Adobe AEM (CQ5) and OpenText TeamSite: 10 things in common
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Among enterprise-class web experience management systems, the two most sophisticated systems that are often pitted against each other are HP TeamSite and Adobe Experience Manager. Both Forrester and Gartner rank these products highly and often place them as leaders in the digital experience (aka content marketing/ web experience management/digital engagement/ customer experience management) space.
Technologically, at their core, the products are very different. A developer may cringe to read "similar" and these product names in the same sentence. However, we are going to look at it from the perspective of a business user – a marketer who potentially uses this system versus a technical administrator or developer.
From a business perspective, they tend to serve a similar purpose for a similar audience. They both provide a way to manage, engage and measure digital customer experiences (See Forrester's Wave report or Gartner's Magic Quadrant)
In this blog, we talk about the common features between the HP TeamSite and Adobe Experience Manager (previously called CQ or CQ5).
1. Authoring & Publishing:
Both systems have an authoring and a rendering platform. Business Users author content by using a web browser. Content is activated/pushed/published/deployed to a separate runtime environment (server or group of servers) that renders and serves content to web visitors.
2. Page templates:
They both provide page templates and have a rendering process to display content. A Page template could be an empty shell or packed with business+design logic – allowing developers to create the necessary authoring experience.
3. Mobile friendly/Mobile First:
They both allow you to create Mobile versions of a website and provide emulators to preview content in various devices. Of course, client-side Responsive, or RWD is supported by both systems.
For adaptive design – where the server determines the HTML to be sent to the user's device, TeamSite uses Trilibis. Adobe Experience Manager uses similar HTML tags for rendering device specific content as explained here.
4. Page construction model:
They both use a page 'fragment model'. You build a webpage from smaller pieces of the page called "Components". AEM's Component model is more sophisticated as it allows a rich "clientlib" architecture that allows CSS and JS pre-processors. This means, with the right architecture, you can control and optimize your page footprint for faster performance. TeamSite, on the other hand, depends on client-side logic including newer fameworks like React.js to be used that more or less achieve the same result.
5. Dynamic content:
Both allow you to dynamically pull content from their respective content repositories and transform the content to meet web-page needs. AEM uses OSGi Bundles that allows you to do powerful java based processing, while TeamSite has a POJO like concept using Java 'externals'. From a business perspective, suffice it to know that they both provide "back-end" frameworks to integrate with other systems.
6. Workflows:
They both provide workflows to meet content governance needs. Their workflow management and development tools are built into the product, requiring no separate installations.
7. Multi-variate Testing:
They both allow you to do MVT and A/B testing. TeamSite has an add-on module called Optimost that lets you create such Tests. Adobe AEM's Test&Target module achieves the same.
8. Segmentation and targeting:
They both allow you to segment and target audience and provide customizable content depending on business rules.
9. Taxonomy management:
They both allow content to be Tagged. Tagging of content allows easy search and classification of content based on customizable taxonomies.
10. Customizable and (yes) Expensive:
Last, but not least, they are both intended to satisfy complex requirements, as is often the case for large organizations. They are both highly configurable which is both a good thing and a bad thing at the same time. The extensible nature of these products and the bells and whistles they provide are also a reason for their high licensing costs.


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Gravity Irrigation with Pump and Flow Control [Success Story]
Counter Nodes with flow meters are used to monitor the water flowing to orchards to allow for precise water metering and accurate billing for water use. For installations without access to wired power, a solar panel or battery pack may be used to power the FlexPower Nodes and sensors.
The Gateway, or wireless network controller, monitors the water level inside the water tank. When the water level drops, a Node installed with the reservoir pumps uses its outputs to cycle the pumps on or off. A series of Nodes monitors the amount of water flowing into each orchard. A 1 Watt Data Radio connected to the Gateway transmits the data to a mobile asset or a centralized control center for data processing and billing.
Because of the difficult terrain, using Data Radios allowed us to reliably transmit data over great distances and around obstacles. SureCross FlexPower devices using efficient power management technology allow users to choose from solar, battery, or dc power without compromising the performance or response time of the network.

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


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Schumpeter as educator
What was exemplary in Schumpeter's life?
- What can a reader learn from and through the life experience Schumpeter had?
- What effects for good and ill may his life and work have on someone who takes him as an exemplary figure?
- What were the limiting factors constraining him?
Schumpeter's ideas and their formative power
- What are the key concepts, the ideas that Schumpeter developed in his work?
- What was the formative power these concepts offered Schumpeter's contemporaries? Why did they have meaning, or fail to have meaning, to others in the historical context of his time?
- What formative power do his ideas have in the historical context of our time? Of any time?
- What disabilities might his ideas impart?

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


Luke Taylor
Grammar Grater®
with Luke Taylor
Episode 91: A Misleading Past
This week, we're going to talk about a common mix-up involving the past tense of the verb, to lead. It's an error so common that—as cited in Fowler's Modern English Usage—it even slips past the best copy editors once in a while and ends up in print.
Let's begin by reviewing the multiple uses of the verb, to lead. According to the Oxford Dictionary of Current English, the verb has a lot of meanings.
First, it can mean "to cause a person or animal to go with one":
The tour guide leads visitors through the museum.
Second, it can mean "be a route or means of access":
This street leads to the center of town.
It can mean "be in charge of":
Pat is leading the new Web development group.
It can mean "to have the advantage in a race or game":
Going into the final turn, Daddy's Girl is still leading the other horses.
It can also mean "to have a particular way of life":
Gerry leads a rather simple, practical life.
The confusion with lead is its past-tense form; specifically, its spelling. The past tense of lead is led — spelled L-E-D.
The tour guide led visitors through the museum.
The horse called Daddy's Girl led the race going into the final turn.
So often, however, people think the past tense is spelled L-E-A-D. As we said at the top, it's a common error. Some of the confusion may come from the noun lead, the bluish-grey metallic element. It's spelled just like the verb, to lead, but it's pronounced like led.
To overcome this common spelling mix-up, here's a little trick that may be helpful: the present tense is L-E-A-D; the past tense is L-E-D. Present is a longer word than past; lead is a longer word than led. So present tense, long word, L-E-A-D. Past tense, short word, L-E-D.
One could also compare it to the words feed and fed, which rhyme with and have a similar structure to lead and led. The present tense forms lead and feed have four letters; the past-tense forms, led and fed, are both three-letter words. Perhaps you can devise your own strategies for remembering this. And there's no need being troubled by mnemonic devices that might seem silly; for example, listen to the "goat farmer" story in the episode. If the mnemonic device can help you remember, there's nothing silly in that.
Sources: Fowler's Modern English Usage by RW Burchfield; Oxford Dictionary of Current English.
Music: "Misled" by Kool & the Gang; "Don't Let's Start" by They Might Be Giants.
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Robust Real-Time Optimization of a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Stack
On-line control and optimization can improve the eﬃciency of fuel cell systems whilst simultaneously ensuring that the operation remains within a safe region. Also, fuel cells are subject to frequent variations in their power demand. This paper investigates the real-time optimization (RTO) of a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) stack. An optimization problem maximizing the efficiency subject to operating constraints is deﬁned. Due to inevitable model inaccuracies, the open-loop implementation of optimal inputs evaluated oﬀ-line may be suboptimal, or worse, infeasible. Infeasibility can be avoided by controlling the constrained quantities. However, the constraints that determine optimal operation might switch with varying power demand, thus requiring a change in the regulator structure.
Record created on 2009-09-04, modified on 2016-08-08


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Country of Origin: USSR
3-D: 2.5 x 1.3 x 2.5cm (1 x 1/2 x 1 in.)
Pins or znachki have a long and established Russian tradition. During the 19th century, workers received these pins as a reward for work done. It was during the Soviet period that the emphasis on the use of znachki shifted from rewarding work done to acting as souvenirs of national celebrations. By the late 1960s, schoolchildren began to collect and exchange the pins with foreigners. Today, space-themed znachki are popular among collectors worldwide. People of all ages wear the pins to celebrate and acknowledge anniversaries, programs and individuals of the space program.
This pin is one of a set of nine pins that honors the heritage of science, astronomy and space exploration by identifying nine leading scientists in the field throughout history. This pin features Albert Einstein.
Found in collection. Donor unknown at this time. Found on NASM premises.


This website is only valid for United States of America.
Flexible Vertebral Column with Femur Heads, Muscle Insertions, and Removable Sacral Chest
by Nasco Healthcare
This spinal column is flexible to show the natural movement of the spine. It is life size and includes the occipital plate cervical, thoracic, and lumbar vertebrae sacrum coccyx complete pelvis and removable femur heads. The left side of the skeleton is painted to show the muscle origins (red) and muscle insertions (blue). This model also features representations of the vertebral arteries, spinal nerve branches, and intervertebral discs. Column comes mounted on a stand and includes a detailed manual. Dimensions: 8 in. x 8 in. x 37 in.


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Friday, June 29, 2012
As part of a trivia series on polio, Aufderheide cites several studies showing that the widespread use of chemical pesticides such as dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, or DDT, and heptachlor following World War II, actual exacerbated viral disease outbreaks across the United States.
On a visual graph, it is clearly seen that the production and use of pesticides throughout the mid-20th century is directly correlated to polio outbreaks, including the worst polio epidemic in known history, which occurred in 1952.
You can view the graph here: _URL_
According to a report compiled by the Secretary of the Interior that was presented before the 85th Congress back in 1958, polio really only became a problem after the 1940s, when chemical companies began to produce large amounts of DDT, heptachlor, dieldrin, tetraethyl pyrophosphate (TEPP), malathion, benzene hexachloride (BHC) and other pesticide chemicals for use on agricultural crops. Prior to that time, polio was not nearly as virulent or problematic as many people believe it was.
As DDT and other pesticides were eventually phased out, cases of polio also began to decline, which suggests that vaccines may not have been primarily responsible for eradicating polio. Improvements in sanitation, which are hardly ever mentioned by mainstream health authorities, also played a major role in eradicating polio.
Pesticide-contaminated milk also responsible for polio outbreaks
Many people during the 1950s became ill as a result of pesticide-contaminated milk, much of which ended up having to be quietly pulled from store shelves in subsequent years. This contaminated milk was also known to be a primary carrier of polio, and was directly responsible for spreading the disease until the contaminating pesticides were eventually phased out, and the milk supply effectively remediated.
Interestingly, milk-induced disease outbreaks were responsible for the later creation of milk pasteurization mandates. But it was the pesticides and their tolerance of polio virus, not the fact that milk was raw, that was responsible for spreading disease. And yet the belief that raw milk is inherently dangerous is still prevalent today, while few have any real understanding of the role pesticide-tainted milk played in spreading disease, and particularly polio.
Right around the time that dangerous pesticides were being retired and sanitation was being improved, authorities released a polio vaccine that they claimed would eradicate the disease. The precise timing of this strategic release would later be used to claim that the vaccine, and not agricultural and sanitation improvements, was responsible for ending polio.
Revisionist history continues to fuel myth that vaccines are responsible for eradicating disease
Because of the way drug companies and vaccine manufacturers have influenced governmental and health authorities over the years, the myth that vaccines are responsible for eradicating disease has prevailed. Truth be told, the polio vaccine has been shown to actually cause many of the paralysis symptoms associated with polio, including in India where there has been a 1,200 percent increase vaccine-associated polio paralysis (VAPP) since the introduction of massive polio vaccine campaigns throughout the country (_URL_


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What is observation and its importance?
Observation is a very important part of science. It lets us see the results of an experiment, even if they are not the results we expect. It lets us see unexpected things around us that might stimulate our curiosity, leading to new experiments. Even more important than observation is accurate observation.
What are the advantages of observations?
The main advantage of observation is its directness. We can collect data at the time they occur. The observer does not have to ask people about their behavior and reports from others. He or she can simply watch as individuals act and speak.
What is the disadvantages of observation?
Time consuming and may involve large amount of inactivity. Observations may lack depth and qualitative richness. If the ethics are not handled well, legal action can be taken.
What are the disadvantages of participant observation?
The disadvantages of this stance are that the researcher may lack objectivity, the group members may feel distrustful of the researcher when the research role is revealed, and the ethics of the situation are questionable, since the group members are being deceived.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of direct observation?
Advantages/DisadvantagesAdvantages of Direct ObservationDisadvantages of Direct ObservationEmpirical data Inter-rater reliability (if using multiple observers) No problems with self-report biasMay impact behavioral or environmental factors Time consuming Small sample size
What is an example of direct observation?
For example, if you were sitting at a bus stop and observing jaywalkers at a nearby intersection, people would likely not notice you watching them. Or if you were sitting on a bench at a local park observing the behavior of a group of young men playing hacky sack, they probably would not suspect you were studying them.
What is an example of indirect observation?
Indirect observation involves the analysis of textual material generated either indirectly from transcriptions of audio recordings of verbal behavior in natural settings (e.g., conversation, group discussions) or directly from narratives (e.g., letters of complaint, tweets, forum posts).
What are some examples of observation?
Scientific Observation ExamplesA scientist looking at a chemical reaction in an experiment.A doctor watching a patient after administering an injection.An astronomer looking at the night sky and recording data regarding the movement and brightness of the objects he sees.
What is the difference between a direct observation and an indirect observation?
Direct observation is operationally defined as an observation made by using your senses as opposed to indirect observation made by using instruments and measuring devices.
What is a direct observation?
Direct observation is the collection of information using your senses. By observing, you can document activities, behavior, and physical aspects of a situation without having to depend on peoples' willingness or ability to respond accurately to questions.
What are the two main types of observation?
The two categories of observations are quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative observations involve numeric data, such as a frequency count….
Where can Observation be used?
Observation is used in the social sciences as a method for collecting data about people, processes, and cultures.
What is an observation in data collection?
An observation is a data collection method, by which you gather knowledge of the researched phenomenon through making observations of the phenomena, as and when it occurs. There exist various observation practices, and your role as an observer may vary according to the research approach.
Post Author: alisa


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Purchase this article with an account.
Flip Phillips, Eric Egan, Benson Perry; Gawking and fondling: Multimodal perception of 3D shape. Journal of Vision 2008;8(6):1067. doi: 10.1167/8.6.1067.
Download citation file:
© ARVO (_PHONE_); The Authors (2016-present)
Our visual and haptic perceptual systems are responsible for creating our mental representations of 3-D shapes. Alas, it has been shown that the two systems do not always work congruently. Some results hypothesize an advantage to the visual system for some tasks while others suggest the haptic system may contribute more useful information. The specific nature of these discrepancies, especially with respect to complex 3-D shape perception, remain somewhat a mystery. Past studies have used geometrically complex, but statistically ambiguous objects as stimuli, while still other studies have used well-determined yet geometrically simple objects. This study attempts to bridge these two stimulus categories. Complex, natural appearing, noisy 3-D stimuli were statistically specified in the Fourier domain and manufactured using a 3-D printer. A series of paired-comparison experiments examined observers' uni-modal (visual-visual and haptic-haptic) and cross-modal (visual-haptic) perceptual abilities. Performance in the uni-modal conditions were similar to one another and uni-modal presentation fared better than cross-modal. Also, the spatial frequency of object features affected performance differentially across the range used in this experiment. When visually grouped by observers, the statistical nature of these features explain the groupings, yet there were no such patterns when the stimuli were grouped haptically. The existence of non-universal (i.e. modality-specific) representations would explain the poor cross-modal performance. Our current findings suggest that either each system creates a unique representation or the systems utilize a common representation but each in a different fashion. Vision shows a distinct advantage when dealing with higher frequency objects but both modalities are effective when comparing objects that differ by a large amount.
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In 1909 Rutherford's gold foil experiment changed the way people viewed the atom forever. The experiment was conducted at the University of Manchester by Hans Geiger and Ernest Marsden under the direction of Ernest Rutherford. Rightfully so, this experiment is also known as The GeigerMarsden experiment. This was revolutionary in that it proved for the first time, the existence of the atomic nucleus, thus killing the idea of the plum pudding model. Geiger, Marsden, and Rutherford's work will be studied forever.
The Plum Pudding Model composed by J.J. Thomson said that negative electrons were placed throughout and everything else (the pink) was positively charged "pudding" to balance the negative electrons.
The experiment was set by placing a particle emitter that would shoot particles made by radioactive decay of radium directly to a thin sheet of gold foil. Gold Foil was used because it is inert and malleable. In order for the particles to go through the material, it had to be really thin and gold was the perfect metal. Around the particles that would shoot toward the gold foil there was a circle of zinc sulfide which would detect when and where the alpha particles would deflect.
Rutherford hypothesized that the particles would pass straight through the foil or at most only deflect a couple of degrees. If this had occurred, it would have measured the distribution of charge through the "plum pudding" atom. This assumption was based on the theory that positive and negative charges were spread evenly through the atom, thus making their forces weak allowing for very little, if any deflection.
What ended up happening was the slit in which the particles were passed through, when made larger (greater than two nanometers), more particles were able to get through and the majority of these particles passed straight through the foil. Only one out of 8,000 were deflected at very dramatic angles. These angles were even greater than 90 degrees and in some cases the particles completely back fired.
In conclusion, this allowed Rutherford the prove J.J. Thomson's plum pudding model false. Rutherford found that an atom is mostly made up of empty space with a concentrated charge in the middle. He was able to conclude this because the majority of the particles passed through the empty space of the atoms and were not noticeably deflected, but the positive charge of the particles would repel against the one focused area of positive electrons in the atoms. The focused and concentrated area that was discovered was named the nucleus. Rutherford along with Geiger and Marsden came up with the following model of an atom. It is because of these scientist curiosity that the model of an atom kept evolving and became more accurate.


The history of your name
The LENZA surname in the USA
Frequency Comparisons
Total Rank Frequency % Per million people
United States
United States (Current snapshot) 340 56246 0.000 1
United States (1880 census) 13 83573 0.000 0
Change since 1880 +327 +27327 0 N/A
Other Countries
Australia 0 0
United Kingdom 0 0
Top States for LENZA by Total
State Total Rank in State Frequency % Per million people
New York 91 18876 0.000 5
Florida 53 27863 0.000 3
New Jersey 44 20558 0.001 5
Illinois 33 35838 0.000 3
Pennsylvania 32 38775 0.000 3
Top States for LENZA by Frequency
State Total Rank in State Frequency % Per million people
New Jersey 44 20558 0.001 5
Delaware 4 25850 0.001 5
New York 91 18876 0.000 5
Massachusetts 29 23410 0.000 5
Rhode Island 4 25568 0.000 4
Figures for top states show firstly the states where most people called LENZA live. This obviously tends to be biased towards the most populous states. The second set of figures show where people called LENZA represent the biggest proportion of the population. So, in this case, there are more people called LENZA in New York than any other state, but you are more likely to find a LENZA by picking someone at random in New Jersey than anywhere else.
Classification and Origin of LENZA
Sorry, we don't have any origin and classification information for the LENZA surname.
Ethnic distribution of LENZA in the USA
Classification Total Percent
White (Caucasian) 315 92.65
White (Hispanic) 16 4.71
Asian/Pacific Less than 100 Insignificant
Black/African American Less than 100 Insignificant
Mixed Race Less than 100 Insignificant
Native American/Alaskan None reported 0
Ethnic distribution data shows the number and percentage of people with the LENZA surname who reported their ethnic background as being in these broad categories in the most recent national census.
Meaning of LENZA in historical publications
Sorry, we don't have any information on the meaning of LENZA.
Similar names to LENZA
The following names have similar spellings or pronunciations as LENZA.
Potential typos for LENZA
The following words are slight variants of LENZA that are likely to be possible typos or misspellings in written material.


2. Remove host from the pool
Lesson 12 out of 182
Removing of the host, located in the pool is performed via the 1. Manage servers in the pool > 2. Remove host from the pool.
Indicate IP-address or DNS-name for the host to be removed from the server pool:
After the confirmation, server will be deleted from the pool:
Attention! Task execution may take a rather long time (up to 2-3 hours and more) depending on the task complexity, data volume used in such tasks, capacity and server load. You can check the currently executed tasks by using menu item 5. Background tasks in the pool > 1. View running tasks. If task completion log files are needed to be reviewed, they are located in the following directory /opt/webdir/temp.


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PG&E Sustainability Report: Plant CO2 Emissions Up 31%
Power plants operated by Pacific Gas & Electric increased their absolute carbon emissions almost 31 percent year-on-year in 2011, according to the company's latest sustainability report.
In 2010, the company produced 1,545,892 metric tons of CO2 equivalent. In 2011 this figure jumped to 2,024,206. The increase of roughly 500,000 metric tons of CO2e stems from the opening of a new generating station that produced around 764,000 metric tons of CO2e in 2011, along with a shuttering of the company's Humboldt Bay power plant, which produced around 276,000 metric tons of CO2e in 2010.
For its 2011 emissions, PG&E began reporting the greenhouse gases from natural gas supplied to customers. Emissions from this source totaled over 39 million metric tons of CO2e in 2011.
The company says it is committed to meeting California's Renewable Portfolio Standard requirement to deliver 33 percent renewable energy by the end of 2020.
PG&E has a goal to reduce energy use by 15 percent in million metric BTUs at PG&E offices and service yards by 2014 from a 2009 baseline, equivalent to avoiding about 4,000 metric tonnes of CO2. In 2011, the company reduced its energy use by 4.8 percent – or about 383,150 MMBTUs – exceeding its 4.2 percent target for the year. In 2012, PG&E is seeking an additional 3 percent reduction, the report says.
- 2013 Insider Knowledge
- Environmental Leader Technology Reviews
- Guide to Energy, Carbon and Environmental Software
- The Logistics, Carbon, and Business Data Book: Fall 2012 Sustainability Trends
- Beyond Equipment Management by Spreadsheets
- ISO 50001: Frequently Asked Questions
- Your Guide to Total Energy and Sustainability Management
- REC Databook
- EHS Managers: The Evolution from Necessary Evil to Vital Leaders
- Demystifying Carbon Offsets


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South African Journal of Education
versão impressa ISSN 0256-0100
MAHLOMAHOLO, Sechaba MG. Gender differentials and sustainable learning environments. S. Afr. j. educ. [online]. 2011, vol.31, n.3, pp. 312-321. ISSN 0256-0100.
The centrality of quality education provisioning for all towards a better and socially just life is acknowledged globally. To date, however, there are still skewed gender differentials unfavourable to girls, thus impeding gender equality. In this paper I report on the reasons for leaving school early cited by out-of-school girls in North-West Province, South Africa. These reasons are juxtaposed against those cited by out-of-school boys to show how powerful gender as 'positioning in discourses' appears to be. Structured focus group interviews using the adapted version of 'Masitsa's inventory' were conducted. Qualitative data were coded and analysed based on frequency tables. The findings reveal that more girls than boys say they leave school early owing to: repeated failure; long distance to and from school; pregnancy; poverty; ill-health; attraction of odd jobs; looking after siblings; lack of motivation; early marriage, and criminal activity. The conclusion, therefore, is that if schools in the context of the community can become sustainable learning environments privileging girls' concerns, they can assist in resolving these problems of skewed gender differentials. This could lead towards achievement of a socially just life for all.
Palavras-chave : early school leavers; gender differentials; social justice; sustainable learning environments.


Question by butch (58)
How is DNA extracted?
Like when you do a cheek swab.
Answer by bunnygirl (779)
From any body tissue that contains DNA, enzymes break down the cells' proteins, fats, and other obstructions that are on the tissue. The DNA is then washed several times and get into a pellet form before getting rehydrated using elution buffer into what can be formally used for further experimentation.
Answer by carbm65 (100)
There are several techniques that can be used to extract DNA. Probably the most common way is either using a lysing agent or heat separating DNA proteins making them available for analysis. Sample is applied to a special plate and electric current drives the proteins to specfic regions for identification.
Answer by apsaras (408)
The cell sample is first disintegrated to access the DNA by grinding or sonication. Lipids and proteins from the cells are then removed by adding suitable reagents. Finally, the DNA is precipitated using alcohol and recovered by centrifuging.
Answer by RandomGuy (138)
Basically you need to open the cells and expose the DNA. Remove the lipids with chemicals, exposing raw material. Remove proteins and place in a cold ethanol solution.
Answer by Adelle (277)
DNA is typed through a process called PCR, or polymerase chain reaction. There are many steps in this process but the ultimate goal is to amplify, make copies, of specific DNA sequences. Though this scientist are able ot tell if two people are related or if samples match.
Answer by Lordschild (1398)
First the cells collected must be broken open by sonicating or grinding. Then the membrane lipids must be removed. The DNA is then precipitated usually with some type of alcohol.
You have 50 words left!


Tamarack (Larix laricina)
Tamarack trees in the fall, photo by Linda Baird White, American Conifer Society
Tamarack tree needles
#5 gallon pot purchase size: 2'-3' tall
Mature height: 40'-50'
Mature width: 15'-30'
Tamarack is a native tree to Minnesota and is unique because it is a deciduous conifer. This tree has horizontal to drooping branches and is pyramidal in form. The needles are a bluish-green before turning a brilliant yellow in the fall and then dropping. It is a low maintenance tree and does best with little to no pruning. This tree is often planted in groups. Tamarack will grow in average to wet conditions and prefers acidic soil. Full sun to part shade.


What is Trancor?
Trancor is formulated to support a sense of tranquility by helping to modulate the balance between the calming influence of GABA and the excitatory effects of glutamate. This advanced formula features NAC and taurine—which research suggests may be able to cross the blood-brain barrier—along with EGCG from green tea, vitamin B6, and magnesium for targeted neurological support.*
The Benefits of Trancor:
 - Glutamate & GABA Balance for Relaxation*
 - Certified gluten-free
 - Non-GMO
Why Metagenics Supplements?
Additional information
120 Capsules
Serving Size
2 Capsules


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Special & General Relativity Questions and Answers
Does anyone really understand general relativity well enough to have an intuitive grasp of the universe?
It is all a mater of perspective. Physicists and astronomers who spend all of their professional lives amass an enormous amount of intuition about the mathematics of relativity, and through constant contact with the technical details develop, perhaps, the best intuition that is humanly possible. Those who see relativity and cosmology as a recreation, and who never grapel with any of the mathematical details, probably never acheive an intuitive grasp of relativity. Like learning an instrument, there is a wide gulf between the kind of experiences many of us have had in grade school just learning how to sound the notes, and the kind of proficiency enjoyed by professional musicians who practice 4-8 hours EVERY DAY.
To the extent that general relativity is showing us the right way to think about the physical universe, yes, there are in fact many people who have an intuitive grasp of what the universe looks like. How they choose to 'visualize' this world-view may differ from individual to individual, but they all agree about the underlying mathematics.
Return to the Special & General Relativity Questions and Answers page.
All answers are provided by Dr. Sten Odenwald (Raytheon STX) for the NASA Astronomy Cafe, part of the NASA Education and Public Outreach program.


Vikings? Such friendly folk, say textbooks
Schoolchildren are getting rewritten histories of Europe that are politically correct but cut out the awkward facts
Children are being taught a sanitised version of European history in which Napoleon is depicted as primarily a reformer and the Vikings are portrayed as peace-loving traders, according to new research.
The move is part of a new drive towards political correctness in which national identity, as well as controversy and conflict, have been wiped from secondary school textbooks, the study claims.
'Children are not being given the full picture of their history,' said Dr Yasemin Soysal, president of the European Sociological Association, who has spent three years researching the issue for the Economic and Social Research Council. 'They are being presented with a more peaceful and bland image of European creation than actually took place.'
'Vital pieces of history have been taken out of schoolbooks and the curriculum in the European-wide drive to pretend the union has a common identity and background,' said Soysal. 'But, unless our children understand the truth about how Europe was created, they will never appreciate the current world conflicts or understand European reactions to them.'
In the 1994 edition of The French Revolution (Heinemann), Napoleon is depicted less as an invader and more as a reformer whose code of measurement was introduced throughout Europe.
In Journeys into the Past (Zeitern und Menschen), the traditional image of the Saracens as barbarians is transformed in 2001 to one of a civilised race which lived in peace and harmony with the crusaders. National transformations, such as the division of the Frankish Empire into three kingdoms in the ninth century or the French Resistance in the 1940s become part of a natural evolution towards the inevitable creation of a future Europe.
'The birth of the French kingdom in Journeys into the Past becomes the consequence of an ordinary historical evolution rather than the result of a unique French identity, while the resistance against the Nazis is depicted as a historical moment for Europe,' said Soysal. 'Hence, the French nation becomes like others, nondescript and ordinary.'
Soysal has met educationalists, and teachers' and parents' associations in Britain, and organised conferences to discover what is behind the rewriting of history.
'There is a general consensus that we need to teach children that Europe evolved naturally through the organic coming-together of a group of sympathetic nations rather than through a series of tense and bloody clashes between a collection of wildly diverse countries,' she said. 'But Europe's history is about more than commonality; it is about conflict and that should be admitted and even celebrated.'
Soysal's report, Rethinking Nation State Identities in the New Europe, to be published in May, blames the efforts of international organisations such as Unesco, the Council of Europe and the European Commission for going too far in their attempts to wipe prejudice from history textbooks.
'The curriculum certainly did need to be re-examined because its introduction in 1978 reflected the priorities of the Government of the day, and Europe was certainly not among them,' she said.
But in the effort to reassess European history, the union looms larger than any nation state. 'Europe's ideals are promoted above all others in the modern curriculum; nations and regions lose their individual charisma and get equalised vis-à-vis each other within Europe,' she said.
The changes, Soysal believes, involve positive and negative aspects: positive, because textbooks now treat other civilisations in a more comprehensive manner, but negative because they ignore the fact Europe was born out of conflict.
'Children will need to be equipped with the skills to compete in Europe and the general importance of teaching Europe is widely accepted,' she said. 'But the pendulum has perhaps now swung too far and this needs to be addressed in the name of historical truth.'


text:
SHEPHERD, HELENA,JANE (2009) Spin Crossover under Extreme Conditions: A Structural Approach. Doctoral thesis, Durham University.
Structural studies of several iron complexes that show spin crossover (SCO) properties are presented and intrinsic links between the structure and properties have been established for these systems. X-ray diffraction experiments of samples under extremes of temperature and pressure and after irradiation with laser light have been performed to characterise the structure of these various compounds.
The incomplete thermal SCO observed in the dinuclear species [2 4,4'- bipy]•2MeOH has been investigated, revealing a complex series of crystallographic phase transitions that result in a material with a mixture of high spin (HS) and low spin (LS) states that displays long-range order at low temperature. The meta-stable high spin (HS*) state that arises as a result of the Light Induced Excited Spin State Trapping (LIESST) effect has also been structurally characterised at 30 K. Further single crystal X-ray diffraction experiments at high pressure have shown that it is possible to achieve a complete spin transition to a fully LS state, which is not thermally accessible. Another species that shows crystallographic ordering of mixed spin states is an FeIII complex with a hexadentate Schiff base ligand, which has been studied using both single crystal and powder diffraction techniques.
The structure of the photo-induced HS* state of [Fe(bapbpy) NCS)2] has been determined at 30 K from diffraction data which comprise contributions from both the HS* state and the residual LS component of the crystal, which is non-merrohedrally twinned.
The structure of [Fe(picen)(NCS)2] has been determined at 30 K after a range of cooling speeds, showing that cooling of the sample results in partial population of the HS* state. The photo-induced HS* state, and that induced by thermal trapping are shown to be structurally similar.
A gradual spin transition has been identified purely from structural analysis in an FeII complex with a hexadentate N6-donating ligand. The gradual nature of the spin transition may be attributed to the poor cooperativiy observed between iron centres.
This study shows how structural features can be used to gain insights into some of the more unusual aspects of the SCO phenomenon such as stepped spin transitions, ordered mixed spin intermediate phases, trapping of meta-stable states as a result of light irradiation or temperature and pressure-induced spin transitions.
|Item Type:||Thesis (Doctoral)|
|Award:||Doctor of Philosophy|
|Keywords:||Spin Crossover; Crystallography; Extreme Conditions; High Pressure; Low Temperature|
|Faculty and Department:||Faculty of Science > Chemistry, Department of|
|Copyright:||Copyright of this thesis is held by the author|
|Deposited On:||04 May 2010 11:58|


text:
Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Acadia National Park
|Nearest city||Bar Harbor, Maine|
|Area||47,400 acres (192 km²)|
|Date of Establishment||February 26, 1919|
|Governing Body||National Park Service|
|IUCN category||II (National Park)|
Acadia National Park is a United States National Park, located primarily on Mount Desert Island off the Atlantic coast of Maine. The park is administered by the National Park Service. The area includes mountains, an ocean shoreline, woodlands, and lakes. In addition to Mount Desert Island, the park comprises much of the Isle au Haut, a small island to the southwest of Mount Desert Island. A portion of Schoodic Peninsula on the mainland is also part of the park. In total, Acadia National Park consists of 30,300 acres on Mount Desert Island, 2,728 acres (11 km²) on Isle au Haut and 2,266 acres (9.2 km²) on the Schoodic Peninsula.
The park was created as Sieur de Monts National Monument on January 19, 1916. On February 26, 1919, it became a national park, with the name Lafayette National Park in honor of the Marquis de Lafayette, an influential French supporter of the American Revolution. The park's name was changed to Acadia National Park in 1929.
The town of Bar Harbor is located on the northeast corner of the island. Cadillac Mountain on the eastern side of the island is a famous tourist destination because it is one of the first places in the United States to see the sunrise. Miles of scenic carriage roads were originally built by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. with great sensitivity to the trees and contours of the land.
- "Discover Acadia National Park: A Guide to Hiking, Biking, and Paddling" by Jerry Monkman et al., Appalachian Mountain Club; ISBN _PHONE_; May 2000
- "Acadia Revealed" by Jay Kaiser et al., Papyrus Travel Guides; ISBN _PHONE_; July 2000
- Official website
- Acadia National Park Page
- Guide to Acadia National Park on Compassmonkey.com
- Acadia National Park Pictures
- Photos of Acadia National Park - Terra Galleria
The contents of this article is licensed from _URL_ under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details


text:
A new study from the University of Utah shows that individuals who describe themselves as being more mindful have more stable emotions and perceive themselves to have better control over their mood and behavior throughout the day. Higher mindful people also describe less cognitive and physiological activation before bedtime, suggesting that greater emotional stability during the day might even translate into better sleep. The study results will be presented later this month at the annual meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society.
Prior studies of mindfulness—paying attention in a particular way, on purpose in the present moment and non-judgmentally—have typically been conducted with participants trained in mindfulness, for example meditation or other interventions. In contrast, this study examines naturally-occurring traits of mindfulness. Using a novel method for data collection, the participants wore a monitor that measured cardiac functioning and were prompted periodically throughout the day to rate their emotional state and mental functioning. Examining these processes during normal daily living builds on prior mindfulness research conducted in laboratory-controlled settings.
"This study gives us a better understanding of how mindfulness affects stress responses throughout the day," says Holly Rau, a graduate student involved with this research. "People who reported higher levels of mindfulness described better control over their emotions and behaviors during the day. In addition, higher mindfulness was associated with lower activation at bedtime, which could have benefits for sleep quality and future ability to manage stress."
How the study was conducted:
A total of 38 subjects, recruited from the community and University of Utah undergraduate psychology courses, participated in the study. They ranged in age from 20 to 45, and one-third were male. On the first day of the study, each participant completed a baseline assessment that included standard questionnaires, resting physiological assessment, and cognitive testing before beginning two days of experience sampling.
In the daily life portion of the study, participants wore a cardiac impedance monitor and responded to questions about their emotional state several times a day for two days. At the end of each day, participants also completed questionnaires about their ability to regulate their emotions and behaviors and were asked to rate their level of cognitive and physical arousal before falling asleep.
Researchers found that greater emotional stability, better self-rated control of emotions and behaviors and lower pre-sleep arousal (a measurement of cognitive and physical symptoms of anxiety) were all significantly associated with higher trait mindfulness. Results suggest that mindfulness may be linked to self-regulation throughout the day, and that this may be an important way that mindfulness contributes to better emotional and physical well-being.
Future research will examine the link between moment-to-moment mindfulness, physiological markers of stress throughout the day and sleep quality. Examination of similar measures of mood, self-regulation and sleep quality in everyday life in the context of mindfulness intervention is another important direction for research.
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


text:
The Physiology of Insecta, Second Edition, Volume VI, is part of a multivolume treatise that brings together the known facts, the controversial material, as well as the many unresolved and unsettled problems of insect physiology. It features chapters written by the outstanding workers in each of a wide range of insect function areas. It is designed to meet a manifest need, which has arisen from the phenomenal increase in research activity on insects, for an authoritative, comprehensive reference work in insect physiology.
The book begins with a discussion of the physiology of insect resistance to insecticides. This is followed by separate chapters on the structure and formation of the integument in insects; the physical properties and chemical components of the insect cuticle; and permeability of the insect cuticle. Subsequent chapters cover the organization and evolution of the insect tracheal system; aquatic respiration in insects; and factors affecting insect respiratory rates.


text:
Lesson 43: Add Borders to a Range
1. First Select the range you want to add a border around. I selected the range A5 to G11. Check Lesson 10 for how to select a range.
2. Under the 'Home' tab – Left-click the down arrow next to the Borders command – When you do, you will be presented with several border options. Choose the border option you want to apply to your selected Range by left clicking on it. I chose the 'All Borders' option as seen in the diagram below.
3. Excel executes your command. Just look at the border I placed around my selected range in the diagram below.


Is there a minimum number of slices when running the N4 Filter
When running the N4 filter as part of my (c#) code, I see that if the input image has only 1 slice I get an error, even if I set ShrinkFactor=1. The error message is:
Exception thrown in SimpleITK N4BiasFieldCorrectionImageFilter_Execute: d:\a\1\sitk-build\itk-prefix\include\itk-5.2\itkImageBase.hxx:165:
ITK ERROR: Image(00000218C297CE70): A spacing of 0 is not allowed: Spacing is [0, 123, 123]
With 2 slices or more, I don't get an error (as long as the shrink factor is 1).
Will be glad for any advice - thank you!
Hello _USER_,
This is strange. When you read a single 3D slice you should have an image of size [x,y,1] and spacing [dx,dy,1.0]. Not sure how a spacing of zero happens in your case.
Possibly a manually created image and not one read from disk?
I get the same error also when trying to run the N4 filter from within the "Slicer" application when input-ing a single dicom slice extracted from a 3d dicom image.
How would it matter if the image is ""manually created" vs read from the disk?
When working with a 3D "slice", with a dimension of size 1, frequently the image needs to be reduced to 2D.
The ExtractImageFilter can be used to convert a 3D image into a 2D image. When the extraction size has a "0" value for a dimension then that dimension will be collapsed and the output dimension reduced by 1.
Also the SimpleITK ImageFilterReader can take an extraction size (and index) to perform the same operation as part of the IO. Here is an example: Advanced Image Reading — SimpleITK 2.0rc2 documentation
1 Like
Thanks you very much! It worked :slight_smile:


going on with a ref, but contains a good explanation -
All changes made to Refs during a transaction (via ref-set, alter or commute) will appear to occur at a single point in the 'Ref world' timeline (its 'write point').
The above quote is actually only 1 item in a 10 point list that discusses what's actually going on. It's worth reviewing the list a few times until you feel comfortable with everything that's going on. But, you don't need to completely understand everything to get started. You can begin to experiment with refs anytime you know you need coordinated changes to more than one piece of state.
When you first begin to look at refs you may wonder if you should use commute or alter. For most cases commute will provide more concurrency and is preferred; however, you may need to guarantee that the ref has not been updated during the life of the current transaction. This is generally the case where alter comes into play. The following example shows using commute to update two values. The example demonstrates that the pairs are always updated only once; however, it also shows that the function is simply applied to the current value, so the incrementing is not sequential and _USER_ can be dereferenced to the same value multiple times.
user=> (def uid (ref 0))
user=> (def used-id (ref []))
user=> (defn use-id []
(commute uid inc)
(commute used-id conj _USER_)))
user=> (dothreads use-id :threads 10 :times 10)
user=> _USER_-id
[1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10... 89 92 92 94 93 94 97 97 99 100]
The above example shows that commute simply applies regardless of the underlying value. As a result, you may see duplicate values and gaps in your sequence (shown in the 90s in our output). If you wanted to ensure that the value didn't change during your transaction you could switch to alter. The following example shows the behavior of changing from commute to alter.
user=> (def uid (ref 0))
user=> (defn use-id []
(alter uid inc)
(alter used-id conj _USER_)))
user=> _USER_-id
[1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10... 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100]
There are more advanced examples using refs in The Joy of Clojure for those of you looking to discuss corner case conditions.
Last, but not least, agents are also available. From -
While I understand agents conceptually, I haven't used them much in practice. Some people love them, and the last team I was on switched to using agents heavily in one of our applications shortly after I left. But, I personally don't have enough experience to say exactly where I think they fit in. I'm sure that will be a topic for a future blog post.
Between Rich's essay and the examples above I hope a few things have become clear:
 - Clojure has plenty of support for managing state
 - Rich's distinction between identity and value allows Clojure to benefit from immutable structures while also allowing identity reassignment.
 - Clojure, it's about state.
 1. Nice article - thanks Jay.
 We are just looking at using Clojure for the next version of our software and blogs like this really help make it more accessible.
 Keep up the good work!
 2. It's a nice introduction for state management.
 Two things IMHO are missing:
 1. Idiomatic way of having functions with side effects (like those modifying state) is to end them with bang (!), so it is easy for reader to spot those,
 2. transients is another form that can be modified before you freeze them
 3. Jay. I appreciate your writing on Clojure. Please keep at it.
 Although I "get" Clojure's state management constructs, it's still been an adjustment for me. I, perhaps needlessly, worry about the right level of granularity for mutable state. For example, say my app's state is a tree structure represented with a map. Should it be a single ref pointing at a big map, or maybe a map of finer-grained refs and atoms? Or something completely different?
 Oh well, practice, practice, practice :)
 4. _USER_, I tend to use a single ref pointing at a big map, unless that causes issues while updating. I've worked on an app where several threads were attempting to update a large map at the same time and an unacceptable amount of retries were happening. We resolved the issue by using a large map in a ref and some of the values were also refs that held maps.
 It was a bit complicated for my taste and the team eventually moved to managing the entire map in an agent, but I left the team and I'm not sure how it worked out.
 As you say practice. But, I wouldn't worry about it unless you are seeing issues with too many retries.
 5. 1Nice article! It really helped me to understands refs and atoms
 6. Thank you, Jay, for a great article. It is very helpful for me, as I just begin to tip my toes into Clojure waters.)


text:
the potential you can see that the two minima have different potential energies. It is precisely this "vacuum" energy that would be responsible, today, for the effects labelled as "dark energy". Therefore, the bubble Big Bangs that end up in vacuum A would measure a different dark energy density to those that ended up in vacuum B. Moreover, suppose that some aspect of fundamental physics depends on the value of the field. Note that this is not particularly far-fetched at all. For example, the masses of many of the fundamental particles in the universe almost certainly depend on the value of the Higgs field. If some fundamental parameters did depend on the value of the inflationary field then the very nature of chemistry, atoms, biology, galaxies, bloggers, etc, in the bubbles that land in A would be completely different from those which land in B.
We're almost there, but this is still not quite the "multiverse" people are trying to motivate nowadays in fundamental physics. In that multiverse there are not just two types of bubbles, there are many. So how can that happen?
|Now there are two field dimensions and eight potential vacuum energies/laws of physics. The hypothetical multiverse we're in would have many more field dimensions and many more potential vacua/minima. I would like to thank Stephen Wolfram for personally making this image for me after I entered the instructions at this http URL|
To see that, we need more than one inflationary field. Suppose that instead we were descended from a universe with just two field dimensions. In this universe, the potential energy function could look like the figure above, where \(x\) and \(y\) represent the values of the two inflationary fields. Now, you can see many different possible minima/vacua. So, lets follow the logic of the earlier sections of this post. If this potential energy function is flat enough near the centre to support eternal inflation, then there would be an infinite number of Big Bang's that would bubble off from the inflating patch. When these Big Bang's bubble off, they could roll to any one of the eight minima/vacua and thus the vacuum energy and physical laws could take up to eight different values and behaviours. This particular toy-toy-model has only eight vacua, but even in two dimensions, it is easy to imagine as many vacua as one wants, just by adding additional ripples in the potential.
And this, generalised to many more fields, is what people imagine when talking about the "inflationary multiverse". That is, an eternally inflating patch, with Big Bangs bubbling off from it, and descending into one of many different possible minima/vacua, each of which has a different vacuum energy and set of fundamental constants/laws.
[There is a very small part two here...]


[Skip to Content]
Definition: Glucagon
Glucagon is a hormone that raises the level of glucose (a type of sugar) in the blood. The pancreas produces glucagon and releases it when the body needs more sugar in the blood for delivery to the cells. When someone with diabetes has a very low blood glucose level, a glucagon injection can help raise the blood glucose quickly.


text:
TenMarks teaches you how to use intermediate concepts of proportions to solve problems in indirect measurement.
Read the full transcript »
Learn Intermediate Concepts of Indirect Measurement In this lesson, let's learn about indirect measurements and how to measure things using properties of similarity. The problem states that a tree, as we can see in the diagram, casts a shadow that is 48 feet long. So we've done is drawn the shadow here at 48 feet long and that's the point PQ. A man, whose height is five feet, and that's the man here, I've tried to draw a diagram that says the man whose height is five feet which is illustrated by TS, casts a shadow that is eight feet long. How tall is the tree? This is what we need to determine. That's H. So what are we given? We are given two triangles, right. The triangle first one is, TPS. The second triangle is RPQ. All I did was just label them, okay. Since we got two triangles out of it, we just label them triangle TPS and triangle RPQ. Notice that I was careful to make sure that the angles were the same for the small and the big triangle. So P which is the angle is common between the two in the middle. Since these two triangles are similar, the ratio of their corresponding sides is the same, ratio of corresponding sides are equal. What does that mean? Well let's look at the corresponding sides for both triangles. There is one side that is the big one which is RP. The corresponding side to that in the smaller triangle is TP. So the ratios of this side on the big triangle and side on the little triangle should be the same as these two sides which is PQ on the big triangle and PS on the small triangle, which should be equal to the big height which is PQ or RQ, and the small height which is TS. Now let's substitute what we already know. What are we given? RP, are we given that? RP is not given. TP is not given. So this is useless. Let's look at PQ, P and Q, that's given as 48 feet. PS is given as eight feet equals RQ is what we need to determine so this is the height H and TS is the smaller triangle, and that we're given as five feet. So we've got a ratio that's equivalent to ratios that are equivalent. So the cross products must be equal. So let's look at the cross products, 48 × 5 = 8 × H. All units are in feet. So 48 × 5 = 8 × H, they're cross products which means 48 × 5 is 240 = 8 × H. Let's divide both sides by eight so that I can isolate H on one side. 240 by 8 is 30, 240 ÷ 8 = 30, 8 ÷ 8 = 1 or 8 = 30, since everything is in feet, the height of the tree, since everything is in feet, the height of the tree is 30 feet. That's what we were looking for. The way we got to it is we just look at this triangle and the big triangle, they were similar. That the triangles are similar than the ratio of their sides are equal. We took these four sides. The ratios give us 48/8 = H/5 which when solved gives us H = 30 or the height brings 30 feet.
Copyright © 2005 - 2014 Healthline Networks, Inc. All rights reserved for Healthline.


IPython Documentation
Table Of Contents
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IPython Qt interface
This is about the implementation of a Qt-based Graphical User Interface (GUI) to execute Python code with an interpreter that runs in a separate process and the two systems (GUI frontend and interpreter kernel) communicating via the ZeroMQ Messaging library. The bulk of the implementation will be done without dependencies on IPython (only on Zmq). Once the key features are ready, IPython-specific features can be added using the IPython codebase.
Project details
For a long time there has been demand for a graphical user interface for IPython, and the project already ships Wx-based prototypes thereof. But these run all code in a single process, making them extremely brittle, as a crash of the Python interpreter kills the entire user session. Here I propose to build a Qt-based GUI that will communicate with a separate process for the code execution, so that if the interpreter kernel dies, the frontend can continue to function after restarting a new kernel (and offering the user the option to re-execute all inputs, which the frontend can know).
This GUI will allow for the easy editing of multi-line input and the convenient re-editing of previous blocks of input, which can be displayed in a 2-d workspace instead of a line-driven one like today's IPython. This makes it much easier to incrementally build and tune a code, by combining the rapid feedback cycle of IPython with the ability to edit multiline code with good graphical support.
2-process model pyzmq base
Since the necessity of a user to keep his data safe, the design is based in a 2-process model that will be achieved with a simple client/server system with pyzmq, so the GUI session do not crash if the the kernel process does. This will be achieved using this test code and customizing it to the necessities of the GUI such as queue management with discrimination for different frontends connected to the same kernel and tab completion. A piece of drafted code for the kernel (server) should look like this:
def main():
 c = zmq.Context(1, 1)
 rep_conn = connection % port_base
 pub_conn = connection % (port_base+1)
 print >>sys.__stdout__, "Starting the kernel..."
 print >>sys.__stdout__, "On:",rep_conn, pub_conn
 session = Session(username=u'kernel')
 reply_socket = c.socket(zmq.ROUTER)
 pub_socket = c.socket(zmq.PUB)
 stdout = OutStream(session, pub_socket, u'stdout')
 stderr = OutStream(session, pub_socket, u'stderr')
 sys.stdout = stdout
 sys.stderr = stderr
 display_hook = DisplayHook(session, pub_socket)
 sys.displayhook = display_hook
 kernel = Kernel(session, reply_socket, pub_socket)
This kernel will use two queues (output and input), the input queue will have the id of the process(frontend) making the request, type(execute, complete, help, etc) and id of the request itself and the string of code to be executed, the output queue will have basically the same information just that the string is the to be displayed. This model is because the kernel needs to maintain control of timeouts when multiple requests are sent and keep them indexed.
Qt based GUI
Design of the interface is going to be based in cells of code executed on the previous defined kernel. It will also have GUI facilities such toolboxes, tooltips to autocomplete code and function summary, highlighting and autoindentation. It will have the cell kind of multiline edition mode so each block of code can be edited and executed independently, this can be achieved queuing QTextEdit objects (the cell) giving them format so we can discriminate outputs from inputs. One of the main characteristics will be the debug support that will show the requested outputs as the debugger (that will be on a popup widget) "walks" through the code, this design is to be reviewed with the mentor. This is a tentative view of the main window.
The GUI will check continuously the output queue from the kernel for new information to handle. This information have to be handled with care since any output will come at anytime and possibly in a different order than requested or maybe not appear at all, this could be possible due to a variety of reasons(for example tab completion request while the kernel is busy processing another frontend's request). This is, if the kernel is busy it won't be possible to fulfill the request for a while so the GUI will be prepared to abandon waiting for the reply if the user moves on or a certain timeout expires.
The near future will bring the feature of saving and loading sessions, also importing and exporting to different formats like rst, html, pdf and python/ipython code, a discussion about this is taking place in the ipython-dev mailing list. Also the interaction with a remote kernel and distributed computation which is an IPython's project already in development.
The idea of a mathematica-like help widget (i.e. there will be parts of it that will execute as a native session of IPythonQt) is still to be discussed in the development mailing list but it's definitively a great idea.


Quantum technologies
Recognising the UK's strong research capabilities in Quantum Technologies, the UK Government has so far invested around £400 million in the UK National Quantum Technologies Programme, a collaborative initiative to advance technology and provide long-term benefits to society. Four quantum technology hubs were created within the programme, each with a particular focus. Of this funding, the UK Quantum Technology Hub Sensors and Timing with its partner universities has to date received projects valued at £165 million.
Dr Simon Bennett (Director) and Professor Kai Bongs (Principle Investigator) and their teams at the UK Quantum Technology Hub Sensors and Timing are working with partners across industry and academia, encompassing different disciplines including Electrical Engineering, Civil Engineering and Psychology, to translate laboratory science in to real-world situations to solve the challenges facing society and the environment today.
16472 Quantum Technology Heroes Website Banner AW2
Birmingham Heroes: Professor Kai Bongs talks Quantum Technologies
Birmingham Heroes: Dr Nicole Metje talks quantum technology
The UK Quantum Technology Hub Sensors and Timing
The UK Quantum Technology Hub Sensors and Timing, led by the University of Birmingham, has had a major impact on the economy and commerce.
Part of the UK National Quantum Technologies Programme set up in 2014, the UK Quantum Technology Hub Sensors and Timing was allocated 28% of the £214m funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council to develop quantum technology (QT) to measure time and gravity with extreme precision. This has led to a strategic shift in public spending priorities by the Ministry of Defence and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) – resulting in the investment of over £11.5 million of public funding into gravity and timing QT.
The Hub has also enabled an ecosystem of over 70 companies to engage in QT research. This reach extends to numerous multi-national companies, informing their commercial strategic decisions, investment priorities and product pipeline. The Hub leads over 110 projects, valued at approximately £120 million, and has 17 patent applications.
Ultra-Precise Sensors
Gravity sensors, making the invisible visible, improving health and safety and reducing risks during excavation.
The team, comprising physicists and civil engineers, is developing gravity sensors to detect buried infrastructure, enabling a new and better way of seeing underground and spotting hazards before they arise, for example, identifying sinkholes before they open. The sensors will also allow for more targeted and effective maintenance of our roads, thereby reducing congestion and traffic jams.
The sensors, which have been developed by Professor Kai Bongs, Dr Michael Holynski and their team within the School of Physics and Astronomy, will use cold-atom technology to provide a much more precise and faster measurement of gravity. By using atoms as probe particles, the gravity sensors can sense a person just by their gravitational field. Since gravity penetrates any material, these devices facilitate 'seeing' into the ground. They will, in particular, be sensitive to density variations.
Enabling these sensors to deliver real-world benefits is an interdisciplinary effort. The team from Physics is working closely with Dr Nicole Metje and her team within the Department of Civil Engineering to link to end-users and identify key applications and requirements.
This technology will allow us to map what lies beneath our feet and detect a variety of hidden infrastructure including mineshafts, sinkholes, pipes and tunnels.
This will ultimately revolutionise how construction takes place - we are currently unable to pinpoint sources of problems such as the bursting of underground pipes, which is why roadworks can be so extensive and disruptive. By showing the exact location of problems underground, the Hub's research will reduce disruption on the nation's roads.
Quantum technology gravity sensors are an exciting innovation which will allow us to use our underground space much more safely and will offer us new ways to use that space in future, including building into the ground rather than above it.
Timekeeping is essential for modern life. Much of our everyday technology is underpinned by precision timing, including satellite navigation, high-speed financial trade and broadband communication. Professor Kai Bongs, Dr Yeshpal Singh and the team have been conducting research to develop ultra-precise optical clocks.
To enable new applications and improve existing technologies, more accurate and precise timing is required. At the Hub, we are developing compact, portable and robust "optical clocks" which will have a thousand to ten thousand times higher precision than the ones currently available.
The practical applications of precise clocks are widespread and varied: examples include boosting the future of the communications network, including deep-space satellite navigation and communications, and driving the next generation of broadband for a super high-speed internet.
Quantum clocks are making time more accurate; the sensors used in them are not just sensitive but very quick. For example, the clocks built as a result of this technology will be found in fast-paced, high-frequency trading in financial markets, where the measurement of time to determine who bids first needs to be accurate.
Professor Kai Bongs
Professor Kai Bongs
"Quantum technology has the potential to transform the world in ways we can barely imagine."
Health benefits
The revolutionary technology coming out of the Quantum Technology Hub will also have medicinal and health applications.
Atomic magnetic sensors are precise enough to pick up tiny magnetic fields associated with brain activity or cell communications. Research could produce technologies which are steered by thought, revolutionising computer games and dangerous work environments as well as healthcare.
One such improvement will bring about a non-invasive way of measuring brain activity to further research into dementia, which is often related to obstructed communication channels in the brain. Magnetic sensors could soon be used to look deep into the brain. The Hub has theorised that a sensitive magnetic helmet could pick up cerebral communications and identify problems, allowing doctors to provide earlier diagnoses for dementia, assess the efficacy of drugs, and even help to prevent the onset of symptoms in those who have been diagnosed in order to ensure a longer and more fulfilling life.
Birmingham Heroes: Dr Michael Holynski talks quantum technologies
Birmingham Heroes: Dr Yeshpal Singh talks quantum
Quantum Technology is based upon the science of the very small. It utilises an understanding of the physics of atomic particles, to harness the 'spooky' side of quantum mechanics. It has been discovered that a particle can be in two places at the same time, moving in two directions. If we let a particle simultaneously explore two paths at different heights, it can be used to measure gravity and acceleration. If the paths enclose an area, it will sense rotation and if they differ internally, it will measure time or magnetic fields with the utmost precision.
The quantum sensors developed in the Hub exploit the nature and internal structure of atoms and ions as quantum probes. The Hub works closely with industry partners, such as BP, Samsung and Network Rail, to provide a space for innovation and translate the Hub's world-leading research in quantum sensors into real-world solutions.
This Matters - Gravity Sensors
This Matters - Quantum Clocks
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How can Quantum Technology make the underground visible? ➤
Gravity at Birmingham ➤
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the UK Quantum Technology Hub Sensors and Timing - Annual Reports ➤
University of Birmingham heads £80m quantum technology hub ➤
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PhD Programme Environmental Policy Analysis
The PhD research in the department of Environmental Policy Analysis (EPA) focuses on the theme of governance for sustainability. Governance has become a key concept in policy research, where it denotes the departure from old-style government to new forms of horizontal and vertical steering. This generally includes a transition from bureaucratic, centralized top-down policies to new forms of decision-making that are more inclusive, more decentralized, more flexible, less hierarchical, and more complex.
Within this context, we investigate several overarching questions: for example, how effective are modern systems of environmental governance in achieving the transition to sustainability? Which theories can best explain variation in the effectiveness of different forms of governance? How can we scrutinize unintended effects? How does a multitude of institutions that co-exist with an issue area interlink, overlap, and interact? How do unsustainable practices change into sustainable ones? And finally, how can we stimulate innovation in terms of governance approaches?
The EPA department runs PhD research projects linked to their three Research themes: Governing under Complexity; Governance Innovation and Institutional change; and Governance Evaluation (more information here).
Enrolment: see PhD enrolment.
For more information or applications, please contact Prof. Philipp Pattberg or Prof. Dave Huitema.


Microsoft: Learn JavaScript programming language for free with our new course
Programmers keen on building browser applications can take advantage of Microsoft's free JavaScript video course.
To all JavaScript developers: Microsoft just bought npm
Microsoft has followed up its Python for beginners tutorials on YouTube with a new series aimed at teaching novice programmers the widely used JavaScript programming language.
Microsoft has launched a huge 51-part video course on YouTube to help programmers interested in building browser applications get their head around JavaScript and on the path to using relevant software development kits (SDKs) and JavaScript frameworks, such as Google's Angular.
SEE: Hiring Kit: Python developer (TechRepublic Premium)
The JavaScript video series for beginners follows a similar structure to the 44-part Python series Microsoft launched on YouTube in September last year, offering students lessons in the language and AI tools that can be used in the Azure cloud.
"Our goal is to help show you enough JavaScript to give you the background needed to begin working through quick starts and tutorials focused on frameworks and SDKs using JavaScript," Microsoft says on its GitHub page for the JavaScript course
At nearly a quarter of a century old, and hatched as a an extension to the Netscape Navigator browser, JavaScript has become the go-to language for building browser applications and increasingly native-like desktop and mobile applications with React Native and Electron. Developers also use the Node.js open-source JavaScript runtime environment for server-side code.
The course takes learners through the process of deciding whether to run JavaScript in the browser for applications with a user interface or a server for web services and backend functionality.
Microsoft's tutorials also assist participants setting up a development environment with Microsoft's popular Visual Studio Code editor, as well as installing Node.js as a JavaScript runtime. Users are guided through the steps to create a 'Hello World' app.
Of course, Microsoft is using the course to illustrate to beginners what's available in Azure artificial-intelligence services, such as Azure Cognitive Services and Azure Bot Framework, which have JavaScript implementations that allow developers to incorporate artificial intelligence into their applications.
SEE: Python set to overtake Java in latest programming language rankings
Helpfully, Microsoft will familiarize aspiring JavaScript programmers with the extensive collection of packages and software libraries available on npm.
Fairly early on in the series, students will learn about working with strings in JavaScript, data types, and using template literals to format strings, before moving on to creating and populating arrays and learning concepts like asynchronous programming and 'promises' in JavaScript.
JavaScript is generally one of the top three most popular languages in various programming language indexes, including IEEE Spectrum and RedMonk.
Microsoft's relatively young superset of JavaScript, TypeScript, has also become a popular option for developers building large front-end applications.
More on JavaScript and Microsoft's TypeScript
 - TypeScript creator: How the programming language beat Microsoft's open-source fears
 - JavaScript programming language developers: This is Kite's new free AI code-completion tool
 - Microsoft: VS Code update gets new features with programming language TypeScript 4.0
 - Microsoft's TypeScript 4.0 programming language arrives: It's a big milestone
 - Microsoft to developers: These are our biggest and best open-source projects
 - Microsoft: This new update makes VS Code friendlier for Java programming language jobs
 - Microsoft VS Code turns 5: How GitHub, open source, Google made it a hit, reveals creator
 - JavaScript creator Eich: My take on 20 years of the world's top programming language
 - Microsoft lead engineer: Programming language TypeScript took off thanks to Google's Angular
 - Deno 1.0: Node.js makers have new JavaScript runtime for TypeScript programming language
 - Programming language TypeScript 3.9 cuts compile times by up to 40%, says Microsoft
 - Programming languages: Kotlin rises fastest but JavaScript lures millions more developers
 - These are the top JavaScript libraries and frameworks
 - Programming languages: Why JavaScript developers are choosing TypeScript
 - Who built Microsoft TypeScript and why


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The risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and for severe COVID-19 appear to share a common genetic mechanism that is involved with the immune response to viruses. This does not mean that COVID-19 increases the risk for Alzheimer's disease, only that there appears to be a single genetic variant that increases the risk for both.
Researchers found that one genetic variant in the oligoadenylate synthetase 1 (OAS1) gene increases both the risk for AD of severe COVID-19 outcomes.
Risk for Alzheimer's disease and susceptibility to severe COVID-19 share a common genetic mechanism involved in the immune response to viruses, according to a peer-reviewed article just published. The findings could lead to new treatment targets to slow the progression and severity of both diseases. If these findings bear out, it could suggest new drugs that could treat both diseases.Continue reading "Severe COVID-19 and Alzheimer's disease risk may share a genetic link"


[Answered]With India and the USA coming closer to each other in the international arena, new challenges have emerged in India-Iran relations. Discuss.
Demand of the question
Introduction. Contextual introduction.
Body. Us-Iran issues. Consequences of the tussle.
Conclusion. Way forward.
Recently, India has come close to the USA in terms of bilateral relations. At the same time relations with Iran is taking a new strategic shape especially due to the importance of Iran's Chabahar port and oil sources. But the relations with Iran has been engulfed in new challenges especially the US-Iran tussle. The US withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and sanctions has worsened its relations with Iran. It poses a new challenge for India on how to maintain relations with USA and Iran at the same time.
Us-Iran tensions: Broadly, there are three contentious issues that led to the current impasse:
 1. Nuclear issue: First and foremost is the Iranian nuclear issue. While Iran has always maintained that its nuclear programme is for civilian and peaceful purposes, the US and its allies in the region refuse to believe that Iran's programme is only meant for producing electricity or for medical purposes.
 2. Iranian missile program: Secondly, the US has raised serious concerns on Iran's missile programme. Iran has a robust military establishment that has developed mediumand longrange ballistic missile capabilities. Even after signing the JCPOA, Iran continued to develop and test ballistic missiles.
 3. Military expansionism: The third contentious issue is Iran's regional military expansionism and support for non-state actors including Hezbollah, Hamas, Ansar Allah, Iraq's Popular Mobilisation Unit (PMU) and Shia militias in Syria. The US and its regional allies see this as threatening their national security and regional interests.
Challenge for India:
 1. Growing tension in Persian Gulf: There is growing tension in the Persian Gulf and the increasing pressure being placed on the Iranian economy under unilateral US sanctions. After the US withdrawal from the JCPOA and re-imposition of sanctions, Tehran stepped up diplomatic efforts to convince the European Union (EU), Russia, India and other countries to continue doing business with Iran.
 2. Strategic balance: These developments have placed India in a difficult situation given its growing strategic partnership with the US, on the one hand, and strong bilateral ties with Iran, on the other. It faces a pre-JCPOA-like situation, having to deal with the US pressure while simultaneously working to secure its interests vis-à-vis Iran.
 3. Oil imports: Most importantly, the US insistence on not renewing the waiver on Iranian oil imports poses a challenge for New Delhi as Iran is India's third largest oil supplier. It might not be difficult for India to meet the shortfall in crude oil imports due to US sanctions on Iran.
 4. Political challenge: The bigger challenge is the political aspect of managing relations with the US and Iran. On the one hand, if India were to stop sourcing oil from Iran, it will affect bilateral relations. On the other hand, if India were to continue to buy Iranian oil, say by sidestepping US sanctions, it is likely to impact the strategic relationship with the US.
Consequences of US-Iran tussle and Impact on India:
 1. Threat to companies: The US has refused to renew the exemptions issued for 8 countries including India. This means that Indian companies will either have to stop buying oil from Iran or resort to a Rupee payment mechanism as was done in the past.
 2. Effect on steel sector: Other than the oil sector, India is not directly affected by US sanctions on Iran though Indian companies involved in the Iranian automobile, iron & steel and mining sectors will be affected due to additional US sanctions on these sectors.
 3. Chabahar port: The Chabahar Port also does not come under US sanctions and hence Indian investments and involvement in it will not be affected. Nonetheless, due to sanctions on the iron & steel sector, certain infrastructure development projects such as the Chabahar-Zahedan railway and gas pipeline, part of Iran's plan to develop Chabahar as a transit hub between Central Asia and the world, could be affected.
 4. Energy resources: Bilateral ties took a beating during the sanctions years. Until sanctions were imposed on Iran, it was India's second largest source of crude oil after Saudi Arabia. New Delhi had also backed off from a pipeline project that aimed to bring natural gas from Iran to India through Pakistan.
 5. Current account deficit: Higher crude oil prices due to sanctions will widen the trade deficit and current account deficit of India.
 6. Costly rupee: The currency could be impacted if the trade and current account deficits were to widen. An increase in the import bill will tend to put pressure on the rupee.
 7. Inflation: There could be significant impact on inflation, given how crude oil prices move and the extent to which the government allows the pass-through to the consumer.
Way forward:
 1. India must consider not only its own interests in terms of its ties with Iran and with the U.S. and its allies.
 2. One immediate priority is to work more closely with European countries in ensuring that Iran does not feel compelled to walk out of the nuclear deal, and to jointly build a sanctions-immune financial infrastructure to facilitate Iranian trade.
 3. India must continue negotiating with the US to have an informal understanding to buy Iranian oil. In the meanwhile, India can offer to Iran to enhance its investments in the Chabahar Port development project as well as consider initiating other developmental and connectivity projects to strengthen linkages to Afghanistan, the Caucasus and Central Asia.
 4. It is necessary that the countries affected in the region cooperate, over a possible U.S.-Iran clash.
Both the US and Iran are strategically and economically important for India. Ideally, India wants to have good relations with Iran as well as the US. India has so far been forced to conduct a careful balancing act to ensure that its mutually beneficial relationship with Iran does not impinge upon the one with the US. India is free to conduct its foreign policy driven by its core national interests. However, the geo-politics around US-Iran relations have had a bearing on India too. India needs to balance these considerations going forward.
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Bankruptcy Risk and Optimal Capital Structure
- Full Text PDF
- Author(s): RICHARD CASTANIAS
- Published: Apr 30, 2012
- Pages: _PHONE_
- DOI: 10.1111/j._PHONE_.1983.tb03845.x
This study finds shortcomings in empirical tests of the capital structure irrelevance hypothesis. The alternative hypothesis is that firms choose value maximizing mixes of debt and equity on account of bankruptcy costs and the tax deductibility of interest payments. Based upon the cross‐sectional implications of the tax shelter‐bankruptcy cost hypothesis, an alternative test of the irrelevance hypothesis is performed. The test examines the relationship between failure rates and leverage ratios for 36 lines of business. The results are inconsistent with the irrelevance hypothesis.


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Your car might be made out of recycled beans, pants, and money
Think your car is good? Your car is garbage. I mean it's literally garbage — U.S. car companies use discarded cardboard, carpets, jeans, tires, and even money to make car components. Fast Company breaks down which trash goes where:
- Money: Ford plans to recycle some of the U.S. paper money that gets shredded (3.6 million pounds a year!) into plastic for car trays and bins.
- Carpets: When broken down, carpet fiber can be made into plastic, which Ford then uses to make engine head covers for Escapes, Mustangs, and F-150s. Ford has turned 4.1 million pounds of carpet into parts, which helped it cut petroleum use by 430,000 gallons in 2011.
- Soybeans: Ford uses oil from soybeans to produce stuffing for upholstery. That's another substitute for petroleum, which is a component in styrofoam.
- Jeans: Scrap denim — 25 million pounds of it a year — is used as insulation in Ford Escape dashboards.
- Tires: GM reprocesses tire rubber into air baffles (which sit near the radiator) and water baffles (at the base of windshield wipers).
- Cardboard: Cardboard isn't just for covering your windows when your car gets broken into. It's also used in ceilings in the Buick Lacrosse — a move that helped the company save more than 15 tons of carbon last year.
- Oil-soaked containment booms: Talk about making lemons into lemonade. Chevy took the booms that were put in the Gulf to contain the BP oil spill, and turned them into a slurry used to make Volt air deflectors.
So if you're feeling bad about driving, since it's not so great for the Earth, take heart: At least you're driving around in a pile of trash.
Eco-conscious Automakers Recycle Garbage To Make Car Parts, Fast Company.
Donate now to support our work.


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News > Feature - Victim Advocates-Making a Difference
Victim Advocates-Making a Difference
by Ernie Gray
Sexual Assault Response Coordinator
10/19/2010 - Patrick Air Force Base, Fla. -- Allied with Sexual Assault Response Coordinators (SARCs) on the front lines in the war against sexual assault, victim advocates (VAs) are the lifeblood of the United States Air Force Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (SAPR) program.
VAs are military members or DoD civilian volunteers who possess essential information and resources and whose primary role is to serve the needs of sexual assault victims/survivors for as long as needed.
VAs must receive command approval, a thorough screening and background checks to ensure they are right for the job, in additon to completing 40 hours of training before providing support to victims.
Victim advocate programs are a critical part of any community response. Once the SARC is notified of a reported sexual assault, a VA is immediately assigned--with the victim's permission.
It is crucial that VAs quickly respond to victims in a non-judgmental and supportive manner. In a crisis situation, VAs do encourage and help victims get medical attention.
They provide information about what to expect, provide emotional support, connect victims to other services and maintain the victim's confidentiality.
VAs suggest options but allow victims to decide what course of action to take.
They evaluate the victims' safety and help with safety plans, referrals and reassure victims that what happened was not their fault. Throughout all aspects of their work, VAs and SARCs try to prevent secondary victimization--which is insensitive victim blaming treatment.
Beyond the immediate crisis situation, VAs can also provide support to victims who choose to use the justice system. VAs can accompany victims to investigative interviews and to court, and provide information about the legal process.
VAs continue to follow-up with victims to check on their well being and answer questions until they are no longer needed.
If a sexual assault occurs, active duty Airmen have two reporting options: restricted and unrestricted.
Restricted reporting allows a sexual assault victim to confidentially disclose the details of their assault to a SARC so they receive medical treatment and assistance and counseling without triggering an investigation.
Unrestricted reporting is for sexual assault victims who want an official investigation, in addition to medical treatment, referrals and counseling.
According to Capt. Jacki Grant, a Patrick AFB, Victim Advocate for five years, she volunteered as a VA because "I sought to educate and assist personnel overseas and to gather as many 'tools' as possible to pass on to my daughter. But, as I became more involved and assisted with cases, my focus changed to wanting to help victims through the healing process."
"Although we have a zero tolerance policy, sexual assault happens. At times, our own teammates are afraid to come forward for fear of retribution or they think they may have provoked the situation," Captain Grant said. "Continuing to educate our military team with training is key to reducing these crimes and empowering everyone to do the right thing."
The most rewarding aspect of being a VA for Captain Grant is "knowing in some small way I was able to assist by promoting the program, training our Wingmen or helping a victim."
Volunteers are one of our most important natural resources; People volunteer because they are compassionate, believe in a cause, want to make a difference and give back to their community.
VAs make a difference. Hooray for VAs!
For more information about victim advocacy (here at Vandenberg) or if you are interested in becoming a VA, contact the Vandenberg AFB SARC at (805) 606-SARC.
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Quiz shows and neat little trivia cards will like to tell you that the Chinese greet each other with '吃了吗?' or 'have you eaten?'. It seems neat, and the little explanation in smaller font will tell you that this is due to the importance of food in Chinese people's (and indeed everyone's) lives.
Except, well –
Nobody uses it. People would understand you, but it would be like coming to London and exclaiming 'how do you do' with an aggressive handshake to every new person you meet. (你)吃了吗 (you eaten?) often appears in sections of phrasebooks trying to connect with culture, and often leaves Westerners appearing either hilariously stupid or like they are begging for food.
吃了吗 is said to have come from the famines of the 1950s, and is therefore common among older people today. An old chinese proverb '民以食为天' translates as 'the commoners regard food as heaven', which pretty much sums up the sentiment behind 吃了吗. In an ancient and tight-knit society such as China's, wellbeing of others was very important, and well-being was closely bound to food. Asking 吃了吗 is a way of showing that you care about how someone's doing – but most definitely not an invitation to a meal.
If a Chinese person does ask you 吃了吗, a whole social dance of etiquette now begins. If you say that you have eaten, they may tell you to eat more, and if you have not, they may ask you to share a meal with them. Neither of these are actually inviting you to a meal! You are expected to politely decline, and go backwards and forwards 'insisting', when neither of you actually want a meal.
One way of avoiding this is to say 'I'm just about to go have a meal', so they don't feel inclined to feed you (even though this is just a mask anyway). This appears all over Chinese culture; when arriving at someone's house, they may offer you a drink, but don't be fooled! You should decline, they will insist, you will decline, they will insist, and they may (or not) actually get you a drink.
The safest thing to do may be to avoid the upper circles of Chinese culture, and stick to the people who start a conversation with a nice simple 你好.
Things I learnt this week:
- Trivia cards lie. The whole time.
- The commoners may regard food as heaven, but they're not the only ones
- Awkward little backwards and forwards dances can just be avoided with the magic word – hello.
Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this, make sure to like this post, share with your friends below or subscribe on the homepage to be notified when 'Air Sewage' is released in the week beginning March 20th 2017.


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WHO Viet Nam
Most young people are healthy. However, globally more that 2.6 million young people aged 10 to 24 die each year. A much greater number of young people suffer from illnesses that hinder their ability to grow and develop to their full potential. A greater number still engage in behaviour that jeopardizes not only their current state of health, but often their health for years to come. Nearly two-thirds of premature deaths and one-third of the total disease burden in adults are associated with conditions or behaviour that began in youth, including: tobacco use, alcohol and drug abuse, a lack of physical activity, unprotected sex or exposure to violence and injury.


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Note: Mac users can easily type German characters using the "Option" key. See item 6 below.
1. Use "telegraph" style. You can always put an 'e' after an umlauted vowel: ä = ae, ö = oe, ü = ue, and you can also write ß as ss (as the German Swiss do).
2. Use 'alt' codes. You can write umlauts by holding down the 'alt' key and using the following codes on the number pad (not the numbers across the top of the keyboard):
- ä = Alt + 132
- ö = Alt + 148
- ü = Alt +129
- Ä = Alt + 142
- Ö = Alt + 153
- Ü = Alt + 154
- ß = Alt + 225
4. Change your keyboard to US-International Keyboard. This is similar to #3, but keeps all the symbols as on an English keyboard. This is really a good method if you are using a laptop without a number pad.
a) In the Control Panel folder, click on "Regional and Language options."
b) Select the "Languages" tab, and then click the "Details" button. This brings up "Text Services and Input Languages."
c) On the "Settings" tab of the new window, click on "Add.." This brings up the "Add Input Language" window.
d) Input language should be English (United States). Click to check the "Keyboard layout/IME" radio box, and in the drop-down box, select "United States - International". (If it's already installed, it won't be there). Click on OK, click on Apply then OK on the Text Services and Input Languages window, and click OK on the Regional and Languages Options window.
e) You should now see a small keyboard icon on the lower right part of your display, just to the left of the System Tray and just to the right of the "EN" English keyboard indicator (Fig 1 below). Alternatively, if you have the Microsoft Language Bar open, it will be at the top of your display (Fig 2 below). You need to select the "United States - International" option.
5. Use DeKey. For Windows Vista and XP users, we offer DeKey, a free utility that makes it much easier to type German characters using the Alt key. For example, Alt + s = ß or Alt + a = ä.
Download DeKey from this site.
6. Mac user options. To type an umlauted character such as ä, use 'option' + u, and then type an 'a' (or o, or u) which will produce ä (or ö or ü). This also works for uppercase (capital) letters. To type the ß, simply type 'option' + s. The Mac OS also offers various international keyboard settings, similar to those in Windows.