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- Open Access
The puzzling issue of silica toxicity: are silanols bridging the gaps between surface states and pathogenicity?
Particle and Fibre Toxicology volume 16, Article number: 32 (2019)
Silica continues to represent an intriguing topic of fundamental and applied research across various scientific fields, from geology to physics, chemistry, cell biology, and particle toxicology. The pathogenic activity of silica is variable, depending on the physico-chemical features of the particles. In the last 50 years, crystallinity and capacity to generate free radicals have been recognized as relevant features for silica toxicity. The 'surface' also plays an important role in silica toxicity, but this term has often been used in a very general way, without defining which properties of the surface are actually driving toxicity. How the chemical features (e.g., silanols and siloxanes) and configuration of the silica surface can trigger toxic responses remains incompletely understood.
Recent developments in surface chemistry, cell biology and toxicology provide new avenues to improve our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of the adverse responses to silica particles. New physico-chemical methods can finely characterize and quantify silanols at the surface of silica particles. Advanced computational modelling and atomic force microscopy offer unique opportunities to explore the intimate interactions between silica surface and membrane models or cells. In recent years, interdisciplinary research, using these tools, has built increasing evidence that surface silanols are critical determinants of the interaction between silica particles and biomolecules, membranes, cell systems, or animal models. It also has become clear that silanol configuration, and eventually biological responses, can be affected by impurities within the crystal structure, or coatings covering the particle surface. The discovery of new molecular targets of crystalline as well as amorphous silica particles in the immune system and in epithelial lung cells represents new possible toxicity pathways. Cellular recognition systems that detect specific features of the surface of silica particles have been identified.
Interdisciplinary research bridging surface chemistry to toxicology is progressively solving the puzzling issue of the variable toxicity of silica. Further interdisciplinary research is ongoing to elucidate the intimate mechanisms of silica pathogenicity, to possibly mitigate or reduce surface reactivity.
Almost 60% of the Earth's crust is made of silica, mainly in its crystalline form. Crystalline silica (CS) is thus a key industrial product, present in many materials extracted from the ground, and an essential component of numerous products of our daily life, including ceramics, glass, paints, plastics, aids in industrial processes, and in many construction products. Industrial sectors involved with CS include producers or users of sand, gravel, and aggregates, industrial minerals, coal, cement and plaster. Thus, workers are exposed to silica in many occupational settings, and excessive inhalation of respirable CS particles has long been associated with an increased risk of respiratory and systemic diseases. Silicosis is probably the most ancient occupational disease, but obstructive lung diseases, lung cancer or autoimmune diseases are other adverse manifestations related to silica exposure. Effective preventive measures, mainly based on exposure reduction, are available to reduce the occurrence of silica-associated diseases. The recent amendment to Directive 2004/37/EC on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to carcinogens or mutagens at work () fixes a binding limit value (BLV) for respirable CS dust at 0.1 mg/m3. Guides and examples of good practice such as those proposed by the European Network on Silica (NEPSI) are recognized as valuable and necessary instruments to complement regulatory measures. The directive revision introduces in its scope "work involving exposure to respirable CS dust generated by a work process", thus highlighting the importance of material processing, possibly for revealing chemical features critical for the health risks.
The exact mechanism governing the pathogenicity of silica particles remains, indeed, one of the most puzzling issues in toxicology, despite extensive research efforts during the last century (see e.g. [13, 22, 25]). From Hippocrates (400 BC) to the Hawk's Nest tunnel incident in Gauley Bridge, West Virginia (1927), the most severe diseases associated with CS exposure occurred when particles were generated by cutting, crushing or abrading quartz-containing rocks. At that time, two main intrinsic determinants of toxicity were identified, i.e. crystallinity and fracturing. For some reasons, only crystallinity was taken up and, until the beginning of the past century, silica toxicity has been mainly a subject for occupational physicians. They considered CS particles to be a primary cause of respiratory diseases, without interest in investigating relationships between the way the dust was generated, and its impact on health. In the 1950s–70s, toxicologists began investigating the structure-toxicity relationship with a new approach. King and Wright in the UK and Daniel et al. in France reported modifications of CS with aluminum compounds and their influence on experimental responses to quartz dust. Nagelschmidt pointed out that contact of the quartz surface with minerals, metals or metal salts modifies its toxic potential. In other words, the surface state of quartz was (re-)postulated as a determinant of toxicity. These findings can be regarded as the first steps linking particle toxicology and chemistry.
The need for interdisciplinary collaboration in the search for the structure-toxicity relationship of silica particles became clear and urgent after IARC monograph n° 68. While identifying the carcinogenicity of CS particles from occupational sources, IARC added a caveat: "carcinogenicity in humans was not detected in all industrial circumstances studied. Carcinogenicity may be dependent on inherent characteristics of the silica or on external factors affecting its biological activity or distribution of its polymorphs". Several publications followed, including "The quartz hazard: A variable entity", "Surface chemistry and quartz hazard", and "Variation of biological responses to different respirable quartz". Variability thus was recognized as an intrinsic feature of silica toxicity.
In the same period, the need for new and efficient materials prompted the chemical community to develop the production of nanomaterials, including amorphous silica (AS) nanoparticles. As a consequence, surface chemistry, as the clue to the topographic description of particle surfaces, was largely developed. Toxicologists started to use cell culture techniques and the stage was set for large, multidisciplinary collaborations to unveil the interaction of silica particles (crystalline and amorphous) with living matter.
Recent developments in the surface chemistry of silica, cell biology and toxicology have provided new avenues to extend and improve our understanding of the variable reactivity of silica particles. New tools and models are also available to explore the interactions between silica particles and cells. This, collectively, creates a unique momentum for finally elucidating the main mechanisms of silica toxicity. A focused workshop was jointly organized in Torino (September 2018) by the 'G. Scansetti' Center of the University of Torino (Italy) and the Louvain centre for Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology (Belgium) to gather both the new and older generations of researchers active in the field, from different horizons and across a range of disciplines, including chemistry, geology, biophysics, biology and toxicology. The aim of the workshop was to discuss recent research on the understanding and prediction of silica toxicity through surface characterization, particle toxicology or preparation of safer materials. This Commentary illustrates how interdisciplinarity can contribute to the understanding of the intimate mechanisms of silica pathogenicity.
From tools to evaluate the silica surface to the inorganic-bio interface
The conceptual foundation of research conducted on the surface of silica is that the physico-chemical 'dialogue' of silica materials with any medium in contact depends on the relative amount and relative spatial distribution of surface silanols (≡Si-OH; =Si (OH)2) and siloxane bridges (≡Si-O-Si≡) (Fig. 1). Strained 3-membered siloxane rings, triggering hydroxyl radical formation, were claimed to have an important role in the toxicity of pyrogenic AS, whereas they are considered to be absent at the surface of CS. However, silanol groups also determine a relevant part of the surface of silica, especially in the absence of surface centers active in radical chemistry. Modern physico-chemical methods are now available to finely characterize and quantify silanols at the surface of silica particles, and advanced computational modelling and atomic force microscopy contribute to clarify the intimate interactions between silica surface and biological macromolecules, membrane models or cells.
Surface silanols can be detected and quantified by several complementary methods, including thermal gravimetric analysis, titration, zeta (ζ)-potential, magnetic resonance, and vibrational spectroscopies. While infrared and Raman spectroscopy alone can provide a qualitative picture of the silanol groups present in silica samples, they fail at quantification, unless they are combined with additional measures such as H/D isotopic exchange (see below). Careful thermogravimetric analysis, coupled with mass-spectroscopic analysis of evolved gas, allows determination of the total (internal and surface) silanol content. Titration of hydroxyl groups on the particle surface with appropriate reagents such as lithium aluminium hydride (lithium alanate) yields the amount of surface silanols. Not all surface silanol groups are, however, accessible due to steric hindrance. A prerequisite to every quantitative analysis is, therefore, a thorough sample pre-treatment, removing physisorbed water at a temperature of 140–150 °C and application of a vacuum. Such a characterization procedure is illustrated by the example of pyrogenic AS, produced by flame spray pyrolysis at different flame enthalpies,


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Grantee Credibility Assessment
A Grantee Credibility Assessment provides insight into a grantee's reputation, the impact of its programs, and other key criteria to help ensure your support will prove a good investment. Our customizable grantee scoring system employs criteria such as the following:
- Strategy: How do the organization's programs work? What makes their approach different from other approaches? What is the theory of change?
- Impact of Programs: Can the organization demonstrate immediate and lasting impact from its activities? Does the organization have a system in place to measure and evaluate outcomes and impact?
- Organization and Operations: Does the organization have a strong financial track record, a clear plan for long-term sustainability, and an ethic of transparency?
- Leadership: How effective is the executive and management team? In what manner does the board support and contribute?
- Innovation: Is the organization recognized as a leader or innovator in its field?
- Reputation: What is the organization's reputation among peers, the public, and its beneficiaries?
- Local Empowerment & Capacity: Does the program empower its beneficiaries and integrate gender equality and social inclusion principles?
Paragon's team is uniquely positioned to evaluate potential grantees through the lens of programmatic impact and other key criteria. Our team members are recognized experts and thought leaders in their fields. Following are principal areas of focus:
The San Francisco Foundation
Douglas B. Marshall, Jr. Family Foundation
Rodan + Fields Prescription for Change Foundation
Greater Kansas City Community Foundation
Seattle International Foundation
Communities Foundation of Texas
Marin Community Foundation

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


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The Try-Catch in UiPath Studio is an activity for managing exceptions. It allows you to determine how to respond if an exception is thrown so that you can handle it appropriately. This helps to prevent the UiPath robot from abruptly breaking in the event of an exception, and it's considered a key element of RPA development best practices.
Structure of the Try Catch
The Try-Catch activity contains three main sections: 1. Try that holds the activity or set of activities that could throw an exception.
2. Catches to indicate the exception type and, optionally, holds an activity or set of activities that'll be executed when the specified exception is thrown.
3. Finally, holds an activity or set of activities that'll always be executed.
Try - the activity or sequence of activities performed which has a chance of throwing an error.
Catches - the activity or set of activities to be performed when an error occurs. Here you must select the exception type to look for.
Finally - the activity or set of activities to be performed after the Try and Catches blocks are executed regardless of the result, which means it'll be executed if an error is caught or no errors occur.
There's no one right way to use the Try-Catch activity, as it depends on the design of your automation or process and its structure. However, you can avoid common mistakes and follow best practices. Here are some useful tips. 1. How to throw an exception properly
In UiPath, it's possible to throw both business and system exceptions to indicate when an error has occurred in your automation process. Here's how you can throw each type of exception. Business Exceptions: business exceptions are user-defined exceptions that you can throw in your automation process to indicate a specific error has occurred. To throw a business exception, you can use the "Throw" activity and specify the type of exception you want to throw. Example: New BusinessRuleException("You message here")
System Exceptions: System exceptions are pre-defined exceptions that are built into the.NET framework. To throw a system exception, you can use the "Throw" activity and specify the type of exception you want to throw.
Example: New System.IO.FileNotFoundException("file not found")
2. Try to avoid using nested Try-Catch When you use nested Try-Catch activities, it makes it harder to manage your Catches. Also, it doesn't look good in your code, making it hard for maintenance or changes on your project.
3. Try to catch specific exceptions In this way, you'll have control on what to do depending on the exception throw.
4. Remember that the Catches will always match the most specific exception first. In the example below, when the SelectorNotfoundException is thrown, it'll match the correspondent exception in the Catches, even if the Generic Exception is set.
5. Keep in mind to distinguish between Business Exceptions and System Exceptions Business Exceptions are related to processed data and the business logic. A Business Exception will be treated differently because it's related to the business specifications. This is something that can be controlled and must be assessed in the project requirements gathering.
System Exceptions are always related to the applications that the robot interacts with. A System Exception can happen anytime and can or can't be expected. So, the robot must be prepared to handle this type of exception. This is something present on the UiPath REFramework.
Here are some of the most common exceptions you may encounter during your RPA project development. Of course, there are plenty of other exceptions, but these are the ones you're likely to face sooner or later. System.IO.IOException - Occurs in many file I/O operations.
UiPath.Core.SelectorNotFoundException — The most common exception in UiPath, related to a selector that may have changed or that the robot was unable to find.
System.NullReferenceException — Exception related to calling a method on a null object reference.
System.ArgumentNullException — Occurs when a null argument is used in an invoked workflow.
IndexOutOfRangeException - The index is outside the range of an array or collection, meaning it exceeds its capacity.
TimeoutException — Occurs when an operation that was supposed to take place within a certain timeframe has expired.
The Try-Catch activity is an essential tool for managing exceptions in UiPath RPA projects. Exceptions can occur at any time and their proper handling can mean the difference for a successful project. By using the Try-Catch activity and following best practices, you can ensure a robust and stable automation process. Don't forget, proper exception handling is key to the success of your automation projects.
Get recognized for the most creative AI-powered automation use cases in your industry. UiPath AI Center, Document Understanding and Task Mining have the spotlight. Votes will count until February 23, 2023. Participate in the challenge here.


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Sarah De Val has published a major new paper in Nature Communications on 28th January 2019.
Sarah's lab aims to understand how blood and lymphatic vessels are formed, with the aspiration to use this knowledge to modulate vessel growth in pathologies. In particular, the mechanisms by which vein identity is established and maintained are currently very poorly understood, but it is crucial to understand these in order to improve our strategies of controlling vessel growth in order to successfully treat certain diseases.
This paper identifies a major and previously unsuspected role for Bone Morphogenetic Proteins in the acquisition and maintenance of vein identity, through a detailed analysis of early vascular patterning in mice and zebrafish. BMPs are a group of growth factors originally discovered by their ability to induce the formation of bone and cartilage.
"This work places BMP signalling at the top of a regulatory cascade that activates venous identity. It represents a fundamental advance in both our knowledge of vascular development and our understanding of the role of the BMP pathway. It also provides a wealth of novel targets for therapeutic manipulations of vascular growth, for example in heart disease and cancer." - A/Prof De Val.
The full paper can be viewed here.


STScI Logo
Calibration Reference Data System
File and Table Structures
Reference data, like most other HST data, is stored as FITS files. FITS with extensions for the newer instruments, or "waiver" FITS for the legacy Instruments and WFPC2. The FITS files for reference data contain information in the form of tables or images.
For a detailed discussion of understanding and working with these file types, see Chapter 2 of the on-line HST Data Handbook.
Each operational reference file past or present has a unique name. The file name root has the format YMDHHMMSI where:
 Y denotes the year (1->Z, 1981=1)
 M denotes the month (1->C, January = 1)
 D denotes the day of the month (1->V)
 HH denotes the hour (00->23)
 MM denotes the minutes (00->59)
 S denotes seconds/2 (0->T)
 I denotes the instrument
 (j=ACS, n=NICMOS, u=WFPC2, o=STIS, f=FGS, l=COS, i=WFC3
 v=HSP, w=WFPC, x=FOC, y=FOS, z=GHRS, m=multiple)
The file name extension which is defined by file type is appended to the unique root.
Example: p9e1544dj_drk.fits is an ACS file (last character in the rootname is j=>ACS); it is a dark file (drk), named on 14 September 2005 at 15 hours 44 minutes 26 seconds (p9e1544d).
For the detailed specifications of calibration reference data, see document ICD-47 (PDF).
Description of the reference data by instrument:


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Caribbean Water Science Center
PUERTO RICO PROJECTS
USGS IN YOUR STATE
USGS Water Science Centers are located in each state.
Hydrology and Water Quality of the Levittown Lake, Toa Baja, Puerto Rico
Project Number: 2516-E5900
Figure 1. Location of the Levittown Lake in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico, about five miles west of the Bahía de San Juan
Levittown Lake is surrounded by dense populated areas to the north, east, and south, with an extensive vegetated buffer zone that extends by about 6 kilometers west of the lake (fig. 2). The lake is about 5 meters in depth and because of the man-made nature it has a presumably a flat bottom with little relief. The actual lacustrine system is composed of three basic identifiable components: the lake's main water body, the inlet/outlet channel that connects with the sea, and a runoff channel that receives the majority of the urban runoff generated by rainfall.
The lake is connected to the Atlantic Ocean by a 1.6-kilometer channel and is surrounded by mangroves and tidal swamps (fig. 1). Although initially intended to be a draining system, the lake may have turned into a functional aquatic ecosystem with an effective trophic chain. With its inlet/outlet channel connecting the lake to the ocean, the Levittown Lake may be operating as a typical coastal lagoon exporting tons of organic matter to the sea supporting the food chain and removing tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Therefore, the Levittown Lake could have become an integral part of the nearby coastal resources and an important ecological oasis and carbon dioxide filter in the middle of a heavily developed and populated zone.
As designed, the Levittown Lake receives urban runoff from developed areas in order to contain the waters and drain them out of the system to avoid flooding of private property. This runoff however is suspected to be contaminated and affecting nearby housing units. Neighboring people have reported noxious conditions and foul odors that affect the quality of life of many families. In addition to the possible human hazard, noxious conditions could be negatively impacting the aquatic ecosystem since the Levittown Lake has become a habitat for many fish and bird species.
Runoff from the Levittown Lake basin is presumed to be contributing with sewage from possible sewer mains and septic tanks overflow, as well as contaminants like metals and oils derived from surrounding ground transportation infrastructure, and urban wastes dumped directly into the lake. During periods of high runoff events, high nutrient loads could enter the lake which can be deleterious to the lake's ecological health and impair the homeostatic capacity of the semi-enclosed coastal resource. In addition, flood tides could be contributing pollutants derived from the nearby Río Hondo and Río Bayamón through the runoff channel (fig. 3).
Figure 3. Location of the Levittown's inlet/outlet and runoff channels.
Although the Levittown Lake could be an important coastal resource in the middle of development, local and Federal authorities, there are no documented scientific data to characterize, manage, and regulate the resource. Therefore, the need to establish the water quality baseline data is necessary.
The objective of this study is to obtain baseline data of the physical, chemical, biological, and bacteriological conditions of the Levittown Lake to define its present characteristics and provide to the stakeholders of the resource a holistic perspective of the area's hydrology and ecological conditions.
The proposed study will encompass the Levittown Lake's main water body, the inlet/outlet, and the runoff channels. Data collection will include monthly measurements of physical, chemical, biological, and bacteriological parameters to define seasonal variability during one year. The study will also include two diel studies to determine community productivity rates, diurnal variation of selected water-quality characteristics, water interchange of the lagoon with the ocean through the outlet channel. The study is proposed to be conducted between October 2009 and September 2011, for a total of two natural years.
Strategy and Approach
The study will include the following field activities:
Table 1 summarizes the physical, biochemical, biological, and chemical parameters to be obtain at sampling stations in the lake. The proposed physical parameters, water quality, nutrients, primary productivity, phytoplankton, sediment, and tidal station locations at Levittown Lake are shown on fig. 4.
This study will provide updated information on the hydrology, morphology, water quality, and biological characteristics of Levittown Lake, and how these interact and affect the aquatic ecosystem. The data will provide stakeholders with a broad overview and understanding of natural processes, which can be used to more effectively manage and monitor the Levittown Lake's watershed and coastal surrounding areas, to protect the reserve and promote habitat utilization.


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Here is the basic tip to customize your computers desktop running on Mac OS. If you are bored with same old background the do this.
- Choose System Preferences from Apple Menu. A System Preferences window will pop-up.
- Select Desktop & Screen Saver button.
- Select on the Desktop tab. On the right side you have default images of Mac. And on the left side you have an category of images.
- Select any image you like. There are plenty of them.
- As you click on the thumbnail of a image the desktop background will change. By this you can see a preview.
- Now Close the window.


How is a Reiki energy treatment session with a horse?
Reiki and horse sessions are quite different from those with humans, and at the same time similar. You must know that Reiki is only offered to the horse and never imposed. The practitioner will always adapt to the animal. There may be no physical contact if the horse shows some shyness, anxiety or simply does not want to make physical contact. This does not detract from the effectiveness of the Reiki treatment. The horse can approach, is free of his movements and then participate fully in the session. During the treatment, the horse may show some signs of energy such as drowsiness, deep breathing, sighing and/or staring eyes.
Where to practice the session?
It is possible to achieve the energy treatment by being close to him; in his meadow, box or stable; or behind: behind the door of the box or the fence of the meadow if he is more nervous, anxious, stressed and afraid. Just respect the animal and make it feel safe.
How long is a session?
The duration of the energy treatment varies. Some more suspicious horses will take longer to accept energy, while others will readily accept it from the beginning. Generally, the time of a session will be about 30min to 1h, not counting the time that the horse will put to accept the energy. Some will be more suspicious, others ignorant, or some will readily accept it from the start.
How many sessions are expected?
If the purpose of the energy session is only to bring relaxation, rebalance and the general condition of the horse, only one will be sufficient, to renew when you feel the need and desire, or to give a boost before a contest for example. Reiki energy treatments will intervene to favour the process of self-healing of the body and will support the follow-up and veterinary treatment on sessions.
If it is a chronic disease, skin problems or behaviour, for example, several sessions will be expected. Generally, at least 3 or 4 sessions are expected at about 1 session every 10 days.
Reiki energy care is only an additional aid to veterinary treatment and monitoring and does not replace it under any circumstances.


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- Code of Conduct (Please note there is no longer a separate version for elementary students)
- Code of Conduct – Arabic (Arabic Translation)
The Dearborn Public Schools consider maintaining a safe, secure, and orderly learning environment our number one priority. We believe, through securing a safe, secure, and orderly learning environment, we foster the development of responsible active citizens of our city, state, and country.
A necessary step to secure such an orderly learning environment is to outline the standards for behavior by our students and staff. The Code of Conduct for the Dearborn Public Schools ensures this first step. It is through the judicious application of our Code of Conduct that we nurture responsible and caring citizens and citizenship by our students.


Wednesday | July 22, 2020
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Tim Scott (R–S.C.) and Mark Warner (D–Va.) introduced the Long-Term Care (LTC) Pharmacy Definition Act of 2020. This bipartisan legislation, if passed, will ensure seniors requiring long-term care have access to the medication and treatments they need. This bill would also codify an adaptable definition for "long-term care pharmacy" to enhance clarity and consistency across diverse programs and agencies. Without adding new costs to the healthcare system, a clear federal definition for LTC pharmacy would provide policymakers and regulators with the tools needed to facilitate the unique supports that these pharmacies offer, within both current models and the innovative models of the future.
"This commonsense legislation would ensure clarity and consistency for our long-term care pharmacies without adding costs to our healthcare system," shared Senator Scott. "I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan bill, which will make it easier for this important sector to navigate regulatory confusion and allow them to care and provide for our nation's seniors."
"Long-term care pharmacies are essential to providing quality care to millions of our nation's seniors. Unfortunately, under existing rules, they are regulated in the same way as more traditional retail pharmacies, which has created unnecessary bureaucracy around providing life-saving medication and services for a vulnerable population," said Senator Warner. "That's why we're introducing legislation that will create a distinct definition for long-term care pharmacies to better reflect the specialized care they provide for the senior population they serve."
"Long Term Care Pharmacies provide critical services for seniors, who often require multiple prescriptions to maintain their health. Because there is no statuary definition for LTC Pharmacies, they must negotiate a patchwork of vague, inconsistent provisions, which could disrupt services and impact care for seniors. This commonsense legislation will help agencies give more consistent regulatory direction as well as streamline services to residents," said Rep. Mullin.
"The personal services that long term care pharmacies provide seniors, many who take upwards of 10 medications per day, are critical for the health and wellness of millions of Americans," said Rep. Schrader. "COVID-19 has had a disproportionate effect on this vulnerable population and now more than ever a consistent regulatory framework that defines long term care pharmacies is crucial. This bipartisan legislation will offer greater governmental oversight and create regulatory consistency across multiple federal agencies."
"Now more than ever, as the nation's LTC community copes with the unprecedented impact of COVID-19, establishing a clear and consistent regulatory framework for LTC pharmacies is essential," said Alan G. Rosenbloom, President and CEO of the Senior Care Pharmacy Coalition. "We commend Senators Scott and Warner as well as Congressmen Schrader and Mullin for recognizing the unique value proposition LTC pharmacies offer seniors in nursing homes and other LTC facilities by introducing this much-needed legislation. The patient care services LTC pharmacies provide, including the 12 prescriptions per day per person on average, are crucial to the health and safety of our most vulnerable citizens."
Congressmen Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) and Kurt Schrader (R-OR) introduced companion legislation in the House of Representatives.
Full text of the bill is available HERE.
Related Issues:


Understanding Oracle HASH Joins
By Richard Niemiec on April 20, 2013
HASH joins are the usual choice of the Oracle optimizer when the memory is set up to accommodate them. In a HASH join, Oracle accesses one table (usually the smaller of the joined results) and builds a hash table on the join key in memory. It then scans the other table in the join (usually the larger one) and probes the hash table for matches to it. Oracle uses a HASH join efficiently only if the parameter PGA_AGGREGATE_TARGET is set to a large enough value. If MEMORY_TARGET is used, the PGA_AGGREGATE_TARGET is included in the MEMORY_TARGET, but you may still want to set a minimum.
If you set the SGA_TARGET, you must set the PGA_AGGREGATE_TARGET as the SGA_TARGET does not include the PGA (unless you use MEMORY_TARGET as just described). The HASH join is similar to a NESTED LOOPS join in the sense that there is a nested loop that occurs—Oracle first builds a hash table to facilitate the operation and then loops through the hash table. When using an ORDERED hint, the first table in the FROM clause is the table used to build the hash table.
HASH joins can be effective when the lack of a useful index renders NESTED LOOPS joins inefficient. The HASH join might be faster than a SORT-MERGE join, in this case, because only one row source needs to be sorted, and it could possibly be faster than a NESTED LOOPS join because probing a hash table in memory can be faster than traversing a b-tree index.
As with SORT-MERGE joins and CLUSTER joins, HASH joins work only on equijoins. As with SORT-MERGE joins, HASH joins use memory resources and can drive up I/O in the temporary tablespace if the sort memory is not sufficient (which can cause this join method to be extremely slow).
Finally, HASH joins are available only when cost-based optimization is used (which should be 100 percent of the time for your application running on Oracle 11g).
Table 1 illustrates the method of executing the query shown in the listing that follows when a HASH join is used.
Table 1. HASH join
Related Posts
 1. is there a mistake in the diagramm – the hash table is formed from small table which is dept and join key is use to probe the larger table employee.
 2. Hi,
 One quick question.
 When you build the hash table with join key as the "key", what is the "value" in the hash table.
 Hash tables consists of key-value pair. "Key" is join key here. What is the "value"?
 3. Hash joins use a hash function which basically converts the join column in the smaller table to a hash_value in the hash build table. It then probes the second (usually larger table) using the same hash function to return the full result set to the next step in the execution plan
 - Hi, can u pls explain y emp is considered as Hash Table whereas it is mentioned the smaller one usually be use as HT.
 4. Hi Mohua,
 Normally a hash join would choose the smaller table to hash. However in this query, there is an 'ordered' hint which instructs the optimizer to use the first table in the from clause – in this case, the first table is 'emp'
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Why Christmas?
Author: Barbara Reaoch
Illustrator: Carol McCarty
Paperback, 64 pages
ISBN 9781936908622
Looking for another format?
ePub | Kindle
About the book
Why do we celebrate Christmas? Most children do not know the true answer to that question or why God sent Jesus to live on earth. Why Christmas? is a helpful devotional with Scripture reading, memory verse, Christmas carol and questions to direct your child's heart towards God. The readings, which begin on the first day of December, are Biblical, short, and effective. Colorful illustrations illuminate the events of the incarnation. This book will provide parents with the assistance they desire for leading their child to the Christ of Christmas.
See also: A companion volume, Why Easter?, is also available to assist parents in teaching their children about Jesus' death and resurrection.
"God coming to earth as a baby?! That's as incredible as fitting an oil tanker into a bath tub or a 747 into your garage. No, it's even more astounding! Christmas may be God's greatest miracle of all and every boy and girl should be able to know why. And Why Christmas? provides an exceptional opportunity for parents and Christian leaders to lead their children through a rich and wonderful discovery behind the miracle of Christmas – I highly recommend this brilliant little book for every child!"
—Joni Eareckson Tada, Joni and Friends International Disability Center
About the author
Barbara Reaoch is Bible Study Fellowship International's Director of children's programs. For nearly twenty years, she taught women's BSF classes in the United States and South Africa. Barbara has also worked at the Rafiki Girl's Center in South Africa, teaching the Bible and life skills to young women. She has been married to Ron for forty years; they have three grown children and four grandchildren.
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The Cyanotype Process
Sep 14, 2020
What is Cyanotype?
Cyanotype is a camera-less photography process all about simplicity and wonder. Images are made on watercolor paper with the sun. If it still seems rather abstract don't worry I'll break down the process for you in 5 steps. This is not intended to be a technical explanation for fellow artists to be able to create their own cyanotypes but simply a little window into this slow and beautiful process.
Step 1: Coat
Two chemicals ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide are mixed together to create a yellow green solution that makes the paper sensitive to light. In the darkroom, this solution is coated onto watercolor paper and left to dry in the dark.
Step 2: Compose
Still in the darkroom, I cut the paper by hand and create the composition. Depending on how I cut the paper and the complexity of the composition, this can take hours. Then place the paper with the composition between a sheet of glass and matte board and prepare to take it outside.
Step 3: Expose
Each piece is taken outside into the direct sunlight. The yellow-green of the paper changes to blue and then bronze. This can take between 5 – 30 minutes depending on the weather, time of day, and season.
Step 4: Wash
Once the pice is properly exposed then it is washed in water. This ends the exposure and makes the image permanent. Where the flower was remained white and the rest of the paper changes from bronze to blue.
Step 5: Dry
Once all the chemicals are washed off, each piece is hung to dry. As is dries the blue deepens and the full details of the piece reveal themselves.
It seems like a relatively simple process and in some senses it is. But there is so much nuance and refinement to be had in its simplicity. I hope this helped you understand this unique process a little bit better and make it's beauty a little richer.
The Process
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Enabling complex silicon devices such as systems-on-a-chip (SoC) with operating firmware and application software can be a challenge for equipment manufacturers who often are more comfortable with hardware than software issues. In many ways, the open-source movement improved the task of software development, but it also brought its own set of challenges. Fortunately, opensource embedded software development has continued to evolve, simplifying the development processes, enhancing the efficiency and allowing equipment manufacturers to more effectively differentiate the capabilities of their hardware. The Yocto Project is another phase in this evolution.


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Explain the relationships between motivation, emotion, and behavior. How does emotion affect motivation? Provide an example of a specific behavior,…
January 10, 2021
Behavioral Disorders
January 10, 2021
Please answer the following three questions in atleast 200 words, including one APA reference.
1. Freud suggests that difficulty in any stage of development can cause abnormal sexual behavior. Do you agree? Why or why not?
2. From the psychodynamic viewpoint, the presence of an uncaring mother or the absence of a mother could adversely affect one or more stages of lifespan development. From a modern-day vantage point with its wealth of research and resources, will the presence of an uncaring mother or the absence of a mother necessarily affect the interpersonal relationships of an individual later in life? Why or why not?
3. Consider the concepts of resistance and transference from the psychoanalytic perspective. How might these concepts negatively affect a relationship? Explain. Are there ever positive effects from the application of one or both of these concepts? Why or why not? While not required, personal examples in support of your position are acceptable as a supplement to the scholarly research in this area depending on the extent to which you feel comfortable discussing such information.
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This video is called Video SparkNotes: Shakespeare's King Lear summary.
Simon Basketter in Britain takes a look at a new book that cuts through the mysticism around Shakespeare:
Tue 16 Oct 2012
Objects that bear witness to Shakespeare's restless times
The last thing the eyeball of Edward Oldcorne would have seen was the executioner walking to disembowel him.
That eyeball became a relic.
- Shakespeare, a poet who is still making our history | Neil MacGregor (guardian.co.uk)
- Shakespeare's Restless World by Neil MacGregor - review (guardian.co.uk)

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


Men Who Like Spicy Food have More Testosterone
For older men, eating spicy foods can be an issue given that the resulting stomach acid can lead to a certain amount of distress that needs antacid tablets or treatments. However, studies have now shown that men who enjoy spicy food actually have higher levels of testosterone. It may seem strange that food which can barely be kept in the mouth for very long and having properties that may in certain cases be really uncomfortable to eat is linked to having higher testosterone levels in the body.
However, a study from France has shown that men who preferred spicy foods were more likely to have boosted levels of testosterone which naturally leads to the supposition that elements or ingredients in spicy foods have a naturally boosting effect. The study was conducted with 114 men who were aged 18 to 44 and they were asked about which types of foods that they enjoyed eating. It was found that the men who preferred spicier meals such as those including red peppers for example had higher levels of testosterone.
Is the Link Between Spicy Food and Boosted Testosterone Real?
There is no doubt that men who enjoy spicy foods tend to have higher levels of testosterone in their body. However, the question is whether spicy foods actually boosted the testosterone levels or do men who have naturally higher levels of testosterone enjoy spicier foods.
To the researchers involved in the study, they lean toward the latter as the men who did like spicy food tended to be more risk taking, more youthful in their appearance and approach to life. This indicates the their enjoyment of spicy food was simply a sign or symptom of their higher levels of testosterone in their bodies.
So, the idea that spicy food alone boosts testosterone levels naturally has no basis in fact at least right now. However, the consuming of spicy food if it is not very distressful to the male can be good for the health when done in moderation. Spicy food from natural sources such as red pepper is not only more tasty, it also provides plenty of nutrients that the body needs.
While the evidence leans towards spicy foods at best being a reinforcement of the testosterone that is already present. It does not hurt to spice up the diet with foods from the pepper family and other spicy sources. Especially if they reduce the amount of sugar that is consumed which is a big factor in reducing the amount of testosterone in the body.
The researchers are continuing their efforts and even using rats in studies which have actually shown some indication that testosterone levels can at least be reinforced, if not boosted with the consumption of spicy foods. However, it does seem at this point that men who have a taste for spicy foods came from their upbringing or perhaps the coloring of the foods were attractive enough for them to try them out. There is no indication as of yet that eating spicy foods will actually boost testosterone levels.
At my site there are reviews of natural testosterone boosting supplements that may be used either with or in place of spicy foods.
Leave Your Review


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What is the logic of the numbers on color tubes?
It is more and more common to want to regrow hair color in the comfort of your home? Before jumping into a color choice, it is important to understand the numbering of professional coloring creams.
Before choosing a new color (destination) it is essential that you determine your natural color level (starting point). We suggest you validate your natural level with a hairdressing professional. A poorly rated level results in an approximate formulation that will not give you satisfaction.
Then, you should know that the shade of a color is described by its level and its reflections.
Ex: The European standard mainly uses numbers 6,75 or 6.75 or 6/75 or the American standard which favors using letters like 6BR depending on the product manufacturers.
1 / The level
The level is always represented by a number the first of the series placed before the point, the comma or the slash. In our example the 6 of 6/75 cold chocolate (dark blonde / brown mahogany)... represents the pitch.
Level is the unit used in the hair industry to display the degree of saturation of pigments in a color. Level 1 (black) being the darkest and level 10 (very very light blond) the lightest.
Here are the levels (ex: 6/75 dark blonde / brown mahogany)
1 = Black
2 = Brown
3 = Dark brown
4 = Brown
5 = Light brown
6 = Dark blonde
7 = blond
8 = light blonde
9 = Very light blonde
10 = Very very light blonde
This level scale is universal and allows 3 things to be determined:
 - the initial natural or colored level
 - the desired color level
 - the tone level of a coloring tube
2 / The reflections
The numbers corresponding to the reflection(s) are presented after the period, the comma or the slash, in our example the 75 of 6/75. These numbers are used to determine the warmth or cool shade of the color.
Here are the highlights (ex: 6/75 dark blonde / brown mahogany)
 - the 6 indicates the level of the pitch that will be obtained,
 - the first number / 7.. (brown) following the "point, comma or slash" determines the intensity of the main reflection which will be the most dominant.
 - the second number /..5 following the / 7.. specifies the secondary reflection which will offer a more sophisticated effect to the reflection by adding light, intensity or depth.
N = 0 = natural
A = 1 = ashy, cold
V = 2 = iridescent and or cold purple (secondary reflection)
G = 3 = golden, hot
C = 4 = copper, hot
M = 5 = mahogany, cold
R = 6 = red, hot
B = 7 = brown, hot / cold (main reflection)
We invite you to always validate the description of any letter present on the tubes to ensure that you make the right choice.
Numbers aren't the only way companies are careful to identify their tube colors. The description of the color shade is always present on each tube and packaging.
Ex: 6/75 = dark blonde / brown mahogany
Before choosing a new range of shades, we suggest that you carry out a colorimetry test to validate which shades best match your skin tone. A poorly chosen reflection will have the effect of offering a tired or even pale complexion.
N.B: this information is subject to reservation and includes generalities which may vary from one company to another, we invite you to validate the description of the numbering always present on the tube or packaging.
Coiffure à rabais becomes


Narrative poetry
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Narrative poetry is a form of poetry that tells a story, often making use of the voices of a narrator and characters as well; the entire story is usually written in metred verse. The poems that make up this genre may be short or long, and the story it relates to may be complex. It is usually dramatic, with objectives, diverse characters, and metre.[1] Narrative poems include epics, ballads, idylls, and lays.
Shorter narrative poems are often similar in style to the short story. Sometimes these short narratives are collected into interrelated groups, as with Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Some literatures contain prose narratives that include poems and poetic interludes; much Old Irish poetry is contained within prose narratives, and the Old Norse sagas include both incidental poetry and the biographies of poets. An example is "The Cremation of Sam McGee" by Robert Service.
Oral tradition[edit]
The Oral Tradition predates essentially all other modern forms of communication. For literally thousands of years, people groups accurately passed on their history through the Oral Tradition from generation to generation. As a clear example and the oldest one comes from Ancient India, the Vedic Chants, which are often considered the oldest unbroken oral tradition in existence today. In addition one of the most notable was the ancient Hebrews, people of the Middle East, they were taught and passed on the stories of God. Surprisingly this tradition lives on even today through such efforts as, for example, that trains indigenous story tellers in over 115 countries worldwide. The Poetry in the Bible is called the Psalms that capture stories of conquest, failure, confession, and more. Some of it is Narrative in nature.
Historically, much of poetry has its source in an oral tradition: in more recent times the Scots and English ballads, the tales of Robin Hood, of Iskandar, and various Baltic and Slavic heroic poems all were originally intended for recitation, rather than reading. In many cultures, there remains a lively tradition of the recitation of traditional tales in verse formativeness. It has been suggested that some of the distinctive features that distinguish poetry from prose, such as metre, alliteration, and kennings, at one time served as memory aids that allowed the bards who recited traditional tales to reconstruct them from memory.[2]
A Narrative Poem usually tells a story using a poetic theme. Epic poems are very vital to narrative poems, although it is thought that narrative poems were created to explain oral traditions. The focus of narrative poetry is often the pros and cons of life.
 1. ^ Michael Meyer, The Bedford Introduction to Literature, Bedford/St. Martin's, 2005, p2134.
 2. ^ David C. Rubin, Memory in Oral Traditions. The Cognitive Psychology of Epic, Ballads, and Counting-out Rhymes. (Taco University Press, 1991)


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Complaints Procedure Policy
We have a robust complaints procedure, which is summarised here. If you wish to make a complaint you can do so verbally to any member of staff, book an appointment to meet with the Practice Manager in her clinic or in writing to the practice manager.
The Practice follows 6 principles when dealing with complaints:
- Getting it right
- Being open and accountable
- Putting things right
- Being customer focused
- Acting fairly & proportionately
- Seeking continuous improvements
There are four parts to the complaints procedure. Our complaints procedure is based on these four parts:
- The Initial Stage
- The Investigation
- The Informal Meeting/Written Explanation
- Follow-up and Conclusion
There is a dedicated member of staff who is the complaints lead and ensures the complaints process is followed in a timely fashion.
The Practice Manager has overall responsibility for the complaints system.
Presuming that the practice complaints procedure is to be used, the complainant needs to be assured that the Practice will:
- Deal with matters promptly – the aim being to complete enquiries within 14 days, with a maximum of four weeks.
- Undertake a detailed investigation.
- Offer a meeting to discuss the outcome of the investigation if appropriate.
- Advise the complainant that they may bring a 'friend' to the meeting.
- Inform the complainant if there appear to be any delays or problems.
Informal Meeting / Written Explanation
If there is an informal meeting, the practice should reassure the complainant that:
- The matter has been taken seriously
- The complaint has been fully investigated
- They will receive a detailed explanation
- They will receive an appropriate apology if necessary, but will always receive a statement of regret that the incident has occurred
The action taken is entered in our complaints log and a record of any relevant meeting/s and/or a copy of the letter sent are kept in the complaints file in case further action results.
Learning from Complaints and Patient Feedback
Complaints and patient feedback logs are regularly reviewed in the Multi disciplinary meetings to:
- Determine whether any audits are required as a result
- Determine whether and process needs to be reviewed
- Determine how to measure the effectiveness of any changes already implemented
Sharing of Learning and Actions from Complaints
The information from the annual complaints audit and the anonymised summary of learning & action points from complaints is shared with staff in both the MDT and administrative team meetings.
If the complainant is not satisfied, they should be alerted to their right (under the practice complaints procedure) to take the matter to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman which is an independent body established to promote improvements in healthcare through the assessment of the performance of those who provide services.
You can contact the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman on 0345 _PHONE_ or write to them at:
Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
A conciliation service, Independent Complaints Advocacy Service (ICAS)
Telephone: 01823 275037
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In the science news this week, a journey across Antarctica during the winter is announced, first nuclear fusion reactor built, the mystery behind the killer whales' menopause may have been solved, and finally… Google launches new Easter Egg feature.
Sir Ranulph Fiennes announces latest record attempt
Explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes has announced he is to attempt the "Coldest Journey", leading a team on foot across Antarctica during the winter, reported the BBC.
The expedition will take six months and will involve crossing the continent when it is at its coldest – temperatures can drop as low as -90C.
Sir Ranulph is famous for his daring record attempts and polar exploration. He was the first person to cross Antarctica unaided in 1992-93, and he was the oldest Briton to reach the summit of Mount Everest in 2009 at the age of 65.
"We do it because we like to break world records," said Sir Ranulph. "Sometimes we don't succeed, but it's what we go for. It's our specialty."
"We looked at this 25 years ago and realised it was impossible. [But,] we heard a rumour that Norwegian explorers were contemplating this. We realised we were going to have to have a go."
The team will be dropped off by ship on the Pacific coast of the southern continent, and then wait for the equinox on 21st March 2013 when they will set off across the ice shelf.
They will then climb 10,000ft (3,000m) on to the plateau where they will cross the island heading for the south pole. From there, it is several hundred miles to where they will descend back down onto the ice shelf about 11,000ft below, and travel across to the Ross Sea, marking the end of their 2,000mile (3,200km) journey.
The team will also be raising money for the charity, Seeing is Believing, an initiative to fight avoidable blindness.
A big part of the expedition will be the scientific experiments. The sea voyage will involve a number of observations on marine life, oceanography and meteorology. The crossing itself will also be a chance to monitor changes to the ice shelf and the effect of climate change upon the pole during the winter months.
Unlike previous expeditions, Sir Ranulph and his fellow explorers will not be pulling all their equipment on sledges themselves. This time, Sir Ranuph and a skiing partner will lead on foot, followed by two bulldozers dragging industrial sledges that will hold all their supplies, food, fuel and a science lab.
The conditions expected during the Antarctic winter present a whole new set of problems for the expedition.
Every bit of kit needs to be able to work in temperatures well below -70C. To help them avoid crevasses – huge cracks in the ice shelf that can be hidden by snow – the two skiers will pull a ground-penetrating radar system that will send images to the lead vehicle behind them. However, like much of the equipment, they don't know if it will work in the extreme conditions.
"This technology is used extensively in Antarctica, but in the summer," says Steve Holland, who is running the expedition's equipment research team.
"For smaller items of equipment we can do cold chamber work - and we did this with clothing. But that's to see whether it becomes brittle and is going to break. It doesn't tell you if it's going to work at those temperatures."
Dr Mike Stroud who has accompanied Sir Ranulph on a number of his previous expeditions and is advising him on this one, is concerned on the impact the conditions will have on the team themselves.
"The challenge is whether it is possible to operate and be out there in the coldest place on earth at the coldest time of the year," he said.
"Your lungs definitely suffer. The air going in is so cold it's going to freeze some of the moisture that's in that system."
Another major problem is frostbite – during one training session in Sweden, a team member suffered frostbite in his fingers simply from exposing them to the cold for too long at a mere -40C.
The first nuclear fusion reactor under construction in France
Often only half-seriously acknowledged as the world's energy future, nuclear fusion is a sci-fi fantasy that may soon become reality. Under the guidance of a major international collaboration project, the Earth's first nuclear fusion reactor is under construction in France, and is planned to start operating in 2020, reported The Guardian.
While the potential of nuclear fusion for generating incredible amounts of energy with very little by-product has long been known, the technology to harness this knowledge has lagged far behind.
The advantages of fusion over current fossil-fuel and nuclear fission reactions are immense. For every 100 tonnes of coal we burn, fusion can deliver the same amount of energy without any carbon dioxide emissions, using a small bath of water and the lithium contained in a single laptop battery. Not only is it more efficient, therefore, but many of the destructive side-effects suffered by our current systems just aren't there. No carbon emissions, no nuclear waste.
The end is still a long way off, however. The reactor under construction, called Iter, will be used as a model to test the viability of the technology on the scale of a small power plant. And while success is widely anticipated, the next step would only be to build a "demonstration power plant" to start operating in the 2030s. Its commercial application is still a long way off.
The real challenges lie not in proving fusion's use in the lab, but in providing a genuine alternative to our current energy systems. Professor Chris Llewellyn Smith, director of energy research at Oxford University, is reported in the Guardian as saying: "with enough money we could probably build a fusion reactor now but it would not be economical. The challenge is to make it reliable and competitive."
Killer whales have menopause to help protect their sons
A 36 year study into the lives of nearly 600 killer whales may have revealed why orcas are one of just two non-human species that go through an extended menopause, reported New Scientist.
The study involved 589 identifiable orca off the coast of Washington state in the US and British Columbia in Canada.
Female orcas can live to be 90 but stop reproducing when they are relatively young – at between 30 and 40.
Darren Croft from University of Exeter analysed the death patterns of the whales using the data collected by his US and Canadian colleagues between 1974 and 2010.
His team looked at the probability that a whale aged between about 5 and 50 years old would die in any given year. They then compared the death rates for animals whose mothers had died, with those whose mothers were still alive.
The team found that for the whales who had a living mother, the chance of survival was much higher, particularly for the males that were over 30.
"There's a 14-fold increase in the risk that sons over 30 years old die in the year after their mothers die," says Croft.
This could potentially mean that the mothers play a significant role in ensuring the survival of their sons, explaining why they go through an extended menopause.
There are two theories as to why humans evolved to have a menopause. One is that, by preventing further childbirth, the menopause allows a woman to survive long enough to raise their youngest child. The other is known as the grandmother hypothesis, which suggests that by living long enough to help raise her grandchildren, a woman ensures the continuance of her genes down the generations.
"There are differences between the human and orca case," says Ruth Mace, who studies human evolution at University College London. "The new data suggest the mother is crucial to the males' ability to stay with his group, which is not common in human societies."
Six degrees of Kevin Bacon just got easier
Google has incorporated the infamous 90s party game, Six degrees of Kevin Bacon, into the search engine, allowing users to simply type in an actor's name followed by "bacon number" to find how many steps it takes to get to the Footloose actor, reported The Guardian.
The original game centred on the notion that it was possible to connect any actor in Hollywood back to Kevin Bacon in six steps or fewer. Lead engineer at Google, Yossi Matias, said that the project was about highlighting the power of Google's search engine.
He told the Hollywood Reporter that: "If you think about search in the traditional sense, for years it has been to try and match, find pages and sources where you would find the text. It's interesting that this small-world phenomena when applied to the world of actors actually shows that in most cases, most actors aren't that far apart from each other. And most of them have a relatively small Bacon number."


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San Remo conference
The San Remo conference was an international meeting of the post-World War I Allied Supreme Council, held in Sanremo, Italy, from 19 to 26 April 1920. It was attended by the four Principal Allied Powers of World War I who were represented by the prime ministers of Britain (David Lloyd George), France (Alexandre Millerand) and Italy (Francesco Nitti) and by Japan's Ambassador K. Matsui.
The precise boundaries of all territories were left unspecified, to "be determined by the Principal Allied Powers" and were not finalized until four years later. The conference's decisions were embodied in the stillborn Treaty of Sèvres (Section VII, Art 94-97). As Turkey rejected this treaty, the conference's decisions were only finally confirmed by the Council of the League of Nations on 24 July 1922, and when Turkey accepted the terms of the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne.
During the meetings of the "Council of Four" in 1919, British Prime Minister Lloyd George stated that the McMahon-Hussein Correspondence was a treaty obligation. He also explained that the agreement with Hussein had been the basis for the Sykes-Picot Agreement. He told the French Foreign Minister that the proposed League Of Nations Mandate System could not be used as an excuse to break the terms of the Hussein Agreement. Under the terms of the Sykes-Picot Agreement, the British and French had agreed to an independent Arab state, or confederation of states, and consultations with the sharif of Mecca. The French had also agreed that their military would not occupy Damascus, Homs, Homa and Aleppo. As early as July 1919 the parliament of Greater Syria had refused to acknowledge any right claimed by the French Government to any part of Syrian territory.
On 30 September 1918 supporters of the Arab Revolt in Damascus declared a government loyal to the sharif of Mecca. He had been declared "King of the Arabs" by religious leaders and other notables in Mecca. On 6 January 1920 Prince Faisal initialed an agreement with French Prime Minister Clemenceau which acknowledged "the right of the Syrians to unite to govern themselves as an independent nation". A Pan-Syrian Congress, meeting in Damascus, had declared an independent state of Syria on 8 March 1920. The new state included Syria, Palestine, Lebanon and portions of northern Mesopotamia which had been set aside under the Sykes-Picot Agreement for an independent Arab state, or confederation of states. King Faisal was declared the head of state. At the same time Prince Zeid, Faisal's brother, was declared regent of Mesopotamia.
The San Remo conference was hastily convened. It was attended by by the prime ministers of Great Britain, France, and Italy, and representatives of Japan, Greece, and Belgium. Great Britain and France both agreed to recognize the provisional independence of Syria and Mesopotamia, while "reluctantly" claiming mandates for their administration. Palestine was composed of the Ottoman administrative districts of southern Syria. Under customary international law, premature recognition of its independence would be a gross affront to the government of the newly declared parent state. It could have been construed as a belligerent act of intervention without any League of Nations sanction. In any event, its provisional independence was not mentioned although it continued to be designated as a Class A Mandate.
France had decided to govern Syria directly, and took action to enforce the French Mandate of Syria before the terms had been accepted by the Council of the League of Nations. The French issued an ultimatum and intervened militarily at the Battle of Maysalun in June 1920. They deposed the Arab government and removed King Faisal from Damascus in August 1920. Great Britain also appointed a high commissioner and established their own mandatory regime in Palestine, without first obtaining approval from the Council of the League of Nations.
Article 22 of the covenant was written two months before the signing of the peace treaty. It was not known at that time to which territories paragraphs 4, 5 and 6 would relate. The territories which came under the regime set up by this article were three former parts of the Ottoman Empire and seven former overseas possessions of Germany referred to in Part IV, Section I, of the treaty of peace. Those 10 territorial areas were originally administered under 15 mandates. The decisions of the San Remo conference confirmed the mandate allocations of the First Conference of London (February 1920). The San Remo Resolution adopted on 25 April 1920 incorporated the Balfour Declaration of 1917. It and Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations were the basic documents upon which the Mandate for Palestine was constructed. Britain received the mandate for Palestine and Iraq; France gained control of Syria including present-day Lebanon.
Text of the Resolution
San Remo Resolution - April 25, 1920
It was agreed –
(a) To accept the terms of the Mandates Article as given below with reference to Palestine, on the understanding that there was inserted in the process-verbal an undertaking by the Mandatory Power that this would not involve the surrender of the rights hitherto enjoyed by the non-Jewish communities in Palestine; this undertaking not to refer to the question of the religious protectorate of France, which had been settled earlier in the previous afternoon by the undertaking given by the French Government that they recognized this protectorate as being at an end.
(b) that the terms of the Mandates Article should be as follows:
The High Contracting Parties agree that Syria and Mesopotamia shall, in accordance with the fourth paragraph of Article 22, Part I (Covenant of the League of Nations), be provisionally recognized as independent States, subject to the rendering of administrative advice and assistance by a mandatory until such time as they are able to stand alone. The boundaries of the said States will be determined, and the selection of the Mandatories made, by the Principal Allied Powers.
The High Contracting Parties agree to entrust, by application of the provisions of Article 22, the administration of Palestine, within such boundaries as may be determined by the Principal Allied Powers, to a Mandatory, to be selected by the said Powers. The Mandatory will be responsible for putting into effect the declaration originally made on November 8, 1917, by the British Government, and adopted by the other Allied Powers, in favour of the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.
La Puissance mandataire s'engage a nommer dans le plus bref delai une Commission speciale pour etudier toute question et toute reclamation concernant les differentes communautes religieuses et en etablir le reglement. Il sera tenu compte dans la composition de cette Commission des interets religieux en jeu. Le President de la Commission sera nomme par le Conseil de la Societe des Nations. [The Mandatory undertakes to appoint in the shortest time a special commission to study any subject and any queries concerning the different religious communities and regulations. The composition of this Commission will reflect the religious interests at stake. The President of the Commission will be appointed by the Council of the League of Nations.]
The terms of the mandates in respect of the above territories will be formulated by the Principal Allied Powers and submitted to the Council of the League of Nations for approval.
Turkey hereby undertakes, in accordance with the provisions of Article [132 of the Treaty of Sèvres] to accept any decisions which may be taken in this connection.
(c) Les mandataires choisis par les principales Puissances allies sont: la France pour la Syrie, et la Grande Bretagne pour la Mesopotamie, et la Palestine. [The officers chosen by the principal allied Powers are: France for Syria and Great Britain for Mesopotamia and Palestine.]
In reference to the above decision the Supreme Council took note of the following reservation of the Italian Delegation:
La Delegation Italienne en consideration des grands interets economiques que l'Italie en tant que puissance exclusivement mediterraneenne possede en Asie Mineure, reserve son approbation a la presente resolution, jusqu'au reglement des interets italiens en Turquie d'Asie. [The Italian delegation, in consideration of large economic interests that Italy as a power possesses exclusively Mediterranean in Asia Minor, reserves its approval of this resolution until the settlement of Italian interests in Turkey in Asia.]
See also
- Fromkin, David (1989). A Peace to End All Peace. New York: Henry Holt.
- Stein, Leonard (1961). The Balfour Declaration. London: Valentine Mitchell.
- The official spelling of the city is Sanremo, a phonetic contraction for the name San Romolo (Saint Romolo), official saint and protector of the city, which in the local Ligurian sounds like San Rœmu. The spelling San Remo was introduced (for unknown reasons) in 1924 by the City Mayor and used in official documents during Fascism. This form of the name is still used on some road signs and tourist information. It has been the most widely used form of the name in English at least since the 19th century.
- "The Council of Four: minutes of meetings March 20 to May 24, 1919", pages 1 thru 8
- King Husain and the Kingdom of Hejaz, by Randall Baker, Ole


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Welcome Citizen Scientists
Citizen science involves everyday people in the process of scientific research. Across North America, citizen scientists contribute sightings of monarch butterflies each fall and spring. They report migrating monarchs, monarch eggs, monarch larvae and the first milkweed of spring.
When you report your own observations to real-time migration maps, you contribute information that can be used for scientific research. Citizen scientists expand the possibilities for understanding and discovery.
Why is Journey North's Study Important?
Backyard observations help scientists explore how monarchs respond to weather, climate and the changing seasons. This information reveals interconnections in nature, and how changes can affect ecosystems.
Pieces of the Puzzle
Journey North keeps monarch butterfly sightings in a permanent database. Each sighting becomes a part of the historical record. Over time, this long-term data reveals patterns and trends.
Collect Historical Records
As you monitor your own habitat, you become a local expert. Year after year, you can add observations and continue to make discoveries.
Welcome to the Team!
Each observer is a valuable part of Journey North's team of citizen scientists. Each sighting becomes part of a bigger picture about monarchs and their migration. What observations and discoveries will you contribute from your part of the world?


Thursday, October 16, 2008
Aba, Sichuan
Aba City is the main city in Aba County, within the in northwestern Sichuan, China. It is located on the Tibetan plateau at an elevation of 3200 metres. Aba County has 70,000 inhabitants, about 8,000 of them monks. There are 37 monasteries in the area, two of the largest in Aba City itself. There are mainly grasslands and forested valleys in the south.
Aba County is mainly inhabited by Tibetans. The major festivals are:
*Great Prayer Festival: January 8 to January 15 according to the Tibetan calendar
*Six-Four Festival: June 11 to June 17 according to the Tibetan calendar
*Zachong Festival: September 15 to September 17 according to the lunar calendar
*Horse Race Festival: Middle of July according to the lunar calendar
Aba County is well connected to many provincial towns and cities. Aba is the biggest transport hub within the prefecture. There are long haul buses heading for Aba from Chengdu City, Mianyang City, Songpan County, Ma'er Kang County, Jinchuan County, Wenchuan County, Hongyuan County, Heishui County and Xiangtang County daily.
*Huanglong Valley - scenic spot very close by
*Wolong Nature Reserve - China's largest natural habitat for giant pandas
*Jiuzhaigou - scenic spot
*Miyaluo - scenic spot
Emeishan (city)
Emeishan is a county-level city in Sichuan, People's Republic of China. It is administered by the prefecture-level city Leshan. Its population in 1990 stood at 396,445.
Deyang is a prefecture-level city in Sichuan province, China. Deyang is a mostly industrial city, with the Erzhong Heavy Machinery Company (中国二重）, Dongfang Electrical Company, and various high-tech industry contributing to its economy. It has a population of around 3,810,000 in 2004 and an area of 5818 km?.
This elegant city is known for a liquor factory called ''jiannanchun'' in the county-level city of Mianzhu and the Sanxingdui museum in Guanhan City about the ancient Shu culture famous for its bronze mask. There is a lake called Jinghu Lake located in the city.
On May 12, 2008, occurred. 17,121 people were killed, 74,063 injured, and 534 still missing in this city as of June 7, 2008. Schools in Mianzhu and Shifang collapsed.
*Jingyang District
*Shifang City
*Guanghan City
*Mianzhu City
*Luojiang County
*Zhongjiang County
Dazhou is a prefecture-level city in north-eastern Sichuan province.
Dazhou borders Shaanxi in the north and Chongqing in the south. It is centrally located between the four major cities of Western China, Chongqing, Chengdu, Xi'an and Wuhan. The area is 16,600 km?.
Dazhou's history goes back to the Eastern Han Dynasty when in 90 AD it was made a county by the name of Liweizhou. Then until the Liao Dynasty its name was Zaidi. During the Liao and Tang dynasties its name was again changed, this time to Tongzhou. Finally in the Song Dynasty it was given its present name of Dazhou.
Notable people from from Dazhou include the Three Kingdoms writer Chen Shou, Song Dynasty astronomer Zhang Sixun, and and Qing Dynasty philosopher and educator Tang Zhen. Dazhou also made notable contributions to the Communist Revolution. Red army heroes such as Xu Xiangqian, Li Xiannian, Xu Shiyou, Wang Weizhou, and Zhang Aiping were all from or lived in Dazhou.
It is one of Sichuan's most populous cities with 6,380,000 residents.
*Tongchuan District
*Da County
*Dazhu County
*Xuanhan County
*Kaijiang County
*Qu County
Dazhou is an important river and land transportation hub for the region. Numerous national highways, expressways, and rail lines pass through Dazhou connecting it directly with major cities in China such as Chengdu, Xi'an, Wuhan, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Beijing, etc., making it one of Sichuan's important trade centers.
Dazhou has numerous natural resources including large natural gas fields and an abundance of mineral resources such as salt, coal, manganese, lithium, and limestone. Major agricultural products include pork, beef, and tea. Other industries are chemical production, coal power, metallurgy, textiles, building materials, and processed food.
Dazhou is blessed with both cultural and natural attractions. There are several national and provincial cultural sites and many national and provincial protected forests and nature reserves. Xuanhan's Baili Gorges have scenery and rapids, leading to the nickname "Little Three Gorges". Mountains are this area's greatest attraction.
Protest of January 2007
Dazhou gained notoriety for the corruption of Dazhu county that caused mass protest in January 2007. The incident involved a 16-year old waitress at the KTV rooms of Laishide Hotel.
Laishide Hotel was a four-star hotel built with investment from local officials and local police, and the sentiment against the hotel among the local populace existed long before the mass protest in January 2007 because of illegal and corrupt activities behind the closed doors of the hotel.
Miss Yang Daili, a 16 years old young girl working at the hotel's karaoke rooms was famed for her beauty and height, 1.70 metres. On December 29, 2006, three high ranking provincial officials went to the Laishide Hotel and asked Miss Yang Daili to have dinner with them, and took her out at the same night. The next morning, Miss Yang Daili was found dead in a suite at the hotel. According to the police report, Miss Yang was drugged and raped, and she suffered brutal torture, including her tongue being cut, teeth broken due to beating, nipples cut off, and privates mutilated.
Miss Yang Daili's family started a protest outside the hotel on January 12, 2007. After they received no explanation from the hotel despite repeated requests, sympathizers and those who resented corruption gathered around the family to show their support. Their number first increased by dozens daily, then by hundreds, and eventually by thousands. The attempt of Laishide Hotel to settle before catching the real killer only increased public outrage even further, because previously, two waitresses and a security guard working at the hotel had been killed and no suspects had been found. The official local governmental news website, however, failed to mention anything on these three previous murders and it once again attempted do the same for the most recent murder.
By the afternoon of January 17, 2007, more than ten thousand protesters had gathered outside the hotel, and as the news of Laishide Hotel offering Miss Yang Daili's family half a million Renminbi to settle before the killers were found, and rejection of the offer by family members reached the crowd, the people finally had had enough. Angry protesters rushed into the hotel, damaged everything inside, and eventually set fire to the hotel. The fire was not put out until five hours later.
As the number of protesters and public outrage increased, the official local government could no longer keep the murder as a secret and was forced to release the police findings on January 18, 2007. However, the official local governmental news release only publicized the police report of the crime scene, and attempted to blame the crime on a male hotel employee named Liu. This action is unanimously viewed by the local populace as an attempt to cover up the involvement of three high ranking governmental officials of provincial level. Government officials were involved in all of the previous three murders that had been kept secret by the local government but were forced into the open due this event. The enraged protesters continued to gather after the fire was put out and clashed with riot police who were sent in.
Bazhong is a prefecture-level city in north-eastern Sichuan province.
Bazhong borders Shaanxi province in the north and Dazhou City in the south. Its area is 12,301 km?. The area is mountainous with elevations ranging from 208 to 2,507 meters above sea-level.
Bazhong was made a city in 1993. Its history, however, goes make much further. During the and Dynasties, it was purportedly a vassal territory of the. In the Spring and Autumn Period, it was called Bazi. In the and dynasties it was called Ba County. In the Eastern Han Dynasty around the year 100 AD it was changed to Hanchang County. One hundred years later it reverted to Baxi County. Since then, it has usually either been called Liang County or Yi County.
Bazhong has 1 city, 3 counties, 250 township, and 2,355 villages. The population is 3,561,000 with 455,000 of that urban.
City District:
*Bazhong City
Bazhong has beautiful mountain scenery, waterfalls, forests, and historic landmarks.
Langzhong is a 2300


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Google search algorithm helps track spread of cancer cells
"Each of the sites where a spreading, or 'metastatic,' tumor could show up are analogous to Web pages," said Paul Newton, a mathematician at the University of Southern California, who has been working with cancer specialists at the Scripps Research Institute.
Google ranks Web pages by the likelihood that an individual would end up visiting each one randomly. These predictions are based on the trends of millions of users across the Web. Google uses something called the "steady state distribution" to calculate the probability of someone visiting a page.
"You have millions of people wandering the Web, [and] Google would like to know what proportion are visiting any given Web page at a given time. It occurred to me that steady state distribution is equivalent to the metastatic tumor distribution that shows up in the autopsy datasets," Newton explained.
The dataset he's referring to contains information about autopsy patients from the 1920's to the 1940's, who died before chemotherapy was available. By focusing on this group of patients, the researchers could track the natural progression of cancer, specifically lung cancer, without different treatments interfering with the data.
Out of fifty metastasis sites described in the autopsy reports, the scientists found that twenty-seven contained cancer that appeared to have spread from the lungs. Furthermore, just like with an individual browsing the Web, cells that break off from the original lung tumor and
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Dokusan/Daisan: Face to Face Teachings with a Teacher
The teacher-student relationship is considered to be one of the most vital aspects of our practice. These personal interactions have been valued and emphasized since the time of the Buddha. They are essential for a teacher to see where a student is in his or her practice. Dokusan is a meeting between a fully transmitted teacher (Sensei or Roshi) and a student. Daisan is a meeting between an Assitant Teacher (Hoshi) and a student. These are meant to be brief and to the point encounters, 5 to 10 minutes. It is not a time for visiting or doing psychotherapy. It is an opportunity to discuss your meditation practice, work with a koan, or simply be with the teacher. An interview is a time to present one's understanding. It is the teacher's responsibility to validate that understanding, or offer guidance towards a more complete perspective. It's common to get stuck in a certain place along the spiritual path. A skilled teacher can recognize where you might be stuck, and give you a gentle nudge in the right direction.
There is a right to a reasonable sense of confidentiality regarding what is said in dokusan. However, it is common practice that senior Dharma teachers may consult with each other and hold confidentialities among them. Personal and identifying details that are irrelevant to practice are not shared.


Complex.Phase Property
Gets the phase of a complex number.
Namespace: System.Numerics
Assembly: System.Numerics (in System.Numerics.dll)
public double Phase { get; }
Property Value
Type: System.Double
The phase of a complex number, in radians.
For a complex number a + bi, the phase is computed as Math.Atan2(b, a).
You can identify a complex number by its Cartesian coordinates on the complex plane or by its polar coordinates. The phase (argument) of a complex number is the angle to the real axis of a line drawn from the point of origin (the intersection of the x-axis and the y-axis) to the point represented by the complex number. The magnitude (represented by the Magnitude property) is the distance from the point of origin to the point that is represented by the complex number.
You can instantiate a complex number based on its polar coordinates instead of its Cartesian coordinates by calling the FromPolarCoordinates method.
To convert the phase from radians to degrees, multiply it by 180/Math.PI.
The following example uses the FromPolarCoordinates method to instantiate a complex number based on its polar coordinates, and then displays the value of its Magnitude and Phase properties.
using System;
using System.Numerics;
public class Example
 public static void Main()
 Complex c1 = Complex.FromPolarCoordinates(10, 45 * Math.PI / 180);
 Console.WriteLine("{0}:", c1);
 Console.WriteLine(" Magnitude: {0}", Complex.Abs(c1));
 Console.WriteLine(" Phase: {0} radians", c1.Phase);
 Console.WriteLine(" Phase {0} degrees", c1.Phase * 180/Math.PI);
 Console.WriteLine(" Atan(b/a): {0}", Math.Atan(_URL_.Real));
// The example displays the following output:
// (7.07106781186548, 7.07106781186547):
// Magnitude: 10
// Phase: 0.785398163397448 radians
// Phase 45 degrees
// Atan(b/a): 0.785398163397448
.NET Framework
Supported in: 4.6, 4.5, 4
.NET Framework Client Profile
Supported in: 4
Portable Class Library
Supported in: Portable Class Library
.NET for Windows Store apps
Supported in: Windows 8
Supported in: Windows Phone 8.1
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LDAP X509 Identity Asserter: Provider Specific
Configuration Options Related Tasks Related Topics
Use this page to define the provider specific configuration of this LDAP X509 Identity Assertion provider.
Name Description Host
The host name of the computer on which the LDAP server is running.
The port number on which the LDAP server is listening.
The Distinguished Name (DN) of the LDAP user that WebLogic Server should use to connect to the LDAP server.
The credential (usually a password) used to connect to the LDAP server.
If this password has not been set, WebLogic Server generates a password at startup, initializes the attribute, and saves the configuration to the config.xml file. If you want to connect to the embedded LDAP server using an external LDAP browser and the embedded LDAP administrator account (cn=Admin), change this attribute from the generated value.
Specifies whether the SSL protocol should be used when connecting to the LDAP server.
User Name Attribute
Specifies the attribute on the LDAP object for the user that contains the user's name.
The user's name should appear in the Subject. This setting defines how to find the user's name. Typically, the setting matches the User Name setting of the LDAP Authentication provider configured for use with this LDAP X509 Identity Assertion provider.
User Filter Attributes
Specifies how to select the LDAP object for the user from the LDAP objects beneath the base LDAP DN defined in the Certificate Mapping attribute. This setting defines how to find the LDAP object from the certificate's Subject DN.
The LDAP object's class must be person. This attribute contains an array of strings, each of which is an attribute that the LDAP object must match.
Typically, the value of this attribute is the LDAP object that matches the value of an attribute in the certificate's Subject DN. For example:
The uid attribute of the LDAP user object matches the Subject DN attribute, if the syntax is:
For example: uid=$subj.DN
This option is very similar to the User Name Filter option on LDAP Authentication providers which maps a username to a search filter. The differences are:
- This option maps a certificate's Subject DN to a filter and the LDAP Authentication provider uses a single string giving the system administrator complete control over the filter.
- The LDAP X509 Authentication provider adds objectclass=person to the filter and uses an array of strings that are combined.
Specifies the attribute on the LDAP object for the user that contains the user's certificate. This option defines how to find the certificate. Valid values are userCertificate and userCertificate;binary.
- If you use the LDAP browser to load a certificate into the LDAP directory, an attribute userCertificate of type binary is created. To access the certificate, define this option as userCertificate.
- If you use
ldapmodifyto create the Certificate Attribute, a userCertificate;binary is created when the certificate data is loaded in the LDAP directory. To access the certificate, define this option as userCertificate;binary.
Specifies how to construct the base LDAP DN used to locate the LDAP object for the user. This attribute defines how to find the object from the certificate's Subject DN.
Typically, this value is the same as the User Base DN attribute in the LDAP Authentication providers. You may include the fields from the Subject DN in this base DN.
For example: if the Certificate subject is CN=meyer.beasys.com, ou=fred, o=BEASYS, L=SFO, C=US and the mapping is ou=people, ou=$subj.ou, WebLogic Server uses ou=people, ou=fred, o=BEASYS, c=US as the DN when locating the user.
Connection Retry Limit
Specifies the number of times to attempt to connect to the LDAP server if the initial connection failed.
Specifies whether a cache is used with the LDAP server
This is a cache of the LDAP requests.
The size of the cache (in kilobytes) that is used with the LDAP server
The time-to-live of the cache (in seconds) that is used with the LDAP server


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High blood pressure in the teen years and a relative rise in blood pressure from adolescence to adulthood appear to up the risk of developing atherosclerosis (clogged arteries) in adulthood, according to results of a recent study published in the American Journal of Hypertension.
In the Atherosclerosis Risk in Young Adults study, researchers from the Netherlands evaluated atherosclerosis in 750 young adults. Using ultrasound, they measured the thickness of arteries in the neck (carotid intima-media thickness; CIMT). All the participants had at least 1 recorded blood pressure measurement at ~13 years of age. The results showed that systolic pressure during adolescence directly correlated with CIMT. For each standard deviation above normal blood pressure, the CIMT increased by 7.5?m. Furthermore, a similar relationship was seen between other pressures, such as pulse pressure and mean arterial pressure, and CIMT.


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Definition of Tuna
Tuna: A fish about which there are several health concerns. One concern involves carbon monoxide that prevents the flesh of the fish from discoloring and keeps it red. The FDA permits this practice in the US but Japan, Canada and the European Union have banned the practice because of fears that it could be used to mask spoiled fish. A second concern involves the presence of mercury in tuna. The US government has warned pregnant women, nursing mothers, young children and women of childbearing age to limit their consumption of tuna because of concerns about mercury poisoning.Source: MedTerms™ Medical Dictionary
Last Editorial Review: 6/14/2012
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Text Face
TextFace is an interactive installation that allows people to leave their text-message as well as a video message. The interactive shows all recorded messages until someone activates it by pressing any key on the keyboard. Once activated, the system shows live video taken from the camera, as well as a message inviting the user to type his/her message. As the user types, images are recorded on every keystroke, so a stop-frame animation is gathered as the user writes the message. Once the user is finished, a final animation is recorded and the whole message becomes part of the collaborative story. Text Face would be an interactive video-enabled version of a traditional guest-book.
Text Face has been used in "Every time I see the sea…", an fund-rising exhibit about the Tsuanmi by Christian Aid, as well as in the "Legible London Exhibition" at New London Architecture.
Texface Render
Example footage, acquired during the development of the project.


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(PhysOrg.com) -- The eventual failure of metals, such as the aluminum in ships and airplanes, can often be blamed on breaks, or voids, in the material's atomic lattice. They're at first invisible, only microns in size, but once enough of them link up, the metal eventually splits apart.
Cornell engineers, trying to better understand this process, have discovered that nanoscale voids behave differently than the larger ones that are hundreds of thousands of atoms in scale, studied through traditional physics. This insight could lead to improved ability to predict how cracks grow in metals, and how to engineer better materials.
Graduate student Linh Nguyen and Derek Warner, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, reported their findings in the journal Physical Review Letters, Jan. 20. Using new atomistic simulation techniques, they concluded that the smallest voids in these materials, those having nanometer dimensions, don't contribute in the same way as microscale voids do in material failure at ordinary room temperatures and pressures.
When metals fail, a physical phenomenon known as plasticity often occurs, permanently deforming, or changing the shape of the material. Previously, it was theorized that both nanometer and microscale voids grow via plasticity as the material fails, but the new research says otherwise.
"While this was something amenable to study with traditional atomistic modeling approaches, the interpretation of previous results was difficult due to a longstanding challenge of time scaling," Warner said. "We've come up with a technique to better address that."
Nguyen and Warner's work is supported by the Office of Naval Research, which has particular interest in the use of aluminum and other lightweight, durable metals in high-performance ship structures.
Explore further: Atomic-scale investigations solve key puzzle of LED efficiency