Jewelry Disk Cutter
Have you ever tried to saw out a perfectly smooth-edged circle in a sheet of metal?
If you have, you will know there are some inherently difficult aspects of that activity.
For one, getting a perfect circle marked out requires either a round object in the appropriate diameter and a scribe to trace around the object or, even better, a good quality drafting compass.
Once the circle is marked, sawing it out perfectly is not easy as you will have to constantly change the angle of the cut to take you all the way around the circle without creating a jagged edge. This is done either by moving the saw following the line around or by keeping the saw in the same place and turning the metal instead.
Either way requires a fair amount of saw control and a very steady hand. The next challenge is if you want to create a "washer," i.e. a round piece of metal with a round hole in the center. The tricky part of the washer is to make sure the edge is the exact same width all the way around the circle.
You get the point. Circles, spanners or basically anything round are not exactly the easiest objects to create with a saw.
This is where the circle cutter (or disk cutter as they are often called) comes into the picture. The disk cutter is basically two heavy blocks of metal that can be separated to clamp around a piece of metal. The blocks have perfectly aligned holes in various sizes machined through both blocks. Each hole has an accompanying "stamp" or cutting dowel that fits exactly into the hole in the block. The edge of the cutting dowel is sharpened and sometimes on a slight angle so when it's inserted into the hole with the metal clamped in between the heavy metal blocks it can be hit with a mallet or a heavy hammer thereby cutting a perfect circle out of the metal. Phew, lots of words to describe this:
Jewelers Swanstrom Disk Cutter 02
All the disk cutters comes with multiple holes and cutting dowels in sizes ranging from a few mm to several cm, normally presented in some type of organizing holder typically made from hard rubber, plastic or timber.
I did a lot of research when I was hunting for one for my workshop. Here is what I took into account when deciding which to go for:
Quality: It goes without saying that I was not going to choose some flimsy badly-machined high tolerance device in a poor quality metal (read: cheap Chinese-o).
Metric or imperial: This is always such a hard question when brought up in a country where measurements are in both metric and imperial. I concluded that the exact measurements of the disk sizes were not actually all that important as long as I had a full range of sizes from super small to large.
Range of disk sizes: As mentioned, I wanted something with a broad range of disks sizes.
Cutting ease and cut quality: It would make no sense to have a tool that creates a circle with an edge that is just as uneven as what could be created with a saw or a cutter. That would require a large whack with a 20kg mallet to make it through a 1mm piece of silver…
Storage when not in use: It was important to me that the device came with a neat storage setup either in timber or rubber so all parts were collected in one location and it was easy to account for all the parts. That is, having cutting pins, connection screws, etc. just rolling around in a drawer was just not an option.
Replacement parts: I was looking for an established tool-maker that had been around for a while so I could be sure that if anything broke or got lost I could actually get replacement parts easily. Again the cheapo, Ebay no-name straight from the counterfeit factory job would not be what I was after.
Extra features/ease of use: I took into account if the device had any neat features like being able to make washers or other shapes. The overall ease of use and setup was taken into consideration as well.
Armed with all those criteria, I went on the usual internet research trip. It quickly turned out that even with the above strict criteria there was a fair amount of choice out there. A lot of Italian made models, some German/Swiss, British etc.
More or less any country renowned for good craftsmanship would have a factory of sorts making quality jewelry tools.
The one that stood out was the Swanstrom cutter, US made.
Over and above ticking all the boxes, it comes with this system of pointy plastic inserts matching the cutting holes. The plastic pins are used to center the material in the cutter so washers can be cut. More on that later.
Swanstrom Disk Cutter 01
I like the compact size of the overall tool and the small footprint it has when all components are set in the heavy rubber storage base.
I think in theory the rubber storage base could be used as underlay when cutting disks, too, but I use a piece of the trusty "stair rubber" that I use in so many other instances where heavy hammering or vibration noise needs to be dampened.
There are a couple of key features to highlight with the Swanstrom: the tool is of a very high quality and finish, and there are no rough edges or poorly finished surfaces on any of the parts.
Swanstrom Disk Cutter 06 Swanstrom Disk Cutter 05
The large quick-tight handle on the center screw is really handy and the fact that someone thought of installing a spring-loaded handle that can be pushed down and turned out of the way is quite clever.
But by far the most attractive feature is the shape of the cutting face of the pins.
Swanstrom Disk Cutter 14
The Swanstrom cutting pins are ground on a slight angle which makes cutting through even fairly heavy gauge metal a breeze.
Most other disk cutters have flat-ground heads on the cutting pins which requires a lot more force to hammer through the material.
The use of the tool is very straightforward. First, take the cutter out of the storage unit.
Swanstrom Disk Cutter 09
Decide on the size of the disk you wish to cut. Open up the base of the tool to fit the sheet metal under the hole of choice. You can go incredibly close to the edge of the metal so the least amount of waste is created
Swanstrom Disk Cutter 12
Place a piece of metal of the same thickness as the one you are cutting between the base and the tom at the opposite side of the hole you are using to avoid the tool getting out of alignment when you tighten down the screw.
Swanstrom Disk Cutter 13
Tighten down the center screw, and if necessary push down the handle and turn it away from the side you are working on.
Swanstrom Disk Cutter 10
Take the cutting pin out that fits the hole and apply some lubricant onto the cutting edge. I use "Saw Glide" from Rio Grande but pretty much any type of lubrication will work. Even a humble piece of old candle will be suitable.
Swanstrom Disk Cutter cutting lube 01
Place the pin in the hole and make sure you have the tool set up on a shock absorbing surface. You can use pretty much any type of hammering device that is made from a softer material than the cutting pin. Some options are: brass mallet, wooden mallet, hard rubber hammer, nylon hammer, rawhide hammer… you get the gist. I just use my large rawhide hammer; it's lead weighted and is more than adequately heavy and hard for the job.
Raw hide and nylon hammer
Mind you, it is not that great when doing the smaller disks, as the pin is thin enough to get stuck in the head of the hammer. I am still looking at getting a better setup but have so far been too stingy to get a brass mallet specifically for this. I don't cut that many disks, after all. When I need a more resilient semi-soft faced hammer I use the nylon hammer.
Once all is lined up and tightened down, you hit the pin, preferably with one hard blow rather than many small soft blows. It takes a bit of practice to know how hard you need to hit to have the cutter go through but not so hard you cut holes in your bench.
Unless you plan on using the tool as a disposable unit (hardly attractive considering the $$ you have to spend), make sure you have a soft underlay, either a piece of stair rubber or a cutting board. That way the cutting pin doesn't hit a hard surface when going through.
That is it: perfect disks every time, ready to be formed, drilled, sawed, enameled or whatever you plan to use them for.
A feature of the Swanstrom disk cutter is the ability to create perfect "washers" or doughnuts or whatever you want to call a circle with a hole in the center.
Setting up and creating the washers is a bit counterintuitive in that you actually start by creating the center hole in the preferred size.
You obviously do the setup in exactly the same fashion as described above.
The only thing to think of is making sure that you leave enough material around the hole to cover the size of the outside circle.
Once you have the center hole, you use the plastic cone plugs that you can get for the disk cutter (these are not included in the overall package but are a fairly cheap add-on that is worth getting if you ever plan on cutting circles with holes in the middle).
Swanstrom Disk Cutter 15 Swanstrom Disk Cutter 16
You take the piece of metal with the center hole and side it under the hole you plan to use as the outside diameter hole,


arrive in their town, they created a system whereby people in different places would keep the same clock.
Mincha gedolah
Returning to the passage of Gemara in Brachos, the question is why the beraisa is telling us about two points of the day, called mincha ketanah and mincha gedolah.
The Rambam appears to have understood the beraisa to be explaining when is the earliest time to daven mincha, but provides two times. One, mincha gedolah, is the earliest possible time, whereas the other is the preferred time. In other words, the earliest time to daven mincha is at 6½ hours, although it is preferred for someone to wait until 9½ hours to daven mincha. This is because it is ideal to daven mincha later in the day and closer to sunset.
Other rishonim appear to have understood this passage somewhat differently from the Rambam (see Beis Yosef, Orach Chayim 233, citing Rosh and Tur), although there is not a significant difference in halacha between the two approaches. The Aruch Hashulchan explains that, even according to the Rambam, waiting until mincha ketanah to daven is not required, but only preferred. If there is a reason to daven at mincha gedolah, such as if one would like to begin a seudah, one may. Certainly, the exigencies of travel or employment allow one to daven at mincha gedolah, even according to the Rambam.
Clocking minutes?
When, on my clock, have we reached mincha gedolah? Assuming that I know when chatzos is, do I add thirty minutes to determine when is mincha gedolah? Or must I know exactly how long each sha'ah zemanis is today and add half of that to chatzos, which will make mincha gedolah either somewhat earlier or somewhat later than it is according to the 30-minute method, depending on the part of the year?
The Rema (Orach Chayim 233:1) rules that we use the calculation of sha'os zemaniyos. Notwithstanding that the Mishnah Berurah (233:4) accepts this conclusion, in his own notes on his rulings (Shaar Hatziyun), he queries that perhaps this should be determined by thirty clock minutes. Why?
As we mentioned above, the time for each prayer is based on a corresponding korban in the Beis Hamikdash. In the case of tefillas mincha, the corresponding korban could have been offered immediately after chatzos (see Mishnah Pesachim 61a). We wait an additional half hour to make sure that no one errs and offers it too early. Since the extra half hour is to make sure that a person does not miscalculate, perhaps its time should be thirty minutes, not dependent on whether the day is longer or shorter (see Rashi, Pesachim 93b). Should the hedge factor to avoid error vary according to season?
Therefore, the Mishnah Berurah implies he is uncertain whether this half hour should be zemanis or not. Because of this, the minhag in Yerushalayim, for example, is to bestringent in both directions. In winter months, when a sha'ah zemanis is less than an hour, the practice is not to daven mincha until thirty minutes after chatzos. In the summer months, when a sha'ah zemanis is greater than an hour, mincha gedolah is calculated on the basis of 6½ sha'os zemaniyos.
Davened earlier
What is the halacha if someone davened mincha between halachic midday and mincha gedolah, which is too early to daven? Must he daven again?
Based on the words of the Rambam and the Shulchan Aruch, the Magen Avraham concludes that he has not fulfilled the mitzvah and is required to daven again.
Rashi implies that he agrees with this position, when, in his comments explaining this beraisa in Brachos 26b, he writes: "If one would like to offer the afternoon tamid earlier than mincha gedolah, he may not, since the Torah says bein ha'arbayim, which means when there begin to be evening shadows, because the sun is now inclining to the western part of the sky. This is after 6½, since between 5½ and 6½, the sun is directly overhead."
This leads to the following question: The Mishnah (Pesachim 61a) states that the korban Pesach cannot be offered before noon, but implies that, if offered immediately after halachic noon, it is kosher. Yet, the time for both the daily afternoon tamid and the korban Pesach is expressed in the Torah by the same term, bein ha'arbayim. Thus, if the korban Pesach is kosher when offered at halachic midday, a korban tamid offered at midday should also be kosher. Therefore, the daily mincha prayer, which corresponds to the afternoon tamid, should be "kosher" when prayed at midday – in other words, it should fulfill the mitzvah, at least bedei'evid (Pri Megadim).
Although there are approaches to resolve this question, the Pri Chodosh and other acharonim dispute the conclusion of the Magen Avraham, concluding that someone who davened mincha after chatzos but before mincha gedolah fulfilled the requirement and does not daven mincha again (Pri Megadim, Mishbetzos Zahav 232:1 and 233; Aruch Hachulchan; Mishnah Berurah 233:2, quoting Beis Yaakov and Magen Giborim).
There is a halachic rule that someone who missed one of the daily prayers should make it up during the next tefillah slot by reciting a second shemoneh esrei, immediately after davening the correct, appropriate prayer. For example, if someone missed mincha, then, immediately after reciting shemoneh esrei of maariv, he should recite a second shemoneh esrei, to make up the missed mincha. This replacement prayer is called tefillas tashlumim.
The following question is germane to someone who davened mincha too early; that is, he davened after chatzos and before mincha gedolah, in which case, according to the Magen Avraham, he is required to daven mincha again. What if the person did not daven the mincha again that day, does the Magen Avraham require him to daven a tefillas tashlumim for the missed mincha? Some contend that, in this situation, the Magen Avraham does not require a tefillas tashlumim. Their reason is that tefillas tashlumim does not replace the lost mitzvah of tefillah bizmanah, the prayer recited in its correct time, since that cannot be replaced – rather, a tefillas tashlumim replaces only a missing tefillah. But, in our situation, this individual davened – although he recited his prayer before mincha gedolah. Although he may have missed mincha bizmanah, nothing is gained from having him daven a make-up because he has already davened (Tenuvas Sadeh).
Mincha ketanah
I mentioned earlier the Rambam's opinion that the optimal time to daven mincha is after mincha ketanah, which the beraisa teaches is 9½ hours of the day. How do we calculate "9½ hours of the day"?
As discussed earlier, there are various opinions how to calculate this, some measuring the day from alos hashachar until tzeis hakochavim and others from sunrise to sunset. The most accepted approach is to calculate the 9½ hours as measured from sunrise to sunset. In fractions, this is 19/24 into the sunshine part of the day.
Often, we are in a rush – there is so much to do, I need to get to work – and we know, all too well, the yetzeir hora's methods of encouraging us to rushthrough davening. We all realize that davening properly requires reading slowly and carefully, and that the power of tefillah is very great. Through tefillah one can save lives, bring people closer to Hashem, and overturn harsh decrees. We have to believe in this power. One should not think, "Who am I to daven to Hashem?" Rather, we must continually drive home the concept that Hashem wants our tefillos, and He listens to them! Man was created by Hashem as the only creation that has free choice. Therefore, our serving Hashem and our davening is unique in the entire spectrum of creation.
Understanding how much concern Chazal placed in the relatively minor aspects of davening should make us even more aware of the fact that davening is our attempt at building a relationship with Hashem. As the Kuzari notes, every day should have three high points – the three times that we daven. Certainly, one should do whatever one can to make sure to pay attention to the meaning of the words of one's Tefillah. We should gain our strength and inspiration for the


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Faith for This World: Protestantism and the Reconstruction of Constitutional Democracy in Germany, _PHONE_
Bloch, Brandon Jack
MetadataShow full item record
CitationBloch, Brandon Jack. 2018. Faith for This World: Protestantism and the Reconstruction of Constitutional Democracy in Germany, _PHONE_. Doctoral dissertation, Harvard University, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences.
AbstractThis dissertation analyzes the transformation of Protestant political thought and practice in Germany between the 1930s and 1960s. It follows a generation of theologians and lay intellectuals who coalesced around oppositional networks under National Socialist rule and then participated in West German politics after 1945 as jurists, parliamentarians, and church leaders. I examine an ideological shift that facilitated the consolidation of postwar democracy on the ruins of Nazi dictatorship. Whereas Germany's Protestant churches served as bastions of anti-republican nationalism during the interwar Weimar Republic, postwar Protestant thinkers emerged as leading defenders of the West German constitution.
Bridging intellectual, political, and legal history, the dissertation argues that the rapprochement of Protestant intellectuals with West German democracy reflected their own role in shaping the postwar political and constitutional order. The catalyst for this transformation was a series of exchanges between theologians and lay Protestant jurists, which commenced under the Nazi regime and continued in a public sphere organized by the postwar Protestant churches. Protestant jurists drew on contemporary theological innovations to challenge both legal positivist doctrines that reduced law to the will of the state, as well as natural law theories that aimed to derive law from a set of permanent moral norms evident to human reason.
The first part of the dissertation examines the origins of a Protestant defense of constitutional democracy during the turbulent years spanning the consolidation of Nazi dictatorship, the Second World War, and the postwar Allied occupation of Germany. Protestant intellectuals affiliated with the Nazi-era Confessing Church called into question a disjuncture between spiritual and worldly authority, while also eschewing contemporary appeals by the Catholic Church for an international legal order grounded in natural law principles.
The dissertation's second part describes how Protestant jurists and church leaders marshaled theological innovations of the Nazi and early postwar years to intervene in debates about West German constitutional law during the 1950s and 1960s. Confessing Church veterans criticized the deployment of natural law discourse by the ruling Christian Democratic Union in the service of conservative social legislation and Cold War politics. Instead, they suggested that ideals of religious tolerance, freedom of conscience, reconciliation, and the right of resistance, rooted in Protestant traditions, provided a basis for common political life in a constitutional democracy. By constructing a narrative of the Protestant origins of democracy, postwar Protestant politicians and intellectuals obscured the limitations of Protestant opposition against National Socialism, while developing an ideological and legal framework for linking religious pluralism to Christian culture that has continued to inform German politics.
Citable link to this pagehttp://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:41128499
- FAS Theses and Dissertations

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Get off to the right start with water treatment
With over half of the UK's mains water supply classed as hard, effective treatment plays an important role in the maintenance regime of any water heating system. Chris Meir of Andrews Water Heaters, explains why investing in water treatment from installation makes financial sense in the long run, and discusses the solutions available.
In most commercial buildings, a consistent hot-water supply is a business-critical service. But with approximately 60% of the UK's water supply graded as 'hard water'* limescale can hamper the performance of water-heating equipment and put the hot-water supply at risk.
Limescale is caused by naturally occurring high levels of calcium and magnesium minerals in the water supply. It builds up more rapidly in hot water. When this happens, hot-water cylinders, water heaters and calorifiers are particularly at risk of impaired operation. In fact, deposits can begin forming as soon as a water heater is first installed.
When a water heater is supplied by hard water, limescale is deposited on the heat-exchanger surface, the internal surfaces of pipework and other system components, causing blockages, noise and potential equipment failure. At the same time, its accumulation on heat exchanger surfaces effectively insulates them, impairing the efficiency of the heater. According to British Standards (BS) 8558, tests have shown that limescale can reduce a heater's efficiency by up to 30%.
For a commercial building manager or owner, limescale can lead to a number of problems, such as system downtime due to breakdown and unplanned repairs, additional expenditure for the replacement of components, and the associated costs of cleaning the water heater. If hard water is left untreated, it can cause harmful scale formation in as little as three weeks.
Although the quality of mains water supply is out of a building owner's control, the occurrence of limescale in a hot-water system can be minimised by including an effective and regular water-treatment programme as part of any maintenance schedule right from the start.
Limescale is much more difficult and costly to eliminate from water heaters once it has physically formed, as the deposits need to be removed manually or by using a chemical descaler. Therefore, the first line of defence against limescale is to prevent its build-up in the first place. This can be achieved by installing a suitable Water Regulations Advisory Scheme (WRAS) approved water-treatment device that is connected at the point of supply.
One recommendation is to fit an electrolytic scale inhibitor, which will ensure an instant and constant solution for water treatment. Attached at the point of supply to the water heater, this device typically utilises the ion exchange process where the high levels of calcium and magnesium salts in the water are replaced with sodium salts, thereby softening the water. If this device is chosen for commercial buildings, a dedicated drinking water supply must be fed to the premises separately.
Another option is to fit a physical water conditioner, which uses a magnetic field to alter the physical characteristics of the minerals in the feed water supply. This particular method has proven to be effective in preventing limescale build-up in both storage and low-water-content heaters.
Unlike an electrolytic scale inhibiter, the feed water is not softened by this treatment, as the calcium and magnesium salts are not removed, nor is there any change to the chemical composition of the water itself. The benefits of using a magnetic device is a chemical-free, low running cost, permanent solution to reduce hard scale accumulation in the water system.
Upon commissioning, discuss your options with the installer, as using the wrong type of water treatment can cause equipment failure within a relatively short timescale. It is also crucial to consider maintenance access, the longevity of the treatment and the impact turbulent water flow may have on the performance of the device.
In addition to limescale, silt and sludge can also collect inside a water storage tank, impairing system performance and increasing maintenance costs. The sludge can be easily removed from the hot-water tank through periodic flushing of the system as part of a regular maintenance schedule. But to avoid its occurrence in the first place, it would be beneficial to fit a sediment filter at the point of entry for the incoming water supply.
We also suggest that the water quality is routinely checked (simple testing kits are available from companies such as Sentinel Commercial), as part of the maintenance programme. Regular testing can highlight any issues early on, and will indicate if treatment has stopped working, helping to save money in the long run. This approach is suggested by BSRIA, ICOM and leading commercial water-heating manufacturers.
Incorporating effective treatment into the installation of a water heater is essential. Combined with regular monitoring of water quality, building operators can maximise the performance and lifespan of a hot-water system. In turn, this will help reduce the cost of repairs for the owners, and minimise the impact of downtime on occupants and end users.
Chris Meir is sales director at Andrews Water Heaters.
* _URL_


The Stich plate is a simple, mechanical device used in rock climbing and associated sports, (e.g. mountaineering). It is a friction device used to control the release of rope whilst belaying.
Stich plates are typically made of aluminium/aluminum as this is a strong, yet lightweight, metal. They are a shaped like a disc and are a few mm thick. They can be found in single-, and double-slotted versions, (double-slotted versions have two, parallel slots to accomodate climbers using twin ropes).
A Stich plate is used in conjunction with a karabiner to create a path of variable friction for the climbing rope. A loop of rope is passed through the slot in the plate and clipped into the karabiner, (normally attached to a climber's harness). The friction created by this combination is controlled by the 'angle of attack' of the rope releative to the front face of the Stich plate: rope entering perpendicular to the slot experiences a relatively small amount of friction. Resistance increases as the angle between the rope and the front of the plate is reduced from a right-angle. Rope angle in this context refers to the 'dead' side of the rope in the Stich plate, (i.e. the end of the rope NOT attached to the other climber - known as the 'live side').
Some Stich plates have a helical spring attached to the back face of the plate. In 'normal' conditions, the spring helps keep the Stich plate spaced from the karabiner allowing easy passage for the rope. The spring is compressed when the rope becomes 'loaded' and the plate 'locks' the rope.
Using the Stich plate, it is possible for the belayer to actually 'lock' the rope in the device, (useful in the case of a fall). Obviously, the usefulness of the Stich plate is somewhat dimished if the climber on the other end of the rope weighs twice as much as you and you aren't safely anchored the nearest tree or boulder.
Safety Note: This description is for illustrative purposes only and is not a substitute for correct training!
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Scientists explain squirrel promiscuity
QMI Agency
First posted: | Updated:
It's not in the genes, but in the number of knocks at the door.
Researchers at the University of Guelph have found that something a lot more circumstantial than genetics is behind female squirrels' promiscuity.
"Their behaviour is overwhelmingly influenced by opportunity," said Erin McFarlane, a graduate student and member of the team that looked into this issue that has long baffled biologists.
The findings are published in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters.
Female squirrels are known to sometimes have as many mates as possible, behaviour that doesn't always make sense for females, McFarlane said.
The researchers found that the more males there were in the area interested in mating, the more squirrels a female would mate with, McFarlane said.
"A female squirrel that only chose to mate with one male could have a daughter that mates with many males," integrative biology professor Andrew McAdam said in a release. "It seems the tendency to mate with fewer males isn't something that is being passed down from generation to generation."
The discovery that the mating patterns of female squirrels aren't genetic means mating habits in the species are unlikely to evolve, the researchers found.
The researchers analyzed data from 108 mate chases involving 85 female squirrels. The female squirrels mated with anywhere from one to 14 partners.
Sponsored Links


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Local structure and dynamics of lithium garnet ionic conductors: tetragonal and cubic Li7La3Zr2O7†
To better understand the ionic conduction in lithium garnet oxides, we employed molecular dynamics simulation to investigate the local structure and dynamics of a model material Li7La3Zr2O12 and origin of its tetragonal to cubic phase transition. Our simulations were able to produce lattice parameter, neutron scattering, and conductivity data close to those gathered using experimental techniques, which allows us to study atomic-scale details of this complex material. First, it was found that lithium atoms primarily perform oscillation and "structured diffusion" dynamics in the tetragonal and cubic phase, respectively. Second, we believe that the tetragonal to cubic phase transition is an entropy-driven one that involves redistribution of lithium atoms among all tetrahedral sites. The transition is likely to initiate on the tetrahedral 8a site but needs the cooperation of neighboring octahedral 32g Li as relay atoms. Finally, it was found that a few types of lithium clusters dominate in both phases of Li7La3Zr2O12, which leads to highly correlated motion of lithium atoms. The local symmetry of these clusters dictates a "center-pass" mechanism as lithium goes through the bottleneck.


Cristián Gallardo kicks off _TAG_ with an introduction to the subcontinent, the role of ALACP and areas of colorectal research being pursued. Cristián is from Hospital Clínico San Borja Arriarán, Santiago, Chile.
Nestled between the Caribbean, the South Pacific, and the South Atlantic Oceans, South America is considered a subcontinent of America located in the Southern Hemisphere, and a continent of superlatives. The world's biggest rainforest and the largest river (Amazon), the highest mountain range outside Asia (the Andes), remote islands (Galapagos Islands, Easter Island and Fernando de Noronha), heavenly beaches (Brazil), wide deserts (Atacama), icy landscapes (Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego), the world's tallest waterfall (the 979m Angel Falls in Venezuela) and one of the largest Falls (Iguaçu Falls in Argentina and Brazil), as well as several other breathtaking natural attractions.
South AmericaThe continent has an area of 17,840,000 square kilometers (6,890,000 sq miles). Its population as of 2018 has been estimated at more than 423 million. The continent's cultural and ethnic outlook has its origin with the interaction of indigenous peoples with European conquerors and immigrants. Given a long history of colonialism, the overwhelming majority of South Americans speak Portuguese or Spanish, and societies and states reflect western traditions.
In Latin America there has been an important demographic transition and changes in lifestyles that have triggered a greater number of cases of colon and rectal cancer. A gradual increase in its incidence has been observed, with a notable increase in Chile, Costa Rica and Argentina, from 3 to 4% per year in the last decade.
In recent years, in South America, colorectal surgery has become one of the most pursued subspecialties among young general surgeons who have just finished their surgical training, mainly due to the significant increase in the incidence of colon and rectal diseases, especially colon cancer.
The Asociación Latinoamericana de Coloproctología (ALACP), created in 1957, is the main society in this part of the world and is responsible for the promotion, dissemination and teaching of coloproctology and to bring together all the societies of the different countries allowing a regional interconnection. ALACP is actively participating in the development of South American coloproctologists through annual congresses, conferences, courses, publications and fellow training in the specialty.
To date, however, there are few social media channels which offer an online platform to discuss issues specifically related to coloproctology. These are notable examples: _TAG_, _USER_, _USER_, _USER_ and Nueva Proctología in Facebook.
On the other hand, currently, in South America there are groups developing different lines of research within which stand out:
 - Armando Melani (Brazil) and Juan Reyes (Colombia): Artificial intelligence in surgery, robotic colorectal surgery
 - Armando Melani (Brazil) and Mario Abedrapo (Chile): TaTME
 - Rodrigo Pérez (Brazil): 'Watch and Wait' protocol
 - Paulo Kotze (Brazil): IBD surgery
 - Guillermo Bannura (Chile): Total pelvic exenteration in rectal cancer
 - Francisco López Kostner and gastroenterologist Ricardo Estela (Chile): First multicentre colorectal cancer screening programme in South America
 - Juan Patrón Uriburu (Argentina): CME in colon cancer
Hopefully, in the near future, South American coloproctologists will set up new platforms to allow users to build online communities which share their material with others on the web to refine ideas, connect with relevant groups, undertake collaborations, recruit participations, initiate debate and link with organisations.
This article is part of ESCP's Focus on COVID-19 in South America.
COVID 19 in South America
ESCP Affiliates


The Herx reaction is your body's response to riding itself of toxins. This usually causes symptoms such as fatigue, chills, fever, aches & pains. These reactions can last for days or weeks in some cases. This may cause you to initially feel worse when starting a probiotic as they are doing battle clearing out bad bacteria, however eventually these symptoms should subside. If they do not, discontinue the probiotic and try a different brand.


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Brain and Nerves
A child who has seizures, delayed development (such as sitting, speaking, walking), weakness, unusual headaches or abnormal movements should see a doctor who specializes in the care of children's brain or nervous system disorders.
A pediatric neurologist has been specially trained to understand a child's developing nervous system, which includes the brain, spinal cord, muscles, and nerves, and to treat diseases that affect the nervous system.
Clinical advances and new research have brought pediatric neurology into a new era. At University of Iowa Children's Hospital we work with patients and their families to educate them about their disorder and provide them with ongoing care and support.
Our services include evaluation and treatment of a range of disorders, including:
- Developmental delays
- Sleep disorders
- Muscle and nerve diseases leading to weakness
- Genetic disorders of the brain and nervous system
Iowa Comprehensive Epilepsy Program (ICEP) offers specialized care for infants and children who have epilepsy, and related conditions. The Pediatric Outpatient Clinic focuses on the comprehensive diagnosis, education, and management of seizures, spells, and epilepsy.
Pediatric neuromuscular services are also available in several communities throughout Iowa.

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


text:
Laos with a difference
Stone tools discovered in Houaphanh and Luang Prabang provinces attest to the presence of prehistoric man in the hunter-gatherer stage in Lao territory from at least 40,000 years ago. Agriculturist society seemed to appear during the 4th millennia B.C. as evidence has been found by archeologists. One of the trademarks of Laos is the diversity of its people and cultures. There are a number of traditional arts and crafts that represent their way of life. Lao has a rich cultural heritage with religious art and architecture forming the cornerstone of artistic traditions. Lao people are frank, open and friendly, and they possess a strongly developed sense of courtesy and respect.


View Full Version : Just how -- exactly -- Do smelling salts wake you up?
12-14-1999, 05:37 PM
Subject says it all.
Follow-up There's no salt in it, is there?
Thanks :)
12-14-1999, 05:41 PM
smelling salts noun plural but singular or plural in construction (1840)
: a usu. scented aromatic preparation of ammonium carbonate and ammonia water used as a stimulant and restorative
You ever breathe ammonia?
12-14-1999, 07:25 PM
Sure, there's no Halite (common salt) in there, but there are probably "salts". A salt is a generic chemical term for any product of the reaction between an acid and a base, where the cation of the base (Na+, K+, NH4+, Ca++, etc.) replaces the Hydrogen (H+) of the acid. (They also tend to have ionic bonds, which contributes to their softness and solubility.)
Ammonia Sulfate (NH4SO4), Ammonia Chloride (NH4Cl), and a cast of thousands can all claim the name "salt" just as legitimately as Sodium Chloride.
12-14-1999, 09:19 PM
I imagine you've never gotten a decent whiff of the stuff. Whoo-boy, they'll perk you right up.
For an equivalent effect, buy a few horseradish roots from a grocey store. Bring them home and put 'em in a food processor. When they're ground to a paste, take the top off of the processor, lean in and take a snort.
After you land, you'll see what I mean.
12-14-1999, 10:27 PM
Doctor! Doctor!
The fumes must [u]do something - how about constricting those blood vessels in the nose? Or is just the opposite? What happens when you faint - blood vessels dilano, here's the deal:
Action: Irritates the sensory receptors in the nasal membranes, producing reflex stimulation of the respiratory centers.
Nursing 1999 Drug Handbook, pp 1175
Well, that didn't help me too much, but it does answer the op; that's exactly what it does.
Oh, I'm gonna keep using these #%@&* codes 'til I get 'em right.
12-14-1999, 11:14 PM
Isn't that annoying to read.
Kamino Neko
12-15-1999, 01:10 AM
Well, Jois, at least it makes your.sig appropriate. :)
Eschew Obfuscation


text:
It is extremely simple to add objects to the world in Ragnarok. All you have to do is create the object and call add_obj from the Ragnarok engine instance. Below follows a more in-depth example:
A Sprite is essentially a container object for an image that allows us to manipulate properties of it extremely easily. Let's start by creating the object.
sprite = R.Sprite()
Since we are adding only one object to the world, the update and draw orders don't carry much significance as of yet. But if we were to add more than one object, these values would be responsible for controlling the order in which the object updates and draws in relation to other objects.
sprite.update_order = 0
sprite.draw_order = 0
Now we assign an image to the sprite by going to the Ragnarok Engine folder and pulling out its logo image.
Now, remember in the previous tutorial how we said that the World is the entity responsible for
managing our objects for us? Well, the last step to get this object onscreen is to
add it to the world so it can be drawn and updated.
Boom! That's all it takes to get an sprite on the screen. You can play around with the sprite's coords, scale, and rotation properties to change the orientation of the sprite accordingly.
Download the source for this tutorial here.
Linux user? Download the gzipped tar here.
What is an engine without a few tutorials to get user's jumpstarted?
This tutorial will cover the basics necessary to get the Ragnarok Engine up and running.
The first step is to import our Ragnarok engine for use.
The 'as R' clause here acts as a alias for Ragnarok, meaning we can access its
members by typing R instead of Ragnarok.
import Ragnarok as R
This single line of code is all it takes to actually initalize the engine.
We are telling Ragnarok that we want to create a window of size 640 by 480,
and that it should bear the title "RAGNAROK TUTORIAL 1″.
Notice how we are making use of the Vector2 class to pass in the window size.
engine = R.Ragnarok(R.Vector2(640, 480), "RAGNAROK TUTORIAL 1″)
One of Ragnarok's goals is to reduce micro management in your code. It does this by automatically
updating and drawing your objects for you. You can control the draw and update order by changing an
object's update_order and draw_order properties. A low number will draw/update first, while a higher number will draw/update overtop the lower numbers. The world is the entity within the engine that does all this work for us. We grab an instance of it here for easier access.
world = engine.get_world()
The world's clear_color property defines what color the backbuffer should be
erased to after each draw operation.
world.clear_color = (0, 0, 0)
That's it! All we have to do now is tell Ragnarok to begin spinning its game loop.
At this point you should be presented with a blank screen. Don't worry though, Ragnarok can do much more than this!
Check back in for Tutorial 2 to see how to add sprites and other entities to the world.
You can download the source for this tutorial here.
Linux user? Download the gzipped tar here.
>Today I would like to announce the first release of the Ragnarok Engine for Python/Pygame.
Ragnarok is a 2D engine built on top of Pygame to make game creation easier. While Pygame is a library, Ragnarok attempts to assume the role of an engine, featuring many capabilities that would take a lot of work to create from the ground up in Pygame.
The engine is built in such a way that it attempts to be used under any scenario and game environment (i.e. it is generic). It is easy to set up, maintain, and extend for your particular needs.
A few of the features Ragnarok has to offer:
+2D and 3D Math Library
+Sprites for easy rotation, scaling, texture loading, etc.
+SpriteSheet and Animation classes
+Text objects that can be rotated, scaled, and translated
+A customizable 2D Camera
+A managed World system that updates, draws, and automatically offsets objects by the camera's
+Input Handling Systems
+Pool class for efficiently reusing objects
Ragnarok is still a work in progress, thus there will be bugs present. Feel free to respond to this post with any bugs you find.
Ragnarok is licensed under the GNU LESSER GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE v3.0
Download the engine here.Running on Linux? Download the tar here.


text:
Calling All Engineers!
A week-long engineering and science non-residential camp is offered each year by the Tagliatela College of Engineering. Participants in the program discover the excitement of working on engineering and science projects in a university environment. Due to ESUMS's partnership with UNH, students who attend ESUMS may qualify for full or half scholarships to the camp.
At the camp UNH faculty and staff lead a variety of activities that focus on:
- 2D Video Game Design – A fun introduction to computer programming principles that are aimed at beginners. Participants create a 2D video game that includes animation, sound, music, and graphics. Free software will be used that will allow the student to continue to create and design even after the camp!
- Aerodynamics – Investigate the shapes of wings and airfoils and how different designs affect the way they fly. Participants design, build and test their own airplane models to see which fly farther, faster and for the longest time.
- Chemistry of Energy – Discover the chemistry behind batteries, solar panels, fuel cells and more! Participants will learn the principles of these power sources, make their own batteries and solar cells and test them, both in the lab and on a model car.
Through these hands-on activities participants will learn about careers in engineering and science.
UNH faculty and staff supervise all classroom and project work. The faculty have outstanding backgrounds in many different areas of engineering, technology, and science, combined with a genuine interest in working with young people who show an aptitude from science, math, engineering, and technology.


text:
Fusion Science and Technology / Volume 41 / Number 3P2 / May 2002 / Pages 954-957
Material Interaction and Permeation / Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Tritium Science and Technology Tsukuba, Japan November 12-16, 2001
We investigated tritium (T) release behavior from silica glass. The specimens were 8 kinds of commercially available silica glass. T was injected by the 6Li (n,α)T reaction of sintered pellets of lithium oxide (Li2O) into the silica glass with thermal neutrons in JRR-2 (VT-8) up to 5 × 1018 neutrons/cm2 at ambient temperature (about 350 K). After irradiation, the Li2O pellets were removed from the silica glass, and T release from the silica glass was measured in a flow of hydrogen (H2) or ammonia (NH3) sweep gas at atmospheric pressure at a constant heating rate of 2 K/min between 675 K and 1375 K with a proportional counter. In the case of H2 sweep gas, a maximum tritium release rate was observed around 1023 K, while in the case of NH3 sweep gas, two peaks around 1023 K and around 1123 K or a peak around 1123 K with a shoulder were obserbed. After the experiments of T release, FT-IR spectra showed a decrease of SiOH bands at 3650 cm−1. On the other hand, no changes in intensities at 2250 cm−1 due to SiH were observed for both samples before and after T release.


text:
Book: Forensic Science: in Pursuit of Justice Author: L. E. Carmichael Publisher: Abdo Publishing Date: 2015 Genre: science; for grades 7-12, ages 12-17 Pages: 112; hardcover Price: $35.00 My rating: Fascinating subject very well presented to understand
Forensic Science: in Pursuit of Justice is a book I purchased at the children's book fair I attended in 2016. I had a lovely chat with the author, Lindsey Carmichael, and was quite impressed. She has a collection of books she's written, for most she had to do serious research to cover the topic – and she loves the research. This book – one of a series – required much of that.
Although for many people the topic of forensic science is far from what they would like to read about, I find it fascinating. This book is put together so expertly that it will be appealing to many.
Forensic Science: in Pursuit of Justice focuses mainly on the ways science has become vital in solving many crimes. Fingerprinting, DNA testing, the insects found at different times on human remains that help to determine time of death – it all fascinates me – and this book does not disappoint in going into detail. The author has added side bars of information, for example, one that informs the reader that the same forensic techniques used to investigate crimes against people can be applied to investigate crimes against wildlife. Here are others …
Here are the chapters:
- DNA Fingerprinting
- Bodies of Evidence
- Chemical Clues
- Firearms Analysis
- Written in Blood
- No More Mistaken Identity
- Never Without a Trace
- From Page to Screen
- The Future of Forensics
- Essential Facts
- Additional Resources
- Source Notes
- About the Author
The author delves into the history of forensic science and describes its use in actual events, including previously unsolved crimes, missing persons cases, toxicology information, the CSI (Crime Scene Investigation) aspect, and so much more. The photography throughout this book is bold and effective, adding superb descriptive detail.
Lindsey Carmichael's writing is easy to understand as she lays out a very complex subject in an organized, accurate way that is totally absorbing.
Forensic Science: in Pursuit of Justice could be the book that inspires a young person's interest in this vital field. There is so much amazing information contained in this book, from the earliest days of recorded methods to present digital forensics. The timeline included at the back of the book starts with 44 BCE when the first recorded autopsy was performed on murder victim Julius Caesar! For readers of any age Forensic Science: in Pursuit of Justice will definitely answer questions regarding criminal investigation.
You can find Forensic Science: in Pursuit of Justice by L. E. Carmichael on my BUY THE BOOK page.
Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂


text:
In PGP, Mr Zimmermann solved this by using public-key cryptography, which uses a pair of private and public keys to handle encryption. The public key is freely published and distributed online, and verified by other trusted parties. A PGP-protected document would contain an encryption key unique to the document that scrambled the file's contents. That document key is itself enciphered using recipient's public key. Only an intended party with the corresponding private key could extract the document's secret and decrypt it.
That may be straightforward for expert cryptographers, but not for the vast majority of internet users. So ZRTP takes a different tack. It relies on the fact that it is difficult to impersonate a voice. After a voice call is initiated with Silent Circle's VoIP software, the two users are both presented with the same short number. At any point in the call, they can read this number to the other person to ensure it matches. If it doesn't, an eavesdropper might be listening in.
Mr Zimmermann notes that by "dragging a couple of human brains into the protocol", Silent Circle makes it impossible for an interloper to predict when the people in a conversation will perform the verification step or how they will perform it, and so pre-arrange a convincing impersonation. (Video chats in Silent Circle will show a blank screen until the short code is verified, and the text messaging app shows the code and suggests making a brief phone call to verify it.)„


the time specified. If 15 work units were to be released over a 60-second period, the library would release one every four seconds.
Whether you're using count-based or load-based distribution, the drain process is the same. Ordasity makes a list of work units to unclaim, then paces their release over the configured drain time.
Draining is especially useful for scheduled maintenance and deploys. Ordasity exposes a "shutdown" method via JMX. When invoked, the node will set its status to "Draining," cease claiming new work, and release all existing work to other nodes in the cluster over the configured interval before exiting the cluster.
When Handoff is enabled, Ordasity will allow another node to begin processing for a work unit before the former owner shuts it down. This eliminates the very brief gap between one node releasing and another node claiming a work unit. Handoff ensures that at any point, a work unit is being served.
To enable it, just turn it on in your ClusterConfig:
 val clusterConfig = new ClusterConfig("localhost:2181").
 setHandoffShutdownDelay(10) // Seconds
The handoff process is fairly straightforward. When a node has decided to release a work unit (either due to a rebalance or because it is being drained for shutdown), it creates an entry in Zookeeper at /service-name/handoff-requests. Following their count-based or load-based claiming policies, other nodes will claim the work being handed off by creating an entry at /service-name/handoff-results.
When a node has successfully accepted handoff by creating this entry, the new owner will begin work. The successful "handoff-results" entry signals to the original owner that handoff has occurred and that it is free to cease processing after a configurable overlap (default: 10 seconds). After this time, Ordasity will call the "shutdownWork" method on your listener.
Registering work units
Work units are registered by creating ZooKeeper nodes under /work-units. (If you have set Cluster.workUnitName to a custom value then this ZooKeeper path will change accordingly.)
The name of the work unit is the same as the name of the ZooKeeper node. So, for example to create 3 work units called "a", "b", and "c", your ZK directory should look like this:
Any String that is a valid ZK node name can be used as a work unit name. This is the string that is passed to your ClusterListener methods.
The ZK node data must be a JSON-encoded Map[String, String]. This may be simply an empty map ({}), or you may want to include information about the work unit, for use by your cluster nodes.
Note that Ordasity does not pass the ZK node data to your ClusterListener, so you will have to retrieve it yourself using the ZK client. It also does not provide a helper to deserialize the JSON string.
The ZK node data can also be used for pegging work units to specific nodes.
To do this, include a key-value pair of the form "servicename": "nodeId" in the JSON map.
Here servicename is the name of the cluster, as specified in Cluster's constructor, and nodeId is the unique ID of a node, as set in ClusterConfig.
For example to peg a work unit to Node node123 in cluster mycluster, set the ZK node's data to {"mycluster": "node123"}.
Wrapping Up
So, that's Ordasity! We hope you enjoy using it to build reliable distributed services quickly.
If you have any questions, please feel free to shoot us an e-mail or get in touch on Twitter.
Bug Reports and Contributions
Think you've found a bug? Sorry about that. Please open an issue on GitHub and we'll check it out as soon as possible.
Want to contribute to Ordasity? Awesome! Fork the repo, make your changes, and issue a pull request. Please make effort to keep commits small, clean, and confined to specific changes. If you'd like to propose a new feature, give us a heads-up by getting in touch beforehand. We'd like to talk with you.
Something went wrong with that request. Please try again.


Software Architect / Microsoft MVP (AI) and Pluralsight Author
Analytics and Big Data, Machine Learning, Prototyping, Sentiment Analysis
What is POS (Part of Speech) Tagging? How can I use it?
During my MSc a few years ago whilst specialising in machine learning, sentiment analysis and Bayesian theorem, I encountered a technique that I could use to improve the computers understanding of human language called POS Tagging.
What is POS Tagging?
POS tagging is the process of assigning a 'tag/category' (in the form of an abbreviated code) to each word (token) in a given sentence.
In the English language for example, common POS categories are:
 - nouns
 - verbs
 - adjectives
 - adverbs
 - pronouns
 - prepositions
 - conjunctions
 - interjections
Other categories can be derived from different forms of the above, for example a verb can be in its base form or in past tense.
Penn Treebank POS Tags
For the purposes of this blog post I have focussed on the Penn Treebank POS Tag Set. You can see the entire list of these POS Tags in the below table:
Tag Description Tag Description
CC Coordinating conjunction PRP$ Possessive pronoun
CD Cardinal number RB Adverb
DT Determiner RBR Adverb, comparative
EX Existential there RBS Adverb, superlative
FW Foreign word RP Particle
IN Preposition or subordinating conjunction SYM Symbol
JJ Adjective TO to
JJR Adjective, comparative UH Interjection
JJS Adjective, superlative VB Verb, base form
LS List item marker VBD Verb, past tense
MD Modal VBG Verb, gerund or present participle
NN Noun, singular or mass VBN Verb, past participle
NNS Noun, plural VBP Verb, non-3rd person singular present
NNP Proper noun, singular VBZ Verb, 3rd person singular present
NNPS Proper noun, plural WDT Wh-determiner
PDT Predeterminer WP Wh-pronoun
POS Possessive ending WP$ Possessive wh-pronoun
PRP Personal pronoun WRB Wh-adverb
So how do I use this?
If we take the following statement: I think I'm going to get a new computer" then run it through a POS Tagger such as the Stanford Tagger, it will take each token (word) in the sentence and return the following:
I/FW think/NN I'm/NN going/VBG to/TO get/VB a/DT new/JJ computer/NN
Having the information in this format makes it easier for the machine to identify patterns and linguistic constructs that can help you process the information more easily. The machine can also begin to understand the context of each word in the sentence based on words that are consecutive to each other.
What kind of patterns would be valuable?
In some of my earlier posts I covered sentiment analysis and opinion mining. Taking POS tagging into account we can improve the accuracy of sentiment analysis techniques further by looking for specific patterns.
If we consider the following POS tagged sentence:
"phone/NN is/VB great/JJ".
(The word 'is' would have been removed as a Stop Word during pre-processing)
We know the sentence contains a noun (phone) and an adjective (great) has been used to describe it.
We can therefore infer that NN JJ is a very specific pattern that we should be looking for. There are others which you can see in the table below which are also valuable:
Armed with this information, we can pass this specific text into a sentiment analysis API such as the Social Opinion REST API which would return the following:
As we've passed in very specific tokens it's easier and quicker for a sentiment analysis engine to process this information.
I hope this post has given you some insight into how POS tagging works and how it can be applied when performing text classification and manipulating datasets. There's lots more than can be done but the purpose of the post was to introduce it.
Some links that might be helpful are:
Have you ever had to use this in a project?
Have you found better patterns?
Let me know your thoughts and drop me a message.
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How Can We Help?
How do I change my name if I am under 16?
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If you are under 16 and you want to change your name, you can do this by deed poll* normally only with the permission of those who have 'parental responsibility' for you.
If neither parent/person(s) with parental responsibility gives permission, you can apply for a court order. However, you will have to demonstrate to the court that you have tried to work out your differences with them.
*A deed poll is a legal document which enables you to officially change any part of your (or your child's) name: you can add a new name, remove an existing name, change the spelling of your names or even adopt a completely new name altogether, the choice is entirely yours.
Using a deed poll enables you to get all documents and records, including your passport, driving license and bank account, updated to show your new name.
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Table of Contents


text:
In the realm of astonishing visuals, there exists a captivating spectacle that would defy belief if not сарtᴜгed within the confines of a camera lens. This extгаoгdіпагу occurrence unfolds as a truly гагe and ѕһoсkіпɡ moment, one that would ɩeаⱱe you in awe had it not been meticulously preserved on film.
The Hindi phrase "ये हैरतअंगेज दृश्य अगर कैमरे में कैद नहीं होता तो आप यकीन नहीं करते,अत्यंत दुर्लभ ѕһoсkіпɡ moment" translates to "This astonishing scene, if not сарtᴜгed on camera, you wouldn't believe; an extremely гагe ѕһoсkіпɡ moment." Let us delve into the іпtгісасіeѕ of this mesmerizing event, examining how it leaves an indelible mагk on our perception of the extгаoгdіпагу.
The Essence of Unbelievability
In the vast landscape of visual storytelling, certain moments ѕtапd oᴜt not only for their rarity but for the sheer disbelief they inspire. The сарtᴜгed scene, a Ьгeаtһtаkіпɡ display that defies conventional expectations, is a testament to the wonders that unfold when the ᴜпexрeсted becomes tangible.
An Unveiling of гагe Occurrences
The core of this spectacle ɩіeѕ in its rarity; a moment so elusive that its occurrence outside the lens of a camera would сһаɩɩeпɡe the boundaries of belief. The phrase "अत्यंत दुर्लभ" or "extremely гагe" underscores the exceptional nature of this event, prompting us to question the boundaries of our own understanding.
Beyond the Conventional
іmаɡіпe a scenario where the confines of a camera fгаme serve as a portal to the extгаoгdіпагу. It is within these borders that the ѕһoсkіпɡ moment materializes, transcending the ordinary and venturing into the realm of the extгаoгdіпагу. This revelation prompts contemplation on the гoɩe of technology in unraveling the extгаoгdіпагу facets of our world.


Carlo Ratti Carlo Ratti Keynotes
The engaging presentations by Carlo Ratti are founded upon his critically acclaimed career as an... Need Inspiration?
This Carlo Ratti Keynote Explores the Concept of Sensible Design
By: Jaime Neely - Published: • References: &
In this Carlo Ratti keynote, the architect and professor at MIT shares the advancements he and his team of research have made in the field of design. He and his team have achieved something he likes to call'sensible design.' He describes sensible design as a real-time control system made up of two parts including sensing and actuating. These systems become like computers in open air.
To demonstrate how this technology can serve a purpose, he shares with the audience a map that tracked the cell phone activity during the World Cup final in 2006. He then showed what happened when tracking chips were attached to pieces of trash; individuals witnessed their trash continuing to travel across the country, even after two months since having been discarded.
Ratti believes that sensible design will reveal more about our consumption behavior, motivating individuals to be more conscious of how they're using space and the things they are consuming. Stats for Interactive Architecture Trending: Older & Mild
Traction: 615 clicks in 153 w
Interest: > 3 minutes
Concept: Carlo Ratti Keynote
Related: 13 examples / 10 photos
Segment: Neutral, 18-55+
Comparison Set: 5 similar articles, including: inventing groundbreaking plans, electric building blocks, and resource-based economy.


text:
The site of Galería contained what are called human occupation floors: dirt layers that were once the floor of a cave where humans carried out their activities. Each of these floors represented a "photograph" of how the cave was left by these humans after using it, probably during only a very brief period of time. When they left, after for example consuming the flesh of a dead animal, they left behind them the bare bones and the tools used to dismember the carcasses. The remains were later covered by mud and rock transported by water, preserving not just the stone tools and bones, but the living space.
This is how the concept of anthropic impact was developed: a space used by human beings for their own convenience and a layer of sediment that preserves associated bones and stone tools that are more or less contemporaneous. Based on the remains found at Galería, it was believed that the humans entered the site to scavenge from time to time and maybe to consume game hunted in the vicinity. They didn't stay long, since bones with cutmarks and intentional fractures are not abundant. Galería functioned as a natural trap. That is, that the cave was visited from time to time by groups of hunters, whenever they saw carcasses inside, and they didn't return for a long time after the feast.


text:
Exotic plants are edging out native species at Radnor Lake Natural Area, the Warner Parks and other Nashville parks.
The problem, and the solution, could come from local gardeners.
Officials at Warner Parks are reaching out to the surrounding community to teach individuals about which plants to avoid in their private landscaping.
Park officials started to become aware of the problem about 15 years ago when birds that ate fruits from exotic plants in nearby private gardens dropped the seeds in the parks.
In the first program offered on Feb. 10, Urban Forester Jill Smith will lead hikers along the Harpeth Woods trail in the Warner Parks to remove exotic vines.


well as the remains of some shelling. Our other winter residents, the red squirrels, have a slightly different approach to winter food storage. Red squirrels will hide all of their food in one location called a "cache", so if you find many shell casings in one place, this is usually a sign that a Red Squirrel has dipped into their winter "cache." Pinecones are a favorite of Red Squirrels, so be sure to keep an eye out for piles of pinecone scales in one spot when looking for signs of Red Squirrels.
Many pinecones stripped of their scales in one location indicates a red squirrel may have been eating here
Hickory nut casings scattered in different locations indicates a gray squirrel is snacking here
There are all sorts of other signs that help us to determine what type of animal activity is happening in an area when we aren't around, so do your best to note any oddities in your journals and try to make connections between your recordings. How you keep track of your findings is completely up to you! You can draw pictures of your observations, or keep detailed notes! Once you are done with your investigation, try to figure out what the signs are telling you about which types of animals are in the area. As always, happy journaling!
Thu, 04 Feb 2021 19:58:33 GMThttps://www.nrtofeaston.org/naturetalk-blog/meet-our-sheep
Sheep are sheep are sheep, right? Not quite! It's pretty easy to assume that all sheep are the same, especially if you live in a place where sheep are few and far between. Even in Easton, there aren't too many sites you can head to locally to check out these radiant ruminants.
Sheep have some characteristics that are common among all species like the fact that they all have hooves that are split into two separate toes. Sheep are also all cud-chewing ruminants (along with cows, goats and other mammals who eat a lot of greens), meaning that they have four compartments in their stomach: the rumen, reticulum, omasum and abomasum! From the reticulum of a sheep's stomach, their food is regurgitated in the form of cud where it is chewed for a second time before moving into the omasum! This is why whenever observing sheep, it often looks like they are chewing on bubblegum! Not only are they re-chewing their food, but sheep also don't have any teeth on the front of their upper jaw, so they are grinding down all that cud with very flat, back molars, which just makes the whole process even more noticeable!
Diagram depicting the flow of digestion for ruminant mammals. Image taken from _URL_
All that being said, there are over 10,000 species of domestic sheep in the world all with unique traits and characteristics! Funnily enough, there are only six species of wild sheep roaming the world, two of which can be found in the U.S. along with a couple of subspecies. At the NRT's Sheep Pasture, we are lucky enough to have two different species of domestic sheep, the Cheviot Sheep and the Jacob Sheep!
The Jacob Sheep
At the NRT's Sheep Pasture property when walking around our barn and surrounding area, it's pretty obvious that not all of the sheep look exactly the same! Our more notable sheep species, with four large protruding horns, is the Jacob Sheep! It's easy to confuse our Jacob Sheep with goats because and other farm animals because of their giant horns, which is not something we often associate with sheep.
There are quite a few characteristics of Jacob Sheep that make them unique, including their four horns. Both of the NRT's Jacob Sheep have four horns. One of which has them all growing in spirals together that make it look like it has two, massive horns. There is variability among the number of horns that Jacob Sheep can have, but they are always an even number between two and six. You may think that because our two Jacob Sheep are horned that they must be males, but Jacob Sheep is a species in which both the males and females will be horned! It just so happens that both of our sheep are, in fact, male…
Another important trait of the Jacob Sheep is their black spots, which is also how they got their name! According to the Livestock Conservancy, Jacob Sheep are named for Jacob from the Bible who was known for breeding spotted sheep!
Jacob Sheep are considered to be a threatened heritage sheep breed of the world. Heritage breeds are ones whose characteristics and traits can be lost overtime due to mixed breeding, which could eventually lead to the end of an entire species. To combat this, The Livestock Conservancy has lists of heritage breeds that farmers are able to help maintain populations of. To read more about Jacob Sheep, you can explore this informative article published by The Livestock Conservancy. While on their site, be sure to check out other heritage breeds – you might be surprised at the many different species of livestock there are!
We love our Jacob Sheep not only for their good looks and preservation importance, but also because of their friendly and curious demeanors! Both Four-Horn and Big-Horn (see if you can guess who is who in the photos of our Jacob Sheep) love to welcome visitors, especially before breakfast! We currently have two Jacob Sheep living with us at Sheep Pasture.
The Cheviot Sheep
What a classic! Here at Sheep Pasture, we share space with four Cheviot sheep who perfectly embody the white, woolly sheep in all the quintessential farm images. Cheviots are a European species who was brought the U.S. in 1838. Unlike the Jacob Sheep, all Cheviots have no horns and no spots, and are always completely white with a cute, black muzzle and black feet. Cheviots are also noticeable by their very fluffy bodies, with very little wool on their legs and face!
Cheviot Sheep are a favorite among farmers, especially those in areas with variable climates, because of their ability to withstand a wide-range of temperatures and weather conditions without a bother. Overtime, selection for Cheviot sheep included sheep who were low-maintenance, which makes them pretty independent. If you visit the NRT's Sheep Pasture property, you may notice that our Jacob Sheep seem a little more inclined to come over and say "hi!" Not only are Cheviots low-maintenance because of their care-free attitudes, but they also are designed to suffer from many less ailments than other sheep species. These friendly, hardy sheep are perfect for the relaxed farmer!
We love watching our four independent Cheviots go about their business each day with confidence! There's no feeling quite like being stared down across the pasture by a cud-chewing Cheviot. For more information on Cheviots, check out the American Cheviot Sheep Society!
Next time you're at the Sheep Pasture property, be sure to stop by and say "hi!" to our Jacob and Cheviot sheep! They love the attention!
Tue, 02 Feb 2021 19:27:44 GMThttps://www.nrtofeaston.org/naturetalk-blog/nature-journal-notes1758022
Getting out in harsh weather conditions to do nature journaling can be difficult! Thankfully, there are lots of awesome ways to keep up with nature journaling right from the comfort of our homes. Below are a few ways to continue journaling even when the motivation to get outside is lost. Journal entries written from home create opportunities to spend time practicing skills that we sometimes don't have time to focus on when journaling out in nature!
The first activity you can do while journaling from inside is to find anything in your home that is connected to nature. Whether it be a pet, a plant, a fruit, a nut, or even an egg, and start making observations! If the thing you found to observe is something that will stay still, spend some time trying to get as much detail as possible! For instance, if you are observing something like an egg, are you able to capture the texture of the egg? Is it smooth or a little bit bumpy?
I started to observe my dog, but after a couple of minutes he got up and walked away. This was OK because I was practicing using shapes to help me detail general structure and even though he left, I was able to get kind of a cool outline of him that I think captured his proportions and even his posture and positioning! Sometimes I jump right in to drawing animals as I see them, without taking the time to use shapes as tools for proportions and general body structure. The more I practice this, the more I am realizing it is a great tool for quickly sketching animals whose detail can be added later!
Another indoor journaling activity is finding a window and sketching what you see outside! Even if you are somewhere that doesn't have too much wildlife going on outdoors, this is a great exercise for understanding perspective! Roads and buildings can be wonderful ways to practice creating lines that meet at the horizon for capturing perspective properly. This is also a great way to practice using depth and how objects look compared to other objects in a scene. For instance, things that are closer will appear larger than things that are further away.
Dog observations trying to capture shape
Dog observations trying to capture shape
Wildlife window scene...
If your window does offer a scene with wildlife, do your best to document the different


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Air and ground met at the horizon since day one, but now the two are gathering over over something else — carbon fiber.
BMW and airplane manufacturer Boeing announced a plan today to collaborate on carbon fiber recycling, manufacturing and automation. The two transportation giants will share information with one another in the hope of gaining new ground with the increasingly implemented material.
Carbon fiber is favored for its light weight and strength, but the manufacturing process is significantly slower than shaping steel and aluminum. It's also 50 percent and 30 percent lighter than the two materials respectively.
The extra man hours required for production make parts more expensive, which is why automakers most frequently reserve the material for high-end products where consumers are accustomed to paying high premiums.
Last year, BMW muscled in on carbon fiber manufacturer SGL Carbon after Volkswagen bought a stake in the company. In the past, Volkswagen has also worked with Boeing to develop carbon fiber products for Lamborghini.
The airplane manufacturer is an attractive partner because it already makes extensive use of carbon fiber. For example, 50 percent of it's 787 Dreamliner is built of the material.


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Just Inside the Door
Circulation / Reserves and the Reference Room
TIM'S TOUR: Tim walks down the hallway and sees a desk marked "Circulation/Reserves." Right! He remembers that his sociology professor told the class to go to the reserves desk and read an article she had put there for them.
Faculty members put materials they want the whole class to read at the reserve desk. Materials on reserve have shorter check-out periods than regular books so that everyone gets a chance to read them.
TIM'S TOUR: The reserves staff member seems friendly, so Tim asks if they have any books on the Vietnam War that he can check out. The reserves person tells him he can get help with that at the reference desk and shows him where it is.
WANT MORE on course reserves?
> Unit 6 > GIL
The reference desk is where you go for help with all stages of your research, especially when you are just starting out. Reference librarians can help you focus your topic and find information using library databases, the Internet, and reference sources.
Besides going to the reference desk in a library, you can get reference help by phone, e-mail, or sometimes even online chat.
"Ask a Librarian"
Look for the "Ask A Librarian" link on GALILEO, which will take you to an online request form. When you send your question, the GALILEO people will automatically forward it to the reference department at your home library. If that library can't answer your question, they'll forward it to a library that can. You should get an answer within three days; if you need a quicker response then call the reference desk. "Ask a Librarian" services won't do your research for you, but they will answer brief factual questions and point you to resources to help you get started.
Your library may also have a Distance Learning Librarian who specializes in helping distance education students with library research.
TIM'S TOUR: When Tim asks the reference librarian his question, the librarian encourages him to focus his topic on a particular aspect of the Vietnam War. Tim doesn't know enough about it to decide, so the librarian gives him a reference book called The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War. The book gives him some background on the war and has essays on some great topics. Tim decides to do his paper on news coverage of the war.
The reference room is where libraries have their computers with access to the online catalog, periodical databases, and the Internet.
The reference book collection usually includes:
- statistical compilations
- style guides
Items from the Reference collections cannot be checked out. That way they're always available for everyone to use.
TIM'S TOUR: The encyclopedia has a bibliography that lists books on Tim's topic. The reference librarian helps him locate the books in the library catalog and he heads upstairs to the stacks to find them.


Why Citrus Trees Are Painted White
My girlfriend and I recently drove through Arizona, and while most of it was desert, we did see a few orchards of citrus trees. However, it was odd to see that many of the tree trunks were painted white. I was curious to learn more about this, so I did a bit of research. Here's what I found.
Citrus tree trunks are painted white to reflect sunlight off the tree's bark in the winter season. This prevents the tree's sap from entering a thaw and freeze cycle that might damage the tree's tissues. The reflective paint also keeps citrus trees from becoming sunburnt in the summer.
So, using white paint on your citrus trees helps prevent damage to their tissue and trunks in the summer and winter, but should you paint your trees? If so, what's the best way to paint them? Let's take a closer look.
Should You Paint Your Citrus Trees White?
whitewashing a tree
Consider painting, or "whitewashing", your citrus trees if you live in an area that gets cold, dry, and sunny winters. The white paint will help protect the tree during extreme heat in the summer, and the freeze and thaw cycles in the winter.
To determine if you should paint your citrus tree trunks white, it's helpful to know a bit about what happens to citrus trees during freeze and thaw cycles.
Citrus tree painting is most common in desert areas like Arizona or in parts of California that have a higher elevation, where the temperature difference between day and night is enough to throw off the tree's sense of dormancy.
To better see how warm days and cold nights can damage a citrus tree, think of how you use hoses during the winter. During freezing weather, hoses generally need to be drained of all water. If there's water left inside, the hose will expand and rupture the hose from the inside-out. The same can happen with citrus trees.
When it's warm, citrus tree sap normally moves up and down its tissues. However, during freezing weather, the flowing sap will become stuck from the cold. It also expands as it freezes, which bursts plant cells and tissues.
Because of this, the citrus tree could then crack or split, which exposes the tree and increases the risk of pests or disease from bacteria or fungus.
Trees can also become dehydrated and stressed by the lack of flowing sap, as the cold and dormant roots won't provide water or nutrients to the active tissues.
This stress from infection or dehydration can stunt the citrus tree's growth or fruit production for all of the next growing season and beyond.
So, where does white paint come in?
White paint reflects the strong winter sunlight off of the citrus tree's trunk and prevents the tree from warming and waking up from its dormancy. By keeping the tree's temperature lower during the warm days, the freezing nights aren't as drastic. This prevents the tree from going through extreme internal temperature swings and protects the tissues from bursting.
Because of this, the tree remains stable and in a sort of stasis throughout the dormant, winter season.
What Else Does White Paint Protect a Citrus Tree From?
Whitewashing a citrus tree when it is young also protects the thin bark from sunscald damage, which is caused by the strong sun beating directly onto the tree bark without the protection of foliage or other shade. It's essentially a sunburn for trees.
Also, painting the trunk white adds another layer to the thin bark that can help with light physical damage, like something hitting or scraping the trunk.
Some orchardists also rely on the painted bark to help them spot borers, as their sawdust trails show up more easily on the white paint than they do on the plain bark of an unpainted tree.
Is Paint Bad for Citrus Trees?
The paints used by gardeners or orchardists are usually a lime-based whitewash or a latex-based paint, which don't harm the tree, although there are drawbacks to the latex paint (more on this below).
The white paint is applied to the outside of the bark, which is itself a shield or barrier for the tree's inner tissues, so there's little to no absorption in the tree.
However, not all paint is safe for use on trees. Oil-based, enamel, semi-gloss paints, and paint primer should never be used, as these penetrate and stain the bark of the tree.
What Kind of Paint Is Used on Citrus Trees?
The best paints to use on citrus trees are:
 - Whitewash (also called limewash)
 - Casein paint
 - Latex paint
Let's take a look at some of the pros and cons of these paints and see which one is best for citrus trees.
Latex Paint
If you're painting your own tree, you may want to consider avoiding latex-based paint.
The latex in paint, even in indoor grades, is derived from petrochemicals. This means they produce fumes known as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that cause respiratory harm to life that's close enough to inhale them, and its run-off contaminates groundwater.
Fortunately, there are safer, organic alternatives.
Limewash is a type of whitewashing, and one that specifically uses, you guessed it—lime. It's an old term for white paint made with hydrated lime, or calcium hydroxide.
The process of manufacturing limewash involves taking limestone and treating it with heat and water to change its chemical makeup. It's also considered an environmental, or green product.
To make limewash for your citrus trees, you'll first need ten pounds of crushed lime. Start by adding three pounds of salt to twelve quarts of water, and then slowly add the ten pounds of crushed lime, stirring as you go.
However, if DIY isn't your thing, check out the selection at limeworks.us.
Casein Paint
White paint made from casein, or milk proteins, is easily made at home and is another good alternative to white latex paint.
To make casein paint, add the juice of one lemon to a quart of skim milk. Leave this out overnight. The next day, strain out the curds with a sieve or cheesecloth. The curds can be pulverized and used as paint or, to make their color even whiter, combined with four tablespoons of dry artist's pigment.
How to Apply White Paint on Citrus Trees
It's best to paint citrus tree trunks in the early fall before things start to get really cold, but if you're already in the winter season, apply the paint on a warm day. All you need is your whitewash of choice, a paintbrush, and a plan.
Here are some more tips on how best to apply whitewash citrus trees:
 - Whitewash young citrus trees as well because their bark is still thin and can be easily burned by the sun.
 - Plan to paint in the morning when the outdoor temperature is 50ºF and rising. Do it as early as you can to give the paint time to dry before nighttime and the cool temperatures arrive. But if you do it too early while the air is still cold, the paint itself may freeze on the trunk, which defeats the purpose. So plan accordingly!
 - A normal paintbrush is really your best bet for whitewashing. Some people like to spray the white paint onto the trunk, but this makes good coverage difficult, especially if there's a breeze.
 - If you're using casein paint, use it as soon as you can after you've strained it. If you wait too long, the paint will spoil and be very unpleasant to work with.
 - Apply the paint from the base of the tree up to where the trunk splits into branches. If you're painting a young sapling in spring or summer to protect it from scald, paint it up to the point where the foliage begins shading the trunk.
 - Paint all sides of the tree, not just the southern exposure.
 - If you're using limewash, keep stirring the paint pretty frequently as you go along to keep the lime fragments suspended in the water, or to keep the milk proteins from separating.
 - The trunk will need two or three coats of paint to get good coverage and color.
 - Refresh the paint on your citrus trees once a year in the fall, and you'll have thriving citrus trees for many years to come.
If you'd like to learn more about whitewashing, here's a video by Enjoy Transformation that shows how to make a traditional limewash.
Tyler Ziton
Recent Posts


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Limb Lengthening and Reconstruction
Limb lengthening is a reconstructive procedure where the deformed bone is straightened or missing bone is replaced. It is performed in children and adults who have variations in their leg length because of diseases, injuries or birth defects. Limb lengthening procedure can be performed by minimally invasive techniques and may require a hospitalization of 1-2 nights.
Limb deformities can be congenital (present at birth) or develop at a later stage because of fracture, infection, arthritis or tumor.
For more information about Limb Deformities, click on below tabs.


The Seven Cooperative Principles
TEC is built upon a foundation of timeless values
Cooperative business entities around the world adhere to the Seven Cooperative Principles originally formulated in the 1840s in England by the Rochdale weavers' cooperative. The principles have endured to this day and are a testament to the sustainability of the cooperative business model.
Democratic Member Control: Cooperatives are democratic organizations controlled by their members, who actively participate in setting policies and making decisions. The elected board of directors is accountable to the membership.
Members' Economic Participation: Members contribute equitably to, and democratically control, the capital of their cooperative. At least part of that capital is usually the common property of the cooperative. Members allocate surpluses for any or all of the following purposes: developing the cooperative; distributing capital credits according to co-ops' individual formulas; and supporting other activities approved by the members.
Concern for Community: While focusing on member needs, cooperatives work for the sustainable development of their communities through policies and activities accepted by their members.


St Louis Pest Control Blog
Where Do MOLES Go When It Gets Cold
Where do moles go when it gets cold outside? In the St. Louis region, no where, they just go where the cold isn't. And since they live below the surface of your yard, they can only go one direction, down. This is very easy for moles to do since they already have main (permanent) tunnels located deep below the surface. That is how they can easy pop up in different parts of your yard without making any surface damage from one spot to another.
As it gets colder, insects that they feed on also tend to dig down deeper, somewhere below the frost line. And since moles stay active all winter long, they need to go where the food is.
The colder weather also makes it harder for you to control mole activity. Since the insects are moving downward, moles will not find as many insects as they would like, so they tend not to return to a newly dug feeder run in your yard like they would during warmer months. This doesn't mean you can't get them, it just means you need to have more patience.
Ask our experts!


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1 National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark2 Division of Industrial Food Research, National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark3 IRTA, Food Safety Programme
High pressure (HP) inactivation curves of Listeria monocytogenes CTC1034 (ca. 107CFU/g) on sliced RTE cooked meat products (ham and mortadella) were obtained at pressures from 300 to 800MPa. A clear tail shape was observed at pressures above 450MPa and the log-linear with tail primary model provided the best fit to the HP-inactivation kinetics. The relationships between the primary kinetic parameters (log kmax and log Nres) and pressure treatments were described by a polynomial secondary model. To estimate HP-inactivation of L. monocytogenes in log (N/N0) over time, a one-step global fitting procedure was applied. The secondary model was integrated into the primary model and the combined equation was fitted to the entire data-set to readjust parameter values. Validation of the developed models both under dynamic conditions and using external independent data supported their suitability for predictive purposes, e.g., to set the process criteria required to meet food safety objectives. Industrial relevanceQuantitative mathematical models for predicting inactivation of pathogens by HPP provide useful tools for a process optimization and real time control of a unit operation. The developed models can assist food industries to define the process criteria compatible with the Food Safety Objectives for Listeria monocytogenes in RTE cooked meat products.
Innovative Food Science and Emerging Technologies, 2012, Vol 16, p. 305-315


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The Chief's Rule Book
How To Play Oware (Abapa)
Oware Abapa is considered the OFFICIAL standard for the purpose of international competition. It is for this reason that The Chief's Table only uses data from Oware Abapa games towards player analytics and international leader boards. Therefore you must learn how to play Oware Abapa if you want to earn a seat at the chief's table. Click here to learn more about the wider family of Mancala games.
How To Play Oware Abapa - Board Layout
The board is divided into two parts, your side and your opponents side. The row of six cups closest to you is considered your territory. The bigger cup closest to you, or to your right side is also yours and serves as your capture pit. The same applies for your opponent. Their territory is the six cups and the capture pit closet or to their right hand side.
How To Set Up Your Oware Board
 - Place the mancala board between you and your opponent with the long side facing you.
 - Place 4 seeds in each cup, excluding the capture pits. This should total 48 seeds.
* You can use any small item as a playing seed as long as a decent amount will fit in the cups such as pennies, marbles, or even stones.
Deciding Who Starts First
There are several ways to decide who will take the first turn. This is an important consideration because the first player technically has an advantage. When playing The Chief's Table the first player is decided by the "Guess Which Hand" challenge. Player have an equal chance to select who will hide the seed (players can select for either themselves or opponent to hide the seed) and the other player has to guess which hand its hidden in.
 1. A countdown will appear on screen and the first person to make a selection is the decision that will stand – The choices are you can either hide the seed or your opponent hides the seed.
 2. The player hiding the seed will have to choose a hand and their opponent must guess which hand the seed is hidden in. If the guessing player guesses correctly then they take the first turn, if they guess incorrectly, the player hiding the seed takes the first turn.
Players can use many different methods or rules to work out who plays first. A few suggestions include rock-paper-scissors, a coin flip, winner of last game starts, the choices are endless.
How To Play Oware Abapa - Taking A Turn
 1. Choose a cup from your own territory and pick up all the seeds in that cup.
 2. Begin to drop a single seed in each subsequent cup in a counter-clockwise direction around the board (including opponents cups). Continue this until you have no more seeds to drop. This is known as sowing.
 3. DO NOT include your capture pit in the sowing process.
 4. When sowing from a cup with 12+ seeds, the original cup should be excluded from that sowing cycle.
 5. How you proceed is dependent on where your last seed lands. Possible outcomes are capture or end of turn.
 6. Your turn ends once you have sown your last seed.
 7. There is no way to earn extra turns in Oware (Abapa).
How To Capture Seeds In Oware (Abapa)
You can only capture seeds when your last seed lands in YOUR OPPONENT'S TERRITORY and the criteria is met.
 - If the last seed you sow lands in your opponent's territory and results in that cup having 2 or 3 seeds (after yours is placed), you capture all the seeds in that cup.
 - It is possible to capture seeds from multiple cups in a single turn. This is called a chain. If your last seed sown meets the criteria, and the cup previous to it also meets the criteria, you also capture the seeds from that previous cup too. This method of capture can continue for as long as the criteria is met, if the chain is interrupted by a cup that has more than 3 or less than 2, your chain capture goes no further. Also you can not capture seeds from your own side.
How To Win
The winner is the player who captures at least 25 seeds because at this point the player has won over half the seeds in a complete set.
 - You are not allowed to intentionally starve your opponent, so if they have no seeds whilst its your turn to play, you MUST play in a way that will supply your opponents territory with at least one seed. This is a compulsory move when its possible. If it is not possible for you to supply your opponents territory in a single move, then you capture the remaining seeds within your territories and the game is over. Players must still count their seeds to establish who has won.
 - The winner is the person with the most seeds in their capture pit after counting.


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feed for fish and fish as food
Genetically modified maize doesn't reduce salmon growth
A recent study contradicts earlier findings of reduced growth and appetite in salmon. There were only minimal differences between salmon that were fed genetically modified (GM) maize and those on a diet of normal maize.
These were the results of a study carried out by NIFES and the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science. The feeding trial lasted for three months, and the results are different from those found by an earlier experiment in 2007, which showed that salmon on a diet of GM maize ate less and grew less than salmon given ordinary maize.
"It is still too early to draw any conclusions, but such a difference in the results suggests that it was not the GM maize that led to reduced growth," says NIFES scientist Nini H. Sissener.
Four different diets
Genetically modified maize contains a protein called Cry1Ab that protects the plant against insects. The protein damages the gut of the insects, and they die. In the new experiment, four different diets were given to the salmon; some of them were given GM maize and others normal maize.
"We also fed two of the groups soya, which produces intestinal inflammation in salmon. We did this in order to find out whether salmon with intestinal inflammations are more sensitive to the GM maize," says Sissener.
The results displayed no major differences between the groups fed the different diets.
More and more widespread
GM crops, especially maize and soya, are becoming more widely cultivated all over the world.
"Almost 80 per cent of all soya is genetically modified, and it is becoming increasingly difficult for feed manufacturers to obtain non-GM ingredients," says Sissener.
She adds that more experiments, including long-term trials, are needed before we can draw any concrete conclusions. It will be particularly important to find out if the protein produced by GM maize can cause damage to salmon.
"These findings are much less dramatic than those of the previous experiment, but there are still a number of aspects that we cannot explain," says Sissener.
The study was carried out in collaboration with the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science, and was financed by the Research Council of Norway and a European Union project.
Contact: Nini Sissener
Phone: 414 62 385


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Treatment and disposal of contaminated materials such as soils, wastewater, spent activated carbon and spent pot liner present environmental, safety and economic challenges to industry. HRL assists clients in testing their contaminated materials and evaluating treatment options.
HRL's range of services relating to contaminated materials include soil remediation, activated carbon regeneration, landfill disposal and aluminium smelting (spent pot liner).
A major area of capability relates to construction and operation of pilot-scale equipment to investigate and demonstrate the performance of commercial or novel thermal treatment processes. As an example, we simulate thermal desorption processes in a small rotary kiln to determine the parameters, such as temperature and residence time, required for effective removal of organic contaminants. The extent of removal is determined based on analysis of the contaminated material before and after treatment.
Specific services which are applied to testing and remediation of contaminated materials include:
- Chemical analysis including VOCs, SVOCs, trace metals, mercury, TPH, and thermal analysis (TGA-DSC)
- Leachability testing for landfill disposal against relevant EPA standards such as IWRG621 and IWRG631
- Plant emissions testing for contaminants including particulates, SOx, NOx, PAHs, dioxins and furins, trace metals and halides
- Laboratory scale remediation trials for contaminated water
- Pilot-scale agglomeration and encapsulation of contaminated materials
- Process modelling, evaluation and troubleshooting of thermal processes