text:
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Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) aim to detect the actions that attempt to compromise the confidentiality, availability, and integrity of a resource by monitoring the events occurring in computer systems and/or networks. Stream data processing is a database technology applied to flows of data. Temporal Logic is a formalism for representing change over time. This paper proposes the development of a network intrusion detection system by combining temporal formalisms for representing attack patterns with stream processing for intruder detection. The experimental results show that this combination successfully was able to detect all the attacks of that type in the test data. Additionally, the solution provides a concise and unambiguous way to formally represent attack signatures and it is extensible and scalable.


text:
for one reason, their will be enough computers for everyone.
For one reason, their will be enough computers for everyone.
Their is a possessive pronoun - Their books are on the table.
There refers to a place or an existance - The table is over there.
In the case of your sentence, there refers to the existance of something.
"For one reason, there will be enough computers for everyone."
The following is a link to a neat trick you can use to try to remember the difference between the two:
|link comment||answered Nov 21 '11 at 13:19 Jody M. Expert|
Hero of the day
Person gave the most answers!

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


text:
Monday, 6 October 2008: 9:50 AM
George R. Brown Convention Center, 370D
Two native to Texas ecotypes of hooded and shortspike widmillgrass were recently released. They are well adapted to several environmental conditions throughout Texas and they can be used for several purposes as rangeland re vegetation, and soil and water conservation projects including roadside plantings. Although seed demand is growing there is not technology to effectively produce seed from these grasses. Seed production from several hooded and shortspike windmillgrass ecotypes as a response to increasing nitrogen levels under irrigation was documented in two contrasting places of Texas. Other seed production components were also registered.


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 - Java SE 6
 - Scala 2.8.1
 - Jackson 1.7.0
How To Use
First, specify Metrics as a dependency:
val codaRepo = "Coda Hale's Repository" at ""
val metrics = "com.yammer" %% "metrics" % "2.0.0-BETA5"
(Or whatever it takes for you to get Maven or Ivy happy.)
Second, instrument your classes:
import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit
import com.yammer.metrics.Instrumented
class ThingFinder extends Instrumented {
 // measure the # of records per second returned
 private val resultsMeter = metrics.meter("results", "records", TimeUnit.SECONDS)
 // measure the # of milliseconds each query takes and the number of
 // queries per second being performed
 private val dbTimer = metrics.timer("database", TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS, TimeUnit.SECONDS)
 def findThings() = {
 val results = dbTimer.time {
 // perform an action which gets timed
 // calculate the rate of new things found
 // etc.
Metrics comes with four types of metrics:
 - Gauges are instantaneous readings of values (e.g., a queue depth).
 - Counters are 64-bit integers which can be incremented or decremented.
 - Meters are increment-only counters which keep track of the rate of events. They provide mean rates, plus exponentially-weighted moving averages which use the same formula that the UNIX 1-, 5-, and 15-minute load averages use.
 - Timers record the duration as well as the rate of events. In addition to the rate information that meters provide, timers also provide the count, maximum, minimum, mean, standard deviation, median, 75th percentile, 95th percentile, 98th percentile, 99th percentile, and 99.9th percentile of timings. (They do so using a method called reservoir sampling which allows them to efficiently keep a small, statistically representative sample of all the measurements.)
Metrics also has support for health checks:
Metrics.registerHealthCheck("database", new HealthCheck {
 def check = {
 if (Database.isConnected) {
 } else {
 Result.unhealthy("Not connected to database")
Third, start collecting your metrics.
If you're simply running a benchmark, you can print registered metrics to standard error every 10s like this:
Metrics.enableConsoleReporting(10, TimeUnit.SECONDS) // print to STDERR every 10s
If you're writing a Servlet-based web service, you can add MetricsServlet to an internally-accessible context. It'll respond to the following URIs:
 - /metrics: A JSON object of all registered metrics and a host of JVM metrics.
 - /ping: A simple text/plain "pong" for load-balancers.
 - /healthcheck: Runs through all registered HealthCheck instances and reports the results. Returns a 200 OK if all succeeded, or a 500 Internal Server Error if any failed.
 - /threads: A text/plain dump of all threads and their stack traces.
Copyright (c) 2010 Coda Hale,
Published under The MIT License, see LICENSE
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text:
This innovative collection offers one of the first analyses of criminologies of the military from an interdisciplinary perspective. While some criminologists have examined the military in relation to the area of war crimes, this collection considers a range of other important but less explored aspects such as private military actors, insurgents, paramilitary groups and the role of military forces in tackling transnational crime. Drawing upon insights from criminology, this book's editors also consider the ways the military institution harbours criminal activity within its ranks and deals with prisoners of war. The contributions, by leading experts in the field, have a broad reach and take a truly global approach to the subject.
Read an extract of Criminologies of the Military
Table of Contents
Introduction Ben Wadham and Andrew Goldsmith 1. Beyond 'Khaki Collar Crime' Ross MCGarry and Emma Murray 2. Means of Advancing Militarism: Shock, Ideology and Ethos Willem de Lint 3. West African Militaries and Organised Crime Gernot Klantschnig and Neil Carrier 4. Private Military Contractors: A Criminological Approach Adam White 5. Soldiers as Crime Fighters: The British Army in Post-War Bosnia and Kosovo Cornelius Friesendorf 6. The Intersection Between International Criminal Law and National Military/Disciplinary Law Grant Niemann 7. Techniques of Naturalisation: Crime, Camouflage and Institutional Accounts of Violence in the Military Ben Wadham 8. Perverse Penalities: Towards a Penology of the Military Mark Halsey and Andrew Goldsmith 9. Conduct Unbecoming: Homosex, Discipline and Military Cultures in the Second World War Yorick Smaal and Graham Willett 10. Framing Criminologies of the Military: An Interdisciplinary and Pedagogic Refl ection James Sheptycki and David Mutimer

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


text:
According to an extra-Biblical source Abraham grew up in the house of Shem learning God's Law. Abraham knew it was wrong to marry his sister. The answer is that Abraham actually married his niece.
Genesis 11:29 with a change of one letter. "And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughters of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah."
The change of the word daughter to daughters is a valid grammatical adjustment in the Hebrew. Also there was no Hebrew word for nephew or niece so brother and sister are used. For more about the Scripture recommended reading, The Book of Jasher, see _URL_


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High-quality chromosome-scale assembly of the walnut (Juglans regia L.) reference genome
Date: 20th May 2020 | Source: GigaScience
Authors: Annarita Marrano, Monica Britton, Paulo Adriano Zaini, Aleksey Zimin, Rachael Workman, Daniela Puiu, Luca Bianco, Erica Adele Di Pierro, Brian Allen, Sandeep Chakraborty, Michela Troggio, Charles Leslie, Winston Timp, Abhaya Dendekar, Steven Salzberg, David B. Neale.
The release of the first reference genome of walnut (Juglans regia L.) enabled many achievements in the characterization of walnut genetic and functional variation. However, it is highly fragmented, preventing the integration of genetic, transcriptomic, and proteomic information to fully elucidate walnut biological processes.
Here, we report the new chromosome-scale assembly of the walnut reference genome (Chandler v2.0) obtained by combining Oxford Nanopore long-read sequencing with chromosome conformation capture (Hi-C) technology.
Relative to the previous reference genome, the new assembly features an 84.4-fold increase in N50 size, with the 16 chromosomal pseudomolecules assembled and representing 95% of its total length. Using full-length transcripts from single-molecule real-time sequencing, we predicted 37,554 gene models, with a mean gene length higher than the previous gene annotations. Most of the new protein-coding genes (90%) present both start and stop codons, which represents a significant improvement compared with Chandler v1.0 (only 48%).
We then tested the potential impact of the new chromosome-level genome on different areas of walnut research. By studying the proteome changes occurring during male flower development, we observed that the virtual proteome obtained from Chandler v2.0 presents fewer artifacts than the previous reference genome, enabling the identification of a new potential pollen allergen in walnut.
Also, the new chromosome-scale genome facilitates in-depth studies of intraspecies genetic diversity by revealing previously undetected autozygous regions in Chandler, likely resulting from inbreeding, and 195 genomic regions highly differentiated between Western and Eastern walnut cultivars.
Overall, Chandler v2.0 will serve as a valuable resource to better understand and explore walnut biology.
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The Aswan High Dam, when it was build created Lake Nasser, Lake Nasser Streches back 270 kilometres from the Dam. The Lake has also created alot more land for people to farm on. This is because a lot of water is stored in the lake, and in turn this water can be used to irrigate land around the lake. Lake Nasser has also created a big fishing industry, which produces 25,000 tonnes of fish a year, the fishing industry is aiming to produce 100,000 tonnes by the year 2000.
Unfortunately this dam has caused a big change to the lifes of farmers downstream from the dam. Usually when the river flooded once a year before the dam was built. It deposited fertile soil from upstream on its banks downstream. This washed up soil was extremely furtile, and renewed itself every year at in flood season. But now, since the dam was built the annual flood has been stopped. Causing all the farmers downstream to have to use fertilizers to grow their crops, which makes it more expensive.
The Aswan High Dam is also used to create hydro-electricity for Egypt,


Take the 2-minute tour ×
I'm making an iPad app that will display a few choices and based on your choice will display a series of questions with each question triggering a different set of questions. I was wondering if there was a name for this or any open-source library that someone has made for this kind of app.
If not, would it be best to hard code all the questions and responses into the app, or to read them from a file?
share|improve this question
Have you checked the Storyboard? – Kahil Jul 18 '12 at 23:03
_USER_ Each view will look virtually identical, so I was hoping to use the same view for each step. So storyboard doesn't really make sense for my app. – edc1591 Jul 18 '12 at 23:23
CAT (Computerized adaptive testing)? "CAT successively selects questions so as to maximize the precision of the exam based on what is known about the examinee from previous questions. From the examinee's perspective, the difficulty of the exam seems to tailor itself to his or her level of ability...." – gnat Aug 18 '12 at 1:04
2 Answers 2
up vote 1 down vote accepted
This is a tree.
Your nodes are the questions, and each question has as many children as there are answers to it. Your session context contains the current question, and it leaps forward by asking a new one.
We could also say that this tree is a directed bipartite graph with each question node connecting to multiple answers, and each answer node connecting to exactly one question node.
A good storage would be, for example, XML:
 How are you?
 Fine, thx
 Badly
 Boy or girl?
 Boy
 Girl
Or, if you want to keep the tree visualized, you could try YAML:
 title: How are you?
 answers: [
 text: Fine, thx
 title: Boy or girl?
 answers: [
 text: Badly
A session might look the following:
web sequence
So, how it is implemented MVC-wise is a different matter.
You have similar things in adventure games (infocom games) btw, but that's much more advanced.
Edit: this thing is called a Dialog Tree, and you can find answers on StackExchange as well.
share|improve this answer
What kind of framework do you really need? A few view controllers, some nicely-laid-out views, and a sensible way to represent the data: you're done. If you're having trouble seeing how to write such a thing, I'd suggest that you start by deciding how to organize the data:
 - What's a question?
 - Are questions organized into groups?
 - How does the answer to one question affect the question that the program asks next?
"Twenty questions"-like programs have been around for decades. Here's some ancient BASIC source code for Animals. And here's output, thanks to Jeff Atwood's article on a similar theme. Back when personal computers were very new, question-and-answer games were some of the first programs that were used widely in classrooms.
Also very old are text-based adventure games where the player is presented with a situation and a number of options. These kinds of programs aren't very different from the kind of thing you're describing.
So, all this is to say that the structure of your program is probably going to be pretty simple -- I doubt you'll need a framework to get you there.
share|improve this answer
Your Answer


text:
1. Take the opportunity and run with it
Annelise Elsa Frieda Fleischmann was born in Berlin in 1899 to an affluent family. She studied drawing and painting which went against her family's expectation to follow a traditional lifestyle. She tried to study painting under Oskar Kokoschka's supervision but he discouraged her to continue. Later she decided to study at the innovative Bauhaus school. Though her first application was rejected, she finally got accepted into the school. She took some basic instruction for the first two terms and then chose weaving as her specialism. This was not her first choice but one of the few options available to women.
2. Challenge the norms
Anni Albers played an integral role in framing textiles as an art form. With her career as a teacher, a designer and an artist she put textiles on the map. Her approach towards textiles was inspired by ancient textile traditions. At the same time, she made work designed for functional and practical use.
Albers designed a wall-covering for a Trade Union School's auditorium. She later submitted this as her final diploma project at the Bauhaus. In this early work, she used cellophane, a new material at the time, as well as plain cotton and chenille to create a fabric that is sound-absorbing and light-reflecting. While making her material and formal choices for this work, she paid great attention to its purpose. With this fabric, Albers avoided complicated patterns or bold colours which could distract from its function.
3. Travel as much as you can
In 1933, Anni Albers and her husband Josef Albers left Germany to seek refuge from the rise of Nazism. They moved to the United States and started teaching at Black Mountain College. During her time in America, she travelled to Mexico, Cuba, Chile and Peru. She also travelled frequently to Europe to design, make prints and to lecture.
Travel played an important role in Albers's life and career as an artist. Her trips to South America had a profound influence on her work. She became fascinated with ancient South American weaving methods. One of her most important works, Red Meander (1954) is inspired by an ancient labyrinth and the Peruvian patterns she studied so closely. This work was later recreated as a series of screenprints.
4. Learn from the past
Albers was interested in the ancient uses of threads as means of visual expression and communication. In her publication On Weaving she discusses how Peru has one of the greatest and most intricate traditions of expressive weaving. She mentions that this country did not develop a written language up until the 16th century. On the other hand, she was not interested in textile traditions that were trying to copy painting, such as Renaissance or Gothic textiles. She believed these western traditions had played a role in bringing textiles down to being a decorative and minor art form.
Albers was captivated by ancient methods of weaving. At the same time, she was keen to employ these methods in a way that is compatible with modern modes of production. She believed that even in modern mass production, problems usually require simple solutions that can be learned from the past. Slowness and experimentation characterised her best work.
In Ancient Writing Albers used weaving as a tool to convey abstract thoughts. She did not want her works to be easily decoded. In her own words, the formal arrangement of a work needed to have "that quality of mystery that we know in nature".
5. Make useful art
Albers believed design has elements of usefulness, planning and organisation. Design has to be combined with sensitivity and imagination to become art. The Bauhaus ideology of 'art for everyone' inspired Albers's artistic career. In 1951, she started a collaboration with Knoll textile department that led to a 30-year partnership. She designed a range of furnishing fabrics that are still in production. Created for Knoll in the 1970s, Eclat is one of her most-copied designs that still looks very contemporary.
6. Get your hands dirty
Albers championed modernity. However she was concerned that modern humans had lost their sensitivity to touch. She saw the rise of ready-made products as a reason for this. As an artist and a designer she was conscious of creating works that appealed to our sense of touch.
Free-hanging room divider, a woven partition, is one of her most innovative designs. In this work, tactile qualities of the surface and structural qualities, such as choice of material, come together. She used materials such as jute and Lurex -a synthetic thread made from a metallic film. Use of rigid material allowed for an open-weave arrangement.
7. Embrace emotion
In 1965, The Jewish Museum in New York approached Anni Albers. They wanted her to produce a memorial to the six million Jewish people who died in the Holocaust. Six Prayers, was the work that resulted from this commission. She spent the majority of her career developing a language of abstraction that could express emotions without the use of words. The work is composed of six beige, black, white, and silver verticalwoven panels. Her choice of colours and patterns is simple and graceful. This is a memorial that is far more meditative than monumental.


text: Teach students how to add and subtract both negative and positive integers with this system that helps students visualize operations by relating them to the filling or draining of a toilet tank. The system can be used to teach younger students basic addition and subtraction, then reintroduced to older students learning how to add and subtract equations involving negative integers. The 195-page activity book explains the system, lists the covered NCTM Standards, and provides worksheets to accommodate all levels and abilities. The double-sided dryerase boards feature 2 different Watertank diagrams, 1 for beginners and 1 for more advanced students. Kit includes an activity book and a CD-ROM with PDF versions of the activities.


Protecting Yourself from the Liabilities of Others - Risk Management
Using signage, contracts, and waiver agreements are among the steps you can take to effectively manage your business risks.
It is important to involve a lawyer when protecting your business against the liabilities of others. A lawyer will review contracts and keep your best interests in mind. Be aware that although waivers and hold harmless agreements might be effective to deflect liability, there is no substitute for prudent and reasonable due diligence.
4 Steps to Effectively Manage Risks
 1. Use signs. They can warn people of hazards, provide information and possibly prevent losses. Do not rely on signs alone to deflect liability. Be sure to:
 1. Keep signs simple and easy to understand
 2. Make sure signs are placed in visible areas
 3. Use universally recognized symbols
 4. Ensure sign sizes and colours are appropriate and visible
 5. Use all common languages.
 2. Use contracts. A contract must be legally enforceable, so consider that:
 1. Both parties must intend to create a legal relationship
 2. There has to be an offer – a promise to buy/sell/exchange a good or service of value – that is subject to a condition
 3. There must be an acceptance
 4. Both parties to the contract must receive something of value. For example, a person who leases his or her premises receives money for the rental and the person who is leasing the property receives use of the property, as set out in the contract
 5. Both parties must have the capacity to contract. Special considerations exist for minors, intoxicated persons, mentally challenged persons and bankrupt persons
 6. The contract must be legal. For example, a contract to purchase stolen goods or perform other illegal acts is not enforceable. Contracts that are contrary to public policy or public interest may also not be enforceable
 7. Certain contracts must be in writing to be legally enforceable, such as those that concern the sale of land and that last for a period of longer than one year.
 3. Use waivers and hold harmless agreements.
 1. A waiver is a clause that states that users, customers, etc., waive their right to make a claim or sue the waived company for a specific activity.
 2. Hold harmless and indemnifying agreements are usually clauses in contracts or agreements where one party agrees to protect the other party from legal action arising out of the contract or agreement.
 3. Waivers and hold harmless agreements may deflect and transfer liability if they are properly worded.
 4. Always obtain legal advice when drafting waivers or hold harmless agreements.
 5. Use consent forms if waivers cannot be used.
 4. Require insurance certificates. An insurance certificate should be required from people and organizations that you enter into agreements with or who supply products and services to you. Consult your insurance representative for guidance. Generally, if you are at risk for the actions of someone who is performing a service for you, then that person should provide an insurance certificate.
 1. An insurance certificate is proof of insurance coverage, but it can also confer certain rights to the certificate holder.
 2. A certificate contains all the relevant information that a contracting party might need to know about the other's insurance.
 3. If someone requests this of your organization, forward the request with all the relevant information to your insurance representative, who will issue the certificate.
A Primer on Insurance Certificate Terminology
Many business contracts will stipulate that insurance confirmation is required. You should forward requests for insurance certificates to your insurance representative. When reviewing an insurance certificate, always confirm that it lists your organization as an additional insured. Be aware of key terms such as:
 - Cross-liability clause
 - Notice of cancellation clause
 - Coverages and limits
 - Effective dates
 - Operations
Remember to get new certificates before the old ones expire. Keep old insurance certificates indefinitely, just as you would your own insurance policies.


text:
As the automotive industry continues to work on intelligent and autonomous vehicles, there is a need to better comprehend the safety and security of this connected technology. The IEEE five-course program, Automotive Cyber Security: Protecting the Vehicular Network, aims to foster the discussion on automotive cyber security solutions and requirements for not only intelligent vehicles, but also the infrastructure of intelligent transportation systems.
Technical professionals need to understand the cyber security challenges, possible solutions, and methodology to finding the security requirements needed during the design and development of automotive technology. This course program investigates cyber security issues and solutions as well as how blockchain technology applies to automotive applications. It also provides in-depth knowledge of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting vehicular data and its impact on security, the economy, and safety into the future.
Developed by leading experts in autonomous vehicle technology, course titles include:
- Evolution of Intelligent and Autonomous Vehicles
- Connected Vehicle Communication
- Securing Intelligent Transportation Systems
- Using Blockchain Technology to Secure Autonomous Vehicles
- Collecting, Analyzing, and Interpreting Vehicular Data
- The most important aspects of the automotive cyber security evolution.
- The implementation process of vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2X) communication systems to work with autonomous vehicles and intelligent transportation systems.
- The analysis and interpretation process of vehicular data on automotive technology.
Contact an IEEE Content Specialist today to learn more about getting access to these courses for your organization.


text:
Presentation on theme: "Gardening in California Under Drought Limitations Statewide Master Gardener Conference October 9, 2014 Janet Hartin UCCE Area Environmental Horticulture."— Presentation transcript:
Gardening in California Under Drought Limitations Statewide Master Gardener Conference October 9, 2014 Janet Hartin UCCE Area Environmental Horticulture Advisor (San Bernardino, Los Angeles, and Riverside Counties)
Irrigation Scheduling Involves Applying the Right Amount of Water at the Right Time
What Factors are Involved in Irrigation Scheduling? Plant water use Soil water holding capacity Water infiltration rate Plant rooting depth Irrigation system output
Plant Water Use Varies Among Species Influenced By Microclimate Varies By Density
ET (Landscape Species) = ETo (Reference Evapotranspiration) X Kc (Crop Coefficient)
Reference Evapotranspiration (ETo) ETo = The Amount Of Water Used by a Large Uniform Planting of a Cool-season Grass Growing 3-6 Inches Tall Given Unlimited Water.
Factors That Determine ETo Solar Radiation Temperature Wind Speed Relative Humidity
C alifornia I rrigation M anagement I nformation S ystem _URL_ CIMIS Station
Avg. Monthly Irrigation Percentages
Average (Mean) ETo SO CAL Inland Valley San Jose San Francisco
Plant ET Often Higher Than Actual Water Required For Acceptable Performance (Mesquite And Ficus)
Water Needs of the Same Species Vary Depending on Microclimate Landscape Plants in Heat Islands Require up to 50% More Water Than the Same Species in a Park Setting
Shade Vs Full Sun
Hydrozone: Plant Species With Similar Water Needs Together
Planting Density Affects Water Requirement
Multi-tiered Canopy Uses More Water Than Single Tier Canopy
Low Density Planting
DWR WATER BUDGET *MAWA = (ETO) (0.7) (LA) (0.62) ETo = Reference Evapotranspiration (Inches Per Year) 0.7 = ET Adjustment Factor LA = Landscaped Area (Square Feet) 0.62 = Conversion Factor (To Gallons) *Maximum Applied Water Allowance = _______ Gallons/Year
Example of Maximum Applied Water Allowance (MAWA) Greater LA Basin (Annual Historical Eto = 51.1 In) Hypothetical Landscape Area = 50,000 Sq Ft MAWA = (Eto) (0.7)* (La) (0.62)** MAWA = (51.1) (0.7) (50,000 Sq Ft) (0.62) MAWA = 1,108,870 Gallons Per Year *Et Adjustment Factor ** Conversion Factor From Inches To Gallons
Lists of Estimated Plant Water Use - WUCOLS IV (Water Use Classification of Landscape Species): _URL_ - Plantfinder.sunset.com - California Native Plant Society: _URL_ - Water districts such as: - contracosta.watersavingplants.com/listplants.
Differences Exist Among Species Growing Across Climate Zones (WUCOLS) - Variegated Chinese Lantern (Abutilon Pictum) is in the High Water Use Category in the Central Valley but Moderate in the South Inland Region. - Engelmann Oak (Quercus Engelmannii) is in the Very Low Category In The South Coastal Region but Low in the North-central Coastal Region.
Protected Tree Ordinances May Prohibit Cutting, Removing, Moving, Or Encroaching Upon Protected Indigenous Trees: - California Live Oak - Valley Oak - Mesa Oak - Scrub Oak - California Sycamore - California Bay
WUCOLS IV MODERATE WATER USE Valley Oak: (Quercus Lobata) California Bay (Umbellularia Californica) California Black Oak (Quercus Kelloggii) Sycamore (Platanus Rasemosa) Indian Laurel Fig (Ficus Microcarpa) Monterey Pine (Pinus Radiata)
WUCOLS IV High Water Use Weeping Willow: (Salix Babylonica) Red/River Birch: (Betula Nigra) Coast Redwood: (Sequoia Sempervirens )
Determining When to Irrigate is as Important as Knowing How Much Water to Apply
Determine Soil Water Holding Capacity
Use the 'Feel' Test Dry Medium Wet
Depths to Irrigate Turf - 8 To 12 In. ShrubsSmall: 1 Ft. - Large: 2 Ft. Trees - Small: 2 Ft. - Large: 3 Ft.
- Recently Transplanted Plants are at Greatest Risk of Drought Damage Due To Root Loss. - Established Plants (trees) are Less at Risk. -
Recognizing Early Signs of Drought Stress is Important Because: Irreversible damage can occur that no amount of watering will correct Mature fruit trees and landscape trees are worth saving!
Common Symptoms of Drought Include: - Wilting or drooping leaves that do not return to normal by evening - Curled or chlorotic (yellow) leaves that may fold or drop - Foliage that becomes grayish and loses its green luster - New leaves that are smaller than normal - Lawns that retain a footprint for several minutes
Turf Drought Damage
Maintaining Various Types of Plants During Water Restrictions and Severe Drought
Ornamental Trees Most homeowners wisely choose to use whatever water is available to save their mature landscape ornamentals and fruit trees. One or two deep irrigations with a garden hose several weeks apart in spring and summer will often keep these valued plants alive, especially if roots are relatively deep.
(Con'd) Two seasons without enough water can result in severe drought stress and even death. Drought-stressed trees are more prone to damage from diseases and insects than non-stressed trees.
(Con'd) Watering with a garden hose slowly and deeply will help water reach the root zone. Soaker hoses work well, too. Water mature trees several feet out from the trunk and make sure water is moving through the soil several inches deep into the root zone.
Fruit and Nut Trees Keeping fruit and nut trees alive during severe water shortages is also possible, although crop production will be reduced or stop. To produce a good crop, deciduous fruit and nut trees need adequate water in their root zones continuously from bloom until harvest.
Peaches, Plums, and Nectarines Adequate irrigation during the final 4 – 6 weeks before harvest is important to produce fruit. If necessary, reducing water just prior to this period and after harvest are viable strategies. If little or no irrigation water is available throughout the season, trees may be kept alive by severely cutting scaffolds back to the trunk (dehorning).
Citrus Citrus trees need adequate soil moisture during spring to set fruit and steady water in summer and fall to produce acceptable size, numbers, and quality of fruit.
Vegetables Vegetables are difficult to maintain during a drought. As a rule of thumb, water is most critical during the first few weeks of development, immediately after transplanting, and during flowering and fruit production.
(Con'd) Tomatoes, beans, and root crops such as carrots require regular watering and are not tolerant to long, dry periods. Vine crops such as squash and zucchini often fare better and can be kept alive with a few waterings once or twice a week through the season.
Shrubs Most established shrubs can survive long periods of dry soil. Thorough spring watering and one or two thorough waterings in the summer keeps most well-established shrubs alive for at least one season.
Groundcovers Groundcovers often survive on about half the amount of water received under optimal conditions, although some dieback may occur. To avoid serious drought stress groundcovers require waterings every 3-6 weeks from spring through fall depending on species and soil type and microclimate.
Lawns Warm-season lawns such as bermudagrass and buffalograss are more drought-resistant than cool season grasses such as tall fescue and ryegrass and may come back after several weeks of dryness. Cool season grasses may die within a month or two of receiving no water. Cutting the length of irrigation down to ½ of that recommended in the UC lawn watering guide (_URL_ and watering only once or twice a week may help lawns survive drought.
(Con'd) Once a lawn stops receiving adequate moisture, it will gradually turn brown and go dormant over time. A lawn that recently turned brown from drought can often be revived with regular, thorough watering.
What Else Can You Do Right Now Without Starting Over? Mulch Apply 2-3" of mulch around garden plants and trees to hold water in and reduce soil evaporation. Keep it several inches away from tree trunks! Make sure to water beneath the mulch.
What Mistake Do You See?
Avoid Planting New Plants Young plants require frequent irrigation until established and should not be planted during a drought or under water restrictions. Even native plants require continually moist root zones during establishment.
Avoid Overfertilizing Too much nitrogen results in lush, weak new growth, and increases the need for even more water. Too much fertilizer can lead to pollution of waterways.
Keep Weeds Out! Weeds often outcompete garden plants and trees for water. Avoid using chemical herbicides; hand-weed instead. Overuse of pesticides can lead to waterways pollution.
Use a Broom Instead of a Hose to Clean up After Gardening/Pruning Save water and avoid polluting waterways. Get some exercise!
What about Long-Term Solutions? Once


text:
The rough idea of what is being said
A machine translation that is used to get the essential information from a document. A gist is useful even if it contains serious errors in vocabulary, syntax, and grammar.
the choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience; "the gist of the prosecutor's argument"; "the heart and soul of the Republican Party"; "the nub of the story"
The gist of an article is the overall idea of it; what it is basically about and the point it makes.
Summary of the meaning and essential points of a communication


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Devices (Device Usage metric)
The number of Visitors or Sessions by Device Type metric tells you the type of devices used by visitors to your website in a specific time range.
This information helps you optimize your website design, experience, content, and optimize your content for advertising campaigns.
What is the device type usage in your analytics dashboard?
Device type in your analytics refers to the visitors who use a mobile phone, desktop, or tablet. Some analytics tools display the device brand, as well.
As you might know by now, visitors to a website come from all around the globe and from all sorts of devices. While some industries are more keen to have visitors using a specific device in a high percentage, sometimes you have to declutter your statistics and see what type of device do people use when they visit your site.
Why is the Device Usage essential for you and your site?
Knowing the devices your website is accessed from helps you optimize your design and content for the devices that your customers use and display a consistent experience to your customers no matter the device they use. This means a higher chance to convert your visitor into a customer.
 Once you start to analyze the data (e.g., each visitor activity combined with device types), you will see the number of visitors by device type in a specific time range. This helps you observe and analyze trends in your traffic, identify opportunities, and easily see the problems that have an impact on your users based on the device type.
 Here a few examples of actions influenced by device type:
 1. Visitors who use a mobile device (e.g., smartphone) to check a site that's not mobile-friendly will:
 - Bounce fast and spend less time on the site
 It is easier to quit a site using a mobile device, and people are used with short content (mobile copywriting) and easy to use websites and apps - if your site lacks these, there is an extremely high chance to lose these customers.
 - Be less likely to perform purchases or fill forms
 If you have a non-mobile-friendly site, but you want your visitors to buy a product or sign-up to something, there is a low chance for this to happen if the user experience is not smooth.
 1. visitors who use a desktop device (computer, notebook)
 While we know for a fact that mobile devices are the leading source of internet traffic in the US and Europe, the highest percent of people spending/buying something online was coming from visits made through a desktop device. Here are a few facts to know about desktop device visitors:
 - They are familiar with long-form content, so if you have a more complex checkout or form, you may want to target desktop users with your ads. However, keep in mind that most of the research is done via mobile devices and the purchase via laptops/notebooks and desktop devices.
 - They spend a higher amount of time watching videos. This, again, helps you optimize the product video of your site (make it lengthier or shorter, based on your target group and stats) and optimize your video ads as well!


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Kings Park Wildflowers
Title: Kings Park Wildflowers
Broadcast: August 13th 2016
Presenter: Trevor Cochrane
The southwest corner of Western Australia is recognized internationally as a biodiversity hotspot. The plants that have evolved here over the hundreds of thousands of years are completely unique.
- The plants grown here have adapted to a very harsh, dry climate. They get about 800mm rainfall per year, which is all in a 12-week period. This tends to flush the nutrients through the soil meaning most nutrients are derived from organic material such as leaf litter and rock minerals.
- Kangaroo Paw is a classic example of a beautiful Native and is found in backyards across the world. Much breeding has been done to develop many different types, colours and sizes.
- Trevor shows us the Dwarf Kangaroo Paw (Cat Paws), the Evergreen Perennial, the Black Kangaroo Paw and the Mangles Kangaroo Paw. They all have come common traits and hate to be waterlogged.
- Everlastings are also one of Trevor's favourites. The perfect time to plant these is in Autumn and there is a stunning display north of Perth. If you can't travel north you can always enjoy them at Kings Park.


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Turning plastic into foam to combat pollution
Researchers have developed a method to turn biodegradable plastic knives, spoons, and forks into a foam that can be used as insulation in walls or in flotation devices. The investigators placed the cutlery into a chamber filled with carbon dioxide. As pressure increased, the gas dissolved into the plastic. When they suddenly released the pressure in the chamber, the carbon dioxide expanded within the plastic, creating foaming.


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Human beings are like actors on a stage
The Vedas explain that the human beings in this material world are like actors on a stage, performing under the direction of a superior. Onstage, one actor may play the role of a master, and another may play the role of his
servant, but they are both actually the servants of the director. In the same way, all living entities are the servants of the Supreme Lord, Sri Krishna. Their roles as masters and servants in the material world are temporary and imaginary. Jada Bharata compared the mind to a flame in a lamp. "When the flame burns the wick improperly, the lamp is blackened with soot. But when the lamp is filled with clarified butter and the flame burns properly, the lamp produces brilliant illumination. The mind absorbed in material life brings endless suffering in the cycle of reincarnation, but when the mind is used to cultivate spiritual knowledge, it brings about the original brightness of spiritual life." All of these bodies are like the bodies we experience in dreams. When a man goes to sleep, he forgets his real identity and may dream that he has become a king. He cannot remember what he was doing before he went to sleep, nor can he imagine what he will do upon waking. In the same way, when a soul identifies with a temporary, material body, he forgets his real, spiritual identity, as well as any previous lives in the material world, although most souls in a human body have already transmigrated through all 8,400,000 species of life. "The living entity thus transmigrates from one material body to another in human life, animal life, and life as a demigod," the Yamadutas said. "When the living entity gets the body of a demigod, he is very happy. When he gets a human body, he is sometimes happy and sometimes sad. And when he gets the body of an animal, he is always fearful. In all conditions, however, he suffers terribly, experiencing birth, death, disease, and old age. His miserable condition is called samsara, or transmigration of the soul through different species of material life. After death one forgets everything about the present bodily relationships; we have a little experience of this at night when we go to sleep. While sleeping, we forget everything about this body and bodily relations, although this forgetfulness is a temporary situation for only a few hours. Death is nothing but sleeping for a few months in order to develop another term of bodily encagement, which we are awarded by the law of nature according to our aspiration. Therefore, one has only to change the aspiration during the course of this present body, and for this there is need of training in the current duration of human life. This training can be begun at any stage of life, or even a few seconds before death, but the usual procedure is for one to get the training from very early life.
By Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupadas
Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2 Text 69
What is night for all beings is the time of awakening for the self-controlled; and the time of awakening for all beings is night for the introspective sage.
There are two classes of intelligent men. One is intelligent in material activities for sense gratification, and the other is introspective and awake to the cultivation of self-realization. Activities of the introspective sage, or thoughtful man, are night for persons materially absorbed. Materialistic persons remain asleep in such a night due to their ignorance of self-realization. The introspective sage remains alert in the "night" of the materialistic men
The sage feels transcendental pleasure in the gradual advancement of spiritual culture, whereas the man in materialistic activities, being asleep to self-realization, dreams of varieties of sense pleasure, feeling sometimes happy and sometimes distressed in his sleeping condition. The introspective man is always indifferent to materialistic happiness and distress. He goes on with his self-realization activities undisturbed by material reactions. Top Homepage


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Nanoscaled Components for Improved Efficiency in a Multiplanel Photocatalytic Water-Splitting System
The goal of this program was to construct a multicell photochemical device for the direct conversion of solar energy directly to hydrogen by water splitting. We have fabricated a practical photolytic system for quantum efficient production of hydrogen. Our approach is based on the assembly of a multi-component integrated system for direct photocatalytic splitting of water for the efficient production of hydrogen. We propose to produce hydrogen as an energy source that is cost competitive with fossil fuels and without the concomitant production of greenhouse gases. The concept is quite straightforward. In order to achieve the over potential required for direct water splitting, the device is composed of multiple dye-sensitized cells directly linked in series, as illustrated in the figure below. The advantage of this concept is that each cell need contribute only a fraction of the overall potential required for water splitting, thus permitting device engineering to maximized efficiently without regard to electric potential. Progress and barriers to practical application will be described.
- Publication Date:
- OSTI Identifier:
- Report Number(s):
- DOE Contract Number:
- Resource Type:
- Technical Report
- Research Org:
- Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC); USDOE Chicago Operations Office (CO)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- 32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION; 14 SOLAR ENERGY
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Storehouse of goodness: Tender coconut (Thinkstock photos/Getty Images)
Page 1 of 4
The scorching sun leaves us glucose and energy drained. If we happen to be outside, the quick fix for our refreshment would be an energy drink or a fizzy soda. Even the refrigerators are stocked with harmful preservative laden and artificially flavoured fruit drinks.
But when we hit the roads no one can fail to notice those unassuming tender coconuts that are piled at the shady corners of the road. Tender coconuts are a storehouse of benefits, some known and many unknown to you.
Here's some interesting advantages of the drink. - Lots of spices, condiments and outside food can leave your intestines little irked and lead to loose stools. Though tender coconut water does not assure to stop diarrhoea, it does serve as an excellent rehydration solution to help your body recuperate from displaced liquids.
- This is the most oft heard and repeated property of the wonder liquid. Summer or natural heat in your body can end up affecting your body system in more than one ways. Acne outbursts or heat in your body being the most common of all summer health issues. The water of the nut is supposed to bring down the heat in your body, thus cooling the over-worked system and stopping such ailments.
- The residual effects of a chicken pox or summer can leave one wishing for more than a pair of arms to facilitate scratching. Just as how it cools the body from within, it is also said to cool the skin from outside and soothe it from rashes and itches. You can dip a soft towel in this water and gently pat the irritated areas of skin with it. This treatment is effective for sun burns too.
- If there has been a wild party which had you drinking like Irish, then a hangover and a headache is bound to follow. Little known fact is that coconut water combined with a lemon's juice can drive away the hangover. The same combination of liquid can be used for cholera patients too because of the presence of saline and albumin.
- People suffering from diarrhoea or constipation can try taking it at regular intervals. It is said to stabilise the metabolism in our body.
While aerated drinks only quench your thirst, coconut water can act as a healthier substitute that can give you added benefits. Loaded with natural sweetness and goodness this can easily steal the limelight. Next time you stop by to have drink make sure you reap all the health benefits by drinking a tender coconut. _EMAIL_


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This file photo shows the crates of Mackinlay's Scotch whisky that were excavated from beneath British explorer Ernest Shackleton's hut in Antarctica.
Antarctica-bound explorers would be wise to bring a case or two of Scotch whisky to endure chilly nights. Ernest Shackleton was wise.
In fact, the Scotch he packed for the Nimrod's 1907 attempt to reach the South Pole was exceptional, according to distillers who sampled and re-created the drink.
Low on supplies and hungry, the expedition was forced to evacuate about 100 miles shy of its goal. When the crew departed Cape Royds, they left behind equipment and goods, including three cases of Mackinlay's "Rare Old Highland Malt Whisky" that was stashed in the ice beneath a hut.
And there it sat until the Antarctic Heritage Trust discovered it in 2006, nearly 100 years later.
In 2010, chemists and distillers with Whyte & MacLay, Ltd., which now owns Mackinlay's, got their hands on a few bottles and sampled a dram.
"The whisky had been in deep freeze ever since it was delivered to Antarctica," James Pryde, chief chemist at the distillery, recounted to me in an email. "We had no idea what we would find."
The hope was that given the cold storage coupled with a tight cork seal the whisky would be as good in 2010 as it was when it was blended more than a century earlier.
"This is what we found," Pryde said.
For aficionados of Scotch, that could be seen as backhanded compliment. Single malt whiskies from this period were generally regarded as "harsh and heavily peated," he noted - in other words, nothing to get excited about.
"Given we had no idea what we would find, it is not understatement that this dram turned out to be the 'nectar of the gods' — it was a revelation in its complexity, particularly the control of the peating level and the quality of the wood," Pryde said.
The storage under the hut while wrapped in straw and packed in wooden crates prevented the whisky from turning to ice and thus messing with the flavor profile. The preservation prompted an extensive analysis of the liquid.
"This as far as we know was the first analysis of a pristine whisky sample from the late 1800s and gave us real insight to what our forefathers were capable of when it came to whisky production," said Pryde.
The team determined the freezing point (-34.3 degrees C), alcoholic strength (47.19 percent), origin of the peat used in malting (Isle of Eday), and the nature of the wood casks used to mature it (American oak), for example.
The relatively high alcohol likely contributed to the lack of haze formation. "To have your whisky go cloudy would have been a PR disaster," noted Pryde.
The distillery had access to American oak casks used to transport sherry and wine and given its location near a port where this trade was particularly active, the distillery likely had the pick of the bunch.
All these aspects made for the exceptional blend for Shackleton and crew to sip, the team concludes in a paper detailing their analysis in the Journal of the Institute of Brewing.
Want to know just how good this whisky tasted? No problem, a re-creation is available for you to try.
To make it, Richard Pearson, master blender at Whyte & McKay Ltd., "used the best modern stocks of whisky that were at his disposal," noted Pryde. The blend was then subjected to the same scientific analysis as the original, confirming an almost identical match.
The lesson from the research project?
"I don't expect that any major changes will result from this work to the actual production of whisky," noted Pryde. But their findings do offer some sage advice for craft distillers of the future: master the art of blending.
"That is the most important thing that has been passed down from the 1900s."
More on old Scotch and distilling tech:
- Century-old Scotch returned from Antarctic ship
- Century old whisky found in Antarctic
- Sip some New Year's Eve science
- Whisky hangover worse than vodka, study says
The modernist kitchens of Grant Achatz are known for using experimental equipment to produce unusual cuisine, thanks to an unusual partnership with PolyScience, a lab equipment.


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What is SoapUI?
SoapUI is an open-source web service testing application for service-oriented architectures (SOA) and representational state transfers (REST). Its functionality covers web service inspection, invoking, development, simulation and mocking, functional testing, load and compliance testing.
Basic kick off with SoapUI:
Once you get SoapUI installed, it will have the dashboard as shown below:
To add sample test, we need to select between SOAP or REST:
We will select URL as we want to test REST API. Once URL is selected, we need to provide the URL we need to test. For example I am using StackOverflow public API to get the users:
Once we click on Next, it will create one new project and in that project it will create a TestSuite where all your test will reside:
Once we run the test, it will show green or Red color whether the test is passed or failed:
If the test is passed, it will show the response in JSON which we have got with REST GET request:
Now as it is mentioned in very first image, if we perform some security tests then it will ask about the things we need to add in security test as shown below:
Once we click on Finish, it will show the result as below:
We can get detailed report as well:
I created one sample Web API on my machine which returns 2 values and I published the API project. When I gave localhost URL in ReadyAPI, It created one new project in ReadyApi and it gave the result as shown below:
So if the API would be installed on IIS then also APIs can be tested using Ready Api.
As it works with GET, it can work with POST\PUT\DELETE as well:
SoapUI provides a feature called Virt in which we can create a virtual service, so if testers want to mock the service without calling the actual REST API, it is possible with SoapUI. We need to create a new Virt as below:
This Virt can behave as GET\POST etc as per your need and Once the Virt is created, we can even host that Virt on localhost by applying some settings.
To conclude this, if we want to test the scenario of a user account creation, we will create one project and in that there would be a test suite named "Test account creation" and in that suite we can add different test cases as shown below:
Try it out.


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Food Standards Australia New Zealand's (FSANZ) vision is to ensure a safe food supply that supports the health of people in Australia and New Zealand. To achieve this vision, FSANZ develops effective, evidence based food standards in collaboration with Australian and New Zealand governments. In undertaking food regulatory science, FSANZ ensures that food regulatory measures are based on the best available scientific evidence, using a risk analysis framework. The successful application of science is critical to the effectiveness and appropriateness of food regulatory measures, and underpins the risk management decision making process.
Read more about scientific issues facing FSANZ in Chief Scientist, Dr Paul Brent's series of articles - From the desk of the Chief Scientist.
FSANZ Science Strategy
The scientific work of FSANZ forms the basis of our ability to ensure food safety and protect the public health and safety of consumers. To ensure that FSANZ is undertaking the highest quality science, FSANZ implements a Science Strategy which outlines a strategic approach to ensuring our scientific capability. FSANZ launched its first Science Strategy in 2006. The FSANZ Science Strategy 2010-2015 builds on the original strategy and identifies new areas to enhance our science.
The primary intention of the new Science Strategy is to position our food regulatory science to address current and emerging challenges through a focus on seven key strategic areas.
Underpinning the strategy will be yearly implementation plans which will identify specific objectives and deliverables FSANZ will undertake to meet the aims identified. The FSANZ Science Strategy Implementation Plan 2012 focuses on continuing to build our specialist scientific expertise, continuing to enhance the systematic collection, analysis and reporting of data relating to our food regulatory science, and increasing our capacity to predict, investigate and respond to emerging food safety issues.
Risk Analysis Framework
Maintaining the safety of food requires constant vigilance by government, industry and consumers as the food supply continues to change as a result of new technologies, expanding trade opportunities, ethnic diversity in the population and changing individual diets. The challenge for food regulators is to maintain a food regulatory system that delivers safe food for the population, enables consumers to make informed choices and maintains public confidence in the food supply chain.
FSANZ develops food standards, and joint codes of practice with industry, covering the composition and labelling of food sold in Australia and New Zealand and Australia-only food standards addressing food safety issues and primary production and processing. In considering the risks associated with food, FSANZ uses the widely accepted framework of risk analysis. Risk analysis frameworks are a structured way of examining and incorporating the wide variety of factors that impact on a decision-making process, and are widely used in the health sector.
The Analysis of Food-Related Health Risks provides information on the risk analysis process used by FSANZ to identify, assess and manage food-related health risks within a structured framework. The document is intended to provide a broad overview of the FSANZ process employed in assessing food-related health risks. It is not intended to provide detailed information on the approach used by FSANZ in assessing particular types of foods e.g. food contaminants or substances added to food. This document should be read in conjunction with the FSANZ Science Strategy 2010-2015 which considers how FSANZ can continue to enhance its scientific capabilities.


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Free Fly 230mm Wingspan PP Hand Launched Throwing Electronic Aircraft RC Airplane G.lider Indoor Plane Fixed Wing Trainer Toys
Uses durable PP material
Easy carrying and operating
Model : Hand launched G.lider
Wingspan : 230mm
Fuselage : 190mm
Material : PP
Flight Time : can fly 30 times when full charged, each time can last 15 seconds
1. Choose a wide area without wind or breeze. Press the "Start" button, it will flash quickly, the motor will rotate after 2 seconds, then you can start it by throwing it horizontally. Its LED turns on during flight, and after 15 seconds the motor automatically stops spinning and begins to land. The "Start" button also controls the stop of motor rotation.
2.When it is in the state of the LED slow flashing, or in the condition of spinless or slow spinning when press the "start" button, it is the result of dead battery. It must be charged by connecting its own charing cable with power bank or smartphone charger. During charging, its LED will flash lasting for 30min, and off after full charged.
3. Indoor flight must be in an area of wide living room without ceiling lamp. Only left circling flight is available for indoor flight. The size of the flight radius is changed to accommodate indoor flight by adjusting the aircraft's direction tail according to the home environment.
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The Gene Explorer
This application is an interactive simulation of gene expression that allows the user
The figure above shows the Gene Explorer display:
- Explore a sample gene:
- Explore the correspondence between DNA, pre-mRNA, mature mRNA, and protein
- Map the functional elements of a gene.
- Create mutations in a gene and explore their effects.
- Design a gene of their own and see how it is expressed.
Any changes to the DNA are immediately reflected in changes in the other sequences
as appropriate. The software computes the different sequences as follows:
- The DNA strands with base-pair 62 highlighted.
- The user can scroll to select other bases with the arrow keys.
- The user can edit the DNA sequence to produce mutations.
- The pre-mRNA extending from the promoter to the terminator. Exons and introns
are shown in color. The mRNA base
corresponding to base 62 in the DNA is highlighted.
- The mature mRNA spliced according to the splice signals in the pre-mRNA. Start and stop
codons are underlined. The mRNA base corresponding to DNA base 62 is highlighted.
- The protein with its N and C termini shown. The amino acid whose codon includes the
mRNA encoded by DNA base 62 is highlighted.
- Starts with a DNA sequence.
- Finds the promoter (TATAA).
- Transcribes the pre-mRNA until it reaches a terminator (GGGGG).
- Removes the introns from the pre-mRNA (GUGCG......CAAAG).
- Adds a poly A tail.
- Translates the mature mRNA from the first AUG to the stop codon.
Downloading and installing
This software requires Java, which is available free from
- You can download version 2.1.0 (as of 05-July-2012) of the Gene Explorer from the following links:
- GeneExplorer for Windows 98 and above
- GeneExplorer for Mac OS X.
Warning: if you are using OS X version 10.8 ("Mountain Lion")
you will need to consult this
link for details on how to run this software.
- GeneExplorer for Linux/UNIX
- The Gene Explorer is also available as an applet that can be incorporated into
a web page with custom parameters. Sample page.
- This is a lab manual for a lab that uses Gene Explorer.
This page created and maintained by Brian White.
Other software by Brian White
The Biology 111/112 Home Page


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Podcasts & RSS Feeds
Most Active Stories
Mon February 11, 2013
Stateside: Use your words
The following is a summary of a previously recorded interview. To hear the complete segment, click the audio above.
According to a new study published in Elementary School Journal, the vocabulary lessons our children are getting in grade school fall woefully short of giving students the range and scope of words they need to become good, effective readers throughout their lives.
Tanya Wright is an Assistant Professor of Teacher Education at Michigan State University. She spoke with Cindy about the study and what it could cost our kids to be saddled with a deficient vocabulary.


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Twilight sleep (English translation of the German word Dämmerschlaf) is an amnesic condition characterized by insensibility to pain without loss of consciousness, induced by an injection of morphine and scopolamine, especially to relieve the pain of childbirth. This combination induces a semi-narcotic state which produces the experience of childbirth without pain, or without the memory of pain. The term 'Twilight Sleep' is also sometimes used to refer to modern intravenous sedation.
|"||The primal curse, "I will greatly multiply the sorrow of your conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children," was to be finally abrogated. The bearing of a child was henceforth to be merely a time of twilight and of sleep.||"|
—Twilight Sleep: the Dämmerschlaf of the Germans, The Canadian Medical Association Journal
Developed in Freiburg, Germany, twilight sleep replaced chloroform, the previous treatment for childbirth pains popular during the 1800s. Developed by Carl Gauss, who began research on the treatment in 1903, it was also sometimes known as the "Freiburg method". However, Gauss was not the first to suggest the use of the combination of morphine and scopolamine as a surgical anesthesia; in 1899, a Dr. Schneiderlin "recommended the use of scopolamine, combined with morphia, for the production of surgical anaesthesia".
Though introduced to the rest of the medical community in 1907, as of 1915, The Canadian Medical Association Journal reported that "the method [was] really still in a state of development", noting of many substitutions that different doctors had used in the place of morphine or scopolamine.
In 1915, the New York Times published an article on twilight sleep and the work of Hanna Rion, or Mrs. Frank Ver Beck, who had recently written a book entitled The Truth About Twilight Sleep. In that article, Rion said that the consensus of 69 medical reports she had looked at said that "scopolamin-morphin is without danger to the child."
This consensus would eventually change as the negative side effects of twilight sleep came to light.
Initially heralded as the dawning of "a new era for woman and through her for the whole human race," the Freiburg method was eventually abandoned due to negative side effects.
Some of these complications were emotional, i.e. that it removed the mother from the experience of childbirth, leaving her with no memory of the labor or delivery of the child. As one Nebraskan woman stated of the experience of twilight sleep,
|"||The next thing I knew I was awake [...] and then I thought to myself "I wonder how long before I shall begin to have the baby," and while I was still wondering a nurse came in with a pillow, and on the pillow was a baby, and they said I had had it—perhaps I had—but I certainly can never prove it in a courtroom.||"|
See also
- "Twilight Sleep". Collier's New Encyclopedia. 1921.
- Boldt, H. J. (1915-02-05). ""TWILIGHT SLEEP."; An Inaccurate Translation of the German Daemmerschlaf". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
- "Twilight sleep". 1999-08-22. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
- "Twilight Sleep: the Dammerschlaf of the Germans". The Canadian Medical Association Journal 5 (9): 805–8. August 1915. PMC _PHONE_. PMID 20310688. "From the foregoing it is evident that the Freiburg Dämmerschlaf has already undergone numerous modifications, that the method is really still in a state of development."
- Cassidy, Tina. "Taking Great Pains: An Abridged History of Pain Relief in Childbirth". Retrieved 2008-08-05.
- "TWILIGHT SLEEP; Is Subject of a New Investigation". The New York Times. 1915-01-31. Retrieved 2008-08-05.


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Gimenes, Itana M.S. and Barroca, Leonor
Enterprise frameworks for workflow management systems.
Software Practice and Experience, 32(8) pp. 755–769.
This paper proposes an enterprise framework for workflow management (WFM) systems based on
the Workflow Management Coalition generic architecture. In addition, it presents one smaller objectoriented
framework for task scheduling. This framework is obtained by refining one of the packages
of the overall framework. The task scheduling framework was designed following the concept of model
framework as in Catalysis. This sort of framework can be used as a template to generate code components
within an application domain. According to this approach we can develop WFM components that can
interoperate within a well-defined enterprise framework. This paper also presents the process of developing
interoperable code components from model frameworks.
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text: The helicopter game on the TI-89 calculator was a favorite for anyone taking Calculus in my Junior year of high school. The user interface was incredibly simple—a single button to control the height of your flying helicopter. The task of the game was equally simple—to guide your helicopter through a 2-D cave space. Apart from the game being intuitive, we all enjoyed the game because we could play it in class without our teachers knowing. There was also the comic effect of playing games on something meant for mathematical calculations. In reading "Acting with Technology", the authors mention that "activity is proposed as the basic unit of analysis providing a way to understand both subjects and objects, an understanding that cannot be achieved by focusing on the subject or the object separately". In the same fashion, we can come to understand why such a simple game is so engaging for the users. The subjects are calculus students in high school listening to their teacher for an hour. The calculator is the medium by which one can play the helicopter game. Viewing the subject and object separately we lose understanding as to why the game is so engaging. Together we realize that the game itself has little meaning. The engagement stems from the tool—one which hides the users real intentions from the teacher.


Which social media do you mostly use?
Guidelines to users
The Gateway provides a single access point for international and national information related to farm animal welfare. It is a participatory platform open to a large contributors base and allows users to retrieve as well as to submit information. Its content is established by an open and transparent consensus. Censorship of opinions and points of view is not applied, however, content is intended to be pertinent, factual, notable, verifiable with cited sources, and neutrally presented. All submitted material has to be relevant for farm animal welfare.
It especially gives less economically developed country governments, professionals and producers online access to the latest information and the opportunity to contribute information relevant to their own situation; it therefore helps to improve livestock welfare and thus health and productivity worldwide.
These Guidelines provide instructions on how to use the Gateway, retrieving and submitting information.
As a first step, to submit information, users need to register, by using the apposite format on display when clicking on the button "To submit info". Once registered, users can submit any documents and information of relevance in any given language, by logging, using their email as username and a chosen password, and then using the button "SUBMIT".
Subscription is free of charge, though subscribers must register a valid email address to have the possibility to submit infomation. The process only takes a few minutes.
All contributors providing relevant information will be duly acknowledged in the portal. Submitted information, when being pertinent, factual, notable, verifiable with cited sources, and neutrally presented will be uploaded in the portal within 24 hours if in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, German or Dutch; and in 72 hours, if provided in any other language. Contributors will be informed if the submitted material can not be uploaded because it does not comply with the criteria mentioned above.
Contributors that have distinguished themselves for the amount and quality of the information provided will be considered to take part in the Gateway Editorial board.
How can the Gateway be used?
The Gateway can be used in three main ways:
1. To search for information:
Depending on their particular interests and needs, users can search for:
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You are currently browsing the monthly archive for April 2012.
I had another long plane flight recently, so I decided to try making another game, to explore exactly what types of mathematical reasoning might be amenable to gamification. I decided to start with one of the simplest types of logical argument (and one of the few that avoids the disjunction problem mentioned in the previous post), namely the Aristotelian logic of syllogistic reasoning, most famously exemplified by the classic syllogism:
 - Major premise: All men are mortal.
 - Minor premise: Socrates is a man.
 - Conclusion: Socrates is a mortal.
There is a classic collection of logic puzzles of Lewis Carroll (from his book on symbolic logic), in which he presents a set of premises and asks to derive a conclusion using all of the premises. Here are four examples of such sets:
 - Babies are illogical;
 - Nobody is despised who can manage a crocodile;
 - Illogical persons are despised.
 - My saucepans are the only things that I have that are made of tin;
 - I find all your presents very useful;
 - None of my saucepans are of the slightest use.
 - No potatoes of mine, that are new, have been boiled;
 - All of my potatoes in this dish are fit to eat;
 - No unboiled potatoes of mine are fit to eat.
 - No ducks waltz;
 - No officers ever decline to waltz;
 - All my poultry are ducks.
After a certain amount of effort, I was able to gamify the solution process to these sort of puzzles in a Scratch game, although I am not fully satisfied with the results (in part due to the inherent technical limitations of the Scratch software, but also because I have not yet found a smooth user interface for this process). In order to not have to build a natural language parser, I modified Lewis Carroll's sentences somewhat in order to be machine-readable. Here is a typical screenshot:
Unfortunately, the gameplay is somewhat clunkier than in the algebra game, basically because one needs three or four clicks and a keyboard press in order to make a move, whereas in the algebra game each click corresponded to one move. This is in part due to Scratch not having an easy way to have drag-and-drop or right-click commands, but even with a fully featured GUI, I am unsure how to make an interface that would make the process of performing a deduction easy; one may need a "smart" interface that is able to guess some possible intended moves from a minimal amount of input from the user, and then suggest these choices (somewhat similarly to the "auto-complete" feature in a search box). This would require more effort than I could expend on a plane trip, though (as well as the use of a more powerful language than Scratch).
There are of course several existing proof assistants one could try to use as a model (Coq, Isabelle, etc.), but my impression is that the syntax for such assistants would only be easily mastered by someone who already is quite experienced with computer languages as well as proof writing, which would defeat the purpose of the games I have in mind. But perhaps it is possible to create a proof assistant for a very restricted logic (such as one without disjunction) that can be easily used by non-experts…
Just a quick update on my previous post on gamifying the problem-solving process in high school algebra. I had a little time to spare (on an airplane flight, of all things), so I decided to rework the mockup version of the algebra game into something a bit more structured, namely as 12 progressively difficult levels of solving a linear equation in one unknown. (Requires either Java or Flash.) Somewhat to my surprise, I found that one could create fairly challenging puzzles out of this simple algebra problem by carefully restricting the moves available at each level. Here is a screenshot of a typical level:
After completing each level, an icon appears which one can click on to proceed to the next level. (There is no particular rationale, by the way, behind my choice of icons; these are basically selected arbitrarily from the default collection of icons (or more precisely, "costumes") available in Scratch.)
The restriction of moves made the puzzles significantly more artificial in nature, but I think that this may end up ultimately being a good thing, as to solve some of the harder puzzles one is forced to really start thinking about how the process of solving for an unknown actually works. (One could imagine that if one decided to make a fully fledged game out of this, one could have several modes of play, ranging from a puzzle mode in which one solves some carefully constructed, but artificial, puzzles, to a free-form mode in which one can solve arbitrary equations (including ones that you input yourself) using the full set of available algebraic moves.)
One advantage to gamifying linear algebra, as opposed to other types of algebra, is that there is no need for disjunction (i.e. splitting into cases). In contrast, if one has to solve a problem which involves at least one quadratic equation, then at some point one may be forced to divide the analysis into two disjoint cases, depending on which branch of a square root one is taking. I am not sure how to gamify this sort of branching in a civilised manner, and would be interested to hear of any suggestions in this regard. (A similar problem also arises in proving propositions in Euclidean geometry, which I had thought would be another good test case for gamification, because of the need to branch depending on the order of various points on a line, or rays through a point, or whether two lines are parallel or intersect.)
High school algebra marks a key transition point in one's early mathematical education, and is a common point at which students feel that mathematics becomes really difficult. One of the reasons for this is that the problem solving process for a high school algebra question is significantly more free-form than the mechanical algorithms one is taught for elementary arithmetic, and a certain amount of planning and strategy now comes into play. For instance, if one wants to, say, write {\frac{1,572,342}{4,124}} as a mixed fraction, there is a clear (albeit lengthy) algorithm to do this: one simply sets up the long division problem, extracts the quotient and remainder, and organises these numbers into the desired mixed fraction. After a suitable amount of drill, this is a task that can be accomplished by a large fraction of students at the middle school level. But if, for instance, one has to solve a system of equations such as
\displaystyle a^2 + bc = 7
\displaystyle 2b - c = 1
\displaystyle a + 2 = c
for {a,b,c}, there is no similarly mechanical procedure that can be easily taught to a high school student in order to solve such a problem "mindlessly". (I doubt, for instance, that any attempt to teach Buchberger's algorithm to such students will be all that successful.) Instead, one is taught the basic "moves" (e.g. multiplying both sides of an equation by some factor, subtracting one equation from another, substituting an expression for a variable into another equation, and so forth), and some basic principles (e.g. simplifying an expression whenever possible, for instance by gathering terms, or solving for one variable in terms of others in order to eliminate it from the system). It is then up to the student to find a suitable combination of moves that isolates each of the variables in turn, to reveal their identities.
Once one is sufficiently expert in algebraic manipulation, this is not all that difficult to do, but when one is just starting to learn algebra, this type of problem can be quite daunting, in part because of an "embarrasment of riches"; there are several possible "moves" one could try to apply to the equations given, and to the novice it is not always clear in advance which moves will simplify the problem and which ones will make it more complicated. Often, such a student may simply try moves at random, which can lead to a dishearteningly large amount of effort expended without getting any closer to a solution. What is worse, each move introduces the possibility of an arithmetic error (such as a sign error), the effect of which is usually not apparent until the student finally arrives at his or her solution and either checks it against the original equation, or submits the answer to be graded. (My own son can get quite frustrated after performing a lengthy series of computations to solve an algebra problem, only to be told that the answer was wrong due to an arithmetic error; I am sure this experience is common to many other schoolchildren.)
It occurred to me recently, though, that the set of problem-solving skills needed to solve algebra problems (and, to some extent, calculus problems also) is somewhat similar to the set of skills needed to solve puzzle-type computer games, in which a certain limited set of moves must be applied in a certain order to achieve a desired result. (There are countless games of this general type; a typical example is "Factory balls".) Given that the computer game format is already quite familiar to many schoolchildren, one could then try to teach the strategy component of algebraic problem-solving via such a game, which could automate mechanical tasks such as gathering terms and performing arithmetic in order to reduce some of the more frustrating aspects of algebra. (Note that this is distinct from the type of maths games one often sees on educational web sites, which are usually based on asking the player to


UC Davis Art Museum. California
Kitchell. WORKac. WRL. images: © Regents of the University of California, Davis campus
A bold, open-faced icon along an outermost edge of UC Davis' campus, the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art re-imagines the intersections among art, higher education and everyday life.
The Slant
A beacon to students and
visitors alike, the building renders UC Davis' long history of engagement with the arts visible to the campus and city
beyond. Through a careful and innovative reordering of traditional museum conventions, the highly-accessible
building becomes a platform for collective learning, creation and experimentation—a showcase for UC Davis' artistic
legacy and its evolution as a cutting-edge cultural force and an integral and vibrant hub for future student
To emphasize the building's role as a destination for multiple audiences, the team devised a simple and striking
parallelogram form that maximizes opportunities for public space throughout the site. Two corners of the building
are lifted to create distinct facades facing the campus and the adjacent highway, forming a dramatic sloping roof that
houses an array of spaces, views and experiences. The slope of this roof, its orientation and its light metal cladding
together produce an inherently efficient envelope that minimizes solar heat gain and the energy needed to cool the
This roof becomes a graceful canopy extending over a new plaza to create a large shaded public outdoor space,
opening toward the larger campus and further underscoring the public nature of the museum. Continuing the theme
of connecting the museum's activities to the surrounding campus, the proposed landscape is strategically designed to
"stitch" the new building to the site with a series of outdoor rooms—spaces that complement and blend with the
museum's interior
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How To Wear a Beret—And Why It Became the Popular Fashion Accessory It Is Today
It dates back to 19th century.
woman wearing beret
Who wore it better, the artists or the revolutionaries? It was the Dutch artist Rembrandt who first donned the beret, one of France's most iconic accessories. While he was known to have sported a black velvet beret, as many of his self-portraits reveal, it was the working class, both artists and farmers, who favored this utilitarian accessory.
The French word "beret," dating back to 1825, originates from the Latin word "birretum" and the term "bearnais berret" describing a flat cap worn by the working class. How did the beret progress from sitting atop the heads of Europe's artists and farmers to becoming a wardrobe staple for the bohemian chic? First, it became a political statement.
Berets in Politics and Pop Culture
Rewind to the 19th century when Spanish leader of the Carlists, Tomás de Zumalacárregui, led his revolutionaries while wearing a red beret, which his followers quickly adopted. In France, the beret color of choice for the Chasseurs Alpins was light blue, signifying their elite status with the French Army. While colorful berets found their use as military headgear, black berets were then only worn by peasants.
It wasn't until the 20th century that the beret became a fashion statement, thanks in part to Coco Chanel who sported this predominantly male accessory with grace and elegance. Chanel often ornamented her beret with a broach and complimented the look with strings of pearls. Adding a more bohemian twist were writers and singers including Ernest Hemingway and Edith Piaf who donned the beret in both casual and formal garb along Paris's right and left banks. Artist Pablo Picasso was often seen wearing a beret and even painted a piece titled "Femme au Béret et à la Robe Quadrillée (Marie-Thérèse Walter)" depicting a woman in a red beret.
Soon to adopt this sophisticated look were movie stars the likes of Greta Garbo, Brigitte Bardot, Marlene Dietrich, and Lauren Bacall. Each actress adopted the beret to her own signature style, both on and off-screen. Once the beret hit Hollywood, it formed its own star status. In more recent years, Dior and Gucci reconfirmed the beret's high fashion appeal by adding it to their runway shows.
Meanwhile, the political significance of the beret continued even after this versatile hat made its way onto the heads of famed intellectuals and luminaries. Members of the Black Panthers wore these iconic hats as a sign of revolution. Decades later, the symbol of the beret remains one of Black power, donning the heads of activists and celebrities standing up for racial equality and the lives on those in the Black community.
How to Wear a Beret
The rules of wear are simple. Below, find a few tips.
 - The beret is worn flat on top of the head about three-quarters of the way up the forehead and an inch or so behind the ears.
 - The brim is tucked in to keep the hat in place.
 - One side of the beret is pulled down, making it slant, while the crease gives it shape.
 - For additional warmth, the beret can be pulled straight down to cover the ears. Et voilà!
What makes the beret an ideal accessory, regardless of how à la mode you consider yourself to be, is that it suits every style. Whether you're bundled up for winter, leisurely cycling through the countryside, or strolling around the city in a flowy dress and a light sweater, a beret can be worn from the fall to the spring. A classic Parisian look that's easy to dress up or down includes pairing a beret with a trench coat and a pair of jeans, sneakers, or heels depending on the mood. Contrary to French clichés, there's no need to carry a baguette and don a marinière or striped shirt (though you can if you want to).
These days, berets come in a variety of fabrics, from Eugenia Kim's black leather beret, to colorful wool options by Kangol, to sexy versions by NYC-based brand Glazed. Select luxury brands, including Dior's blue denim beret puts a modern twist on the style, while French-made berets from Beret Français are as classic as they come. Handmade in a workshop in Bayonne, Beret Français offers a wide selection for women, men, and children, including a tweed beret and a more modern black beret with rivets.
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|Diamondoid Monolayers as Monochromatic Electron Source|
Diamondoids are nanometer-sized molecules that feature diamond-crystal cage structures. Adamantane, the smallest member in the family, consists of one cage structure, diamantane two, triamantane three, tetramantane four, and so on. On all of these, the dangling bonds on the outer surfaces are terminated by hydrogen atoms. Because of their potential to possess novel properties of both diamond and nanomaterial, intensive efforts have been made to synthesize the larger diamondoid molecules, but to no avail. This situation was finally changed in 2003 when significant quantities of higher diamondoids were found in petroleum by researchers in MolecularDiamond Technologies. Now, scientists from Berkeley Lab, Stanford University, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and Germany have used photoelectron spectroscopy at the ALS to reveal an intriguing feature: monochromatized electron emission from a self-assembled monolayer of diamondoids. This discovery has immediately attracted the attention of people who are searching for materials for next-generation electron emitters.
Materials for electron emitters have long been sought because electrons emitted into vacuum can be precisely controlled and easily integrated into elaborate devices. They lie at the heart of a number of modern technologies, such as field-emission flat-screen displays, electron microscopes, electron lithography, and next-generation free-electron lasers. For electron emitters, one of the biggest challenges is to develop large, uniform surfaces that emit electrons with a sharp energy distribution.
In the late 1970s, scientists found that hydrogen-terminated diamond surfaces are characterized by negative electron affinity (NEA), meaning for electrons, the energy level of the vacuum is lower than that of the diamond conduction bands. At surfaces with NEA, electrons excited into the conduction band will spontaneously fall out into vacuum even at low temperature. Thus, NEA-based electron emitters have several advantages over conventional emitters. They exhibit electron emission at extremely low bias voltage (zero in the ideal case), and the energy distribution of the emitted electron is extremely narrow. However, two critical issues prevented NEA semiconductors from being used in commercialized products. One is the nonuniform emission normally observed on diamond surfaces. The other is the difficulty of supplying electrons to the emission surface, because diamond and other NEA semiconductors are wide-gap materials with low electron conductivity.
Diamondoids, being diamond-like nanoclusters, provide us with the opportunity to sustain the NEA feature of diamond while avoiding the conventional problems of bulk NEA materials. Toward this end, the collaborators replaced one of the hydrogen atoms on the surface of tetramantane (four-cage diamondoids) with a thiol group (hydrogen + sulfur). This substitution chemically "functionalizes" the tetramantane, i.e., it promotes bonding with other molecules, enabling it to form more complex structures, like nanosized tinker toys. The researchers found that these diamondoid–thiol complexes would then self-assemble into a uniform monolayer on metal surfaces such as silver or gold.
Photoelectron spectroscopy was then performed on the tetramantane–thiol monolayers at Beamline 10.0.1, where a strong, sharp peak was detected. The outstanding peak observed in the spectra is a strong indication of NEA. Furthermore, up to 68% of all the emitted electrons were within this single energy peak, with a width of less than 0.5 eV. This is several times as strong as the same measurement for bulk diamond. Technologically, this means most electrons are emitted from the diamondoid monolayer at the same energy, i.e., speed.
The result directly shows that diamondoid monolayers can be superior to conventional materials as electron emitters. The molecules can be purified and functionalized under precise control. They can be inexpensively self-assembled into large-area, uniform monolayers. More importantly, they perform better than previous materials in terms of the energy distribution of the emitted electrons. Further investigations are under way to fully understand this striking phenomenon, as well as to make real devices based on diamondoids.
Research conducted by W.L. Yang, N. Mannella, K. Tanaka, and X.J. Zhou (Stanford University and ALS); J.D. Fabbri, W. Meevasana, M.A. Kelly, N.A. Melosh, and Z.-X. Shen (Stanford University); T.M. Willey, J.R.I. Lee, and T. van Buuren (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory); J.E. Dahl and R.M.K. Carlson (MolecularDiamond Technologies, Chevron Technology Ventures); P.R. Schreiner, B.A. Tkachenko, and N.A. Fokina (Justus-Liebig University, Germany); A.A. Fokin (Justus-Liebig University, Germany, and Kiev Polytechnic Institute, Ukraine); and Z. Hussain (ALS).
Research funding: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Operation of the ALS is supported by BES.
Publication about this research: W.L. Yang, J.D. Fabbri, T.M. Willey, J.R.I. Lee, J.E. Dahl, R.M.K. Carlson, P.R. Schreiner, A.A. Fokin, B.A. Tkachenko, N.A. Fokina, W. Meevasana, N. Mannella, K. Tanaka, X.J. Zhou, T. van Buuren, M.A. Kelly, Z. Hussain, N.A. Melosh, and Z.-X. Shen, "Monochromatic electron photoemission from diamondoid monolayers," Science 316, 1460 (2007).


The Skate-ing continues
Having little formal knowledge of what creature developed when in Earth's history, (other than being able to trace on record my own arrival) I was wondering about that odd-looking skate. When did they start, who else was around then?
Surprise surprise! Dinosaurs.
Early Marsupials and mammals. Herbivores not too far different from those we know today, and so on. Quite an explosive time for changing things.
So I've added a few pics, just to put Mr Skate into a temporal neighbourhood context.
5 thoughts on "The Skate-ing continues
 1. The land dinosaurs were colorful, slightly feathered and social like bees within their own species They ran like birds and more evidence is accepted that they evolved into birds in that they were so huge they spent every waking hour eating to sustain the metabolism. They had to find a way to minimalize themselves.
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