How to Write Effective PPC Ads to Please the Brain and Search Engines
Thinking Man statue
For the past few weeks, we've been showing how important it is to respect the brain when writing effective content for Web sites. As we know, the brain has two distinct hemispheres that help it function as a whole. The left side of the brain gives us the ability to reason and think logically. The right side of the brain is responsible for giving us our creative and emotional abilities and allowing us to process the information we take in. The whole brain combines all the elements together and makes us who we are. Effective Web content must appeal to both sides of the brain while engaging the whole brain simultaneously. Logic, creativity and emotion must combine together seamlessly to close the deal.
When writing content, you have much more leeway to get your point across. When writing Pay Per Click (PPC) ads, you have to be creative and effective with fewer characters. It's quite challenging, but with a few important tips, it can be done. The thing to remember is to stay within the guidelines of PPC protocol and keep the brain in mind when you design a PPC ad campaign.
PPC ads target customers who have narrowed down their searches and know exactly what they are looking for. You want them to choose your product or service over all the other ads they see on the SERP. Your motivation is twofold: 1. You want their business; 2. You want a conversion because you are paying a fee each time a user clicks on your ad. Since you don't want to waste your PPC budget on meaningless clicks, you'd better be sure your ads are going to get results. Here are some tips.
Keep the Left Side of the Brain in Mind
Don't waste valuable space with useless information. You want your ad to convey logic and reason. Users who know what they're looking for want to know exactly what they are getting.
For example:
The web site is
The searches are variations of Dog Grooming
The "Logical" ad would look like:
Line 1: Full Service Puppy & Dog Grooming.
Line 2: Schedule Today _PHONE_
Don't Forget the Right Side of the Brain
While appealing to logic, you cannot forget to appeal to emotion as well. The brain already knows what it wants, but you have to tell it why it should choose your product or service over all the others. In other words, you need an emotional hook: use phrases that appeal to the right side of the brain by focusing on creative ways to sell your product. Users know they need it - now they have to want it as well.
For example:
The web site is
The searches are variations of Dog Grooming
The "emotional" ad would look like:
Line 1: Groom Your Fur Baby
Line 2: Pamper "man's best friend" Today.
Remember that the Brain Functions as a Whole
You've got the logic; you've got the emotion; now it needs to sound plausible, not spammy. The three lines should flow together nicely and appeal to the brain as a whole. The first line describes exactly what users are looking for. The second line tells them why they want it. The third line tells them how they will feel after they've obtained it. There you have it: left-right-whole. When your PPC ads are well written, the brain is happy, and the merchant is happy because the campaign pays for itself with conversions.
For example:
The web site is
The searches are variations of Dog Grooming
The "Whole" ad would look like:
Line 1: Full Service Puppy & Dog Grooming.
Line 2: Pamper Your Fur Baby Today.
A PPC campaign is only as effective as the landing page the ad links to. After you've gotten the click, remember to employ these tactics on your landing page to ensure that users continue on the path to purchasing what you have to offer. The ad encourages them to check out your product; the landing page must win them over.
For more information about how to write effective PPC ads, ask a Toronto SEO Consultant.
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text: The CPC4400s are the first CompactPCI switches compliant with the PICMG 2.16 standard, which offers the option of sending all Ethernet signals through the midplane - enabling designers to vastly increase the inter-board communication capabilities of subsystems located in a CompactPCI chassis. By moving the system traffic from the shared bus architecture of CompactPCI to a fault-tolerant, yet industry standard, switchedbackplane approach, overall system throughput can be doubled while retaining the inherent robustness, reliability and hot-swap capabilities of CompactPCI. The CPC4400s come from the leader in fault tolerant Ethernet switching. They are the first 10/100/1000 Ethernet switches in the cPCI form factor to offer sophisticated high availability switching features including 802.3AD Link Aggregation, VRRP, 802.1q VLANs and 802.1p CoS. They can be configured as fully redundant, non-blocking switching fabrics to help ensure that no single point of failure halts network traffic. The CPC4400s have been specifically designed to make embedded system integration tasks easier. Each comes with a potent scripting language, called Lua, that can be used to easily change switch configuration/behavior, attached client setups, fail-over rules, etc., based on SNMP traps, network events or system configuration changes.

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


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Like most people, water conservation wasn't on Mary Ann Dickinson's radar 30 years ago. With her sights set on environmental protection, her career entailed issuing permits and governmental affairs. But after a state law in the late 1980s added water conservation to her list of responsibilities at a Connecticut water utility, it only took Dickinson a matter of months to discover something that still drives her today: Almost everyone—including the green community—takes water for granted.
"I quickly figured out that it was a largely ignored topic area," Dickinson remembers. "Everyone was consumed with energy. Nobody thought about water. Water was presumed to be abundant enough, and unless you were in India or Africa, water was not something that you cared about. As a result, it became sort of a motivated issue for me."
And now, 24 years later, Dickinson is what some might call one of the modern mothers of water conservation. As founder, president, and CEO of Chicago-based Alliance for Water Efficiency, Dickinson has been instrumental in advocating the need for water conservation in North America, as well as other parts of the world.
In addition to creating the only national nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting water efficiency, Dickinson was also part of a group of advocates that pushed for water to have a seat at the USGBC. The Council now has a water-efficiency technical advisory group—a group chaired by one of the Alliance for Water Efficiency's board members.
Dickinson also advocated for a water label to be added to consumer products, which eventually led to the development of the WaterSense program. She was even part of a group dedicated to bringing tighter U.S. standards for toilets in the early 1990s. Those standards still exist today.
Even with those major accomplishments under her belt, Dickinson will be the first to tell you water is still more of an afterthought—if not a nuisance—to most people, including the green building community. "One of the things that has already frustrated me about water efficiency is that somehow we are the stepchild in the green building process, even though a community can't grow without adequate water supplies," she says. "Planners and builders just always assume that it is the water utility's job to get the water for them. It's not their problem."
As you might have guessed, that's not how Dickinson sees it. "I want green building professionals to realize that water is an important piece of that whole picture they design," she says. "They need to be thinking about more sustainable ways to design their developments so that they are not always relying on somebody piping in the water and piping away the waste. That's the traditional model that we've used for 100 years, but that's a very consumptive model."
She says one of the problems is that there are many myths about water use. "I think there is a significant misunderstanding about what saves water, what doesn't, what is cost effective, what isn't, and what people should do that truly would save water," Dickinson says.
For instance, many building professionals and utilities assume that if they are creating a development for an additional 100,000 people, they need to come up with that much extra water to accommodate the new residents. "It's not a straight line extrapolation," Dickinson says. "Depending on how you design a development and how efficiently you design the water use, you can actually use far less water than what was originally envisioned. In fact, per-capita water use around this country is decreasing."
Another myth is that consumer behavior is one of the reasons water use is declining. Although education efforts are starting to reach the consumer, Dickinson says the real reason for the decrease is because of standards efforts. Today's dishwashers and washing machines, for example, use 60% less water than they did 10 to 15 years ago—something the average consumer doesn't even realize.
Homeowners also think that they use the most water inside of their homes, but statistics show that 50% to 60% of their water is actually being applied outside—on their lawn. And furthermore, says Dickinson, homeowners generally don't realize that they are irrigating with treated, drinking-quality water.
"We are spending billions of dollars nationally in terms of water treatment just to throw it out on the lawn," Dickinson says. "We need to have a better assessment of how much water we are going to be putting out there and what level of quality that water should be."
It's also important to understand that it takes energy to treat and pump that water. In fact, Dickinson believes an understanding of the relationship between water and energy is the only way to be truly sustainable. "Just because something is energy efficient, it doesn't mean it is automatically water efficient. You have to run the numbers and figure it out," she says.
Take green roofs as an example. If a builder based in Phoenix is irrigating a newly installed green roof with potable water, he is likely using more energy to pump that water than if he would have never put in the green roof at all. The same is true for many tankless water heaters, according to Dickinson. "Tankless water heaters clearly save energy," she says. "But statistics all show that when presented with an unlimited hot water source, people often take longer showers."
The encouraging news it that water is starting to find its way on the green priority list. Energy Star now includes water consumption as part of its efficiency equations for appliances, and the government added water standards to its dishwasher requirements in 2010 and to clothes washer requirements in 2011.
Competition among product manufacturers is also helping push water efficiency to the forefront. "For a while, some [water-efficient] products had performance issues, but now they are just spectacularly good," Dickinson says. "That kind of competitiveness and new innovation is happening in water efficiency as it has been happening in energy. These are big changes that we didn't see 10 years ago."
And if Dickinson has her way, the next 10 years will see even bigger changes. Although she admits that it is "tiresome" to constantly find water efficiency at the bottom of most builders' check lists, Dickinson and her organization have no intention of slowing their efforts. "We want to encourage developers to think about how they would build a house that's super water efficient and cost effective," she says. "There is a lot that can be done that is very low tech, very affordable, and very beautiful."

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


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EDX4150 Transitions in Secondary Education
|Semester 1, 2012 On-campus Toowoomba|
|Faculty or Section :||Faculty of Education|
|School or Department :||Education|
|Version produced :||26 May 2013|
Examiner: Catherine Arden
Moderator: Trevor Black
Increasingly, there is an expectation that secondary schools will prepare students for the full range of post-school options. Schools are facing the difficult task of preparing diverse students for an increasingly pluralistic society in an uncertain world, in rapidly changing times. Schools are expected to prepare students for the future, whatever that future may be. To do so, they are expected to work with a variety of organisations,
including other educational institutions, community, industry, business and voluntary organisations.
In recent times both Federal and State Governments have identified the need to provide suitable pathways for students so they can transition effectively from the school setting to further study and training or into the workplace. This course will provide students with a framework for developing their knowledge and awareness of how the role of senior schooling is changing and also provide opportunities for students to reflect upon the changing role of the teacher in secondary schools. The course utilises a case study strategy to ensure the students meet and discuss contemporary issues related to pathways with experts in the school setting. With the emphasis upon supporting students as they choose the most appropriate pathways for their future, the students in this course will investigate processes currently in place related to career planning and education.
The course objectives define the student learning outcomes for a course. The
assessment item(s) that may be used to assess student achievement of an objective
are shown in parenthesis. On completion of this course students will be able to:
demonstrate understanding of the impact of societal change on the purposes of
education, the role of the educator and the role of the school (Assignment 1 and 2)
demonstrate knowledge of contemporary education policy and initiatives and
their impact on secondary schooling (Assignment 1 and 2)
- demonstrate understanding of issues relating to the transition of students from school to work and further education and training and the range of educational responses, strategies and initiatives designed to support successful transitions for all students including under-represented groups (Indigenous, ESL, non-metropolitan etc). (Assignment 1 and 2)
- demonstrate an understanding of career planning and career education and their significance in preparing students for their futures and analyse the impact of career planning and career education on the work of teachers 9 Assignments 1 and 2)
- conduct an in-depth analysis of a topic of interest related to transitions in secondary education and discuss implications for the changing role of schools, teachers, students and the nature of the curriculum (Assignment 1 and 2)
- demonstrate competence in written language and scholarly writing including correct spelling, grammar and bibliographic referencing (Assignment 1 and 2)
|1.||The changing world and schooling||15.00|
|2.||Contemporary education policy and initiatives and their impact upon secondary schooling||15.00|
|3.||Student pathways in the Senior phase||15.00|
|4.||The importance of career guidance and education in schools||20.00|
|5.||Vocational Education and Training||15.00|
|6.||Educators as leaders in a changing world-implications for the beginning teacher||20.00|
Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed
ALL textbooks and materials available to be purchased can be sourced from USQ's Online Bookshop (unless otherwise stated). (_URL_
Please contact us for alternative purchase options from USQ Bookshop. (_URL_
- There are no texts or materials required for this course.
Student workload requirements
|Description||Marks out of||Wtg (%)||Due Date||Notes|
|ASSIGNMENT 1||50||50||02 Apr 2012|
|ASSIGNMENT 2||50||50||11 Jun 2012|
Important assessment information
It is the students' responsibility to attend and participate appropriately in all activities scheduled for them, and to study all material provided to them or required to be accessed by them to maximise their chance of meeting the objectives of the course and to be informed of course-related activities and administration.
Requirements for students to complete each assessment item satisfactorily:
To satisfactorily complete an individual assessment item a student must achieve
at least 50% of the marks.
Penalties for late submission of required work:
If students submit assignments after the due date without (prior) approval of the examiner then a penalty of 5% of the total marks gained by the student for the assignment may apply for each working day late up to ten working days at which time a mark of zero may be recorded. No assignments will be accepted after model answers have been posted.
Requirements for student to be awarded a passing grade in the course:
To be assured of receiving a passing grade a student must achieve at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the course.
Method used to combine assessment results to attain final grade:
The final grades for students will be assigned on the basis of the aggregate of the weighted marks obtained for each of the summative assessment items in the course.
There is no examination in this course.
Examination period when Deferred/Supplementary examinations will be held:
As there are no examinations in this course, there will be no deferred or supplementary examinations.
University Student Policies:
Students should read the USQ policies: Definitions, Assessment and Student Academic Misconduct to avoid actions which might contravene University policies and practices. These policies can be found at _URL_
APA style is the referencing system required in this course. Students should
use APA style in their assignments to format details of the information sources
they have cited in their work. The APA style to be used is defined by the USQ
Library's referencing guide.
Students will require access to e-mail and have Internet access to UConnect for this course.


text:
KalimantanArticle Free Pass
Kalimantan, southern three-quarters of the island of Borneo that is politically part of Indonesia. Indonesians, however, use the word as a geographic term for the entire island. The origin of the name Kalimantan is obscure. In Sarawak the term Kelamantan refers to the sago-eating peoples of northern Borneo. Indonesian Kalimantan is divided into four propinsi-propinsi (provinces): Kalimantan Barat, Kalimantan Tengah, Kalimantan Selatan, and Kalimantan Timur.
The history of Indonesian Borneo is closely linked to that of India, and there is considerable evidence of Indian cultural influences. Inscriptions in Sanskrit that date from the late 5th century have been found there, as well as an early Buddha figure. Numbers of other Buddhist and Hindu images that date from the 7th to the 11th century and that show Javanese influence have also been found in eastern Borneo. The Śrivijaya empire of Sumatra was, in fact, the predominant power in southern and western Borneo from the 7th century until the Majapahit empire of eastern Java conquered the area in the 14th century. With the arrival of Islām in the 16th century, a number of separate Muslim states were formed. In the first half of the 17th century, the Dutch extended their influence in Borneo by a series of trade and fortification agreements with individual states and also by intervening in internal disputes. British involvement in the affairs of the sultanate of Brunei and the British acquisition of territory eventually led the Dutch to adopt a more active policy of expansion. By 1863 they had established colonial rule, though sporadic resistance continued until 1905. The island was occupied by the Japanese during World War II. With news of Japanese surrender came a strong Indonesian independence movement, and, though the Dutch at first attempted to retain control, Kalimantan became a part of the Republic of Indonesia in 1949–50.
What made you want to look up "Kalimantan"? Please share what surprised you most...


Date Awarded
Summer 2021
Document Type
Degree Name
Master of Arts (M.A.)
American Studies
Leisa D Meyer
Committee Member
Simon A Stow
Committee Member
Andrew H Fisher
Women of all backgrounds have contributed to the environmental history of the United States, but most of the environmental historical scholarship places such women alongside men and by doing so clouds their involvement as well as their achievements. This discussion introduces readers to pieces of environmental history that engage gender as a framework, while also acknowledging that there is not an individual women's environmental experience by covering specific yet contrasting geographical spaces. The American West and the New York Adirondacks offer diverse perspectives and experiences of pioneering women who interacted with the environment, including Diné women, park rangers, Adirondack guides and residents, nature lovers, conservationists, and more. This research unearths the stories and experiences of these women, creating a more balanced and fuller image of the ways in which humans interacted with nature, while shining a light on the undervalued narratives of the frequently uplifting and consistently complex history of American women in relation to the environment.
© The Author


text:
The elephant in the room – combatting stigma
Who is this session for: all employees
Make a booking enquiry
This session is for all employees.
The purpose of this session is to give participants an awareness of stigma and the impact of this in the workplace, and to take proactive steps to breaking down stigma around health and wellbeing.
- How to stop feeding the elephant, tools to eradicate health stigma
- Recognising and challenging stigma at work
- Stigma and culture change
- Language and labels
- The courage of conversations
- Increased awareness and understanding of the impact of stigma
- Tools to combat stigma and promote open communication
- A 90-minute session
- Up to 18 delegates
- Interactive delivery using polls, chat, breakout discussions


text:
If you were thinking of using the film "High School Musical" in your lesson plans, there is a whole teaching resource availablecompletely free! The resource is called " The Music In You" and is 28 pages of colour, crammed with information about the show and activities your students can do. So thankyou to the
Why not create your own "musical item" in your next music class? I found inspiration from this clip called "Food Court Musical" Just a bit of fun, but why not use it with your classes to get them inspired to compose their own "If Life was a Musical" sketch!


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€9m EU project on deep-sea organisms under way
19 February 2013 | News story
IUCN is supporting the PharmaSea project which will bring European researchers to some of the deepest, coldest and hottest places on the planet.
Scientists from the UK, Belgium, Norway, Spain, Ireland, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and Denmark will work together to collect and screen samples of mud and sediment from huge, previously untapped, oceanic trenches.
The large-scale, four-year project is backed by more than €9.5 million of EU funding and brings together 24 partners from 14 countries from industry, academia and non-profit organisations.
The PharmaSea project focuses on biodiscovery research and the development and commercialisation of new bioactive compounds from marine organisms, including deep-sea sponges and bacteria, to evaluate their potential as novel drug leads or ingredients for nutrition or cosmetic applications.
The international team of scientists is led by Professor Marcel Jaspars of the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, and coordinated by Dr Camila Esguerra of the University of Leuven in Belgium.
One of the aims of PharmaSea is to discover new marine bacteria that can produce novel antibiotics: "There's a real lack of good antibiotics in development at the moment. There hasn't been a completely new antibiotic registered since 2003. If nothing is done to combat this problem we're going to be back to a 'pre-antibiotic-era' in around 10 or 20 years, where bugs and infections that are currently quite simple to treat could be fatal", says Marcel Jaspars, who is Professor of Chemistry and Director of the Marine Biodiscovery Centre at the University of Aberdeen. PharmaSea will also focus on drug discovery for neurological, inflammatory, and other infectious diseases.
Only a handful of samples have ever been taken from deep trenches and investigated, so the project is breaking new ground. "PharmaSea will not only be exploring new territory at the bottom of the oceans, but also new areas in 'chemical space'. With our broad platform of cutting-edge bioassays to detect drug-like activity, we'll be testing many unique chemical compounds from these marine samples that have literally never seen the light of day. We're quite hopeful that we'll find a number of exciting new drug leads", says Dr Camila Esguerra, Industrial Research Fellow and Lecturer with the Laboratory for Molecular Biodiscovery at the University of Leuven.
Marine organisms that live at depths of more than 2,000 metres are considered to be an interesting source of novel bioactive compounds as they survive under extreme conditions.
"Trenches are separated from each other and represent islands of diversity. They are not connected to each other and life has evolved differently in each one," explains Marcel Jaspars.
IUCN, through its Environmental Law Centre, will support the project by participating in an advisory panel of policy and legal experts who will identify and analyse policy and legal barriers to access and sustainable use of marine genetic resources. IUCN will also contribute to case studies and best practices on access and benefit-sharing (ABS) and intellectual property rights (IPR), and organize one of the project's two multi-stakeholder workshops. It will also help develop an information toolkit.
Further information: _URL_


text:
Title: Los Angeles Ethnicity
Map Extent: Southern Los Angeles, California
Map Scale: 1:275,000
Media: PowerPoint slide
Page Size (w x h): 908 x 740 pixels
Map Category: Analysis
Key to Icons Opens in new window
This map shows the results of an ethnicity study for southern Los Angeles, California. The purpose of the map is to show where the various ethnic populations are located within the city and where these populations overlap. In the past, such information was either displayed aspatially in tables or geographically on maps showing the density of one ethnic group at a time within the reporting units, such as census block groups. This map offers the advantage of showing where different ethnic groups overlap geographically and where they do not.
The audience for this map is population experts, decision makers, and people who are familiar to some degree with population distributions within Los Angeles. However, the general public should also learn something from this map.
This map was designed for use in a PowerPoint presentation so the speaker could illustrate the important aspects of two spatial statistics tools. First, a hot spot analysis was performed to determine where the ethnic concentrations were located. (Note: This introduced a spatial bias that restricted areas near the perimeter of the study area from being included within the ellipses.) Then, the Directional Distribution tool was used to produce standard deviational ellipses at a 90 percent confidence level.
To map ethnicity, it is necessary to show where the different ethnic groups overlap. In this case, the ellipses were symbolized using transparency to allow overlapping regions to be easily seen.
The labels give additional information about the meaning of each ellipse—in particular, the ethnic group it represents, how many people are in it, and over how large an area they are spread. Color was graded within the ellipses so that the center is lighter and the labels can be read more easily.


text:
BUCK V BELL
State Marker Q-28 Preston Avenue
in front of Region Ten
Buck v. Bell Q-28 In 1924, Virginia, like a majority of states then, enacted eugenic sterilization laws. Virginia's law allowed state institutions to operate on individuals to prevent the conception of what were believed to be "genetically inferior" children. Charlottesville native Carrie Buck (_PHONE_), involuntarily committed to a state facility near Lynchburg, was chosen as the first person to be sterilized under the new law. The U.S. Supreme Court, in Buck v. Bell, on 2 May 1927, affirmed the Virginia law. After Buck more than 8,000 other Virginians were sterilized before the most relevant parts of the act were repealed in 1974. Later evidence eventually showed that Buck and many others had no "hereditary defects." She is buried south of here.


text:
Aisin Seki Co., Ltd, Japan, has developed an eyelid monitor and identified symptoms in eyelid behaviour that indicate drowsiness in motorists. The new automated technology (Intelligent Transport System (ITS)) eliminates the fallibility of human judgement in gauging when drowsiness is becoming a driving hazard.
While a number of physiological factors can indicate drowsiness monitoring eyelid movements is generally less restrictive for the driver. Aisin's eyelid monitor tracks a range of variables such as blink speed and frequency and average eyelid position. Trials of the new technology on motorists driving along a test track confirmed the reliability of using these measured parameters to rate the drowsiness level of the driver.
The company have also used their monitoring systems to identify other behavioural symptoms that indicate lapses in driving competency. Eye movement speed and fluctuations in the vergence angle—which indicates where the line of sight of right and left eye converge—are both linked with incidents of people deviating off lane and slow driver reaction times in driving simulations.
Drowsiness is a serious driving hazard worldwide and ranks as the number one cause of fatal car accidents in Japan. Aisin's 'quality first' corporate principles include a commitment to social contributions. The drowsiness monitoring systems will soon be available in Toyota's cars, providing significant improvements to road safety.
Drowsiness during driving is a worldwide hazard, motivating a number of campaigns worldwide to encourage driver to take regular breaks and plan journeys responsibly. In Japan drowsiness is the number one cause of fatal accidents on the road. Automating identification of the onset of drowsiness can help to eliminate the tragic human errors of misjudging when it is no longer safe to drive.
Physiological factors that may indicate drowsiness include eyelid movement, pupil fluctuation, heart rate, and skin potential activity. Monitoring eyelid movements is a promising approach to detecting drowsiness before it becomes a hazard because it is less restrictive for the driver. Reliable use of eyelid movement symptoms to identify drowsiness required investigative analysis of eyelid behaviour recorded with special monitoring equipment to clarify the relationship.
Results from driving simulators include effects that are not always present in real world circumstances, such as sickness and a greater tendency towards drowsiness due to the lower levels of stress in a simulator. For these reasons Aisin Seki uses real test runs for motor equipment evaluations.
Nine test drivers took part in the evaluation, each accompanied by an observer and an operator. They drove at a constant speed of 60 km/h for 80 minutes or until the observer judged that they were no longer fit to drive.
The monitoring equipment retrieves eyelid movement data from video frame images of the driver's face recorded at 30 frames per second while driving. Eight quantities were recorded: average blinking intervals, average eyelid closure duration, maximum eyelid closure duration, blink frequency, average eyelid closure velocity, average eyelid opening velocity, average eyelid position, and integrated eyelid closure duration. These values were then used to identify five levels of drowsiness: 1, not drowsy; 2, a little drowsy; 3, drowsy; 4, considerably drowsy; and 5, very drowsy.
Significant difference statistical analysis confirmed the reliability of the drowsiness monitoring system. A significant difference of 0.1% was found for the recorded quantities.
Aisin Seki has also identified the link between eye movement and lapses in motorist concentration during driving simulations. They used their specialised eye monitoring equipment to record the movements of left and right eye during driving. Slow fluctuation of the eyes and rapid fluctuation of the vergence angle, which measures the focal point of the line of sight of right and left eye, were both found to precede incidents when the car deviated from its lane or the driver's reaction times were increased.
Aisin Seki has identified symptoms in eye behaviour that can reliably indicate driver drowsiness before an accident occurs. Due to the standard deviation overlap between the values recorded for eyelid movement quantities at adjacent drowsiness levels, more than one quantity may need to be monitored for reliable results. The company is developing an algorithm with a secured estimate accuracy that combines multiple measured eyelid movement quantities. The drowsiness monitor should prove a valuable asset in the prevention of fatal motoring accidents.
Explore further: Sleepy medical staff run increased risks of accidents driving home after a night shift
 Y. Kamakura, M. Ohsuga, Y. Inoue, Y. Noguchi, "Classification of Blink Waveforms
Towards the Assessment of Driver's Arousal Level. ", Transactions of Society of
Automotive Engineers of Japan, 38(4), 173-178, 20070725 (in Japanese).
 J. Nishiyama, K. Tanida, M. Kusumi, Y. Hirata, "Evaluation of the Drowsiness by Pupil
Fluctuation. ", Transactions of the Japanese Society for Medical and Biological
Engineering : BME, 46(2), 212-217, 20080410 (in Japanese).
 Y. Nakano, A. Miyakawa, S. Sano, H. Katoh, "Driver Sleepiness Level Detection Based on The Heart Rate. ", 15th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems, November 2008, Paper number 10157.
 C. Nishimura, A. Kosaka, K. Tsunemitsu, S. Yoshizawa, J. Nagumo, "Evaluation of the arousal level in motorcar driving using skin potential level I： Changes in skin potential level under various driving conditions. ", The Japanese journal of ergonomics, 23(2), 103 – 110, 1987/04.
 J. Adachi, T. Hayashi, K. Ogawa, T. Suzuki, H. Ishiguro, T. Nishina, K. Ohue, S. Uozumi,
S. Kojima, S. Nakanishi, "Development of a Sensor Detecting Eyelid Positions. ", 15th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems, November 2008, Paper number 10102.
 H. Kitajima, N. Numata, K. Yamamoto, Y. Goi, "Prediction of Automobile Driver Sleepiness : 1stReport, Rating of Sleepiness Based on Facial Expression and Examination of Effective Predictor Indexes of Sleepiness. ", Transactions of the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers. C, Vo1.63, No.613 (_PHONE_) pp. 3059-3066 (in Japanese).


What is Tai Chi and why should people learn it?
By Uncategorized
Senior Teacher Matthew Ward sheds light on what Tai Chi is and why people should practice it Invented by Taoist monks, Tai Chi is a martial art developed from the much older health systems of Taoist meditation, Qigong (Chinese yoga) and Taoist Longevity breathing. Today it is used mainly as a health practise and is easily recognised by its slow sequence of movements. The Chinese Government recommends that all older people take up this art and so millions of Chinese people fill parks everyday making it the most popular form of exercise in the world. Practising Tai Chi improves…
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A list of the top 10 places to visit in Normandy
10. Giverny
Giverny is a small French village 80 km to the west of the capital city Paris, within the valley of the river Seine and the northern region of Upper Normandy. The village is best known as the rural retreat of the Impressionist painter Claude Monet (_PHONE_). Most attractions are closed for winter (November-March).
9. Pays d'Auge
The Pays d'Auge is an area in Normandy, straddling the départements of Calvados and Orne. The chief town is Lisieux. The landscape of this area is considered typical of Normandy—agricultural and producing dairy produce and apples. It is noted for its cheeses, especially Camembert, a place in Pays d'Auge, Livarot and Pont-l'Évêque, also names of villages.
8. D-Day Beaches
The D-Day beaches are the historic site of Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of western Europe during World War II. An excellent time to visit is on the June 6th anniversary when there are numerous memorial ceremonies to mark the occasion. A large number of reenactment groups attend, adding pageantry and atmosphere.
7. Deauville and La Cote Fleurie
Deauville is a fashionable seaside resort in the Calvados département of the region of Lower Normandy. With its race course, harbour, international film festival, marinas, conference centre, villas, Grand Casino and sumptuous hotels, Deauville is regarded as the "queen of the Norman beaches" and one of the most prestigious seaside resorts in all of France.
6. Caen
Caen is the capital of Lower Normandy and of Calvados département in northern France and has a population of 115,000. Caen is a college city and thus very active. In summer, tourists gather in Normandy for Second World War remains and the Memorial for Peace. Caen is a modern city, four-fifths of which was demoiolished in 1944 and rebuilt in the 1950s and 1960s.
5. Rouen Cathedral
Rouen is the capital of the French region of Upper Normandy and situated on the River Seine, approximately 90 minutes drive northwest from the centre of Paris. It is where Joan of Arc was burnt at the stake, but the main reason for visiting is its incredible cathedral that inspired Monet to paint over 30 canvases. Rouen was the home of the author, Gustave Flaubert.
4. Abbaye de Jumieges
Jumièges Abbey was a Benedictine monastery, situated in the commune of Jumièges in the Seine-Maritime département in Normandy. In 654 the abbey was founded on a gift of forested land belonging to the royal fisc presented by Clovis II and his queen, Balthild, to the Frankish nobleman Filibertus, who had been the companion of Saints Ouen and Wandrille at the Merovingian court of Dagobert I.
3. Honfleur
Honfleur is a town surrounding a beautiful little 17th-century harbor in Calvados, Lower Normandy. The town has preserved many historic and traditional buildings and houses some interesting museums, churches and monuments. It is especially known for its old, beautiful picturesque port, characterized by its houses with slate-covered frontages, painted many times by artists, including in particular Gustave Courbet and Claude Monet.
2. Bayeux Tapestry
Bayeux is a small town in northern France within the region of Lower Normandy. Bayeux is best known for the remarkable Bayeux Tapestry that chronicles in visual form the conquest of England by William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, in 1066. Scenes include the Channel crossing, the Battle of Hastings (14 October 1066), the death of the Saxon English king Harold and the subsequent coronation of Duke William as King of England.
1. Mont-St-Michel
Mont Saint-Michel is a small UNESCO World Heritage site located on an island just off the coast of the region of Lower Normandy in northern France. The island is best known as the site of the spectacular and well-preserved Norman Benedictine Abbey of St Michel at the peak of the rocky island, surrounded by the winding streets and convoluted architecture of the medieval town.
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VMC Versus IMC Aviation Conditions
VMC and IMC are aviation terms used to describe meteorological conditions during flight. VMC stands for visual meteorological conditions, and IMC stands for instrument meteorological conditions. Although the two terms are often used interchangeably (even, sadly, among industry professionals) with the terms VFR and IFR, respectively, VMC is not the same as VFR, and IMC is not the same as IFR.
The Rules of VFR and IFR
As most pilots know, there are two sets of rules for flying any aircraft: VFR and IFR. VFR stands for visual flight rules, which constitute the set of regulations under which a pilot operates an aircraft in weather conditions generally clear enough to allow the pilot to see the aircraft is going. Specifically, the weather must be better than the basic VFR weather allowable in regards to the VMC, the visual meteorological conditions, as specified in the rules laid out by the most relevant aviation authority.
The term IFR stands for instrument flight rules. Generally speaking, the weather dictates whether the pilot chooses VFR or IFR
How VMC is Defined
Before we tackle the meaning and importance of VMC, it's worth noting that there are actually two types of VMC. For your purposes, we're going to look at the meteorological conditions and not the airspeed associated with an engine failure during multi-engine flight. This situation is denoted with a large "V" and a smaller'mc': Vmc.
The definition of VMC, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is meteorological conditions expressed in terms of visibility, distance from cloud, and ceiling equal to or better than specified minima. Because the FAA is the national authority in regards to regulating all aspects of civil aviation in the U.S., their rules and regulations will always prevail.
The terms VMC and VFR are often used interchangeably, although VMC refers to the actual weather conditions and VFR refers to the flight rules surrounding those conditions.
For example, the prevailing visual meteorological conditions must be at least equal to what is required for visual flight rules (VFR). However, just because a flight is conducted legally under VFR conditions that does not mean that the pilot will be in VMC the entire flight, as this article explains. Losing visual references (and inadvertently entering IMC) can happen even while maintaining VFR flight. Also, a pilot can fly in VFR conditions while flying on an IFR flight plan, but the opposite is not true: A pilot cannot fly in IFR conditions on a VFR flight plan (at least not intentionally.)
How IMC is Defined
The definition of IMC, according to the FAA, is meteorological conditions expressed in terms of visibility, distance from clouds, and ceiling less than the minima specified for visual meteorological conditions (VMC).
IMC is any meteorological condition that doesn't qualify as visual meteorological conditions, or weather conditions worse than VMC.
The terms IMC and IFR are often used interchangeably, although IMC refers to the actual weather conditions and IFR refers to the flight rules surrounding those conditions.
All flights in IMC must be conducted by an instrument-rated pilot and under an IFR flight plan.


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Ricor's Yoav Zur holding a K508 cryocooler, the same one used in the Curiosity's CheMin instrument shown on his computer screen.
Seven years ago, a buyer from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California – which manages US space agency assignments — called Yoav Zur to inquire about a miniature cryogenic cooler made by Ricor Cryogenic and Vacuum Systems at Kibbutz Ein Harod Ihud in northern Israel.
Zur, the marketing manager for the company, was told that the cryogenic cooler was needed for a future Mars mission to keep the CheMin chemical mineral detector, critical to the analysis of the soil on the Red Planet, chilled to minus 173 degrees Celsius.
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It was not the first time Ricor cryocoolers had been purchased for space missions, so Zur facilitated the order without asking too many questions.
"We knew the K508 [cryocooler] would be part of a CheMin system in a space laboratory, but we didn't know the mission name or the vehicle," he says.
However, he was pretty sure the small Israeli-made cooler was among the instruments aboard the Curiosity rover on NASA's Mars Science Laboratory, which lifted off from Florida on November 26, 2011.
On August 6, 2012, after Curiosity touched down on Mars, the 170 workers at Ricor broke out in cheers.
"When we heard Curiosity had successfully landed, I called my contact at JPL and he confirmed they really used our cooler," Zur tells ISRAEL21c.
The Curiosity rover will be on Mars for two years with a full agenda of scientific experiments to complete in addition to the soil analysis performed by CheMin.
Cooler in space
Model K508, like Ricor's other cryocoolers manufactured since 1977, is normally purchased to maintain frigid temperatures on infrared detectors used in thermal imaging, Zur explains. "It's primarily a military product tested for very harsh conditions such as extreme temperature, radiation and vibration."
In business since 1967, Ricor has long done business with NASA and other space agencies. An Israeli cryocooler has not made it to Mars before, but one was aboard the MESSENGER discovery mission that orbited Mercury from March 2011 to March 2012.
This mission employed the most sensitive detector available — a high-purity germanium semiconductor crystal — to help measure the planet's surface gamma rays from long distances. The crystal must operate at cryogenic temperatures, so the detector had to be protected from the heat as it moved through one of the solar system's hottest environments. This was accomplished by suspending it on thin Kevlar strings inside a high-tech thermos bottle cooled to a frosty -183° C by the Ricor cryocooler.
Ricor was already quite familiar with the needs of the US space program.
"Way back in 1994, our first model, K506, was launched in the Clementine program," says Zur. This NASA mission was intended to test sensors and spacecraft components under extended exposure to the space environment.
"In 2001, we launched several cryocoolers in the European Space Agency's Rosetta [comet chaser], and later sold our products to the Brazilian Space Agency for a program having to do with weather control," Zur adds.
Ricor is not the only company that makes cryocoolers. However, Zur explains, "Ours are the smallest with the highest cooling power for the lowest price in the world. For NASA, the price was not the issue, but JPL chose our products for their performance and weight."


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Agile Cities: Preparing for the Fourth Industrial Revolution
By merging the biological, physical and digital worlds, the Fourth Industrial Revolution is transforming the way people live. The rate of change unleashed by the Fourth Industrial Revolution is truly unprecedented, impacting all sectors and industries across the globe.
Cities, as global drivers of growth, must harness the opportunities and address the challenges brought about by this transformation. In this sense, "agility" has to be one of the defining characteristics of cities as they plan their future. To be agile is to move quickly and easily. But what exactly does this mean, and how can it be measured?
This report by the World Economic Forum's Global Future Council on Cities and Urbanization begins to create a framework and provide metrics and guidelines for agility in the following key areas – city buildings, land, security, energy, mobility, education, governance and IT – that together will form the city agility index.
Starting from city-specific case studies sourced through the Global Future Council, the report illustrates how cities are being agile and serve as potential examples that can be improved upon and adapted by other cities to help them transform.
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|Important||This document may not represent best practices for current development, links to downloads and other resources may no longer be valid. Current recommended version can be found here.|
Defines a class of device-context objects.
The CDC object provides member functions for working with a device context, such as a display or printer, as well as members for working with a display context associated with the client area of a window.
Do all drawing through the member functions of a CDC object. The class provides member functions for device-context operations, working with drawing tools, type-safe graphics device interface (GDI) object selection, and working with colors and palettes. It also provides member functions for getting and setting drawing attributes, mapping, working with the viewport, working with the window extent, converting coordinates, working with regions, clipping, drawing lines, and drawing simple shapes, ellipses, and polygons. Member functions are also provided for drawing text, working with fonts, using printer escapes, scrolling, and playing metafiles.
To use a CDC object, construct it, and then call its member functions that parallel Windows functions that use device contexts.
Under Windows 95/98, all screen coordinates are limited to 16 bits. Therefore, an int passed to a CDC member function must lie in the range –32768 to 32767.
For specific uses, the Microsoft Foundation Class Library provides several classes derived from CDC. CPaintDC encapsulates calls to BeginPaint and EndPaint. CClientDC manages a display context associated with a window's client area. CWindowDC manages a display context associated with an entire window, including its frame and controls. CMetaFileDC associates a device context with a metafile.
CDC provides two member functions, GetLayout and SetLayout, for reversing the layout of a device context, which does not inherit its layout from a window. Such right-to-left orientation is necessary for applications written for cultures, such as Arabic or Hebrew, where the character layout is not the European standard.
CDC contains two device contexts, m_hDC and m_hAttribDC, which, on creation of a CDC object, refer to the same device. CDC directs all output GDI calls to m_hDC and most attribute GDI calls to m_hAttribDC. (An example of an attribute call is GetTextColor, while SetTextColor is an output call.)
For example, the framework uses these two device contexts to implement a CMetaFileDC object that will send output to a metafile while reading attributes from a physical device. Print preview is implemented in the framework in a similar fashion. You can also use the two device contexts in a similar way in your application-specific code.
There are times when you may need text-metric information from both the m_hDC and m_hAttribDC device contexts. The following pairs of functions provide this capability:
|Uses m_hAttribDC||Uses m_hDC|
For more information on CDC, see Device Contexts.


Dysthymic Dicks: On the Melancholic Shamus, from Dupin to Cracker
by Harvey Greenberg
June 29, 1998
The psychoanalytic study of detective fiction by clinicians has been sparse. My previous investigation of the Maltese Falcon (1941) chiefly addressed Sam Spade's paranoia, misogyny, and oedipal conflict. The profound despair concealed by his engaging tough facade was but briefly touched upon. This paper analyzes at length the depressive tendencies of literary, cinematic, and televisual detectives throughout the genre's history, focusing particularly upon dysthymic private/public gumshoes of the American "hard-boiled" school and their progeny.
Having interrogated the articulating cultural, psychodynamic, and biological origins of the melancholy shamus' inveterate despair, I overview an especially intriguing recent example of the breed: Dr. Eddie "Fitz" Fitzgerald, forensic psychologist-hero of the BBC/Arts & Entertainment Network's Cracker series, who melds the personae of wounded healer and dysthymic dick in one gargantuan frame.
I conclude by speculating that more members of the dysthymic dick's durable fellowship are likely to succeed the irksome, charismatic Fitz, consonant with an ever expanding readership seeking to be pleasured by a hero more in tune with, and touched by the harsh realities of existence; more vital in appetite; more profound in doubt and failure; ultimately more catalytic to generic narrative potential than the ever imperturbable Poirot, elegant Wimsey, and disdainful Miss Marple, with their eternal locked rooms, poisonous vicarages, and predictable assemblies of the usual suspects.
 Psychoanalytic study of detective fiction by analytic clinicians has been sparse. Writing in the Forties, Bellak2 theorized that the genre satisfies enthusiasts by promoting vicarious identification with the sleuth or criminal---or even the victim---according to a reader's psychic lights. Amidst the angst of an uncertain existence, the audience is pleasured by carefully manipulated anxiety in which death and danger always befall another. Bellak also described an innate "closure satisfaction" attendant upon the case's solution,and the comfortable assurance that justice has been properly served (if not by the authorities, one notes, then by the sleuth). Several years later, Pederson-Krag3 postulated that the private eye represented the curious child who seeks to ferret out the secrets of grown-up sexuality; at base, the "crime" he aims to unravel is the Freudian primal scene.
 My investigation of The Maltese Falcon two decades ago in The Movies On Your Mind chiefly addressed Sam Spade's paranoia, misogyny, and Oedipal conflict.4 The profound despair concealed by his engagingly tough facade was but briefly touched upon. This paper develops my earlier remarks, comprehensive elucidates the depressive tendencies of the most significant literary, cinematic, and television detectives throughout the genre's history; also investigates the complex socio-cultural factors which informed their creation.
 I conclude with an overview of arguably the most intriguing melancholic shamus to date: Dr. Eddie "Fitz" Fitzgerald, forensic psychologist-hero of the Arts & Entertainment Network's Cracker series, who melds the personae of wounded healer and dysthymic dick in one gargantuan frame.
A Diagnostic Sidebar
 Nodding familiarity with current psychiatric nosology and theory about depression will facilitate navigating my arguments. In the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV to the initiated),5 depressive conditions are subsumed under the general category of mood disorders (also described elsewhere as "affective" illnesses). The common syndrome known as dysthymic disorder was formerly classified as neurotic depression. Nominated as the "common cold of psychiatry" and assuredly the detective's most common psychiatric ailment, dysthymic disorder encompasses a significant darkening of affect, a leaching away of joy nonetheless compatible with reasonable, indeed even substantive functioning as the world knows it. The condition is often chronic and recurrent; it may last months or years. Its precise inception and conclusion are frequently difficult to delineate. Many sufferers' despair seems to have been with them for so long---often since adolescence, even childhood--- as to become inextricably knotted up with character; a chronic, central focus of being.
 More devastating, generally more circumscribed and periodic depressive syndromes include major depressive disorder (frequently preceded and/or suceeded by a less crippling dysthymic disorder), and the severe "low" occuring in the context of bipolar illness (the entity formerly classified as manic depression, marked by pathological mood swings of variable duration, intensity, and direction). In the most ruinous depressive illnesses, self and world may both seem so loathsome as to produce dangerous suicidal ideation or grossly psychotic perceptions.
 Depression of whatever stripe is accompanied by a host of symptoms and behaviors which have beset one or another dysthymic dick to varying degrees: disturbances of sleep, appetite, and libido; difficulties with concentration, attention, and other cognitive functions; social withdrawal; sundry manifestations of anxiety; alcohol and drug abuse; feelings of irritability, inadequacy, and alienation; pervasive cynicism and ennui; guilty ruminations about the past; dangerous risk-taking or anti-social deeds---sometimes carried out to court punishment or death, sometimes to reanimate a deadened self. Depression-related attitudes and activities may virtually mask the underlying mood disturbance (vide infra).
 Contemporary and past investigators have debated whether depression was caused by disturbances of the internal psychophysiological milieu, versus afflictions in the sufferer's proximate or wider external world. The Freudianism of my Sixties training chiefly invoked the depressive's difficulties in handling anger, an overestimation of its power to harm others, the turning of aggressive fantasies against the self which had originally been directed at a real or perceived abandoning Other.6 Sensitivity to separation experiences during infancy (possibly on some constitutional/hereditary basis) was also thought to render the adult more vulnerable to loss, hence more prone to melancholia.
 During the Seventies and Eighties, the family therapy and community psychiatry movements emphasized the role of skewed family relationships, warped communication, and broader socio-cultural stressors in engendering depression. Cognitive/behavioral researchers postulated that the depressive's habitual self-defeating, doomridden thinking and language patterns could prove powerful re-enforcers, regardless of what factors might have initiated dysthymia.
 In the Nineties, prozac and genetics rule the clinical roost, while the rubrics of psychoanalysis and other paradigms are frequently deemed faulty or irrelevant (with the possible exception of cognitive theory). Psychopharmacologists now flog the depressive's deranged serotonin levels and inheritance rather than derangements of the superego or family system.
 Despite the siren song of Merck and Ciba, astute clinicians probe the roots of dysthymia on a case-by-case basis, seeking to integrate biological, constitutional, psychological, existential and cultural factors. One may thus ponder the relevance of Freud or Jung, Ackerman or Durkheim to the depressed patient's plight, as well as evaluating heredity and neurotransmitter status. This resolute catholicity informs my approach to the vicissitudes of the dysthymic dick.
Dysthymic Founding Fathers and the Classic Period
 The house of detective fiction has many mansions, inhabited by practitioners in virtually every time, place, and circumstance creative invention has been able to summon up, from the Appian Way to the streets of Cincinnati.7 The genre is very old and popular: in ancient China, the exploits of a travelling Judge Dee, who approached tangled crimes with a subtle intellect and Confucian sensibility, were eagerly consumed by cultivated readers (Robert Van Gulik has penned an excellent modern version of the Dee tales). Winkling out the perp of murder most foul also constitutes the mainspring of high tragedy, from the Greeks to the Elizabethans and thereafter. Hamlet has been appraised by scholars as a sleuth manqué.8
 The temperament of the two most significant Western detective founding fathers more resembles the Melancholy Dane's than the equable Dee's.9 Poe, himself consumed by alcoholic despair, created C. Auguste Dupin, elucidator inter alia of the hideous Murders in the Rue Morgue. His anonymous companion describes Dupin's eccentric brilliance and reclusive dolor:
This young gentleman was of an excellent, indeed of an illustrious family, but . . . had been reduced to such poverty that the energy of his character succumbed beneath it, and he ceased to bestir himself in the world, or to care for the retrieval of his fortunes . . . I felt my soul enkindled within me by the wild fervor, and the vivid freshness of his imagination . . . "10
 Sherlock Holmes inherits Dupin's deductive brilliance as well as his dysthymia. Holmes' episodic monumental boredom---his famous "brown studies"---interpret as yet another depressive related symptom or clinical "equivalent" (the equivalency can occur at any age, but adolescents are particularly prone to experience their dysthymia as painful ennui). Life for the Great Detective appears as weary, stale, flat and unprofitable as it did for Hamlet, except when the game's afoot. Clinical experiences with similar personalities leads one to suggest that Holmes' chronic cocaine abuse is pitched at relieving a sense of


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How to create Animated Newsletter GIFs?
29 December 2020
GIFs are a new and very appealing way of informing the audience about your product, service or company, that you can use in your communication strategy. Especially attractive animated GIF files look in newsletters. By the way, almost 57% of marketers use them. After all, buyers prefer visual content, thus it is really more important to show a product instead of writing a longread about it.
What is an animated GIF?
The Graphics Interchange Format is an animated image. Now 30 years old, it seems more popular than ever even though there are many other formats. It should be mentioned that ten years ago GIFs had already been at the peak, but were crowded out by videos. However, it seems like this image format is riding a second wave of popularity now. For instance, Giphy reports that it serves more than 1 billion GIFs a day. Users watch 2 million hours of GIFs every day! Now GIFs are one of the most popular formats of conveying information, for they always manage to evoke emotions. Instagram has played an important role in GIFs' revival by adding GIF stickers in Instagram Stories.
The benefits of using GIFs in your email marketing
Animated GIFs have several benefits. Here are a few:
 - An animated GIF can present your product/service in such a way, so it would stand out;
 - Animated GIFs increase conversion (according to sendinblue up to 103%);
 - Unlike a dull text, A GIF demonstrates how a product/service actually works;
 - Animated GIFs function as a sensory cue that trigger a sense of urgency (time flies more faster, it is time to make up your mind);
 - An animated GIF looks more interesting than a usual static image;
 - GIFs weigh less that a video, thus it loads faster and better than a video.
That's clear as day that animated GIFs are an effective tool, thus it would be a huge mistake not to use it.
How to make an animated GIF for email marketing?
A process of GIF creation with BannerBoo is quick and easy.
Remember the algorithm:
 1. Log in to the website and enter your personal cabinet.
 2. Choose a banner size you need.
 3. Create a unique design or choose a ready-made template. Create the banner your business needs!
 4. Add special effects to your GIF and set the length of your animation.
 5. Change texts, font and other required information (write clearly and simply).
 6. Add logos, buttons, and any diagrams that can help your product to stand out
 7. Save layout as a template and work at a convenient time.
 8. Then select the Smooth GIF format to download your file and use it in marketing campaigns.
More detailed information can be found here
How to make GIFs from a YouTube video?
Apart from usual images, GIFs could be made from any YouTube video.
It is easy:
 1. Place a YouTube video container element in a workspace and insert a URL link of a video (a video will be automatically downloaded).
 2. When choosing the timing of the video, you can only choose the starting position. The duration of the video will be the same as the duration of the elements on the timeline. That is, if the layer with the video clip is 7 seconds long, then a final GIF will also play the same amount.
 3. Videos are usually put on endless repeat. To do this, turn on the "Auto Repeat" tab.
 4. Hide all additional fields by putting a mark in the box "Hide controls."
 5. Save your banner by clicking "Publish" and "Save as Smooth GIF."
From now on, any YouTube video could be made into an animated GIF file. It will surely look brightly and appealingly in any advertising campaign, newsletter or social media blog post.
How to optimize an animated GIF file? Size matters!
To make a banner look attractive on different platforms, it is extremely important to stick to two rules: the minimum weight and short video length. It has been proved that there are only 0,3-0,5 seconds to capture the attention of your audience. If your banner is too heavy, there is always a risk that it won't be able to completely load.
The main rule of good GIF optimization is to achieve a balance between quality and a file's size. After you export a GIF, ensure that it doesn't have white edges, stippling or jump cuts. The optimization option is only available in a tariff plan "Plus." It also allows choosing the number of images per second, compression ratio, and even a size of a GIF.
To learn more about banner ad optimization, read this article.
How to save and share your animated GIF banner?
As soon as your banner will be ready, click the Save button. It will be saved to a file folder you are currently working with in your personal cabinet. As a result, you will be able to save your creation as an animated GIF file to your PC or get a link for a view. All these operations are performed with the button "Publish" in the BannerBoo editor.
How to insert a GIF into an email?
It is really easy. Just upload your GIF to an email service you use for email marketing campaigns. It will be inserted as a usual image. Sometimes, though it happens very rarely, you will need to use a tag .
In any way, it only takes a few seconds.
Examples of animated GIFs in email marketing templates
There are so many! For instance, the Converse newsletter (it is a promotional letter that features the newest Converses. Animated GIFs show the color range).
This is how you can trigger a sense of urgency without resorting to a classic advertising text "this special offer runs until…" + an image.
Burberry doesn't only use animated GIFs in newsletter campaigns, the brand is actively using animation on its site. Information is perceived better, not to mention that all perks of this shoe model are clearly on display.
Animated GIFs is a must-have for a successful email marketing campaign. Use every method that helps to create high quality content for your customers and increase customer loyalty.
What is a GIF?
Graphics Interchange Format (a GIF) is an animated image format that is widely used in email newsletters, on sites as well as different thematic and advertising platforms for presenting products/goods and services.
What is the purpose of an animated GIF usage in email marketing?
It is mainly about increasing the conversion rates of your email campaigns. According to the study conducted by sendinblue, correctly chosen GIFs can increase users' desire to read up to 80%.
How to make an animated GIF for email marketing?
Use the BannerBoo constructor, where you can easily create any animated banner in different sizes, formats, and styles.
Can I create an animated GIF for free?
Try a free trial period with BannerBoo. After quick and easy registration on the site, you will get access to the constructor where you can create animated banners. However, to be able to download said GIF file and use it for your marketing activities, you will need at least a tariff plan "START." Believe us, it is worth it. You will find more detailed information on prices here.
What is the best GIF banner maker?
Surely it is BannerBoo. Just sign up for _URL_ and you will see!
What is the best GIF file size for email?
In order to minimize the size of an email, choose images that are no bigger than 500-600 pixels. However, we recommend choosing an image file size that is suitable for you. For instance, it could be a standard banner size such as 250x250 or 300x250.
How to save animated GIFs?
As soon as your GIF is ready, click the Save button. In such a way, we save a banner layout to a folder in your personal cabinet where it will be kept for future improvements and changes.
It is also possible to save a file to your PC or just get a link to view a banner online.
How to insert a GIF into an email?
You insert an animated GIF into an email just like you insert an image of any other format. Just upload it
Can I create a GIF on my phone?
You will need a PC for more productive work or - at least - a tablet.
How can animated GIF files take your message to the next level?
Using GIFs, you can evoke genuine emotional reactions from users who interact with your company by:
 - presenting a product/service in such a way, so it would stand out;
 - showing how this product or service actually works without making customers read long advertising texts;
 - enhancing a sense of urgency;
 - improving load rate, for GIFs load faster than videos.
What is more, GIFs increase conversion up to 103% and look more interesting and appealing than static pictures.
How to add an animated GIF file in email signatures?
Follow the algorithm:
 1. Choose "Settings"
 2. Select the "Signature" option in the tab "Email Signature" and then choose "New".
 3. Please choose "Insert the image" option and upload an animated GIF file from your PC.
 4. That's it. Save your email signature.
Oh noes!
Please add *.bannerboo.com* as an exception or disable the ad blocker to continue.


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I recently got a question from someone asking advice on "How to deal with crazy people?"
There are all kinds of people in this world. Some people are angels, others are assholes. Most people are somewhere in between. But this spectrum (should we call it the A-A spectrum?) is not all there is to defining what people are.
Some people are just crazy.
Of course, a statement like that begs for a definition, but I'm not going to provide one for you. Calling someone crazy, much like calling someone an asshole, is too relative and judgmental. In the cultivation and teaching arts, we strive to avoid attachment to labels like "crazy, asshole, angel, etc." They tend to stereotype and group people without due consideration to their individual character. But we do recognize that colloquially, these words are used. That is, most people will occasionally come across someone who is, for a lack of a better word, crazy.
In some cultures, the crazy people – the British might say 'madmen' – are thought to have seen a glimpse of the God's face. What is certain is that they see the world differently than most people. For some, their perspective is so different they become dangerous. These people are not all locked up, but the truly dangerous ones can generally be avoided if you take reasonable self-defense precautions. These aren't the people we're talking about here.
Most crazy people are relatively harmless and somehow manage to function in society.
Let's just say crazy has degrees, or shall we say variations.
Certain activities, like Qigong and Kung Fu, tend to attract those who are crazier than others. That is why my friend, a Tai Chi teacher, asked the question. Here's a summary of what I shared with him.
The Kung Fu crazies are usually those who think they are (or want to be) Bruce Lee reincarnated, or something like that. Most of them are not so much crazy as they are lacking serious perspective. Sadly, they probably won't get it until they run into someone (perhaps someone who falls on the wrong end of the A-A spectrum) who teaches them a hard lesson.
On the spiritual or Qigong side, you might meet "Thor" (Note: fantasy name changed to protect fantasy identity.) Who is channeling the spirits of deceased Druid ExtraGroovy High Priests from Pluto. Who knows, maybe he is channeling something. While it's possible for this phenomenon to happen, it is far rarer than people would like to believe. For the most part these people are harmless, and are usually perfectly happy with their current situation. At most they usually just take up a little time while they tell you something about themselves. If you weren't trying to work with a group of Qigong students, they might even provide you with a plot for a bad Hollywood B movie script.
The third major category of "crazy" people is those in serious need of help. They usually know they need help, but the way they ask for help is, well, not always normal. They might for example, have a real medical problem but blame the root cause of the problem on some nebulous conspiracy. These people can be the most difficult to deal with because their problems often prevent them from getting the help they need. So what should you do when these people show up? Should you shut them out? Should you try to "fix" them?
As Taoist and Buddhist cultivators, we have a concept of synchronicity. That is, things happen, people show up, because of certain conditions. Buddhism relates it to the law of cause and effect. The Chinese would say that "you have common affinity". Yes, as strange as it sounds, that means that you and "Thor, the Channeled Spirit of the Dead Druid High Priest from Pluto" have a connection.
Buddhism asks its practitioners to have compassion.
Taoism reminds its practitioners that "softness and gentleness is the application of the Tao."
So, when "Thor" shows ups, consider a few things. First, unless you are in a profession that is qualified to treat that person's problem with a particular modality, don't try to fix them. Instead refer them to a professional who you believe can help them. This is just common sense and applies not only to crazy people, but to everyone.
Second, before you give your advice, find something in them to which you can relate. Because they are 'crazy' they will likely have a hard time understanding suggestions that imply they aren't normal. For example, telling "Thor" to "go see an exorcist" is probably not going to help, even if that is what he should do. You see, such a suggestion carries with it so many unwritten connotations that it can be extremely hard for him to accept without other conditions being in place. When you can find something in other people that you can relate to, it means that you have found a way to connect with them. If you can connect with them in a way they can trust, then your gentle suggestion is more likely to be accepted.
Third, you have to learn how to manage the time these people will want to take up in the class. In some cases, you might have to ask them to leave. But in most cases, you can probably find a way to help them, even if just a little bit. For nothing else, a kind word might be in order. In any case, the important point is there is a middle way to walk between having the crazy person disrupt the class and totally shutting them out.
Remember, even crazy people have real problems. Use compassion, wisdom and gentleness. It might even help them. And you might even get a movie plot…


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Applications of parametric and semi-parametric models for longitudinal data analysis
Corrada Bravo, Héctor
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A wide range of scientific applications involve analyses of longitudinal data. Whether it is time or location, careful considerations need to be made when applying different statistical tools. One such challenge is to correctly estimate variance components in observed data. In this dissertation, I apply statistical tools to solve problems involving longitudinal data in the field of Biology, Healthcare and Networks. In the second chapter, I apply SSANOVA models to find regions in the genome that have a specific biological trait. We introduce a direct approach of estimating genomic longitudinal data of two different biological groups. Using SSANOVA we then produce a novel method to estimate the difference between the two groups and find regions (location or time) where this difference is biologically significant. In the third chapter, we analyze longitudinal network data using an overdispersed Poisson model. We build a network of musical writers yearly for a 42 year period. Using statistical models, we predict network level topology changes and find covariates that explain these changes. Network level characteristics used for this chapter include average node degree, clustering coefficient and network density. We also build a visualization tool using R-Shiny. The fourth chapter uses data partitioning to study the difference between insured patients and uninsured patients in health outcomes. There is a disparity in health outcomes depending on an individual's type of insurance. The level of risk for an injury is the longitudinal aspect of this dataset. We partition the data into four pre-defined risk categories and evaluate the disparity between insured and uninsured patients using logistic regression models.


"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" runs on the theme of escapism from feeble reality into a fulfilling dream world. Explain.
Expert Answers
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Yes, this is the prominent theme. In case you need to study the story further, you might consider what Thurber might be communicating through this theme: what is he saying about those who daydream as well as the world they are trying to escape through daydreaming? To understand this, you can look closely the contrast between Walter Mitty in real life and the persona of his daydreams.
1. What are the real Walter Mitty's character traits? (does he have any noticeable virtues, or special skills?) How is he treated as a consequence?
3. Now consider the daydream-Mitty's virtues and skills. Note how he is treated as a consequence.
Everyone wants to escape reality to some degree at some point of their lives. "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" offers us an extreme example--a man who seems unable to function in the world without daydreaming. Is he a sympathetic character? (Can we relate to him, or not?) Did Thurber mean to portray Walter Mitty as the victim of a "feeble", possibly emasculating modern society and over-aggressive wife? Or is he unsympathetic--merely a pitiful figure who deserves the mocking, harsh treatment he gets? A little of both?
Your answer will help you determine what you think the author is trying to convey with the escapism theme.
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Newcastle is a city in England that was well-known as the center of a coal mining region. To bring coal there means to have too many of something. In this case, it's pointless to have so many great doctors with Mitty there.
The story does run on this theme. Mitty's life is totally feeble. He cannot do anything right. He can't even take the chains off his tires or park his own car. That's pretty feeble. But in his dream world, he is everything a man could hope to be. He is brave and strong and smart and attractive to women. Therefore, he uses these daydreams as a way to escape from his feeble reality.
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A new Antarctic ice station set to open next week is equipped with skis and legs that can walk across the ice.
Looking more like something from the set of Star Wars than a typical research lab, the building is designed to overcome some of the key challenges of providing shelter in one of the world's least hospitable environments.
Most Antarctic structures are buried under ice within a decade or so due to rising snow levels.
But the hydraulic-legged structure will be able to evade such a fate and even relocate in more dramatic circumstances - such as the site on which it stands carving off as an iceberg.
The Halley Antarctic Station is the award-winning work of Hugh Broughton architects.
The firm says the challenges in designing the structure were myriad - it is the most southerly research station operated by the British Antarctic Survey, located on the 150-metre thick floating Brunt Ice Shelf, which moves 400 metres each year towards the sea.
Snow levels rise by over a metre every year and the sun does not rise above the horizon for 105 days during winter.
Temperatures drop to -56C and the site can be buffeted by winds in excess of 100 mph.
Access by ship and plane is limited to a 3-months window.
Materials and components required to construct the new base had to be delivered across fragile sea ice, which could fracture at any time.
The needs of scientists working far from home in these extreme conditions were taken into account when designing the interior of the station, reports Architectural Record.
"Brutal winter conditions of permanent darkness and sub-60 degree temperatures leave them vulnerable to depression and stress – 'winter-over syndrome'," a report on the station said.
"Home comforts include a hydroponic salad garden and a climbing wall within a double-height central space lined with Lebanese cedar, selected for its scent.
"The architect also worked with a color psychologist to identify "refreshing and stimulating" shades, and developed a bedside lamp with a daylight bulb to simulate sunrise."Perhaps Antarctic conditions aren't so brutal after all.
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Cossins map of 1725 clearly shows both the Upper and Lower Head Rows. New Street has been built to connect the Head Row to St. Johns Church and Harrisons Almshouses built by John Harrison in 1631. It was after the building of New Street that the Head Row was divided into Upper and Lower, or Nether, Headrow. The street to the west of the junction with Briggate was called the Upper Head Row, and that to the east the Lower Head Row.
The Upper Head Row ends at Burley Bar, after which it becomes Park Lane. The map shows a gate across the road at this point, and a gate is also shown across the entrance to Woodhouse Lane, marking the position of Woodhouse Bar. Below the junction with New Street the Lower Head Row runs eastwards to the junction with Vicar Lane.
The map shows clearly how narrow the Headrow is compared to Briggate. Despite this it was used as a market place; Ralph Thoresby, writing in 1715, tells us that the horse fair was held in the Upper Head Row, and the pig and cattle market in the Lower Head Row.
The Head Rows are shown as being built up on both sides along their whole length. Properties fronting the street were a mixture of houses, shops and inns. Behind the buildings of the north eastern side of the Head Rows were yards similar to the ones on either side of Briggate. There were several large houses with gardens behind, like Red Hall, one of the grandest houses in the town, and shown on the map near the junction with Lands Lane. All of these old buildings have been demolished, and to give us an idea of how the Head Row looked in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries we have to rely on photographs taken when some early buildings still survived. A photograph taken in 1906 shows a row of shops, probably built in the early 1700s, at Burley Bar, and an old print shows the Cock and Bottle Inn which became part of Schofields store.
Some of the shops in the Lowerhead Row had iron Templar crosses mounted on the front. This indicated that these properties were tenanted from the manor of Whitkirk rather than Leeds. The manor of Whitkirk used to belong to the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, successors of the Knights Templar. The inhabitants of the manor of Leeds had to have their corn ground at the Kings Mills; a court case in 1787 decided that the tenants of the manor of Whitkirk were exempted, and they displayed the Templar cross to indicate this.
Houses were built at both ends of the Head Rows in the eighteenth century, but development was very different at the west end from that at the east end. The West End of Leeds began with the building of large and elegant houses on the Park estate. They were intended for the rich merchants and professional people of Leeds, and the estate was laid out accordingly, with wide streets, and gardens. Tuke's map of 1781 shows the beginning of the development of the Park Estate at the West End of the Headrow. In 1792 a seperate development was built at Albion Street, described in the 1806 Leeds Guide as 'perhaps the pleasantest in the town………………the houses in this street are remarkably well-built, and are chiefly inhabited by professional gentlemen, and persons in a wholesale line of business, as no retail shops are allowed to be opened in it. William Hey, the eminent Leeds surgeon, built himself a house, Albion Place, on Albion Street.
The development of the east end was very different. The area around Timble Beck was the site of water mills, dyehouses and workshops. The beck itself was heavily polluted with the effluent from tanneries, dyehouses and oil mills and with sewage from the houses of east Leeds. The houses of the working class were originally cottages in the yards and courts of the city centre. As the population grew, cottages were built on the land between former farmyards in the Mabgate area, and small housing developments were built piecemeal along the York Road and on Quarry Hill. Some housing was put up by private developers, and some by building clubs where several people joined forces to build a number of houses which were then let out to tenants. Both types of development were found in Nelson Street (later demolished when East Street was built.) which ran along the northern edge of the Crackenthorpe Garden estate. On the north side of Nelson Street the houses were erected by a private developer, Abraham Croft, whereas on the south side a building club put up a row of houses which fronted onto Union Street. The houses were all of the same kind - two or three storey back-to backs with tunnels at intervals along the row of houses. The tunnels led to the entrances of the houses behind those facing the street, and to the courts and yards between the rows of houses. The houses were crowded, with no supply of clean water or proper sanitation, very different from the elegant buildings of the Park Estate.
|Click images to enlarge|
Cossins Map, 1725
Old Shops at Burley Bar, 1906
Cock and Bottle Inn
Templar Crosses on old shops in Lowerhead Row
Tuke's Map, 1781
Houses in Park Square
William Hey's House, Albion Place


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By analyzing complete multi-movement works, students deepen their understanding of music analysis and consider relationships among diverse musical features. Haydn's Sonata in C Major, Hob. XVI:10, provides an accessible piece for undergraduate students to analyze at several different levels of study. In this article, I outline three pedagogical journeys to guide students through this concise three-movement keyboard sonata. During their respective journeys, Theory II students explore motifs, cadences, and small forms; Theory III students investigate interactions between chromatic harmony and form; and Form and Analysis students map a trajectory through all three movements and compare the sonata-form outer movements. As students' levels of experience increase, the progression between journeys shifts from collaborative projects with extensive peer support to independently completed assignments. Types of assignments similarly progress from an oral presentation to a brief essay to an essay of moderate length. Guidelines and rubrics for the assignments appear throughout the article, and I share analytical observations pertaining to each assignment. I also suggest topics for an additional graduate-level journey that engages with Hepokoski and Darcy's Sonata Theory. Like a destination that remains the same but delights each group of travelers in a different way, Haydn's Hob. XVI:10 provides an intriguing venue for students to explore at multiple stages of their music-theoretical studies.
"Choose Your Own Adventure: Scaffolding Multi-Movement Analysis through Haydn's Sonata in C Major, Hob. XVI:10,"
HAYDN: Vol. 10
, Article 5.
Available at: _URL_


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2013-01-02 06:06:52 -
/EINPresswire.com/ Scott Young, a young university graduate who has completed a 4-year MIT course in one-year through self-study has created a video and e-book course called Learn More Study Less for students world over. This course will help students learn more effectively and much faster.
Most people know that our education systems are archaic, flawed and are based on rote-based memorization. Students have to by-heart tons and tons of information and reproduce it during exams. Not only is blind memorization by repetition energy sapping for school and college students, it is an ineffective learning process. More often than not, blind memorization leads to lower grades and self-confidence. Even if a student manages to get better grades by memorizing, none of the
concepts have been understood well and hence nothing sticks once the exam is over!
This young Canadian graduate called Scott Young has researched and proven that smart students (him included) don't spend hours memorizing stuff, but subconsciously use techniques that work with the way the neurons in their brains learn concepts. Scott says, "Smart people aren't just gifted – they have a different learning strategy, that all students can learn." Scott calls this the holistic approach to learning. Based on his personal experience and experience and results seen by thousands of students around the world he has devised a comprehensive study technique course called Learn More, Study Less. His complete video course, ebook and Ninja Edition (which comes with 2-months free of Learning on Steroids which offers weekly emails, learning forums and access to Scott if a student wants coaching or help) have already helped thousands of students across the world.
Scott's course and The Holistic Learning Strategy focusses on Constructs, Models and Highways from a theoretical perspective. Without getting too technical, a construct is defined as a set of tightly interlinked instructions in the brain, and if for example a person's language construct is highly developed they will find learning languages much easier. So, if constructs are the door to holistic learning, Models are the key. Models are smaller constructs which are portable. Models could be visualizations that help you start learning a concept and build a construct. Finally Highways link the constructs which are like buildings or many buildings in a city. Highways are essential to link concepts and draw parallels, this is what makes a person creative and think creatively as a result of the Holistic Learning Process in Learn More, Study Less.
The process and the experiential tools and techniques that are addressed in this course are as follows:
-Flow-Based Note Taking
-Visceralization (Visualization plus relating to ideas)
3.Handling the Arbitrary
Learn More, Study less Video Courses or just the eBook can be purchased at: The Learn More, Study Less website.
Scott Young is a Blogger and educator who focusses on helping people get more out of life. He has completed a 4-year MIT course in 1-year on a self-study basis and has given interesting talks at TEDx and other forums.
Press Release courtesy of Online PR Media: _URL_


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Behavioural interventions to prevent concussion in youth sports have largely addressed the individual-athlete level. However, sustainably addressing a public health problem of this magnitude requires a self-propelling cultural shift. This presentation will summarize the Popular Opinion Leader (POL) intervention, which is well-positioned to affect such change. The POL intervention, based on the Diffusion of Innovations framework, involves identifying, recruiting, and training well-respected and trusted individuals to personally endorse prevention and risk-reduction during conversations within their social networks. Key behavioral changes in a population can be initiated and will diffuse to others if enough opinion leaders adopt, endorse, and support the behaviors. POL interventions have been widely used in other public health areas and may be applicable to concussions in youth sports. The presentation will then discuss three factors in youth sports settings and culture that the POL intervention must consider for optimal impact. First, parental involvement is important, given their direct involvement in their children's medical care and varying opinions on sport, competition, and safety. Second, youth sports are structured around games and practices, which provide unique opportunities for these informal interactions. However, there are a range of motivations for sport participation, which may vary across teams and within teams; for example, the focus of some parents and coaches may more focused on athlete development and competition rather than social networking and interaction. Third, youth sport setting membership is transient as players get older and move to other sport settings; approaches need to be self-sustaining despite this turnover and also capitalize on this opportunity for additional dissemination as opinion leaders transition to new sports settings. The presentation will conclude by discussing how formative research can help assess these integral factors. It is essential that POL principles are translated into the youth sport setting in manners that preserve their fidelity.
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For some women, genes may influence pressure to be thin
Genetics may make some women more vulnerable to the pressure of being thin, a study led by Michigan State University researchers has found.
From size-zero models to airbrushed film stars, thinness is portrayed as equaling beauty across Western culture, and it's an ideal often cited as a cause of eating disorder symptoms in young women.
The researchers focused on the potential psychological impact of women buying into this perceived ideal of thinness, which they call thin-ideal internalization. Changes in self-perception and behavior, caused by this idealization, can lead to body dissatisfaction, a preoccupation with weight and other symptoms of eating disorders.
"We're all bombarded daily with messages extoling the virtues of being thin, yet intriguingly only some women develop what we term thin-ideal internalization," said Jessica Suisman, lead author on the study and a researcher in MSU's Department of Psychology. "This suggests that genetic factors may make some women more susceptible to this pressure than others."
To explore the role of genetic factors in whether women "buy in" to the pressure to be thin, the idealization of thinness was studied in sets of twins. More than 300 female twins from the MSU Twin Registry, ages 12-22, took part in the study. Suisman and colleagues measured how much participants wanted to look like people from movies, TV and magazines. Once the levels of thin idealization were assessed, identical twins who share 100 percent of their genes were compared with fraternal twins who share 50 percent.
The results show that identical twins have closer levels of thin idealization than fraternal twins, which suggests a significant role for genetics. Further analysis shows that the heritability of thin idealization is 43 percent, meaning that almost half of the reason women differ in their idealization of thinness can be explained by differences in their genetic makeup.
In addition to the role of genes, findings showed that influences of the environment are also important. The results showed that differences between twins' environments have a greater role in the development of thin ideal internalization than wider cultural attitudes, which women throughout Western societies are exposed to.
"We were surprised to find that shared environmental factors, such as exposure to the same media, did not have as big an impact as expected," Suisman said. "Instead, non-shared factors that make co-twins different from each other had the greatest impact."
Although the study did not look at specific environmental triggers, non-shared environmental influences typically include experiences that twins do not share with one another. This could include involvement by one twin in a weight-focused sport like dance, one twin being exposed to more media that promotes thinness than the other, or one of the twins having a friendship group that places importance on weight.
"The take-home message," Suisman said, "is that the broad cultural risk factors that we thought were most influential in the development of thin-ideal internalization are not as important as genetic risk and environmental risk factors that are specific and unique to each twin."
Kelly Klump, MSU professor of psychology and co-author on the study, said it is well established that a broad range of factors can contribute to the development of eating disorders.
"This study reveals the need to take a similar approach to the ways in which women buy in to pressure to be thin, by considering how both genetic and environmental factors contribute to the development of thin-ideal internalization," Klump said.