Crossing - FM 2083 crossing, 4 miles
south of Pandale.
Spring Canyon - enters on the left. (4 miles)
Oppenheimer Canyon - enters on the left. (3 miles)
Cedar Canyon - enters on the left. (3 miles)
Evert Canyon - enters on the left. (4 miles)
Goat Canyon - enters on the right. (0.5 mile)
Ford Canyon - enters on the left. (2 miles)
Zixta Canyon - enters on the left. (1 mile)
Harkell Canyon - enters on the right. (6 miles)
Still Canyon - enters on the left. (7 miles)
Cold Water Canyon - enters on the left. A major rapid is located at the mouth of the canyon. (5 miles)
Weir - a dam is located on the river, and a portage is required.
Dead Man's Canyon - enters on the left. (15 miles)
High Bridge - Southern Pacific Railroad bridge is 321 feet above normal river level. (1 mile)
US 90 crossing - 10 miles west of Del Rio. (4 miles). The old highway crossing goes down to the river. This is the last road crossing above Amistad Reservoir.
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text:
Turning a New Page
by Pat Campbell
Turning a New Page is a research-based program that was implemented
in the Westmorland Institution in Dorchester, New Brunswick in June
2000. It is an innovative program that develops comprehension, fluency,
vocabulary, and self-esteem among prison inmates. Prior to 2000, the
inmates had resisted explicit literacy instruction. However, as the
inmates became involved in Turning a New Page, they became more willing
to receive classroom instruction.
The program involves two components: audio-taping of children's
books and literacy instruction. Inmates contribute to the literacy development
of young children in local schools by producing audiotapes of children's
books. The inmates record stories that are at their own reading level.
The audio-taping requires repeated readings. Some inmates need to read
a book up to 80 times before they can achieve an error free audiotape.
The classroom instruction focuses on comprehension strategies, vocabulary
development, and word pattern.
Over the course of two years, 65 inmates participated in Turning a
New Page. In the first year, more than 1,600 children and 56 teachers
in 20 elementary schools received complimentary children's books
and audiotapes. These resources were used in listening centers and for
guided reading. They allowed children to independently develop their
phonological awareness, and fluency.
In one year some inmates improved as much as three to four grade levels.
Engaging in repeated readings of books at their own reading level contributed
to the development of the inmates' fluency. Reading the children's
books gave them an opportunity to experience success and feel positive
about reading, and gave them the motivation to move on to more challenging
reading material. In addition to an improvement in literacy skills,
the results included improved confidence and reduced recidivism.
This study suggests that programs such as Turning a New Page can support
the literacy development of all learners, regardless of age or situation.
If this program is implemented in PEI, it will be an excellent way to
form partnerships with elementary schools. The repeated readings of
books would be a practical strategy to use with adults who are beginning
readers. The adult students could be encouraged to take the book home
and read it to their children. Engaging children in repeated readings
with their parent would also enhance the children's fluency and
instill a love of literature.
This article is another in a series highlighting new
trends in literacy.


X12 Standards are the workhorse of business to business exchanges.
What is X12?
Established more than 40 years ago, X12 is a non-profit, ANSI-accredited, cross-industry standards development organization whose work is used by an overwhelming percentage of business-to-business transactions upholding America's electronic information exchange.
A female longshoreman in hardhat and safety vest manages loading of cargo containers.
X12 Standards
A continuously adapting language and expansive vocabulary that allows millions of transactions a day to seamlessly flow.
Consensus Icon
Developed and maintained through stakeholder consensus
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Complementary to other standards organizations' work
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Produced in and compatible with many syntaxes
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Ready for the Future
Continuously adapting language and vocabulary
What does it mean to be an X12 member?
X12 members represent hundreds of businesses, non-profit associations and government organizations spanning supply chain, transportation, health care, insurance, finance and other industries.
eSolutions, Inc.
Edict Systems
Health Level Seven, Inc.
NextGen Healthcare, Inc.
Stanley Nachimson
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company
Gary Beatty
Dave Cheli
Illinois Medicaid (Healthcare and Family Services)
Cognosante, LLC
By Industry
X12 standards enable millions of transactions to seamlessly flow between businesses across many industries. See all industries.
A female worker in a warehouse uses a bar code scanner and tablet to track inventory.
Supply Chain
The complementary use of X12 Standards and GS1 Standards enable efficiencies - across the supply chain.
A man wearing a hard hat holds a tablet while standing beside a freight train in a rail yard.
The North American railroad industry relies on X12 transactions, exchanging millions of messages each day.
A young female soldier dressed in military clothing holds a backpack in front of a pallet of supplies.
X12 transactions have enabled the management and movement of goods for the DoD consistently for decades.
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Quick Answer: What Is Another Word For Comprehend?
What is an example of comprehension?
The definition of comprehension refers to your ability to understand something, or your actual understanding of something.
An example of comprehension is how well you understand a difficult math problem.
Thorough understanding..
Is there a difference between understand and comprehend?
From the Merriam-Webster definition of understand: UNDERSTAND and COMPREHEND are very often interchangeable. … That is, both words mean "grasp the meaning of," but in some cases understand stresses the final result, while comprehend stresses the process of getting there.
What is a comprehension problem?
Reading comprehension problems occur when there is an inability to grasp the meaning of words, phrases, and paragraphs. Signs of reading difficulty include problems with: Letter and word recognition. Understanding words and ideas.
What is comprehension in simple words?
The word comprehension means understanding. … Comprehension actually comes from the Latin term, comprehensionem, which means "a seizing." When you have comprehension of a subject, you have seized information and incorporated it into your own knowledge.
What are the four types of comprehension?
There are four types of comprehensions in Python:list comprehension.generator comprehension.set comprehension.dictionary comprehension.Nov 18, 2020
What is opposite of noisy?
What is the opposite of noisy?quietsilentrestfulhalcyonuntroubledmutedmutearcadianinaudiblequieted24 more rows
How do you spell comprehend?
verb (used with object) to understand the nature or meaning of; grasp with the mind; perceive: He did not comprehend the significance of the ambassador's remark. to take in or embrace; include; comprise: The course will comprehend all facets of Japanese culture.
What is the synonym of comprehend?
understand, apprehend, conceive, fathom, grasp, know, make out, perceive, see, take in.
What does can't comprehend mean?
If you cannot comprehend something, you cannot understand it. [formal] I just cannot comprehend your attitude. Synonyms: understand, see, take in, perceive More Synonyms of comprehend.
What's the opposite of comprehend?
What is the opposite of comprehend?excludeomitmiss outexceptprecluderule outeliminatediscludedisregarddismiss9 more rows
How do you use the word comprehend?
Comprehend sentence exampleOnly a handful of human minds can comprehend his work. … I tried to comprehend his thought process but I found it irrational. … We cannot comprehend either the Emperor's aims or his actions! … Deidre struggled to absorb the wild story, unable to comprehend most of it.More items…
What is the opposite meaning of Frank?
Antonyms for frank evasive, lying, ambiguous, timid, indirect, different, dishonest, unclear, uncommon, vague, abnormal, insincere, secretive, shy, meek, devious.
Which word you can use in place of comprehend?
The words appreciate and understand are common synonyms of comprehend. While all three words mean "to have a clear or complete idea of," comprehend may stress the process of coming to grips with something intellectually.
What is the difference between comprehension and apprehension?
Apprehend vs. Comprehend "Apprehend" means to take into custody or grasp mentally. While "apprehend" sometimes means "understand," it is best to use "comprehend" because it's easier for most people to understand. … "Comprehend" means to grasp mentally or understand fully.
What's your apprehension?
1 : suspicion or fear especially of future evil : foreboding an atmosphere of nervous apprehension. 2 : seizure by legal process : arrest apprehension of a criminal. 3a : the act or power of perceiving or comprehending something a person of dull apprehension.
What is the difference between birth and berth?
The noun berth refers to a place to sleep (usually on a train or ship), a place for a boat to moor, or a person's place or position on a team. … The noun birth refers to the arrival of a baby (that is, the emergence of an infant from its mother's body) or to the beginning of something.
What is the meaning of comprehending?
transitive verb. 1 : to grasp the nature, significance, or meaning of unable to comprehend what has happened. 2 : to contain or hold within a total scope, significance, or amount …
What word means unable to comprehend or understand?
unintelligibleSomething unintelligible is difficult to understand, either because the room is too noisy or because the unintelligible thing is too quiet or confusing. … If you can't hear or understand something, it's unintelligible (and probably frustrating too).


30 seconds before terminating it. It does this by making an HTTP request to /_ah/stop.
The following code sample demonstrates a basic shutdown hook:
func init() {
 http.HandleFunc("/_ah/stop", shutdownHandler)
func shutdownHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
Backend uptime
App Engine attempts to keep backends running indefinitely. However, at this time there is no guaranteed uptime for backends. Hardware and software failures that cause early termination or frequent restarts can occur without prior warning and may take considerable time to resolve; thus, you should construct your application in a way that tolerates these failures. The App Engine team will provide more guidance on expected backend uptime as statistics become available.
Good strategies for avoiding downtime due to backend restarts include:
 - Load balancing across multiple backend instances
 - Configuring more backend instances than are normally required to handle your traffic patterns
 - Writing fall-back logic that uses cached results when a backend is unavailable
 - Reducing the amount of time it takes for your backend to start up and shutdown
 - Duplicating the same state in more than one backend instance.
It's also important to recognize that the shutdown hook is not always able to run before a backend terminates. In rare cases, an outage can occur that prevents App Engine from providing 30 seconds of shutdown time. Thus, we recommend periodically checkpointing the state of your backend and using it primarily as an in-memory cache rather than a reliable data store.
Addressing backends
A backend instance can be targeted with HTTP requests to http://[instance]-dot-[backend_name]-dot-[your_app_id].appspot.com, or at your application's custom domain. If you target a backend without targeting an instance using http://[backend_name]-dot-[your_app_id].appspot.com, App Engine selects the first available instance of the backend.
The appengine package provides functions to retrieve the address of a backend or instance. This allows application versions to target backends with requests, for a backend to target another backend, or for one instance of a backend to target another instance. This works in both the development and production environments.
func handler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 c := appengine.NewContext(r)
 // Get the details of the current backend.
 name, index := appengine.BackendInstance(c)
 // Get the hostname of this specific backend.
 hostname := appengine.BackendHostname(c, name, index)
 fmt.Fprint(w, "I am backend %s instance %d ", name, index)
 fmt.Fprint(w, "serving http://%s", hostname)
Note: After April 2013 Google does not issue SSL certificates for double-wildcard domains hosted at appspot.com (i.e. *.*.appspot.com). If you rely on such URLs for HTTPS access to your application, change any application logic to use "-dot-" instead of ".". For example, to access version v1 of application myapp use _URL_. The certificate will not match if you use _URL_, and an error occurs for any User-Agent that expects the URL and certificate to match exactly.
Public and private backends
Backends can be public, that is, directly exposed in some way to users, or they can be private, not user-facing at all. Backends are private by default, since they typically function as a component inside an application, rather than acting as its public face. Private backends can be accessed by application administrators, instances of the application, and by App Engine APIs and services (such as Task Queue tasks and Cron jobs) without any special configuration. Backends are not primarily intended for user-facing traffic, but you can make a backend public for testing or for interacting with an external system.
A backend that is used for offline processing can typically be taken down, updated, or resized without any user-visible effects. When a backend is incorporated into a user-visible request flow, updating it requires more care. Most updates to a backend require existing instances to shut down and new instances to start up. If startup and shutdown are fast, then updates can be performed rapidly with minimal impact on user traffic. You can update certain backend settings without restarting the backend using the appcfg backends configure command.
Monitoring resource usage
The Instances Console section of the Administration Console provides visibility into how backend instances are performing. By selecting your backend in the version/backend dropdown, you can see the memory and CPU usage of each instance, uptime, number of requests, and other statistics. You can also manually initiate the shutdown process for any instance.
You also can use the runtime package to access statistics showing the CPU and memory usage of your backend instances. These statistics help you understand how resource usage responds to requests or work performed, and also how to regulate the amount of data stored in memory in order to stay below the memory limit of your backend class.
Administering backends
The Backends Console section of the Administration Console provides a list of all backends and gives you the option to start, stop, or delete a backend. Backends are listed alphabetically, along with any options you choose when configuring the backend (such as the option to make the backend dynamic):
Billing, quotas, and limits
Backends are priced based on an hourly rate determined by the backend class. The following table describes the cost for each class:
Class configuration Memory limit CPU limit Cost per hour per instance
B1 128MB 600MHz $0.05
B2 (default) 256MB 1.2GHz $0.10
B4 512MB 2.4GHz $0.20
B4_1G 1024MB 2.4GHz $0.30
B8 1024MB 4.8GHz $0.40
In general, backend usage is billed on an hourly basis based on the backends uptime. Billing begins when the backend starts and ends fifteen minutes after the backend shuts down. Runtime overhead is counted against the instance memory limit. This will be higher for Java than for Python.
Billing is slightly different in resident and dynamic backends:
 - For resident backends, billing ends fifteen minutes after the backend is shut down.
 - For dynamic backends, billing ends fifteen minutes after the last request has finished processing.
Changing the class of a backend also impacts billing:
 - If you switch from a higher class to a lower class, you pay the higher price for fifteen minutes after the change.
 - If you switch from a lower class to a higher class, you begin paying the higher price when the higher-class backend receives its first request.
Quotas and limits
Backends are exempt from the 60-second deadline for user requests and the 10-minute deadline for tasks, and run indefinitely. Backends are subject to the same API quotas, limits, and call deadlines as normal instances, with the following exceptions:
 - Backends are allowed to make up to 100 simultaneous API calls
 - Task Queue tasks have a 24-hour deadline when sent to a backend
The default limits for the number and size of backends depend on the location of the application and whether it has billing enabled.
Resource Type Free App Limit Billed App Limit
Backends per application 5 20 20
Instances per backend 20 200 25
Total configured backend memory, either resident or dynamic, per app 10GB 200GB 50GB