Horse Bio-mechanics & Horse/Rider Balance
Triathletes are able to push their bodies to extreme limits through proper conditioning and efficient body mechanics
Bio-mechanics has become a big buzz word in the horse world. Bio-mechanics entails looking at the natural structure of the body in order to better understand how it should ideally function. Humans have been using this research for many years to help athletes in every sport, but riders and horse trainers are only beginning to tap into the current research.
Dr. Scofield's work has to do with bio-mechanics and horse balance. He took the simple and classical Form-Function Principle and made it a tangible tool for horse-trainers, riders, judges and, most importantly, horses. He has used this tool in helping horse professionals to understand, why horse balance is so important. I had the pleasure of spending several months studying with Dr. Scofield.
Gavin Scofield D.O. is a registered Osteopath who graduated from the European School of Osteopathy and has run a full time international equine practice for 19 years. He sees over one hundred horses each week, making it one of the busiest practices of its type in the World. For the last 6 years Gavin has been the official Osteopath for the British Endurance team.
Dr Scofield describes the concept of "Point of Balance" below. That is followed by "practical implications" for the horse/rider, which is the thrust of my work as a professional horse trainer.
The Point of Balance as an Axis Point in the Body
The horseâ€™s body organizes around a "Point of Balance" (often this axis point is referred to as the center of gravity). It is important to note that the center of gravity refers to the center of a static mass (stationary body) and does not take into account the dynamic weight shifts and changes in force that affect the Point of Balance. For a body (horse) in motion the Point of Balance is a moving point
Center Of Gravity Of Stationary Horse. This shifts as a result of movement of head and neck and affects of the rider
Ideally, the body adapts, adjusts and organizes around a steady, still and equalized Point of Balance with an appropriate amount of weight distributed through the correct structures in the body during all phases of movement. An unstable or dislocated Point of Balance in the center will reverberate into the outer extremities with unbalanced weight distribution and therefore an unbalanced posture. Sustaining an optimal Point of Balance is the challenge of (horse) training and what needs to be addressed as a priority. Freedom of movement, efficiency and athletic strength can occur only when movement and function are appropriate to the structure and form.
Implications for horse/rider: This "Point of Balance" can move as the horse moves (with or without the rider) and moreso in horse/rider combination. It becomes the rider's responsibility to make the small adjustments necessary to keep both horse and rider organized around a steady, stable Point of Balance.
Tail shows struggle with balance. The rider is responsible for making the small adjustments that encourage horse to find balance during motion
The short-term and long-term benefit of this approach is helping the horse to efficiently utilize its frame and muscles, given the extra weight of the rider, and promotes healthy long-term physical development of the horse overall. Long-term loading of a horse improperly (imbalance)Â by the rider can cause a myriad of issues starting with soreness, joint issues and even lameness. The thrust of my work as a professional horse trainer is in helping riders to become not only knowledgeable about this concept, but helping them to understand how to effect and respond to the these changes in balance, while riding their horses. My work especially with rescue-horses, has shown how effective it can be in helping the horse overcome long-standing physical and emotional issues, caused by long-term imbalances.
Planes of Balance in the Horseâ€™s Body
These invisible planes and the Point of Balance are observable through the functional relationship of the skeleton and muscles or by observing the weight distribution through the legs. The ideal function of each body will vary according to its natural structure or form. The horseâ€™s structure tells us that the skeleton and muscles of the hindquarter have the greatest weight bearing capacity. For a horse to balance, a greater proportion of body weight should be equally distributed between the two hind legs compared to a lower amount of body weight equally distributed between the two front legs. The Point of Balance for a horse in motion ideally would stabilize in the center of the barrel, between the legs â€" a much different location from the static center of gravity which is the center of mass located closer to the horseâ€™s shoulders.
Implications for horse/rider:
The important point here is how the "Point of Balance" should "ideally" shift from point-1 to point-2 for a horse in motion (shown in Figure-1), allowing the horse to carry more weight on its hindquarters, off-setting the weight and mass of the neck and head by balancing more on the rear legs.
Weight and position of rider changes horse center of gravity
The rider can help the horse effect this "shift" first through straightness (left/right plane), then increasing impulsion (front/back plane) and engagement (up/down plane) of its hindquarters, allowing the horse to utilize itself biomechanically in a more efficient and more effective way; this as opposed to a "crooked" and/or "front-loaded" horse which in the long-run will likely suffer physically and psychologically by not being able to Â use its body in the most efficient way.
3 Responses to "Horse Bio-mechanics & Horse/Rider Balance"
 1. freesoft says:
 Thank you..really informative!!
 2. Felipe says:
 The quick answer is if you can teach soeomne to be a good rider, a true rider, equitation will follow naturally. My long-winded answer is this: : )Equitation in its truest form is really proper riding. You are correct that for many in today's showring it is just sitting there looking pretty. The top riders, however, are able to really ride while looking pretty at the same time.This comes from a basic understanding of the whys and hows. Why does a saddle seat rider carry their hands higher then a hunt rider? What is the effect on the horse when combined with the right bit for that horse and correct rein usage? How is this achieved?How does the riders seat really become a source of control over the horse, much more so then the hands/reins, when properly engaged?If you as an instructor understand the basics, the fundamentals of riding, in fact of horsemanship, you will find it much easier to communicate these ideals to your students.Position and posture in the saddle affect balance of both horse and rider, when a rider moves around the horse has to compensate in its actions to accomodate the rider. This can not only be distracting for the horse but can also throw the horse off balance.My biggest pet peeve and the one thing I really try to send home with my students is this: Every time your hand/arm moves you move the reins. Every time the reins move the bit is engaged/moved. The movement of the bit, whether intentional or accidental, is sending a message to the horse that it should be doing something differently then what it is currently doing. If the cue is not clear it confuses the horse, done enough times this will frustrate and maybe even upset the horse.I tell them to put their index finger crosswise in their mouth, resting against the corners of their lips. Then to push back on the finger, putting pressure on those corners. It is uncomfortable, even in this controlled situation. This gives them a tangible understanding of what it might be like for the horse when a metal bit is pressed against their bars or banging around in their mouth. This, combined with lots of work on balance, can really help to prevent a rider from being heavy handed, unsteady and popping the horse, or relying too much on the reins to stop a horse. I guess my point, however long-winded, is to teach not only how but why. Horsemanship is not the sloppy, arm flailing, butt bouncing way of the cowboys in the old movies, nor is it the sit still and look pretty way of too many young riders dreaming of top equitation ribbons. It is, however, somewhere in the middle. In thinking about it, many of the top, national level equitation riders of the last several years are still in the horse business, many as professionals now. This is because, I imagine, they learned how to be horsemen/women and became invested personally in the craft.
Leave A Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Quote Of The Day
~H.H. Isenbart


text:
Planes of Motion
It's a bird…it's a plane…it's planes of motion!
Planes of motion can be a challenging concept to grasp. The human body is divided into three primary planes - transverse plane, frontal plane, and the sagittal plane.
Sagittal plane: divides body into right and left sides
Frontal plane: divides body into anterior and posterior sides (front/back)
Transverse plane: divides body into superior and inferior parts (top and bottom)
All motion occurs around one of these three planes of motion. Generally they occur as follows:
Sagittal plane: flexion/extension
Frontal plane: abduction/adduction
Transverse plane: internal rotation/external rotation
Pages 109 and 110 in the ACE Essentials of Exercise Science for Fitness Professionals manual lists all the fundamental movements in each plane. Below is a great website to help with your understanding of movement in different planes.
Understanding Planes of Motion
Another suggestion is if you are viewing the link above and you get to the diagrams of the people…find a doorway that spans two rooms (doorway leading into your bedroom for example).
When reviewing the sagittal plane of motion, stand with your nose against the doorframe so one foot is in the hallway and one foot is in the bedroom. This divides your body into right and left sides down the middle (just like the sagittal plane does).
When reviewing the frontal plane, stand with your back against the wall (and pretend it divides you into half - front half/back half). This might be an easier way to visualize the different planes.
Planes of motion can be difficult to grasp initially, but with some patience and 'hands on' practice, you might find the information starting to make sense.
Remember, if you have any questions, please contact an Education Consultant at _PHONE_

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


_USER_{NBERw14742, title = "Is Lottery Gambling Addictive?", author = "Jonathan Guryan and Melissa Schettini Kearney", institution = "National Bureau of Economic Research", type = "Working Paper", series = "Working Paper Series", number = "14742", year = "2009", month = "February", doi = {10.3386/w14742}, URL = "_URL_ abstract = {We present an empirical test for the addictiveness of lottery gambling. To distinguish state dependence from serial correlation, we exploit an exogenous shock to local market consumption of lottery gambling. We use the sale of a winning ticket in the zip code, the location of which is random conditional on sales, as an instrument for present consumption and test for a causal relationship between present and future consumption. This test of addiction is based on the definition of addiction commonly used in the economics literature. It has two key advantages over previous tests for addiction. First, our test is unique in being based on an observed increase in consumption coming from a randomly assigned shock. Second, our approach estimates the time path of persistence non-parametrically. Our data from the Texas State Lottery suggests that after 6 months, roughly half of the initial increase in lottery consumption is maintained. After 18 months, roughly 40 percent of the initial shock persists, though estimates become less precise. These estimates provide an upper bound on the degree of addictiveness in lottery gambling. They also highlight the potential effectiveness of innovations and advertising campaigns designed to increase lottery gambling.}, }


text:
Air flow is the movement of air from one location to another. In a vacuum cleaner, it generally refers to the movement of air through the vacuum cleaner or central vacuum system. It, combined with agitation, is the most important aspect of cleaning with a vacuum cleaner. It is the force exerted by the moving air which actually picks up the dirt and moves it into the bag or dirt container.
You will sometimes see the Air Flow in Cubic Feet Per Minute (CFM) rated for a vacuum cleaner. While the air flow rating is not a direct rating of the power of the suction motor, it is affected by its suction. The air flow rating is typically obtained by measuring the air flow through the vacuum cleaner with no hose nor attachments connected to it. Keep in mind that the same air moves through the entire vacuum cleaner system so the actual air flow in use is proportional to the amount of suction produced by the motor and inversely proportional to the total resistance to air flow throughout the system.
The air is motivated to move by the reduced air pressure created by the suction motor. The easier it is for the air to flow, the better the cleaning performance will be. Also, the stronger the suction created by the suction motor is, the better the air flow will be. There are many variables which affect the actual air flow in a system which are not reflected in the air flow rating. In addition to the resistance within the actual vacuum cleaner, there is resistance caused by air turbulence in the hose and tubing, restriction where the cleaning nozzle contacts the floor, as well as increased resistance within the filtration system as the unit fills with dirt. Therefore it is important to compare the sealed suction along with the air flow when comparing canisters, power teams, and central vacuum systems.
The quality of the paper bag can have a significant impact on the air flow through the system. While the bag's filter media must be able to stop the fine dust and allergens, it should present the least amount of resistance to air flow that is possible. The total resistance of the paper bag is inversely proportional to the total area of the filter media. In other words, doubling the area of a paper bag's surface will cut the total resistance to air flow in half. Therefore, if two different size bags are constructed of the same quality filter media, the larger one will enhance the cleaning performance by making it easier for the air to flow. To learn more about how the quality of the paper bag affects the air flow, read our article on the Dustbag Performance and Filtration Efficiency.
Another factor is the distance and cross sectional area of the passages through which the air must travel through the system. This is one area in which the Traditional Upright really shines. In these the air flows a relatively short distance through large passages into large area paper bags so there is a huge amount of air flow. The Commercial Eureka uprights, Commercial and Heavy Duty Sanitaire uprights by Electrolux Home Care Products North America (formerly The Eureka Company) and Kirby uprights are examples of traditional uprights which combine this design with large diameter fans for outstanding carpet cleaning performance.
For any given air flow, the speed of the moving air is inversely proportional to the area of the opening through which it is passing. A more narrow opening in the nozzle will produce a faster air flow velocity, enacting more force to pick up the dirt. This is why a small attachment is more effective in picking up stubborn dirt.
For best performance the nozzle should also be designed so it produces similar air flow velocity across its complete width, not just near the air passage leading from it. Some uprights and power nozzles incorporate a center mounted air intake behind or above the brush roll which flares out to the edges of the cleaning nozzle as it approaches the brush roll. This wide funnel shaped opening causes the air flow to be distributed quite evenly across the entire cleaning width for more efficient and uniform cleaning. This also creates a dirt collection area immediately behind or above the brush roll so dirt and grit are gathered and whisk away by the air flow before they can bounce back out of the nozzle. This substantially reduces the scatter effect which many uprights experience when picking up grit and small stones. This design is discussed in more detail in our article on Cleaning Nozzle Design.
Next Vacuum Performance Aspect: Cleaning Nozzle Design Considerations
Index of Related Articles:
- Educational Articles - Menu
- Be Wise when Purchasing a Vacuum Cleaner
- Types of Vacuum Cleaners - Menu
- Match Your Tasks and Cleaning Style
- Traditional Upright Vacuum Cleaner
- "Clean Air" Upright Vacuum Cleaner
- Two-Motor Upright Vacuum Cleaner
- Two-Motor Power Team
- Canister Vacuum Cleaner
- Hand Held Vacuum Cleaner
- Electric Broom Vacuum Cleaner
- Wet/Dry Utility Vacuum Cleaner
- Central Vacuum System
- Steam (Hot Water) Extractor
- Vacuum Cleaner Performance Aspects - Menu
- Vacuum Cleaner Performance Checkup
- Identifying Good Performance Factors
- Filtration Efficiency: HEPA, Micron, etc.
- Dustbag Performance and Filtration Efficiency
- Power of the Vacuum Cleaner Suction Motor
- Air Flow Through the Vacuum Cleaner System (You Are Here.)
- Cleaning Nozzle Design Considerations
- Effects of Vacuum Cleaner Brushing Action
- Loss of Vacuum Cleaner Performance
- Vacuum Cleaner System Components - Menu
- Removing Allergens from Your Home - Menu
- Specifications that can Mislead You - Menu
- Glossary of Terms
- Manufacturer Contact Information
- Visit Other Interesting Sites

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


text: Ra - "Sun" Embodied in the golden sun which is His Symbol, Ra is Netjer of light, life, and heat, and the power inherent in the sun which warms our planet. In several forms, Ra has been venerated as the central Name of Netjer of the Kemetic faith through its entire history, considered both Father and the King of All Netjeru, the Great One Who both creates and destroys. Ra rose to prominence as the early dynasties of the Old Kingdom, who venerated Him as their family patron, began to call themselves "sons of Ra" in official titularies and constructed sun-temples and pyramids (a special symbol of Ra via their connection to the Ben-ben, a pyramidal-shaped stone from which Ra as a Bennu (a white heron, called "Phoenix" by the Greeks) rose from Nun and sang the song of creation) in His honor. Ra's popularity, as immanent as sunlight itself, continued throughout Kemetic history; even great Names as Amen and Ptah had to "share the spotlight" with Ra, and in Amen's case, a composite Name, Amen-Ra, King of Netjeru, was created to avoid slighting either cult, which by New Kingdom times had power and wealth to rival even the royal house. Ra "lives" within the actual physical disk of sun, mythologically described as the "Boat of Millions of Years" which rises and sets each day, riding from horizon to horizon on the back (or belly) of Nut, and traversing during the hours of darkness the netherworlds where the enemies of Ma'at reside. Even in modern Egypt, the sun is often referred to as Ra, especially on bright summer days.


text:
by Rick Copeland and Bernie Hackett
This intermediate-level class will teach you techniques using the popular NoSQL database MongoDB, its driver PyMongo, and the object-document mapper Ming to write maintainable, high-performance, and scalable applications. We will cover everything you need to become an effective Ming/MongoDB developer from basic PyMongo queries to high-level object-document mapping setups in Ming.
The class will begin with a brief overview of MongoDB and its Python driver PyMongo. We will cover basic operations using PyMongo, including data manipulation, querying, and GridFS. Students will install MongoDB and PyMongo as part of this section.
We will then describe the design philosophy and setup of Ming, a SQLAlchemy-inspired object-document mapper (ODM) for MongoDB developed at SourceForge.
Next we will cover the base-level implementation of Ming, including schema design, the session and datastore, lazy migrations, data polymorphism, and GridFS support. We will also cover effective MongoDB index design, querying, and updating techniques, and how to use these with Ming. Students will install Ming as a part of this section, and have exercises covering schema design, lazy migrations, and GridFS.
The final segment will cover the object-document mapper portion of Ming. We will cover the unit of work design pattern, object relations, ODM-level polymorphism, and how to drop down to the base layer (or even down to pymongo) when you really need to. This section will include exercises in designing your ODM model and effectively using the unit-of-work session.
This talk targets Python 2.6-2.7 and MongoDB 2.0. Students should have Python 2.6 or 2.7 installed on their machines prior to the class and should be comfortable using virtualenv and pip or easy_install to install packages.
7th–15th March 2012


text:
The derivative is 0 at a stationary point--in fact that's the definition
of stationary point
Not sure if you'd need a picture of the graph or not; don't think you would.
It just looks like an upside down parabola, but starts at 0 and cuts back through the x-axis.
The curve (C) has the equation
The point A on C is a stationary point (is just a point at where the parabola turns back down [the tiny bit where it's flat]), and C cuts the x-axis at the point B.
Show that the x-coordinate of B is 3.
[I would of thought that if i substituted 3 into the above equation, y would equal 0?] it equals -9 however.
Find the coordinates of A.


text:
What is November 17?
A radical, leftist Greek terrorist group, also known as 17 N or N 17, with a tiny membership and a loathing for America, the West, and capitalism. Most anti-terrorism experts think the organization has no more than twenty-five members—many of them related to one another, which may explain why the group was able to operate secretly and securely for almost three decades. But in July 2002, amid mounting pressure to track down terrorists before the 2004 Olympics, Greek authorities made a major breakthrough and began arresting November 17 members. In December 2003, Greek courts dealt November 17 a crippling blow as fifteen members of the group were convicted of various crimes including homicide; the leader of the group and several key operatives were given multiple life sentences.
How has the Greek government handled terrorism?
After almost three decades of scant success at combating leftist terrorists, Greek authorities finally made headway against November 17 in the summer of 2002. A failed June 2002 bombing in the port of Pireaus led Greek police to their first arrest of a November 17 member, and they captured four more members in July, including two brothers of the Pireaus bomber and a man charged with being the group's leader. Police also raided November 17's Athenshide-outs and weapons storehouses, seized weapons caches, and uncovered troves of documents.
Experts say much of the impetus for the 2002 breakthrough came from concerns that Greece's terrorism problem could mar the 2004 Olympics. Earlier Greek efforts were much less effective, leading some terrorism experts to suspect links or sympathies between Greece's ruling socialist elite and the tiny terror groups. After the June 2000 murder of British Defense Attaché Stephen Saunders by November 17, Greece strengthened its police counterterrorism unit, offered multimillion-dollar rewards for leads on terrorist groups, and passed legislation for more vigorous counterterrorism efforts. Leading Greek politicians, including the prime minister, denounced Saunders' murder and terrorism in general. The public widely observed a national moment of silence for victims of terrorism, and Greek Orthodox Archbishop Christodoulos held an unprecedented memorial service for victims of terrorism inGreece. By the end of 2000, Greece had signed all twelve of the U.N. counterterrorism conventions and ratified ten of them. It also sought closer British and American cooperation on counterterrorism.
What sort of attacks has November 17 launched?
The organization's first known attack came in December 1975, when the CIA's Athens station chief was shot with a.45-caliber pistol, November 17's favorite weapon. Since then, the group has claimed responsibility for twenty-one murders, including the killings of a U.S. Navy captain, a U.S. defense attaché, a Turkish diplomat, and a British defense attaché. November 17's initial attacks were directed at senior U.S. officials and Greek public figures, but during the 1980s the group expanded its operations to include bombings of ordinary citizens and property. Its targets have also included foreign business and European Union facilities. Since the 2002 arrest, November 17 appears to be inactive. However, some say that a new group, Revolutionary Struggle, was created by those members of November 17 who were not detained.
Where did November 17 get its name?
From the November 17, 1973, student uprising at Athens Polytechnic University. Twenty students were killed when Greek army tanks suppressed the protests, and the group formed in part to retaliate against the ruling military junta.
What are November 17's goals?
The group, which espouses communism, has continued its anti-Western stance after the Cold War. November 17 bitterly opposes Greek participation in NATO. It also favors ousting U.S. military bases from Greek territory, severing Greece 's ties with the European Union, removing the Turkish military presence from Cyprus, and launching an anti-capitalist popular uprising against the Greek middle and upper-classes. In December 2000, after killing a British general, the group released a communiqué defending itself against mounting public criticism by trying to appeal to populist, pro-Serb sentiments and urging Greeks to defy the government's counterterrorism efforts.
Are there other terrorist groups in Greece?
Yes. After November 17, the most important was Revolutionary People's Struggle, known by its Greek acronym ELA—a radical leftist terrorist group that emerged to oppose the Greek military junta that ruled from 1967 to 1974. The group disbanded in 1995. ELA was a self-described revolutionary, anti-capitalist group that opposed "imperialist domination, exploitation, and oppression." It was strongly anti-American and hoped to expel U.S. military forces from Greece. In October 2004, four former members of the group were convicted by a special Athens anti-terrorism court on charges ranging from weapons possession to complicity in forty-two terrorist bombings.
A similar group, calling itself simply Revolutionary Struggle, or EA, emerged in 2003 with the bombing of an Athens courthouse that injured one police officer. The group has ideological ties to both November 17 and ELA, and some analysts suspect its ranks are filled with members from the earlier groups. EA has launched increasingly bold attacks in recent years, attempting to assassinate Greece's culture minister in May 2006 and firing a rocket into the U.S. embassy in Athens in January 2007. To date, no fatalities have resulted from EA's attacks.


text:
By the end of this session, you should be able to describe:
A definition of 'stakeholders' for your organisation
How the concept of 'stakeholders' relates to concepts of the organisation
The purpose of Stakeholder Analysis
Some common forms of Stakeholder Analysis
Stakeholder Mapping techniques
A 'Stakeholder' is: Any person or organisation who can be positively or negatively impacted by, or cause an impact on the actions of a company. (Freeman, 1984) The individuals and constituencies that contribute, either voluntarily or involuntarily, to its wealth-creating capacity and activities, and are therefore its potential beneficiaries and / or risk bearers. (Post, Preston & Sachs, 2002)
Stakeholder theory in the context of the organisation: 1: The objective of a business is to make profits for its shareholders. (The Shareholder Value Perspective) 2: Companies are networks of parties working towards a shared goal. Employees, suppliers, shareholders, external interest groups and customers co-operate to create mutually beneficial results. (The Stakeholder Value Perspective) … or …
Why use Stakeholder Analysis?
Identify the stakeholders likely to be affected by or influence the activities of the organisation
Assess how those stakeholders could be impacted or impact upon the organisation
Anticipate the consequences of any change in the organisation's activities
Identify stakeholders' 'success criteria'
Assure a successful outcome for the organisation by developing co-operation with stakeholders ( see: Customer Focus)
Meeting stakeholder needs:
Where does your organisation create stakeholder value?
How can you do that better?
Can you eliminate or reduce focus on processes which do not add stakeholder value?
How do you communicate with stakeholders?
Do your communications encourage stakeholder exchange?
Do you communicate the stakeholder value?
Who are the Stakeholders?
A typical list of Stakeholders would include:
Owners, stockholders & investors
Banks and creditors
Partners & suppliers
Buyers, customers & prospects
Employees, unions, works councils
Government & regulators: local, national, international
Professional and industry associations
Media: local, national, trade, financial
Communities & other interest groups
Internal and External Stakeholders
Within the organisation: e.g. employees & management
Outside the organisation: e.g. government & trade associations
Primary, Secondary & Key Stakeholders
Directly affected: e.g. employees & stockholders
Indirectly affected: e.g government & media
Most significantly affected: those with the most influence from either group
The Stakeholder Analysis process:
Identify all stakeholders (Brainstorming)
Identify stakeholder needs & interests
Classify groups of interests (Stakeholder Mapping)
Identify areas of conflict: Organisation v Stakeholder, Stakeholder v Stakeholder
Prioritise, reconcile and balance stakeholders
Align significant stakeholder needs with organisation's strategies and actions
Greater acceptance of organisation actions by stakeholders
Disadvantages of Stakeholder Analysis
Best done on continuous basis
Assessment of analysis may be subjective
Maybe not all stakeholder interests can be met at the same time
Focus on most important stakeholder
Balance & reconcile all interests according to importance or urgency
Several techniques for categorising stakeholders
Helps identify which stakeholders may support or oppose change / organisation's actions
Which stakeholders are the most powerful, have most influence
Help decision makers formalise / prioritise strategies
The Power / Dynamism Matrix Classifies stakeholders in relation to the power they hold and their aptitude for action (dynamism) Can be used to indicate where political effort should be made before instigating change
Power / Dynamism Matrix: Stakeholders in groups A & B : are the easiest to deal with. Stakeholders in group C : are important because thy are powerful. But low dynamism means their reaction is predictable and expectations can be managed. Stakeholders in section D : Need most management attention because they are powerful and reaction is difficult to predict. May need to 'trial' new strategies with them.
The Power / Interest Matrix Classifies stakeholders in relation to their power and the extent to which they are likely to show interest in the actions of the organisation. Can be used to indicate the nature of the relationship which should be adopted with each group
Power / Interest Matrix: Stakeholders in group A: Need only minimum effort an monitoring Stakeholders in group B: Should be kept informed as they may be able to influence more powerful stakeholders Stakeholders in group C: Are powerful, but level of interest is low. Generally expected to be passive, but may move into group D on an issue of particular interest Stakeholders in group D: Are both powerful and interested. Their co-operation is of key importance for new strategies
The Power, Legitimacy and Urgency Model Maps stakeholder behaviour according to its balance of three characteristics: Power: Of the stakeholder to influence the organisation Legitimacy: of the relationship in terms of desirability or appropriateness Urgency: The expectations of the stakeholder in terms of criticality and time-sensitivity
Stakeholder behaviour is mapped into 7 types
Power, Legitimacy & Urgency Model Latent Stakeholders (Groups 1, 2 & 3): Sub-divided into 'dormant', 'discretionary', or 'demanding' stakeholders Expectant Stakeholders (Groups 4, 5 & 6): Sub-divided into 'dominant', 'dangerous', or 'dependent' stakeholders Definitive Stakeholders (Group 7): have all three characteristics and should command a high level of management attention Note: management's assessment of each stakeholders position is still subjective!
You should now be able to describe:
What is meant by a 'stakeholder'.
Who your organisation's stakeholders are
How Stakeholder Analysis can help you prioritise stakeholders for management attention
How you can categorise stakeholders
How Stakeholder Mapping can help identify key stakeholder groups


text:
Objective: To examine the association/effect of intraoperative cerebral oximetry (CeOx) on major organ morbidity and mortality (MOMM) after adult cardiac surgery. Design: A retrospective, multicenter cohort study. Setting: Patients treated at any hospital within the Society of Thoracic Surgeons Adult Cardiac Surgery Database between July 1, 2011, and December 31, 2016, with a 30-day postoperative follow-up. Participants: Individuals ≥18 years old undergoing isolated coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) or valve repair or replacement, or any combination of procedures with cardiopulmonary bypass. Interventions: Intraoperative CeOx. Measurements and Main Results: MOMM includes operative mortality, stroke, renal failure, prolonged mechanical ventilation, deep sternal wound infection, or reoperation for any reason within 30 days. Of 1.19 million patients who met inclusion criteria within 1,180 facilities, ∼30% (n = 361,124) received CeOx versus nonrecipients (n = 838,675) with similar baseline patient characteristics. Using a propensity score-based 1:1 greedy matching method, 99.7% of CeOx recipients (n = 360,285) were matched with nonrecipients. The rates of MOMM were lower with versus without CeOx. The absolute risk reduction translated to a number needed to treat of 227 patients (95% CI: 166-363, p < 0.0001). In sensitivity analyses of prespecified subgroups, the benefit was strongest among patients undergoing aortic valve repair or replacement ± CABG (more than 7 fewer MOMM events per 1,000, p < 0.0001). However, intensive care unit stay >72 hours was higher with CeOx. Conclusion: Intraoperative cerebral oximetry is associated with less major organ morbidity and mortality after adult cardiac surgery. A large-scale clinical trial is warranted, given that desaturation is common and correctable.
- cardiac surgery
- cerebral oximetry
- major organ morbidity and mortality
- STS database
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine
- Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine


text:
This sample contains example code that demonstrates much of the functionality of Solid Framework
This sample contains all that you need to get started using VB.Net with Solid Framework.
- Download a license from solidframework.net.
- Download the latest version of SolidFramework. We recommend the AnyCPU version of the library.
- Download the sample VB.Net Tutorial code which is a zip file.
- Extract the contents of the zip file.
- Extract the contents of the SolidFramework zip file into into the same folder that now contains the "VBNet Tutorials" folder.
- Copy the license into the SolidFramework folder.
- The solution should then build successfully.
- Run the project.


Awesome Conferences
Label those datacenter cables!
He wrote:
My reply is after the bump...
Fundamentally you are asking "What is the purpose of a cable label?" If you can answer this question then the labeling scheme becomes self-evident.
I believe the purpose of cable labels is to accelerate tracing. That is, when you need to know "where the other end" having labels means you can read the label instead of physically tracing the cable. If a cable has the same tag on both ends, if you find one end, you can find the other end. The minimum solution is to start numbering cables 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and so on. Label each end with the same number.
There are other things that COULD be the purpose of the cable labels. I'll list the 2 that come to mind. I think these are POTENTIAL purposes but that they solve problems that are solved better using other methods.
 1. What is the length, type, and so on. (i.e. Cat6 vs Cat5; 1m vs 6m vs 10m).
 2. What is connected to each end? (i.e. label each end with "router port 5 to host123")
I would argue that (1) is best done via cable color.
I would argue that (2) is an inventory nightmare: it creates more work than saves. It also solves a problem that doesn't exist. How often have you walked to a computer room to see what is connected to what? Generally you FIRST check the router "cam" table to see the ground truth. That answers your question 99% of the time. You only physically go to the computer room the remaining 1% of the time, and in this case you want to verify what you think you already know, which having a cable number on each end is all you need. In the 1% of the time that THAT is not successful, you end up tracing the cable or just trying a different cable.
On the other hand, this 1% of 1% can be solved by having each end labeled with "routerX port abc:23 connected to host123:eth1". However, maintaining such labels is a huge amount of labor for something that is extremely rare. Without such detailed labels you'd trace the cable (or more likely try a different cable to see if that solves the problem). With such detailed labels you create an inventory nightmare.
Early in my career I tried labeling cables with the name of the two ports on each end. Within a few months the cable labeled "host123" was re-used to connect host "host456" and rather than updating the label we just "lived with it". It was a mess. We eventually just started labeling each end with a unique number. Cables could be reused easily.
If you agree that the only purpose of a label is "to accelerate tracing" then it also means you do not need to keep a database of what each cable is for. You only need to store a single integer: What is the highest number used so far?
If you do choose to keep a database, it will be out of date within days. Even if you make it extremely easy to update, mistakes will happen. Then you'll be tempted to do a yearly database audit, which is a lot of work. Why would you create more work for yourself? Instead, a database that doesn't exist has no errors.
As a side note, this issue seems to be magnified because of the choice to have every machine connected all the way to a single central switch. That is a best practice from years ago that is no longer very popular. The current best practice is to have a switch in each rack (a "TOR" or "Top Of Rack" switch) and then have all the TORs connect to a main switch (the "core" switch). That way you have very short cable runs from the machines to the TORs; so short you might not even need to label them. The only long cable runs are from the TORs to the core switch. These are static and a simple integer-based labeling scheme is fine. I'm sure you have reasons for not going with a flat network instead, but this is one of the trade-offs to be considered.
P.S. There is more information about this in the Data Centers chapter of The Practice of System and Network Administration.
Posted by Tom Limoncelli in Technical Tips
In my first job, I had about a rack's worth of gear and unmanaged switches, so I always went with a form of option 2. On the host end, I'd use the port number. On the switch end, I'd use the host name. Using a Dymo handheld made it easy enough and the hardware rarely moved. At a larger scale, I can see how that would be terrible.
I'd never considered using meaningless-but-unique numbers to label cables, but that makes a lot of sense.
In a similar vein, it sure would be nice if vendors had a unique serial on each cable. Hexadecimal is surely dense enough that 8 characters (four billion combinations) would last a sufficient time.
Just sayin', it'd cost them nothing and be quite useful for lazy sysadmins.
Failing that, picking a random hex code internally and applying it to network cables would also work. I don't see the need to track the maximum number, just ensure that each one is unique.
I do maintain a shared spreadsheet of what is connected to what in my colos, and my standing rule is this: you do not leave the colo until the spreadsheet is updated. Ever.
So this keeps the db fresh. Move a network cable? Update the sheet. Move servers? Update the sheet. 2am emergency site visit requires rewiring? Update the sheet.
My one exception for cable labels is for pops that I won't often visit and would rely upon remote hands; in that case, labels are a boon.
You can definitely buy cables pre-labelled with any numbering scheme you'd like - we totally leverage that.
I cannot understate the importance of structured wiring in the data center. Scaling services to thousands of systems (and beyond) is difficult without it.
Finally, I want to chastise Tom for suggesting that using color to represent cable length is a good idea. (Sorry, Tom! :-) Cable length should be pre-printed by the vendor on the serial numbered label at each end of the cable. The thing we find color most useful for is identifying the cable wiring. Use some brightly colored standards for crossover and rolled cables, and then use other colors for specifying the purpose of straight-through cables. (Or stick to just three colors.)
The basic point here (that cables are a critical part of your infrastructure and should be actively managed) is spot on.
Color for length.. I mostly agree with you, David. What is on my mind is the Google data centers where colors are used for very specific lengths: There are (I think) 4 bundles of cables that patch machines into the TOR switch. Each is a different length so-as to waste less copper at the top by using shorter cables, etc. etc. Each is a different color. therefore color == length. (Of course the one picture of this that I can find actually shows a mixture of colors; not sure why that is)
The last time I had a job where I touched cables we had a simple color scheme that worked well: everything was grey except yellow cross-over cables and red cables for connections that were outside the firewall (red == danger). It was simple and worked. I think they grey might have been grey for cat5 and blue for cat6 but my memory is spotty.
As far as using structured wiring: absolutely!
Yeah, that latter case works well. You can also use the boot color (you do use booted cables, right?) to give the wiring type. I still don't like the length based scheme. It's not hard to simply stock the correct lengths (and have them pre-labelled) so you can always use the correct one. For places where you have standardized racks, you can even order the correct set of cables as a kit to wire up one rack of gear to a TOR. Easy to stock and easy to wire!
Anyone have cable labels they recommend? I've tried making my own with the p-touch and it just isn't so nice.
Also: Why top of rack switches? If you put the switch in the middle of the rack you increase the one or two inter-rack cable lengths but greatly reduce machine-to-switch cable lengths resulting overall in less cable used and a neater rack.
I feel safer with top of rack switches because they tend to evacuate the heat through, well, the top of the rack. It depends on the switch of course; we use dumb switchs for IPMI and those are towards the middle of the rack.
Regarding labels, we do use meaningless nubers for the network cables, but our power cables are labeled with the socket number. Servers can move frequently but power strips usually don't, so this scheme works quite well.
I hesitate to disagree with such a revered figure, but I think by obsessing over cable labels you are fudamentally missing the point of the problem that you are trying to solve.
Most of the time you shouldn't care at all about a cable. You almost always care about the two objects connected to the respective ends of the cable. And so to my mind if you are getting hung up on a cable, then your information-gathering systems are getting in the way of solving the problems you are trying to solve.
I elaborate more here:
Using cable color for length is a complete waste of a very valuable information. Color is something that is


How to Make Black Coffee at Home?
Mono Profile Picture Mono
How to Make Black Coffee at Home?
What is Coffee Beans?
Photo by Juan Pablo Arenas from Pexels
No doubt, Coffee is the most popular drinks in the world. Coffee is a brewed drink made from roasted coffee beans. It's the seeds of berries from certain Coffea species. It's tropical plant can be found close to equatorial regions in Ethiopia, Sudan, Madagascar, Comoros, Southeast Asia,Brazil, Africa etc...
There are 2 main types of coffee beans. Arabica and Robusta.
Basically Coffee Beans are Dried coffee seeds. You roast to vary degrees depending on desired flavor and Voila! our coffee beans are ready to be coffee.
From 15th century (From Arabia, Turkey, Persia) to now (all over world). Green, unroasted coffee became the most traded agricultural commodities in the world.
What are the different ways of making Black coffee?
You have 3 parameters to make a coffee and depends their ratio, you coffee can be acidic, smooth, cold, strong, aromatic. You need to use Temperature, Pressure, Time and of course a clean water.
Espresso machine : You put hot pressurized water directly to grinded coffee beans. It's really fast but you need an expensive machine for home.
Moka Pot : It's also a faster solution but you need finer than a drip coffee grind.
French Press: Basically you put how water on your grinded coffee and filter it what you put to your cup. No pressure, 90C water suggested. Very simple and easy solution. Metallic Filter cannot filter all particules.
Filter Paper / V60 / Drip / Pourover : They are very similar methods that use a paper filter which really stops particules and gives you very soft and smooth taste.
Tricks to make coffee taste better
Never use boiling water. Don't forget max: 90Celcius
Start with Cold water then heat it.
Use Cleaned, Filtered Water.
Use Fresh Coffee beans, If possible use your own grinder to keep beans fresh. grind as you needed.
Enjoy with music, love, books and friends
Mono Profile Picture Mono
Admin of mono


text:
AQA Units Literacy and Numeracy
AQA Unit Awards are nationally recognised and allow your child to gain certification across the curriculum and within extra-curricular activities. They allow students to show the skills gained, these are recognised by colleges and help students gain confidence in their abilities. We are using them across our range of subjects and hope that the students gain a broad range during their time here; this will help to show future placements the valuable skills learnt during their time at Burnside. We also use them as a useful tool to improve Literacy and Numeracy skills allowing students to gain awards for their progress.
Please work through the exercises below.


text:
Faculty Scholarship 1994 - Present
Leveraging Learning Styles to Improve Student Learning: The Interactive Learning Model and Learning Combination Inventory
This paper describes the Interactive Learning Model, and a related instrument called the Learning Combination Inventory, which identifies those patterns of processing that learners rely upon as well as those patterns that learners avoid. It further reports the results of an exploratory study using MIS students, the purpose of which was to see if a correlation exists between those learning patterns that a student relies upon and their success in two different types of learning activities. The results suggest that if students understood their own learning patterns they could develop specific strategies to become efficient and effective life-long learners.


Dolphin Chi
Circle of life, communication, joy and freedom.
Dolphins have long played an important role in human culture due to their intelligence, eagerness to communicate and their essence of pure joy. They represent the binding together of incompatible worlds. Dolphins also incarnate a powerful myth of femininity and are greatly associated with dolphin rider, Aphrodite, who was a Dolphin Goddess. In Greek mythology, Dolphins were considered with welcome since they symbolized a good omen for a smooth voyage. Embodying values such as caring, nurturing, communicating and highly evolved intelligence. Dolphins are an incredibly generous and joyful species. That is why HighChi decided to give away 10% of all profits generated by the Dolphin Chi pendant to, who are committed to saving dolphins and Whales and protecting our oceans. Together we can make a difference. Lets preserve the circle of life.
 Dolphin Chi
thick. 1/16"=2mm
bale 5/16"=8mm
height 1"=25mm
width 1.5"=38mm
Customer Reviews
Based on 1 review Write a review
Related Items


VISTA Training Offers PC-based Bulldozer Simulator
VISTA Training now offers a PC-based bulldozer simulator from Simlog. This instructionally designed simulation software puts trainees at the controls of a medium-sized bulldozer at work in a typical construction site. Seven simulation modules are structured to train entry-level operators on basic operation and core skills. Lessons begin with controls familiarization and progress to more complex tasks.
"This new dozer simulator is the perfect complement to VISTA's dozer training programs," said VISTA Training President Rick Longstaff. "By using them together, fleet owners can provide comprehensive yet cost-effective training to their operator candidates."
The operation of the bulldozer simulator can be customized to simulate the behavior of a wide variety of machines. For example, it can be configured to use separate foot pedals for the decelerator and brake, or just a single pedal that combines both functions. Blade speed can also be adjusted.
As trainees perform tasks in the simulator, the software records data about key performance indicators that measure how quickly and carefully the simulated work is performed. The simulator tracks more than 20 performance indicators. This data can be used to provide diagnostic coaching to trainees, to help them overcome weak spots in their skills.


A post about inbreeding depression in which I make no reference to the movie "Deliverance."
Bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) at Glacier National Park in Montana. Photo by Noah Reid.
As humanity spreads out over the globe, finding ever more clever ways to domesticate wild landscapes and harness natural processes to its will, many species of wildlife find their natural distributions becoming fragmented. Iconic North American species such as grizzly bears, red-cockaded woodpeckers, and the American burying beetle today inhabit only small fractions of the ranges they occupied only 100 years ago. A result of this fragmentation is that many individuals exist in small, isolated populations. In these populations, a curious phenomenon often emerges, one that can only be understood in light of some basic evolutionary theory. That phenomenon is known as inbreeding depression, and it refers to the decline in average fitness of individuals in a shrinking population.
Inbreeding depression is essentially a result of individuals in small, isolated populations being more likely to mate with close relatives. It's well known that mating with close relatives produces less fit offspring, and the aggregate effect in natural populations is seen as low average fitness and an ensuing low population growth rate. This can be a serious problem in populations subject to conservation efforts because even after protective measures have been taken (removing threats, restoring habitat) recovery can be hindered by inbreeding depression. Inbreeding depression is slightly more complicated than this, however, because it is not consistently seen in all small populations. In some island populations with very small population sizes (such as the Chatham Robin, Petroica traversi) inbreeding depression has not been observed (Jamieson et al. 2006).
Continue reading


text:
|Despite the extensive damage, some of those who examined the USS West Virginia after Pearl Harbor believed she could be repaired. These men, including Acting Captain Lt. Commander William White, believed it might be possible to raise the ship because it lay on an almost even keel. Planning for salvage operations began a week after the attack, but the West Virginia was low on the priority list due to the extensive damage it had suffered.|
|Efforts to raise the battleship began in early 1942. Huge cofferdams were built, weighted, and lowered by derricks to form a huge outer wall around the ship. Captain Homer N. Wallin, who headed the Salvage Division, utilized tremic cement to seal the cofferdams. The water and debris in the ship were then pumped out, while skimmers retrieved nearly 40,000 gallons of fuel oil. On May 17, 1942, the West Virginia floated and was towed to Drydock No. 1, where the cement was dynamited off the ship.|
|Salvage Report of Captain
The USS West Virginia remained in Drydock No. 1 for nearly one year. The wooden cofferdams were replaced with steel, a gun turret and steering gear were repaired, a new rudder was constructed and installed and the electric drive machinery was restacked and rewound. On May 7, 1943, the battleship departed for Puget Sound Navy Yard in Bremerton, Washington. Here the West Virginia was modernized with new deck armor, a new ventilation system, increased armament, radar and many other features.
Table of Contents


From CAF Network
Mission mission statement
The mission explains the core purpose of the organisation, what the organisation should achieve for its stakeholders and why the organisation exists. The mission of a public sector organisation results from a public policy and/or statutory mandates. The final goals an organisation sets out to achieve in the context of its mission are formulated in its vision. A mission statement is a written declaration which remains unchanged over a longer time and defines:
 - What is the purpose of the organisation?
 - What kind of productsor services are provided?
 - Who are the primary customers?
 - What are the values of the organisation?


*Lucy Shneyer, Schering Plough Research Institute
Often regions across the world may vary in their opinion on what the primary endpoint should be for a given disease. For example in studies of asthma, the FDA prefers a primary efficacy endpoint of FEV1 while EMEA prefers PEFR. In drug development programs, sponsors seek to conduct multinational Phase 2 and 3 studies to suit worldwide filings. If only a few studies are to be conducted, can these be designed in such a way as to satisfy all regulatory agencies? Can differing primary endpoints be handled through statistical analysis plans written to suit individual region preferences? On what basis then does the sponsor claim a study to be a success or failure? How does the statistician handle issues such as multiplicity in these situations? These and other questions can be discussed at this roundtable.


text:
Scientists who are changing the way we understand the world tell New Scientist CultureLab their favourite places to seek inspiration and reflect
IT MAY be called The Museum of Jurassic Technology, but the mixture of the bona fide and fantastical celebrated in the Culver City, California, venue makes it feel more like "a large installation artwork" to Alison Gopnik. "I've recently been exploring the links between the kinds of scientific imagination that enable us to construct radically new theories of the world and the kind of fertile fictive imagination that is ubiquitous in very young children's pretend play. This museum perfectly captures that exploratory human drive we see so clearly in both young children and scientists." Alison Gopnik is a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley
Growing up in Brixton, south London, James Lovelock says the place that most influenced him was the...
To continue reading this article, subscribe to receive access to all of newscientist.com, including 20 years of archive content.


Interpretation for Archeologists 3. What Do Interpreters Do? Distance Learning
(photo) Archeologists speaking with visitors at Harpers Ferry.
Archeologists speak with visitors at Harpers Ferry National Historic Park. (Paul A. Shackel, University of Maryland)
An effective interpreter provides visitors with accurate information in an engaging and entertaining way, is sensitive to their needs, and inspires them to take a personal interest in a resource. Interpretation involves far more than storytelling-it requires a set of skills that an interpreter learns and practices and constantly evaluates, updates, and adjusts.
Archeologists can learn a lot from what interpreters do. Archeologists as a whole are fairly new to public interpretation and outreach, yet in some ways public interpretation is not a huge leap for archeologists to make. Archeologists can find wider applications for their work and reach a broader, non-professional audience by acquiring skills in public outreach through interpretation.
In many ways archeologists are in a prime position to be interpreters. Archeologists know that sites and artifacts need context to derive meaning from them. They realize that their translation of the materials into narrative reports relates to larger questions we have today about how people lived in the past. Archeologists, of course, are aware that the interpretation of the past is full of pitfalls and biases. They understand what goes into creating a story about cultural resources. They may, though Section 106 compliance or ARPA cases, know about the use of that information and the story to make an argument for a particular point of view or to encourage appropriate maintenance of a resource. In these ways, the interpretive process in archeology isn't too different from the tangibles, intangibles, and universal concepts used by interpreters.
Case Study
Extensive archeology has been conducted in Manassas National Battlefield documenting the African American story at Manassas. Exhibit panels in the main visitor center entitled, "The Institution of Slavery" and "The Unresolved Question of Slavery" talk about the historical context, but exhibits online fill in archeological contributions.
Manassas National Battlefield
The main site for the park provides visiting information, programs, and histories of the park.
African American Households
Archeology uncovered information about enslaved and free African-Americans who were a part of the community on the battlefield. Studying the artifacts and different social histories of two free African-American sites, the Nash and Robinson House sites, provides evidence that the African-American community included diverse families who used different methods for defining their identity in this area of Virginia.
Lost, Tossed, and Found
Using photographs, illustrations, and maps, this exhibit focuses on the African-American experience, in slavery and freedom, in the immediate vicinity of Manassas National Battlefield Park. Archeological survey and excavations at the battlefield resulted in the discovery of structural remains and a diversity of artifacts associated with nineteenth-century African-American life.
The Robinson House
One of the major stories investigated by archeologists was that of a free black man, James Robinson. He and his family lived on the battlefield and their property suffered damage from the fighting. Archeologists reached out to Robinson's descendants to deepen their understanding of the site. The family members contributed maps, memories, and family history. Their perspectives mingled with archeological evidence and historical research to create a richer interpretation of the site than history or archeology alone could provide. The interpretive materials and programs, as a result, draw on the personal meaning and relevance of the site to the family as a starting point for the public to understand the possible relationships between modern groups and the past.


text:
SEND + MORE = MONEY, Part 2
August 3, 2012
In the previous exercise we looked at two slow solutions to the SEND + MORE = MONEY cryptarithm. In today's exercise we look at two more solutions.
Our third solution uses a hill-climbing algorithm. The basic idea is to start with a random solution, score it, then alter it, score the modified solution, keep it if it has a better score than the original, and repeat until the desired solution is found. For the cryptarithm problem, the alteration can be done by swapping the values assigned to two letters chosen randomly, and scoring can be done by computing the difference between SEND + MORE and MONEY; the solution is found when the difference is zero.
The problem with hill-climbing is that it can get stuck at a local optimum with no hope of achieving a global optimum. Consider the correct solution to the SEND + MORE = MONEY problem; we give the solution in a list, with O=0, M=1, and so on, and no letter assigned to 3 or 4: (o m y _ _ e n d r s). It is possible (it happened to me when I was writing the program) for hill-climbing to reach the solution (o m y _ e n _ d r s) with a score of 1. It takes two swaps to find the correct solution, but there is only one possible improvement in the score, from 1 to 0, so if a random hill-climb ever reaches the incorrect solution shown above, it will loop forever without reaching the correct solution.
Thus, our fourth solution is a variant of hill-climbing that adds additional randomization: a modified solution is always accepted if it has a better score than the original, and it is also accepted sometimes even if it has a worse score than the original, say about once in a hundred times. That way, if the hill-climbing reaches a local optimum, it has a way to "jump" to a different hill and continue to the global optimum.
The straight hill-climbing algorithm is fast when it works, taking half a second or less (depending on the randomization). The variant hill-climbing climbing algorithm always works, and is equally fast.
Your task is to write the two cryptarithm algorithms given above. When you are finished, you are welcome to read or run a suggested solution, or to post your own solution or discuss the exercise in the comments below.
Pages: 1 2


Ordinarily Extraordinary…
How would our leadership be described? Ordinary or extraordinary?
Ordinary is described with no special or distinctive features, normal, uninteresting, commonplace. Imagine where leadership leads with an ordinary approach.
Extraordinary is described as very unusual or remarkable, unusually great. It does not take long to know how we should answer the call to leadership.
If leadership remains ordinary, the results will be normal. However, if leadership strives to be extraordinary, the results are remarkable.
Consider the impact on taking that which is usual, with no special or distinct features and making it very unusual and remarkable.
When we consider our influence as spiritual leaders, followers deserve ordinarily extraordinary leadership.
Leave a Reply
%d bloggers like this:


Redox Reactions
Redox reactions are reactions that involves the transfer of electrons between chemicals. Redox reactions comprise of two main components; oxidation and reduction. Both of these reactions occurs simultaneously.
Oxidation is the process when a reactant loses an electron.
i.e. Zn(s)\longrightarrow Zn^{2+}(aq)+2e^{-}
Reduction is the process when a reactant gains an electron.
i.e. Cu^{2+}(aq)+2e^{-}\longrightarrow Cu(s)
It is important to note that substances that cause oxidation to occur are known as oxidising agents/oxidants however it itself is getting reduced. Similarly, substances known as reductants cause reduction to occur but it is getting oxidised. From the example of oxidation and reduction above, assuming they were both in the same system, the Zn(s) would be the reductant because it is causing the reductant reaction to occur and it itself is getting oxidised. The Cu2+ would be oxidant as it is causing the oxidation reaction to occur and it itself is getting reduced.
The way redox questions are solved are first by simply writing out the half equations for both the oxidant and reductant, eliminating e-s and finally adding up the two equations together as 1 overall balanced equation. Steps involved in writing out half equations include:
 - Balance all elements other than hydrogen and oxygen in the half equation.
 - Balance the oxygen atoms by adding H2.
 - Balance hydrogen atoms by adding H+
 - Balance the charge on both sides of the equation by adding e
See Also


text:
6 cups fresh blackberries
3 cups sugar
1 1 3/4 oz. package of dry pectin
- Add the blackberries to a large pot or Dutch oven.
- Using a potato masher, crush the blackberries. Do not use a food processor to do this step.
- Add the pectin powder to the blackberries and stir.
- Heat the blackberries over medium-high heat until they begin to boil.
- Add the sugar to the mixture and stir.
- When the blackberries begin to boil again, remove them from the heat and ladle the mixture into clean, hot mason jars. Leave 1/4 inch space at the top.
- Wipe the rim clean using a cloth. Then place canning lids and rings on top of each jar so that they are on tight.
- Place the jars in a canner that is filled with hot water to a depth of 1 inch above the tops of the lids of the jars.
- Bring the water in the canner to a boil for 10 minutes, then remove the jars from the canner using tongs.
- Let the jam cool for 12 hours. During this time, the jam inside will contract forming an air-tight seal.


Manchester to Caerphilly with us
Please ensure you book the correct taxi for your Manchester Airport or Around Manchester to Caerphilly journey. Vehicle capacity is indicated below:
Saloon Car
Oneway: £221.00
Return: £438.00
4x passengers 2x Suitcase 2x Hand Luggage
Estate Car
Oneway: £244.00
Return: £482.00
4x passengers 4x Suitcase 4x Hand Luggage
Executive Car
Oneway: £255.00
Return: £499.00
4x passengers 2x Suitcase 2x Hand Luggage
8 Seater Minibus
Oneway: £289.00
Return: £570.00
8x passengers 8x Suitcase 8x Hand Luggage
Overview of Caerphilly
Caerphilly is a town in South Wales, at the southern end of the Rhymney Valley. It is the largest town in Caerphilly (county borough). Historically it was in the county of Glamorgan, on the border with Monmouthshire. At the 2001 Census, the town had a population of 30,388. It is a commuter town for Cardiff and Newport, 7.5 miles (12 km) and 12 miles (19 km) away respectively, and is separated from the Cardiff suburbs of Lisvane and Rhiwbina by Caerphilly mountain and gives its name to Caerphilly cheese
The town's site has long been of strategic significance. Around AD 75 a fort was built by the Romans during their conquest of Britain. An excavation of the site in 1963 showed that the fort was occupied by Roman forces until the middle of the 2nd century.
Tradition states that a monastery was built in the area by St Cenydd, but this claim lacks support. Nonetheless, the district was formerly named Senghenydd after him, and Cenydd's son, St Ffili, is said to have built a fort (Welsh: caer) in the area and thus gave the town its name. Another explanation is that it is named after the Anglo-Norman Marcher Lord, Philip de Braose.
Following the Norman invasion of Wales in the late 11th century, the area of Sengenhydd remained in Welsh hands. By the middle of the 12th century the area was under the control of the Welsh chieftain Ifor Bach (Ifor ap Meurig). His grandson Gruffydd ap Rhys was the final Welsh lord of Sengenhydd, falling to the English nobleman Gilbert de Clare, the Red Earl, in 1266. In 1267 Henry III was forced to recognise Llywelyn ap Gruffudd as Prince of Wales, and by September 1268 Llywelyn had secured northern Sengenhydd. Gilbert de Clare had already begun to take steps to consolidate his own territorial gains, beginning the construction of Caerphilly Castle on 11 April 1268. The castle would also act as a buffer against Llewelyn's own territorial ambitions and was attacked by the Prince of Wales' forces before construction was halted in 1270. Construction recommenced in 1271 and was continued under the Red Earl's son, Gilbert de Clare, 8th Earl of Gloucester. With only interior remodelling carried out to the castle by Hugh le Despenser in the 1320s, Caerphilly Castle remains a pure example of 13th century military architecture and is the largest castle in Wales, and the second largest in Britain (after Windsor).
The original town of Caerphilly grew up as a small De Clare raised settlement just south of the castle. In 1316 Llywelyn Bren, believed to be the son of Gruffyd ap Rhys and therefore great-grandson of Ifor Bach, led an insurrection, laying siege to the castle. The outer ward of the castle was breached but not the inner defences, with the town itself burned. The town was rebuilt but remained very small throughout the Middle Ages. The first evidence of its emerging importance was the construction of a Court House in the 14th century, the only pre-19th century building still remaining in the town.
At the beginning of the 15th century the castle was again attacked, this time by Owain Glyndŵr, who took control of the castle around 1403-05. Repairs to the castle continued until at least 1430, but just a century later the antiquary John Leland recorded that the castle was a ruin set in marshland, with a single tower being used as a prison. In the mid-16th century the 2nd Earl of Pembroke used the castle as a manorial court, but in 1583 the castle was leased to Thomas Lewis, who accelerated the castle's dilapidation by removing stonework to build his nearby manor, The Van. The Lewis family, who claimed descent from Ifor Bach, left the manor in the mid-18th century when they purchased St Fagans Castle, The Van falling into decay.
During the 1700s, Caerphilly began to grow into a market town, and during the 19th century, as the South Wales valleys underwent massive growth through industrialisation, so to the town's population grew. Caerphilly railway station was opened in 1871, and in 1899 the Rhymney Railway built their Caerphilly railway works maintenance facilities; however, the expansion of the population in the 19th century was more to do with the increasing market for coal
Caerphilly Hotel Addresses:
Will update soon


text:
Up to half of the people treated at hospital emergency departments and trauma centers are under the influence of alcohol, experts say. That might be a sobering statistic, but a recent study found that emergency departments can help capitalize on this "teachable moment" to discourage problem drinking.
In the study, published online in the Annals of Emergency Medicine, nearly 600 emergency department patients who were identified as hazardous or harmful drinkers (defined for men as drinking more than 14 drinks per week or more than four on any single occasion, and for women as more than seven weekly drinks or three on any one occasion) took part in a seven-minute interview.
During the interview, an emergency department staff member described the link between alcohol use and the patient's condition as well as guidelines for low-risk drinking. The interviewer also encouraged the patient to discuss what was stopping him from drinking less and to set a drinking goal.
Compared with those who received standard care, patients who took part in the sessions reduced their average number of weekly drinks significantly as well as their episodes of binge drinking and of drinking and driving over the next 12 months.
"In the emergency department on a weekend, all the cases may be drugor alcohol-related, and yet we don't do" screening and intervention, says Gail D'Onofrio, the study's lead author, who is chair of emergency medicine at the Yale School of Medicine. "Our goal is to normalize this in the emergency department."
But so-called alcohol-exclusion laws in more than half of the country permit insurers to refuse to pay for medical services related to alcohol or drug use, and that can derail hospitals' best intentions, experts say. Faced with the prospect of not getting paid by health plans for care, some emergency department personnel might sidestep the problem by simply not testing patients' blood or urine for alcohol.
Although some of the country's nearly 4,000 emergency departments screen patients for drug or alcohol use, Level 1 and 2 trauma centers, which are typically equipped to handle emergency patients with serious injuries, must screen for problem drinkers. Level 1 trauma centers also must be able to provide counseling.
Such screening and counseling can be effective, says Larry Gentilello, a trauma surgeon who has published studies on injury prevention and substance abuse.
"Most of the people who are injured don't need to go into treatment," he says. "They aren't alcoholics or alcohol-dependent. That's why one counseling session can help them by talking about the risks of drinking."
The extent to which alcohol-exclusion laws deter emergency medical personnel from screening and counseling patients for alcohol or drugs is unknown.
The laws have a long history. Since 1947, more than 40 states have passed measures allowing health plans to refuse to pay for care if the patient's injuries occurred while he or she was under the influence of alcohol or, in some states, drugs. As people came to understand alcohol addiction and the possibility of treatment, however, it became clear that the laws were counterproductive. In 2001, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners recommended against them.
Since then, at least 15 states have repealed or amended their laws and now prohibit exclusions of coverage for drinking or drugs, according to data from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Maryland and the District of Columbia are among them; Virginia's law remains in place.
Regardless of state law, self-insured companies that pay their employees' health-care claims directly can refuse to cover employees for alcohol-related claims.
The laws have ensnared problem and occasional drinkers alike.
Gentilello describes the case of a Seattle woman who was celebrating her 25th wedding anniversary and had a few glasses of champagne at dinner with her family. It was a rainy night and she was wearing high heels. As she and her husband tried to hail a cab, she tripped on a curb, fell and broke her ankle. In the emergency department, her chart noted that she had had a few drinks. Her insurer refused to pay. In 2004, Washington state adopted a prohibition on alcohol-related claims exclusions.
It's unclear how frequently insurers apply such laws to avoid paying claims. Susan Pisano, a spokeswoman for America's Health Insurance Plans, a trade organization, says the group doesn't know what its members do in this area. Cynthia Michener, a spokeswoman for Aetna, says that "to our knowledge," the company doesn't apply such exclusions. Other insurers, including UnitedHealthcare and Humana, didn't provide information about their practices when queried.
But a professor who has written about such laws says there are indications that health plans continue to use them to deny payment.
"There are tons of these cases," says Sara Rosenbaum, a professor of health law and policy at George Washington University's School of Public Health and Health Services. "The only evidence we have suggests that these cases go on."
"There's no reason to think that insurers, eager to hold down costs, wouldn't continue" to deny payment based on such exclusions, she adds.
This column is produced through a collaboration between The Post and Kaiser Health News. KHN, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health-care-policy organization that is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.


text:
|| Tutorials home | Decreasing risk exposure | Safety tour | Emergencies | Meteorology | Flight Theory | Communications | Builders guide ||
The effect of wind
Rev. 23 — page content was last changed October 12, 2009
consequent to editing by RA-Aus member Dave Gardiner
|Flight Planning and Navigation|
An aircraft in flight is airborne and subject to the movement of the air mass in relation to the surface; i.e. the wind. The relatively low cruising speed of light aircraft makes them particularly affected by wind velocity. Consequently the calculation of the wind effect on aircraft movement relative to the ground is a major part of light aircraft flight planning and navigation.basic forces module of the flight theory section we said it is common practice to estimate resultant forces non-mathematically by drawing scaled, arrowed lines to represent each vector quantity; this produces the resultant of two vector quantities in a vector triangle or parallelogram. The lengths of the lines represent the magnitude of each force, and the placements indicate the application points and directions. We also know that an aircraft in flight is airborne, and consequently both the path it projects over the ground and its speed relative to the ground are the resultant of the aircraft velocity and the wind velocity.
For example, waypoint Beta is 150 nautical miles north-east (045° true) of waypoint Alpha and an aircraft departs overhead Alpha for Beta, maintaining a heading of 045° true while cruising at 75 knots TAS. At the time of departure, the wind velocity at the cruise altitude is 135°/20 knots; i.e. the 20-knot wind is coming from the south-east. Where will the aircraft be after two hours flight? Certainly not over Beta, as it will have moved 150 nm north-east within the air mass while the air mass has moved 40 miles north-west. So we might surmise that after two hours flight its position will be about 40 nm north-west of Beta, and this is shown in Figure 1. The aircraft has drifted from its intended path or track over the ground and the 'track made good' is about 15° to the left of the'required track'.
We should note that, relative to the aircraft's course, the wind velocity normally has both a crosswind component and a headwind or tailwind component, and that headwind or tailwind component will also affect the aircraft's speed relative to the surface — the ground speed.
The wind triangleSo, if we want to track over the direct route from Alpha to Beta we will have to ascertain both the wind velocity at the time of flight and a heading to fly that will provide the necessary crosswind correction angle. Remember that velocity vectors have both speed and direction. In the wind triangle we have only one completely known vector — the forecast wind velocity. We know part of the heading vector — the true airspeed — but not the direction. We also know part of the resultant vector — the direction (required track) from Alpha to Beta — but not the ground speed.
We can determine the two unknowns — the heading and the ground speed — by plotting scaled vectors on paper. You will need some drawing instruments, a protractor and ruler, but a pair of compasses or dividers can be useful.
- First draw a vertical line labelled 'true north' and mark a position on the line as waypoint Alpha.
- Using a protractor centred on Alpha and aligned with true north, mark the bearing to waypoint Beta; e.g. from the above, 045° true. Rule a line of appropriate length from Alpha through the bearing, marking it with two arrows to indicate it as the track direction and annotate that bearing.
- Wind velocity is given as the direction the wind is coming from and we need to plot the direction it is moving to — the reciprocal bearing. The reciprocal is the stated direction ±180°. Using a protractor centred on Alpha and aligned with true north, mark the reciprocal wind bearing: 135° ±180° = 315° true.
- Rule a line of appropriate length from Alpha through the wind bearing mark. Decide the scale to be used and mark off a distance along that line that equals the air movement during one hour; i.e. 20 nm (20 knots wind speed). Label that distance mark as the wind vector — v1. The convention is to add three arrows to the vector indicating direction, and annotate the wind velocity — 135/20 knots (Figure 2).
- Using the scale, open up the dividers or compasses to the distance equalling the air distance the aircraft travels in one hour; i.e. 75 nm at the cruise true airspeed of 75 knots. With one divider/compass point on v1 mark the track line with the other divider/compass point and label that v2 (Figure 3). Or just use the ruler to accomplish the same task.
- Draw a line connecting v1 and v2, marking it with one arrow to represent the heading vector. Its orientation with true north is the heading (060°T) and its length is the TAS. Thus we have the first unknown — the direction in which to point the aircraft. Annotate the heading (060°T) and TAS (75 kn). Also note the wind correction angle [WCA] — the difference between the track (045°T) and the heading (060°T) — is 15°, and the drift will be to the left — also known as port drift.
The wind correction angle is the angular difference between the required track and the heading, intended to ensure that the track made good will equate with the required track. Note that the terms 'crab angle' and 'drift angle' are very often used instead of 'wind correction angle'. But the latter term is more precise; crab angle and drift angle do have slightly different meanings or associations. Drift angle is measured in flight, and is the angle between the heading and the track made good. Crab angle is the preferred term when associated with crosswind landing.• Now measure the distance between Alpha and v2, which is the distance (72 nm) moved over the ground during one hour. This is the second unknown — the ground speed. Annotate the ground speed (72 kn) adjacent to the bearing (Figure 3).
- We can now calculate the sector flight time from overhead Alpha to overhead Beta; this time is called the estimated time interval [ETI].
ETI (minutes) = Distance (nm) / ground speed (kn) × 60 = 150/72 × 60 = 125 minutes.
It is interesting to note that even though the wind were a full crosswind, the ground speed is less than TAS and thus the ETI is a bit greater than you may have expected. This is because the heading of 060° would now include a small headwind component.
Direct headwind/tailwindIf the wind is aligned directly with the required track then of course it is not possible to construct the triangle, as there is no wind correction angle and the ground speed is the TAS ± wind speed. However, just as an illustration that the wind triangle still provides the correct answers, I have repeated the previous Alpha to Beta plot with winds that are only 10° off the required track; i.e. nearly full headwind and tailwind components.
It may be thought that if an out-and-return trip is flown where the wind is directly aligned with the required track, the headwind encountered in one direction will be offset by the tailwind in the reverse direction; thus the total flight time will be equivalent to that in nil wind conditions. Not so — the greater the wind speed the greater the flight time on an out-and-return flight, no matter what the wind direction.
Imagine a flight Alpha–Beta–Alpha in nil wind conditions. The ground speed on both the outward and return legs would equal the TAS (75 kn) and each leg would take 120 minutes for a total flight time of 240 minutes. Now let's factor in a 25-knot north-east wind. The ground speed on the outward leg would be 50 kn and the ETI would be 180 minutes, whereas the ground speed on the return leg would be 100 kn and the ETI 90 minutes for a total flight time of 270 minutes.
Plotting the wind vector triangle is the most accurate method for ascertaining heading and ground speed, but there are two other methods that are quite accurate enough for light aircraft cross-country navigation.
Back to top
boundary layer turbulence paragraphs in the microscale meteorology module), so there is no reason to try for absolute accuracy in the initial calculation of heading, ground speed and ETI.
So, rather than plotting the wind triangle we can introduce a few shortcuts to the process by using some simple mental arithmetic to estimate the crosswind and headwind/tailwind components of the wind velocity relative to the required track. Even so, it is wise to become familiar with plotting the wind triangle; the experience makes it much easier to mentally envisage the relationship between the vectors thus avoiding flying entirely in the wrong direction — which is remarkably easy to do.
The trigonometrical relationships of the two wind components — crosswind and headwind/tailwind — is shown in a wind triangle (Figure 5). In this example the wind angle is 30° relative to the required track and the wind speed is 20 knots. The sine of an angle = opposite side/hypotenuse, while the cosine of an angle = adjacent side/hypotenuse. In this wind triangle the hypotenuse represents the wind velocity vector, the side opposite to the angle represents the crosswind component of the wind velocity vector and the adjacent side represents the headwind component of the wind velocity vector. An ab


Burnham Overy Staithe sea defences
Burnham Overy is a civil parish on the north coast of Norfolk, England. In modern times a distinction is often made between the two settlements of Burnham Overy Town, the original village adjacent to the parish church and now reduced to a handful of houses, and Burnham Overy Staithe, a rather larger hamlet about 1 mile (2 km) away and next to the creek-side harbour.
Burnham Overy lies between the larger village of Burnham Market, less than 1 mile (2 km) to the west, and Holkham, some 3 miles (5 km) to the east. Burnham Thorpe, the birthplace of Horatio Nelson, lies 1 mile (2 km) to the south-east. According to various letters and documents, Nelson learned to row and sail a dinghy at Burnham Overy Staithe, at the age of 10, two years before joining the Navy. The larger town of King's Lynn is 20 miles (30 km) to the south-west, whilst the city of Norwich is 30 miles (50 km) to the south-east.
The civil parish has an area of 8.92 km2 and in the 2001 census had a population of 311 in 167 households. For the purposes of local government, the parish falls within the district of King's Lynn and West Norfolk.


text:
July 17, 2007 In a small study of patients undergoing tonsillectomy, or removal of the tonsils, none reported an ongoing dysfunction in their sense of taste following the procedure, according to a report in the July issue of Archives of Otolaryngology--Head & Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Together with the sense of smell and nerve impulses in the mouth, "the sense of taste contributes considerably to flavor perception during eating and drinking and thus plays a major role in the enjoyment of foods and beverages," according to background information in the article. The sense of taste shows little deterioration during aging but can be weakened by disease or medications. Accidental nerve damage during some medical procedures, including radiation treatment, middle ear surgery, dental or oral surgery or tonsillectomy, also can cause taste dysfunction.
Christian A. Mueller, M.D., of the University of Vienna, Austria, and colleagues asked 65 tonsillectomy patients (42 females, 23 males; average age 28) to rate their own sense of smell and taste before surgery on a scale of zero to 100, where zero is no sense of taste or smell and 100 is an excellent sense of taste and smell. Taste function and sensitivity also was assessed one day before surgery with gustatory testing, during which taste strips for four concentrations of sweet, sour, salty and bitter were applied to both sides of the front and back areas of the tongue. Between 64 and 173 days after surgery, patients were asked to report any changes to their sense of taste or smell and again asked to rate them from zero to 100. Gustatory testing was performed again on 32 patients.
On average, patients' ratings of their sense of taste and smell decreased following surgery--the average score was 62.3 before surgery and 51.1 after surgery. However, there were no significant changes in gustatory test scores following surgery. In addition, none of the patients reported ongoing dysfunction in their sense of taste or smell at the follow-up questioning.
"This raises the question of whether taste ratings also depend on attentional factors," the authors write. "Thus, it may be hypothesized that the patients' ratings of taste function were influenced by the presence of postoperative pain, oral discomfort or wound healing during the first days and weeks after tonsillectomy."
"A number of case reports and a few systematic investigations of patients experiencing taste disorders after tonsillectomy have been published," they conclude. "However, based on the present results, taste loss after tonsillectomy seems to be a rare complication."
Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.


text:
|This article is non-canon.
This article covers a subject that has been deemed non-canon by either the author or the Harry Potter licensees, and thus should not be taken as a part of the "real" Harry Potter universe.
- "Students must consent to have their post checked for illegal contraband."
- —The Decree.[src]
The Educational Decree Number Forty-Seven was one of the Educational Decrees created by Dolores Umbridge, then-Hogwarts High Inquisitor. This Educational Decree required students to consent to their post being inspected for illegal contraband.
Behind the scenes
- As the numbering for this Educational Decree is not consistent with the numbering established in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, it cannot be considered canonical. Furthermore, in the novel, Umbridge had her Inquisitorial Squad open and inspect all owl post without any "request" for student consent.
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film) (First appearance)
- Harry Potter: The Exhibition
- Harry Potter Limited Edition


text:
By default, new-style classes are constructed using type().
A class definition is read into a separate namespace and the value
of class name is bound to the result of
type(name, bases, dict).
When the class definition is read, if __metaclass__ is defined then the callable assigned to it will be called instead of type(). The allows classes or functions to be written which monitor or alter the class creation process:
dict. Upon class creation, the callable is used instead of the built-in type(). New in version 2.2.
The appropriate metaclass is determined by the following precedence rules:
dict['__metaclass__']exists, it is used.
The potential uses for metaclasses are boundless. Some ideas that have been explored including logging, interface checking, automatic delegation, automatic property creation, proxies, frameworks, and automatic resource locking/synchronization.
See About this document... for information on suggesting changes.


text:
A copy of this work was available on the public web and has been preserved in the Wayback Machine. The capture dates from 2017; you can also visit the original URL.
The file type is
A Diabatic Lagrangian Technique for the Analysis of Convective Storms. Part II: Application to a Radar-Observed Storm
Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology
A new diabatic Lagrangian analysis (DLA) technique that derives predicted fields of potential temperature, water vapor and cloud water mixing ratios, and virtual buoyancy from three-dimensional, time-dependent wind and reflectivity fields (see Part I) is applied to the radar-observed 9 June 2009 supercell storm during the Second Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes Experiment (VORTEX2). The DLA diagnoses fields of rain and graupel content from radar reflectivity and predicts thedoi:10.1175/jtech-d-13-00036.1 fatcat:gbcjngaqjbe73lmd7qur3dvuqq


text:
Law & Literature
Law & Literature Syllabus
Please visit _URL_ and link to the "Law-Lit Syllabus" in the left-hand column of the home page. Check the syllabus for the books we will read this semester, along with other pertinent information about our class.
For our first class together, we turn to our first readings – a play and a poem. Please read the following for our first class:
1. Antigone by Sophocles (preferably the David Grene translation); and
2. "Justice Without Passion" by Jane Hirshfield (Professor Lewis will email to class)
We start our class discussion with Antigone, focusing on the following questions, among others: How can we compare the various understandings and manifestations of law presented or implied in Antigone? In particular, what is law to Antigone and Creon – how do they understand it, where does it come from, and where does it get its legitimacy and authority? Why do these questions matter to Antigone and Creon and the other characters?
In a related vein, ask yourself whether it is ever legitimate to ignore, reject or disobey the law?
In Antigone, we feel compelled to choose sides. Which side do you choose and why?
We close class with Jane Hirshfield's poem, "Justice Without Passion." Hirshfield's poem bridges the concerns of Antigone to future readings this semester.
Feel free to email Professor Lewis (_EMAIL_) with any questions or concerns.


In Files
 - scanf.rb
Class/Module Index [+]
scanf for Ruby
scanf for Ruby is an implementation of the C function scanf(3), modified as necessary for Ruby compatibility.
scanf for Ruby scans an input string or stream according to a format, as described below ("Conversions"), and returns an array of matches between the format and the input. The format is defined in a string, and is similar (though not identical) to the formats used in Kernel#printf and Kernel#sprintf.
Basic usage
require'scanf.rb'
# String#scanf and IO#scanf take a single argument (a format string)
array = aString.scanf("%d%s")
array = anIO.scanf("%d%s")
# Kernel#scanf reads from STDIN
array = scanf("%d%s")
Block usage
str = "123 abc 456 def 789 ghi"
The following conversions are available. (See the files EXAMPLES and tests/scanftests.rb for examples.)
Matches an optionally signed decimal integer.
Same as d.
Matches an optionally signed octal integer.
Matches an optionally signed hexadecimal integer,
Matches an optionally signed floating-point number.
Assignment suppression
See the files EXAMPLES and tests/scanftests.rb.
scanf for Ruby compared with scanf in C
Unimplemented flags and specifiers
 - The only flag implemented in scanf for Ruby is '*' (ignore upcoming conversion). Many of the flags available in C versions of scanf(4) have to do with the type of upcoming pointer arguments, and are literally meaningless in Ruby.
Altered specifiers
Return values
Return values
Without a block, scanf returns an array containing all the conversions it has found. If none are found, scanf will return an empty array. An unsuccesful match is never ignored, but rather always signals the end of the scanning operation. If the first unsuccessful match takes place after one or more successful matches have already taken place, the returned array will contain the results of those successful matches.
Test suite
scanf for Ruby includes a suite of unit tests (requiring the TestUnit package), which can be run with the command ruby tests/scanftests.rb or the command make test.
Current limitations and bugs
When using IO#scanf under Windows, make sure you open your files in binary mode:"filename", "rb")
so that scanf can keep track of characters correctly.
Technical notes
Rationale behind scanf for Ruby
The impetus for a scanf implementation in Ruby comes chiefly from the fact that existing pattern matching operations, such as Regexp#match and String#scan, return all results as strings, which have to be converted to integers or floats explicitly in cases where what's ultimately wanted are integer or float values.
Design of scanf for Ruby
scanf for Ruby is essentially a -toconverter.
When scanf is called, a FormatString object is generated from the format string ("%d%s…") argument. The FormatString object breaks the format string down into atoms ("%d", "%5f", "blah", etc.), and from each atom it creates a FormatSpecifier object, which it saves.
Each FormatSpecifier has a regular expression fragment and a "handler" associated with it. For example, the regular expression fragment associated with the format "%d" is "([-+]?d+)", and the handler associated with it is a wrapper around String#to_i. scanf itself calls Scanf::FormatString#match, passing in the input string. Scanf::FormatString#match iterates through its FormatSpecifiers; for each one, it matches the corresponding regular expression fragment against the string. If there's a match, it sends the matched string to the handler associated with the FormatSpecifier.
Thus, to follow up the "%d" example: if "123" occurs in the input string when a FormatSpecifier consisting of "%d" is reached, the "123" will be matched against "([-+]?d+)", and the matched string will be rendered into an integer by a call to to_i.
The rendered match is then saved to an accumulator array, and the input string is reduced to the post-match substring. Thus the string is "eaten" from the left as the FormatSpecifiers are applied in sequence. (This is done to a duplicate string; the original string is not altered.)
As soon as a regular expression fragment fails to match the string, or when the FormatString object runs out of FormatSpecifiers, scanning stops and results accumulated so far are returned in an array.
License and copyright
© 2002-2003 David Alan Black
Distributed on the same licensing terms as Ruby itself
Warranty disclaimer
Credits and acknowledgements
scanf for Ruby was developed as the major activity of the Austin Ruby Codefest (Austin, Texas, August 2002).
Principal author
David Alan Black (
Hal Fulton (
Project contributors
Nolan Darilek, Jason Johnston
Thanks to Hal Fulton for hosting the Codefest.
Thanks to Matz for suggestions about the class design.
Thanks to Gavin Sinclair for some feedback on the documentation.
Bugs and bug reports
If you want to help improve the Ruby documentation, please visit
blog comments powered by Disqus