text:
Use SL Shapes
Note: The video was made for Avastar-1.0 However it should still be helpful for Avastar-1.2
Step 1: Export your Shape from SL or OpenSimThe procedure to export the Character shape may vary depending on which viewer you actually use. We use the default SL Viewer.
(where nnn is a number)C:\Users\gaia\AppData\Roaming\SecondLife\logs\Gaia_Clary_nnn.xml
Note: the file path contains your Windows user name (mine is gaia) and your SL user name.
Step 2: Import to Avastar
Create a new Avastar
Add a new Avastar Character
add -> Avastar
This will create a new female Avastar character. After a short time (typically 2-4 secs) a new Avastar character is created in the 3D View and at the current 3D cursor location.
We do not use any of the Ruth shapes, because there is no clear definition what Ruth is. While there is an official definition of the default shape. In SL you create the default shape from your Inventory:
What you should know
- New Avastar characters can only be created when you are in Object Mode!
- A new character will be placed at the current 3D Cursor location.
- You can hide ('h') or remove ('x') not needed parts (like the skirt or the hair for example) without breaking the tools.
- You can create as many characters as you like and thus you can create multi-character animations. Multi-character animations will be explained in the reference guide.
- The character that you know from avatar.blend or from the workbench (sometimes also named "ruth") looks different from the default Avastar character. this is not a mistake. Further explanations can be found in the Avastar vs. Workbench Skeleton article.
Note: The Armature Info Panel shows the version difference between your Armature (in the example My Rig and the Avastar Version (1.1.20 in the example).
(1) Currently old Blend files will not show an Armature version, because this feature is very new. Because of that you often do not see any version info. But this is enough for Avastar to know the Armature is outdated.
- Armature name
- Avastar Version number
- Rig version Number (may be empty)
- Version Mismatch Info (if applicable)
- List of assigned Custom Meshes
- Number of animated Bones
Whenever Avastar detects a Version Mismatch, then it offers an Update Button in the Avastar Tools Panel:
Inplace Armature Update
- Select your old mesh or your old Armature.
- Then – in the Tool Shelf – look for Armature Info. If Avastar indicates a Version Mismatch, then…
- Look for the Avastar Tools Panel and click on Update Avastar.
Load your Shape
The Avastar Shape (Properties, Object Section)
Avastar can import and export shapes from OpenSim or any compatible online world. You find the import/export functions in the Object properties of the Avastar Armature:
- Go to object mode.
- Select the Rig (RMB on the yellow circles around the mesh).
- Open the Properties window.
- Navigate to the "Object" properties.
There you find a panel "Avatar Shape". This panel displayes a subpanel with 5 main functions.
This function allows you to upload a Shape that you have previously exported from your online world: In most viewers there is a shape export option hidden in the advanced menu ("Advanced" -> "Character" -> "Charater Tests" -> "Appearance to XML"). This will silently create a file called:
This file contains your current shape and can be loaded into Avastar, where [application_folder] is the viewer's application data folder. For Windows this folder is located at:
Save Shape to
As mentioned above the default option is to save to File. But you can also save to a Blender textblock. In that case the slider values can be found in the Blender text editor panel. The values correspond to the shape settings in the SL viewer.
Note: You can use the Singularity Viewer to import a shape file to SL. To see the file, switch to the Blender Text editor and locate Shape for: Avatar (Avatar stands for the name of the Armature). Useful when you need to update the shape in SL with the values from blender.
This resets the Avastar meshes to the current Shape values. Useful together with the new custom shape key function (see below). Also if you messed up the Avastar meshes (by editing them) you can return the mesh back to the current shape slider values.
Reset to Default Shape
Set the entire shape back to the Avastar default setup (the same as the SL Default shape which you get when you create a new Shape)
Delete Avastar Shapes
Remove all Shapesfrom the Avastar character. You will want this when you use the rig for non human characters where keeping the Avastar human meshes make no sense.
Load Shape Editor
Export to Collada
Export your Character as Collada
Hint: You usually can keep the default settings and just click on the "Collada(Avastar)(.dae)" button. A File Selector will pop up. Here you can navigate to your export directory and then export your file as a Collada file (using the file extension ".dae")
By default Avastar applies all mesh changing Modifiers except the Armature Modifiers to the exported meshes. However, some modifiers have 2 sets of options, one option set is for rendering, the other option set is for the Viewport. We provide 3 options here:
- Apply according to the View Settings (the 3D Preview settings)
- Apply according to the Render Settings (the settings for Blender's own Renderer)
- Don't apply modifiers and only export the base mesh
The View settings will be applied by default. These settings are very closely related to the Blender Render System. In most cases you can actually just use the defaults. We will get back to this when we talk about how to use (or not use) Modifiers.
We will get to armature Modifiers in the "Create an Attachment" tutorial.
Textures export (advanced)
Note: But for rigged meshes the images are not recognized.
- UV Textures & Material Textures: Blender supports Material based textures and UV textures (which are directly assigned to polygons). Normally you want to export only the UV textures. In rare cases it is more desirable to export the material based textures instead. But beware, Blender does not export the render results, but only the source images!
- Image Type: The image format is typically predefined in the Blender Render settings. However we found it convenient to provide an immediate setting in the Exporter. By default the image type will be applied ONLY to generated images.
- Use 'Image format' for all images: If this option is set, then Blender will use the selected image format for all exported images. If the option is disabled, then only the generated images will be affected.
- Use RGBA: Blender can export the Alpha channel for images. Normally this is controlled in the render settings where you can specify to use either RGB or RGBA for image exports. If the currently selected export format supports Alpha then enabling RGBA here will export images with Alpha channel even if the render settings are set to RGB and vice versa.
Hint: You may want to NOT use RGBA because of the Alpha glitch. However this is not a general advice. There are many situations where using Alpha images is even recommended (for example when you want to create an Alpha mask).
Hint: If the format of the exported image(es) does not support an Alpha channel then the "Use RGBA" option is simply ignored.
bone bug fix: We have found that some online worlds have serious issues with modified Joint offsets for Collision volumes and Attachments(1). Hence we suppress the export of joint offsets for collision volumes and attachment bones by default.(1): The technical details are related to the SL Importer's option With Joint Positions The Skeleton can be modified (in edit mode) to create other rest poses than the default rest pose (T-Pose) When you do that, you actually move the Joint Offsets away from their default locations. And you will later have to set "with Joint Offset" during import in order to get your modified sjkeleton uploaded.
Step 3: Import your Character to SLOnce you have exported your Mesh character, you only need to import it to your target System (like SL or a compatible online world). Although this is easy in principle, there are a few pitfalls in your way. So let us take a deeper look into the Mesh Importer.
The Video explains:
- How to import a rigged Mesh to SL, OpenSim or similar online worlds.
- How to use an Alpha mask for hiding the default character
- How to use image textures to texturise your character.
- Potential problems with your meshes (visible seams, wrong shape, missing face animations)
Upload the model
The LOD Panel
The Options Panel
Step 4: (Optional) Import your Shape back to SL
Exporting a Shape from Avastar
- Ensure Blender is in Object Mode
- Select the Avastar Armature
- in the Object Properties locate the Avatar Shape panel
- There you find a Save Shape To option
Importing a Shape to Second Life (using Firestorm)
- Enter the Appearance Editor in your Firestorm Viewer
- Down in the right lower corner of the editor you find an Import option


text:
Enhancing Network Visibility and Security Through Tensor Analysis
Muthu Baskaran, David Bruns-Smith, Thomas Henretty, James Ezick, Richard Lethin
Publication Source: The 4th International Workshop on Innovating the Network for Data Intensive Science (INDIS) 2017, Denver, CO, USA.
The increasing size, variety, rate of growth and change, and complexity of network data has warranted advanced network analysis and services. Tools that provide automated analysis through traditional or advanced signature-based systems or machine learning classifiers suffer from practical difficulties. These tools fail to provide comprehensive and contextual insights into the network when put to practical use in operational cyber security. In this paper, we present an effective tool for network security and traffic analysis that uses high-performance data analytics based on a class of unsupervised learning algorithms called tensor decompositions. The tool aims to provide a scalable analysis of the network traffic data and also reduce the cognitive load of network analysts and be network-expert-friendly by presenting clear and actionable insights into the network.
In this paper, we demonstrate the successful use of the tool in two completely diverse operational cyber security environments, namely, (1) security operations center (SOC) for the SCinet network at SC16 – The International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage and Analysis and (2) Reservoir Labs' Local Area Network (LAN). In each of these environments, we produce actionable results for cyber security specialists including (but not limited to) (1) finding malicious network traffic involving internal and external attackers using port scans, SSH brute forcing, and NTP amplification attacks, (2) uncovering obfuscated network threats such as data exfiltration using DNS port and using ICMP traffic, and (3) finding network misconfiguration and performance degradation patterns.

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


text:
a fabled land of luxury and idleness.
a variant spelling of Cockaigne
(medieval legend) an imaginary land of luxury and idleness
c.1300, from Old French Cocaigne (12c.) "lubberland," imaginary country, abode of luxury and idleness. Of obscure origin, speculation centers on words related to cook (v.) and cake (cf. Middle Dutch kokenje, a child's honey-sweetened treat; also cf. Big Rock Candy Mountain). The German equivalent is Schlaraffenland.
[kok-boht] /ˈkɒkˌboʊt/ noun 1. a small boat, especially one used as a tender. /ˈkɒkˌbəʊt/ noun 1. any small boat
[kok-chey-fer] /ˈkɒkˌtʃeɪ fər/ noun 1. any of certain scarab beetles, especially the European species, Melolontha melolontha, which is very destructive to forest trees. /ˈkɒkˌtʃeɪfə/ noun 1. any of various Old World scarabaeid beetles, esp Melolontha melolontha of Europe, whose larvae feed on crops and grasses Also called May beetle, May bug
[kok-krawft, -kroft] /ˈkɒk krɔft, -krɒft/ noun 1. Sir John Douglas, 1897–1967, English physicist: Nobel Prize 1951. /ˈkɒkˌkrɒft/ noun 1. Sir John Douglas. 1897–1967, English nuclear physicist. With E. T. S. Walton, he produced the first artificial transmutation of an atomic nucleus (1932) and shared the Nobel prize for physics 1951 Cockcroft (kŏk'krôft') British physicist who, […]
[kok-kroh] /ˈkɒkˌkroʊ/ noun 1. the time at which a cock characteristically crows; daybreak; dawn. /ˈkɒkˌkrəʊ/ noun 1. daybreak


text:
How to: Use Environment Variables in a Build
When you build projects, it is often necessary to set build options using information that is not in the project file or the files that comprise your project. This information is typically stored in environment variables.
All environment variables are available to the Microsoft Build Engine (MSBuild) project file as properties.
If the project file contains an explicit definition of a property that has the same name as an environment variable, the property in the project file overrides the value of the environment variable.
To use an environment variable in an MSBuild project
Reference the environment variable the same way you would a variable declared in your project file. For example, the following code references the BIN_PATH environment variable:
You can use a Condition attribute to provide a default value for a property if the environment variable was not set.
To provide a default value for a property
Use a Condition attribute on a property to set the value only if the property has no value. For example, the following code sets the ToolsPath property to c:\tools only if the ToolsPath environment variable is not set:
c:\tools
Property names are not case-sensitive so both $(ToolsPath) and $(TOOLSPATH) reference the same property or environment variable.
The following project file uses environment variables to specify the location of directories.
 $(BIN_PATH)\myassembly.dll C:\Tools

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


Komos experiment kit to bring along: Cultivate primeval crabs yourself
RRP³: €16.00 *
€9.95 *
Content: 1 Piece
*prices incl. VAT plus shipping costs
Ready to ship today,
Delivery time appr. 1-4 days²
Sold 32 times in the last month
Total price: 9.95 * 16.99 * (41.44% Saved)
 - 541009
 - 4002051657871
 - 657871
 - ATTENTION! Not suitable for children under 3 years of age. Risk of suffocation, as small parts may be swallowed or inhaled.
Why are salt crabs real primeval animals? How do tiny eggs become living crabs? Where do... more
Experiments from Kosmos at Schafi-Shop
Contents Prehistoric crabs
Why are salt crabs real primeval animals? How do tiny eggs become living crabs? Where do such primeval crustaceans actually live?
Try it out!
The primeval animals move into the children's room! With this KOSMOS experiment set children can breed crabs from the time of the dinosaurs simply by themselves. Let's go! To bring the salt crabs to life, the breeding tank is prepared with water and salt and put in a warm place. From the egg, to the larva, to the funny scurrying primeval crabs - equipped with a magnifying glass, the children are present at every step and observe exciting changes every day.
So that everything is easy, the age-appropriately illustrated instructions explain how to raise and care for the little animals and provide interesting background information on the primeval creatures. An exciting introduction to the world of biology!
 - Cool! Now prehistoric crabs from the time of the dinosaurs are moving into the children's room.
 - The exciting cultivation set allows children to experience the development from the egg to the funny scurrying primeval crabs. A magnifying glass helps to ensure that nothing is missed.
 - With the utensils contained in the set, children can breed, feed and care for the little animals all by themselves.
 - The colourful instructions explain in simple steps how to raise and care for them and contain interesting additional information about the small primeval animals.
 - This KOSMOS experiment kit offers a first insight into the world of biology and is an exciting present for children from 8 years on.
Contents: Instructions, salt crab eggs, feed, sea salt, breeding station, measuring cup, observation bowl, spatula, pipette, magnifying glass
207x129x57mm (LxWxH)
Sprache Anleitung: Deutsch
Sprache Verpackung: Deutsch
Spielart: Experimentierkasten
Spielsachen: Lernspielzeug
Gifts: Ja
Altersgruppe: ab 8 Jahren, bis 12 Jahre
Shipping weight: 0,2 kg
Manufacturer: Kosmos
Made in: EU (Germany)
brand: Kosmos
Zielgruppe: Jungen, Mädchen
The publishing history
1893: Walter Keller and Euchar Nehmann take over the publishing house
The KOSMOS publishing house
Well-known products and brands
The KOSMOS family and board games
The KOSMOS experiment boxes and access to knowledge
The KOSMOS quality
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Jam Fest Rhythm & Beats
Throughout the ages, music and rhythmic sounds have been a binding agent of all people. JamFEST strikes a chord with everyone. A popular conference energizer, this 45 to 90-minute event gets your teams moving, shaking and jamming in harmony. No previous experience or musical ability is needed.
Boom Sticks, Rubber Gloves, GoGo Bells, Jug Drums and Congas are all provided. It's not long before the rhythm buids and team members are jamming together, creating, changing and expressing their inate musical talents.
Boom Sticks are lightweight, hollow, color-coded, plastic tubes, finely tuned to musical pitches by length. They produce "floating, ethereal type" musical tones when struck together, against the hand, the floor, or nearly any other surface. Boom Sticks are often used by performance artists to add an element of spectacle and by educators to teach the concepts in rhythm, harmony, and melody.


Visian ICL
Visian ICL (Implantable Collamer Lens)
visian icl (implantable collamer lens)The Visian ICL™ is another type of Phakic Intraocular Lens which is manufactured from a soft foldable polymeric material called Collamer. The cornea is actually comprised of collagen and sothis material provides excellent biocompatibility and superior optical capability. It is readily implanted in your eye behind the iris, or colored part of the eye, by gently folding it and injecting into the anterior chamber through a tiny incision only 3.0mm in length placed by the eye surgeon at the clear edge of the cornea.
Advantages of the Visian ICL
 - Quality of Vision – The Visian ICL produces not only improved visual acuity (20/20 vision is considered normal visual acuity), but also excellent visual quality. Many patients experience the "wow" factor when they experience the immediate improvement in the quality of their vision.
 - Biocompatibility – Collamer, the 100% pure collagen copolymer lens material of the Visian ICL, is not viewed as a foreign object by the body's immune system.
 - Versatility – The Visian ICL offers a wider treatment range for myopia than LASIK and PRK procedures.
 - Removable – The Visian ICL was designed to be permanently placed in the eye. However, the lens can be removed if a patient's vision changes or if it otherwise needs to be removed or replaced.For more information on the Visian ICL™, click here.
Frequently Asked Questions about the Visian ICL
The Visian ICL (Implantable Collamer Lens) has been gaining recognition as a phakic intraocular lens that produces exceptional quality of vision. It is revolutionizing the refractive correction industry. Below are some of the frequently asked questions about STAAR Surgical Company's implantable Collamer lens.
Q: Am I a candidate for the Visian ICL?
A. The implantable Collamer lens works best for patients who suffer from moderate to severe myopia, but have not had other ophthalmic surgeries. Those between the ages of 21 and 45 without a history of ophthalmic diseases such as glaucoma, iritis, or diabetic retinopathy make the best candidates for the Visian ICL.
Q. What are the advantages of the Visian ICL?
A. The Visian ICL can correct a wide range of myopia without removing or destroying the cornea's delicate tissue. During this surgical eye correction procedure, the doctor makes a tiny incision about 3 mm long. This incision will not require sutures. It is just large enough to insert the Visian ICL, a small, foldable, injectable lens. The lens is made of an advanced biocompatible material called Collamer. Because the Visian ICL is placed inside the eye, refractive outcomes and optical performance are consistent. The result is excellent quality of vision.
Q. What if a patient's vision changes?
A. The Visian ICL may be removed or replaced if eyesight changes. Another surgical eye correction can be done to correct the discrepancy. Eyeglasses and contact lenses may also be worn if correction becomes necessary. The phakic IOL cannot be used to treat presbyopia, the need for reading glasses due to age.
Q. Can the lenses dry out or get dirty like a contact lens?
A. No. The Visian ICL is designed to be a maintenance-free eye correction treatment. We recommend you continue to have annual ophthalmology exams to ensure that your eyes stay healthy.
Q. Can the Visian ICL be seen by the naked eye?
A. No. Your vision correction lens will be completely invisible to you and all observers. The Visian ICL is hidden behind the iris, resulting in a perfect cosmetic appearance. Only medical professionals will be able to determine that there is a lens in place.
Q. What is the Visian ICL made of?
A. The Visian ICL uses a collagen co-polymer material called Collamer, which is proprietary to STAAR Surgical Company. It contains a small amount of purified collagen and is very stable and biocompatible, which means it will not cause a reaction in your eye. Additionally, it contains an ultraviolet light filter.
Q. How long will the Visian ICL stay in the eye?
A. The Visian ICL is intended to remain in place without maintenance. If for any reason removal of the lens becomes necessary, it can be easily taken out by a trained ophthalmic surgeon.
Q. Can the Visian ICL be felt once it is in place?
A. Because the Visian ICL does not attach to any eye structures or move around in the eye, most patients do not feel it or notice that it is there.
Want more information about Visian ICL? Schedule your consultation or call _PHONE_ to learn more from our friendly, knowledgeable staff.


Your Health
Why Your Drug Copay Could Change
Partner content from Kaiser Health News
How much a medicine costs you could vary depending on the value your insurer assigns to treatment.
How much a medicine costs you could vary depending on the value your insurer assigns to treatment. hide caption
itoggle caption
What if how much you paid for a drug was based on how much it might help you, instead of the sticker price?
Some big employers are already taking this tack, known as value-based insurance design, by lowering copayments for medicines to manage chronic conditions like diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure. It helps that many of the most prescribed pills are now generic and pretty cheap.
It's a simple idea when applied this way. The companies figure that if people take those medicines and stay healthy, they'll avoid costly treatment down the road. By slashing copayments, the companies hope to remove a hurdle that might discourage people from sticking with the drugs.
Now some employers are thinking about adapting the approach for pricier specialty drugs, such as those used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and cancer, according to a recent report by the Center for Studying Health System Change.
These medicines are often very expensive and have no generic competition. So instead of charging a simple copay for these drugs, some health plans charge a percentage of the total cost, which can run to thousands of dollars a month.
It's one way that insurers and employers are looking to stem the rising costs of specialty drugs, whose growth is far outpacing that of traditional drugs.
But in the latest twist, some companies are looking to vary the copayment depending on the value the drugs provide.
It isn't easy. For starters, figuring out who is an "appropriate candidate" for specialty drugs can be tough, say experts including James Robinson, an economist at the University of California, Berkeley, who has published articles advocating this insurance model.
Even if a specialty drug has been proved clinically effective for certain conditions, should all patients pay the same amount for it? Take a drug like Enbrel, which is approved to treat inflammatory conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis. According to the HSC report, drugs of this type cost $14,455 per year, on average.
Psoriasis is disfiguring and uncomfortable, but not fatal, Robinson says, while rheumatoid arthritis is a much more disabling condition. In this case, a value-based insurance design approach might determine that "if you've got psoriasis, maybe you pay a 30 percent coinsurance for the drug," he suggests. "But if you've got rheumatoid arthritis, there's no copayment."
That's just the tip of the iceberg. "This stuff is complicated," says Robinson. "I don't want to blow you away with the intractability of the problem."
As spending on specialty drugs grows, and despite the difficulties, some experts predict more employers will adopt "value-based" principles for their workers' coverage.


text:
PostgreSQL has a rich set of native data types available to users. Users may add new types to PostgreSQL using the CREATE TYPE command.
Table 8-1 shows all built-in general-purpose data types. Most of the alternative names listed in the "Aliases" column are the names used internally by PostgreSQL for historical reasons. In addition, some internally used or deprecated types are available, but they are not listed here.
Table 8-1. Data Types
|bigint||int8||signed eight-byte integer|
|bigserial||serial8||autoincrementing eight-byte integer|
|bit||fixed-length bit string|
|bit varying(n)||varbit(n)||variable-length bit string|
|boolean||bool||logical Boolean (true/false)|
|box||rectangular box in the plane|
|character varying(n)||varchar(n)||variable-length character string|
|character(n)||char(n)||fixed-length character string|
|cidr||IPv4 or IPv6 network address|
|circle||circle in the plane|
|date||calendar date (year, month, day)|
|double precision||float8||double precision floating-point number|
|inet||IPv4 or IPv6 host address|
|integer||int, int4||signed four-byte integer|
|line||infinite line in the plane (not fully implemented)|
|lseg||line segment in the plane|
|numeric [ (p, s) ]||decimal [ (p, s) ]||exact numeric with selectable precision|
|path||open and closed geometric path in the plane|
|point||geometric point in the plane|
|polygon||closed geometric path in the plane|
|real||float4||single precision floating-point number|
|smallint||int2||signed two-byte integer|
|serial||serial4||autoincrementing four-byte integer|
|text||variable-length character string|
|time [ (p) ] [ without time zone ]||time of day|
|time [ (p) ] with time zone||timetz||time of day, including time zone|
|timestamp [ (p) ] [ without time zone ]||timestamp||date and time|
|timestamp [ (p) ] with time zone||timestamptz||date and time, including time zone|
Compatibility: The following types (or spellings thereof) are specified by SQL: bit, bit varying, boolean, char, character varying, character, varchar, date, double precision, integer, interval, numeric, decimal, real, smallint, time (with or without time zone), timestamp (with or without time zone).
Each data type has an external representation determined by its input and output functions. Many of the built-in types have obvious external formats. However, several types are either unique to PostgreSQL, such as open and closed paths, or have several possibilities for formats, such as the date and time types. Some of the input and output functions are not invertible. That is, the result of an output function may lose accuracy when compared to the original input.
Some of the operators and functions (e.g., addition and multiplication) do not perform run-time error-checking in the interests of improving execution speed. On some systems, for example, the numeric operators for some data types may silently cause underflow or overflow.
Numeric types consist of two-, four-, and eight-byte integers, fourand eight-byte floating-point numbers, and fixed-precision decimals. Table 8-2 lists the available types.
Table 8-2. Numeric Types
|smallint||2 bytes||small-range integer||-32768 to +32767|
|integer||4 bytes||usual choice for integer||-_PHONE_ to +_PHONE_|
|bigint||8 bytes||large-range integer||-9223372036854775808 to 9223372036854775807|
|decimal||variable||user-specified precision, exact||no limit|
|numeric||variable||user-specified precision, exact||no limit|
|real||4 bytes||variable-precision, inexact||6 decimal digits precision|
|double precision||8 bytes||variable-precision, inexact||15 decimal digits precision|
|serial||4 bytes||autoincrementing integer||1 to _PHONE_|
|bigserial||8 bytes||large autoincrementing integer||1 to 9223372036854775807|
The syntax of constants for the numeric types is described in Section 4.1.2. The numeric types have a full set of corresponding arithmetic operators and functions. Refer to Chapter 9 for more information. The following sections describe the types in detail.
The types smallint, integer, and bigint store whole numbers, that is, numbers without fractional components, of various ranges. Attempts to store values outside of the allowed range will result in an error.
The type integer is the usual choice, as it offers the best balance between range, storage size, and performance. The smallint type is generally only used if disk space is at a premium. The bigint type should only be used if the integer range is not sufficient, because the latter is definitely faster.
The bigint type may not function correctly on all platforms, since it relies on compiler support for eight-byte integers. On a machine without such support, bigint acts the same as integer (but still takes up eight bytes of storage). However, we are not aware of any reasonable platform where this is actually the case.
SQL only specifies the integer types integer (or int) and smallint. The type bigint, and the type names int2, int4, and int8 are extensions, which are shared with various other SQL database systems.
Note: If you have a column of type smallint or bigint with an index, you may encounter problems getting the system to use that index. For instance, a clause of the form... WHERE smallint_column = 42
will not use an index, because the system assigns type integer to the constant 42, and PostgreSQL currently cannot use an index when two different data types are involved. A workaround is to single-quote the constant, thus:... WHERE smallint_column = '42'
This will cause the system to delay type resolution and will assign the right type to the constant.
The type numeric can store numbers with up to 1000 digits of precision and perform calculations exactly. It is especially recommended for storing monetary amounts and other quantities where exactness is required. However, the numeric type is very slow compared to the floating-point types described in the next section.
In what follows we use these terms: The scale of a numeric is the count of decimal digits in the fractional part, to the right of the decimal point. The precision of a numeric is the total count of significant digits in the whole number, that is, the number of digits to both sides of the decimal point. So the number 23.5141 has a precision of 6 and a scale of 4. Integers can be considered to have a scale of zero.
Both the precision and the scale of the numeric type can be configured. To declare a column of type numeric use the syntax
The precision must be positive, the scale zero or positive. Alternatively,
selects a scale of 0. Specifying
without any precision or scale creates a column in which numeric values of any precision and scale can be stored, up to the implementation limit on precision. A column of this kind will not coerce input values to any particular scale, whereas numeric columns with a declared scale will coerce input values to that scale. (The SQL standard requires a default scale of 0, i.e., coercion to integer precision. We find this a bit useless. If you're concerned about portability, always specify the precision and scale explicitly.)
If the precision or scale of a value is greater than the declared precision or scale of a column, the system will attempt to round the value. If the value cannot be rounded so as to satisfy the declared limits, an error is raised.
The types decimal and numeric are equivalent. Both types are part of the SQL standard.
The data types real and double precision are inexact, variable-precision numeric types. In practice, these types are usually implementations of IEEE Standard 754 for Binary Floating-Point Arithmetic (single and double precision, respectively), to the extent that the underlying processor, operating system, and compiler support it.
Inexact means that some values cannot be converted exactly to the internal format and are stored as approximations, so that storing and printing back out a value may show slight discrepancies. Managing these errors and how they propagate through calculations is the subject of an entire branch of mathematics and computer science and will not be discussed further here, except for the following points:
If you require exact storage and calculations (such as for monetary amounts), use the numeric type instead.
If you want to do complicated calculations with these types for anything important, especially if you rely on certain behavior in boundary cases (infinity, underflow), you should evaluate the implementation carefully.
Comparing two floating-point values for equality may or may not work as expected.
On most platforms, the real type has a range of at least 1E-37 to 1E+37 with a precision of at least 6 decimal digits. The double precision type typically has a range of around 1E-307 to 1E+308 with a precision of at least 15 digits. Values that are too large or too small will cause an error. Rounding may take place if the precision of an input number is too high. Numbers too close to zero that are not representable as distinct from zero will cause an underflow error.
PostgreSQL also supports the SQL-standard notations float and float(p) for specifying inexact numeric types. Here, p specifies the minimum acceptable precision in binary digits. PostgreSQL


text:
It's funny how you can go for months without seeing "squirrel" in print, and then, bam, two sightings within three days.
The first squirrel is a red herring. It appears in Joseph Epstein's Wall Street Journal review of Yip Harburg: Legendary Lyricist and Human Rights Activist, a biography by Harriet Hyman Alonso of the man who wrote the lyrics to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," "It's Only a Paper Moon," "April in Paris," and "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" Harburg was born Isidore Hochberg in New York City in 1896; he changed his name to Edgar Y. Harburg in 1934 but was generally known as E.Y. Harburg or Yip Harburg.
Why "Yip"? In his review, Epstein says the nickname "came from the Yiddish word for squirrel, yipsl, which his parents called him when he was a child." But the Yiddish word for squirrel is actually the Slavic-derived veverke; no Yiddish dictionary contains yipsl. According to Alonso, who devotes the first chapter of her book to the origin of "Yip," Harburg related the yipsl-squirrel story to the oral historian Studs Terkel. Alonso passes it along without further comment, as does Epstein.
It's entirely possible, though, that Harburg was pulling Terkel's leg – or being squirrelly ("cunningly unforthcoming or reticent"). Because while yipsl has no meaning in Yiddish, the acronym YPSL is both meaningful and relevant: it stands for Young People's Socialist League, which was founded in 1907 as the student arm of the American Socialist Party and whose members were known as – yep – "Yipsels." In a 2004 column for The Jewish Daily Forward, the pseudonymous language columnist Philologos wrote that "Harburg was a political radical who was blacklisted in Hollywood in the 1940s, and it is possible that he was nicknamed 'Yipsel,' subsequently shortened to 'Yip,' because of his YPSL-like views even if he never was a YPSL member." Other distinguished Yipsels or sympathizers included the political scientist Daniel Bell, the literary and social critic Irving Howe, the writer Saul Bellow, and the journalist (and eventual neoconservative) Irving Kristol.
The second squirrel is a semi-secret one.
Secret Squirrel Cold Brew Coffee is a bottled coffee concentrate; one 16-ounce bottle makes six to seven eight-ounce drinks. The company is based in Studio City (Los Angeles County), but according to the clumsily written FAQ the name has a different geographic origin:
Growing up in Washington DC area a secret squirrel was something like knowing a shortcut around traffic, or knowing the hideaway parking spot, or knowing the unknown electrical outlet in the coffee shop. It only seemed fitting for this centuries old method for brewing coffee that few people know about.
(That awkward dangler at the beginning of the paragraph is one good argument for editors. Another is knowing how to hyphenate compound adjectives. Elsewhere on the website, a proofreader would have caught "anyway" for "any way," sentences that end without periods, and introductory clauses without commas. But I digress.)
I have no idea whether the D.C. story is true – anyone care to confirm? I do know, however, that "Secret Squirrel" was the title character of a Hanna-Barbera cartoon that aired for a few seasons in the mid-1960s and was briefly revived in the 1990s. The character was a spy; whether it got its name from the Washington shortcut or vice versa, I cannot say.
Finally, a few squirrel tidbits:
- The Latin word for squirrel, sciurus, translates to "shadow tail."
- In many Germanic languages the word for "squirrel" translates to "oak kitten." (It's Eichhörnchen in German.)
- The Spanish word for "squirrel," ardilla, translates to "like a flame." (From arder, to burn.)
- See "squirrel" translated into almost 300 languages, including Klingon, here.
And here's my favorite cinematic squirrel sighting, or near-sighting:
Dug the Dog, from Up (2009)


text: This AutoCAD tutorial video shows a few simple 3D things that you can learn to do with AutoCAD®. It shows you every step to create the object shown below. It includes subtracting solids from each other, fillet, 3D shading, 3D orbiting, and the shell command. No signup is required for this video. If you have not used AutoCAD® before, you may want to view our other AutoCAD tutorials which introduce the basics of the AutoCAD program.


text:
Science Buildings at Tarleton
By Frank Chamberlain
The first building specifically constructed to house science classes was the Marston Science Hall. This structure was erected in 1902 and stood on the northeast corner of the present day campus. Previously, the science classes (and all other subjects) were taught in the main College Hall. Like most of the early facilities, they were severely under-equipped. A science laboratory was particularly needed in order to give the students "accurate quantitative experimental work" (Traditions 47).
In 1902, the Texas and Pacific Coal and Thurber Brick companies donated the bricks that eventually composed the first science building. This structure, the first campus building to be made of red brick, was named after Edgar L. Marston who owned the brick plant. Although Marston has been justly lauded for his generosity, another important benefactor has largely been forgotten. Mrs. Pearl Wiley Cage used her wealthy family's influence in order to convince Mr. Marston to donate his materials to the college. Mrs. Cage would later make a more lasting contribution to the survival of the institution by persuading Marston and several other wealthy business owners to provide the $15,000 to $85,000 needed to gain Tarleton acceptance into the Texas A&M System. (The actual dollar amount varies in several reports.) The financial stability that accompanied this transaction enabled the struggling college to survive (Guthrie 29, 39).
The Marston Science Hall had become antiquated by 1915. The growing numbers of science students rendered these modest facilities inadequate. The completion of the Mollie Crow Administration Building that year provided the college with an opportunity to relocate the science program into this new location. The original Marston Hall was razed and the bricks were used to build the Marston Conservatory for the Fine Arts (Guthrie 34, 59).
Until 1924, the Mollie Crow building housed all of Tarleton's science facilities as well as the home economics department and numerous administrative offices. This situation became terribly inconvenient during the 1920's as student enrollment skyrocketed. Although a new science building was sorely needed at this time, the college was unable to acquire sufficient funding for such a large undertaking. Therefore, this situation was briefly remedied by the construction of the small, one story Physics building in 1924. This makeshift addition allowed a portion of the science department to be relocated (Guthrie 58-59).
By 1930, Tarleton was able to afford a new and adequate Science Building. The construction of the first section (North Wing) was completed the following year. Three more units were added whenever overcrowding became a problem and state funding became available. These new sections were added in 1935, 1937, and 1950, giving the structure a horseshoe-like shape. In addition to housing the science departments, this building contained the college library and engineering departments. When a permanent library was built in 1956, the Social Science and Art departments were moved into the newly vacant space. Eventually, the offices of Public Information, J-TAC, and the Grassburr were moved here as well. An auditorium was added to the western side of the building in 1960. This large lecture hall adjoined the Science Building because this was the most convenient location available at that time. Numerous academic departments utilized this room for the next four decades (Guthrie 58-59, 113, Traditions 43).
Despite renovations in 1976, the Science building had become a real liability by 1990. A group of consultants damned the facilities, listing numerous potential safety hazards and inadequacies in equipment. Their report stated that if an accident were to occur in the building, the university would certainly be judged negligent. However, such factors as expense (science facilities are very expensive), limited state funding, and more pressing priorities conspired to keep this science building in use for another decade (Guthrie 283-285).
In 1997, President Dennis McCabe acquired sufficient revenue for a new science building. This financial package combined funding from the state, a grant from the Texas A&M System, Tarleton's reserves, and an increase in student fees. This New Science Building opened in 2001 and provided science students with highly modern and spacious facilities including a domed planetarium and observatory. It will undoubtedly continue to fulfill students' scientific needs far into the 21st century (Guthrie 285).
Meanwhile, the old Science Building has been slated to undergo massive renovations and be transformed into the home of the mathematics classrooms. The Mathematics Department and the Department of Engineering and Physics will be moved into this building from its previous location on the west end of the Dick Smith Library. In addition, a plethora of administrative and faculty offices from a variety of academic departments will be relocated into the premises. The space inside the building will be reconfigured to allow more classroom space. Improvements to the structure will include replacement of the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems. It will also require the implementation of additional safety and accessibility modifications. These renovations are scheduled to begin in the summer of 2003 and should be finished by the winter of 2005.
Guthrie, Christopher. John Tarleton and his Legacy: The History of Tarleton State University, _PHONE_. Acton, MA: Tapestry Press, 1999.
Tarleton Traditions: Centennial Edition 1 (1 October, 1999): 1-48.


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The Defiant Ones
[whitespace] Defying Gravity
Launch Break: As she awaits the Challenger's launch, the Teacher (Denise Balthrop Cassidy) gets a visit from Claude Monet (Julian Lopez -Morillas) in 'Defying Gravity.'
Ordinary people are heroes in drama about the space shuttle crash
By Heather Zimmerman
JANE ANDERSON'S unusual drama, Defying Gravity, could almost be the theatrical equivalent of Apple Computer's "Think different" campaign. Like those black-and-white billboards depicting 20th-century visionaries, Anderson's play makes the seemingly extraordinary accessible. But Apple puts within reach, for the price of an iMac, merely a taste of greatness. Not so in Defying Gravity, in which being a visionary lies within everyone's grasp. San Jose Stage Company has assembled an excellent cast for the West Coast premiere of Anderson's intriguing, if flawed, tribute to "ordinary" people of vision.
Defying Gravity tells the story of the days before the 1986 space shuttle Challenger disaster through a character known simply as the Teacher (Denise Balthrop Cassidy)--symbolically, she is never specifically identified as Christa McAuliffe. The Teacher's daughter, Elizabeth (Delia MacDougall), retells the events leading up to the launch, remembering as a child her difficulty in comprehending her mother's passion. Elizabeth's retrospective confessionals are coupled with flashbacks of chaotic domestic scenes as her mother juggles work, parenting and her new role as astronaut, contrasting the Teacher's "ordinary" roles with the fame she gained as part of the Challenger crew--before and after the disaster. Amy Glazer's sensitive direction captures both the hectic frustration of these scenes and their underlying poignancy.
Less effective is Anderson's paralleling of NASA's space explorations with the efforts of another individual who sought to gain a different "view" of the world: French Impressionist painter Claude Monet. His spirit wanders through scenes in which the Teacher, the space center workers and spectators anticipate the shuttle launch. Although Julian Lopez-Morillas is wonderful as Monet, the artist's presence sometimes seems more like a cautionary visit from the Ghost of Nonconformists Past than the inspiring apparition of a previous pioneer.
Fittingly, the virtues of Defying Gravity are truly in the ordinary. No characters provide a more revealing exploration of the play's theme of "seeing differently" than Ed and Betty (Don Hiatt and Linda Hoy), a retired couple touring the country in their Winnebago, who come to see the Challenger launch. Ed and Betty portray the human hunger for new knowledge just as well as the astronaut Teacher does; in each case, we see people reaching beyond limitations--whether it's age or fear--in order to learn and discover.
The greatest human feat recognized by Defying Gravity is the ability to communicate. In its capacity to forge relationships, which in turn inspire characters to do anything from going into space to overcoming a fear of heights, communication leads to triumph. And its absence can lead to tragedy, as a NASA ground-crew member describes how a failure to communicate likely led to the Challenger's loss.
It is also in the theme of communication that Anderson's comparison between space exploration and Impressionism works best. In their ability to touch others, Monet's innovative works have lived on, as have the memories of Christa McAuliffe and the Challenger crew. Each in individual ways sought to gain perspective on the human place in the universe.
Defying Gravity plays at the Stage Theater, 490 S. First St., San Jose; Wed.-Sat. at 8pm, Sun. at 2pm through Feb. 21. Tickets are $16-$22. For more information, call 408/_PHONE_.
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From the February 4-10, 1999 issue of Metro.
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text:
Follow this lively and entertaining book as it illuminates the
basics of effective character design. Whether male or female,
animal, monster or alien - certain rules apply that animate the
figure and elevate it from a two-dimensional plane. Knowledge of
anatomy and proportion provides a framework and is crucial to
attaining a convincing characterization. Facial expressions and
body language complement the whole, conveying emotion and intention
through subtle nuances of line and form. Utilizing a broad
assortment of sketches and finished illustrations, the fundamentals
of process are revealed - from the divergent contours of gender to
the anthropomorphization of animals, from the constraints of
morphology on motion to the effects of environment on new species.
A must for working and would-be animators alike!


A Brief and Simple Chemistry Lesson in Soap Composition
All these years, I have been using and recommending soap, but I've only had a vague notion of its chemical composition and how it works. I decided to do some research into the topic of soap composition so that I could better explain to patients what it does.
I found out that soap is made by adding sodium hydroxide (lye dissolved in water) to animal or vegetable fats. As a result, there is a chemical reaction called saponification. Fatty acids release from the oily and fatty structure, binding with the sodium. The resulting fatty acid salt is soap as we know it.
Soap composition is just the first part; the second and equally important aspect is how it cleans. When soap cleans, a complex chemical process ensues. When water and soap "mix", the sodium component is water soluble, but its fatty acid component is hydrophobic and will not dissolve in water. This property of soaps creates a structure called a micelle, which is essentially a cell-like structure with a soap membrane. You can see this phenomenon at work when you add soap to a greasy pan with water in it. These micelles bind dirt, oil and grease which we can then wash off with warm water. This is the essence of the cleaning process.
What Are The Mechanics of a Sulfa Allergy? How Is It Managed?
Recently, a patient had a complex allergic reaction in the form of a rash. I was quite stymied in figuring out what was causing it. Ultimately, I identified her thiazide diuretic as the culprit, specifically the sulfonamides in it. Sure enough, the rash cleared when she discontinued the medication.
A few weeks ago, the patient's husband asked me, "what is the mechanism of a 'sulfa allergy'? Does it mean [his wife] can never take a sulfur-based medication again?" I didn't know the answer to his questions, as I had never given the subject much thought. Thus, I became curious and did some research into the topic.
I discovered that, in most cases, the patient is allergic to sulfonamide medications exclusively. A sulfa allergy doesn't mean an adverse reaction to everything containing sulfur (such as food products). Sulfur itself is present in most proteins and genetic material. Furthermore, sulfur is an essential component to environmental functions such as the global sulfur cycle.
Conversely, sulfonamides are the molecules only used in medications. There are two classes of sulfonamide medications: antimicrobial and non-antimicrobial. The former is the more allergenic of the two. A sulfa allergy is pretty rare, affecting only 3.4% of the population.
Patients who are very sensitive to sulfonamides (e.g. HIV patients) have an increased concentration of reactive metabolites. So do people with slower drug metabolism (slow acetylators). Metabolites are the byproducts of the liver's partial breakdown of sulfonamide. This process can bind proteins in the serum and become "immunogenic".
What are the risks of non-antimicrobial sulfonamides? These medications (loop diuretics, sulfonylureas, dapsone) seem less likely to produce an immune system response. If a patient is allergic to sulfonamide antibiotics, the non antibiotics are not necessarily unsafe to use. But in cases where severe reactions occur, use caution. The same holds true for patients allergic to non-antimicrobial sulfonamides: discontinue use if you have a severe reaction.
The Bugs Are Out! How Can I Prevent Mosquito Bites?
Nothing gets people racing for cover quite like "the bugs are out." Not only do mosquito bites cause itchiness and swelling, but they also put you at risk for mosquito-borne illnesses. These include malaria, West Nile virus, and Eastern equine encephalitis (aka "Triple E").
Preventative Measures
Luckily, there are several ways to prevent mosquito bites. Preventative methods usually come in sprays, which contain DEET, Icaridin, and oil from lemon eucalyptus. DEET is the longest lasting repellent, and can be found in repellent brands such as OFF. When applying repellent, follow the "spray it, don't say it" rule: keep your eyes and mouth shut.
Dress to protect. Wear long pants and long sleeves. Close-toed shoes are the best option, especially if you're hiking, biking, or walking long distances. You may also want to wear a hat that covers your ears. Some hats even come with mosquito netting so you can cover your face.
Know where the vermin are setting up shop. Mosquitoes typically live in warm, damp environments with a lot of vegetation, such as swamps and marshes. If you're going to be near those kinds of areas, make sure that you spray repellent generously every couple of hours. Mosquitoes tend to come out at dusk, so move things indoors when the sun starts to set.
If You've Already Been Bitten
If you've already been bitten, you may start to notice itchiness, swelling, and redness around the site of the mosquito bite. Most of these symptoms manifest the day after, and clear up within a few days. However, they can intervene with daily life, and some are severe enough to warrant a visit to the doctor.
Mosquito bites manifest most commonly in the form of an itchy bump that is hard to the touch. Apply a hydrocortisone ointment to the site to relieve itching and swelling. Calamine lotion for mild itchiness is also a good option. All of these are available as an OTC medication; you can find them at any pharmacy or supermarket. Other options for relief are cold compresses and OTC oral antihistamines such as cetirizine.
Do not scratch or pick at the bite. This will only delay the healing process. Furthermore, it can lead to infection and scarring. If you think that this may be a problem, cover the site with liquid bandaid.
Mosquito bites. Mayo Clinic. _URL_ Published October 22, 2015. Accessed June 13, 2017.
Tar Products Can Pave the Way to Healthier, Clearer Skin
From Feldman et al UpToDate
Wikipedia for "tar" and flavonoids
The Reason Behind Most Urticaria Cases is Unknown
Urticaria (chronic hives) is one of the most interesting skin problems because most case causes go unidentified. Though there are several categories of causes (prescription medication, OTCs, foods, physical factors, immunologic and infectious), the reason behind 70-80% of cases is unknown.
In one recent case, a female patient related a 20+ year history of hives at different points in her life. Most of her incidences had occurred around pregnancy. Her hives had recently been acting up, and it turned out her implantable progesterone eluting IUD had been replaced a few months prior.
In medical literature and research, about 5% of women develop urticarial and even lip swelling (angioedema) in reaction to oral contraceptives. This female patient's case may one of the rare instances where a cause was identified.
Bingham CO. New-Onset Urticaria. Saini S, Callen J, Feldweg AM, eds. UpToDate.
Cranial Facial Hyperhidrosis: Excessive Sweating that Dampens Daily Life
A patient recently came to me with complaints of excessive sweating from the scalp. This is an unusual form of hyperhidrosis called cranial facial hyperhidrosis. It is similar to people who have sweaty palms and sweaty armpits.
In this particular patient's case, it was interfering with the quality of their life. It was not related to their being overheated, and it was getting worse. The patient did not want to have an excessively sweaty scalp for no reason at all.
I've been consulting with this patient's internist on the best course of treatment. I will most likely prescribe an oral agent called Glycopyrrolate.
Cases of Shingles in Children is Rare But Not Impossible
Recently, a pediatrician consulted me on a 13 year old with shingles. The patient had been vaccinated with the live attenuated vaccine as a younger child. Patient responded nicely to a course of valacyclovir (antiviral medication).
The case got me thinking about two things: first, in my experience, shingles in children is very unusual. Epidemiologic data supports the rarity to about 1 case for every 1000 people aged 1-25 per year.
Second, it got me thinking about the pathogenesis (how the process works). It must be that the latent live attenuated virus can set up shop in the spinal cord. Over time, the patient's ability to detect varicella zoster may wane. In these cases, the virus escapes local control, resulting in findings called shingles.
This patient's pediatrician and I ran the case by an infectious disease specialist. The specialist thought that it would be wise to check the patient's CBC, specifically the lymphocyte count. We wanted to make sure there were no underlying conditions.
Albrecht MA. Epidemiology and pathogenesis of varicella-zoster virus infection: Herpes zoster. Hirsch MS, Mitty J, eds


text:
BusinessObjects Dashboards Training – Beginner
BOX310 – SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards training for beginners
This training course is intended for those who have little or no experience of using BusinessObjects Dashboards and would like to gain understanding into the tool's basic functions. The two-day course will teach you how to build interactive dashboards and connect them to live data sources, which in turn can facilitate the decision-making process within your organisation. By the end of the training you will appreciate how efficiently you can turn your data into visually compelling analytics with SAP's BusinessObjects Dashboards software.
BusinessObjects Dashboards Training – Beginner Content:
Duration: 2 days
During the training course the following topics will be covered:
BusinessObjects Dashboards Training – Beginner Goals:
Basic knowledge of Excel spreadsheets is essential for success on this training course.
Also recommended are the following competencies:
BusinessObjects Dashboards Training – Beginner Audience:
This training course is intended for anyone who needs to build and distribute interactive and connected dashboards based on Microsoft Excel workbooks.
Particular job roles that may benefit include: Application Consultants, Business Analysts, and Business Process Owners/Team Leads/Power Users.
For any questions please feel free to contact us.


Death in a unicellular world
Programmed cell death, a decision made by cells to die via a self-governed process, has been extensively studied in metazoans (multicellular organisms), however, evidence that unicellular organisms also undergo this process and even induce cell death in their host is growing. A new thematic series, Protazoan parasites and cell death, published in Parasites and Vectors, reviews what is currently known about cell death in single-celled protozoan parasites.
The series examines the biochemical pathways and markers of protozoan cell death, highlighting similarities and differences with metazoan cell death, and asks why parasitic protozoa have evolved such a mechanism at all, as logic dictates that cell death would not be the aim of a parasitic organism once it has entered its host.
The impact of parasitic cell death on host cells is only just beginning to be deciphered. Perhaps surprisingly, there is some evidence that parasite-induced cell death may actually be beneficial to the host, and even help the host survive.
Ultimately, a better understanding of programmed cell death in parasitic protozoa could potentially reveal targets for therapeutic drugs in the fight against infection.
View the latest posts on the On Biology homepage


text:
Alternative Assets - Part 2
This eCourse covers the fundamentals of ETFs, beginning with the unusual way that these securities are constructed (and redeemed) and the key players involved in that process. The tutorial also covers topics such as ETF pricing, trading, investment strategies, and market development. The attractions of ETFs for investors are also described, as well as how they compare with other investment vehicles such as mutual funds.
On completion of this tutorial, you will be able to:
- Recognize the basics of ETFs, including how they are created, traded, and redeemed
- Identify the key features of ETFs that makes them such an attractive investment vehicle for many investors
- Recall the evolution of the ETF market and its development worldwide
Topic 1: Overview of ETFs
Topic 2: Features of ETFs


text:
Audiovisual synchrony perception for music, speech, and object actions.
Vatakis A., Spence C.
We investigated the perception of synchrony for complex audiovisual events. In Experiment 1, a series of music (guitar and piano), speech (sentences), and object action video clips were presented at a range of stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs) using the method of constant stimuli. Participants made unspeeded temporal order judgments (TOJs) regarding which stream (auditory or visual) appeared to have been presented first. Temporal discrimination accuracy was significantly better for the object actions than for the speech video clips, and both were significantly better than for the music video clips. In order to investigate whether or not these differences in TOJ performance were driven by differences in stimulus familiarity, we conducted a second experiment using brief speech (syllables), music (guitar), and object action video clips of fixed duration together with temporally reversed (i.e., less familiar) versions of the same stimuli. The results showed no main effect of stimulus type on temporal discrimination accuracy. Interestingly, however, reversing the video clips resulted in a significant decrement in temporal discrimination accuracy as compared to the normally presented for the music and object actions clips, but not for the speech stimuli. Overall, our results suggest that cross-modal temporal discrimination performance is better for audiovisual stimuli of lower complexity as compared to stimuli having continuously varying properties (e.g., syllables versus words and/or sentences).


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The USAMI is a virtual institute that was crated in 2003 with sponsorship from the Division of Materials Research of the National Science Foundation. The initiative aims at promoting interdisciplinary collaboration between U.S. and African researchers in the areas of materials research and education. This is achieved by:
- Sponsoring research visits by African Scientists to U.S. Universities to engage in USAMI-sponsored research.
- Sponsoring the visits to Africa for U.S. researchers and students to engage in research and education activities.
- Organizing workshops to bring materials scientists and engineers together.
- Using virtual tools to promote education activities at all levels of U.S. Africa Materials research.
USAMI scientists have access to well equipped labs for doing work in cutting-edge areas such as nanomaterials and biomaterials. There are also labs for micro-testing, mechanical/tribological testing, materials characterization (IAC Labs) and micro-/nano-fabrication (PRISM clean room) and workstations for computational simulations/experiments. These facilities are available to USAMI fellows and students along with the resources at more participating universities in the U.S.*
The research themes focus on two broad areas: Advanced Materials and Structures, and Materials for Societal Development. In the area of Advanced Materials and Structures, the objective is to engage African and U.S. scientists in research and education activities that can advance the frontiers of nanoscience and biomaterials science. Ongoing activities in nanoscience include: studies of the mechanical and electrical properties of nanoscale thin films, MEMS contacts (adhesion and stiction phenomena) and novel low-cost methods for the fabrication of organic electronics.
In the area of biomaterials science, ongoing efforts include studies of multi-scale cell/surface interactions, and integrated efforts to develop BioMEMS and conjugated nanoparticles for disease detection and treatment. So far BioMEMS and conjugated nanoparticles have been developed for the detection and treatment of cancer. However, initial efforts are being made to extend these to other diseases such as FIV/HIV.
As for the research on materials for societal development is exploring new ways of using knowledge from materials science to develop affordable and holistic approaches to basic human needs such as housing, potable water and energy for cooking. New ways are also being explored to add value to African raw materials such as clays and aluminosilicates that are used extensively as refractory ceramics.
*Brown University, Columbia University, Harvard University, Howard University, Iowa State University, Lehigh University, Ohio State University, Rutgers University, University of Michigan, University of Tennessee, Yale University
© USAMI/Princeton University


text:
document | Interview – Sinéad Mac Aodha
Interview Sinéad Mac Aodha
Interview with Sinéad Mac Aodha, Director of Literature Ireland. Promoting the best of Irish literature in the finest translations for readers worldwide.
- Category: Irish Language
- Thematic area: Cultural and Linguistic Continuity
- Call topics: Social inclusion and solidarity (e.g. recognition of sign languages)
- Major objective: Thematic areas: Promotion
- Area of intervention: Integration of indigenous languages into standard-setting


text:
William P. MacConnell Aerial Photograph Collection, ca.1950-2000ca.24,000 items
In the 1950s, William P. MacConnell (Class of 1943), and his photogrammetry students in the Dept. of Forestry began using aerial photography to map forests, agricultural fields, wetlands, and other land cover in Massachusetts. Their work was eventually expanded to include the mapping of all land use for Massachusetts, making this state the first in the nation to be completely mapped in this fashion, and laying the foundation for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Wetlands Inventory.
The MacConnell Collection includes a comprehensive set of stereopair photographs derived from multiple transects of the state taken between 1950 and 2000. In addition to some original field notes, a stereoscope, and other project materials, the collection includes the following series:
- 1951: Massachusetts, black and white prints (1:20,000 scale)
- 1971: Massachusetts, black and white prints (1:20,000)
- 1985: Massachusetts and Rhode Island, infrared transparencies (1:25,000)
- 1990: Boston, Cape Cod, Buzzard's Bay, infrared transparencies (1:12,000)
- _PHONE_: Massachusetts, infrared transparencies (1:40,000)
- _PHONE_: Merrimack River Valley, North Shore, MDC-1, infrared transparencies (1:12,000)
- 1993: Massachusetts, Cape Cod, MDC-2, Nantucket, Dukes and Plymouth Counties, Naushon, West Metro, infrared transparencies (1:12,000)
- 1999: Massachusetts. infrared transparencies and prints (1:25,000)
The collection is housed in the Map Collection on the 2nd Floor of the library.
- Land use--Massachusetts
- MacConnell, William Preston, 1918-
- Aerial photography


text:
|Sea foam, Asbury Park, NJ|
Offshore decomposition of phytoplankton blooms dissolves large amounts of organic matter in seawater. Dissolved organic matter acts as a foaming agent or surfactant.
Breaking waves in the near-shore surf zone trap air. The presence of foaming agents generates persistent bubbles that stick to each other by surface tension.
Sea foam can be blown inland by strong on-shore winds.
I am forever walking upon these shores,
Betwixt the sand and the foam,
The high tide will erase my foot prints,
And the wind will blow away the foam,
But the sea and the shore will remain forever.
— Kahlil Gibran (Sand and Foam)


text:
A few months ago I read about a very simple but fun probability puzzle. Someone tells you:Try to solve it yourself. John Baez mentions that you would think or he would think that the information about Tuesday is irrelevant because the days of the week are independent of the sex and we only care about the latter.
"I have two children. At least one is a boy born on a Tuesday. [And if it were not the case, I would have told you.] What is the probability I have two boys?"
So you would think that there are 4 equally represented groups of 2-kid families, namely boy-boy, boy-girl, girl-boy, and girl-girl families where the two hyphenated words refer to the younger and older kid, respectively. Only the girl-girl families are eliminated, and 1 of the remaining 3 groups is a two-boy family, so the conditional probability is 1/3.
However, that's a wrong result. The information about the Tuesday actually does matter. Here's why:
In all families with exactly 2 children, one may label the children as the "younger" and "older" one, even if the difference is just in seconds.
Each kid may be born on any day and have any sex, so there are 14 equally likely possibilities for each child. The two children are independent (forget that the phenomenon of twins tends to increase the same-day pairs), so there are 14 x 14 possibilities for two kids. Each of these 14 x 14 possibilities is equally likely. So 1/196 of the world's families with exactly 2 kids fits each condition.
Among the 196 types of the families, how many of them contain at least one Tuesday son? Well, in 14 of them, the younger kid is a Tuesday son (the older one may be anything chosen from the 14 possibilities). In 14 other of them (the younger can be anything), the older one is a Tuesday son. However, I have counted the families with two Tuesday sons twice. So there are 14+14-1 = 27 possibilities among the 196 for which the condition "at least one kid is a Tuesday son" is satisfied.
This is the assumption which is a part of the calculation of the conditional probability. We need the other part, too. Among these 27/196 of the families, 13/196 of all families have two boys, by pure counting, so the result is
P = 13/27as the fraction of the families that satisfied the condition. Note that it is just slightly less than 1/2 = 13.5/27 i.e. much more than 1/3. I had to highlight the result because almost no one reads the full article and almost no one notices that the right results is neither 1/3 nor 1/2.
Indeed, the large difference of the right result from 1/3 appears because one de facto identifies one of the sons by mentioning that it is the kid from Tuesday. If you assumed there were infinitely many days in a week and you would take any family with at least one Tuesday kid, the "Tuesday" information would identify this kid completely (two Tuesday kids would be infinitesimally unlikely), and the question what is the probability of 2 sons would be reduced to the question what is the probability that the other, equally specific kid - the non-Tuesday kid - is male - which is of course 1/2.
I will discuss this "identification" and reasons why the result is close to 1/2 at the very end.
Indistinguishable kids' bound states
With kids that would satisfy the Bose or Fermi statistics, the counting would be different but equally straightforward. Instead of 14 x 14 = 196 possibilities, one has 14 x 15 / 2 = 105 for bosons (the symmetric triangle) and 14 x 13 / 2 = 91 (the antisymmetric triangle) for fermions. Among the 105 or 91 options, how many of them contain at least one Tuesday son? Well, in these two cases, we can't say which of them is older and younger: they're identical.
So if there is at least 1 Tuesday son, the number of states with at least 1 Tuesday son is 14 for the bosons - we can just create the other particle into the 1-particle state - or 13 for the fermions - we can also add the second creation operator, but with another Tuesday son, the state will vanish because of Pauli's exclusion principle.
Among these 14 or 13 states respectively, for bosons and fermions, 7 or 6 are two-son states, respectively. So the odds are 7/14 = 1/2 for the bosons and 6/13 for the fermions. Note that the bosons literally saturate the 1/2 bound while the fermions are just slightly below it.
Why not one third?
Finally, I want to comment on "why the information about Tuesday matters". If we sum up the probabilities for the problems where the son is born on Sunday, Monday... and up to Saturday, shouldn't we get the same result? And by symmetry, the result must be equal for all 7 days, so doesn't each term have to be 1/3?
The answer is that we can't add the probabilities in this way because the "at least one Monday son" etc. are assumptions, not propositions conditioned by these assumptions, and they're not disjoint. At any rate, the calculation is nonlinear because the conditional probabilities have the probability of the assumption in the denominator rather than the numerator, so you can't simply add the possibilities in any way.
The word term in the previous paragraph is therefore incorrect.
How and why 1/3 gets enhanced to nearly 1/2
If you were only told that "one of the kids is a boy", the mixed families would be overrepresented over the two-boy families by the 2-to-1 ratio because boy-girl and girl-boy families are as likely as boy-boy families; again, the kids notation is younger-older.
However, if you're told that "one of the kids is a Tuesday boy", this overrepresentation almost disappears. Why? Because 1/7 of the boy-girl and girl-boy families have a Tuesday boy. But (approximately) 2/7 of the boy-boy families have at least one Tuesday boy because each of these two boys has a chance to be born on Tuesday.
In this way, the boy-boy families (nearly) compensate the factor of two by which they were underrepresented relatively to the mixed families.
Bonus: this puzzle and crackpot Sean Carroll's misunderstanding of logic
This logical puzzle is actually a very precise pedagogical example showing what's wrong with the thinking of various people about the arrow of time. Some people - those who say that the information about Tuesday doesn't matter and who typically end up with the result 1/3 - think that
Prob(cond,any_day) = Prob(cond,Monday) +... + Prob(cond,Sunday)where "cond" is an extra condition. So if we make a statement about a specific object and if this statement doesn't prefer any day of the week, then adding the information about "its" day of the week doesn't matter. It only reduces the probability by a factor of 7 if the probability is day-blind.
That's right for "conclusions" or "outcomes". However, the error that these people are making is that they think that this "additive" counting of the probabilities also holds for the probabilities of assumptions, i.e. probabilities of conditions in the conditional probability. But no such a linearity exists over there. Conditions (and initial states) don't follow the same maths as the outcomes (and final states)!
There is no condition-outcome or past-future symmetry in mathematical logic! That's why it matters for the probabilities whether the information about Tuesday is specified even though there is nothing special about Tuesday.


XDP: From zero to 14 Mpps
In past years, the kernel community has been using different approaches in the quest for ever-increasing networking performance. While improvements have been measurable in several areas, a new wave of architecture-related security issues and related counter-measures has undone most of the gains, and purely in-kernel solutions for some packet-processing intensive workloads still lag behind the bypass solution, namely Data Plane Development Kit (DPDK), by almost an order of magnitude.
But the kernel community never sleeps (almost literally) and the holy grail of kernel-based networking performance has been found under the name of XDP: the eXpress Data Path. XDP is available in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8, which you can download and run now.
This technology allows you to implement new networking features (and/or re-implement existing ones) via custom extended BPF (eBPF) programs attached to the kernel packet processing deep down the stack, killing the overhead of socket buffers (SKBs) management, reducing the per-packet memory management overhead, and allowing more-effective bulking. XDP eBPF programs have access to helpers for packet manipulation and packet forwarding, offering almost unlimited opportunity to change and extend the kernel behavior without the need to add new in-kernel code—and, while at it, reaching a higher possible processing speed. A modern driver with XDP support can easily handle more than 14 Mpps.
Excited by this opportunity, but scared by the unknown? This article will guide you towards your first XDP program, building a working example from zero and allowing you to build a light-speed network application from there.
XDP overview
XDP allows you to attach an eBPF program to a lower-level hook inside the kernel. Such a hook is implemented by the network device driver, inside the ingress traffic processing function (usually, the NAPI poll() method), before an SKB is allocated for the current packet.
The program entry function has a single argument: a context describing the current packet. The program can manipulate such packet in arbitrary ways, but it has to respect the constraints imposed by the eBPF verifier (a little more on this later). Finally, such program must return a controlling action to the owning device driver, specifying how the device driver should cope next with the processed packet, for example, passing it to the upper-layer processing or dropping it.
The eBPF verifier imposes some restrictions on the code you can write, performing rigorous checks to ensure that the program:
 - contains no loop
 - accesses only valid memory (for example, does not exceed the packet boundaries)
 - uses a limited number of eBPF instructions, since the limit in the Linux 4.14 kernel is 128K
The verifier itself runs inside the kernel and is executed when the eBPF program is loaded via the eBPF syscall. Once the program has been successfully loaded, it can be attached to the XDP hook for any number of devices. The kernel source bundles a user-space library (libbpf) with helper functions to simplify such tasks.
Adventurous (or advanced) users can write an eBPF program directly using the eBPF assembler, but it's much easier to use a higher-level programming language and let the compiler translate the code to eBPF. The eBPF community selected the LLVM compiler and the C language for such a task. Since the verifier takes action on compiled code, any optimization performed by the compiler can affect the results. For example, loops bound to a constant number of iterations are unrolled by the compiler. This allows you to circumvent the "no loops" constraint, but it also increases the number of eBPF instructions generated; nested loops can easily hit the 128K limit.
XDP flavors
Not all network device drivers implement the XDP hook. In such a case, you may fall back to the generic XDP hook, implemented by the core kernel and available regardless of the specific network device driver feature. Since such a hook takes place later in the networking stack, after SKB allocation, the performance observed there is much lower than the driver-based XDP hook, but it still allows experimenting with XDP. The network device drivers supporting the XDP hook in Linux 4.18 and later are:
 - bnxt
 - thunder
 - i40e
 - ixgbe
 - mlx4
 - mlx5
 - nfp
 - qede
 - tun
 - virtio_net
The list can vary with the kernel version, so it's worth checking for explicit support for your own driver in the running kernel; see below for how to do that.
Finally, the XDP/eBPF program behavior can be controlled and inspected by the user-space via a number of maps defined and used by the program. Such maps are accessible and modifiable also by the user-space, still using the libbpf helpers.
"Hello world"
XDP is not a programming language, butit it uses a programming language (eBPF), and every programming-related tutorial has to start with a "Hello world" program. While we can somewhat echo debug messages to XDP/eBPF program—and we will, later—we'll start instead from an even simpler XDP example: an eBPF program that does almost nothing, just passing each processed packet up to the kernel stack.
// SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
_TAG_ KBUILD_MODNAME "xdp_dummy"
_TAG_
_TAG_ "bpf_helpers.h"
int xdp_dummy(struct xdp_md *ctx)
 return XDP_PASS;
Let's look at the details for the code above. It uses C-language syntax and includes two external headers. The first one, provided by the kernel-header package of most distributions, contains the definition of the XDP program return code, XDP_PASS in this example, meaning that the kernel will pass along the packet to network processing. Other available values are XDP_DROP (does the same), XDP_TX (sends back the packet out of the interface that received it), XDP_REDIRECT (sends the packet out of another interface).
The second header, which still is part of the Linux kernel but is not usually packaged by most distributions, contains a list of the available eBPF helpers and
the definition of the SEC() macro. The latter is used to place a fragment of the compiled object in different ELF sections. Such sections will be interpreted by
the eBPF loader to detect, for example, the maps defined by the program (and allow user-space access to them).
Finally, the last line formally specifies the license associated with this program. Some eBPF helpers are accessible only by GPLed programs, and the verifier will use this info to enforce such a restriction.
Some rough edges
Let's build and run it! LLVM/Clang version 3.7 or later (version 6.0 was used for this writing, the Fedora 28 default) and a reasonable, not-obsolete
make version (here, 4.2.1) are needed. This is the makefile used:
KDIR?= /lib/modules/$(shell uname -r)/source
CLANG?= clang
LLC?= llc
ARCH := $(subst x86_64,x86,$(shell arch))
BIN := xdp_dummy.o
CLANG_FLAGS = -I. -I$(KDIR)/arch/$(ARCH)/include \
-I$(KDIR)/arch/$(ARCH)/include/generated \
-I$(KDIR)/include \
-I$(KDIR)/arch/$(ARCH)/include/uapi \
-I$(KDIR)/arch/$(ARCH)/include/generated/uapi \
-I$(KDIR)/include/uapi \
-I$(KDIR)/include/generated/uapi \
-include $(KDIR)/include/linux/kconfig.h \
-I$(KDIR)/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/ \
-D__KERNEL__ -D__BPF_TRACING__ -Wno-unused-value -Wno-pointer-sign \
-D__TARGET_ARCH_$(ARCH) -Wno-compare-distinct-pointer-types \
-Wno-gnu-variable-sized-type-not-at-end \
-Wno-address-of-packed-member -Wno-tautological-compare \
-Wno-unknown-warning-option \
-O2 -emit-llvm
all: $(BIN)
xdp_dummy.o: xdp_dummy.c
$(CLANG) $(CLANG_FLAGS) -c $< -o - | \
$(LLC) -march=bpf -mcpu=$(CPU) -filetype=obj -o $@
It is fairly non-trivial: because the program uses kernel headers, we need to cope with architecture specific headers dependencies. Invoking make on your distribution of choice with the above makefile can be disappointing, as you will probably get something like this:
clang -nostdinc -I. \
[... long argument list elided for clarity...]
-O2 -emit-llvm -c xdp_dummy.c -o - | \
llc -march=bpf -mcpu= -filetype=obj -o xdp_dummy.o
xdp_dummy.c:5:10: fatal error: 'bpf_helpers.h' file not found
_TAG_ "bpf_helpers.h"
1 error generated.
Almost no distribution packages include the complete kernel sources, including the required bpf_helper.h. The current solution is, unfortunately, to download the full Linux sources, unpack them somewhere on your local disc, and invoke make as follow:
KDIR= make
Now we have our eBPF/XDP program, but we must load it inside the kernel to get any effect. For a


text:
An enormous specimen, weighing up to 5kg (11lbs), with a body length of up to 40cm (16in) and a leg span of one metre (3.3ft), the Birgus latro is the world's largest terrestrial arthropod. The coconut crab is so-named due to its ability to climb palm trees and break into coconuts with its pincers.
The coconut crab, which can live for up to 30 years, mainly inhabits the forested coastal areas of the islands of the South Pacific and Indian Oceans. A mostly nocturnal crustacean, it hides during the day in underground burrows.
Although coconut crabs mate on dry land, as soon as the eggs are ready to hatch the female releases them into the ocean. Once hatched, the young will visit the ocean floor in search of a shell before coming back to dry land. Once ashore, the coconut crab permanently adapts to life on the land – so much so that it would drown in water because it has developed branchiostegal lungs and special gills more suited to taking oxygen from the air than from water.
The fact that the coconut crab spawns at sea is the main reason for its widespread distribution as currents carry the larvae far afield. Still, the coconut crab remains an endangered species because it is considered a delicacy and is collected as food.


text:
Farm Buildings & Access - 2.4 Farm Building Pest Management
Pests that inhabit farm buildings can cause contamination.
This good agricultural practice applies to farm buildings. Examples of pests include rodents, insects, flies, wildlife.
What Needs to Be Done
Control pests within farm buildings.
How to Do It
Pest management practices can be established for your operation or services can be contracted out to a qualified pest control officer.
- Check for signs of pests, including droppings, nesting and feeding opportunities, burrows, gnaw marks, sounds and odours.
- Assess buildings for potential routes of entry by pests.
Prevention & Habitat Management Controls
Minimize or prevent entry:
- Seal cracks or openings around foundations, walls, door frames and under doors.
- Install screens for vents, eaves and windows.
- Repair broken windows, roofs, walls and sidings.
Manage potential breeding and nesting sites:
- Discourage roosting of birds with the use of porcupine spikes, fine netting or similar material.
- Remove debris and control weeds and other vegetation in a 30?45 cm (12-18 in.) border surrounding the facility to eliminate sources of shelter that could be used for hiding, resting or nesting.
Reduce sources of food and water:
- Repair leaky taps and pipes and ensure a good drainage system is in place to avoid standing water in and around buildings.
- Store potential food sources, such as grain, feed, fruit or vegetables, securely to prevent pest access.
- Remove or clean any spilled material, such as human food or livestock feed, that can be used as a food source by pests.
- Keep garbage containers covered, closed or away from the facility to help limit pest access.
- Remove garbage, organic waste and/or deadstock in a timely fashion to minimize potential food sources for pests.
- Choose the appropriate physical control (for example, traps, glue boards/strips or other devices) for the pest, and use according to label instructions.
- Avoid hanging sticky/glue traps directly above exposed food or packaging materials.
- Locate light traps away from exposed food or packaging materials.
- Use covered bait stations to ensure other animals cannot access the bait.
- To minimize potential cross-contamination, use chemical control only when necessary.
- Use only products registered in Canada.
- Choose the appropriate chemical control (for example, powder, liquid or pellet) for the pest.
- Mix and use the product according to label instructions for the pest specified on the label.
- Locate pest control products away from areas where they may cross-contaminate food or packaging materials.
- Label all chemical containers and stations clearly with appropriate warnings.
- Consider drawing a map to help identify and track locations where chemicals were applied.
Wear gloves to avoid direct contact when handling live or dead pests as well as used pest control products. Dispose of dead pests in a manner that will prevent further contamination.
Monitor Pest Management Practices
- Evaluate pest management practices at regular intervals by observing if there is a pest population reduction/elimination. Adjust practices if necessary.
- Monitor pest control devices to ensure that they are in good repair and working order. If using bait, ensure that fresh or sufficient amounts are applied.
Records to Keep
Keep a farm building pest management record or your own record that includes:
- Name of chemicals or type of devices used,
- Observations (e.g. station, status) and action taken, and
- Initials of worker/company.
If You Need an Audit
Be prepared for the auditor to:
- Review farm building pest management records,
- Review records of training and certification of workers, and
- Observe location of pest control products and devices.
Laws & Regulations that Apply
There are few laws that impact on food safety requiring a pest control program for agricultural production. For example, laws about noxious weeds do not have a food safety implication. Generally, pest control requirements are laid out in laws regarding the processing of meat, fish and other food products, which have many provisions to prevent rodent and pest habitat and other measures to ensure pest control methods do not contaminate food.?
- The Milk Industry Standards Regulation, Reg. 464/81 under the Milk Industry Act requires flies be kept under control at all times in dairy farms, and all rodents, birds, animals and insects be prevented from entering milking parlours and milking rooms, and that screens be used in the milk houses, no animals other than cows or goat be permitted in any building used for stabling or milking, and no animals or fowl be permitted in the milk houses, (s. 10 (8), s. 14 (2), s. 22 (12), s. 25 (8) (b), s. 30). Learn more about cleaning and sanitizing
- All pest control products used on-farm should be authorized for agricultural production, approved under various federal and provincial laws and not prohibited under these laws or regulation, and sold in accordance with these laws, for example the requirements of the Integrated Pest Management Act, S.B.C. 2003, c. 58, P2, Integrated Pest Management Regulation, Reg. 604/2004, and Hazardous Products Act (Canada), R.S. 1985, c. H-3.
- Pest control products must not cause contamination of foods that are listed in the Food and Drugs Act (Canada), R.S. 1985, c. F-27, Food and Drug Regulations, Division 15. Under the Food Safety Act, S.B.C. 2002, c. 28, Meat Inspection Regulation, Reg. 349/04, food animals are inspected against the standards related to food safety and animal health established under the Food and Drugs Act (Canada) and the Meat Inspection Act (Canada).
- The Integrated Pest Management Act, S.B.C. 2003, c. 58, s. 3 (1) (c) specifies that no person shall use a pest control product except in accordance with the label for that product.
- The Pest Control Products Act, 2002, c. 28, s. 6 prohibits the manufacture, storage, display, distribution or use of pest control products under unsafe conditions or contrary to the regulations. Certain pesticides may be prohibited under any circumstances.


GDP understates the value of output produced by an economy because it
includes transactions that do not take place in organized markets, such as home cooked meals
B. includes environmental degradation caused by increased output production
C. excludes value added from the underground economy, such as tips taken under the table
D. excludes the value of the wages and benefits of government employee


text:
Submitted to: Biological Control
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: December 26, 2004
Publication Date: January 26, 2005
Citation: Popham, H.J., Shelby, K. 2005. Effect of dietary selenium supplementation on resistance to baculovirus infection. Biological Control 32(3):419-429. Interpretive Summary: When insects feed on plants they encounter many chemical compounds (nutrients), such as Selenium, that they require to stay healthy and to withstand stresses such as insecticide exposure, toxic plant chemicals, and infections. Soil Selenium levels vary widely from location to location, and are concentrated to toxic levels by some agricultural practices such as irrigation. High levels of Selenium are toxic to pest insects and to beneficial insect predators which in turn eat the pests. In humans and cattle, a shortage of Selenium weakens the immune system. In this report we examine whether selenium levels can impact how pest insects fight off infection. Cabbage looper larvae, a pest particularly in greenhouses, were fed increasing levels of Selenium and were then infected with an insect virus. We found that adding selenium to cabbage looper food in low levels makes cabbage loopers more resistant to virus infection. This finding will impact scientists working on resistance of insect pests to virus infection and with more research will impact how growers view selenium levels in crops and how other plants in the field impact biological control agents.
Technical Abstract: Herbivorous insects encounter a range of dietary nutrients, antioxidants, co-factors and plant secondary metabolites which may modulate their resistance to microbial infections. A colony of the lepidopteran pest insect Trichoplusia ni has been maintained at BCIRL for generations on an artificial diet with no added Se. These depleted or low Se, insects grow and reproduce normally. Supplementation of the diet of these Se-depleted larvae with 10 ppm or less Sodium Selenite resulted in no deleterious effects on larval growth. Larvae were reared on three different regimes of increasing levels of Se: 1) Se throughout their larval development; 2) Se depletion until the onset of the fourth instar then repletion of Se; and 3) Se up to the fourth instar followed by Se depletion. Selenium levels of pupae from Se fed larvae showed increasing levels depending on the amount of Se added to the diet while larvae fed Se until the fourth instar displayed the same amount of Se in all groups tested. Larvae reared on the three regimes were infected per os with increasing doses of the baculovirus Autographa californica multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV). LC50s were not significantly different between control larvae and larvae fed 5 and 10 ppm Se, except larvae fed Se until the fourth instar and then moved to control diet. These larvae had a 5 or 10 fold higher LC50 when fed 5 or 10 ppm Se, respectively. This study indicates that dietary selenium levels do impact the infectivity of AcMNPV in selenium-deprived T. ni.