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The wheel of fortune is a vine. Every individual wheel of fortune exists in four stages of its life at the same time: sprouting, flowering, fruiting and decaying. It's life extends itself in space rather than time. The survival of the individual plant is important, hence each vine spirals back to its beginning, using it's decaying ends to feed the shoots, forming the shape of a wheel. The vine is segmented, as a stalk of the sugar cane. Older plants have several vines growing around and around, forming an increasingly strong 'rope' of vines, with flowers and fruits all growing in the same portions of the vine. Each vine has only one leaf growing in between the vines, as spikes on a wheel, or a sparse spider-web, with the leaf connecting to the circular vine through its tips. The plant is not attached to the ground, but has aerial roots, which allow it to rotate through the space, carried by the wind, or sometimes it is even propelled by the force of its own growth and fruiting. Its flowers have the power to influence the environment around them. There are four types of flowers, all of whom have a rigid triangular shape, resembling alchemical symbols of earth, water, air and fire. The flowers can be picked to add more of a specific element into an eco-system, thereby changing its balance. This is a plant able to incite change even in the most static and inert of environments. Its fruits are hybrids of itself and organisms it has encountered on its journeys, particularly of animal origin. The plant collects DNA and integrates foreign DNA with its own. The fruits are a mixture of the plant's own and animal characteristics, bound by the elemental power of one of its four types of flowers (e.g. a water creature resembling a lion with legs made of passion-flower stigmas and quickly drying flower-petals instead of fur). The fruit is a true plant-animal hybrid, the animal often being of human origin. Once the fruit falls of, its animal ability to move takes over and the hybrid lives on as an independent entity. When the time comes for it to die, the entity always comes back to die in the arms of its parent, who strangles it and feeds it to the young shoots.
note: work in progress for PARN. not general reference


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Urine drug testing helps clinicians create a foundation of honesty and openness between patient and practitioner. Prescription medications are frequently used in the treatment of mental health disorders. Substance abuse and psychiatric disorders often co-exist, and determining the appropriate course of action is essential for successful treatment. Urine Drug testing (UDT) results can help psychiatrists conduct a more thorough and accurate assessment and pave the way to an effective treatment plan.
- Monitor ongoing issues with substance use disorders (SUD)
- Identify recent use of prescription medications, non-prescribed and illicit substances
- Detects medications that may results in drug-drug interaction
- Advocate for and communicate individual treatment plans

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


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This video teaches you
How to Plane Wood
Before you use your hand plane, make sure you sharpen the blade. To do so, place a piece of 220-grit sandpaper on a flat surface and hold the plane at a 25 degree angle so the bevel is flat against the sandpaper. Then, rub the blade in a circle until metal shavings form along its back. Place the blade back in your hand plane and adjust the angle of the blade with the depth adjustment wheel. The angle you choose will determine how thick the shavings you remove will be. If you're unsure what angle to choose, opt for a shallow angle, since you can always increase the depth of the cut if necessary. When you're ready, place your plane against the edge of your wood. Hold the knob with your non-dominant hand and press down so the plane is flush with the wood. Then, hold the back handle with your dominant hand and press forward so you're working across the surface smoothly and methodically. When you're done, lay a straight edge along your wood to check and confirm it's perfectly flat.


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The world needs professionals who can apply engineering to solve complex geologic, atmospheric, and environmental problems facing humankind. At Michigan Tech, you will explore industrial practices for safely and efficiently adapting geologic features to society's needs, while protecting the Earth and its inhabitants.
Geological engineers play an important role in identifying and mitigating man-made and natural hazards that pose a threat to civil structures, infrastructure, or people. Their work includes performing site investigations for planned tunnels, dams, or roads; locating sites and designing facilities for nuclear waste disposal; developing and restoring groundwater resources; stabilizing rock and soil slopes for dams, highways, and property development; exploring and harvesting mineral and energy resources; and studying geologic hazards such as volcanoes, landslides, and earthquakes.
Specialty areas in geological engineering include the following:
- Soil mechanics
- Rock mechanics
- Groundwater engineering
- Civil design
- Hazard investigation and planning
- Natural resources
The daily duties of geoscientists, such as geological engineers, could include investigating natural phenomena and collecting data on location, interpreting the results in a lab, and writing reports.
Field studies bring geoscientists to diverse landscapes around the globe—from volcanoes to oceans to oil fields. Geoscientists must have the ability to develop a picture of a field site based on limited data; therefore, sound critical-thinking skills are advantageous in this discipline. Due to the nature of their work, these professionals must adapt to a variety of situations and working conditions.
About the Program
- Our state-of-the-art facilities allow students to experiment with advanced geologic technology. The department maintains labs dedicated to the study of remote sensing and volcanology, geographic information systems (GIS), subsurface remediation and visualization, and seismic petrophysics, among other areas.
- Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula offers beautiful outdoor facilities. The area surrounding campus is ideal for a wide variety of geologic studies. You don't have to drive far to find miles of rocky Lake Superior shoreline and acres of forestland.
- Our curriculum focuses intensely on field studies; we teach two field courses in the summer but also provide plenty of opportunities for students to see classic and novel field sites in Michigan and beyond. Students have traveled to sites in Alaska, Canada, Florida, Guatemala, Mexico, Montana, Newfoundland, Nicaragua, and Utah.
- Undergraduate research opportunities are plentiful. Our faculty conduct research abroad, and students often accompany them on field trips. You might study volcanoes in South America, Precambrian rocks in Australia (or right here in Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula), or the Bering Glacier's melt rate in Alaska.
- Our well-rounded curriculum emphasizes the study of geophysics and social geology, or methods for mitigating natural hazards through effective communication and community involvement.
- Faculty and staff focus on giving students the personal attention and support necessary for not only academic success, but also a positive undergraduate experience overall. Learn from faculty who understand responsible utilization of our Earth.
- Opportunities for intercultural exchange abound at Michigan Tech. The Study Abroad Program sends students to countries around the world for stints ranging from two weeks to one year. D80 allows students to apply their studies to the problems facing economically disadvantaged communities.
What career pathways are a good fit for our graduates?
Discover a world of opportunity. A bachelor's degree in geological engineering will prepare you for a career in industry or graduate study. Generally, geologists employed in industry spend part of their working time outdoors enjoying nature and, if desired, traveling the world. Students interested in certain sectors of industry, such as oil exploration, or a career in academia should explore graduate education options. An advanced degree provides greater specialization.
Our graduates have found work in the following areas:
- Groundwater and surface water monitoring and cleaning
- Natural-hazards mitigation
- Satellite remote sensing of environmental processes
- GIS mapping of environmental data
- Site investigations of underground hazards
- Slope failure investigations
- Oil or gas exploration and recovery
- Subsurface visualization
- Natural and Induced Seismicity Evaluation

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


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OR WAIT 15 SECS
A research group at Aarhus University has gained unique insight into how bacteria control the amount of toxin in their cells. The new findings can eventually lead to the development of novel forms of treatment for bacterial infections.
Many pathogenic bacteria are able to go into a dormant state by producing persister cells that are not susceptible to conventional antibiotics. This causes serious problems in the treatment of life-threatening diseases such as tuberculosis, where the presence of persister cells often leads to a resurgence of infection following medical treatment.
At the molecular level, the formation of persister cells is due to the presence of toxins that are produced by the bacteria themselves, and which enable them to enter the dormant state. During this hibernation period, the bacteria constantly regulate the amount of toxin at exactly the same level and thus maintain the dormant state.
In an article recently published in the American scientific journal Structure, the researchers at the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics at Aarhus University present new results that reveal the molecular details of the regulatory mechanism of toxins.
By isolating and crystallizing the toxin molecules and their molecular companions the antitoxins and by subsequently exposing the crystals to strong X-rays, the research team (consisting of the two PhD students, Andreas BÃ¸ggild and Nicholas Sofos, and associate professor Ditlev E. Brodersen) gained unique insight into how bacteria control the amount of toxin in the cell.
The new findings can eventually lead to the development of entirely new forms of treatment of bacterial infections that work initially by blocking toxin function and production, and subsequently by using traditional antibiotics to fight the pathogenic bacteria.
Source: Aarhus UniversityÂ Â


Supporting Severn Trent in delivering renewable biogas
As one of the UK's largest water and sewerage companies, Severn Trent proactively implements technological solutions to enhance the service it provides to its customers.
With a focus on sustainability, Renewable Energy Generation is a rapidly expanding part of Severn Trent's business.
While working with Severn Trent recently on a project, we identified an opportunity to streamline a process of data collection using a COMlog IS device.
At their Minworth sewage treatment works, the anaerobic digestion process generates a substantial amount of Biomethane gas. This gas is harvested and injected back into the National Grid, meaning the gas is not wasted.
Previously, a flow computer was used to record the amount of gas being injected back into the Grid, although the process was slow and manual, as engineers had to record the data from the computer screen and calculate the totals.
By introducing COMlog IS into the system, data is now recorded by the device and is automatically exported to engineers in an accessible, easy to view format.
This is a much more effective, time-saving process, removing the manual data collection element.
This application demonstrates the versatility of the COMlog IS device as it is most typically deployed for monitoring and recording gas consumption.
The success of this installation can be replicated at Severn Trent's other BTG plants, and the versatility of COMlog IS means it can also be used to monitor the main biogas and propane meters also.
In the last year, Severn Trent has created enough renewable energy to power 60,000 homes (which is approximately the size of the city of Gloucester).
Severn Trent is focussed on developing additional sites for biogas injection and the solutions provided by HWM can help to deliver the biogas used to power homes into the future.
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Make Art Like the Ancient Greeks: Black-Figure Vase Painting
When is a vase just a vase and when is it art? Can it ever be both? In ancient Greece, vases were not only utilitarian but they were also visual masterpieces. Decorating a vase in the style of the ancient Greek artists isn't difficult at all; all you need are a few basic materials and your imagination. So grab your supplies, find a space to work, and get ready to go back in time!
Hands-on activities like this are a great way to spark your child's interest in art history and ancient cultures by bringing the subject to life. Reading about Greek vases in a textbook can be dull, but making your own is a lot of fun!
What You Need:
- Art books on ancient Greek art from the library or images downloaded from the Internet
- Plain, unadorned terracotta flower pot (any size)
- Black permanent markers (fine and extra fine) or acrylic paint
What You Do:
- Before beginning the vase, start by doing a little research into classic Greek black-figure pottery with your child. Flip through the art books from the library or look at the images downloaded from the Internet. As you do, talk about recurring design motifs and the overall style of the black-figure paintings.
- Using a pencil, have him sketch a design onto the flower pot. While the Greeks most often painted scenes from literature, mythology, or daily life on their vases, creating an original design is the most fun part of the project. Encourage him to be imaginative and creative with his pattern design or scene.
- When he is satisfied with his design, have him erase any stray marks and make sure that his outline is dark enough to guide him when he starts painting.
- Now have him go over his design in either Sharpie or with black acrylic paint. For highly detailed designs, it's best to use an extra-fine Sharpie. Also keep in mind that the Greeks weren't afraid of leaving blank space on their vases so remind him to let some of the natural terracotta show through!
Did You Know?
There were a number of steps to making and decorating a vase in ancient Greece. After the potter shaped the vase on a pottery wheel and allowed it to dry, the designs were painted on using a slip that would change color when fired. Additional details could be incised after the pot was fired or added using a special glaze. Greek vases are one of the most important artifacts left to us by this ancient culture because they reveal not only the culture's values and beliefs, but they also serve as a reminder of what highly advanced and skilled craftspeople the Greeks were.


Male researcher pointing to a vibrant yellow brain with fog covering it.
Brain Fog and RA – What Do Researchers Know?
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory condition, and most of us living with RA know from personal experience how inflammation can impact our joints! But how else might that inflammation impact our bodies?
What exactly is RA brain fog?
While "brain fog" isn't a medical term, I've heard anecdotally that many people living with RA have experienced it themselves. Brain fog can create challenges with thinking, learning, remembering, concentrating, and performing other mental tasks.
A more technical term would be "cognitive dysfunction." But whatever you call it, difficulty thinking can also affect physical function, which can make it even harder for people with RA to manage daily tasks.
Personally, I've faced many of these challenges in the ten years that I've been living with arthritis. But I find it hard to say whether the brain fog can be attributed to fatigue, or inflammation, or being the mother of three small children, or all of the above! So I decided to see what I could learn about brain fog and RA.
Diminshed cognitive abilities
As it turns out, there has been some research on this subject. A 2004 study from Brazil found that patients with RA had significantly worse verbal fluency, logic memory, and short memory when compared to healthy controls.
One of the largest investigations on the cognitive abilities of RA patients, a 2012 study from the University of California San Francisco, found that almost a third of the study participants struggled with mental clarity and sharpness.
Finally, a systematic review published in 2018 compared 15 studies on this subject and determined there is evidence of cognitive impairments in adults with RA, particularly when it comes to verbal function, memory, and attention.
How RA inflammation affects the brain
None of these findings seem particularly earth-shattering to me. I mean, it's pretty easy to see why fatigue or chronic pain might lead to difficulty concentrating! But what about inflammation specifically? Does chronic inflammation have any impact on the brain?
Scientists currently have a much better understanding of the impact of inflammation in short-term illnesses. For example, if someone gets sick with the flu, they begin to show signs of inflammation in their body like fever. This inflammation is pretty clearly connected with feeling lethargic and other signs of cognitive dysfunction. But a lot less is known about how chronic inflammation might impact the brain.
So in order to understand how chronic inflammation might impact the brain over a longer period of time, a recent study from the University of Michigan looked at data from 54 patients with RA. The patients each had an MRI at the beginning of the study and another one six months later.
When a patient is being treated for RA, rheumatologists will use the level of inflammation in a patient's peripheral blood to monitor the severity of RA and determine how well it is being controlled. So in this study researchers used functional and structural neuroimaging to examine whether higher levels of peripheral inflammation were associated with brain connectivity and structure. In plain English, scientists were hoping the MRIs might help them see and understand how chronic inflammation might impact the brain.
Results from the Michigan study
RA inflammation may impact the brain as well
The researchers discovered profound and consistent results in a couple of specific areas in the brain that were becoming connected to several brain networks. The precise details of this portion of the study are complicated, but the important part is that the researchers found similar patterns when they took MRIs six months later – even though replication of results is not very common in neuroimaging studies.
The data from this study was enough to support the idea that RA inflammation may target the brain as well as the joints, though additional research is needed to confirm the correlation.
Can this impact be averted?
At first, I have to say that I found this result to be a little bit discouraging. But as I read on, I discovered that scientists are hopeful that this impact can be averted. RA treatments are generally designed to target central inflammatory pathways, to reduce inflammation in the body.
If inflammation is, in fact, contributing to cognitive dysfunction (brain fog!), the data indicates that RA treatments could help with the problem. This means that RA treatments may have the potential not only to improve joint pain but also to greatly enhance patients' overall quality of life.
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Egyptian blue
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Egyptian BlueHow to read this color infobox
About these coordinates Color coordinates
Hex triplet #1034A6
sRGBB (rgb) (16, 52, 166)
CMYKH (c, m, y, k) (90, 69, 0, 35)
HSV (h, s, v) (226°, 90%, 65%)
Source Internet
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)
Egyptian blue, also known as calcium copper silicate (CaCuSi4O10 or CaOCuO(SiO2)4) or cuprorivaite, is a pigment that was used in Ancient Egypt for thousands of years. It is considered to be the first synthetic pigment. The pigment was known to the Romans by the name caeruleum. After the Roman era, Egyptian blue fell from usage and the manner of its creation was forgotten.
The ancient Egyptian word wedjet signifies blue, blue-green and green.
The first recorded use of Egyptian blue as a color name in English was in 1809.[1]
Egyptian blue is a synthetic blue pigment made up of a mixture of silica, lime, copper, and alkali. Its color is due to a calcium-copper tetrasilicate CaCuSi4O10 of exactly the same composition as the naturally occurring mineral cuprorivaite. It occurs in Egypt during the 3rd millennium BC and is the first synthetic pigment to have been produced there, continuing in use until the end of the Greco-Roman period (332 BC–395 AD). The term for it in the Egyptian language is hsbd-iryt, which means artificial lapis lazuli (hsbd).[2] It was used in antiquity (1) as a blue pigment to color a variety of different media such as stone, wood, plaster, papyrus, and canvas; and (2) in the production of numerous types of objects, including cylinder seals, beads, scarabs, inlays, pots and statuettes. It is also sometimes referred to in Egyptological literature as blue frit. Some have argued that this is an erroneous term that should be reserved for use to describe the initial phase of glass or glaze production[3] while others argue that Egyptian blue is a frit in both the fine and coarse form since it is a product of solid state reaction.[4] Its characteristic blue color, resulting from one of its main components—copper—ranges from a light to a dark hue, depending on differential processing and composition. Apart from Egypt, it has also been found in the Near East, the Eastern Mediterranean and at the limits of the Roman Empire. Although undoubtedly an Egyptian invention, it is unclear as to whether its existence elsewhere was a result of parallel inventions or whether its technology had spread to these areas.
History and background[edit]
Egyptian blue
"Egyptian blue" ceramic ware, New Kingdom (_PHONE_ BC)
The ancient Egyptians held the color blue in very high regard and were eager to present it on many media and in a variety of forms. They also desired to imitate the semi-precious stones turquoise and lapis lazuli, which were valued for their rarity and stark blue color. Use of naturally occurring minerals, such as azurite, to acquire this blue, was impractical as these minerals were rare and difficult to work. Therefore to appropriate the large quantities of blue color that the Egyptians sought, it was necessary for them to manufacture the pigment themselves. It has also been found at Ayanis fortress in eastern Turkey.[5]
The Egyptians developed a wide range of pigment variety including what is now known as Egyptian blue, which was the first of its color at the time of its development. This accomplishment was due to the advancement of Egypt as a settled agricultural society. This stable and established civilization encouraged the growth of a non-labor workforce, including clerics and the Egyptian theocracy. Egyptian pharaohs were patrons of the arts and consequently were devoted to the advancement of pigment technology.
The earliest evidence for the use of Egyptian blue is in the 4th Dynasty (c.2575–2467 BC), limestone sculptures from that period in addition to being shaped into a variety of cylinder seals and beads. In the Middle Kingdom (2050–1652 BC), it continued to be used as a pigment in the decoration of tombs, wall paintings, furnishings and statues and by the New Kingdom (1570–1070 BC), began to be more widely utilized in the production of numerous objects. Its use continued throughout the Late period, and Greco-Roman period, only dying out in the 4th century AD, when the secret to its manufacture was lost.[6] There is no written information in ancient Egyptian texts about the manufacture of Egyptian blue in antiquity and was only first mentioned in Roman literature by Vitruvius during the first century BC.[7] He refers to it as coeruleum and describes in his work '"De architectura" how it was produced by grinding sand, copper and natron and heating the mixture, shaped into small balls, in a furnace. Lime is necessary for the production as well, but probably lime-rich sand was used. Theophrastus gives it the Greek term κύανος (kyanos, blue),[8] which probably originally referred to lapis lazuli. Finally, it was only at the beginning of the 19th century that there was a renewed interest in learning more about its manufacture when it was investigated by Sir Humphry Davy in 1815[9] and others such as W. T. Russell and F. Fouqué.
Composition and manufacture[edit]
Several experiments have been carried out by scientists and archaeologists interested in analyzing the composition of Egyptian blue and the techniques used to manufacture it. It is now generally regarded as a multi-phase material that was produced by heating together quartz sand, a copper compound, calcium carbonate, and a small amount of an alkali (plantash or natron) at temperatures ranging between 800 and 1000 °C (depending on the amount of alkali used) for several hours.[10] The result is cuprorivaite or Egyptian blue, carbon dioxide and water vapor:
Cu2CO3(OH)2 + 8 SiO2 + 2 CaCO3 → 2 CaCuSi4O10 + 3 CO2 + H2O
In its final state, Egyptian blue consists of rectangular blue crystals together with unreacted quartz and some glass. From the analysis of a number of samples from Egypt and elsewhere, it was determined that the weight percentage of the materials used to obtain Egyptian blue in antiquity usually ranged within the following amounts:[10]
60–70% silica (SiO2)
7–15% calcium oxide (CaO)
10–20% copper(II) oxide (CuO)
To obtain theoretical cuprorivaite, where there are only blue crystals, with no excess of unreacted quartz or formation of glass, the following percentages would need to be used:[10]
64% silica
15% calcium oxide
21% copper oxide
However none of the analyzed samples from antiquity were made of this definitive composition, as all had excesses of silica, together with an excess of either CuO or CaO.[11] It has been suggested that this may have been intentional. An increase in the alkali content results in the pigment containing more unreacted quartz embedded in a glass matrix, which in turn results in a harder texture.[10] Lowering the alkali content (less than 1%), on the other hand, does not allow glass to form and the resultant Egyptian blue is softer, with a hardness of 1–2 Mohs.[11]
In addition to the way the level of the different compositions influenced texture, the way Egyptian blue was processed also had an effect on its texture, in terms of coarseness and fineness. Following a number of experiments, Title et al. concluded that for fine-textured Egyptian blue, two stages were necessary in order to obtain uniformly interspersed crystals. First the ingredients are heated, and the result is a coarse-textured product. This is then ground up to a fine powder and water is added. The paste is then reshaped and fired again at temperatures ranging between 850 and 950 °C for one hour. It is possible that these two stages were needed to produce a paste that was fine enough for the production of small objects. Coarse-textured Egyptian blue, on the other hand, would not have gone through the second stage. Since it is usually found in the form of slabs (in the dynastic periods) and balls (in the Greco-Roman period) it is suggested that these could have either been awaiting to be processed through a second stage, where they would be ground and finely-textured, or they would have been ground for use as a blue pigment.[10]
The shade of blue reached was also related to the coarseness and fineness of Egyptian blue as it was determined by the degree of aggregation of the Egyptian blue crystals. Coarse Egyptian blue, was relatively thick in form, due to the large clusters of crystals which adhere to the unreacted quartz. This clustering results in a dark blue color that is the appearance of coarse Egyptian blue. Alternatively, fine-textured Egyptian blue consists of smaller clusters that are uniformly interspersed between the unreacted quartz grains and tends to be light blue in color.[10] Diluted light blue on the


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1. Who is the narrator of the novel, "Eden Close"?
2. What kind of job does Andrew have?
Advertising for a pharmaceutical company.
3. What does Andrew plan to do with his childhood home?
Fix it up and sell it.
4. Who is Andrew's neighbor?
5. How far apart are Andrew and his neighbor's house?
Less than seventy feet.
6. Which character dressed in a red smock when Eden and Andrew were young?
7. What is the weather like in Chapter 1 when Andrew is trying to sleep and awakens from a dream about his childhood?
Hot and humid.
8. Who died of a massive stroke?
This section contains 3,916 words
(approx. 14 pages at 300 words per page)


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ECU geography poster details hurricane phenomena
(Dec. 4, 2003)
A poster about the particulars of hurricanes was developed this year by East Carolina University's Department of Geography and the student organization Geoclub. The poster, "Tempests from the Tropics: Atlantic & Gulf Coast Hurricanes," was produced by ECU students as part of an annual project designed to educate the public about issues in current events. The free map will be available in area schools, public libraries and Barnes & Noble Booksellers.
In the past two years, faculty and students worked together to produce and distribute map posters on Afghanistan and Iraq, respectively. This year, the group chose to design an informational poster on hurricanes because of the traumatic impact that these events have on life in North Carolina.
"This is particularly the case in light of the continuing aftermath of Hurricane Floyd in 1999 and the more recent damage caused by Hurricane Isabel in 2003," said ECU Geography professor Derek Alderman.
Made with state of the art geospatial data and technology, the poster contains graphic illustrations and photographs and explains how hurricanes form, how much death and property damage they can cause, how they are named and why hurricanes take the unique geographic path they do toward North Carolina.


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Operation Sealords is launched in the Mekong Delta by U.S. and South Vietnamese forces.
This operation was ordered by newly appointed Commander Naval Forces Vietnam, Vice-Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr., who established Task Force 194 to operate along the canals and less-traveled waterways of the Mekong Delta to interdict Viet Cong infiltration routes from Cambodia. Additionally, TF 194 was to harass Communist forces in the area and, with the assistance of ground and air forces, pacify the Delta region. Under Zumwalt's direction, U.S. and South Vietnamese naval forces worked together to secure the waterways of the Mekong Delta. When the Vietnamization program began in 1969, the U.S. Navy instituted ACTOV (Accelerated Turnover to Vietnam), the Navy's Vietnamization plan, and by April 1971, all Sealords operations had been turned over to the South Vietnamese Navy.


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Pub. date: 2009 | Online Pub. Date: January 26, 2009 | DOI: 10.4135/9781412964623 | Print ISBN: 9781412936361 | Online ISBN: 9781412964623| Publisher:SAGE Publications, Inc.About this encyclopedia
Bayyinab S. Jeffries
The Swahili or Waswahili are a community of people who were originally merchants and traders along the coastal regions of East Africa in countries such as Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, and Somalia. These historically African people subscribed to a variety of traditional African religions, values, customs, and beliefs. Scholars suggest that, as the Swahili community evolved, they intermarried and developed close relationships with a variety of other ethnic groups, also traders and merchants, who were mainly Persians and Arabs as well as members of other African communities. Because this indigenous African community exchanged goods with Persians, Arabs, and members of other ethnic groups, there was a reciprocal sharing of culture. As in many ethnically diverse communities, this cultural sharing produced distinct artifacts, foods, and music particular to the East African indigenous communities along the coast, later called Swahili. Moreover, scholars argue that the Swahili are one of the oldest African civilizations....


Appidemic: Underground Kingdom for iPad
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The thing I remember most fondly about Choose Your Own Adventure books, beside the wild and fantastic stories, was that you had a sense of making decisions, and that your decisions could lead to death. The books made no bones about it, you were dead, usually in a grisly manner, and it was your fault. After all, you made the choice. But, of course, if you kept your thumb parked on the decision page, you could quickly backtrack and tell yourself that wasn't really what you meant to do. This proud tradition continues with Underground Kingdom, an interactive fiction book for iPad that's based on an original Choose Your Own Adventure book, but is now separate of the series.
What is it?
Underground Kingdom is an interactive book. It's not a game, except that you make decisions, and there are no puzzles to solve other than making your way through the story itself. You—a genderless character who's face is never seen—are part of a scientific expedition to Greenland investigating a bottomless crevasse that may lead to a lost land inside a hollow Earth. And since the app is titled Underground Kingdom, chances are good that it will.
After falling into the crevasse, you'll have to find your way back home as you make your way through a fantastic land filled with gigantic, rainbow colored birds and simian kingdoms, and you'll either avert or take part in a war.
Underground Kingdom
Then there's the matter of the missing scientist, who fell into the crack more than a year ago. Can you make it home? Do you want to try?
How does it work?
After reading a page of story, you swipe to the next page, which might contain an illustration or a decision point. The illustrations have a few interactive elements—tapping on a character will make him speak a line, tapping on a hut will show you what's inside—but these don't affect the story at all. The decision points are two to three boxes, each of which make it clear what action you're trying to take.
Once you make a choice, the story continues in the same fashion until you reach one of 23 endings; some good, some bad. If you immediately regret your decision, you can swipe back (just like turning a page), or you can take advantage of the menu page, which shows a map of all the pages you've visited, all the choices you didn't take (indicated with a red dot) and all the endings you've encountered (indicated with a blue diamond). A handy counter also tells you how many of the endings you've unlocked.
And, of course, there is the ubiquitous social media feature, letting you send the results of your adventure to Twitter or Facebook, along with a brief description of how you ended up.
Is it addictive?
Underground Kingdom is a classic CYOA in every sense: pitched with a sense of childlike wonder at a fantasy world just ripe for exploration, but with dramatic stakes and consequences. Finding the "best" path is a matter of trial and error, with some choices leading to unexpected areas of the story. I was pleasantly surprised at how deep the story got; after coming to my first ending after a handful of choices, I was disappointed, then went back and discovered a much deeper branch on my second try that lead to an even wider branch to explore different parts of the hollow earth.
The book will evoke nostalgia for those adults who loved Choose Your Own Adventure, but is probably best pitched towards kids. The story is straightforward, the options are clear, and the illustrations are colorful and imaginative. And like I say, it keeps those wonderfully ghoulish endings where you're left to contemplate how your own greed, foolishness, or outright bad luck brought you to a horrible, horrible death.
Category: Interactive Fiction
Developer: Visual Baker
Cost: $2.99
Download: Underground Kingdom
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| Red Buckeye|
Aesculus pavia var. pavia
A tall shrub or small tree with a single or multiple stems, red buckeye produces showy clusters of bright red flowers in early to late spring. The palmately compound leaves have 5 leaflets and generally emerge before the flowers. As is true of other buckeyes in Texas, the leaves of red buckeye fall in midto late summer. The loss of leaves is usually associated with a disease complex, although it is not necessarily the primary cause. The defoliation is sometimes less severe in the partial shade of the eastern forests. Red buckeye typically grows as an understory tree in the moist, rich, slightly acidic soils of the Pineywoods, but it is found as well on the Post Oak Savannah, Blackland Prairies and Edwards Plateau, where it hybridizes with Aesculus pavia var. flavescens.
Plant Habit or Use: large shrub small tree
Exposure: partial sun shade
Flower Color: red
Blooming Period: spring
Fruit Characteristics: rounded, smooth leathery capsule 1"-2" across with 1 to 2 brown seeds
Height: to 30 ft.
Width: to 30 ft.
Plant Character: deciduous
Heat Tolerance: medium
Water Requirements: high medium
Soil Requirements: acid adaptable


(so it'd even accept a list of strings):
>>> rows = ['a,b,c', '1,2,3']
>>> import csv
>>> list(csv.reader(rows))
Dunder methods are for duck typing
Duck typing is all about behaviors. What behavior does this object support? Does it quack like a duck would? Does it walk like a duck would?
Dunder methods ("double underscore methods") are the way that class creators customize instances of their class to support certain behaviors supported by Python.
For example the __add__ (aka "dunder add") method is what makes something "support addition":
>>> class Thing:
... def __init__(self, value):
... self.value = value
... def __add__(self, other):
... return Thing(self.value + other.value)
>>> thing = Thing(4) + Thing(5)
>>> thing.value
Dunder methods are all about duck typing.
Where duck typing isn't
So duck typing is just about everywhere in Python. Is there anywhere we don't see duck typing?
Python's exception handling relies on strict type checking. If we want our exception to "be a ValueError", we have to inherit from the ValueError type:
>>> class MyError(ValueError):
... pass
>>> try:
... raise MyError("Example error being raised")
... except ValueError:
... print("A value error was caught!")
A value error was caught!
Dunder methods also often rely on strict type checking. Typically methods like __add__ will return NotImplemented if given an object type it doesn't know how to work with, which signals to Python that it should try other ways of adding that object (calling __radd__ on the right-hand object for example). So a better implementation of the Thing class above would be:
class Thing:
 def __init__(self, value):
 self.value = value
 def __add__(self, other):
 if not isinstance(other, Thing):
 return NotImplemented
 return Thing(self.value + other.value)
This will ensure an appropriate error is raised for objects that Thing doesn't know how to add itself to. Instead of this:
>>> Thing(4) + 5
Traceback (most recent call last):
 File "", line 5, in __add__
AttributeError: 'int' object has no attribute 'value'
We'll get this:
>>> Thing(4) + 5
Traceback (most recent call last):
TypeError: unsupported operand type(s) for +: 'Thing' and 'int'
Many functions in Python also require strings and "string" is defined as "an object which inherits from the str class".
For example the string join method accept iterables of strings, not just iterables of any type of object:
>>> class MyString:
... def __init__(self, value):
... self.value = str(value)
>>> ", ".join([MyString(4), MyString(5)])
Traceback (most recent call last):
TypeError: sequence item 0: expected str instance, MyString found
If MyString inherits from str instead, this code will work:
>>> class MyString(str):
... pass
'4, 5'
So duck typing is all over the place in Python, but there are definitely places where strict type checking is used.
If you see isinstance or issubclass used in code, someone is not practicing duck typing. That's not necessarily bad, but it's rare.
Python programmers tend to practice duck typing in most of our Python code and only rarely rely on strict type checking.
Okay but what's the point?
If duck typing is everywhere, what's the point of knowing about it?
This is mostly about mindset. If you've already been embracing duck typing without knowing the term, that's great. If not, I'd consider asking yourself these questions while writing Python code:
 1. Could the function I'm writing accept a more general kind of object (a less specialized duck) than the one I'm expecting? For example could I accept an iterable instead of assuming I'm getting a sequence?
 2. Does the return type of my function have to be the type I'm using or would a different type just as well or even better?
 3. What does the function I'm calling expect me to pass it? Does it have to be a list/file/etc or could it be something else that might be more convenient (might require less type conversions from me)?
 4. Am I type-checking where I shouldn't be? Could I check for (or assume) behavior instead?


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Impact learning by increasing student and teacher well-being with the School Day app.
Discover weekly trends in student well-being, class climate, and teacher stress.
Easy-to-use feedback cards with recommended lessons and SEL discussion points.
SEL dashboards provide secure and anonymous data on four CASEL aligned topics.
Feel better, learn better.
Feel better, teach better.
When students and teachers are well, they learn and teach best.
SEL App That Impacts Student Outcomes
School Day is a digital app that collects feedback from students on their well-being, providing a data-driven solution that informs social-emotional learning strategies.
With the new teacher well-being feature, you can now also survey your educators' emotional well-being.
Amplify Student Voice on Any Device
Available as an application, website or Microsoft Teams integration, School Day opens a communication channel between students and the school in order to address SEL needs, whether learning remotely or face-to-face.
Research-Based and CASEL Aligned
Inspired by the ways educators foster community beyond the classroom, we have curated and embedded a set of research-based questions and built a model to support the well-being of students in a traditional, blended or remote learning situation.
What Students and Teachers Say About School Day
Students Can Give Honest Feedback
In the video above, a student describes how she uses School Day in her school. In her own words, "It's better to learn when you feel happy, than when we feel grumpy." She appreciates questions about how the school is doing, student hunger, and bullying.
Students Feel Safe Giving Honest Feedback
In the video above, you will hear a student explain how the School Day questions are easy to respond to using emojis in a Likert scale. He explains the anonymity is something that allows him to give honest feedback about his own learning and the teaching in the classroom.
Schools often rely on gut feeling and personal experience. With School Day, there's easily available data that supports our interventions and discussions with students, teachers and parents.
School Day Supports All Classrooms
Support your students' well-being, guide their social and emotional development, and stay connected.
4 Areas of Well-Being
School Day covers four well-being areas that are relevant when students study in the classroom or from home.
- Social and Emotional Skills
- Social Relationships
School Day provides a tool for teachers to complete an emotional check and start a dialogue with students.
2-Minutes Per Week
Students answer a few questions about their well-being and emotions daily. The School Day App can be used to share information about well-being topics.
- Survey takes just 30 seconds.
- 45 seconds to read feedback card.
- 45 seconds to decide on a SEL discussion or lesson resource.
Real-Time SEL Data
Teachers get real-time analytics from School Day Insights. Starting from key indicators, they can check into specific areas and individual questions asked from students.
Classroom dashboards inform teacher decisions, and campus dashboards make it easy to find whole-school improvements and areas for growth.
SEL Data Dashboard
Weekly data dashboard for classrooms and campus-level school leaders that enables quick decision-making and access to easy-to-use resources.
How does School Day work?
Create a sense of belonging among in-person and remote students and allow them to help build a better school day.
School Day is an AI-backed solution designed to empower education, providing unique possibilities for schools and districts to support leadership, make pedagogical decisions and enhance learning results.
School Day is easy, fun and engaging. It creates a sense of belonging and allows students to be part of building a better school day.
- Weekly Data Highlights for Strengths
- Weekly Data Trends in Student Well-Being
- Feedback Cards Provide Helpful Discussion Ideas
- Monthly Focus Areas Provide Pre-Design SEL Lessons
School Day promotes student welfare
Daily check-ins with students through the School Day app allow teachers insight into student well-being.
School Day's service has already revealed blind spots I've had with my class. This information definitely supports my work and has supported class well-being.
Get Started Today with School Day
Collect feedback from your students to improve their well-being. Request a demo today.


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Database Research SummariesCharacterization of P. sojae and P. sansameana
Phytophthora sojae root and stem rot are present in many fields across the North Central region and Ontario, Canada, and had been managed successfully with the deployment of single resistance Rps genes. However, an increasing number of reports indicate that varieties with Rps genes are sold that are no longer effective.
Findings from a 2013 study indicate that a more thorough assessment of the P. sojae populations in the North Central region is needed. State populations of P. sansameana will also be examined for host range, resistance in current soybean cultivars and efficacy of seed treatment fungicides.
After collecting and analyzing soil samples from nine states, multiple P. sojae isolates were recovered and some pathotyping has begun. The high number of locations in the survey provide current knowledge of the level of virulence against certain Rps genes, which is valuable in determining which Rps genes should be used to maintain effective levels of resistance.
Keeping up to date on how to ensure P. sojae root and stem rot is managed successfully will improve profitability of the North Central region soybean farmer. Improving plant health and reducing the incidences of disease will only improve plant health and yield.
For more information about this research project, please visit the National Soybean Checkoff Research Database.
Funded in part by the soybean checkoff.


City of Glory
A Novel of War and Desire in Old Manhattan
City of Glory
 - Simon & Schuster |
 - 592 pages |
 - ISBN 9780743298728 |
 - January 2007
Reading Group Guide
1) City of Glory opens with an act of heroic chivalry by Joyful Patrick Turner. Why do you think Beverly Swerling chose this incident as a springboard for her novel? What does it reveal about Joyful? How does the alliance he forges in the prologue affect his successes and failures later in the story?
2) "Joyful knew joss was more than luck, it was fate, something you had to accept. But in New York as in Canton, money trumped luck every time" (50). Joss, both good and bad, is a recurring theme in the novel. Note the references to it throughout the story and discuss the circumstances under which the characters mention that they either rely on or fear joss. Does the conclusion of the book prove that Joyful's theory about money and joss is correct?
3) Delight Higgins, Joyful Patrick Turner, Bastard Devrey, Vinegar Clifford -- in the early nineteenth century it was common to assign names and nicknames that sound strange today. In the nove,l do these names have any symbolic meanings that point to larger themes? How did they influence your opinion of the characters? Are these names accurate assessments of their personalities? Did they entertain you, or would you have preferred everyone be called the equivalent of Dick or Jane?
4) Two of the main characters in this novel are surgeons, and amputations and amputees figure prominently throughout the story. Why do you think the author chose this imagery? How d see more
More Books from this Author
City of Promise
City of God
City of Dreams
About the Author
Beverly Swerling
Photo Credit: Sigrid Estrada
Beverly Swerling
Beverly Swerling is a writer, consultant, and amateur historian. She lives in New York City with her husband.


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Did you know that about half of the world's people ñ more than 2.5 billion adults ñ do not have a bank account?
The World Bank arrived at that estimate recently, according to this Bloomberg Businessweek article. Many of these people live in the communities CFCA serves.
Poverty and a lack of required documentation are some reasons why many of these families have never even set foot inside a bank.
"It's very rare for sponsored friends and their families to have a bank account of their own," said Jose Rodriguez, CFCA project director for Colombia and Bolivia.
Sponsored children, the aging and their families usually live and work within their countries' informal economies.
Their income is often seasonal and comes from cash-based, small-scale sources.
Sponsorship and microfinancing
In some countries such as India and Kenya, sponsorship benefits in some projects are distributed through bank accounts to the mothers of sponsored children.
Because these children are under 18, their mothers manage these accounts under the supervision of CFCA staff until the children are of age.
"These bank accounts become tools for families to save and access sponsorship benefits," Jose said.
CFCA staff members help families get the required documentation such as birth certificates for the sponsored child.
(Related link: Read more about the challenges of obtaining birth certificates in Kenya.)
Bank accounts can also facilitate CFCA livelihood programs, which are designed to help families generate sustainable income for themselves.
(Programs may include skills training, business development training, access to loans, savings to create a loan fund, income-generating activities and individual empowerment to help members develop livelihoods based on skills.)
Capital to launch these livelihood programs are often provided through savings and loan cooperatives created by sponsored friends and their families.
In order to access those micro-loans, however, the parents of sponsored children often need to have bank accounts.
By opening these bank accounts, Jose said, families are seeing their active, participatory role in the sponsorship program. Meanwhile, CFCA staffers are affirming their position as supporters to the families, assisting in their development.
Jose said bank accounts are a tangible way of restoring dignity to mothers as they join a part of society they've historically been excluded from ñ the "banked" society.
"To be able to say to that mom, 'Here's your bankbook,' that's really powerful for everybody, I think," Jose said.
"This is sometimes the first time those moms have even gone into a bank."'
'Faces of CFCA' for June
For the month of June, we'd like to highlight this photo in our "Faces of CFCA" Facebook photo album!
Tom Zidon, right, met Selena on a mission awareness trip to Nicaragua in 2009. She is now one of his sponsored children!
To submit your photos to be included in our Facebook album, simply email a.jpg photo file (the higher the resolution, the better) to _EMAIL_.
Include your name and your preferred form of contact (phone, email, etc.) in case we have any questions about your submission.
Thanks for your support!


text:
6.3 EAGLE BASIN
The Eagle Basin underlies approximately 1,500 square miles in north-central Colorado along the western flank of the Continental Divide. The basin is bounded on the east by the Gore Range, on the south by the Sawatch uplift and on the west-northwest by the White River uplift (Figure 6.3-1). The Eagle Basin is primarily located in Eagle County, but also extends into Routt, Rio Blanco, Garfield, Pitkin, and Grand counties.
Figure 6.3-1 Generalized structure map of the Eagle Basin area.
Modified from Tillman, 1971.
The Eagle, Roaring Fork, and Colorado Rivers form the primary surface water drainages in the basin, with the headwaters of those rivers located along the Continental Divide (Figure 6.3-2). The Eagle River generally follows the axis of the basin to the town of Wolcott, where it turns west and meets with the Colorado River at Dotsero. The bulk of the Eagle Basin is included in Water Division 5.
Land use in Eagle County is primarily recreation and tourism with limited ranching outside the Interstate 70 corridor. Recreational opportunities and the proximity of major ski resorts have resulted in tremendous development along the I-70 corridor between Vail and Edwards. According to the 2000 Census, 41,659 people permanently reside in Eagle County, with at least one-quarter of these located in the resort towns of Vail and Avon. Over 2,600 non-alluvial wells are permitted in the Eagle Basin. Most of these water supply wells are clustered near the population centers along the Interstate 70 and Roaring Fork River corridors.


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Chagas test kit evaluations
Infection with Trypanosoma cruzi causing Chagas disease is mainly endemic in South and Latin America. Nevertheless, other parts of the world such as the USA and parts of Europe are considering testing all blood donations for T. cruzi due to migration of people from endemic areas and changing travel patterns (e.g.eco tourism).
Composition of the panel
Evaluations of test kits that are primarily produced in Latin America are carried out by the WHO Collaborating Centre, Fundação Pró-Sangue, São Paulo, Brazil on the WHO reference panel of serum/ plasma specimens collected from within the region.
A total of 18 tests have been evaluated, including 11 ELISAs, 7 agglutination tests. Four confirmatory assays, including an immunofluorescence, immunoblot, Western blot and radio-immunoprecipitation (RIPA) tests were used to characterise the panel.
The obtained data are being used for the development guidelines and appropriate testing strategies.
Circonstances et modalités d'utilisation des tests d'infection récente pour estimer l'incidence de l'infection à HIV au niveau d'une population.
When and how to use assays for recent infection to estimate HIV incidence at a population level
HIV Rapid Assays: Operational Characteristics Report 16
- View all documents
- WHO Prequalification of Medicines, Diagnostics and Vaccines: 6th Consultative Meeting with Stakeholders, 4-5 April 2011
- WHO Technical Working Group Meeting on CD 4 Technologies,17 -19 November 2009
- WHO Technical Working Group Meeting on Prequalification of HIV Virological Technologies, 21-23 September 2009
- View all events


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Users can filter a dataset in the goal creation tool, decreasing goal page set-up time and promoting catalog simplicity.
For example, the dataset we'll filter on is Seattle Crime Stats, categorized by police precinct and types of crime.
Let's say we want to create a goal that measures burglaries over time in various police beats.
First, create a new goal and describe the measurement in the Prevailing Measure Definition. This process doesn't change.
In the Prefilter Dataset section, instead of creating a goal based on the entirety of the dataset (Use As-is), select Filter Data First and click Next:
In the Filter Conditions section, in the text box labeled Column, start typing the category containing the subset of data. It will auto-populate with possible category headers. Next, select the Value from that category on which you'd like to filter.
Again, the field will auto-populate.
After completing Column and Value fields, the tool will return the number of entries in the category that match the criteria entered in the Value field.
Click the button to add a criteria to the filter. For instance, adding a similar field like "Robbery" increases the number of returned entries from 3875 to 7750.
Add another set of filter criteria by clicking the button, for instance, to see only the burglaries that were reported in Police Beat C1. You can see this combination of criteria reduces the total number of returned fields to 76.
Click Next. From here, walk through the remaining sections of the goal creation wizard as usual. Click Finish and Save to see the chart, target and calculated status.
To create a goal using a different subset of information from the same dataset, enter Edit mode and click Save As. Give your new goal a name and select the appropriate dashboard.
Enter your new goal in Edit mode, navigate to the Filter Conditions section and adjust the filter criteria to reflect your new goal. In this example, we've modified our crime type from "Burglary" to "Motor Vehicle-Theft" and "Larceny-Theft."
Walk through the rest of the goal creation wizard and click select Finish, then Save. Remember to change the target value and verbiage of your new goal if it differs from the original.


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What's the difference between long and short grain rice? And what is medium rice?
Can you use the different types interchangeably? Does size even matter?
Rice can be confusing. Not only are there grain sizes to contend with, but there are colors, varieties, and types to sort through. According to the USA Rice Federation, there are more than 120,000 varieties of rice worldwide!
Here's a basic rice primer, so you can learn when to use a long grain, or when to stick to short.
Long grain rice tends to separate when cooked. That means your rice will fall apart, rather than stick together. Use long grain rice when you are making dishes that call for separate, loose grains, such as pilafs. It also has a firmer, dryer texture and feel in the mouth.
Chinese restaurants usually serve a side order of long grain rice with the food. So if you hate trying to pick up those grains individually with chopsticks, you might decide to use a shorter, stickier rice instead, to serve with your stir fry.
Medium grain rice is more likely to stick together. The grains are softer and moister than long grain rice when cooked. This type of rice is the preferred type in Hawaii, where the mix of cultures enjoys rice with every meal: breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks!
Yes, we really do eat rice for snacks. One of the most popular local foods is musubi, a ball of cooked rice, wrapped in nori, or seaweed "paper." Often these will have a slice of fried Spam luncheon meat on top.
Calrose rice, a variety grown in California, is a medium grain rice. This is the type to get if you want a bland, clean taste.
Short grain rice is the most sticky and soft. The grains have a bit of chewiness to them. The extra starch in them gives them these properties.
Specialty rice types
One famous type of medium grain rice is Arborio, used to make Italian risotto. The starch thickens the liquid as it cooks, creating a creamy texture that gives the dish its signature style. You can substitute other short or medium grain rice, but never long grain rice, and get a similar finished product.
Sushi is made with short or medium grain rice. This is another of the exceptions to the substitution rule. You cannot substitute long grain rice when making sushi, or everything will just fall apart and not feel right in the mouth.
For the most part, if you are just making a pot of rice, or you run out of one kind of rice or another, you can relax. The different types can be substituted equally in most dishes, without ruining them. There are a few exceptions to the rule, however.
Use a short or medium grain for sushi, risotto, rice pudding, and molded rice dishes. Use medium grain for paella. Use long grain for pilafs.
Use glutinous or sticky rice to make rice cakes, or mochi. Use black glutinous rice to make Malaysian sticky black rice pudding. Use Thai sticky rice for sticky rice with coconut milk and mango, or to eat with Thai food, like those in the northern parts of Thailand, and Laos, do.
What rice to use for fried rice?
Any type can be used, but most commonly, white rice is used. It is usually kept in the refrigerator, or left out for a day, which dries the rice a bit. Otherwise, if you use fresh rice, you get a steamy, soggy mess.


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The CVOR is the registration system for operators of commercial trucks and buses on Ontario's road ways.
The Commercial Vehicle Operator's Registration (CVOR) system and the Carrier Safety Rating (CSR) program were developed by the Ministry of Transportation as part of Ontario's ongoing commitment to road safety. Together they promote the safe operation of trucks and buses on Ontario's roadways for operators of commercial motor vehicles.
This includes trucks that have a registered gross weight of over 4,500 kilograms, and buses that can carry ten or more passengers. Owners/operators of these vehicles must apply for, obtain and renew a CVOR certificate.
Every carrier is responsible for monitoring its CVOR record and the performance information it provides, including violation rates, thresholds, audit scores and resulting carrier safety rating. As a result, it is important that you identify and address problem areas in order to improve your commercial motor vehicle safety performance.
The CVOR system is part of the carrier safety rating program. The Ministry of Transportation monitors carriers and assigns each a safety rating based on several factors, including:
- Facility audit results
To operate in Ontario, carriers must follow the laws and regulations that apply to the operation of trucks and buses, which includes, but is not limited to:
- The Highway Traffic Act
- Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act
- Public Vehicles Act
- Motor Vehicle Transport Act
- Compulsory Automobile Insurance Act
- Fuel Tax Act
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Don't take your chances fighting alone.
Get Canada's leading defence team working for you.


What Is the Difference Between a Teacup Yorshire Terrier & a Toy Yorkshire Terrier?
by Sarah Whitman, Demand Media
 Yorkies differ in size, but only one breed remains.
 Yorkies differ in size, but only one breed remains.
 Yorkshire terriers are one of the smallest breeds around, with an average weight of 5 to 7 pounds and an average height of 6 to 7 inches. Although these tiny but brave terriers range in size, there is no technical breed difference between a toy Yorkie and a teacup Yorkie.
 Yorkie Breed Information
 Yorkshire terriers, affectionately known as "Yorkies," are classified as a toy breed by the American Kennel Club, and the breed standard is no more than 7 pounds. Although small, they exhibit typical terrier traits like bravery, determination, protectiveness and hunting skills. They thrive on regular interaction with their human families and do well with moderate exercise such as daily walks. Named after Yorkshire, their English city of origin, their history includes hunting down rats.
 Average Size
 The breed is one of the smallest around, whether or not they're referred to as a toy, teacup or any other nickname. Yorkies who weigh more than the average may be overweight or have other health problems that cause them to retain weight. Underweight Yorkies may be selectively bred, malnourished or have other health concerns that make them smaller than average.
 Teacup: Different Breed or Just a Tiny Yorkie?
 There is no breed-specific difference between a teacup Yorkie and a toy Yorkie. Although some Yorkie fans may give these little guys aliases like teacup, toy or micro, there is no breed distinction -- a teacup Yorkie is simply a label given to a small Yorkie. These Yorkies may be underweight due to selective breeding or health issues, or they may just be the smallest of their litter. Dogs this tiny are fragile and need special care to ensure they don't get hurt.
 Concerns with Tiny Yorkies
 Smaller-than-average Yorkies are prone to broken bones from falls, jumping off high furniture or rough play from children. Therefore, they're better suited in homes with older, responsible children and regular monitoring to prevent jumps and falls. Abnormally small Yorkies may also be more prone to common Yorkie health problems. These include sensitive digestive systems, poor tolerance to anesthesia and risk of knee injuries. Abnormal skull shape has also been seen in small Yorkies.
 About the Author
 Photo Credits
 - Siri Stafford/Lifesize/Getty Images


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Backyard Aquaponics - Home Aquaponics - Commercial Aquaponics
A building designed to collect heat when temperatures are cold also needs to be able to vent heat when temperatures are warm. Air exchange also is critical in providing plants with adequate levels of carbon dioxide and controlling humidity. Because of the concentrated air use by plants, greenhouses require approximately two air exchanges per minute (in contrast to the one-half air exchange per minute recommended for homes).
Thermal storage materials are effective in keeping a greenhouse cool in summer as well as keeping it warm in winter. Since these materials absorb heat during the day, less heat radiates within the greenhouse when the sun is shining. When the sun goes down, heat released from the thermal storage materials can be vented out of the greenhouse.
Removing external shading can also decrease heat build-up within the greenhouse. Shading provided by mature trees is not recommended. Active solar cooling systems include solar air-conditioning units and photovoltaic set up to run standard evaporative cooling pads. Both are more complex and expensive to equip than passive systems.
This information is courtesy of ATTRA - National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service


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The dominant tree species in these woods is sugar (hard) maple, but basswood can also be dominant. Many other trees are found in these forests, including members of the walnut family, ironwood, red oak, red (soft) maple, white ash, and elms.
What maintains them?
Southern mesic woods are an upland woodland community that occurs on highly fertile, well-drained, loamy soils. These woods are the product of succession, the gradual replacement of one group of species by another.
Once a certain number trees whose leaves don't burn easily are established, such as maples, basswood, and ash, fire can no longer shift the system toward more open, less shady conditions that favor species like oaks.
How do I recognize these woods?
The presence of sugar maple and basswood trees are a dead giveaway.
What other plants and animals are present in these woods?
Wildflowers include spring beauty, toothwort, trout lilies, trillium, violets, bloodroot, blue cohosh, may apple, honewort, lopseed, wild geranium, and Virginia waterleaf.
Acadian flycatchers, hooded warblers, Kentucky warblers, Louisiana water thrushes, wood thrushes, black rat snakes, four-toed salamanders, and timber rattlesnakes may all be found in mesic woods.


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Eight people have been injured after a powerful tornado hit Portugal's Algarve region.
Violent winds overturned cars, smashed windows and stripping tiles from roofs.
Most of those injured had been on the road when the storm picked up their vehicles and threw them onto their roofs.
A funnel-shaped cloud had been seen approaching the coast from the Atlantic shortly before the damage was reported.
Funnel clouds are rotating areas of cloud which extend downwards from the base of the main thunderstorm cloud. In themselves they are harmless, but if they develop sufficiently and touch the ground, then they can become powerful tornadoes.
Tornados are triggered by the interaction of two contrasting air types, and can occur almost anywhere. They have been seen in every continent except Antarctica.
In the US, where there is a stark contrast between the hot air from the Gulf of Mexico and the cool air from Canada, tornadoes are often extremely destructive and life-threatening.
In Europe, however, the vast majority of tornadoes are pretty feeble and don't cause any significant damage. Fortunately the destruction caused by this recent storm in Portugal is rare.
A few more thunderstorms are expected to rumble across the Algarve for the remainder of Saturday, before clearing away for Sunday.


Using a Wall As a Prop
Using a Wall As a Prop
Yogi/nis are divided on the topic of props. One camp finds them intrusive, preferring to find other ways into an asana. The other camp sees them as one means of increasing accessibility for all bodies. I'm in the second camp, and I often teach and practice poses against the wall. Particularly when working on balance poses, having something to lean upon allows one to focus on alignment and strength before bringing balance into the equation.
Many asanas that look deceptively simple actually require a great many opposing actions. Take the basic Virabhadrasana, or Warrior II. Your feet should be far enough apart that, when you bend your front knee, it stays behind your toes, protecting the joint. Optimally, your stance should be wide enough that your front thigh goes parallel to the ground. The back leg is turned at a forty-five degree angle, but your hips are open, meaning that they are perpendicular to the floor. Your back leg is straight and holding up part of your weight; your arms are pulling together at the shoulders but apart at the tips of your fingers. An oft-repeated cue suggests that you pretend your body is being pressed between two plates of glass. How do you practice all of this at once? You don't – you will be distracted by the various movements and end up compromising on some part of the posture.
If you practice this asana with your back against a wall, however, you will find it easier to isolate the various moves. Stand with your rear end touching the wall. Turn the back foot out and then step the front foot forward. Check your knee position and then try to lower your thigh. If your hips are parallel to the wall behind you, they are open. When you bring up your arms, you can use the wall to check if they are evenly raised; you will also be able to notice if your back shoulder comes forward, out of alignment. Remember the two panes of glass? The wall is one of them, and you can easily check to see if your body is in a single plane. From here, you can work on straightening your spine, a part of the pose that is easily ignored when all the other competing movements are in play.
Balance poses are often easier to practice against the wall for obvious reasons. Vrksasana, or Tree Pose, is another posture that requires a hip turn out; the wall will show you if your knee is creeping towards the middle of the room (and by how much.) You will also be able to practice moving one foot up the other leg; because you're not trying to maintain your balance, you'll be able to bend your knee farther. Again, the wall allows you to take the posture and hold it with a straight spine.
As a third example, consider Hanumasana, commonly known as the splits. If you balance your high leg against the wall as you slide it higher, you will find yourself able to move more slowly into various levels of the pose. This will enable you to relax the muscles you are trying to stretch, which will often provide some amount of extra movement, however small.
A wall can be a wonderful prop to use when you are trying to break down a complicated pose. It is also a wonderful way to review postures that may have gotten too comfortable and thus a bit – or a great deal – sloppy. Try adding some wall work to your home practice. You'll find yourself improving!
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I have a JDesktopPane and want to display JInternalFrames in a grid style without overlaying frames. The dymensions of the frames will vary so their location should be assigned dynamically. I could store the coordinates of the last placed frame but frames can be moved, minimized or closed.. Is their an easy way of placing internal frames in a tidy way? e.g., using a Layout?
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Here's an example that may offer some guidance. It uses setLocation() and an offset.
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The DesktopManager class is responsible for managing the internal frames.
You should be able to override the openFrame() method to initially position the frame when it is added to the desktop.
There are also methods on dragging that you might be able to override to prevent the overlapping of frames.
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Excerpted from An Eighth of August by Dawn Turner Trice. Copyright © 2002 by Dawn Turner Trice. Excerpted by permission of Anchor, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
1) For discussion of An Eighth of August:
An Eight of August presents the same events from several different points of view. Which narrator most closely represents, if any, the voice of the author? Did your opinions of the characters change as you saw them through different eyes? Did you trust their own words and perceptions more than the portraits others painted of them?
2) Sweet Alma is a central character in the book, despite the fact that she isn't present in 1986. Drawing on the impressions the other characters offer, how would you describe her? Do you feel sympathy for her or do you think she is acting selfishly by not returning to Halley's Landing?
3) What motivated Flossie's decision to send Simon and Sweet Alma to St. Louis? Was she merely protecting the family from scandal? In what ways did it reflect her dissatisfaction with her own life? What would have happened to Sweet Alma had she remained in Halley's Landing?
4) Why did Flossie decide to raise El herself? To what extent was she influenced by the close-knit community of Halley's Landing and the attitudes of her friends and family? Would she have made the same decisions about both her daughter and her grandson in Chicago, where she, Simon, and Sweet Alma lived before coming to Halley's Landing?
5) The people of Halley's Landing are very involved with each other's lives. Do you think this is an accurate portrait of small-town life? Are the characters more tolerant of each other because of their shared histories? Are they more accepting of eccentricities and idiosyncrasies than members of your own community?
6) Trice portrays the relationships between several couples: Flossie and Simon, Herbert and Thelma, Pepper and June, and May Ruth and John. Discuss how each of these relationships represents a different concept of love and marriage. What makes Herbert and Thelma's marriage so successful? Why do Flossie and Simon continue to meet years after their divorce, and why do they keep it a secret from the others? Do your sympathies for June and Pepper change when you learn more about June's background? Do you think they will be able to overcome their pasts and form a family of their own?
7) Thelma is presented as a scattered-brained, flighty, naively endearing woman. How does Trice convey Thelma's strengths without contradicting the portraits the narrators draw?
8) Does Cora's position as confidante and mediator to the others give added weight and credibility to her version of events? How does her dream about El and Sweet Alma [pp. 74-75] show a side of her that is not apparent in her straightforward accounts of the day-to-day activities?
9) What role does May Ruth play in the novel? Why does Trice wait until the end of the book to reveal her story and how she became a part of Cora's and the others' lives?
10) Why do Pepper and El allow the others to believe that Pepper was the one who attacked Mr. Paul? Why does Flossie allow Pepper to accept the blame for El's death? What insights does this give you into Flossie's own feelings of guilt and responsibility?
11) Why did Trice set the story against the background of an Emancipation Day celebration? Discuss how the conversations and events of the 1986 festival represent a personal emancipation for each of the characters.
For discussion of the two novels
1) Trice describes three different African-American communities--the posh Lakeland and sordid 35th Street in Only Twice, and the rural midwestern town of Halley's Landing in An Eighth of August. In what ways do each of these communities reflect the history of African-Americans in this country and the social and economic realities of America today? What attitudes or beliefs do the characters who inhabit these very different worlds share?
2) Only Twice deals graphically with the problems of urban living--drug addiction, prostitution, casual violence, governmental indifference and neglect, not to mention that the fateful events in An Eighth of August are set in motion by Mr. Paul's act of perversion. What keeps the negative events at the heart of the novels from overshadowing the stories Trice tells?
3) Why does Trice use more than one narrator? How do the changes in voice shape the stories she tells? Did you identify more closely with specific narrators, and if so, why?
4) Tempestt tells her story from the vantage point of twenty years, and the recollections in An Eighth of August switch back and forth from 1973 to 1986. How do the changing time frames and perspectives strengthen the power of the novels?
5) In Only Twice, all the characters are African-American. In her second novel, Trice included a white woman, May Ruth, as part of the community she creates. What do you think she was trying to accomplish by doing this? Does May Ruth's background and race influence the way the other characters relate to her?
6) Both Tempestt and Pepper witness the death of their best friends, and both feel a sense of responsibility for the tragedy. How do their reactions differ? How do the reactions of the adults around them affect their abilities to cope with their guilt? We know that Tempestt ended up living a rich, fulfilling life. What do you think will happen to Pepper in the future?


Analysis of RF Device Fingerprinting using Convolutional Neural Network
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Analysis of RF Device Fingerprinting using Convolutional Neural Network
Parvathi G R
Communication Systems Electronics and Communication Engineering
TKM College of Engineering Karicode, Kollam
Preetha Basu
Electronics and Communication Engineering TKM College of Engineering
Karicode, Kollam
AbstractThe authentication of devices and identification of unauthorised signals has been difficult in many scenarios. In this paper, a method for identifying a specific device among a range of similar devices is discussed using the techniques of convolutional neural network. The approach is to use radio fingerprints as samples for the identification process. The variability caused in the manufacture of these wireless transmitters serves as a unique feature, creating repeatable signatures for a particular device. These signatures are used as fingerprints for identification and verification. A framework is then developed for training the convolutional neural network using complex baseband error signals in time domain for varying signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs).
KeywordsConvolutional Neural Network; device fingerprints; error signals; hardware variability; trained data; Radio Frequency.
 In the previous couple of decades, there has been an improbable growth within the application of internet and the devices connected to it. However, the security and privacy of these billions of devices could be a preponderating concern within the Internet of Things (IoT) network. Any device that has network property is vulnerable to attacks. Information gathered by such devices are prone to attacks like ID spoofing by intruders. Almost all of those devices have restricted memory capacity and computing power, that makes it troublesome to use complicated cryptographic algorithms that need additional resources than the devices will give. Therefore, there is limited authentication or authorization.
 The device identification is the process of relating a received signal to a device employing the radio frequency (RF) features database of certain known transmitters. The most efficient identification systems should be ready to correctly determine emitters, however should even be quick, robust to ever-changing environments, and simply and quickly adjustable. The speed of such systems is particularly essential during a military setting, wherever the system is also accustomed to give early warning. Moreover, in environments where there can be constant changing of channels or when variations occur in the transmitted frequency, modulation schemes and bandwidth or if there occurs presence of other transmitters, it is vital that the developed system works well under these conditions. However, ought to the system have to be compelled to be tuned or changed in order to accommodate a brand new
 surroundings, such changes ought to be easy and economical to implement.
 In several mission crucial eventualities, issues in unauthorised transmissions, authentication of devices and ID spoofing are major considerations. This work on device fingerprinting solves the eventualities by learning devicespecific features of the transmitters in an exceedingly predeployment training stage, that is then exploited throughout actual network operation. Thus, for general purpose use, any device fingerprinting approach must be computationally straightforward once employed in this field. It is for this sole reason, machine learning (ML) techniques, specifically, the one Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) is proposed and through an experiment demonstrate its radio identification performance for a set of devices.
 RF ngerprinting aims to spot transmitters based on the device-specic features found in their emitted analog signals. The main advantage here is the minimal preprocessing performed on the baseband signals that is downconverted which is then sent for identification to neural networks. These features are caused due to the hardware variability within the analog transmitter parts of the device. For this reason, a study on RF ngerprinting supported by applying of deep learning classication strategies is performed and its feasibility is demonstrated. Owing to the huge success of deep learning ways at advanced classication tasks in image and speech recognition, this method tend to apply convolutional neural network (CNN) to the RF ngerprinting drawback.
 A traditional identification system can be represented as in Fig 1. This system consists of an RF module, followed by the data collection module, signal processing module, feature extraction, clustering techniques and finally the identification and verification module [1]. The RF and data collection modules focus on pre-processing the analog signal obtained from the RF receiver, converting it into the digital domain, before the signal processing operation occurs. The stages involved in the signal processing phase mostly deal with the features that need to be extracted in the next stage and primarily include demodulation and filtering. Once all the necessary processing is done, all the data is brought on to the feature extraction stage, where pre-determined features are
 extracted. The obtained features are further used in clustering and identification purposes.
 Fig 1: A traditional identification system
 Normally, the RF fingerprint of a device, termed as the electronic signature, occurs due to the variations in architecture and RF components employed by manufactured and certain non-idealities seen in the devices hardware [2]. Moreover, RF fingerprints usually does not depend on the signal transmitted or on the data present in that signal. The major success of the traditional identification systems was due to the selection of features which symbolises a certain portion of the RF fingerprints of a set of devices [3]. Often, the features employed in the traditional identification systems either come from the steady-state or the transient portions of the received signal.
 The methods used to analyse the steady-state signal are a lot diverse and include usage of modulation-based approaches [4], wavelet-based approaches [5], cyclostationary-based approaches, preamble-based approaches [6]. One of the popular wavelet-based approach, termed as the dynamic wavelet fingerprint approach, utilises wavelet transforms on the steady signal in its time domain [5]. The features generated in the modulation-domain calculate the error between the ideal demodulated signal and the transmitted signal [4], whereas the preamble-based approach analyse the features of the preamble extracted, namely its periodicity [6]. The cyclostationary-based approach, analyse the salient cyclic features present in a signal.
 The transient or steady-state techniques are made in use to extract features which are used in combination with the clustering techniques for identification and verification of specific emitters [7]. The most commonly used algorithms include k-Nearest Neighbors (kNN), support vector machines (SVMs) [8], along with principal component analysis (PCA) or linear discriminant analysis (LDA), if required. Furthermore, there can be variations in the frequency-domain and time-domain features according to the channel conditions and noise and which can henceforth be impacted by various channel impairments like the multipath [9].
 Even though it is more practical to use the features that are extracted from the received signal that fall under its steadystate portion, there are certain limitations associated with the expert features that are used for the detailing of the steady state signal. For example, wavelet functions greatly impact the wavelet-based techniques. For cases that lack a predefined preamble, the preamble-based techniques fail [10]. Furthermore, methods used to analyse the cyclostationary features of some particular signal are normally seen inconsistent when the phase or frequency uncertainties are present and often consumes a lot of time to compute.
 Finally, there are numerous limitations involved in the classification or clustering algorithm of traditional identification systems. Many classification or clustering algorithms such as neural network classifiers, kNNs and SVMs demand to input the cluster number from the user or usage of an iterative method to calculate the required number of clusters for the provided dataset [11]. Other than for a cooperative environment, the number of clusters (devices) cannot be known earlier and is subject to change, causing limitation in the identification of anomalous devices and their behaviors. Some training has been carried out on a probabilistic neural network, to identify eight IEEE 802.11b WiFi cards making use of the transient amplitude signal of WiFi transmissions [12]. Also, various techniques involving wavelet and Hilbert-Huang [13] transforms have been experimented for studying the success of RF ngerprinting.
 The major drawbacks of traditional identification approaches involve the extraction and the usage of expertdefined and pre-determined features. The initial step for the design of a traditional identification system involves the need of an expert to characterise the quality features under consideration. These defined features remain accurate only over a certain range of parameters and often require consistent and detailed measurement or evaluation in order to facilitate quality identification performance.
 The project consists of two phases, i.e., a training phase and an identification phase. In the first phase, the CNN is trained using raw IQ samples which are collected from each transmitter in order to solve a multi-class classification problem. In the identification stage, those samples belonging to the unknown transmitters are fed as input to the trained neural network and identification of transmitter is done based on values observed at the output layer.
 1. Data Generation
 The sequence of binary data samples are generated based on particular number of samples for each device, then it modulated with the help of Quadature Amplitude modulation (QAM). After the modulation the signal are converted to Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) data by taking inverse fast Fourier transform, these OFDM signal generated by specific range of symbol to noise ratio and 64 fft size and 52 subcarriers, and pilot is added before conversion of OFDM modulation, similarly we are generating the input for all devices and saving it in a.mat file and loading it for testing.
 2. Convolutional Neural Network
 The network consists of three convolutional layers and three dense layers. The goal was to first understand stacking of layers and the functions and operations of the various layer. The most challenging task in building the CNN network is to identify how many layers to be defined,


text:
Abnormal Anatomy of the Auditory Cortex in Schizophrenic Brains with Auditory Hallucinations
MetadataShow full item record
PublisherThe University of Arizona.
RightsCopyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction, presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author.
AbstractBackground: Evolving research in the psychiatric literature has suggested that the auditory cortex region is smaller in people with schizophrenia who experience auditory hallucinations than in normal control individuals. These findings are not without controversy. While there has been significant research considering volumetric variance in pathologic brains with AH, there is a paucity of data considering the influence of morphology and surface area of primary auditory structures. Purpose: The purpose of this set of studies was to evaluate and compare the following variables in schizophrenic and control brains, both between groups and between hemispheres within groups: surface area of Heschl's gyrus (HG) and planum temporale (PT), length of the Sylvian fissure (SF), length of the posterior extending ramus of the SF, and the morphological variants of HG, PT, and the posterior ramus. Evidence of morphologic variance or surface area differences in populations that are prone to experiencing auditory hallucinations may provide new or additional insight into the role of these neuroanatomical structures in central auditory processing during auditory hallucinations. Hypothesis: Based on the previous literature we had several hypotheses: (1) in separate structure analyses with regards to surface area, there will be reduced asymmetry for primary auditory structures (HG & PT) in schizophrenic brains with hallucinations compared to controls; (2) there will be reduced typical asymmetry in Sylvian fissure (SF) length for schizophrenic brains with hallucinations compared to controls; and (3) there will be consistent patterns of morphologic differences in at least one category of Heschl's gyrus, planum temporale, or posterior ramus variants between schizophrenic brains with hallucinations and control brains. Methods: Imaging analysis was conducted using BrainVISA Anatomist software and MRIcron software to assess 51 control brains (102 hemispheres) from the Open Access Series of Imaging Studies (OASIS) repository and 51 schizophrenic brains (102 hemispheres) obtained from the NUSDAST (Northwestern University Schizophrenia Data and Software Tools) database. These neuroimaging softwares were used to quantify surface area of HG and PT, morphology of HG and PT, length of SF, and angle of the posterior extending ramus of SF. Results: This study found a lack of typical asymmetry between right and left HG in schizophrenic brains, and a significantly larger HG in the right hemisphere of controls compared to schizophrenics. There was also reduced asymmetry of the SF length in schizophrenics compared to controls. No significant findings were established for either PT surface area or morphological classifications of HG, PT, or posterior ramus. Key Words: Auditory Hallucinations, auditory cortex, anatomy, Heschl's gyrus, planum temporale, superior temporal gyrus, Sylvian fissure, posterior ramus, ascending ramus, schizophrenia Abbreviations: Auditory Hallucinations (AH), central auditory nervous system (CANS), Heschl's gyrus (HG), planum temporale (PT), planum polare (PP), primary auditory cortex (A1), Sylvian fissure (SF), schizophrenia (SZ), superior temporal plane (STP), supramarginal gyrus (SMG), region of interest (ROI)
Degree ProgramGraduate College


text:
National Wilderness Inventory
Australia: Our national stories
Australian Heritage Commission, 2003
ISBN 0 642 23561 9
4. Creating The Wilderness Database (continued)
4.2 Distance-based Indicators
(Remoteness from Access, Remoteness from Settlement, and Apparent Naturalness)
As discussed in Section 2.1, wilderness survey work is implemented by measuring variation in wilderness quality across the landscape using four wilderness quality 'indicators' that represent the two essential attributes of wilderness: remoteness and naturalness.
Three of these 'indicators' are derived in a similar manner and get their collective name, distance-based 'indicators', from the process used to derive them.
These indicators are:
- Remoteness from Settlement
remoteness from places of permanent occupation;
- Remoteness from Access
remoteness from established access routes;
- Apparent Naturalness
the degree to which the landscape is free from the presence of permanent structures associated with modern technological society;
This section of the handbook describes the processes used to create the results for these three distance-based indicators used in the wilderness analysis. The process of creating these results are similar, and standardised across Australia. Because of this, any variation in the quality and consistency of results for these indicators generally relates back to characteristics of the primary data which are described more fully in other parts of this handbook.
For each of the distance-based indicators primary data is graded according to its associated amount of impact. Remoteness from Access and Remoteness from Settlement take into account four grades of impact whilst three grades are used in determining Apparent Naturalness. Descriptions of these grades are presented in Table 4.1. The primary data codes and associated grouped feature coverages are detailed in Section 3.4.
|Grade||Primary data description||Grouped Primary Data Coverage|
|Remoteness from Access||Major||Major two-wheel drive roads: generally sealed or at least surfaced to ensure regular and continuous public use||ACC1|
|Medium||Minor roads: generally unsurfaced, or, if surfaced, then irregularly used and maintained. Also included are constructed and maintained airstrips and operating railways.||ACC2
|Low||LowVehicle tracks (usually four-wheel drive).||ACC3|
|Very Low||Established but unconstructed vehicle access routes (e.g. beach access) and cleared lines; established walking tracks; cleared land.||ACC4
|Remoteness from Settlement||Major||Built-up areas and commercial and/or service location with 100 permanent residents or more.||SET1
|Intermediate||Commercial and/or service location with more than ten but fewer than 100 permanent residents.||SET2|
|Minor||Commercial and/or service location with ten permanent residents or fewer.||SET3|
|Residential||Residential location only.||SET4|
|Apparent Naturalness||Major||Intrusive infrastructure (including medium and high grade access routes) and cleared land boundaries||AES1LN
|Medum||Small-scale infrastructure (including four-wheel drive||AES2LN
The analysis process for deriving the three distance-based indicators is outlined below, as a sequence of four steps.
i) Grading primary feature impacts:
Point, line and polygon primary data features are drawn from the appropriate layer in the library manager and grouped in coverages according to feature type and indicator impact grade (outlined in Table 3.6). The association between these grouped coverages and each indicator grade is outlined in Table 4.1.
ii) Distance Calculation:
Euclidean distance (in metres) is calculated from each sample point to the nearest feature within each grouped feature coverage. The nearest distance, in each case, is assigned to each sample point in the database as a permanent attribute.
iii) Minimum Weighted Distance Calculation:
Raw distance values are processed to produce a single indicator distance measure for each sample point. This distance is calculated by weighting the distance values for each grouped feature according to its associated grade of impact so that all distances are represented in units equivalent to a high grade feature. The equation for determining high grade equivalence takes the form:
Note: refer to Table 4.2
|Feature Grade||Weighting Factor|
|Remoteness from Settlement
|Remoteness from Access
Very Low Access
The minimum value for each indicator (mHGE) is recorded for each sample point and recorded as permanent attributes in the wilderness database (refer to Table 4.9).
iv) Indicator Classification:
Minimum high grade feature distances are classified to produce a standardised Remoteness from Settlement, Remoteness from Access, and Apparent Naturalness class according to the following equation:
The resultant classification of the three indicators is shown in Figure 4.3. These distance-based classifications are recorded as continuous floating point variables thus showing variation within class groupings as well as class values beyond the class 5 notional maximum. Remoteness from Settlement, Remoteness from Access, and Apparent Naturalness index values are assigned to sample points in the database as permanent attributes (refer to Table 4.9).