text:
Max Kaus was born in Berlin on 11 March 1891. After serving a painter's apprenticeship, he attended the School for Crafts and the Applied and Decorative Arts in Berlin-Charlottenburg, while working as a decoration painter on the side. As a young man, Max Kaus first came into contact with Italian Renaissance art through the Kaiser-Friedrich Museum. Since he wanted to establish himself as a freelance painter, Kaus moved into his first studio in 1913.
A travel grant to Paris in spring 1914 enabled Kaus to visit the art metropolis; the outbreak of the first world war, however, forced him to break off his stay there and return home.
Kaus volunteered as a medical orderly in 1916. The artists he met while serving included Erich Heckel, Anton Kerschbaumer and Otto Herbig. Inspired by Heckel - his role model both as a man and an artist - Kaus did lithographs and woodcuts. After the war he supported himself by accepting commissions for decorative painting.
Max Kaus was really interested in the fine arts and it was not long before he began to be successful: he had his first one-man show at the Ferdinand Möller Gallery in 1919. After meeting Otto Mueller and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff at the "Free Secession" in 1920, Kaus became a member of the group, exhibiting work regularly at their shows. The following year Max Kaus joined both the "Berlin Secession" and the "Munich Expressionist Workshops".
By the last third of the 1920s his Expressionist phase was drawing to a close. In 1926 Kaus was appointed to teach landscape painting, drawing from the nude and drawing animals at the Master School for the Applied and Decorative Arts in Berlin.
In 1927 Kaus was awarded the Albrecht-Dürer Prize of the city of Nuremberg. Two years later he received the Villa Romana Prize.
During the 1930s Kaus worked mainly in landscape, drawing on travels within Germany as well as northern Italy and Austria as the inspiration for the many landscapes he did during those years. From 1935 Kaus taught figurative painting at the United State Schools in Berlin but was increasingly exposed to persecution by the National Socialists.
In 1937 his works were removed from museums and in 1938 Max Kaus was forced to give up teaching. After the second world war Kaus again held a teaching appointment at the Hochschule für bildende Künste in Berlin. From 1949 he was a full professor there and, from 1953, also deputy director. The artist's postwar work can be divided into four complexes: the North Sea and Rome pictures, the group of Venetian impressions that he embarked on in the early 1960s, and the portraits and still lifes of his last years.
Max Kaus - who belongs to the second generation of Expressionists - died in Berlin on 5 August 1977.


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Be careful, next time that you leave your computer unattended at your office!
Some time ago I spoke about a USB dongle that allows access to password-locked computers in a few seconds.
Now the hardware hacker Samy Kamkar has released a similar tool that allows you to install a backdoor on a target system by simply connecting it to the USB port for a few seconds.
The new exploit tool is called PoisonTap, runs with freely available software on a tiny Raspberry Pi Zero microcomputer that once plugged into a Windows or Mac computer via USB port, starts impersonating a new ethernet connection and starts a man-in-the-middle attack.
How it works?
From Samy's post:
When PoisonTap (Raspberry Pi Zero & Node.js) is plugged into a locked/password protected computer, it:
- emulates an Ethernet device over USB (or Thunderbolt)
- hijacks all Internet traffic from the machine (despite being a low priority/unknown network interface)
- siphons and stores HTTP cookies and sessions from the web browser for the Alexa top 1,000,000 websites
- exposes the internal router to the attacker, making it accessible remotely via outbound WebSocket and DNS rebinding (thanks Matt Austin for rebinding idea!)
- allows attacker to remotely force the user to make HTTP requests and proxy back responses (GET & POSTs) with the user's cookies on any backdoored domain
- does not require the machine to be unlocked
- backdoors and remote access persist even after device is removed and attacker sashays away
Kamkar has also published a video demo of the tool:
For all technical explanations, refer to the original post:
How i can protect my computer against PoisonTap?
Kamkar's suggestions are ironic and slightly useless:
- Adding cement to your USB and Thunderbolt ports can be effective
- Closing your browser every time you walk away from your machine can work, but is entirely impractical
- Disabling USB/Thunderbolt ports is also effective, though also impractical
- Locking your computer has no effect as the network and USB stacks operate while the machine is locked, however, going into an encrypted sleep mode where a key is required to decrypt memory (e.g., FileVault2 + deep sleep) solves most of the issues as your browser will no longer make requests, even if woken up

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


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Definition of spoiler
 Citation from "You've Got Male", Happy Endings (TV), Season 1 Episode 9 (2011) blacked out to resolve Google's penalty against this site.
 - anything that ruins a person's pleasure of figuring out something unknown to them.
 Person A: You're getting a road bike for Christmas.
 Person B: WTF, man? Talk about a spoiler.
 - Conscientious people are expected to announce a spoiler in advance, e.g. by including the word "spoiler" in the title of a post to a web-based forum, or verbally informing people nearby know that a conversation is going to include spoilers. This is called a "spoiler alert".
 Subject: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (CONTAINS SPOILERS)
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Definitions include: methamphetamine.
Definitions include: "later gator".
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Definitions include: with heavy usage.
Definitions include: acronym for "from the article."
Definitions include: "okay, thanks, bye."
Definitions include: "hate".
Definitions include: a test of a new, repaired, or modified piece of electronic equipment whereby power is turned on, and people nearby look for smoke.
Definitions include: to click a link on the web and be taken to a site other than the one anticipated.
Definitions include: a needle used to inject drugs.
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talked" (durative)
The onomatopoeia in Wuvulu language also uses reduplication to describe the sound. These onomatopoeic words can be used as alienable nouns.
 - "baʔa" or "baʔabaʔa" is a word for the sound of knocking.[48]
Australian Aboriginal languages
Reduplication is common in many Australian place names due to their Aboriginal origins. Some examples include Turramurra, Parramatta, Woolloomooloo. In the language of the Wiradjuri people of southeastern Australia, plurals are formed by doubling a word, hence 'Wagga' meaning crow becomes Wagga Wagga meaning 'place of many crows'. This occurs in other place names deriving from the Wiradjuri language including Gumly Gumly, Grong Grong and Book Book.
See also
 1. Gates 2016.
 2. Rehg 1981.
 3. Pratt 1984.
 4. Kirsparsky 2010, pp. 125–142.
 5. Omar 1989.
 6. Czaykowska-Higgins & Kinkade 1998, pp. 18ff.
 7. Smyth 1920, §440: simple consonant + e.
 8. Smyth 1920, §447: initial consonant + i.
 9. Kroonen 2013, pp. 264–265.
 10. Ghomeshi et al. 2004.
 11. BL Arundel 83 f126v
 12. Gilbers 2009.
 13. 1999.
 14. van der Walt 2002.
 15. Botha 1984.
 16. Mount Allison University.
 17. Corré 2005.
 18. Voinov 2012.
 19. Pota Focal, "fite fuaite".
 20. Emeneau 1971.
 21. Kulkarni 2013.
 22. Abbi 1992, p. 37.
 23. Göksel & Kerslake (2005)
 24. Wedel (1999)
 25. Lodhi 2002.
 26. Downing 2001.
 27. Butts 2011.
 28. Unseth 2003.
 29. Zuckermann, Ghil'ad (2003), Language Contact and Lexical Enrichment in Israeli Hebrew. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9781403917232 / ISBN 9781403938695
 30. Leslau 1995, p. 1029.
 31. Unseth 2002.
 32. Leslau 1995, p. 1035.
 33. Tak 2016.
 34. Tamamura 1979.
 35. Tamamura 1989.
 36. Nasu 2003.
 37. Lande 2003.
 38. Biggs 1998, p. 137.
 39. Odango 2015.
 40. Hattori 2012, pp. 34–35.
 41. Walworth 2015.
 42. Lopez, Cecilio (1950). "Reduplication in Tagalog". Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Landen Volkenkunde. Deel 106 (2de Afl): 151–311. JSTOR 27859677.
 43. Blake, Frank R. (1917). "Reduplication in Tagalog". The American Journal of Philology. 38 (4): 425–431. doi:10.2307/288967. JSTOR 288967.
 44. Wan, Jin. "Reduplication in Tagalog verbs" (PDF). Retrieved 21 July 2019.
 45. Domigpe & Nenita 2012.
 46. Hafford 2015, p. 47.
 47. Hafford 2015, p. 100.
 48. Hafford 2015, p. 46.
 - Abbi, Anvita (1992). Reduplication in South Asian languages. New Delhi: Allied Publishers.
 - Botha, Rudolph P. (1984). "A Galilean Analysis of Afrikaans Reduplication". Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics. 13. doi:10.5774/13-0-99. Retrieved April 6, 2015.
 - Biggs, Bruce (1998). Let's learn Maori: a guide to the study of the Maori language. Auckland University Press. ISBN 9781869401863.
 - Botha, Rudi P. (1988). Form and meaning in word formation: a study of Afrikaans reduplication. Cambridge University Press.
 - Butts, Aaron Michael (2011). "Reduplicated Nominal Patterns in Semitic". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 131 (1): 83–108. JSTOR 23044728.
 - Corré, Alan D. (2005). "A Glossary of Lingua Franca". University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. Archived from the original on February 3, 2009.
 - Czaykowska-Higgins, Ewa & Kinkade, M. Dale (1998). Salish Languages and Linguistics: Theoretical and Descriptive Perspectives. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
 - Domigpe, J. & Nenita, D. (2012). Elementary Tagalog. Singapore: Tuttle Publishing.
 - Downing, Laura J. (2001). Tone (Non-) Transfer in Bantu Verbal Reduplication. Typology of African Prosodic Systems Workshop. Bielefeld University, Germany via ResearchGate.
 - Emeneau, M. B. (1971). "Onomatopoetics in the Indian linguistic area". Language. 45 (2): 274–299. doi:10.2307/411660. JSTOR 411660.
 - Gates, J. P. (2016). "Verbal Triplication Morphology in Stau (Mazi Dialect)". Transactions of the Philological Society. 115 (1): 14–26. doi:10.1111/1467-968X.12083.
 - Ghomeshi, Jila; Jackendoff, Ray; Rosen, Nicole & Russell, Kevin (2004). "Contrastive focus reduplication in English (the Salad-Salad paper)". Natural Language & Linguistic Theory. 22 (2): 307–357. doi:10.1023/B:NALA._PHONE_.98638.f9. JSTOR _PHONE_.
 - Gilbers (2009) [2008]. "Morfo(no)logie: Inleiding in de Morfologie (in relatie tot de Fonologie)" [Morpho(no)logy: Introduction to Morphology (in relation to Phonology)] (in Dutch). Faculty of Arts, University of Groningen. Archived from the original on July 8, 2013. Retrieved April 22, 2018.
 - Göksel, Asli & Kerslake, Celia (2005). Turkish: A Comprehensive Grammar. London: Routledge. Print.
 - Hafford, James A (2015). Wuvulu Grammar and Vocabulary (PDF) (Thesis). Retrieved 10 February 2017.
 - Hattori, Ryoko (2012). Preverbal Particles in Pingelapese. Ann Arbor. ISBN 978-1-267-81721-1.
 - Kirsparsky, Paul (2010). Reality exploration and discovery: pattern interaction in language & life. Center for the Study of Language and Information.
 - Kroonen, Guus (2013). Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic. Leiden: Brill.
 - Lande, Yury A. (27–29 June 2003). Nominal reduplication in Indonesian challenging the theory of grammatical change. International Symposium on Malay/Indonesian Linguistics. Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
 - Leslau, Wolf (1995). Reference Grammar of Amharic. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
 - Lodhi, Abdulaziz Y. (2002). "Verbal extensions in Bantu (the case of Swahili and Nyamwezi)" (PDF). Africa & Asia. Department of Oriental and African Languages, Göteborg University (2): 4–26. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 11, 2009.
 - "Morphological Exercises". Mount Allison University. Archived from the original on August 6, 2013.
 - Nasu, Akio (2003). "Reduplicants and Prefixes in Japanese Onomatopoeia" (PDF). In Honma, Takeru; Okazaki, Masao; Tabata, Toshiyuki; Tanaka, Shinichi (eds.). A New


Chennapalli Village Population - Hosur, Krishnagiri, Tamil Nadu
Chennapalli is a village located in Hosur Taluk of Krishnagiri district in Tamil Nadu. Around 605 families reside in Chennapalli village. Chennapalli village is administered by Sarpanch(Head of village) who is elected every five years.
As per the Census India 2011, Chennapalli village has population of 2764 of which 1428 are males and 1336 are females. The population of children between age 0-6 is 331 which is 11.98% of total population.
The sex-ratio of Chennapalli village is around 936 compared to 996 which is average of Tamil Nadu state. The literacy rate of Chennapalli village is 57.71% out of which 67.23% males are literate and 47.53% females are literate. There are 18.42% Scheduled Caste (SC) and 0.4% Scheduled Tribe (ST) of total population in Chennapalli village.
Chennapalli Population Facts
Number of Households605
Male Population1428 (51.66%)
Female Population1336 (48.34%)
Children Population331
Male Literacy67.23%
Female Literacy47.53%
Scheduled Tribes (ST) %0.4%
Scheduled Caste (SC) %18.42%
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Cell adhesion-related gene expression by Helicobacter pylori in gastric epithelial AGS cells
Joo Weon Lim, Hyeyoung Kim, Kyung Hwan Kim
Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review
62 Citations (Scopus)
Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection leads to gastroduodenal inflammation, peptic ulceration and gastric carcinoma. H. pylori may induce disease-specific gene expression in gastric epithelial cells. cDNA microarray for 352 cancer-related genes was used to identify the genes altered by H. pylori (cagA positive) in gastric epithelial AGS cells. Expressions of the genes identified on the microarray and other genes closely associated with these genes were determined by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Western blot analysis and cell adhesion assay were performed to confirm the protein levels of the genes and the role of the genes on cell adhesion in H. pylori-infected AGS cells. As a result, the expression of four genes (galectin 1, aldolase A, integrin α5, LIM domain only 7 (LMO7)) were up-regulated by H. pylori in AGS cells, determined by cDNA microarray. RT-PCR analysis showed that the genes up-regulated by H. pylori were the genes regulating cell-cell adhesion and cell-extracellular matrix interaction, such as galectin-1 and galectin-3, integrin α5, and LIM domain only 7 (LMO7), and cancer-related glycolytic enzyme aldolase A and C. Cell adhesion to extracellular matrix proteins such as poly-L-lysine and fibronectin was mediated by H. pylori-induced expression of integrin α5. RT-PCR and Western blot analysis showed that E-cadherin, regulating cell adhesion and contact cell inhibition, was decreased by H. pylori in AGS cells. In conclusion, the increased expression of cell adhesion molecules and decrease in E-cadherin expression by H. pylori might contribute to cell adhesion, invasion and possibly cell proliferation in gastric epithelial cells.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1284-1296
Number of pages13
JournalInternational Journal of Biochemistry and Cell Biology
Issue number8
Publication statusPublished - 2003 Aug 1
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:
This study was supported by Grant 02-PJ1-PG3-21499-0006 from the Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare (to K.H. Kim).
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
 - Biochemistry
 - Cell Biology
Fingerprint Dive into the research topics of 'Cell adhesion-related gene expression by Helicobacter pylori in gastric epithelial AGS cells'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.
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Pedometers: Health and Disease Prevention - What's a pedometer used for? - MedicineNet
Pedometers (cont.)
What's a pedometer used for?
Comment on this
A pedometer is a small, beeper-sized device you wear on your waist that counts the number of steps you take.
How do pedometers work?
There are two types of pedometers, spring-levered and piezoelectric. Spring-levered pedometers use a spring-suspended horizontal lever arm that moves up and down in response to the movement (vertical accelerations) of your hips as you walk or run. The movement opens and closes an electrical circuit, and as the lever arm makes contact, a step is registered. Spring-levered pedometers must be placed in a vertical plane, perpendicular to the ground, in order for them to work. They don't work if they tip forward to a horizontal plane.
Piezoelectric is a material that generates an electric charge when it is mechanically deformed. Piezoelectric pedometers use a horizontal cantilevered beam with a weight on the end that compresses a piezoelectric crystal when subjected to movement like walking (acceleration). This generates a voltage proportional to the acceleration and the voltage oscillations are used to record steps. Got that?
Pedometers work when you dance, climb stairs, or walk outdoors or on a treadmill, but they don't work if you're biking, skiing, rowing, or swimming.
Are pedometers accurate?
The accuracy of pedometers has been carefully studied because they are frequently used in studies and researchers demand to know if they are reliable and accurate. Research shows that pedometers tend to count steps more accurately at speeds greater than 3 miles per hour (mph) than at slower speeds. Accuracy can exceed 96% when speeds exceed 3 mph, whereas the accuracy drops to between 74% and 91% at speeds from 2 mph to 3 mph, and it drops even further to between 60% and 71% at speeds below 2 mph. The error has to do with the insensitivity of pedometers to detect steps when people shuffle or drag their feet at slow speeds. Detectable vertical movement of the hips is necessary for pedometers to work well.
Medically Reviewed by a Doctor on 4/30/2014
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Pedometers - Fitness Goals Question: Do you use a pedometer? How has it helped with fitness goals?


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SCOTTSVILLE, TEXAS. Scottsville, on Farm roads 1998 and 2199, four miles east of Marshall in east central Harrison County, was named after its founder, William Thomas Scott, who moved to Texas from Louisiana in 1840. In 1840 Scott's slaves built his lavish plantation home, reputedly identical to Jefferson Davis's Mississippi mansion. Scottsville's white schoolchildren attended classes in the small schoolhouse that Scott had built; it was staffed with the Scott family governess. The Scotts also established the first church in the community, a Methodist congregation. During the Civil War the Scott plantation provided provisions for Confederate troops. On August 4, 1869, Scottsville was granted a post office. Its population was reported as 300 in 1929, as 50 during the Great Depression, and as around 260 by 1950, a total that remained fairly steady into the 1980s. In the early 1990s Scottsville, which still had its post office, was an incorporated community and reported 287 residents and eleven businesses. In 2000 the population was 263.
Marshall News Messenger, November 10, 1963.
The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this article.Christine A. Keffeler, "SCOTTSVILLE, TX," Handbook of Texas Online (_URL_ accessed May 19, 2013. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


text:
List of Rajput dynasties and states
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from List of Rajput dynasties)
During the medival period, many parts of North India and modern-day Pakistan were being ruled by various dynasties of ruling Hindu warrior class Rajput. Following is the list of those ruling Rajput dynasties of the Indian subcontinent :
- Janjua Rajput Hindu Shahi dynasty of Afghanistan & Punjab (_PHONE_ AD): This dynasty was ruling parts of Afghanistan and Punjab at the time of Turkic invasions. Jayapala was its first Rajput king who succeeded the last Brahmin king Bhimadeva. Its last king Bhimpala died in 1024.
- Chauhan dynasty of Ajmer & Delhi: The Chauhans, ruled between 956 and 1192 AD, earlier over the eastern parts of the present day's Rajasthan with their capital at Ajmer and later extended their territory up to parts of modern-day Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. This Rajput dynasty was founded by Simharaj, who is famously known as the founder of the city of Ajmer. Prithviraj Chauhan was considered greatest of all Chauhan rulers. During his reign, the kingdom extended over Delhi, Ajmer, modern-day Rohilkhand, Kalinjar, Hansi, Kalpi, Mahoba etc. He conquered Bhatinda (in Punjab) from Ghaznavide ruler of Punjab and defeated Muhammad of Ghor in the first battle of Tarain. However, he was defeated in the second battle of Tarain, 1192.
- Birsen dynasty:The Birsen dynasty are a clan of Suryavanshi Rajput dynasty whose first ruler was Raja Birsen of Majhauli.They are among a few Rajput dynasty who lost power in the initial times of the colonial period.Due to this very reason not a lot of development was seen in the areas ruled by them.Birsen stands for Strong warriors.
- Solanki dynasty: The Solankis established their rule over present day's Indian state of Gujarat between 945 and 1297 AD. Their kingdom came into prominence during the reign of Mulraj. They ruled with their capital situated at Anhilwara.
- Parihara dynasty of Kannauj: Conquered Kannauj in 816 AD, which remained its capital for about a century, declined in 10th century.
- Chandelas of Khajuraho: This Rajput dynasty was founded by Jayasakthi. They ruled the areas across Bundelkhand with Khajuraho as their capital. The dynasty came to an end after Alauddin Khalji conquered Bundelkhand.
- Gahadvalas of Kannauj: This Rajput dynasty ruled the kingdom of Kannauj for around a hundred years, beginning in the late 11th century.
- Pathanias of Nurpur: Ruled from 11th century to 1849 over parts of northern Punjab and Himachal Pradesh.
Muslim Rajput dynasties
- Samma dynasty of Sindh: Muslim Rajput dynasty ruled Sindh and parts of Punjab and Balochistan from _PHONE_ AD, with their capital at Thatta in modern-day Pakistan before being replaced by the Arghun Dynasty.
See also
- Hussain Khan (2004), Chronicles of Early Janjuas, iUniverse, ISBN 0-595-28096-X, "... Jayapala, son of Asatapala, succeeded Bhimadeva in about 353/964. Jayapala was a scion of the Janjua (Rajput) dynasty... Jayapala being Janjua (Rajput) was known as Hindu Shahi and had succeeded the former Brahman Hindu Shahi..."
- History of Sirsa Town - Page 29
- The History of India by Kenneth Pletcher
- G.S. Ghurye (2005). Rajput Architecture. Popular Prakashan. p. 36. ISBN 81-7154-446-0.
- Roma Niyogi, The history of the Gāhaḍavāla dynasty, page 8
- Dogra Dynasty


text:
Typically covered lagoons are used with flush manure management systems that discharge manure at 0.5 to 2 percent solids. The in-ground, earth or lined lagoon is covered with a flexible or floating gas tight cover. They are not heated and considered ambient temperature digesters. Retention time is usually 30–45 days or longer depending on lagoon size. In climates that have elevated year round temperatures, such as southern and western U.S., these digesters can produce stable, reduced odor, nutrient rich effluent for application on fields and crops; pathogen and weed seed reduction and; produce biogas for farm energy use. Heat recovery from the biogas can be used to heat nurseries on swine farms and warm milking parlors on dairy farms. Very large lagoons in hot climates may produce sufficient quantity, quality and consistency of gas to justify use in an engine generator. In areas with cooler climates, waste digestion, odor control and gas production will be less consistent and the low quality gas may need to be flared off much of the year for odor control and greenhouse gas reduction.
The covered lagoon at Royal Farms in Tulare, CA is a farrow-to-finish swine operation and has been in operation since 1982. The farm has a water flush manure management system with a three cell lagoon. In the beginning only part of the first cell was covered, but in 1987 the entire first cell was covered. The covered lagoon has operated to provide odor reduction, reduce pathogens, produce biogas and provide a stabilized nutrient rich effluent. The biogas produced on Royal Farms is used to make electricity to off-set power costs and any excess is sold. Heat is also recovered from the engine generator and used to supplement the heat in the nursery barns. Some of the effluent from the third lagoon is recycled for use as part of the barn flush water with the remainder irrigated on corn, wheat and silage crops.
For more information on the covered lagoon digester system on Royal Farms please see:
- Methane Recovery From Animal Manures: The Current Opportunities Casebook, Case Study 4.7, Royal Farms pg. 4-23


text:
Hey everyone! If you want to learn Node.js, then check out my Node.js Learning Path, which you can find only at IBM Developer.
The Event Loop is the key to Node's scalability.
Unit 5 of the LP is about the Event Loop, and in it you'll learn stuff like:
- The phases of the Event Loop
- How to write code that runs in the various phases (so you know when your code will run)
- The Node Events API
- Node Streams
There's a quiz to help you deepen your understanding of the material, and a video too:
Ready to dive into the Node Event Loop? Then click here to jump right to Unit 5.
Want to take the entire course? Then click here to start at the beginning, with Unit 1.
Either way, have fun, good luck, and thanks for reading!


text:
Scientific Reports volume 9, Article number: 17823 (2019)
The delta of the Mekong River in Vietnam has been heavily impacted by anthropogenic stresses in recent years, such as upstream dam construction and sand mining within the main and distributary channels, leading to riverbank and coastal erosion. Intensive bathymetric surveys, conducted within the Tien River branch during the dry and wet season 2018, reveal a high magnitude of sand mining activities. For the year 2018, an analysis of bathymetric maps and the local refilling processes leads to an estimated sand extraction volume of 4.64 0.31 Mm/yr in the study area, which covered around 20 km. Reported statistics of sand mining for all of the Mekong's channels within the delta, which have a cumulative length of several hundred kilometres, are 17.77 Mm/yr for this period. Results from this study highlight that these statistics are likely too conservative. It is also shown that natural sediment supplies from upper reaches of the Mekong are insufficient to compensate for the loss of extracted bed aggregates, illustrating the non-sustainable nature of the local sand mining practices.
Anthropogenic stresses, such as groundwater extraction, river training, construction and operation of hydropower infrastructure as well as sand mining play an important role in the future evolution of the world's largest river deltas1, _URL_ Tiếp tục đọc "Sand mining in the Mekong Delta revisited – current scales of local sediment deficits"


text:
What is stock exchange?
How shares trade on a stock exchange?
Purpose & benefits of a shre exchange
what are the main international share exchange?
Market price of a stock keeps varying as traders trade the stock in the market.
Stocks are bought at lower market prices and sold at higher prices later. This is referred to as 'long' positions in market terms. Similarly stocks can be sold at a higher market price and bought at a lower price later. This is referred to as'short' positions in market terms. In these cases, the difference in the market prices at the time of buying and selling will be seen as profit by the traders.
Stock Market s an exchange place or a market that facilitates the trading of stocks.
In India the most famous exchanges or markets are the Bombay Stock Exchange(BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE).
Stock Brokers are members of the Stock Exchanges. Only these members can conduct transactions in t...more


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The Ferber sleep method – or Ferberization – falls under the umbrella of Cry It Out (CIO) sleep training. On one end of the Cry It Out spectrum is unmodified extinction, known for being more rigid. On the other end is the gentler Ferber method, sometimes referred to as graduated extinction.
With the Ferber method, parents let their babies learn how to put themselves to sleep, but parents can intervene to some degree. The Ferber sleep method's goal is to retrain a baby to fall asleep without their parents' help. It asserts that with consistent training, babies forget their old sleep crutches (nursing, rocking, etc.), and eventually learn new self-soothing methods that enable them to fall asleep on their own.
Who Developed Ferber Sleep Training?
Dr. Richard Ferber wrote a book in 1985 called "Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems," which is where today's Ferberization trend started. Though some aspects of graduated extinction existed before this time, he defined it and gave examples and advice that people could successfully follow.
How are the Ferber Sleep Method and the Unmodified Extinction Method Different?
The Ferber sleep method and the unmodified extinction method (CIO method) are the most talked-about sleep training methods currently. While they share several similarities, there are also key differences that make the Ferber method appealing to many parents.
Parental Involvement
The main difference between the two methods is that there is quite a bit of parental involvement with the Ferber Sleep Method. Whereas the unmodified extinction method suggests parents resist helping their babies when they are fussy at night, the Ferber Sleep Method encourages it – with some restrictions.
The Ferber Sleep Method lets parents enter their baby's room at set intervals, but the parents aren't necessarily supposed to have physical interaction with their babies. Some sleep trainers condone back pats, shushing, and belly rubs to help calm the baby, but most agree that parents should avoid picking up their baby at all costs. Picking up the baby all the way can "reset the clock," making it extra difficult for the baby to self-soothe.
The primary purpose of the parental interaction is to reassure the baby that the parent is nearby, which can have a calming effect. Critics of the Cry It Out method believe that letting a baby cry without any attempts at parental interaction can have damaging psychological and emotional effects on the baby, but these claims lack sufficient scientific research to make them valid.
Parental Attitudes
Because parents are allowed to go in and help soothe their babies in the Ferber sleep method, there are generally more positive attitudes toward that method of sleep training. Letting a baby cry unrestrained is hard on most parents, and using the unmodified extinction method of sleep training can be emotionally taxing on parents.
With the Ferber sleep method, however, parents are permitted to go into the child's room at specific intervals to reassure and calm their baby. Even though these help sessions are brief (only one to two minutes long), they make the parents feel like they are doing something to ease their baby's discomfort. That, in and of itself, can lift both the baby's and the parents' attitudes, making sleep training slightly less uncomfortable in the long run.
Cry Time
Another significant difference between the Ferber Method and the Cry It Out method is the type and duration of crying involved. For staunch Cry It Out method users, parents leave the baby until the next morning, hoping that the baby will learn how to self-soothe over time.
The Ferber sleep method is significantly different in this regard. Instead of letting the baby cry unassisted, parents enter the room and offer calming words or pats at pre-set intervals. The timer starts once the baby starts fussing, and it resets once the parent leaves the room and the child begins to get upset again. Each time the parent leaves the room, the interval between the next visit extends by a few minutes until a set maximum. Here is an example schedule:
1st Visit 2nd Visit 3rd Visit 4th Visit Additional Visits
Day 1 2 minutes 4 minutes 8 minutes 10 minutes 10 minutes
Day 2 3 minutes 5 minutes 10 minutes 12 minutes 12 minutes
Day 3 5 minutes 10 minutes 12 minutes 15 minutes 15 minutes
It's important to note that using the Ferber method doesn't mean that you let your baby cry day after day, week after week, until they learn how to sleep, by golly! In fact, in an interview with NPR in 2006, Dr. Ferber reminded listeners that he doesn't encourage or advocate for babies to cry on their own for weeks on end. Holding fiercely to any sleep training method for too long can lead to babies becoming withdrawn and afraid of sleep – something parents definitely don't want.
Instead, he stated that the Ferber method of sleep training is designed to help parents do away with poor sleep habits. Some examples of sleep habits that negatively impact sleep include rocking to sleep, nursing to sleep, or laying down next to a child to get her to go to sleep. He viewed using these sleep crutches as being dishonest with your child.
"A typical example of that is a child who is rocked to sleep, the family is sneaking them into the crib and then tip-toeing out of the room. So when they wake up at night, lo and behold everything has been changed. Now that child is not going to be very happy with that. If the family wants the youngster sleeping in the crib by themselves then they have to be honest with their youngster. And you put the child into the crib awake."
Can you imagine going to sleep in one location and circumstance and waking up in another one, completely isolated from the people you fell asleep with? It would be startling, to say the least. So in Dr. Ferber's eyes, not only are you teaching your child the new skill of falling asleep on her own, but you are also being upfront and honest in your sleep expectations with your child.
The upside of all of this is that children are wildly adaptable. By gradually replacing their current norm (needing to be rocked to sleep, etc.) with a new norm (going to sleep with minimal parental assistance), most parents yield impressive and long-lasting results reasonably quickly.
The Do's and Don'ts of the Ferber Method
The Ferber sleep method is more gentle than Cry it Out, but that doesn't make it more flexible. There are some right and wrong ways to approach Ferberization if you want to be successful.
DO manage your expectations
Every child is different in how they respond to sleep training, so there isn't a one-size-fits-all answer for what to expect. That said, there are some expectations that you should check at the bedroom door.
 1. Things won't change overnight. While most parents see significant improvements within just a few days, the change won't be immediate. You need to expect things to be rough for a few nights (and the subsequent tired days), but things should also improve quickly.
 2. Everyone will be tired. As you are sleep training, there will be longer waking times and more fussiness – both at night and during the day. It won't last forever, but you should be prepared for it. Have a plan in place to ensure that everyone gets in a good nap during the day so that they are ready for the night ahead. Additionally, you probably want to start on a weekend, since those first few nights are often the most difficult.
 3. You might have some set-backs. You may end up going through several rounds of sleep training. The timing might have been wrong when you started sleep training, or your baby might hit a sleep regression. Most kids have bouts of poor sleep, so you might end up sleep training multiple times.
DO be consistent
The most important factor in having a successful sleep training experience is to be consistent. With the Ferber method, that means that you set timers and resist the urge to go in and help your baby when she is whimpering.
DO keep the end in mind
When things get hard, remember that this won't last forever. Your end goal with sleep training is to get everyone sleeping better. People who sleep well are happier, safer, and better thinkers all around, so it's worth it to put in the time to get the result you want.
DON'T spend a lot of time consoling
It is tempting to go in and rock and cuddle and coo your baby back into a happy state, but it's best to resist the urge. Your main goal is to enter the room, remind your baby that you are nearby, and leave again to give your baby a chance to self-soothe. It's ok to pat your baby's tummy or booty for a minute or two, but don't do a lot of shushing, and don't pick your baby up if you can help it. That can set back all of the work you had put in until that point.
DON'T think it'll be a piece of cake
Listening to your baby cry is never easy, and there will likely be quite a bit of protest while you are sleep training. That said, there are some things that you can do to make it a little easier on yourself and your baby. Start with a soothing, consistent bedtime routine. Have a warm bath, a snack, brush teeth, use favorite PJs, read stories, sing songs, and give lots of cuddles before bed to put everyone in a happy mood. You should also keep the room dark and use a noise machine if that helps your child stay calm.
When your baby starts protesting


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Build ramps, build jumps and then send your skater flying with the Skate Park Building Set. This unique engineering and design challenge helps sharpen critical thinking, problem solving, and STEM skills as little ones create the skate park of their dreams. Engineer it and then engineer it again with the included activity cards that help guide the process.
Learning Styles: Tactile, Visual
Skill Development: Problem solving, Following directions, Fine motor skills, Eye-hand coordination, Sequential thought, Critical thinking, Spatial relationships, Creativity, Early engineering
43-Piece set activity cards
**Longest ramp measures 10' x 2'
**Grade K +


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This archived Web page remains online for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. This page will not be altered or updated. Web pages that are archived on the Internet are not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards. As per the Communications Policy of the Government of Canada, you can request alternate formats of this page on the Contact Us page.
In Canada, British royals had conducted their tours by train since the Prince of Wales's highly touted visit in 1860. Even after Confederation, the royals still intrigued many Canadians. The visits of the Duke of York in 1901, and the Duke of Connaught in 1906, were popular with the public. But the Royal Tour of 1939, by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, took Canada by storm.
Grand Trunk Railway, 1906, cover and title page
Excerpt of a silent film showing the visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth to Toronto, May 22, 1939
(running time: 1 m, 8 s)
Canadian Pacific Railway, 1939, cover and frontispiece
It was the first visit to Canada by a reigning monarch. Even though the country was still in the throes of the Depression, town and cities all over Canada decorated their buildings, issued souvenirs and wrote speeches to mark the occasion. Thousands of people, from miles away, came to see the couple as the royal train passed through their region. The timing of the tour was no accident. War was becoming imminent in Europe and the visit served as a gentle reminder to English-speaking Canadians of their ties to the motherland and imperial duty. The trip took 44 days and was conducted almost exclusively by train: on the CPR heading west and on the CNR returning east.
Their Majesties King George VI and Queen Elizabeth on board the royal train, visiting Hope, British Columbia, May 31, 1939
King George VI and Queen Elizabeth accept flowers from a little girl in Beavermouth, British Columbia, 1939
Visit the website ARCHIVED - The Kids' Site of Canadian Trains


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The mathematical analyses presented in Chapters 1 through 5 are based on the assumption that system behavior can be characterized by a trajectory such as the one shown in Figure 6-1. In graphs of this type, the vertical axis represents a set of observable states and the horizontal axis represents a time-ordered sequence of transition points. These transition points represent the only times at which a change of state can occur
For the discrete time processes discussed in Chapters 1 through 5, the only information available at each transition point is the new state that has just been entered. [It is possible for the new state to be the same as the current state.] Each transition point and its associated "new state" are represented in Figure 6-1 by a separate black dot.
The horizontal and vertical lines connecting the dots in Figure 6-1 help the reader visualize the shape of the trajectory, but are not essential. Similarly, the uniform spacing between each dot is also a visual aid. It has no analytic significance because the elapsed time between each pair of successive transition points is unknown and thus cannot play a role in the analysis.
If the time of each transition is also available, the discrete time trajectory in Figure 6-1 can be transformed into a continuous time trajectory of the type illustrated in Figure 6-2. In this case, the spacing between successive transition points is significant: it represents elapsed time. This additional information can be applied to the analysis of the trajectory in Figure 6-2, making it possible to determine the proportion of time the walker actually spends at each station or in each state. Expressions for the proportion of visits the walker makes to each station can also be derived, but are seldom the primary objective of the analysis.
One other difference between discrete time and continuous time trajectories concerns the amount of time spent in the final state. In discrete time models, the last input symbol in a workload generates a transition into the final state of the trajectory. This marks the end of the trajectory as indicated in Figure 6-1. On the other hand, it is possible for a continuous time model to remain in the final state for an additional amount of time before the trajectory finally terminates. Such a case is illustrated in Figure 6-2.
To accommodate this consideration, all workloads associated with continuous time LCD models must end with a special termination symbol: X. The timestamp attached to the termination symbol X represents the instant at which the trajectory actually ends, and must be greater than or equal to the timestamp of the final state in the trajectory Tables 6-2 and 6-4 in Section 6.5 illustrate the use of the special termination symbol.
6.2 Buffer overflow in continuous time
The simple random walk discussed in Chapters 1 through 5 is closely related to a buffering process that operates in continuous time. In examples of this type, the state of the system being modeled corresponds to the number of items in a buffer rather than the position of a walker. Right and left turns correspond to increases and decreases in the number of buffered items, and rebounding off the reflecting barrier to the right of the highest state corresponds to dropping (i.e., discarding) an item that arrives when the buffer is currently full.
The next few sections describe this model in greater detail. As in the case of the random walk, the procedures used to analyze this specific example can be generalized to deal with a broad class of modeling problems. A number of these generalizations are described in Chapter 7.
6.2.1 The buffer/queue overflow problem
When requests for service arrive in a manner that is bursty rather than uniform, buffers are often provided to store incoming requests until they can be processed. Note that buffer capacity is always finite. Thus, as just noted, it may be possible for requests to arrive at a time when the buffer is already full. Such requests are typically dropped with the expectation that they will be transmitted again at some point in the future.
The designers of the ARPAnet, which is the predecessor of today's Internet, anticipated this problem. They incorporated special algorithms into the software that implements the TCP/IP protocol to trigger such retransmissions automatically if a dropped packet is suspected. [Note: For purposes of this discussion, a packet is simply a short segment of a larger message. Packets are transmitted from router to router as they make their way across a network from their origin to their ultimate destination.]
Buffer overflow is no longer a concern for the powerful routers deployed in the backbone of the modern Internet. The processing capacity of these routers is matched to the maximum bandwidth of the lines that transmit incoming packets. As a result, these routers are able to complete the processing of a packet before the final byte of the next incoming packet (on that same line) arrives. This processing takes place in parallel for each line the router supports.
Buffer overflow can still be an issue for less advanced routers. It can also bring down web servers during periods of very high load (e.g., during denial of service attacks). The next few sections examine the buffer overflow problem for the simple case of a primitive router operating in a classical store and forward network.
.6.2.2 An LCD model of buffer operation
Note that buffer operation can be represented by the state transition diagram illustrated in Figure 6-3. The number of packets in the buffer at any given instant corresponds to the state of the model. To simplify this particular example, the size of the buffer is set to an unrealistically small value of three. Extending this analysis to buffers with larger capacities is entirely straightforward.


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Urge the United States House of Representatives, the United States Senate and President Obama to pass the Responsible Education About Life Act in the 112th session of congress.
What is the Responsible Education About Life Act (H.R. 1551/S.611)?
The Responsible Education About Life Act (REAL), (H.R. 1551/S.611), was sponsored by U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA9) and U.S. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), in the 112th session of congress. It is a bill that would provide federal funding for states to implement comprehensive approaches to sex education in the schools-approaches that include information about both abstinence and contraception and condoms, from perspectives of both values and public health.
Among the requirements for a program funded under REAL are that it be age-appropriate and medically accurate, stress abstinence as the only sure way to avoid pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, and provide information about the health benefits and side effects of all contraceptives. REAL would ensure that taxpayer dollars are used appropriately by requiring evaluation of all programs receiving grant money by both the Secretary of Health and Human Services and individual states.
Under the REAL Act, a program of sex education is a program that:
-Is age-appropriate and medically accurate;
-Stresses the value of abstinence while not ignoring young people who have had or are having sex;
-Provides accurate information about the health benefits and side effects of all contraceptives and barrier methods used a) as a means to prevent pregnancy, and b) to reduce the risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV;
-Encourages family communication between parent and child about sexuality;
-Teaches young people the skills to make responsible decisions about sexuality, including how to avoid unwanted verbal, physical, and sexual advances and how to avoid making verbal, physical, and sexual advances that are not wanted by the other party;
-Explores the components of healthy relationships, including the prevention of dating and sexual violence;
-Teaches young people how alcohol and drug use can affect responsible decision making; and
-Does not teach or promote religion.
The REAL Act also contains non-discrimination language that would prohibit any program receiving funds under this Act from discrimination based on "sex, race, ethnicity, national origin, disability, religion, sexual orientation, or gender identity.
What are abstinence-only programs? Why are they bad?
Abstinence-Only Programs teach abstinence as the only morally correct option of sexual expression for teenagers. They usually censor information about the health benefits of contraception and condoms for the prevention of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unintended pregnancy.
However, numerous studies have demonstrated that abstinence-only programs are inaccurate and ineffective. For example, a 2007 study conducted for the Department of Health and Human Services by an independent research firm found that youth who participated in abstinence-only programs are no more likely to abstain from sex, delay sex, delay initiation of sex, or have fewer sexual partners than youth who receive no sex education at all.
Furthermore, respected public health experts such as the Institute of Medicine, American Academy of Pediatrics and American Medical Association all oppose government funding for abstinence-only programs on the grounds that they are ineffective and fail to give youth the tools they need to make responsible decisions.
What is Comprehensive Sex Education? Why is it good?
Comprehensive Sex Education teaches about abstinence as the best method for avoiding STIs and unintended pregnancy, but also teaches about condoms and contraception to reduce the risk of unintended pregnancy and of infection with STIs, including HIV. It also teaches interpersonal and communication skills and helps young people explore their own values, goals, and options.
Comprehensive Sex Education ensures that young people are would be educated and informed with medically accurate information about abstinence, contraception and disease prevention. These programs supply young people with the tools to make informed decisions, resist peer pressure, set goals, manage stress, be responsible, understand and accept diversity, build healthy relationships and have access to up-to-date information about how they can protect themselves against sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS.
In addition, dozens of comprehensive sex education, teen pregnancy prevention, and HIV prevention programs have been proven effective by rigorous evaluation at helping young people delay sex, have fewer sexual partners, and use contraception and condoms when they do choose to become sexually active.
Currently, there are three federal funding streams for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs, but no source of federal dollars to support comprehensive sexuality education. Since 1996, Congress has spent almost $1.5 billion on abstinence-only programs, which are prohibited by law from discussing contraceptive use and which, by design, exclude lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth because marriage is unavailable to them in most parts of the country. Furthermore, numerous studies have demonstrated that they are inaccurate and ineffective.
However, the REAL Act will provide Comprehensive Sex Education. By passing the REAL Act, it will help young people make smart, and healthy decisions when it comes to sex, and will helped them be informed about safe sex.
How to help
Please call and/or write your U.S. Representatives and Senators, and President Obama and tell them to pass the Responsible Education About Life Act in the 112th session of congress.
Also please sign the online petition below.


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View our volunteers all over the world!
Our LOCAL VOLUNTEER TEACHERS are amazing. They are all local to the country where they volunteer. They attend training, write lesson plans, teach the children, and send reports on their classes. Most importantly, they care about the children they teach. These VOLUNTEER TEACHERS have lived through the same wars as the children they teach, and are able to reach them in a way that others can't.


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When people are in a group they are more disconnected from their moral beliefs, according to new neuroscientific research.
The results come from a study which compared how people's brains work when they are alone compared with when they are in a group (Cikara et al., 2014).
The study was inspired by a trip to Yankee Stadium in New York made by Dr Mina Cikara, now an assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon University.
On the trip her husband was wearing a Red Sox cap (for non-US readers: the Red Sox are a rival team from Boston).
He was continuously heckled by Yankee fans, so Mina took the cap from her husband and wore it herself:
"What I decided to do was take the hat from him, thinking I would be a lesser target by virtue of the fact that I was a woman.
I was so wrong. I have never been called names like that in my entire life.
It was a really amazing experience because what I realized was I had gone from being an individual to being seen as a member of 'Red Sox Nation.'
And the way that people responded to me, and the way I felt myself responding back, had changed, by virtue of this visual cue — the baseball hat.
Once you start feeling attacked on behalf of your group, however arbitrary, it changes your psychology."
When 'me versus you' becomes 'us versus them'
Two reasons why people behave differently in groups are that:
- they feel more anonymous,
- and that they feel less likely to be caught behaving badly.
But Cikara and colleagues wanted to examine a further factor: whether people's moral compass also goes awry when they are in a group.
They did this by asking a group of participants to answer question which gave an insight into their personal morality.
This enabled the researchers to create personalised statements for each of them, such as:
- "I have stolen food from shared refrigerators."
- "I always apologize after bumping into someone."
Participants then played a game while inside a brain scanner: once as part of a team and once on their own.
When people played on their own, and saw moral statements related to themselves, their brains showed more activity in a part of the medial prefrontal cortex — an area associated with thinking about the self.
This is normal, suggesting a strong identification with their own morals.
But, when some people playing in group saw moral statement about themselves, they reacted much less intensely, suggesting weaker identification with their own beliefs and moral ideals.
In a follow-up test, these people were also much more likely to try and harm members of the other group.
Not only that, but they even seemed to conveniently forget the moral statements they'd heard beforehand.
One of the study's authors, Rebecca Saxe, an associate professor of cognitive neuroscience at MIT, said:
"Although humans exhibit strong preferences for equity and moral prohibitions against harm in many contexts, people's priorities change when there is an 'us' and a 'them'.
A group of people will often engage in actions that are contrary to the private moral standards of each individual in that group, sweeping otherwise decent individuals into 'mobs' that commit looting, vandalism, even physical brutality."
→ Try one of PsyBlog's ebooks, all written by Dr Jeremy Dean:
Image credit: A Lads Club Escapette


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Part two highlights QRA and estimation methodology
Mark J. Kaiser
Center for Energy Studies Louisiana State University
This second of a three-part series outlines the basis of the empirical approach to estimating abandonment remediation probability and describes the general methodology. The proportion of wells requiring remediation describes a specific attribute, leaking after abandonment. The sample proportion is an unbiased statistic of the population proportion, and the larger the sample size, the tighter the expected clustering.
As mentioned in part one, a random sample of 502 platform wells abandoned in 2010 in water depths less than 400 ft (122 m) were tracked from 2010-2015 to identify leaking/bubbling events.
|Transitions between well states over its life cycle. Arrows represent transition pathways. Dotted arrows represent low-probability pathways. Permanent abandonment is the final status of all wellbores.|
Nine wells were identified that required remediation leading to a remediation probability of 1.8% and a 95% confidence interval ranges between 0.6% and 3.0%.
The goal here is to summarize the empirical methods that were employed. Empirical methods take a systems perspective to generate quantitative information on risk but provide no fundamental understanding of cause, whereas theoretical methods posit mechanisms of cause but provide limited useful information on real-life risk probability.
A well begins its life when it is spudded and ends its life when it is permanently abandoned. Wellbore status defines the condition of a well at a point in time. In US federal waters, wellbore states are defined according to:
- Completed: producing, suspended, shut-in
- Temporarily abandoned
- Permanently abandoned.
Over its lifetime, a well will transition between states one or more times, but eventually, all wells are permanently abandoned.
A well drilled for the purpose of exploration may or may not be completed as a development well, but most wells drilled for development - unless unsuccessful (i.e., uneconomic or problems arise such as collapsed tubing or shallow water flow) - are completed. If a well is completed, it will be producing, inactive, or serve as an injection well, and may transition to temporarily abandoned status before being recompleted or permanently abandoned. Wells are temporarily abandoned at different times during its lifecycle and for many different reasons. All states are transitory except permanently abandoned.
Completed wells that are found leaking, or pressure tests that are not successful during abandonment operations, are remediated as part of normal business activities. Abandoned wells that are found to be leaking after operations are performed require remediation, represented by the dotted arrows that exit and re-enter the temporarily abandoned and permanently abandoned states. A permanently abandoned well that exhibits leaking/bubbling may be reclassified as temporarily abandoned until the operator successfully remediates the leak.
Well life cycle
After an exploratory well is drilled, it will be temporarily abandoned awaiting a decision on completion, permanently abandoned, or completed for production. With the drilling rig on site and no production tubing in the hole, abandonment operations on exploration wells are easy to perform and reliable. The conventional placement method for cement plugs follows the same flow path as the drilling fluid during drilling, where the fluids are pumped downhole through the inside of the drillstring, turn the corner at the bottom of the pipe, and then go upwards in the annular space between the pipe and the open hole/outer pipe. The drillstring is then retrieved before the cement hardens.
Rig-based abandonments for exploratory wells have their own risk-profile for bubbling and leaking but were not of interest in this study since tubing strings and the leak paths they potentially create will generally not be installed. Temporarily abandoned wells may be re-entered later for completion by drilling out the cement plugs, or if the hole is dry or of no further utility, it will be permanently abandoned.
Wells for production or injection need to be completed. A completed well contains a group of one or more contact intervals with stratigraphic zones that function to produce or inject fluids. Tubing is used to transmit fluids and a completion must be capable of isolating fluid flow. Completion operations may occur immediately after drilling or at a later time. At any point in time, completed wells are either producing or inactive; inactive wells are classified as suspended or shut-in. Shut-in and suspended wells involve closing one or more valves on the tree and do not require cement plugs.
Wells are temporarily abandoned according to future utility and regulatory requirements. In a temporarily abandoned well, the producing formation is isolated with plugs and the casing is plugged below the mudline and capped above the mud line. Temporarily abandoned wells may be completed if the well was waiting on evaluation or an investment decision, or will be side tracked at a later date. Temporarily abandoned operations are often performed when sands are no longer productive.
Wells in temporarily abandoned status become permanently abandoned when all cement plugs have been placed and tested as per regulatory requirements or approved departures, and all casing string cut to a minimum 15 ft (4.6 m) below the mudline as per regulatory requirements or approved departure. If plugging and isolation activities were previously performed, then taking a well to permanently abandoned status will only involve cutting casing strings and pulling operations at shallow depth. Operators cut and remove casing 15 ft below the mudline shortly before the platform is removed.
Quantitative risk assessment
Failure mechanisms.Well abandonment failures arise from many possible factors due to mechanical causes, such as the failure of the cement or the cement bond to the pipe, or geologic factors, such as subsidence and compaction. Other factors also play a role in abandonment failure, but because failures are difficult to diagnose and likely impacted by multiple factors, root cause analysis is usually speculative.
One of the problems with old wells is the lack of documentation. Well designs are often modified by workovers if repurposed during its life, and if the new design is not documented, the P&A procedure will have to adapt to these changes on-site which increases the uncertainty and complexity of operations. Poorly maintained wellbores can add obstructions and limit access to sections of the well. Older completion methods may present greater well integrity issues due to mechanical causes or corrosion.
A leak is defined as the expression of reservoir fluids (liquid or gas) and occurs when one or more barriers fail, individually or in combination, sequentially or simultaneously, resulting in a leak path. Unless a failure is detected, however, it will not be reported, and so failure rates also depend critically upon detection and monitoring.
Fault tree analysis. A fault tree is a logic diagram portraying the combination of component failure events necessary to cause a system failure, and is a common tool in risk analysis. To determine leak probabilities, fault trees are constructed for a particular well configuration and hypothesized leak paths. For a leak to occur, one or more components in the well have to fail and lose their ability to contain the fluids within the well. Leak paths are used to construct a fault tree, and by assigning a probability of failure to each component, the fault tree is used to calculate the probability of leakage.
Leak pathways. There are many possible leak paths associated with a wellbore, and since every well is unique, leak paths are also unique. When a well is temporally abandoned, for example, pressurized fluid in the production casing below the lower plug (B1) may cause a leak. Once in the production casing, the fluids can leak through the upper plug (B4) or through the production casing into the surface casing (B2) and through the corrosion cap (B3). Fluid in the outer casings and conductor pipe can leak through the hanger seal assembly (B5, B7) and the corrosion cap (B3).
A permanently abandoned well has potential leak paths similar to a temporarily abandoned well, but now there are two cement plugs to prevent leakage and at least one mechanical barrier according to federal regulations. Fluid has to leak past the zone isolating plug (B1) and the lower casing plug (B2), and once in the upper portion of the casing, fluids may leak to the surface casing (B4) and to the mudline through the hanger/seal assembly (B5). From the surface casing, a leak may progress through the conductor pipe (B6) and hanger assembly (B7). Fluids may also leak past the surface plug (B3) to the mudline.
Oil and gas wells. Oil and gas wells are expected to have a different risk profile. In oil wells with little or no gas pressure, the potential for liquids inside the well to flow to outside the well is reducing because of the fluid gradients that increase the outside pressure with increasing depth. Gas wells are not affected in the same way, since the lack of liquid hydrostatic pressure allows more pressure near the surface than possible in an oil well. If gas leaks into a well, the buoyancy will drive upward toward the wellhead.
Fault tree models. Fault tree models are helpful to visualize the possible leak paths and to quantify theoretical failure rates, but unless the pathways or failure rates are based on real world observations, they provide limited quantitative data related to actual experience. Leak path diagrams are more varied and complex than "representative" models can describe, literally varying well-by-well and operator-by-operator in a manner that is not easily diagnosed/observed. More importantly, the data required to populate fault tree models neither currently exist nor can be reliably estimated at the present time. The use of fault tree analysis for abandonment leak probabilities is therefore mostly a pedagogical (academic) exercise, based on theoretic underpinning, but lacking the data required to specify actual failure rates.
To establish quantitative information on leak probability, it is useful to observe historic performance and estimate probabilities empirically. Empirical methods provide direct quantitative information on leak probabilities based on actual experience


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INTRODUCTION TO OPHIOLITES
by Akira ISHIWATARI
(Dr., Assoc. Prof., Fac. Sci., Kanazawa University)
[Ishiwatari's Home Page] [Ishiwatari Labo Page] [Earth Science Department Page]
1. Ophiolite and Oceanic Lithosphere
2. Ophiolite Examples and their Occurrences
3. Petrologic Classification of Ophiolites
4. Ophiolites in the Circum-Pacific Orogenic Belts
5. Ophiolite Pulses
6. Ophiolite Belts on the Earth
1. Ophiolite Succession and Seismic Layers of Oceanic Crust
2. Pre-Cretaceous Tectonic Units of the Inner Zone of southwestern Japan
3. Modal Variation of Residual Mantle Peridotite with Increasing Degree of Melting
4. Petrologic Types of Ophiolite
5. Geologic Structure of the Klamath Mountains, western USA
6. Histogram of Formation Ages of Ophiolites in the World
7. Ophiolite Belts in the World
1. Ophiolite and oceanic lithosphere
Ophiolite is a stratified igneous rock complex composed of upper basalt member, middle gabbro member and lower peridotite member (Fig. 1). Some large complexes measure more than 10 km thick, 100 km wide and 500 km long. The term "ophiolite" means "snake stone" in Greek. Basalt and gabbro are commonly altered to patchy green rocks, and peridotite is mostly changed into black, greasy serpentinite. The term comes from such serpentine appearance of these altered, metamorphosed, or sometimes highly fragmented members.
Ophiolite is interpreted to be thrust sheet of ancient oceanic lithosphere which has been obducted over the continental crust in the course of orogeny. The ophiolite succession can be correlated with the seismologic layering of the oceanic lithosphere (Fig. 1). The sedimentary cover correspond to Layer 1, basaltic pillow lava matches Layer 2, sheeted dikes and gabbro with occasional plagiogranite intrusions are correlated to Layer 3, and ultramafic cumulates and residual mantle peridotite represent Layer 4 (mantle).
Figure 1 (BACK)
2. Ophiolite examples and their occurrences
Ophiolite was first described from the Alps in the early 20th century, and was later discovered from almost every orogenic belt on the earth. Semail ophiolite in Oman (Mesozoic), Troodos ophiolite in Cyprus (Mesozoic), Papua ophiolite in Papua-New Guinea (Mesozoic), and Bay of Islands ophiolite in Newfoundland (Paleozoic) are the best known. Yakuno (Paleozoic), Horokanai (Mesozoic) and Poroshiri (Mesozoic) are the three full-membered ophiolites in Japan, which also has many dismembered ophiolites such as Oeyama (Paleozoic), Miyamori (Paleozoic), Mikabu (Mesozoic) and Setogawa-Mineoka (Cenozoic).
Ophiolite occurs as a nappe (intact thrust sheet) or as a melange (tectonic mixture of fragments). In collisional orogenic belts, ophiolites generally lie on older continental basement. In circum-Pacific orogenic belts, however, ophiolites generally lie on younger accretionary complexes. For example, Jurassic Tamba accretionary complexes are overlain by the late Paleozoic Yakuno ophiolite, which is in turn overridden by the early Paleozoic Oeyama ophiolite (Fig. 2). The younger Mikabu and Setogawa-Mineoka ophiolites underlies the Jurassic accretionary complexes in the Pacific coastal areas.
Figure 2 (BACK)
3. Petrologic classification of ophiolites
Ophiolites may have formed either at divergent plate boundaries (mid-oceanic ridges) or convergent plate boundaries (supra-subduction zones; i.e. island arcs and marginal basins). They are called MOR and SSZ types, respectively. These types are identified by chemical composition of the rocks and minerals in comparison with those from various tectonic settings on the earth at present.
Ophiolitic mantle peridotite is the refractory residue after extraction of basaltic melt through partial melting processes in the mantle. Although primary mantle peridotite may be lherzolite with abundant clinopyroxene, it changes into clinopyroxene-poor (or -free) harzburgite as the degree of melting increases (Fig. 3). The mantle peridotite samples dredged from the mid-oceanic ridges are mostly lherzolite, while those dredged from supra-subduction zones (trench walls) are mostly harzburgite.
Figure 3. (BACK)
Ophiolitic igneous cumulates shows systematic variation in the crystallization sequence of minerals corresponding to the petrologic diversity of the underlying peridotite mantle. The mineral crystallizing next to olivine varies from plagioclase through clinopyroxene to orthopyroxene as the degree of melting in the underlying mantle increases (Fig. 4). The characteristic cumulate rocks correspondingly varies from troctolite through wehrlite to harzburgite.
In general, ophiolitic basalt also varies from alkali basalt or high-alumina basalt (like mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB)) through low-alumina basalt (like island-arc tholeiite (IAT))to boninite (high-magnesian andesite) in correspondence with the petrologic variation of the underlying members (Fig. 4).
Figure 4. (BACK)
4. Ophiolites in the circum-Pacific orogenic belts
Ophiolites in the circum-Pacific orogenic belts generally occur intercalated among the accretionary complexes and show multiple tectonic superposition as exemplified by the Klamath Mountains in western USA (Fig. 5). The oldest early Paleozoic ophiolite occupies structurally uppermost position, and younger ones take lower seats. Such "Confucian" ophiolite belts are also present in Japan and northeastern Russia, and forms "circum-Pacific Phanerozoic multiple ophiolite belts". This structure may be formed by underplating of the accreted oceanic material and trench-fill sediments beneath the overlying SSZ lithosphere (ophiolite) and subsequent underplating of the younger SSZ-trench system. The circum-Pacific ophiolite belts are also characterized by extreme petrologic diversity. Juxtaposition of depleted, clinopyroxene-free harzburgite and fertile lherzolite is common, though such a case is rare in the collisional orogenic belts.
Figure 5. (BACK)
Reported formation ages of ophiolites show three distinct peaks at about 750, 450 and 150 Ma, respectively (Fig. 6). These are called ophiolite pulses. Each pulse corresponds to the period of worldwide magmatic event as represented by voluminous granite intrusions.
Production rate of oceanic crust was distinctly high during the 80 and 120 Ma interval of Cretaceous time, as evidenced by wide area of the ocean floor formed in this interval. Magnetic reversals of the earth, which take place every million years, were unreasonably absent during this interval. These facts lead Larson (1991) to a hypothesis of superplume, a big plume of hot mantle rock which ascended from core/mantle boundary and erupted beneath the South Pacific ocean during this interval, causing worldwide magmatic event. This interval corresponds to the later half of the Mesozoic ophiolite pulse (Fig. 6).
Figure 6. (BACK)
6. Ophiolite belts on the earth
Ophiolites issued by each pulse tend to form a particular ophiolite belt. Late Proterozoic (ca. 750 Ma) ophiolites are distributed in the Pan-African orogenic belt, early Paleozoic (ca. 450 Ma) ophiolites appear in the Appalachian-Caledonian-Uralian belt, and Mesozoic (ca. 150 Ma) ophiolites dominate the Alpine-Himalayan belt (Fig. 7). However, the circum-Pacific orogenic belts bear ophiolites of widely varying ages, including at least two pulses (early Paleozoic and Mesozoic). This may be due to continuous, subduction-induced, accretionary orogeny that have taken place in the circum-Pacific areas from early Paleozoic to the present, showing contrast to the episodic, short-lived, collisional orogeny in the continental areas. Circum-Pacific ophiolites may be the best witnesses of the history of superplumes.
Figure 7. (BACK)
Established 99/02/03, Revised 01/11/24.


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Co-authored documents are becoming increasingly important for knowledge representation and sharing. Tools for supporting document co-authoring are expected to satisfy two requirements: 1) querying changes over editing histories; 2) maintaining data consistency among users. Current tools support either limited queries or are not suitable for loosely controlled collaborative editing scenarios. We address both problems by proposing a new persistent data structure-partial persistent sequence. The new data structure enables us to create unique character identifiers that can be used for associating meta-information and tracking their changes, and also design simple view synchronization algorithms to guarantee data consistency under the presence of concurrent updates. Experiments based on real-world collaborative editing traces show that our data structure uses disk space economically and provides efficient performance for document update and retrieval.


_USER_{NBERw1372, title = "Bequests and Social Security With Uncertain Lifetimes", author = "Andrew B. Abel", institution = "National Bureau of Economic Research", type = "Working Paper", series = "Working Paper Series", number = "1372", year = "1986", month = "1986", doi = {10.3386/w1372}, URL = "_URL_ abstract = {The fact that consumers do not know in advance the dates at which they will die effects their individual consumption and portfolio decisions. In general, some consumers will end up leaving bequests at death, even if they have no bequest motive, simply because they happen to die at a time when they are holding wealth to provide for their own future consumption. In the model of this paper,consumers who are otherwise identical, die (randomly) at different ages and thus leave bequests of different sizes to their heirs. Therefore, there is intra-cohort variation in wealth and consumption even if all consumers have the same labor income, taxes, and social security benefits. This paper presents explicit steady state distributions for consumption and wealth. The introduction of an actuarially fair social security system reduces steady state private wealth by more than one-for-one so that, even in a fully funded system, national wealth falls. In addition,all central moments of the steady state distributions of consumption and wealth are reduced by actuarially fair social security.}, }


OP is a programming paradigm, a style of coding. The keyword, aspect, describes a focused functional block of code that has a high amount of reuse throughout a system. Aspects are these blocks that are cross-cutting concerns because they "cut across" (a.k.a. "are used in") many different blocks of unrelated code in the system. A classic example of an aspect is the need for a logging subsystem in an application to support debugging efforts. In a way, whereas DI is a passive way to allow one block of code to use another, AOP is much more active and/or broad-stroked. AOP prescribes a way to apply a block of code (a.k.a. advice, ex: "run this aspect before the block") across some or all blocks of code (a.k.a. cut points, ex: "all methods in namespace X.Y.Z"). Aspects are a great way to keep such code in one place for maintainability, but effectively apply it where necessary with low cohesion, since the affected block is effectively oblivious to its presence.
We'll explore a lot of these concepts in detail in subsequent articles. And, I reserve the right to expand this overview list as I discover more topics that deserve an "executive summary" for those fresh to the series. For example, I have not covered testing, continuous integration, and other more technical items that add to our ability to deliver good software. If you think we should cover anything else, feel free to chime in.
Architecting A C# Web-Based Application: Introduction
I am beginning a series of articles on architecting a "serious business" web-focused application. The raison d'être for this is because I have been unable to find a focused, well-documented sample project that exposes practical architecture and guidelines. The overall goal is to put myself on the line as a guinea pig, journal my thought process at every step, take the abuse and, hopefully, generate some positive discussion on the choices I make along the way. The secondary goal is to provide intermediate developers an example of how to approach a common type of project. As such, the series will not be an exploration of cutting-edge technologies, or of advanced coding techniques.
The sample application will be a project management application that follows the great majority of the basic Scrum principles, allows a development team to better manage their workload, and also maximizes the offload of data entry and organizing to the stakeholders as much as possible. I know that this type of application exists in umpteen forms on the net. Let's face it, it's basically the "enterprisey" equivalent of Tetris. However, I selected it for three main reasons:
 - The project is a neither too complex, nor uselessly simple in scope
 - It is a domain that should not be foreign to a readership composed of developers
 - I need a good app that fits the way my team works, rather than the overly generic and bloated PM software out there. While this may seem selfish, it's actually good! I'll be eating my own dogfood.
I think many developers don't enjoy the use of most of the PM software out there because they become responsible for too much maintenance/clerical work. Not many packages out there put as much responsibility for the project in the hands of the stakeholders, and if they do, invariably they charge for more licenses. We'll start simple, focus on providing a great UI, and won't involve feature-creep just to gain bullet points on a sales presentation. Ultimately, the code base will be provided at large as an open-source project.
The whole solution will consist of your typical moving parts:
 - A web-based client where the majority of the interaction with the system is done, especially the collaborative parts.
 - A task bar application that allows quick data entry, primarily by developers, for common functions.
 - A middle layer built to handle the above two clients, and open for more. This will be where all the rules, workflows, transformations and other tasks happen. This will also force one to consider how to build the layers.
 - The database layer, obviously used to persist data.
The minimal functionality we will provide for a "v1.0" is:
 - The ability to work with the four general "things" found in Scrum: roles, timeboxes, artifacts and rules.
 - Allow business users to easily log ideas (a.k.a. user stories) and track the status thereof.
 - A robust and customizable workflow system for managing rules that, while not very dynamic, should be open to some amount of customization.
 - Some dashboarding for some simple metrics.
 - While we won't aim to provide a full interactivity suite, it would be nice to build in a way to have a threaded discussion area for each idea or story, such that devs and users can collaborate and flesh out ideas in a way that doesn't create an email nightmare.
 - A cross-platform, browser-based user interface with a form-based authentication system.
 - Optionally integrate logins with AD or other LDAP system.
 - A small taskbar application that helps you track what you are currently working on and gives feedback on changes in the app.
As you can see, this is not a simple throw-away project. But, neither is it a highly-complex, enterprise application. I hope that this series can help junior and intermediate.NET developers get a feel for how to approach the design of a web application, elevate my own game through feedback both high and low, and for intermediate to senior developers to collaborate on different approaches effectively by having the constraint of a defined scope in play. (Lots of times, comments on blogs like this run the gamut because some people are thinking of more complex projects than others.)
The next articles will cover the typical questions you (should?) have when you kick of a project:
 - What exactly am I talking about? Let's spend some time on some diagramming and scoping to understand the larger moving parts. We'll obviously iterate and refactor to get it right along the way, and so let's not paralyze ourselves early, but we do need to establish some common language between the participants.
 - What tools am I going to use? For example, what framework will we use to get data in and out of our application? And, why? Another example is the many forms of IoC containers out there. Which one and why?
 - How am I going to structure all this practically? Let's talk about overarching principles/methodologies that we will choose to apply on this project. Let's also establish the subprojects in the overall solution from a technical standpoint.
Please, if you have any suggestions or comments, serve them up now! Especially if there's anything in particular, top-level, that you think should be included. And, I hope you join me actively in subsequent posts.
MachineKey Key Generator
It's not super-easy to find a versatile key generator for creating truly random keys to use in your MachineKey section in web.config or machine.config. So, here's a quick console app, and related zipped project (Current extension is.doc to bypass WordPress' file type limitations. Just save locally using "Save Link As..", rename extension to.zip, unzip and enjoy.) to help you out with generating any of the various allowable keys you may need. Run it from inside a command-line window by calling:
MachineKeyGeneratorConsole.exe /v: /d:
To save to a file, just type:
MachineKeyGeneratorConsole.exe /v: /d: > key.txt
The switches are optional. Valid values for validation key generation are: AES, AES128, AES192, AES256, MD5, SHA1, HMACSHA1, SHA256, HMACSHA256, SHA384, HMACSHA384, SHA512, HMACSHA512. If no value is given, the default value is SHA1. Furthermore, although you can give different key sizes for some algorithms, the appropriate MachineKeyValidation is returned.
Valid values for decryption keys are: AES, AES128, AES192, AES256, DES, 3DES. If no value is given, the default value is AES.
using System;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Linq;
using System.Security;
using System.Security.Cryptography;
using System.Text;
namespace MachineKeyGeneratorConsole
 static class Program
 static int Main(string[] args)
 if (args.Any(arg => arg.ToLower().Equals("/t") || arg.ToLower().Equals("-t")))
 Trace.Listeners.Add(new ConsoleTraceListener(true));
 return Environment.ExitCode;
 catch (Exception e)
 return (Environment.ExitCode!= 0)? Environment.ExitCode : 100;
 static void Run(string[] args)
 int vkeybits = 256;
 string vkeyalg = "HMACSHA256";
 string vchoice = args.FirstOrDefault(arg => (arg.ToLower().Substring(0, 3).Equals("/v:") || arg.ToLower().Substring(0, 3).Equals("-v:")));
 if (vchoice!= null)
 Console.WriteLine("Requesting validation key: " + vchoice.Substring(3).ToUpper());
 switch (vchoice.Substring(3).ToUpper())
 case "AES128":
 vkeybits = 128;
 vkeyalg = "AES";
 case "AES":
 case "AES192":
 vkeybits = 192;
 vkeyalg = "AES";
 case "AES256":
 vkeybits = 256;
 vkeyalg = "AES";
 case "MD5":
 vkeybits =


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The Gironde is a navigable estuary (often falsely referred to as a river), in southwest France and is formed from the meeting of the rivers Dordogne and Garonne just downstream of the centre of Bordeaux. Covering around 635 km2 (245 sq mi), it is the largest estuary in western Europe.
The Gironde is approximately 80 km (50 mi) long and 3–11 km (2–7 miles) wide and the French département Gironde is named after it. The Gironde is subject to very strong tidal currents and great care is needed when navigating the estuary by any size or type of boat.
The Gironde was the setting for Operation Frankton, a British special forces operation during the Second World War tasked with the objective of destroying shipping moored at the docks in Bordeaux.
Within the estuary between the Pointe de Grave at the seaward end and le bec d'Ambes are a series of small islands.
The Île de Patiras is 200 ha in size with a lighthouse to aid navigation in the estuary. Vines and maize are grown there.
The Île Sans-Pain and Île Bouchaud are now virtually joined due to progressive silting and are referred to as the Ile Nouvelle. They total about 265 ha and are owned by the Conservatoire du Littoral and managed by the Department of the Gironde.
Gironde (French pronunciation: [ʒiʁɔ̃d]; in Gascon Gironda) is a common name for the Gironde estuary, where the mouths of the Garonne and Dordogne rivers merge, and for a department in the Aquitaine region situated in southwest France. The Bordeaux wine region is in the Gironde.
A fishing net or fishnet is a net used for fishing. Nets are devices made from fibers woven in a grid-like structure. Fishing nets are usually meshes formed by knotting a relatively thin thread. Early nets were woven from grasses, flaxes and other fibrous plant material. Later cotton was used. Modern nets are usually made of artificial polyamides like nylon, although nets of organic polyamides such as wool or silk thread were common until recently and are still used.


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Australian Bureau of Statistics
1301.0 - Year Book Australia, 2004
Previous ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 27/02/2004
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Multifactor productivity (MFP) statistics provide a measure of changes in the efficiency of production. These measures are used by both government and private organisations to help gauge the effect of changes in work practices, technology, education and training.
MFP statistics are available only for the market sector as a whole. Although MFP is the more comprehensive measure of productivity, the ABS also produces industry labour productivity indexes. One measure of labour productivity, an index of industry GVA in chain volume measures per hour worked, is useful because it is provided for each market sector industry.
Labour productivity is constant if there is no change in the amount produced (chain volume GVA) per hour worked. Changes in this ratio reflect changes in the average skill or productivity level of the workforce. This measure reflects not only the contribution of labour to changes in production but also the contribution of capital and other factors (e.g. technological changes and managerial efficiency).
Movements in employment and hours worked tend to lag movements in GDP. The implication being, in the period of the growth cycle when the growth in output is declining, indexes of labour productivity are also likely to decline, particularly if rapid growth in GDP is abruptly ended. Conversely, labour productivity indexes are likely to grow strongly when the economy comes out of a cyclical trough.
Graph 13.9 shows the average annual rate of growth in the amount produced per hour worked for market sector industries over the most recent business growth cycle (1993-94 to 1998-99). Over this period, the average annual growth rate was 3.4% for the market sector as a whole.
Most of the market sector industries increased their productivity per hour worked. Between 1993-94 and 1998-99, the industries with the highest average annual productivity growth rates were communication services (7.3%), electricity, gas and water supply (7.2%), wholesale trade (6.8%) and mining (5.2%). Negative growth was seen only in the cultural and recreational services industry. On average, this industry's productivity fell by 0.7% per annum between 1993-94 and 1998-99.
In the previous business growth cycle (1988-89 to 1993-94), market sector productivity per hour worked grew, on average, by 2.3% each year. The communication services industry and the electricity, gas and water supply industry were again the top two productive industries in terms of growth in amount produced per hour worked. The mining industry was the third most productive industry (rising on average by 5.3% each year). In this cycle, negative growth in amount produced per hour worked was seen in the accommodation, cafes and restaurants (-1.6%), wholesale trade (-1.4%) and cultural and recreation services (-0.4%) industries.
The biggest increase in productivity between the two business cycles (1988-89 to 1993-94 and 1993-94 to 1998-99) was in the wholesale trade industry. This industry's average annual productivity was 8.2 percentage points greater in the most recent cycle compared to the previous cycle.
This page last updated 24 March 2006
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As summer ends and your child gets ready to go back to Fremont Elementary School, you probably have a lot to do to prepare. If your child wears hearing aids, consider taking these extra steps to ensure they are set to have a successful new year.
Talk to Your Child's Teachers About Hearing Loss
If you are able to, talking to your child's teachers, school staff, and/or coaches before the start of the school year can be incredibly helpful. Doing so can give you the opportunity to:
- Discuss your child's specific hearing loss needs.
- Work with their teacher to figure out how to maximize your child's ability to hear well in the classroom, such as making sure they get a seat up in the front of the class.
- Show them how your child's specific hearing aid model works. Especially if your child is younger, it can be helpful for school staff to know how to troubleshoot the device or change batteries if needed.
- Keep an open line of communication between you and their teachers throughout the school year.
Communication with your child's teachers can be especially important since observational studies have shown that many children with hearing loss don't wear their hearing aids when they are in class and that their parents are often unaware of this.
Make Sure They Have All Their Hearing Aid Supplies
It's important for children who wear their hearing aids in class to have all the accessories and supplies necessary to keep their device safe and working throughout the day. Some things you should consider making sure they have with them include:
- Extra batteries
- A soft dry cloth or hearing aid cleaning kit
- Adhesives or clips to keep hearing aids from falling off and getting damaged
- Hearing aid sleeves for gym class or practice to protect their device from moisture
- Fabric softener sheets to limit built-up static electricity
- A notecard with troubleshooting directions in case their hearing aid stops working
- A hard-shell storage kit to keep all these accessories safe and in one place
If your child has hearing loss, making sure they wear their hearing aids correctly and consistently is one of the best ways to help them succeed academically and connect with their peers.
If you have concerns about your child's hearing and would like to speak with an expert or schedule an appointment, call Advantage ENT & Audiology today.


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Caltech geophysicists find four active volcanoes in Andes with innovative satellite radar survey
Four volcanoes in the central Andes mountains of South America, all previously thought to be dormant, must now be considered active due to ground motions detected from space, geophysicists say.
In a paper appearing in the July 11 issue of the journal "Nature", California Institute of Technology geophysics graduate student Matt Pritchard and his faculty adviser, Mark Simons, unveil their analysis of eight years of radar interferometry data taken on 900 volcanoes in the Andes. The data were gathered from 1992 to 2000 by the European Space Agency's two remote-sensing satellites, ERS 1 and ERS 2.
Of the four centers of activity, Hualca Hualca volcano in southern Peru is especially worth close observation because of the population density in the area and because it is just a few miles from the active Sabancaya volcano. A second volcano now shown to be active, Uturuncu in Bolivia, is bulging vertically about 1-to-2 centimeters per year, according to the satellite data, while a third, Robledo caldera in Argentina, is actually deflating for unknown reasons. A fourth region of surface deformation, on the border between Chile and Argentina, was unknown prior to the study, so the authors christened it "Lazufre" because it lies between the two volcanoes Lastarria and Cordon del Azufre.
While the study provides important new information about volcanic hazards in its own right, Pritchard, the lead author, says it also proves the mettle of a new means of studying ground deformation that should turn out to be vastly superior to field studies. The fact that none of the four volcanoes were known to be active—and thus probably wouldn't have been of interest to geophysicists conducting studies using conventional methods—shows the promise of the technique, he says.
"Achieving this synoptic perspective would have been an impractical undertaking with ground-based methods, like the GPS system," Pritchard says.
The sensitive data is superior to ground-based results in that a huge amount of subtle information can be accumulated about a large number of geological features. The satellites bounce a radar signal off the ground, and then accurately measure the time it takes the signal to return. On a later pass, when the satellite is again in approximately the same spot, it sends another signal to the ground.
If the two signals are out of phase, then the distance from the satellite to the ground is either increasing or decreasing, and if the features are volcanic, then the motion can be assumed to have been caused by movement of magma in the subsurface or by hydrothermal activity.
"You can think of a magma chamber as a balloon beneath the surface inflating and deflating. So if the magma is building up underground, you expect a swelling upward, and this is what we can detect with the satellite data."
Given the appropriate satellite mission, all the world's subaerial volcanoes could be easily monitored for active deformation on a weekly basis. Such a capability would have a profound impact on minimizing volcanic hazards in regions lacking necessary infrastructure for regular geophysical monitoring.
Another unusual finding from the study that shows its promise in better understanding volcanism is the Lascar volcano's lack of motion. Lascar has had three major eruptions since 1993, as well as several minor ones, and many volcanologists assume there should have been some ground swelling over the years of the study, Pritchard says.
"But we find no deformation at the volcano," he explains. "Some people find it curious, others think it's not unexpected. But it's a new result, and regardless of what's going on, it could tell us interesting things about magma plumbing."
There are several possible explanations to account for the lack of vertical motion at the Lascar volcano, Pritchard says. The first and most obvious is that the satellite passes took place at times between inflations and subsequent deflations, so that no net ground motion was recorded. It could also be that magma is somehow able to get from within Earth to the atmosphere without deforming surfaces at all; or that a magma chamber might be deep enough to allow an eruption without surface deformations being visible, even though deformation is occurring at depth.
The study is also noteworthy in that Simons and Pritchard were able to do their work without leaving their offices on the Caltech campus. The data analysis was done with software developed at Caltech and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the authors say this software was critical to the study's success.
Simons, an assistant professor of geophysics at Caltech, and Pritchard are scheduled to attend a geophysics conference in Chile in October, and will try to see some or all of the four volcanoes at that time.
Contact: Robert Tindol _PHONE_


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John Sholto Douglas Queensberry, 8th marquess of
Queensberry, John Sholto Douglas, 8th marquess of, 1844–1900, British nobleman, originator of the code of rules that governs modern boxing. He served in the British army and navy and later was a member of (1872–80) the House of Lords as representative peer from Scotland. He is famous for drafting (1865), with the aid of John G. Chambers, the Queensberry rules for the sport of boxing. This code of rules, superseding the London prize-ring rules that had been introduced (1743) by Jack Broughton, contained the basic provisions that govern boxing today. The rules were gradually adopted in both Britain and the United States and by 1889 they were standardized. In 1895, objecting to the liaison between his son, Lord Alfred Douglas, and Oscar Wilde, Queensberry left an insulting letter to Wilde in a public place and was sued for libel by the writer. In this libel suit, which Wilde dropped, information was brought to light that led to the conviction of Wilde for immoral conduct.
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