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Vice President of Colombia
|This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
The Vice President of Colombia is the first in the presidential line of succession, becoming the new President of Colombia upon leaves of absence or death, resignation, or removal of the President, as designated by the Colombian Constitution of 1991 which also reinstated the vice president figure after almost a century of being abolished during the presidency of Rafael Núñez. The Vice President cannot assume Presidential functions on temporary absences of the President such as official trips abroad or vacations. In these cases, the President delegates functions to a cabinet member, usually the Minister of the Interior. The current Vice President of Colombia is German Vargas Lleras.
The vice president must be a natural-born citizen of Colombia, at least 30 years of age. The Colombian Constitution of 1991 requires the vice president to meet the same eligibility requirements as the president that can be re-elected. It is also eligible for an unlimited number of terms as vice president.
The Vice President has the same period of functions that the President of Colombia and will replace him in case of temporary or complete absences. The Vice President can also be authorized by the President special missions (like to represent him on international diplomatic visits) or designate him in any position of the Colombian Executive branch of Power.
Every President has defined the Vice President's functions within their government.
According to the Decree 2719 of December 17, 2000 in the Colombian Constitution of 1991 which modified the structure of the Administrative Department of the Presidency of the Republic, the functions of the Vice President are:
- To execute special missions set by the President of Colombia and in accordance with the Colombian Constitution.
- Advise the President on the execution of policies and politics regarding Human Rights and Corruption.
- Collaborate with the Colombian government's management of international and national activities regarding Human Rights and corruption.
- Plan mechanisms to harmonize agreements between the different levels of the executive government in Colombia on issues regarding Human Rights and corruption.
- Represent Colombia internationally as ordered by the President.
- By determination of the President, the Vice President will support and advise the President on other issues.
- Other functions will be addressed according to the needs of the President.
- List of Vice Presidents of Colombia
- Presidential Designate
- President of Colombia
- Human rights in Colombia
- List of current vice presidents
- Vice Presidencia de Colombia official website
- Biblioteca Luis Angel Arango - List of Vice Presidents of Colombia


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How does a fridge work?
Recently voted the most significant invention in the history of food and drink, the fridge has transformed our lives. We can keep food fresher for longer, medicines unspoilt and have that refreshing cool drink on hot days. But how does the fridge work?
The fridge has four main components - the inside space where stuff needs to be cooled, the coolant, the radiator and the motor.
The coolant is where most of the action takes places. The coolant starts off as a liquid, absorbs heat from the inside space of the fridge and turns into a gas. The gas then travels to the radiator at the back via the motor. The motor compresses the gas, turning it back into a liquid causing the coolant to give off heat which is transferred to the environment by the radiator. The coolant liquid then starts the cycle again.
The folowing links are external

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


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Abstract: The Temple of Athena at Sounion
Lecturer: Barbara Barletta
The Temple of Athena at Sounion, in the district of Attica some 44 miles from Athens, is one of the more unusual examples of Greek architecture. It was constructed with columns on two adjacent sides, rather than at front and back or entirely surrounding the building. Instead of the Doric order typical of Mainland Greece, it employed the Ionic order characteristic of the Aegean Islands, and at an earlier date than the better-known temples on the Athenian Acropolis. It thus stands as a harbinger of things to come. Yet because of its fragmentary state and lack of thorough publication, it is not well known. This lecture presents evidence for the building, including its remains, its reconstructed appearance, and the artistic context in which it developed.
The temple is also important for its afterlife. During the Roman period, it was dismantled and parts were transported to Athens, to be re-used in a new temple constructed in the Agora. Other Attic buildings experienced the same fate. Several were placed, as was this temple, in a prominent location along the Panathenaic Way. This lecture will explore the possible reasons for the reuse of fifth-century architecture in the Roman period and of the Temple of Athena in particular.
Short bibliography and/or website on lecture topic (for lay reader):
W.B. Dinsmoor, Jr. Sounion, 2nd ed. Athens: Lycabettus Press, 1974.
W.B. Dinsmoor, Jr. "Anchoring Two Floating Temples," Hesperia 51 (1982) 410-52.


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Familiarize baby with loved ones through pictures.
- Family photos (individual family photos are best if possible)
- Blu Tak / masking tape
- Frames (optional) OR
- Digital photo frame OR
- Family photo album
What to do:
- Put up photos of immediate and extended family on the wall, above nappy change area, on the front of a door where baby can see, at baby's eye level or in a digital picture frame.
- If adding pictures on a wall, as you pass the pictures with baby, point and name all the family members in the pictures. When sticking them at baby's level, point to and name the pictures. When baby looks at the pictures themselves, name who they are looking at "Yes, that's Uncle Sam" etc.
- Ask your baby where Grandpa is or where Uncle Brian is and see if your baby will point to their pictures, your baby may just look in the direction at the photo without pointing and babble. This shows that baby is able to recognize who you are referring too.
- As you make this a frequent activity, baby will begin to recognize, point and identify family members. It will also provide enhance memory skills as baby remembers each of the family members.
Hints and Tips:
- If you put pictures in your baby's room, you may want to hang some at baby's eye level to encourage standing. For those pictures just simply hang them on the wall using tape, a frame may fall and shatter causing injury to your baby.
- You could also cut these pictures out and hang them from the ceiling/cot (or make a mobile), directly over your baby's cot. Don't hang them to low because your baby might pull them off.
- When reading a story during the bedtime routine, have some pictures in an album, before reading the story, go through the album and name each person.
- When using a digital picture frame, put it somewhere the baby will see. Go through each picture and name each family member.

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


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Natural Hazard Mitigation and Insurance:
The United States and Selected Countries Have Similar Natural Hazard Mitigation Policies but Different Insurance Approaches
GAO-09-188R, Dec 22, 2008
- Accessible Text:
Natural hazards adversely affect hundreds of thousands of people worldwide each year and cause extensive property damage. In 2007, a year that was not considered an exceptional one for natural hazards, natural hazards caused an estimated 14,600 deaths and $70 billion in property losses. For that year, the insurance industry covered $23.3 billion in losses. In catastrophic loss years, such as 2005--the year that saw Hurricane Katrina--losses can be far greater. Scientific assessments indicate that climate change is expected to alter the frequency and severity of natural hazard events, and as a result, losses can be expected to climb. Given this scenario, examining policies that are used in other countries to reduce the loss of life and property caused by natural hazard events and examining insurance approaches that provide coverage for natural hazard losses can help identify practices in both areas that could benefit the United States. Similarly, given the ongoing challenges facing the United States, international cooperative efforts may provide instructive examples of risk management and disaster reduction. Because of Congressional interest in these areas, GAO was asked to (1) identify policies used by other countries to reduce losses caused by natural hazards; (2) examine the extent of international cooperation among selected countries, including the United States, to mitigate natural hazards; and (3) identify approaches that other industrialized countries use to insure natural hazard risk and regulate insurers.
The countries that we studied use a variety of policies to reduce losses from natural hazards that are similar to policies used in the United States. As we have previously reported, mitigation policies, assessing and mapping hazard risk, land use planning, building codes, and public awareness, can be used to reduce the risk of losses from natural hazards. The countries we studied also participate in a variety of international efforts to minimize natural hazard risk. We found that these efforts are consistent with key practices in collaboration that we identified in prior GAO work. The six countries we studied use a variety of approaches to insure natural hazard risk and regulate insurers. Generally, their approaches involve both the government and the private sector. In four countries with government insurance approaches, property insurance policies include natural hazard insurance coverage at a fixed premium, and three of these countries have a government guarantee. All six countries have some type of private insurance approach, and four of these countries offer optional coverage of various natural hazards and have risk-based premiums. Finally, five countries have a centralized (federal-level) agency to regulate the private insurance industry. Three of these government agencies regulate the entire financial services industry--for example, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority oversees banks, building societies, insurance companies, and other entities. Some of the functions of some of these agencies include authorizing insurance companies to do business, assessing solvency, and determining whether insurance companies comply with regulations. Australia and Germany have private sector-only approaches to insurance, and government involvement in pricing insurance is limited. For example, in Germany, prices are controlled only with respect to the company's overall financial safety and the equal treatment of all policyholders.


Accidents & Violence, Author Interviews, Cannabis / 05.12.2019 Interview with: Nathan J. Connealy Doctoral student John Jay College of Criminal Justice CUNY What is the background for this study? Response: The background, or what prompted this study, is that research on this topic is pertinent right now as more states continue down a path towards legalization. A large share of the research base and public debate centers around the potential adverse effects of marijuana accessibility, consumer-based concerns, and health specific outcomes associated with usage. This research instead focuses on a lesser explored question related to the potential for the physical dispensary locations to impact crime levels, which is also an important consideration when assessing the impact of recreational marijuana legalization. (more…)


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- From Megachad to Microchad - environmental changes during the Holocene (2000)
- The investigations carried out within the project in NE-Nigeria since 1989 have been focussing on the late Pleistocene and Holocene landscape development of the south eastern Chad basin. Areas of interest include palaeodune fields, clay plains and former beach ridge systems of Lake Chad. Transgressions and regressions of Lake Chad played an important role in the younger landscape history of NE-Nigeria and have also caused great environmental changes. The term „Megachad" is well known and describes an enormous lake with an extension comparable with the Caspian Sea of today. The term „Microchad" stands for the other recent extreme in terms of the lake dimensions varying during the times. Environmental changes in the surroundings of Lake Chad are closely connected with transgressions and regressions of the lake. These lake level changes can be climatically induced as well as non-climatically, due to human impact. Nearly all land units have more or less been influenced by the lake, spatially as well as temporally. It is important, though, to notice the scales of the changes. Some changes took place in a millennial scale, some in the scales of centuries or decades, and at least – as can be observed every year – in a seasonal scale.
- Ethnologische und geomorphologische Aspekte zum Bau von Brunnen und Getreidespeichern in Musene (Nordost-Nigeria) (1995)
- Bei den hier vorgestellten ethnologischen und geomorphologischen Aspekten von Brunnen und Getreidespeichern in der firgí-Region Musenes wird besonders die "angepaßte Technologie" der hier lebenden Menschen deutlich. Die kulturelle Entwicklung der Region hängt eng mit den besonderen naturräumlichen Bedingungen zusammen. Die Eigenbezeichnung als firgiwú (die Leute des Tons) verweist auf eine Beziehung der Bewohner zum Naturraum, in dem Ton eine besondere Rolle spielt und für den es spezielle Berufszweige gibt. Die Ressource Ton wird, gleichwohl im Bewußtsein, daß es sich hierbei um regionalspezifische Aspekte handelt, als integrierendes Moment über die ethnischen Grenzen hinweg als Teil ihrer firgiwú -Kultur verstanden. Offensichtlich hat diese eine lange Tradition. Interessant wäre, ob in anderen ähnlich ausgestatteten Naturräumen in Westafrika eine vergleichbare Anpassung bzw. Nutzung des Naturraumes zu finden ist, bzw. wie dort die Nutzungsstrategien aussehen.
- Systems of Land Use in the Firgi Plains of the Chad Basin (1993)
- Studies on land use in Africa have usually been carried out by ethnologists or human geographers and were rarely concerned with data on the physical conditions of soil. There is hardly any issue, however, where interdependencies between natural and cultural factors are as evident as in the topic of land use. For this project the approach of three ethnologists, Braukämper, Kirscht and Platte, was therefore combined with the analysis of Thiemeyer as physical geographer. The area of research is the Local Government Area of Marte in the Nigerian State of Borno. As part of the Chad Basin this region is mainly characterised by clay sediments which are commonly labelled firgi by its inhabitants. Beside this general term, however, the local peasants clearly distinguish five types of soil (Kanuri: katti), to which different physical conditions and qualities with respect to their cultivation are attributed. The question arose how far can this popular knowledge, accumulated by agricultural experiences over generations, be correlated with scientific data. That is why samples of the mentioned types of soil were collected by the members of our team and analysed in the laboratory of the Frankfurt Institute of Physical Geography. The detailed presentation of this analysis has to be preceded by the classification of the respective soil types in the terminology of the indigenous farmers.


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Wan Ali, Wan Zah and Mohd Ayub, Ahmad Fauzi and Wong, Su Luan and King, Hasnah Yee Tang and Wan Jaafar, Wan Marzuki (2008) Students teacher attitudes towards computer and online learning : are they a factor in students' usage? The International Journal of Learning, 15 (6). pp. 35-41. ISSN _PHONE_
Full text not available from this repository.
Computers and online learning are rapidly becoming important components in fundamental curriculum of Malaysian educational systems. In Malaysia, the computer and online learning curriculum have been incorporated into all levels of the educational systems. However, the instructional effectiveness of computer and online learning are related to many factors including students' attitudes towardsthese technologies. Hence, positive attitudes towards computers and online learning are important variables to be studied among pre-service teachers. The main purpose of this study is to examine the attitudes of pre-service teachers at Universiti Putra Malaysia toward computer and online learning and its relationships. In addition, the relationship between this attitudes and the usage of computer and online learning is also studied. The findings indicate that pre-service teachers have positive attitudes towards computers and online learning. The correlation between students' attitude towards computers and online learning was significant.
|Keyword:||Online Learning; Attitudes toward Computer; Attitudes towards Online Learning|
|Subject:||Computer-assisted instruction - Malaysia|
|Subject:||College teachers - In-service training|
|Faculty or Institute:||Faculty of Educational Studies|
|Publisher:||Common Ground Publishing|
|Deposited By:||Emelda Mohd Hamid|
|Deposited On:||25 May 2012 15:08|
|Last Modified:||12 Nov 2012 14:41|
Repository Staff Only: item control page


ding when talking адрес страницы one-to-one is easy to see, but do you always detect tiny head nods when women flirting signs body language test answers printable or observing a group?
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This is an immensely powerful signal and is used intentionally by some people to dominate others. Head down when responding to criticism is a signal of failure, vulnerability hence seeking protectionor feeling ashamed. Head down also tends to cause shoulders and upper back to to slump, increasing the signs flirtinv weakness at that moment.
women flirting signs body language test answers printable
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The Bliss of Creativity
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Teachers use this gesture when trying to quieten a class. Machismo or habit. Meaning depends on context. No-one knows still exactly how the noise is made, but the notion that the practice leads to languzge is now generally thought to be nonsense.
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Observable in various situations, notably sport, and less pronounced poses in social and work situations. In social and flirting context it is said that the prihtable are drawing attention to the genital area. Those who stand with hands in pockets - in situations where there is an expectation for people to по ссылке enthusiastic and ready for action - demonstrate apathy and lack of interest for the situation.
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In the natural nail salon where my wifes go, I see that people does the same. What is answerrs for? They hold their hand out flat and horizontal with palm down.
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women flirting signs body language test answers printable


Any single hair from anywhere on the human body can be used to identify a person.
This conclusion is one of the key findings from a nearly year-long study by a team of researchers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's (LLNL) Forensic Science Center (FSC) and Michigan State University.
The team's study, published in Scientific Reports could provide an important new avenue of evidence for law enforcement authorities in sexual assault cases
In 2016, FSC scientists developed the first-ever biological identification method that exploits the information encoded in the proteins of human hair from people's heads. This forensic science breakthrough provides a second science-based, statistically validated way to identify people and link individuals to evidence in addition to DNA profiling.
"This new paper focuses on elucidating more of the hair protein chemistry and its effects on the protein marker identification," said chemist Fanny Chu, the paper's lead author, a graduate student at Michigan State University and a Livermore Graduate Scholar, a program that allows Ph.D. students to work on their thesis at LLNL.
"We've already shown that we can use human hair from people's heads for identifying people. Now the question arises: Can you get the same identification information from hair in other body locations?
"In this paper, we studied arm and pubic hair compared with head hair. We found that arm and pubic hair essentially give us the same information as head hair," Chu continued.
It is anticipated by the LLNL-Michigan State team that the "real relevance" of their research could come in helping law enforcement authorities investigate sexual assault cases, said paper co-author and FSC chemist Deon Anex.
"Pubic hair from an assailant can often be found during an examination of a sexual assault victim. Because of this research, the analysis of protein identification markers in such pubic hair could someday be used as evidence in criminal cases," Anex said.
Based on the protein content of the hairs, the forensic scientists indicated that they also can determine whether an individual hair is from a person's head, arm or pubic area.
"The specific levels of the individual proteins that constitute human hair vary by body location," Chu said.
The team discovered that the protein content of pubic hair is significantly higher than head and arm hair, according to Chu, who noted this means more protein markers can be found, making the individual profiles more discriminating.
Through the first few years of the Lab's research (2013-2016) into using protein markers from human hair to identify people, the researchers used multiple hairs for their samples. They were able to find enough markers to provide a unique pattern for an individual that would distinguish that person among a population of 1 million.
Now, six years after starting their research, the Livermore team can use a single one-inch strand of hair to identify one person from among 10 million people.
"We've worked to refine the technique so we could do our analysis with only one human hair, which is more forensically relevant," Anex said. "Our expectation is that with further work, we should be able to achieve the 1 in 10 million identification ratio for single hairs from other body locations, especially pubic hair."
Provided by: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
More information: Fanny Chu et al. Hair Proteome Variation at Different Body Locations on Genetically Variant Peptide Detection for Protein-Based Human IdentificationScientific Reports(2019). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-44007-7
Image: Livermore Graduate Scholar and chemist Fanny Chu is part of a team that found that any single hair from anywhere on the human body can be used to identify a person. The team's study could provide an important new avenue of evidence for law enforcement authorities in sexual assault cases.
Credit: Julie Russell/LLNL


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Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux
The most famous Native American book ever written, "Black Elk Speaks" is the acclaimed story of Lakota visionary and healer Nicholas Black Elk (1863... Show synopsis The most famous Native American book ever written, "Black Elk Speaks" is the acclaimed story of Lakota visionary and healer Nicholas Black Elk (_PHONE_) and his people during the momentous, twilight years of the nineteenth century. Black Elk grew up in a time when white settlers were invading the Lakotas' homeland, decimating buffalo herds and threatening to extinguish their way of life. Black Elk and other Lakotas fought back, a dogged resistance that resulted in a remarkable victory at the Little Bighorn and an unspeakable tragedy at Wounded Knee. Beautifully told through the celebrated poet and writer John G. Neihardt, "Black Elk Speaks" offers much more than a life story. Black Elk's profound and arresting religious visions of the unity of humanity and the world around him have transformed his account into a venerated spiritual classic. Whether appreciated as a collaborative autobiography, a history of a Native American nation, or an enduring spiritual testament for all humankind, "Black Elk Speaks" is unforgettable. This special edition features all three prefaces to "Black Elk Speaks" that John G. Neihardt wrote at different points in his life, a map of Black Elk's world, a reset text with Lakota words reproduced using the latest orthographic standards, and color paintings by Lakota artist Standing Bear that have not been widely available for decades.


variable. In a program of any size this is obviously infeasible. It is why we have types (and also polymorphism) in the first place.
Again, this sort of casting (down casting) is a recognized Code Smell, indicating poor design. Every explicit cast in a program is a potential point of error. Just Say No.
For completeness, let me give a few rules here that will lead to better design and better code.
 1. When you declare a variable give it an interface type (rather than a class type) - a good but not essential rule. Interfaces define concepts.
 2. When you implement that interface the only public methods of the class should be those defined in the interface. You won't need to cast. - an essential rule.
 3. When you extend a class (create a subclass) the only public methods in the subclass should be those declared in the superclass. Essential. If you need more methods then you have a different concept than the superclass, so extend the interface of the original class to define the new concept and then have the subclass also implement the new interface.
 4. When you declare a variable to have some (object) type, don't try to send messages defined only in some subtype, requiring casting.
The above rules are intended to make your programs easier to understand, hence easier to update and maintain. When tempted to break the rules, spend a bit of time asking why, and looking to see if you can come up with a better design. Breaking the rules tends to make your overall program into a Big Ball of Mud.
All of the above has focused, primarily, on clarity of the code for the programmer's benefit. But efficiency is also a consideration.
The more you can inform the compiler of your intent, the better job it can do in its translation. Some languages optimize for expressing intent rather than process, in fact. Database languages and Logic languages do this explicitly. If you tell a compiler how to do something it will be constrained to follow your directions. But if you tell it what you want, rather than how to achieve it, it has more options and can do better optimizations. So, explicit typing in programs is also a way to communicate intent (what) to the compiler rather than forcing later checks (casts). So, maybe x in our first example really only needs to be a short, or even a byte. But the declaration using var probably won't achieve that.
I also realize that "abstract" names like x are a poor choice. I only use it here as I don't have a context in which to provide an intention revealing name.
History note: Implicit typing is probably an incorrect term for this. FORTRAN had implicit typing where the type of a variable depends on the spelling of the name. Names beginning with I through N were implicitly Integer unless a specific declaration implied otherwise. Other names indicated Real variables.
On the other hand, Standard ML and related languages have a subsystem in the compiler that could infer types (type inference). ML has strong static typing also, but programmers seldom need to specify a type since the compiler can ordinarily figure it out.
But use of var isn't dynamic typing either. In dynamic typing (Python, Ruby), variables (names) don't have type. Only values have type. Dynamic typing can still be strong typing, but it is done at run-time, not compile-time. Errors are found later unless they are rigorously rooted out through testing during development.
Final Note:
The biological classification of Carl Linnaeus is probably a poor analogy to use for subclassing and polymorphism. Each entry in the classification tree is a different concept and all are abstract. There is no such thing as a pure Mammal. Moreover, classes define behavior of objects (via public methods) and the Linnaeus classification system is nothing about behavior. Trying to use it to generate examples of subclassing is one of the reasons students get terrible ideas about what should be done in a subclass.
 - $\begingroup$ Variables can be used either to represent values or containers. One could use a value of type Horse which identifies a Horse just about anyplace one could value of type Animal that identifies a Horse, but a container of type Horse which will always a Horse any time it's not null is very different from a container of type Animal which initially identifies a Horse, but might later identify a Dog. $\endgroup$ – supercat May 1 '18 at 16:53
 - $\begingroup$ _USER_, sorry, not sure how you are using the term container here. Are you contrasting reference (i.e. heap) values from others? $\endgroup$ – Buffy May 1 '18 at 17:26
 - $\begingroup$ If I say int x=someComputation(); and never write to x, then within its scope x would be synonymous with the value yielded by that call to someComputation. If instead I say, int x=0; and later within a loop say x+=someOtherComputation;, then there would be no particular value with which x would be associated throughout its scope. Instead x would be used as a place to store computations which are performed throughout its lifetime. $\endgroup$ – supercat May 1 '18 at 18:21
 - $\begingroup$ _USER_, If you have some way to specify that x is a constant (const in C++, final in Java, etc) then yes. Otherwise the system will treat both the same and it is only your intention that makes them different. $\endgroup$ – Buffy May 1 '18 at 19:52
 - $\begingroup$ The system will treat both the same, true. On the other hand, programs are usually intended to be read not just by computers but also by people. $\endgroup$ – supercat May 1 '18 at 20:11
If you expect that many of the students will pursue software development careers, it would not be unreasonable to declare style standards for the course, and include it in their grading.
When doing so, I strongly recommend explaining why particular rules are in place, because it moves disagreement into "arguing principles" instead of having "arbitrary rules".
The explanation could be as simple as "we're going to follow the corefx style guidelines" because the majority of example code produced by the.NET development team will adhere to these rules.
 1. We only use var when it's obvious what the variable type is (e.g. var stream = new FileStream(...) not var stream = OpenStandardInput()).
Or, the rules could be a bit more esoteric/practical. As a grader many years ago I got the professor to agree to a style score as a portion of the coursework. I told the class "I will be reviewing your code with the program less in an 80-character wide terminal. If I have to horizontally scroll you will get 0 points for style." -- I think I gave a 0 for breaking that rule just once.
There are a few reasons why this is bad, for example it could lead to code issues down the line where you need something from Horse that you don't have on Object, and it may also be a code smell. I'm going to suppose the code passes and runs fine, the architecture is fine, and just focus on the remaining issue: the issue generally is of course that it's not as specific as it could be, and the reason that's bad is it's bad for maintainability and code clarity.
In general, for maintainability, you want your code to model your ontology, to be resilient to counterfactuals. That way, if things need to change in the future, your code will more likely be constructed in a way thats amenable, because even though certain specifications changed, or some refactoring is being done, your code is still basically modeling the logic of the situation.
So Object x = new Horse("silver") is bad because x is not just an Object, it's a Horse, maybe it's an Animal.
(1) You lose the code clarity, future readers won't have the info of immediately knowing, if they want to change the value of x, what x "is" and a sense of how it's going to be used.
(2) You lose benefits of type-checking, because anything using x only knows it's an Object and doesn't know it's a Horse.
I'm not a teacher, I'm just a programmer in industry, but I think maybe the single most important general principle I use in my day to day is: code should model ontology, including in the sense that it's robust to counterfactuals. A lot of bad code falls under that category.
This can easily be shown to be a bad approach if you need a class specific property later on.
object myStudent = new Student("John", "Doe");
string name = myStudent.Name; //doesn't work
They'll probably use a hard cast, at which point the issue is no longer that they use object, but that they are losing out on type safety.
The problem here is that an adequately skilled student who is ahead of the curve will always be able to work around simple pitfalls. If he is overskilled for the example, he has more than enough brainpower to ensure that his hard casts always work.
The only way to force them to make mistakes is to give them a sufficiently complex example, where they're struggling with the core intention so much that having to manage hard casts on top of that just makes everything so much worse.
But you may have to single them out for this complex task; which can in and of itself signal that they don't need to complete


text:
It is important to distinguish between the channel id and the channel's display name.
The display name will often have a space within it. The channel id is that used in embed codes and link URLs.
For example, a channel might have a channel id of 'foodwishes' and a display name of 'Food Wishes TV'. The channel id is what you need to use with our video embedding plugin.


text:
Find when a value doesn't exist OR if it net value equals 0
I have a spreadsheet containing Sales Orders that are made up of part numbers for new systems purchased and part numbers for the education purchased to train that new system. I want to be able to identify those Sales Orders where there is no education included. There are 2 scenarios when this can occur:
1). If there was no Education included in the order at all. In which case there are no education part numbers showing up against that Sales Order.
2). If Education was originally included but was then removed. This is represented as 2 separate rows in the spreadsheet. The first shows a positive value and the second shows a negative value with the net result equaling zero.
I want to be able to create a field in the spreadsheet that can identify these 2 scenarios and fill in the value "No Education Included" and for all other use the field "Education Include".
Below I have included 2 tables. The first demonstrates an example of what I have now and the second is what I am trying to achieve. Please note that the Part Number names vary greatly and the ones included in the table below are just examples. Any help would be greatly appreciated.


text:
Posted on August 9, 2012 by mazecontroller
Each of the previous editions of Legend of the Five Rings was connected to a specific time period. The first edition was set before the events of the CCG. The second edition bumped the timeline to the Time of the Void. The third edition came out current with the CCG story at the time. The fourth edition opted to be timeless to allow fans to use whatever time period they wanted. This left a lot of the game's history out of the core book. This makes the fourth edition versatile, but left out a lot of the player created history and backstory. Imperial Histories was created to fill that void.
Imperial Histories is a guide to various points in the history of Rokugan. Many of the periods have been seen in other sourcebooks or editions. Some have been referred to in historical accounts. And a few are brand new to the book. Each of these is set ups as a campaign possibility with new rules, new schools and, in some cases, modifications to the existing rules for different eras of the Empire. This book is aimed at GMs looking for campaign ideas or fans wanting historical information in one place.
Imperial Histories is available in hardcover and PDF. The book follows the same art and layout style as the Legend of the Five Rings core book. Most of the artwork is from the more recent sets of the CCG with the chapters broken up by two page spreads. Appropriate art is used where available. The book includes a sidebar talking about the time periods that don't use accurate art. There is an index in the back. Unlike the core book PDF, neither the table of contents nor the index are hyperlinked. There are one or two repeats of art from the core book but the majority of pieces are new to the RPG line.
The chapters each detail a different period in Rokugan history. It starts with the Dawn of the Empire, when the kami walked the earth. The book also details more famous elements of history such as the first two arcs of the CCG. The Day of Thunder is when many fans of Legend of the Five Rings came into the game. It was followed by the Spirit Wars and the Four Winds saga. Each of these gets a chapter. The book rounds out with two alternate timelines. The Heroes of Rokugan illustrates a living campaign that's been going on for years. One Thousand Years of Darkness takes place in a world where Fu Leng, the Lord of the Shadowlands was not defeated on the Day of Thunder and rules over the Emerald Empire.
Each chapter ends with mechanics relevant to the chapter. This usually means new schools, different schools or rules modifications. There are a few settings that involve gaijin, which add rules for things like firearms and non-Eastern weaponry. The rules for playing a gaijin essentially boil down to: don't. Full rules might appear in a later book but the authors make an argument that there are plenty of other fantasy games on the market that cover that ground well.
The most compelling chapter is One Thousand Years of Darkness. This dark setting is one the fans have been waiting for. The timeline puts the players as part of the rag-tag rebels still fighting against the dark Emperor Fu Leng. This game of samurai already thrives on tough choices between duty and honor. This setting makes those choices even tougher. Fans of horror will love being desperate demon slayers as well as dark intrigues to try and save an Empire that might not be worth saving anymore.
One of the chapters not in the book is the current CCG storyline. Other storyline updates have filled entire books. Fans looking to see how the current timeline is shaping up will be disappointed. AEG has plans for a second book like this next year. Rather than just updating characters and storylines, these books could be a gateway for fans of the RPG to keep up with the CCG and fans of the CCG to try out the RPG. These camps have been separated for far too long. Not telling the ongoing story here is a missed opportunity.
The Heroes of Rokugan chapter misses in a few areas. It reads like someone's campaign that already happened rather than a jumping off point for a new campaign. The story has some interesting elements and characters but doesn't feel ready to run out of the book like the others. The same information can be picked up for free on the campaign website. Having it here seems like a bit of padding, especially when there are a lot of other time periods that could have fit in the book.
GMs looking for material to mine will have a lot to choose from. Things from the alternate timelines could easily make themselves seen in home games. Historical schools could be reskinned or used to make an NPC unique. There's a ton of material here to put into any game regardless of the setting. Each chapter also has enough material for the basis of a campaign. GMs looking to run Legend of the Five Rings after a campaign or too will find the information here very useful.
Bottom Line: A great book for GMs looking for a time to set their new Legend of The Five Rings campaign.
Review by Rob Weiland


_USER_{NBERw15500, title = "Human Capital In China", author = "Haizheng Li and Barbara M. Fraumeni and Zhiqiang Liu and Xiaojun Wang", institution = "National Bureau of Economic Research", type = "Working Paper", series = "Working Paper Series", number = "15500", year = "2009", month = "November", doi = {10.3386/w15500}, URL = "_URL_ abstract = {In this paper we estimate China's human capital stock from 1985 to 2007 based on the Jorgenson-Fraumeni lifetime income approach. An individual's human capital stock is equal to the discounted present value of all future incomes he or she can generate. In our model, human capital accumulates through formal education as well as on-the-job training. The value of human capital is assumed to be zero upon reaching the mandatory retirement ages. China's total real human capital increased from 26.98 billion yuan in 1985 (i.e., the base year) to 118.75 billion yuan in 2007, implying an average annual growth rate of 6.78%. The annual growth rate increased from 5.11% during _PHONE_ to 7.86% during _PHONE_. Per capita real human capital increased from 28,044 yuan in 1985 to 106,462 yuan in 2007, implying an average annual growth rate of 6.25%. The annual growth rate also increased from 3.9% during _PHONE_ to 7.5% during _PHONE_. Therefore, although population growth contributed significantly to the total human capital accumulation before 1994, per capita human capital growth was primary driving force after 1995. The substantial increase in educational attainment during _PHONE_ contributed significantly to the growth in total and per capita real human capital.}, }


text:
Zach Weinersmith, of Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal, proposed the above hypothesis, and then asked if anyone wanted to try writing a program to convert all non-nouns to "nurble". I gave it a shot, with an exceedingly quick and dirty command-line PHP script which, while imperfect, worked better than expected.
This is a slightly improved version, rewritten for the Web, which now actually handles plural nouns reasonably well (the part-of-speech database, obtained from sourceforge, does not contain very many plurals, so this script checks to see if perhaps an unrecognized word is actually a plural noun). It is still far from perfect, as there are a number of words which are tagged as multiple parts of speech ("hollow", for example, could be an adjective, noun, or verb), and the database sometimes makes rather curious choices regarding parts of speech ("or", for example, is tagged as a noun and an adjective, but not as a conjunction).
Enter the text to be nurbled:


2 He arrived early. 3 The train has already left. 4 He drove carelessly. 5 The students talked noisily. 6 The children are playing outside. 7 Let's go now. 8 Tom spoke politely to his teacher. 9 Have you seen Anne's cat anywhere? 10 Come here!
 - 133. 132 Prepositions A preposition is a word that connects one thing with another, showing how they are related. Some prepositions tell you about position or place. Gr ammar H elp A preposition is usually followed by a noun or pronoun. There's a big balloon in the sky. Jane is jumping into the pool. The books fell off the shelf. Dad always keeps his wallet in the drawer. There is a long mirror on the wall. The school is near the park. There is an old castle on the hill. The horse jumped over the hurdle. 10
 - 134. 133 Some prepositions are used to talk about time. Many shops close on Sundays. Dad gets home about six in the evening. The trees lose their leaves during winter. We always wash our hands before meals. We watched the World Cup game until 2:00 A.M. We get up in the morning. We go to bed at night. It's always hot in summer. The movie starts at two in the afternoon. Autumn begins in September. They were married in 1990. Joe arrived after me. It has not rained at all for two weeks. Breakfast is served at seven o'clock. Kevin and Joe have been in the same class since first grade.
 - 135. 134 Exercise 1 Underline the prepositions in the following sentences. 1 The man fell off the ladder. 2 We have dinner at 7:30 P.M. 3 Tom was born on a Friday. 4 There are seven days in a week. 5 Sue is running after her dog. 6 Several people are waiting at the bus stop. 7 I received a letter from Sara yesterday. 8 Why are you still in bed? Exercise 2 Fill in the blanks with the correct prepositions from the box. near by on at between in around into up behind 1 The bus arrived ________ 8:30 A.M. 2 The children are swimming ________ the pool. 3 There's a picture ________ the wall. 4 There is a fence ________ the house. 5 Granny is sitting ________ fire. 6 Harold is hiding ________ the chair. 7 Jack climbed ________ the beanstalk. 8 We divided the candy ________ us. 9 I dived ______ the river. 10 Don't go too ________ the edge.
 - 136. 135 Conjunctions A conjunction is a linking word such as and, or, but. Conjunctions are used to connect words or sentences. Gr ammar H elp A conjunction may link two or more than two words or sentences. The animal is large but timid. It's cold, wet and windy today. Is this a sheep or a goat? a cat and its kittens a builder and his tools a doctor and a nurse slow but steady sweet or sour? a male or a female? A horse, a zebra or a donkey? Paul has a dog, a parrot and a cat. 11
 - 137. 136 The words before, after, as, when, while, until, since, are also conjunctions. They tell when something happens, so they are called conjunctions of time. Maggie could play the piano before she was five. I always brush my teeth after I've had my breakfast. You have grown taller since I saw you last. Look both ways before you cross the street. Joe listened to music while he was doing his homework. Miss Lee was smiling as she walked into the class. Wait here until I come back. Don't leave until you've finished your work. Tran saw an accident while he was walking home. Take all your belongings with you when you leave the plane. Joe first met his wife when he was studying in London. Tom and Joe have been friends since childhood. After he began exercising regularly, Jerry became healthier.
 - 138. 137 Exercise 1 Complete these sentences with and, but or or. 1 I asked for some bread ________ butter. 2 Mr. ________ Mrs. Chen have three children. 3 Maggie is a good singer ________ a poor dancer. 4 We wish you a Merry Christmas ________ a Happy New Year. 5 Is their new baby a boy ________ a girl? 6 The dictionary has 1000 words ________ 200 drawings. 7 Sue is taller than Nat ________ shorter than Mike. 8 Are you going by train ________ by bus? Exercise 2 Choose the correct conjunctions of time from the box to complete these sentences. when while as before after since until 1 Jack always brushes his teeth ________ he has eaten a meal. 2 It started to rain ________ the children were playing in the garden. 3 Let's go home ________ it gets dark. 4 Give this letter to Anne ________ you see her. 5 She has known Jack ________ he was a child. 6 The party began at 8:00 P.M. and lasted ________ midnight. 7 Alice looked unhappy ________ she walked in.
 - 139. 138 Interjections An interjection is a word that expresses a sudden, strong feeling such as surprise, pain, or pleasure. Notice that an exclamation point (!) is often used after interjections. Oh dear! Ouch! Look out! Happy Birthday!Cheers! Ssh! Wow! Goodness! Oh! Good! Oh no! Hooray! Thanks! Help! Good luck! Well done! Gosh! Hey! Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! 12 D i d y o u k n o w?
 - 140. 139 Sentences What is a Sentence? A sentence is a group of words that expresses a complete thought. A sentence must have a subject and a verb, but it may or may not have an object. A sentence that makes a statement begins with a capital letter and ends with a period. Subject Verb Object Sally is making a doll. Wendy and Kim are fighting. The hedgehog curled up. Maggie is reading a book. It is raining. Dad cooked dinner. I am flying a kite. We are eating our breakfast. They are washing the dishes. The dentist is examining Susan's teeth. The old couple have no children. Janet screamed. capital letter period Sentence subject verb 13 D i d y o u k n o w?
 - 141. 140 Kinds of Sentences There are four kinds of sentences. Richard is feeding the hens. The children are swimming. The telephone rang. Everyone sat down. 4 A declarative sentence makes a statement. 4 An interrogative sentence asks a question. Where are the twins? Are you going shopping today? What is your name? What is Richard doing? 4 An exclamatory sentence expresses strong emotion. The silly girl! How stupid I am! What lovely weather! 4 An imperative sentence gives an order. Please sit down. Tell me the truth. Speak up! Come back!
 - 142. 141 Gr ammar H elp Imperatives are a very direct way of telling people to do something. Using do or please before an imperative is more polite. The Imperative Use the base form of a verb to give commands or make direct requests. This use of the verb is called the imperative. OK, children, open your books to page 25. You can also use the helping verb would to sound polite. For example: Please would you clear the table? Would you please talk quietly? Please come in. Do sit down. Do check these figures again. Please help yourselves to some food. Please don't change anything on my computer. Stand, everyone! Tidy your bedroom immediately! Choose a partner! Eat plenty of vegetables. Find some nice round pebbles. Come back soon! Take a sandwich. Come and look at this, Tom! Please Would
 - 143. 142 Exercise Look at the groups of words below. Do you know which are sentences and which are not? Put a checkmark in the space next to sentences, and an X next to other word groups. 1 Mrs. Chen is a good teacher. 2 not well today 3 Do the work yourself. 4 How are you? 5 basic rules of grammar 6 bread and butter 7 Welcome to the National Zoo. 8 brush his teeth 9 toys in the box 10 more than one 11 What is the time now? 12 Sit down! 13 Please come here. 14 Mark is sleeping. 15 Open the door.
 - 144. 143 The Subject and the Object The subject of a sentence sometimes does something to someone or something else. The person or thing that receives the action is called the object. Subject Verb Object Susan has bought a painting. Hannah is reading her book. The twins climbed the hill. James stroked the cat. Mom is holding the baby. Jacob is making a kite. They were playing football. I am writing a story. Emma crossed the street. You have forgotten your umbrella. We have built a sandcastle.Dad is cooking supper.
 - 145. 144 Gr ammar H elp Direct and Indirect Objects The indirect object usually comes before the direct object. Some verbs have two objects. The direct object receives the action of the verb.


How Life Sciences Companies Can Level Up Healthcare Education in Post-COVID Era
It's time for these companies to bridge the knowledge gap and transform how healthcare information is accessed and used.
The COVID-19 pandemic is, among other things, an information crisis. Patients can no longer see their doctors as easily as they once did; physicians, too, are increasingly cut off from pharmaceutical and medical device sales representatives. The flow of information from life sciences companies to physicians and patients has been interrupted—and that breakdown of communication affects stakeholders across the care continuum, from field reps to healthcare providers (HCPs) to caregivers and patients.
Life sciences companies are uniquely positioned to play a vital role in solving this information crisis, not only as drug and device manufacturers but also as custodians of reliable clinical insights. In today's new reality, it's time for life sciences to become education catalysts by bridging the knowledge gap and transforming how healthcare information is accessed and used.
Drive Education
Understandably, life sciences companies currently focus on facilitating speedy access to their drugs and devices, but this speed-to-market creates serious education and information gaps. In the coronavirus and post-coronavirus era, besides selling products, life sciences companies have a unique opportunity to pivot and understand how best to drive education and engagement outcomes in this challenging environment.
By leveling up their education strategies for various internal and external stakeholders, life sciences companies can move beyond transactional supply-and-demand relationships and cement their position as trusted brands and essential healthcare ecosystem partners.
After all, the pandemic has left us all grappling with uncertainty and struggling to make sense of a deluge of information that is often contradictory. By finding more responsive and robust ways to share knowledge, life sciences companies can position themselves as a single source of truth about their drugs and devices.
Institutionalize Omnichannel Education Strategies
Today's digital transformation isn't about simply upgrading your tech stack. It's about finding ways to use new technologies effectively to break down silos across your whole organization. Your shift to omnichannel education should reflect a broader strategic revamp that consolidates your outreach, and brings everyone on your team together by connecting them with a centralized command center.
What does an omnichannel education strategy mean in practice? Ideally, it means finding opportunities to provide quick access to reliable, targeted information for stakeholders from field teams to physicians to patients. It means life sciences companies using education as a key strategic lever across the care continuum from lab to bedside. How? Through an omnichannel education and engagement platform that consolidates all tools that bring product information to the market. This one platform acts as a central command center to drive educational outcomes, a single source of truth to execute brand strategies and deliver clinical stories. Why? To ensure all stakeholders have access to consistent and compliant information, hence reducing the knowledge gap.
Imagine different matrix teams within life sciences companies collaborating on these omnichannel educational tools to build sticky educational content for field teams, healthcare providers, and patients. Using such tools, life sciences companies can capture valuable customer engagement data, such as customer interactions with content, channel preferences, and more. While one team might leverage these insights to improve training programs, another team could harness them to deliver experiences that align more effectively with customers' needs and expectations.
Support Field Teams with Hybrid Capabilities
The process of implementing true omnichannel outreach can begin internally by giving company reps the tools they need. Getting face time with HCPs has been a growing challenge for sales reps, and the COVID crisis has further complicated the logistics of in-person sales. That, in turn, has accelerated the need to embrace remote and more creative ways of educating and engaging customers. When reps are able to secure meetings with providers, whether in person or virtually, they need to ensure they have all the relevant information and materials at their fingertips in order to make the most of the opportunity.
With an omnichannel education platform, life sciences companies can upskill reps to operate in a hybrid selling and e-detailing role. By consolidating tools like training, sales enablement, coaching, and more onto one platform, the system enables reps to quickly pull up the information most salient to HCPs, ensuring customer calls go smoothly. And it doesn't stop there. By providing HCPs with the most relevant information, reps help brands build stronger connections with HCPs.
Rethink Downstream Marketing with HCP Education
According to Life Science Leader, physician use of smartphones and tablets to access information about new drugs has increased 133% over the last five years. Mobile platforms are the preferred point of access. By recognizing this critical preference and offering direct-to-HCP education, life sciences companies can drive deeper physician engagement with their clinical information. Furthermore, robust technologies allow for more interactive, diverse, and custom content formats, from videos to PDFs to voice-activated interfaces, catering to different learning and referencing habits.
During the pandemic, doctors and nurses are transitioning into new roles, using medications and devices in new ways, and trying to keep pace with clinical evidence that's piling up at breakneck speed. Using an omnichannel education platform, life sciences companies can put necessary information at healthcare workers' fingertips in split seconds, becoming trusted conduits for reliable information.
There are more use cases as we peek into the not-so-distant future. What if life sciences companies could offer a capability like Alexa or Siri for HCPs to locate clinically-sound information and answers in seconds? Imagine, for instance, that supply chain issues leave an ICU nurse trained on a specific ventilator model needing to rapidly learn to use a different ventilator from a new manufacturer—a common COVID-19 scenario. If the device maker uses omnichannel knowledge-sharing tools, it only takes a few clicks to ramp up the user on the latest evidence-based best practices for device application to treat COVID patients. Bottom line, these digital tools supplement other training tools, product binders and serve as immediate reference aid tools for the HCPs. Solving such challenges can further enhance life sciences companies' brand equity.
Solve Patient Problems
Most life sciences companies settle for old ways of disseminating information by leaving a few fliers lying around in clinic waiting rooms. That's no longer enough. How soon life science companies can solve patient and caregiver problems by providing access to information and treatment education will determine the next healthcare era. We all know the role that education can play with preventative measures is enormous, but mobilizing the populace has been challenging. The care continuum has realized the need for a virtual care ecosystem, and an integrated digital health blueprint has surfaced.
Today, as life science companies embark on being education catalysts, their starting point of a patient's education journey is to make trusted health content accessible to both the patient and the caregiver. Patients today are quick to consult Dr. Google for rapid information access, and it is hard to distinguish trustworthy health information from inaccurate or even dangerous information. Hence, life science companies have the opportunity to educate through patient care and, as an upside, build organic brand influence.
Let's look at an example of integrated digital healthcare. Imagine picking up a blood pressure medication from the pharmacy and scanning a QR code on the packaging. Your phone loads a mobile application immediately, sponsored by the drug's manufacturer, with usage instructions and other information about how best to manage your blood pressure. In another scenario, imagine delivering educational content on preventative measures through the same app that patients and caregivers follow treatment protocols.
Patient-facing digital tools can provide clear, factual information about specific medicines or treatments in a way that's entirely consistent with the messaging being delivered to providers. Additionally, by monitoring how information is accessed remotely and the kinds of help patients seek, life sciences companies can turn digital knowledge-sharing into a powerful intelligence source.
Digitization and modernization of healthcare delivery are the focus of every stakeholder in the care continuum. These realities are just around the corner, and progressive life science companies have started to mobilize in that direction.
Keep Education at Center of the Ecosystem
By leveraging consolidated, omnichannel education and engagement tools, life sciences companies can ensure consistent information-flows across the care continuum from the point of manufacture to the point of use. New technologies are offering seamless and thoughtful experiences for the consumer. A good learning experience not only yields better patient outcomes, but also delivers better commercial outcomes in terms of brand influence and life sciences companies' sales results.
We're living through an information crisis, and the onus is on life sciences companies to rise to the challenge by addressing some of the systemic issues in healthcare delivery by being the education catalysts in the ecosystem. By leveling up education strategies and making themselves the connective tissue between technology, treatment and patient experiences, life science companies can build more powerful brands, roll out their products to new markets, and help level up healthcare for everyone.
Published on MedTech Intelligence
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August 4, 2004
HONOLULU - The public should stay out of streams, coastal, and
standing waters that are contaminated by storm water (usually brown or
murky in color). Storm water can contain harmful micro-organisms
(pathogens), from overflowing cesspools or septic tanks as well as
animal feces washed into streams and storm drains.
Excessive storm water can also contain sewage from overflowing
manholes and overwhelmed treatment facilities or chemicals from
polluted runoff from commercial and industrial facilities.
The Department of Health and the counties monitor water quality and
spills. Warning signs will be posted at beaches and streams if
contaminants from treatment facilities reach those waters or when
People should use caution if the water is brown or murky, regardless
of whether warning signs are posted.
On Oahu, sewage or chemical spills should be reported to the City
and County at _PHONE_. Questions regarding the safety of standing
water, "brown water" in coastal and inland areas, or beach closures
should be directed to the Department of Health Clean Water Branch on
Oahu during normal business hours at _PHONE_.
For more information, contact:
Department of Health
E-Mail: dayukimura _USER_.health.state.hi.us


The Prince Quiz | Four Week Quiz B
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Name: _________________________ Period: ___________________
Multiple Choice Questions
1. How does Machiavelli say a prince can make himself feared without making himself hated?
(a) By giving pardons to criminals.
(b) By leaving people's property alone.
(c) By taking the women away.
(d) By hanging only unpopular criminals.
(a) Political intrigue.
(b) The arms of others.
(c) Free elections.
(d) Appeals to the Pope of Rome.
3. Why is a reputation for cruelty necessary for a prince?
(a) To defend himself from mercenaries.
(b) To show his tough love.
(c) To maintain control of his army.
(d) To keep people from asking too much.
4. What does Machiavelli suggest may make a hereditary ruler unpopular with his people?
(a) Outrageous vices.
(b) Staying away from the princedom for long periods of time.
(c) Using his army to gain more territory.
(d) Never changing the way they are accustomed to being ruled.
5. Why does Machiavelli say that the sultans of Turkey and Egypt had to listen more to the military than to the people?
(a) The people did not understand the threats of invasion.
(b) All the men were drafted into the military.
(c) Their countries were controlled by the military.
(d) The best people were in their militaries.
Short Answer Questions
1. What are the two types of government identified by Machiavelli?
3. How does Machiavelli think New Dominions were formed?
5. Aside from granting favors to his subjects during a siege, what does Machiavelli suggest a wise prince might do?
(see the answer key)
This section contains 446 words
(approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page)
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text:
A Century of Hands: Work, Communities, and Identities among the Ayt Khebbach Fossil Artisans in a Moroccan Oasis
Majuka Tanabe defended her thesis on 17 June 2015
- M. (Majuka) Tanabe
- 17 June 2015
- Leiden University Repository
This study analyses the everyday practices and the multiplicious identification processes in Amazigh mineral and fossil artisan communities, focusing on the Ayt Khebbash group in Rissani and Tafraoute of southeastern Morocco. I address the following questions: how do the Ayt Khebbash artisans identify themselves and others through everyday work and participation in different communities? What is their relation to the space that surrounds them? How do they deal with the discourse power of the state and the penetrating influences of capitalism? I argue that in the context of the Tafilalet, the collective Amazigh ethnic identity promoted by the activists holds little importance compared to a tribal sense of belonging based on agnatic ties. Also, the local Ayt Khebbash artisans see themselves contextually through social interactions in everyday work and in relation to external power structures. This dissertation consists of an introduction, four main chapters, and a conclusion. The division of the main content of this study into four chapters is in accordance with the geography of the region: Tafilalet (Ar-Rachidia Province), the village Tafraoute, the town Rissani, and reḥla ('open space'). I examine the development of fossil ex¬traction and sculpting work in Tafraoute and Rissani in the context of environmental factors and the local history of French colonial rule, so as to situate the practice of Ayt Khebbash men in the historical process of herding, agriculture and mining work. Then I analyse the apprenticeship of fossil artisans as a process of participation in social practice, by using the notion of 'legitimate peripheral participation' within the 'communities of practice' developed by Lave and Wenger (Lave and Wenger 1991; Wenger 1998). This is to demonstrate that work is a social practice wherein acting agents acquire new knowledge, techniques, and lifestyles, in the multiple processes of confrontations and contradictions. Furthermore, through an analysis of the Ayt Kheb¬bash artisans' work experiences in Nador and barite mining, I argue that their identifi¬cation processes also involve 'marginality', 'dis-identification', and 'non-participation' (Hodges 1998). Contrary to Lave and Wenger's model (1991; 1998), 'participation' was an experience in constant conflict with their historically situated self within the new socio-economic frameworks, which in the case of the Ayt Khebbash artisans induced sympathy for their own tribal identities, rather than assimilation to the structural conditions of the capitalist labour market. I conclude that the Ayt Khebbash artisans counteract the effect of globalisation in their own terms with their own initiatives, by constantly imagining, reinventing and reconstructing their spatial and tribal senses of belonging.


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Problem: Suppose that $f:S^n\to S^n$ is a mapping from the n-dimensional sphere ($n\geq 3$) into itself which maps circles into (instead of onto) circles. Can we say that f maps (n-1)-dimensional spheres into (n-1)-dimensional spheres?
Here, we make no any other assumption on f, e.g. continuity, injectivity, surjectivity, and so on. Circle is in the ordinary sense, i.e. round circle (or say 1-sphere), not necessarily great circle.
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In your questions are you assuming continuity? – alvarezpaiva Dec 28 '12 at 20:14
I don't see why this is tagged soft-question. – HJRW Dec 28 '12 at 20:15
_USER_: do you have an example of a map that sends circles into circles, but which is not a Moebius transformation? – alvarezpaiva Dec 28 '12 at 20:36
_USER_: Take any map which sends sphere to the circle. – Misha Dec 29 '12 at 4:53
What is a "circle" for your purposes -- great circle, round circle, or perhaps something else? – Ryan Budney Dec 29 '12 at 6:09
1 Answer 1
Take two circles $C_1, C_2$ intersecting in two points $p_1, p_2$. These are contained in a unique 2-sphere $S$. One way to see this is to assume $p_1=\infty$, $S^n-p_1=\mathbb{R}^n$ (considering $S^n$ as the one-point compactification of $\mathbb{R}^n$). Then the circles $C_1, C_2$ correspond to two lines intersecting in a point $p_2$, which span a unique 2-plane in $\mathbb{R}^n$ corresponding to the sphere $S$.
The images $f(C_i)\subset D_i$, where $D_i$ are circles, and $D_1\cap D_2 = \{f(p_1),f(p_2)\}$. Let $T$ be the unique 2-sphere containing $D_1\cup D_2$. Then I claim $f(S)\subset T$. Normalize it by post-composition with a Moebius transformation so that $f(p_1)=\infty$, then any line intersecting $(C_1\cup C_2)-\infty$ in two points distinct from $p_2$ will map to a line intersecting the lines $D_1\cup D_2-\infty$ in two points, and thus is contained in $T$. So $f(S)\subset T$ since every point of $S$ is contained in a line intersecting $D_1, D_2$ in points distinct from $f(p_2)$.
One can perform a similar inductive argument to show that higher-dimensional spheres are preserved. Take $k$ circles intersecting two points, say $0, \infty$, which span a $k$-plane $K$ in $\mathbb{R}^n$. Then any point on $K$ is contained in a $k-1$-plane $J$ intersecting the $k$ lines in points different from the origin. Then the image is contained in a similar configuration by induction, so the $k$-spheres are taken to $k$-spheres.
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Your argument requires that the inverse image of $p_1$ (or say $\infty$) consists of a single point. So, you can not reduce the question to $\mathbb{R}^n.$ – woodbass Dec 31 '12 at 2:29
_USER_: Actually, Agol's arguments (with minor corrections) suffice. Also, a much more general result is Theorem 4.8 in – Misha Jan 1 '13 at 0:31
I do not think so. Please think of: Why f cannot map $S^2$ exactly to 5 points which is not in a 2-sphere and no four of which lie in a circle? – woodbass Jan 1 '13 at 8:04
Of course, if assume injectivity, the situation reduced to R^n. There are essential gaps in MaCcallum's thesis as I noted in another comment (see:…). I do not know how to add a simple super-link to that comment. – woodbass Jan 1 '13 at 8:26
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RMOBS is an opportunity provided by the
USGS for rapid mobilization of ocean bottom seismometers (OBS) to
monitor unanticipated seismic events such as earthquakes or volcanic
eruptions in the coastal and marine environments. This opportunity
recognizes the potential societal and scientific return from studies of
aftershocks of a significant earthquake or volcanic sources. It
represents a natural and responsible effort by the USGS to provide an
emergency response to natural hazards.
The USGS maintains sixteen OBS at the National OBS Instrument Facility (OBSIP) at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). These OBS are equipped with three-component short-period (4.5 Hz) fully gimbaled (3 axes) seismometers on an external arm and a hydrophone. They are equipped with the Quanterra 330 data logger and have a wide (135 dB) dynamic range. They are light (100 lb.) and small, can be air shipped, and can be deployed from small vessels opportunities. Five of these OBS are dedicated to RMOBS.


Agriculture Farm to Table Health Healthy Eating Professional strategy
Innovation from Conversation
Words matter tremendously when we are talking about innovation. Retrain your brain to include how we talk about things in the quest for new. _TAG_
Innovation: The introduction of something new. A new idea, method, or device
The world is getting bigger and smaller all at the same time. We can more easily access information from around the world, we can get more places faster, and we can gain insights into areas beyond our own experiences or education. Sounds awesome. Except…we know what we know, and we are likely going to apply our values and training to things that we are exposed to that might not be relevant to the topic at hand.
That's the background for what's been brewing in my mind these days, on many topics. The latest is innovation. This post is spurred by a couple of recent conversations. We got to talking about innovation, and what it means when you are talking about different industries, from agriculture to business to healthcare.
How we talk about what we know matters. It can mean the difference between understanding and application within or beyond an industry. I've attended a few meetings both internationally and domestically lately, and it is bigger than a language or cultural barrier. I've covered word choice before. That's a more tactical part of this. What I'm talking about is strategic approach to word choice. Brand management really, of both people and product. Here are three examples to consider and percolate on.
I read a headline the other day that said something about leveraging a certain type of professional. The anticipated intent was wonderful – highlight and engage a group of professionals. Get them in the conversation about what is happening in their area of expertise. But by using the word "leverage", it feels cold and calculating. If this headline would have instead said "celebrating" or "honoring", it would have changed the tone but conveyed the same end goal in a more positive way. Innovation in connecting with others outside of your own expertise. Now that's intriguing.
olive-grove-3453760_640I read a sentence on a poster for an olive oil company. The statement was short and to the point layered over an actual picture of the (beautiful) olive grove. The grove had 10 million trees. The sentence proudly talked about the grove and the size. It somehow still captured the feeling that it was on a farm where people care for each individual tree (no pictures allowed in show so I don't want to share the exact poster out of respect for show rules). I stopped to tell them how much I loved their message, imagery, and sentiment. They then proceeded to tell me they have one tree for every person in the country, and that they actually have a carbon neutral/negative footprint (trees are amazing).
My last example for today is cheese. Same show. Picture fresh mozzarella. Delicious and beautifully displayed. I was personally handed a sample by the gentleman working this booth. Of course, I graciously accepted and enjoyed. He then shared a new item packaged like a cheese stick but was also fresh mozzarella. Easy to eat. Convenient. Nutritious. Delicious. The signage was inviting, and talked about SIMPLE ingredients. Not the use of the word "clean" like I see used incorrectly (and perhaps a bit lazily) all the time. The product was yummy, friendly to enjoy, and easy to understand and feel good about. Did I mention the local and family farms with well cared for cows stories permeating the show too? Yes. A celebration of people, process, well cared for people, animals, and resources, and respect for words used to share this.
Imagine if we all thought about each and every word we use to convey messages.
Marketing can be powerful. If you are in a position of interacting with the public who has more concern, inquisitiveness, and angst about food choices than ever before, consider this: Instead of jumping on the fad bandwagon and using words wrong because you think that is what people want, guess again. Retrain yourself to talk differently.
This, my friends, is innovation everyone can participate in. It is also innovation that can make you feel good and proud about your job and making a positive impact on others.
It's in all of our reach. How will you innovate in your conversations today?
By Kim Kirchherr
Dietitian and ACSM Certified Personal Trainer with farm to table expertise.
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Use the GDP gap calculator to estimate the output gap (or GDP gap), that is the percentage difference between actual GDP and its potential level. Read on to see how to find GDP gap using the GDP gap formula as well as us explain the idea behind the output gap. Furthermore, you can get insight into some related concepts, such as:
- What does negative output gap mean?
- What is potential output?
- How to calculate potential GDP (potential output)?
If you are interested in this subject, you may also check the relationship between the output GDP and unemployment formulated by Okun's law.
What is output gap?
The GDP gap formula (or output gap) is the percentage difference between aggregate output (actual GDP) and its potential level, the potential output. When output exceeds its potential level, there is a positive output gap, and the economy functions above its full capacity. Employees tend to demand higher salaries, and firms are prone to use the opportunity to raise prices. The result will be higher inflation.
Conversely, in the case of a negative output gap, there will be a lot of slack in the economy. Therefore, workers will accept a steady or modest increase in wages, and firms will need to lower prices to sell their goods, resulting in lower inflation.
In other words, when the economy is producing less than its potential level (or equivalently, if the actual GDP is less than potential GDP), it is not making full use of the available productive resources. Conversely, when it produces more than its potential level, the economy becomes overheated. This economic instability initiates adjustments in prices and wages which trigger further adjustments in other economic factors, such as labor and output, pulling the economy back to its potential level.
In its nominal form, the GDP gap measures the amount by which the actual GDP is above or under the potential level of output. In our GDP gap calculator, we find its percentage value.
GDP gap calculator - the output gap formula
According to the output gap definition, the GDP gap formula is the percentage difference between actual and potential output. It takes the following simple mathematical form:
- - The GDP gap (or output gap);
- - The actual GDP; and
- - The potential output.
Our GDP gap calculator uses the above output gap formula to quickly assess the missing parameter, provided you supply the other two.
What is potential GDP?
The potential GDP, or potential output, corresponds to the level of output that an economy can produce by using its given resources at a normal intensity. It means that people work their usual number of hours and factories produce at their usual rates.
Output can rise above potential if people work overtime and factories run above their usual level.
In the New Keynesian Phillips curve, where the output gap is one of the key ingredients, potential output coincides with the output level that the economy would produce once all prices had fully adjusted.
In general, the potential output typically grows at a stable rate over time, reflecting long-run GDP growth due to technological change and capital accumulation. However, actual GDP fluctuates around potential GDP in the short run: a recessionary output gap arises when actual GDP is below the potential output; an inflationary gap appears when actual aggregate GDP exceeds potential output.
How do I calculate potential GDP for the output gap?
As the GDP gap measures the difference between the actual GDP (real GDP) and its potential level, you need to find data for these two variables to find the GDP gap:
- The real GDP is measured by national statisticians and is widely available.
- Estimating potential GDP is difficult due to its hypothetical nature and equivocal interpretation.
- One of the typical and straightforward estimation methods is based on the deviation of GDP from its long-run trend with applied statistical procedures, such as the Hodrick-Prescott (HP) filter.
What are the consequences of a negative GDP gap?
In general, the consequence of a negative GDP gap is a fall in price inflation (or even deflation), which initiates downward adjustment in the nominal interest rate. A negative GDP gap typically prompts expansionary monetary and fiscal policy to narrow the gap and improve employment and inflation.
What was the output gap in the US in 2020?
According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, the GDP gap in the U.S. economy was -5.14 percent in 2020. It implies that the U.S. economy has been functioning below its potential level, primarily due to the economic disturbances caused by the pandemic.
What does GDP gap measure and how do I find GDP gap?
The GDP gap measures the percentage difference between the actual real GDP and its potential level. Accordingly, you need to find the GDP gap by:
- Finding the actual real GDP.
- Estimating its potential level.
- Compute their percentage difference:
(Real GDP - Real Potential GDP) / Real Potential GDP.
Can a negative GDP gap cause deflation?
Yes, it can. If the actual real GDP is considerably below its potential level and is not narrowed by a sufficient monetary and fiscal expansion, it may result in deflation.


The antibacterial properties of wood should be leveraged in construction
The antibacterial properties of wood should be leveraged in construction
- Many materials contain volatile organic compounds, also known as VOCs, which are considered to be health hazards. Wood's volatile compounds have been found to have some antibacterial effect. According to studies however, the scent from many wood compounds is harmful to bacteria but not humans, says Tiina Vainio-Kaila.
Vainio-Kaila, who received her doctorate on the subject, has compared how well bacteria survive on untreated wood surfaces when compared to glass, which is traditionally considered hygienic. - When the amounts of bacterial growth on different surfaces were cultured and compared in a laboratory, both e. coli and listeria bacteria gradually died on the wood surface, but survived on the glass plate serving as a control.
- Wood extracts have also been found to be reasonably effective against hospital bacteria. It can be said that wood surfaces and many wood compounds have antibacterial properties and that pine has a slightly larger antibacterial effect than spruce. Many of the dozens of different wood extracts have been found to have antibacterial properties as the lignin that binds the fibres together has an antibacterial effect. In addition, wood surfaces dry quickly; this dryness puts bacteria at a disadvantage.
Vainio-Kaila points out that there has been very little research in general into the effects of wood on well-being. For example, surveys of residents conducted in wooden apartment buildings indicate that the scent of wood is not considered unpleasant and that a wooden building does not cause allergies in residents in the same way many other materials do.
According to Vainio-Kaila, the underlying antibacterial qualities of wood do not come from a single substance but are the result of a well-functioning whole of many substances. - If a change of materials can slow down the spread of hospital bacteria, we should seize the opportunity. Now that antibacterial research on wood has begun, it would be a good idea to properly study the effects of antibacterial wood in hospital and day-care building materials.
There are already some practical applications that leverage wood's antibacterial properties. - For example, the German company Wilms HygieneHoltz manufactures a variety of hygiene products from wood, ranging from skin creams to anti-bacterial rugs and cutting boards. They have improved wood's inherent antibacterial properties in their products even more. Here at home, a Finnish company has launched a sap-based antibacterial salve.
Vainio-Kaila points out that all parts of a tree have medicinal uses. - If antibacterial materials can be used in contact surfaces in public spaces, we will reduce the transmission of various infectious diseases spread by hand. There are many insights and practical applications that can be developed from these antibacterial properties. The only limit is in our imaginations.


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For the last 25 years, researchers have sought to teach computers to measure, understand, and react to human emotion. Technologies developed in this wave of emotion AI —alternately called affective computing or artificial emotional intelligence—have been applied in a variety of ways: capturing consumer reactions to advertisements ; measuring student engagement in class; and detecting customer moods over the phone at call centers, among others.
Emotion AI has been less widely applied in healthcare, as can be seen in a recent literature review. In a meticulous analysis of 156 papers on AI in pregnancy health, a team in Spain found only two papers in which emotions were used as inputs. Their review, published in the journal IEEE Access, concluded that expanded use of affective computing could help improve health outcomes for pregnant women and their infants.
"There is a lot of evidence that stress, anxiety and negative feelings can make [outcomes] worse for pregnant women," says study co-author Andreea Oprescu, a PhD student at the University of Seville. An app or wearable that takes these feelings into account could better help detect and monitor certain conditions, she notes.
Other researchers are more hesitant to apply emotion AI to healthcare. "I caution people about trying to use a variable that is so difficult to understand and estimate in anything that has to do with medical diagnosis or interpretation," says Aleix Martinez, director of the Computational Biology and Cognitive Science Lab at Ohio State University, which uses machine learning and computer vision to study emotion and intent.
In healthcare, affective computing has been applied to the field of autism. Affective computing pioneer Rosalind Picard, a professor at MIT, first started designing headsets and minicomputers that displayed emotional cues in the 1990s, and others have more recently developed wearables that rely on AI to help children with autism interpret facial reactions of people around them.
In Spain, a team of doctors at the Virgen del Rocío University Hospital in Seville were interested in developing a mobile application or wearable for detecting pregnancy health conditions, and they reached out to computer scientist María del Carmen Romero-Ternero at the University of Seville to explore what was already in development in the field.
Using a recognized methodological framework for reviewing health research evidence, Romero-Ternero's team identified 156 papers that used artificial intelligence in pregnancy studies. They found that over the last 12 years, AI has been used for detecting and monitoring fetal health, congenital birth defects, risk of preterm birth, and gestational diabetes. Most of the studies were in early stages and not yet supported by clinical testing, notes Oprescu. "For an algorithm to be used in a medical field, it needs to go through a lot of tests before physicians can actually use it," she adds.
Because emotional stress, anxiety and depression have been associated with complications during pregnancy and birth, the researchers also searched the literature for AI studies that include emotional parameters. They only found two: one about the relationship between pre-eclampsia and worry, and one concerning patient reactions to prenatal tests. "The majority [of the studies] didn't look into the emotional aspects of the patient," says Oprescu.
This is perhaps not surprising for the relatively young field. While affective computing has worked well in areas such as image searches for emotions and teaching robots to interact socially with humans, computers in general are not great at interpreting human emotions, says Martinez, who was not involved in the pregnancy study.
That is largely because we humans aren't good at it ourselves. Study after study shows that humans are pretty bad at knowing what they feel internally, much less understanding how other people feel or teaching a computer how to understand. "If I don't know what I am experiencing, how am I going to tell you what I am experiencing to collect a good dataset that can be used to train a machine learning algorithm?" says Martinez. "There's no hope for that." Plus, understanding emotion needs to take into account variation, culture and context, he notes. For example, is a person screaming because he is mad or because he just scored the winning goal?
While AI continues to be applied widely to healthcare, there is still a long way to go before emotional states can be automatically recorded and applied to health tools. But there is no doubt that in many areas of healthcare, including pregnancy, "emotion is important," says Oprescu. "We think that should not be overlooked."
This article appears in the January 2021 print issue as "Health Care Needs Empathic AI."
Megan is an award-winning freelance journalist based in Boston, Massachusetts, specializing in the life sciences and biotechnology. She was previously a health columnist for the Boston Globe and has contributed to Newsweek, Scientific American, and Nature, among others. She is the co-author of a college biology textbook, "Biology Now," published by W.W. Norton. Megan received an M.S. from the Graduate Program in Science Writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a B.A. at Boston College, and worked as an educator at the Museum of Science, Boston.


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Year of Award: 2007
Award: Lester R. Ford
Publication Information: The American Mathematical Monthly, vol. 113, (2006), pp. 236-249
Summary: (from the author's abstract) The geometric shape bounded by three mutually tangent semi-circles having collinear diameters was named the arbelos by Archimedes. The arbelos has many surprising geometric properties, some known to the ancient Greeks and some discovered in modern times. The geometry of reflections offers insight on the arbelos, but a full appreciation of its properties, like the work of Archimedes, reflects other subjects too, such as number theory and mechanics.
About the Author: (from Prizes and Awards, Joint Mathematics Meetings 2009) Harold P. Boas, the son of a physicist and of a mathematician, received degrees in 1976 and in 1980 from universities on the Charles River in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Since 1984, he has taught mathematics to Texas Aggies. Jointly with Emil J. Straube, he received the 1995 Stefan Bergman prize for research in multidimensional complex analysis. A former editor of the Notices of the American Mathematical Society (2001– 2003) and of the book review column in this MONTHLY (1998–1999), he believes that effective communication of mathematics is a learnable skill.