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Linux Network namespaces and CNI
Container Network Interface is a great approach that allows to build container networking using different control and forwarding plane implementations available for Linux. In this post lets make quick introduction into Linux network namespaces and Container Network Interface. First of all to get better understanding what is CNI we will look into linux containers network principles.
This diagram represents the way how network namespaces are organised on the typical node which uses containerisation.
Usually there is a bridge interface that called docker0, kbr0, cni0 and etc. For simplicity we named it bridge0. This bridge interface links together interfaces which are named vethXXXXX. I guess you noticed that if you are running couple of docker containers on your linux box there are two vethXXXXX interfaces in your
ip addr or
This interfaces are representing a root namespace leg of the link between root and container namespaces. Lets look at the output below:
We have a docker0 bridge with two interfaces connected to it:
To find out its opposite leg index, we can use
peer_ifindex 7 and 11 are indexes of the eth0 interfaces inside docker containers. Using this indexes you can find out interface name and configuration from
ip link output.
Inside a container, this vethXXXX interfaces will have a container namespace link leg. We can use
ip link tool to print out information:
We can check with ethtool interface index in the root namespace:
Exposing container namespaces
ip tools allow us to execute
ip command family under particular namespace. Docker by default does not expose it into /var/run/netns because directory because it is using own libcontainer. Nevertheless we can do this creating a symlink from process network namespace to
/var/run/netns directory. This directory should be created if does not exists.
Having this information we can connect additional link inside the docker container:
Inside the container we can run
ifconfig to check that we have actually built this link:
Container network interface
Container network interface CNI is the approach that aims standardising of container networking. The main purpose of this project is to make container networking flexible, extensible and easy to use with different control and data plane implementations. Later I will show how easy is to use it.
CNI has several plugin types. The most important of them are
ipam (ip management). Main plugin does manipulations with network namespaces, e.g. create veth pair, linking it inside the container, connecting to a bridge and etc. IPAM plugin manages IP setting allocations.
If we look inside one of the scripts from here _URL_ you will be surprised that it uses very similar principal that was described above.
We are starting docker container without network:
Getting its PID:
And figuring out the path of the namespace:
Then we can execute our CNI plugin that will create an interface, assign IP address, mask and gateway. This all happens by means of golang library which is the part of CNI project github.com/containernetworking/cni/pkg/ip. Library itself uses github.com/vishvananda/netlink, which is golang implementation of
Finally the script connects network namespace of the first container to the new one, where all settings already configured and linked inside Root namespace in the way which is defined by particular CNI plugin:
CNI configuration and binaries
CNI configuration is stored in
/etc/cni/net.d/ and you should name your files with preceding priority (e.g. 10,20) and.conf (e.g. /etc/cni/net.d/10-mynet.conf) extension. Here is the example of the configuration format that I used for BaGPipe CNI plugin:
If you use CNI plugins together with Kubernetes binaries should be stored in
Arguments are passed in the plugins as environment variables:
CNI_COMMAND - add or delete. This commands creates or deletes network interface inside the container with all necessary operations.
CNI_NETNS - namespace path e.g.
CNI_IFNAME - the naming of network interface inside the container (usually
CNI_PATH - path to CNI plugin binaries, for Kubernetes it will be
Plugins code worked pretty well for me with golang compiler 1.6.
Here you can find set of functions that can be used to create veth pair ip/link.go. For example:
This function creates pair of linked interfaces similar as we did above with veth-ns-7863 and eth0-ns-7863.
ns.WithNetNS from this package
allows to execute some code inside container's namespace that was passed as an argument.
Having all this and examples from CNI github repository we can easily implement our own plugin.
First of all we should define
types.netConf will include standard struct parameters and we can define our own. In this particular example we added ImportRT and ExportRT (Import and Export route target for out BGP routes).
Next we can implement methods based on the code from one of the plugins:
In this particular example we wrote function that allows us to execute
net.Interfaces() under the given network namespace. It is analog of the command:
ip netns exec $NS_NAME ip link
Then we can extract Hardware Address (MAC address) and the name of the root namespace leg of newly generated veth pair.


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Documentation Center
 - Trial Software
 - Product Updates
Implement generic battery model
Electrical Sources, Electric Drives/Extra Sources
The Battery block implements a generic dynamic model parameterized to represent most popular types of rechargeable batteries.
The equivalent circuit of the battery is shown below:
Lead-Acid Model
Discharge model (i* > 0)
Charge Model (i* < 0)
Lithium-Ion Model
Discharge Model (i* > 0)
Charge Model (i* < 0)
Nickel-Cadmium and Nickel-Metal-Hydride Model
Discharge Model (i* > 0)
Charge Model (i*< 0)
EBatt = Nonlinear voltage (V)
E0 = Constant voltage (V)
Exp(s) = Exponential zone dynamics (V)
Sel(s) = Represents the battery mode. Sel(s) = 0 during battery discharge, Sel(s) = 1 during battery charging.
K = Polarization constant (Ah−1) or Polarization resistance (Ohms)
i* = Low frequency current dynamics (A)
i = Battery current (A)
it = Extracted capacity (Ah)
Q = Maximum battery capacity (Ah)
A = Exponential voltage (V)
B = Exponential capacity (Ah)−1
The parameters of the equivalent circuit can be modified to represent a particular battery type, based on its discharge characteristics. A typical discharge curve is composed of three sections, as shown in the next figure:
The first section represents the exponential voltage drop when the battery is charged. Depending on the battery type, this area is more or less wide. The second section represents the charge that can be extracted from the battery until the voltage drops below the battery nominal voltage. Finally, the third section represents the total discharge of the battery, when the voltage drops rapidly.
When the battery current is negative, the battery will recharge following a charge characteristic as shown below:
Note that the parameters of the model are deduced from discharge characteristics and assumed to be the same for charging.
The Exp(s) transfer function represents the hysteresis phenomenon for the Lead-Acid, NiCD and NiMH batteries during charge and discharge cycles. The exponential voltage increases when battery is charging, no matter the SOC of the battery. When the battery is discharging, the exponential voltage decreases immediately:
Dialog Box and Parameters
Parameters Tab
Battery type
Provides a set of predetermined charge behavior for four types of battery:
 - Lead-Acid
 - Lithium-Ion
 - Nickel-Cadmium
 - Nickel-Metal-Hydride
Nominal Voltage (V)
The nominal voltage (Vnom) of the battery (volts). The nominal voltage represents the end of the linear zone of the discharge characteristics.
Rated Capacity (Ah)
The rated capacity (Qrated) of the battery in ampere-hour. The rated capacity is the minimum effective capacity of the battery.
Initial State-Of-Charge (%)
The initial State-Of-Charge (SOC) of the battery. 100% indicates a fully charged battery and 0% indicates an empty battery. This parameter is used as an initial condition for the simulation and does not affect the discharge curve (when the option Plot Discharge Characteristics is used).
Use parameters based on Battery type and nominal values
Load the corresponding parameters in the entries of the dialog box, depending on the selected Battery type, the Nominal Voltage and the Rated Capacity.
When a preset model is used, the detailed parameters cannot be modified. If you want to modify the discharge curve, select the desired battery type to load the default parameters, and then uncheck the Use parameters based on Battery type and nominal values checkbox to access the detailed parameters.
Maximum Capacity (Ah)
The maximum theoretical capacity (Q), when a discontinuity occurs in the battery voltage. This value is generally equal to 105% of the rated capacity.
Fully charged Voltage (V)
The fully charged voltage (Vfull), for a given discharge current. Note that the fully charged voltage is not the no-load voltage.
Nominal Discharge Current (A)
The nominal discharge current, for which the discharge curve has been measured. For example, a typical discharge current for a 1.5 Ah NiMH battery is 20% of the rated capacity: (0.2 * 1.5 Ah / 1h = 0.3A).
Internal Resistance
The internal resistance of the battery (ohms). When a preset model is used, a generic value is loaded, corresponding to 1% of the nominal power (nominal voltage * rated capacity of the battery). The resistance is supposed to be constant during the charge and the discharge cycles and does not vary with the amplitude of the current.
Capacity (Ah) @ Nominal Voltage
The capacity (Qnom) extracted from the battery until the voltage drops under the nominal voltage. This value should be between Qexp and Qmax.
Exponential zone [Voltage (V), Capacity (Ah)]
The voltage (Vexp) and the capacity (Qexp) corresponding to the end of the exponential zone. The voltage should be between Vnom and Vfull. The capacity should be between 0 and Qnom.
View Discharge Characteristics Tab
Plot Discharge Characteristics
If selected, plots a figure containing two graphs. The first graph represents the nominal discharge curve (at the Nominal Discharge Current) and the second graph represents the discharge curves at the specified discharge currents. When the checkbox is active, the graph remains on and updates itself when a parameter changes in the dialog box. To clear the figure, uncheck and close the figure.
Discharge current
Allows to specify different values of discharge current. The discharge characteristics for these currents are presented in the second part of the graph.
Choose either Time or Ampere-hour as the x-axis for the plot.
Battery Dynamics Tab
Battery response time (s)
The response time of the battery (at 95% of the final value).
This value represents the voltage dynamics and can be observed when a current step is applied:
In this example, a battery response time of 30 secs is used.
Extract Battery Parameters From Data Sheets
This section gives an example of detailed parameters extracted from the Panasonic NiMH-HHR650D battery data sheet:
From the specification tables, we obtain the rated capacity and the internal resistance. The other detailed parameters are deduced from the Typical Discharge Characteristics plot:
Rated capacity
6.5 Ah
Internal Resistance
2 mΩ
Nominal Voltage (a)
1.18 V
Rated Capacity
6.5 Ah
Maximum Capacity (b)
7 Ah (5.38h * 1.3A)
Fully Charged voltage (c)
1.39 V
Nominal Discharge Current (d)
1.3 A
Capacity @ Nominal Voltage (a)
6.25 Ah
Exponential Voltage (e)
1.28 V
Exponential Capacity (e)
1.3 Ah
These parameters are approximate and depend on the precision of the points obtained from the discharge curve. A tool, called ScanIt (provided by amsterCHEM, can be used to extract values from data sheet curves.
The parameters obtained from the data sheet are entered in the mask of the Battery block as in the following picture:
The discharge curves (the dotted line curves in the following plots) obtained with these parameters are similar to the data sheet curves.
Cells in Series and/or in Parallel
To model a series and/or parallel combination of cells based on the parameters of a single cell, the parameter transformation shown in the next figure can be used. The Nb_ser variable in mask below corresponds to the number of cells in series, and Nb_par corresponds to the number of cell in parallel:
Block Inputs and Outputs
The Simulink output of the block is a vector containing three signals. You can demultiplex these signals by using the Bus Selector block provided in the Simulink library.
The State-Of-Charge of the battery (between 0 and 100%). The SOC for a fully charged battery is 100% and for an empty battery is 0%. The SOC is calculated as:
The Battery current
The Battery voltage
Model Validation
Experimental validation of the model shown a maximum error of 5% (when SOC is between 10% and 100%) for charge (current between 0 and 2C) and discharge (current between 0 and 5C) dynamics.
Model Assumptions
 - The internal resistance is supposed constant during the charge and the discharge cycles and doesn't vary with the amplitude of the current.
 - The parameters of the model are deduced from discharge characteristics and assumed to be the same for charging.
 - The capacity of the battery doesn't change with the amplitude of current (No Peukert effect).
 - The model doesn't take the temperature into account.
 - The Self-Discharge of the battery is not represented. It can be represented by adding a large resistance in parallel with the battery terminals.
 - The battery has no memory effect.
 - The minimum no-load battery voltage is 0 volt and the maximum battery voltage is equal to 2*E0.
 - The minimum capacity of the battery is 0 Ah and the maximum capacity is Qmax.
The power_batterypower_battery example illustrates a 200 volts, 6.5 Ah NiMH battery connected to a constant load of 50 A. The DC machine is connected in parallel with the load and operates at no load torque. When the State-Of-Charge (SOC) of the battery goes under 0.4 (40%), a negative load torque of 200 Nm is applied to the machine so it acts as a generator to recharge the battery. When the SOC goes


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Tuesday, 7 October 2008
George R. Brown Convention Center, Exhibit Hall E
Agricultural systems are often implicated in nutrient pollution of surface and subsurface waters. Dairy wastewater is a low nutrient, high volume effluent composed of water from milking barns, consisting of waste milk, hoof dirt, silage pad runoff and small quantities of manure. Current practices typically involve direct application of these waste products to land, often as irrigation water since nutrient content is relatively low, but the high volume of water can result in preferential flow into waterways. Alternative methods for dairy wastewater treatment are necessary for long term environmental, social and economical sustainability as well as cost and labor reduction. A subirrigation system was designed to handle and utilize dairy wastewater in an environmentally friendly fashion, at a farm near Hudson, Michigan. The system was chosen as both irrigation and a wastewater disposal tool and was installed underneath an area of approximately 20 acres, split into two separate fields. Wastewater was treated in a collection pond followed by flow through a constructed wetland prior to being supplied to the crops. Maize was planted on the site for three years, soybeans for only two. Plant uptake of nutrients was measured at least 3 times during the growing season for each of the three years. Dairy wastewater subirrigation resulted in increased crop yields for maize, especially in dry years, but had minimal effect on soybean yields. Tissue and grain were analyzed for P, K, Mg, Ca, S, Na, Fe, Al, Mn, B, Cu, Zn and total nitrogen. Of these, only magnesium and calcium showed a consistent correlation with distance away from tile lines.

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


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About the Trial Courts
Tennessee's 95 counties are divided into 31 judicial districts. Within each district are Circuit Courts and Chancery Courts, as provided by the state constitution. Some districts also have legislatively established Criminal Courts and Probate Courts. Judges of these courts are elected to 8-year terms.
Circuit Courts are courts of general jurisdiction in Tennessee. Circuit court judges hear civil and criminal cases and appeals of decisions from Juvenile, Municipal, and General Sessions Courts. The jurisdiction of circuit courts often overlaps that of the chancery courts. Criminal cases are tried in circuit court except in districts with separate criminal courts established by the General Assembly.
Chancery Courts are courts of equity that are based on the English system in which the chancellor acted as the "King's conscience." A chancellor, the judge who presides over chancery courts, may modify the application of strict legal rules and adapt relief to the circumstances of individual cases. Chancery Courts handle a variety of issues including lawsuits, contract disputes, application for injunctions and name changes. A number of matters, such as divorces, adoptions, and workers' compensation, can be heard in either chancery or circuit court.
Criminal Courts were established by the legislature to relieve circuit courts in areas with heavy caseloads. In addition to having jurisdiction over criminal cases, criminal court judges hear misdemeanor appeals from lower courts. In districts without criminal courts, criminal cases are handled at the trial level by circuit court judges.
Probate Courts were created by the legislature and given jurisdiction over probate of wills and administration of estates. Probate judges also handle conservatorships and guardianships.


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Fuzzy Generalized Fractal Dimensions Using Inter-Heartbeat Interval Dynamics in ECG Signals for Age Related Discrimination
International Journal of Engineering & Technology
Fractal theory is the propelled technique to analyze the non-linear signals with more complexity. Quantification of chaotic nature and complexity of the multifaceted therapeutic signals requires the estimation of the spectrum of Generalized Fractal Dimensions (GFD) where the complexity means greater inconstancy in the general form of fractal dimension range. This paper has proposed a fuzzy multifractal technique to analyze the age related classifications by using the Fuzzy Generalized Fractal
... neralized Fractal Dimensions (F–GFD) with Gaussian fuzzy valued function through the cardiac inter-beat interval dynamics in electrocardiogram (ECG) signals. It has been revealed that, the designed Fuzzy GFD method accurately categorizes the young and old age subjects by graphical comparison with the typical GFD method. The classification rate of young and elderly subjects has also supported statistically by ANOVA test. Hence the fuzzified multifractal analysis accomplishes significantly to discriminate age groups than the classical multifractal analysis in heartbeat rate time series from ECG signals and also the conventional GFD is a specific case of the proposed F–GFD.

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


Home Sports & Athletics • Overwhelmed by the Complexity of? This May Help
Overwhelmed by the Complexity of? This May Help
Pros of Practicing Martial Arts
To be healthy, the body needs various things. Exercise is among these things. In the world, we are living today, there are many ways to exercise. Martial arts are an example of such ways. Martial arts could be described as physical activities that are meant to perform different activities discover more. The reasons why people practice martial arts range from self-defense, competition, and entertainment. To be considered to be very popular are martial arts. This is because they have a lot of advantages. To highlight some of these benefits is the purpose of this article.
Weight loss is another pro to martial arts. Martial arts are a great boost to exercising now!. It happens that any extra weight that a person might have will be lost if that person constantly practices martial arts. Why this is the case is because martial arts will improve the metabolism of a person. This will also assist in someone being very fit. The fitness of a person is also assisted by this. What also benefits from this is the fitness of a person. The fact that a person's muscles are improved is also another advantage of martial arts this website. The practice of martial arts also work the muscles of the boy. They are therefore made very strong over time. The strength of a person is generally improved by one having better muscles click for more. More calories are burnt also due to the muscles being worked hard.
One's reflexes also benefit from martial arts. Martial arts will allow the body to always be alert in case of danger due to training it when punching and kicking now!. Martial arts, therefore, improve a person's safety. Another benefit of martial arts is portrayed In this website. The quality of life of a person is improved by this website. The reason why this is that case is is because the performance of day to day chores are assisted by quick reflexes. A person will become more mobile from the practice of martial arts here!. A person will adapt to moving faster as that is what is required in martial arts.


Six-Fingered Giants
Six-fingered giants
Polydactyly is an inherited condition in which a person has extra fingers or toes. It is caused by a dominant allele of a gene. This means it can be passed on by just one parent if they have the disorder.
Interestingly, not all ancient giants were found with six fingers or six toes, just a fair portion of them which denotes a sense of small community to breed within and consanguinity (inbreeding). It is not that their sub-genus of man naturally had six fingers, but that conditions for breeding were such that a good deal of their population was cursed/blessed with extra digits.
If you had a few dozen people who could not breed outside of their subgenus and the dating pool was the small community of options, traits would be passed by both parents.
This is like redheads. It takes two parents who carry the redheaded gene to produce a redheaded kid. In the case of polydactyly, with both parents carrying the gene, this will become much more prevalent in the population.
The ancients weren't stupid. They were accounting for something unique - across the land!


text:
- Date established：2006
- Country：Asia - Taiwan
- Type of Organization：Independent Association
- Disciplines and Media：Land Art,Visual Art,Installation,Sculpture
- Contact information：
- Name of residency：Guandu Nature Park: Guandu International Outdoor Sculpture Festival
- Address：55, Guandu Road, Taipei City, 11261 Taiwan
Located at the junction of Danshui and Jilong River, Guandu Nature Park is a nature reserve area consists of an integrated wetland environment of swamps and ponds. It is a great inhabitation for a rich variety of organisms, as well as an important relay stop for migratory birds. Therefore, it has been recognized by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area. The park, authorized by Taipei City Government, is currently managed by the Wild Bird Society of Taipei (WBST),which devotes care to wetland and wild bird conservation.
Guandu Nature Park has been holding Guandu International Outdoor Sculpture Festival since 2006. Over the past 9 years, 53 artists from 24 countries around the world have accomplished collectively 62 pieces of artworks in Taipei, Taiwan. These reputable artists skillfully integrated their experience in life into their artworks. They also incorporated their personal appreciation for the environment and culture into their artworks and shared their concerns for environmental conservation and love for planet earth with the public. "Caring for our planet through art" is what we intend to convey via the festival, and these artists have accomplished just that.
1. Artists are limited to using natural or recycled materials so as to ensure no compromise is made to the environment in the process of art creation. Even after the event is over, the artworks will be recycled or eventually decompose and return to nature.
2. Each artist will have 1-5 volunteers per day to assist the process of material collecting and installation.
3. Since Guandu Nature Park is a conservation area, artists need to follow all the environmental protection regulations.
- Duration of residencies：
About 20 days
- Number of artists resident at one time：
- Grants available：
Travel Expense,Living Expense,Materieal Fee,Free Working Space,Free Living Space,Meal during working days
- Expenses paid by artist：
Dinner, personal expenses
Open call (May to July)
- Selection procedure：
By curator with approval of a jury panel
- Expectation from the artists：
1. Artists should finish a site-specific outdoor sculpture installation in Guandu Nature Park or other display locations during the installation period. The artwork shall be exhibited for at least 3 months or more.
2. Artists should be interested in the relationship between nature, human culture, and environment. They should also have some experiences in working with local residents, volunteers, or junior high school students. While working on their artworks, the artists should be able to spark interest of the general public to participate in the process of such artistic creation.
3. The selected artists are required to have basic English communication skills and the ability to mingle with other artists, local residents, school teachers and students.
4. Artists should participate in the related cultural activities planned by the organizers (e.g. symposium, press conference, guide, opening)
- Presentation of artists' work：
Exhibition, talks, on-site guide
- Working Language：
A shared lounge for artists and volunteers at Guandu Nature Park during creating period ( with snacks and drinks)
- Number of studios：
Pop-up tent at working area
- Size of studios / Type of Sudios ：
N.A / N.A
Private Room,Hotel accommodation with breakfast, individual room for each artist
- Companions allowed：
Yes. Arranged on individual basis with companions paying their own expenses.
- Nearest international airport：
Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (TPE)
- Nearest local airport：
Taipei Songshan Airport (TSA)
- Nearest train station：
Taipei Main Station, MRT KuanDu Station
- By Car：
From Downtown Taipei:
There is no left turn from Dadu Rd to Guandu Rd. Please make an U-turn under Dadu Bridge, then turn right onto Guandu Rd to reach the Park.
Please exit Dadu Bridge towards Taipei, then turn right onto Guandu Rd to reach the Park. Be careful of the traffic on the right side of Dadu Bridge as you exit.
- Images Resource：Guandu Nature Park


text:
New insights into how the brain reconstructs the third dimension
This is a new illusion in which random noise (left) is made to look like a 3-D shape (right). Credit: MPI for Biological Cybernetics
A new visual illusion has shed light on a long-standing mystery about how the brain works out the 3-D shapes of objects.
As dizzying as it may sound, the impression that we are living in a 3D world is actually a continuous fabrication of our brains. When we look at things, the world gets projected onto the retina and information about the third dimension is lost a bit like when a 3D object casts a shadow onto a flat, 2D wall. Somehow the brain is able to reconstruct the third dimension from the image, allowing us to experience a convincing 3D world. A team of scientists from Giessen University, Yale and the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen has recently discovered how cells in visual cortex might help solve this mystery. They created special 2D patterns designed to stimulate specific nerve cells when we look at them. They find that the result is a vivid illusion of 3D shape, which suggests these cells play an important role in reconstructing 3D shape.
"We created the images by taking random noise and smearing it out across the image in specific patterns. It's a bit like finger painting, except it's done by computer", explains Roland Fleming, Professor of Psychology at the University of Giessen. "The way the texture gets smeared out is not the way texture behaves in the real 3D world. But it allows us to selectively stimulate so-called 'complex cells' in visual cortex, which measure the local 2D orientation of patterns in the retinal image".
These cells whose discovery led to a Nobel Prize for David Hubel and Torsten Wiesel are often described as 'edge detectors' because they respond to boundaries or edges in the image. What was not known was that these cells could play a key role in estimating 3D shape.
"We asked people to adjust small probes to report what they saw. The settings allow us to reconstruct exactly which 3D shapes they perceived," says Heinrich Bülthoff, director of the department of Human Perception, Cognition and Action at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics. "What's striking is how close the results are to predictions of a model based on cell responses".
The authors suggest the strongest evidence implicating the cells comes from an experiment in which participants stared at patterns for 30 seconds at a time, to change the way the cells respond. The resulting 'adaptation' causes random noisewhich normally looks completely flatto appear like a specific 3D shape.
"It's a kind of aftereffect, a bit like when you stare at a waterfall for a while, adaptation makes things that are stationary look like they are moving in the opposite direction. Except here, the aftereffect makes the noise look 3D," says Daniel Holtmann-Rice, who is currently doing his PhD at Yale University. "We didn't think it was going to work. It was so exciting to get the first data where we could clearly see the predicted shapes emerging in the participants' settings."
The authors are currently working on generalizing the findings to other kinds of information about 3D shape, such as shading and highlights.
More information: Fleming, RW, Holtmann-Rice D & HH Bülthoff Estimation of 3D shape from image orientations. PNAS, published ahead of print December 6, 2011, doi:10.1073/pnas._PHONE_
Journal reference: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Provided by Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
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48 minutes


text:
ScreenChomp is a screensharing app. Share a great idea... Explain a tricky concept... Help kids with their homework...
A simple doodling board, markers, and one-click sharing tools make spreading your ideas and know-how easy and fun!
Just - Record It. Sketch It. Share It. - to create a sharable, replay-able video that tells your story clearly.
STUDENTS: Help each other with homework and work together on projects.
TEACHERS: Tutor kids while away from school, or record a few tips to send home with them.
MENTORS: Tutor youngsters from afar, without buying desktop recording software.
KIDS: Share doodles and ideas with friends.
Mr. Kremer: I've been experimenting with having my students create screencasts using the ScreenChomp app on ipads. I've been overall pleased with the way that my students have produced these screencasts and think that it is providing some powerful metacognition.
Once students have created a screencast, they can share it several ways (emailing a web link or sharing over twitter). I've had students email me their web link by accessing their school gmail directly from moodle on the ipad.
Randy Micallef - 8th Grade Math Teacher
"ScreenChomp will help students review ideas, and it will help me have more consistent interactions with each student. I'll also have a way to re-assess and re-test a student's understanding of specific concepts, and keep a record of those interactions through captures."


text:
The role of sub-surface fissures on the establishment of an invasive woody shrub (Prosopis glandulosa) in grasslands.
JURENA, P.N.* and S.ARCHER
Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-2126 1
We tested the hypothesis that establishment of woody plants in grasslands underlain by indurated limestone would be facilitated by 'fissures' which give tree/shrub tap roots preferential access to deep stores of water and nutrients. Survival and growth of Prosopis glandulosa seedlings was monitored along ten 5 m transects perpendicular to known fissures. Soil depth along the transects ranged from 0 to 20 cm and decreased with increasing distance from the fissure. Contrary to expectations, no seedlings emerged from seeds planted directly over the fissure. Survival of Prosopis seedlings emerging 5 m from the fissure was 2x greater than that of seedlings emerging 1 m from the fissure. Survival trajectories for all seedlings were similar and reached zero within seven months of the initial planting. Seedlings farthest from the fissure were taller (3.60.8 cm vs. 3.00.2 cm) and had a greater number of leaves (4.02.0 vs. 0 leave/seedling) than those nearest the fissure. Greater production of grasses on vs. away (42.07.0 g/m2 vs. <5.0 g/m2) from fissures appeared to negate advantages that fissures might otherwise provide for shrub seedling establishment. Supporting experiments have shown that the development of disturbance 'gaps' in the graminoid root layer might be required for shrub seedlings to exploit favorable microsites.
Keywords: fissure, shrub seedling, _Prosopis glandulosa_
This abstract is being presented at: 10:30 AM in session:
RESTORATION ECOLOGY AND INVASIONS


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April 21
Word power
As world leaders gather this week in Chicago for the NATO summit and at Camp David for the G-8 summit, the American Writers Museum is hosting "The Power of the Word," an online exhibit that seeks to examine the role of literature in influencing leaders and defining culture. The exhibit, which is online at, aims to generate discussion about what books illuminate the American experience, said Malcolm O'Hagan, president of the museum.
"One of our missions is to reinforce the importance of reading and writing and how it influences our country, our culture and our history," said O'Hagan, who added that the museum hopes to open an exhibit space in Chicago in 2015. "We're hoping to stimulate a discussion about books and plays that people feel have defined America."
To kick off the discussion, the American Writers Museum collected responses from nearly 40 writers about which American books they'd recommend to foreign leaders to help them understand the United States as well as which foreign books had influenced them.
An edited sampling of their responses follows below.
— Printers Row Journal editors
The authors will be answering the following questions:
1. Which works by American writers should world leaders read to help them gain a better understanding of America?
2. Which works by writers from other countries have been most important to you as a writer?
Marie Arana
Author of "American Chica: Two Worlds, One Childhood" and "Lima Nights"
1. I would recommend Maxine Hong Kingston's "The Woman Warrior," which showed us a dazzling, new way to be an American. I would urge them to read Bernard Malamud's "The Assistant," for its deep insights into America's immigrant culture and our abiding obsession with "belonging."
2. I don't think I would have become a writer if I had not read seminal works by the following writers: Gustave Flaubert ("Madame Bovary"), Leo Tolstoy ("Anna Karenina"), Vladimir Nabokov ("Speak, Memory"), Margaret Atwood ("The Handmaid's Tale"), Jane Austen ("Pride and Prejudice"), Italo Calvino ("If on a Winter's Night a Traveler") and Yasunari Kawabata ("Thousand Cranes"). Reading these as a youngster, I was persuaded that good stories trump cultural differences. They hold the key to human understanding.
T.C. Boyle
Author of "Drop City" and "When the Killing's Done"
1. Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman," John Steinbeck's "Tortilla Flat," and "The Collected Stories of John Cheever." Miller's heart-wrenching play gives insight into our society's obsession with commercial/monetary success. The Steinbeck book represents the opposite pole in this hilarious and utterly charming novel about a group of "paisanos" in Monterey who live only for the pleasure of the moment. Finally, Cheever's stories not only provide a unique insight into his generation of Americans but also deal with their bruised aspirations and the malaise of a consumer society.
2. The foreign authors who were hugely important to me when I first began to write were García Márquez, Borges, Cortázar, Gunter Grass, Beckett, Genet, Ionesco, Gide, Evelyn Waugh, Kingsley Amis and a host of others too numerous to name here.
Jeffrey Eugenides
Author of "Middlesex" and "The Marriage Plot"
1. Tocqueville's "Democracy in America"; "Leaves of Grass" by Walt Whitman; and Richard Ford's trilogy, "The Sportswriter," "Independence Day" and "The Lay of the Land." In order to understand America, you need to understand three things: its origins, its soul and its trajectory. "Democracy in America" describes the first, "Leaves of Grass" delineates the second and Richard Ford's trilogy sketches the third.
2. In my teens, "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" and "Ulysses" by James Joyce; in my 20s, "The Book of Laughter and Forgetting" by Milan Kundera, Nabokov's "Lolita" and "Pale Fire," and "Love in the Time of Cholera" by Gabriel García Márquez; in my 30s, "The Information" by Martin Amis; in my 20s, 30s, 40s and forever, "Anna Karenina" by Leo Tolstoy.
Jonathan Franzen
Author of "The Corrections" and "Freedom"
1. "The Great Gatsby" byF. Scott Fitzgerald and "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
2. Too many to list. A few highlights: "War and Peace" by Leo Tolstoy, "The Brothers Karamazov" by Fyodor Dostoevski, "The Magic Mountain" by Thomas Mann, "A Personal Matter" by Kenzaburo Oe, "Confessions of Zeno" by Italo Svevo, "In Search of Lost Time" by Marcel Proust, "The Beggar Maid" by Alice Munro and "Bleak House" by Charles Dickens.
Nikki Giovanni
Award-winning poet and author of "Gemini"
1. That's going to be a hard one. "Sula" by Toni Morrison is one of my very favorites, and I reread it regularly. Good and evil are not so easily defined, are they? I also think "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven" by Sherman Alexie should definitely be in the briefcase. "The Dew Breaker" by Edwidge Dandicat, because torture is a terrible thing and we must both stop torture and find a way of forgiving those who created this hell on earth. I would close my list with "Leaving Atlanta" by Tayari Jones, which takes a deep and powerful look at the Atlanta child murders.
2. Of course we all read, and had to read, the Russian classics. I found them trying, though my favorite Dostoevski is "Winter Notes on Summer Impressions."... I thought an exile in Paris would be just the bee's knees, though I never as an adult considered exile. I had an interest in the history of WWII and did some reading in that area, but my favorite books were British. I adored Daphne du Maurier and, quite naturally, Agatha Christie. But one of the books that recently shot up to one of my very favorites is "The Elephant Keeper" by Christopher Nicholson. It makes the top favorite new book right along with "Song Yet Sung" by James McBride.
Pete Hamill
Author of "A Drinking Life" and "Tabloid City"
1. "The Great Gatsby" byF. Scott Fitzgerald. In elegantly crafted prose, we are given here a very American mixture of poetry, ambition, lies, delusions and aching pity. It remains our deepest prose version of the blues.
2. The one that first knocked me for a loop was "The Story of Babar"by Jean de Brunhoff. Later, when I could read and could make my own choices, it was "Treasure Island" by Robert Louis Stevenson with the illustrations by N.C. Wyeth. Others include: Short stories by Alice Munro, "On Love" by Stendhal, "Death in Venice" by Thomas Mann, "Diaries" by Cesare Pavese, everything by Charles Dickens, and the stories and plays of Anton Chekhov.
Oscar Hijuelos
Author of "The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love" and "Thoughts Without Cigarettes"
1. Well, for one, "Gem of the Ocean," a brilliant play by August Wilson, and in terms of (relatively) contemporary fiction, I rather think that Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man" and Rudy (Rudolfo) Anaya's "Bless Me Ultima" would be eye-opening. (And to go further back, "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mr. Twain, of course.)
I think each speaks to a certain formative time in American history. Wilson addresses the legacy of slavery, while Ralph Ellison's novel addresses the emerging African-American male, at the cusp of a time when everything began to change in terms of civil rights. Anaya's book recounts a saga, taken from a certain moment in Mexican-American history, while Twain's very famous book offers a lyric and tender look at yet another time in pre-Civil War America. Of course my list could go on, but I think each of these books is a piece of the puzzle that comprises the collective, ever-emerging American identity.
2. Goodness. During my formative years as a writer, I very much liked Gabriel García Márquez and Jorge Luis Borges, but that would be the tip of an iceberg that included other writers like Julio Cortazar, Jose Donoso and Carlos Fuentes, all Latin Americans. At the same time, I was very much under the spell of two rather unlike writers — the Polish/British writer Joseph Conrad and, from Ireland, Flann O'Brien, whose fanciful works were always interesting to me, even if they hadn't anything to do with my Cuban ancestry.
Jonathan Lethem
Author of "The Ecstacy of Influence" and "Motherless Brooklyn"
1. "The Man Who Loved Children" by Christina Stead, a novel set around Baltimore and Washington D.C. by an Australian-born


text:
Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Wikipedia.
1. A time in a person's life (especially an older person) when their mental capacity is reduced to that of a child, as due to disease or old age. After my grandfather suffered his second stroke, he really entered into a second childhood.
2. A period of rejuvenated or renewed interest in things that interest a child. Being a part of my son's life as he grows up has been like a second childhood for me, because seeing him experience the magic of the world has made me appreciate it again as well. Jerry's sort of been in his second childhood ever since he lost his job, as he's gotten back into model train building and video games.
The dotage of old age; also, childlike playfulness in an adult. For example, Grandpa needs full-time care, now that he's in his second childhood, or Since he retired and started learning to fly, he's been in his second childhood. Depending on the context, this term may allude either to such problems of old age as losing one's mental or physical capacities or to delighting in new pleasures in a childlike fashion. [c. 1900]
1. An adult's second childhood is a period of time when they have fun and do things that children typically enjoy. My father was a model railway man. My mother passes this off as his second childhood.
2. An elderly person's second childhood is when their mind has become weak and they can no longer care for themselves. We were shocked by his rapid descent into a second childhood.


Curious Kids: how do magpies detect worms and other food underground?
Magpies have a few clever tricks to help them find food.
Gisela Kaplan, Author provided
Gisela Kaplan, University of New England
How do magpies detect worms and other food sources underground? I often see them look or listen, then rapidly hop across the ground and start digging with their beak and extract a worm or bug from the earth – Catherine, age 10, Perth.
You have posed a very good question.
Foraging for food can involve sight, hearing and even smell. In almost all cases learning is involved. Magpies are ground foragers, setting one foot before the other looking for food while walking, called walk-foraging. It looks like this:
This is called walk-foraging.
Gisela Kaplan, Author provided
Finding food on the ground, such as beetles and other insects, is not as easy as it may sound. The ground can be uneven and covered with leaves, grasses and rocks. Insects may be hiding, camouflaged, or staying so still it is hard for a magpie to notice them.
Read more:
Curious Kids: why is a magpie's poo black and white?
Detecting a small object on the ground requires keen vision and experience, to discriminate between the parts that are important and those that are not.
Magpie eyes, as for most birds, are on the side of the head (humans and other birds of prey, by contrast, have eyes that face forward).
A magpie's eyes are at the side of its head and it can only see something with both eyes if that is straight in front of the bird.
Shutterstock/Webb Photography
To see a small area in front of them, close to the ground, birds use both eyes together (scientists call this binocular vision). But birds mostly see via the eyes looking out to the side (which is called monocular vision).
This picture gives you an idea of what a magpie can see with its left eye, what it can see with its right eye and what area it can see with both eyes working together (binocular vision).
Here's how a magpie's field of vision works.
Gisela Kaplan, Author provided
You asked about underground foraging. Some of that foraging can also be done by sight. Worms, for instance, may leave a small mound (called a cast) on the surface and, to the experienced bird, this indicates that a worm is just below.
Magpies can also go a huge step further. They can identify big scarab larvae underground without any visual help at all.
Here is a scarab larva.
Gisela Kaplan, Author provided
Scarab larvae look like grubs. They munch on grassroots and can kill entire grazing fields. Once they transform into beetles (commonly called Christmas beetles) they can do even more damage by eating all the leaves off eucalyptus trees.
Here is the secret: magpies have such good hearing, they can hear the very faint sound of grass roots being chewed.
We know this from experiments using small speakers under the soil playing back recorded sounds of scarab beetle larvae. Magpies located the speaker every time and dug it up.
An Australian magpie digging for food in a lawn.
Flickr/Lance, CC BY-NC-ND
So how do they do it? Several movements are involved.
To make certain that a jab with its beak will hit the exact spot where the juicy grub is, the magpie first walks slowly and scans the ground. It then stops and looks closely at the ground – seemingly with both eyes working together.
Then, holding absolutely still, the magpie turns its head so the left side of the head and ear is close to the ground for a final confirming listen.
Finally, the bird straightens up, then executes a powerful jab into the ground before retrieving the grub.
An Australian magpie digging for food gets a grub.
Wikimedia/Toby Hudson, CC BY-SA
That is very clever of the magpies. Very few animals can extract food they can't see. Only great apes and humans were thought to have this ability. Clever magpies indeed. And farmers love them for keeping a major pest under control.
Read more:
Curious Kids: Why do birds sing?
Gisela Kaplan, Emeritus Professor in Animal Behaviour, University of New England
Cable ties probably won't stop magpie attacks – here are a few things to try instead
Stylish? No. Effective? Probably not.
Tony Wills/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY
Bill Bateman, Curtin University
Every spring in Australia is heralded by reports of magpies swooping at people. While it is of little comfort to those at the receiving end of a surprise attack, such events are actually quite rare when one considers the number of magpies across Australia, and the fact that they love to share our urban habitat with us.
According to one estimate, fewer than 10% of magpies swoop, and even fewer of these do so consistently. It is almost always males that swoop, and they only do so when they have chicks in the nest. Once the chicks are out the males seem to calm down; presumably they perceive nest-bound chicks as most vulnerable.
Swooping behaviour also seems to vary across Australia – at least according to Magpie Alert!, a website on which the public can report magpie attacks. Many more swoops have been reported in the eastern states than in Western Australia, and fewest of all in Tasmania.
Read more:
Bird-brained and brilliant: Australia's avians are smarter than you think
But regardless of their relative rarity, being the target of a swooping attack by a magpie can be frightening. It has resulted in injuries and, tragically this week, the death of a 76-year-old cyclist in Wollongong.
What can we do to avoid ending up on the receiving end? Is any of the advice meted out each year on avoiding attacks actually worthwhile, or backed by evidence? As with just about everything involving biology, the answer is "it depends".
Some magpies never attack pedestrians but go for cyclists; others do the opposite. And some hold a deep animus against posties on bikes, and reserve their fury solely for them. Even more astonishingly, some magpies seem to really have it in for particular people, and will preferentially attack them.
Although Australian magpies are not related to true crows, they do share similar levels of intelligence. US researchers have shown that American crows recognise people who have trapped them to band them, give alarm calls when they next see them, and even pass on that information to untrapped birds who also sound the alarm when they see trappers.
It seems likely that Australian magpies do the same, effectively holding a grudge against particular people. Unfortunate posties, travelling the same route each day and meeting the same magpies, seem to end up on the naughty list through no fault of their own.
Cyclists do seem to invoke more extreme reactions than pedestrians, judging by the fact that magpies appear to pursue cyclists farther. It therefore stands to reason that the best response to a swooping attack while cycling would be to get off and push your bike.
You will of course be wearing a bike helmet, and as magpies swoop from behind, this will offer protection against its sharp beak.
Sadly it seems that the classic tactic of attaching cable ties to your helmet does little to deter a determined magpie, beyond the fact that some strategic placing can help keep them away from your ears. Ditto the idea of painting eyes on the back of your helmet or hat.
More reassuringly, however, magpies really only swoop in the vicinity of their nest, so once you have moved away you should be safe. If you become aware of swooping attacks in a certain area the best thing is to avoid it – even just crossing the road should be sufficient.
If you can't do that, at least wear a hat and sunglasses; these will help reduce the chance of a determined magpie pecking a sensitive area. Turning to face magpies may also help – many birds do not appreciate being stared at, and as magpies prefer to swoop from behind, this may be a good tactic if you find yourself cornered in a park.
If you have magpies in your garden, perhaps the most appealing way of avoiding attacks is to become their best friend. Given that magpies have long memories, a few judicious offerings of mince or similar tidbits throughout the year can help you befriend them, making them much more amenable to your presence come spring.
But don't overfeed them – it's just a friendly bribe, not a full-blown dependency.
Read more:
Magpies can form friendships with people – here's how
If all else fails, simply console yourself with the fact that swooping season only lasts a few weeks. For the rest of the year magpies are peaceful urban nighbours who delight us with their distinctive song.
Bear that in mind, and we can hopefully reach a détente with our feathered (and occasionally flustered) friends. In the meantime, if you are unlucky enough to be swooped, remember to help others avoid the same fate by posting the details to Magpie Alert!.The Conversation
Bill Bateman, Associate professor, Curtin University


text:
This Level 1 Award in Food Safety provides an ideal solution to staff induction training including: those with no prior food safety knowledge; those employees who handle low-risk or wrapped foods those who wait on or pass food on to the general public those who work h=behind the scenes, pot washers, cleaning and ancillary staff.
Food businesses must ensure that employees are supervised, instructed and trained in food hygiene matters, this is in order to as far as is possible: guarantee safe food preparation storage and delivery to any consumer.
Each candidate will need to understand the basic requirements of food safety:
- how to keep clean and hygienic
- how to keep work areas clean
- how an individual can actively reduce contamination risk
- how a worker can Identify key food safety issues in any food preparation area


News your connection to The Boston Globe
Heinrich Harrer, memoir of Tibet was made into film
VIENNA -- Heinrich Harrer, an Austrian mountaineer and former Nazi who became a friend and tutor of the young Dalai Lama, died yesterday. He was 93.
Mr. Harrer's family said in a statement that ''in great peace, he carried out his final expedition" when he died in a hospital. His family, which did not specify a cause of death, said Mr. Harrer would be buried Jan. 14.
Actor Brad Pitt played Mr. Harrer in the film ''Seven Years in Tibet," which was based on Mr. Harrer's 1953 memoir of his time in the Himalayan nation.
Born July 6, 1912, the son of a postal worker in the Carinthian village of Knappenberg, Mr. Harrer first made headlines in 1938 with the first ascent of Switzerland's dreaded Eiger North Face.
At least nine mountaineers had died trying to scale the sheer wall, long considered Europe's greatest mountaineering challenge. Dozens have perished in subsequent attempts.
''We were never afraid. We never had any idea of returning or giving up," Mr. Harrer told reporters on the 50th anniversary of the feat.
His ascent earned him fame and a handshake from Adolf Hitler: Mr. Harrer had joined the Nazi party when Germany took control of Austria in 1938. He also joined the SS, the party's police wing associated with atrocities during World War II.
Mr. Harrer later said he joined the SS and Nazi party in order to enter a teachers' organization. The membership let him join a government-financed Himalayan expedition, his life's dream.
Mr. Harrer and a colleague were arrested by British troops in India at the end of that expedition as war broke out in September 1939.
The two escaped an internment camp in 1944 and trekked through Tibet to Lhasa, where few Westerners had been allowed to enter. They soon endeared themselves to the country's secular elite and to the religious head, the young Dalai Lama.
Mr. Harrer taught the Dalai Lama mathematics, English, and sports and became his adviser and friend. Mr. Harrer's subsequent book about the experience, ''Seven Years in Tibet," was translated into 48 languages.
He later explored other remote areas of the globe, wrote about a dozen books, and made 40 documentary films.
His adventures became known to millions worldwide in the 1997 film starring Pitt. It was only a few months before the movie's release that his Nazi past caught up with him.
Documents cited by the German magazine Stern in an exposé just before the release showed that Mr. Harrer joined Hitler's underground SA storm troops in Austria in 1933, when he was 21 and Nazi organizations were still banned in Austria.
While he had said he joined the Nazi party to further his teaching and mountaineering careers, Mr. Harrer did not explain why he joined the SA when Nazis were being persecuted in Austria.
The revelations prompted some minor changes to the film to depict Mr. Harrer with Nazi officials and the Nazi flag, ''Seven Years" director Jean-Jacques Annaud told The Associated Press in 1997.
Mr. Harrer was interned at the start of the war and never linked to any Nazi atrocities.
''This is a man who... feels a tremendous shame," Annaud said at the time. ''I respect him as a man who has remorse."
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The Moringa oleifera plant is one of the most useful plants known and offers numerous medical and nutritional benefits for users. Used for centuries in traditional Indian medicine, it has proven its effectiveness as a medicinal herb in scientific trials as well. The roots of the moringa plant offer a concentrated form of many of the chemical compounds found throughout the rest of the plant and can provide therapeutic benefits for many conditions and ailments. Caution should be exercised when using the roots of the moringa plant due to the higher chemical concentration found in these parts of the plant; additionally, the roots sometimes contain traces of a paralyzing agent called spirochin that can be dangerous for sensitive individuals or if taken in extremely large quantities.
Moringa roots in traditional medicine
The restorative and healthful benefits of the moringa root have been used by Ayurvedic practitioners in India for centuries to treat a wide variety of ailments. The roots are especially useful in controlling disorders of the circulatory system including minor cardiovascular complaints. In small doses, moringa roots can be used to stimulate the appetite and improve the function of the digestive tract, making it useful for individuals with gastric upset and irritable bowel syndrome. Additionally, the roots have been used in controlled doses to treat impotence, sexual dysfunction, female reproductive tract issues and to bring on menstruation. In poultice form, the roots are used for cramps and arthritis pains. Moringa roots are diuretic and may have some antiseptic qualities in topical use as well.
Modern medical uses
Moringa roots have been investigated by medical researchers to determine their effectiveness against a number of ailments. Solid evidence exists that the moringa root contains elements that can combat epithelial ovarian cancer and provide new hope for cancer sufferers. Additionally, scientific studies have shown that moringa root extracts can help to reduce or eliminate kidney stones by allowing the body to flush calcium and phosphates from the kidneys more efficiently. General studies have also shown improved overall kidney function in subjects treated with moringa root extracts. Moringa roots can be used as anti-inflammatory agents with solid results in laboratory rats showing reduced swelling and improved healing in edema and other artificially induced inflammations. Finally, the analgesic and soporific effects of moringa root compounds have undergone rigorous scientific testing and have been found to be useful in supplementing pharmaceutical remedies, allowing patients to experience longer, less interrupted sleep when taking pain medications.
The harvested roots from Moringa Oleifera trees serve a wide variety of purposes. Moringa Oleifera roots are important agents of healing and nourishment. The roots are used to create medicines, perfumes, natural pesticides, fertilizers, cleaning agents, animal fodder and many other important products.
Moringa Oleifera Roots can also be used for culinary purposes. When Moringa Oleifera seedlings are 60 centimeters tall or shorter, their roots can be used to create special sauce. The tree's bark is removed and vinegar and salt are added to the ground up roots and bark. The resulting sauce is very similar to horseradish and is used as a spice or condiment. The sauce can also serve medicinal purposes. Those suffering malnutrition are encouraged to consume the sauce made from the Moringa Oleifera roots as it contains high levels of fiber, protein, vitamins and minerals, which are known to bring about a quick recovery. Moringa Oleifera Roots contribute to society in a variety of ways. They create powerful medicines and their sauce is considered a nutritional delicacy. Surely, the Moringa Oleifera will be treasured for generations to come.
Moringa Oleifera Root Medicinal Uses:
|Antimicrobial / Biocidal||Bacterial|
|Other / Not Attributed to a Specific|
This information is based on the article published at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, by Jed W. Fahey, Sc.D.
Moringa oleifera: A Review of the Medical Evidence for Its Nutritional, Therapeutic, and Prophylactic Properties. Part 1. By Jed W. Fahey, Sc.D. Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Cancer Chemoprotection Center, 725 N. Wolfe Street, 406 WBSB, Baltimore, Maryland, USA 21205-2185
List of chemicals present in the roots:


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Nephila jurassica: The biggest spider fossil ever found
Spiders are small arthropods, famous for their elasticity, strength and web-making abilities. For some people, spiders are not welcome in the home; as soon as they see one crawling on the ceiling, the first thought that comes to mind is to swat it at once.
But spiders predate us humans by a long way. And while sometimes spiders are tiny creatures, a team of scientists has discovered the largest spider fossil ever in a layer of volcanic ash in Ningcheng County, Inner Mongolia, China. The research was carried out by Paleontologist Professor Paul Selden, of the University of Kansas, with his team.
Named Nephila jurassica, this 165-million-year-old fossil is 2.5 cm in length and has a leg span of almost 9 cm. It is currently the largest known fossilized spider, and is from the family known as Nephilidae, the largest web-weaving spiders alive today.
According to research published online in the 20th April, 2011 issue of Biology Letters, this prehistoric spider was female and shows characteristics of the golden orb weaver. Widespread in warmer regions, the golden silk orb weavers are well-known for the fabulous webs they weave. Females of this family weave the largest orb webs known.
"When I first saw it, I immediately realized that it was very unique not only because of its size, but also because the preservation was excellent," said ChungKun Shih, study co-author, and a visiting professor at Capital Normal University in Beijing, China.
According to a press release: "This fossil finding provides evidence that golden orb-webs were being woven and capturing medium to large insects in Jurassic times, and predation by these spiders would have played an important role in the natural selection of contemporaneous insects."


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Make Truck Tracks!
Using different tools to express oneself through paint is a preschooler's dream. Having him discover how different tools create different images helps his brain expand to think beyond just a paintbrush. Plus, it's pretty cool to dip regular items into paint and see what happens!
With this craft, all you need are some old toy trucks and some paint and paper. Your child will be amazed to see how things other than paintbrushes can create beautiful images. He'll have a whole new interpretation of "truck driving" after finishing this creative craft!
What You Need:
- Toy trucks (plastic is preferable since it's easier to clean when finished)
- Paint trays (at least 4)
What to Do:
- Place several toy trucks on the table in a tray.
- Place a large sheet of butcher paper or white paper in front of each child. You may want them to wear a smock or some protective clothing because they're going to get messy!
- Put one color of paint in each tray and place them on the table.
- Have the kids take a truck and roll it in the paint and then roll the truck on the paper. It seems simple, but the kids will really be amazed to see their toy truck leaving behind such colorful tracks.
- Encourage the kids to use different trucks on the same paper and talk about why the trucks with larger wheels make larger tracks, etc. They won't want to use a boring old paintbrush again!


the consistency of the object data.
For a SQL representation, the USING clause must specify either SQLData or ORAData, and the corresponding Java class must implement one of those interfaces. The EXTERNAL NAME clause for attributes is optional.
Creating SQLJ Object Types
The SQL statements to create SQLJ types and specify their mappings to Java are placed in a file called a deployment descriptor. Related SQL constraints and privileges are also specified in this file. The types are created when the file is executed.
Below is an overview of the process of creating SQL versions of Java types/classes:
 1. Design the Java types.
 2. Generate the Java classes.
 3. Create the SQLJ object type statements.
 4. Construct the JAR file. This is a single file that contains all the classes needed.
 5. Using the loadjava utility, install the Java classes defined in the JAR file.
 6. Execute the statements to create the SQLJ object types.
Additional Notes About Mapping
The following are additional notes to consider when mapping of Java classes to SQL types:
 - You can map a SQLJ static function to a user-defined constructor in the Java class. The return value of this function is of the user-defined type in which the function is locally defined.
 - Java static variables are mapped to SQLJ static methods that return the value of the corresponding static variable identified by EXTERNAL NAME. The EXTERNAL NAME clause for an attribute is optional with a SQLData or ORAData representation.
 - Every attribute in a SQLJ type of a SQL representation must map to a Java field, but not every Java field must be mapped to a corresponding SQLJ attribute: you can omit Java fields from the mapping.
 - You can omit classes: you can map a SQLJ type to a non-root class in a Java class hierarchy without also mapping SQLJ types to the root class and intervening superclasses. Doing this enables you to hide the superclasses while still including attributes and methods inherited from them.
 However, you must preserve the structural correspondence between nodes in a class hierarchy and their counterparts in a SQLJ type hierarchy. In other words, for two Java classes j_A and j_B that are related through inheritance and are mapped to two SQL types s_A and s_B, respectively, there must be exactly one corresponding node on the inheritance path from s_A to s_B for each node on the inheritance path from j_A to j_B.
 - You can map a Java class to multiple SQLJ types as long as you do not violate the restriction in the preceding paragraph. In other words, no two SQLJ types mapped to the same Java class can have a common supertype ancestor.
 - If all Java classes are not mapped to SQLJ types, it is possible that an attribute of a SQLJ object type might be set to an object of an unmapped Java class. Specifically, to a class occurring above or below the class to which the attribute is mapped in an inheritance hierarchy. If the object's class is a superclass of the attribute's type/class, an error is raised. If it is a subclass of the attribute's type/class, the object is mapped to the most specific type in its hierarchy for which a SQL mapping exists
See Also:
The Oracle Database JPublisher User's Guide for JPublisher examples of object mapping
Evolving SQLJ Types
The ALTER TYPE statement enables you to evolve a type by, for example, adding or dropping attributes or methods.
When a SQLJ type is evolved, an additional validation is performed to check the mapping between the class and the type. If the class and the evolved type match, the type is marked valid. Otherwise, the type is marked as pending validation.
Being marked as pending validation is not the same as being marked invalid. A type that is pending validation can still be manipulated with ALTER TYPE and GRANT statements, for example.
If a type that has a SQL representation is marked as pending evaluation, you can still access tables of that type using any DML or SELECT statement that does not require a method invocation.
You cannot, however, execute DML or SELECT statements on tables of a type that has a serializable representation and has been marked as pending validation. Data of a serializable type can be accessed only navigationally, through method invocations. These are not possible with a type that is pending validation. However, you can still re-evolve the type until it passes validation.
See Also:
"Type Evolution"
For SQLJ types having a SQL representation, the same constraints can be defined as for ordinary object types.
Constraints are defined on tables, not on types, and are defined at the column level. The following constraints are supported for SQLJ types having a SQL representation:
 - Unique constraints
 - Primary Key
 - Check constraints
 - NOT NULL constraints on attributes
 - Referential constraints
The IS OF TYPE constraint on column substitutability is supported, too, for SQLJ types having a SQL representation.
Querying SQLJ Objects
SQLJ types can be queried just like ordinary SQL object types. Methods called in a SELECT statement must not attempt to change attribute values.
Inserting Java Objects
Inserting a row in a table containing a column of a SQLJ type requires a call to the type's constructor function to create a Java object of that type.
The implicit, system-generated constructor can be used, or a static function can be defined that maps to a user-defined constructor in the Java class.
Updating SQLJ Objects
SQLJ objects can be updated either by using an UPDATE statement to modify the value of one or more attributes, or by invoking a method that updates the attributes and returns SELF—that is, returns the object itself with the changes made.
For example, suppose that raise() is a member function that increments the salary field/attribute by a specified amount and returns SELF. The following statement gives every employee in the object table employee_objtab a raise of 1000:
UPDATE employee_objtab SET c=c.raise(1000);
A column of a SQLJ type can be set to NULL or to another column using the same syntax as for ordinary object types. For example, the following statement assigns column d to column c:
UPDATE employee_reltab SET c=d ;
Defining User-Defined Constructors in Java
When you implement a user-defined constructor in Java, the string supplied as the implementing routine must correspond to a static function. For the return type of the function, specify the Java type mapped to the SQL type.
Here is an example of a type declaration that involves a user-defined constructor implemented in Java:
( name VARCHAR2(30),
 age NUMBER,
 RETURN Person1_typ AS RESULT
 NAME 'pkg1.J_Person.J_Person(java.lang.String, int) return J_Person'
XMLType views wrap existing relational and object-relational data in XML formats. These views are similar to object views. Each row of an XMLType view corresponds to an XMLType instance. The object identifier for uniquely identifying each row in the view can be created using an expression such as extract() on the XMLType value.
See Also:
Oracle XML DB Developer's Guide for information and examples on using XML with Oracle objects


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AppsAnywhere is BCIT's software delivery platform. Through AppsAnywhere, you can access all the software needed for your coursework without ever needing to visit a BCIT student computer lab. The very first time you connect to AppsAnywhere on a device you will need to follow the steps below to ensure that AppsAnywhere will work correctly (even if you've connected to AppsAnywhere on another device previously).
Note: These instructions apply to a Windows environment. If your computer is a Mac you will need to follow instead the instructions for logging in to AppsAnywhere for the first time on a Mac. You may also need to consider setting up a Windows environment on your Mac computer to be able to use most of the software in AppsAnywhere.
Setting up AppsAnywhere the first time you use it
To complete the initial setup:
- In a web browser, go to the AppsAnywhere site and login using your usual BCIT credentials.
- Click on the blue button on the left indicating that it your first time using AppsAnywhere on this device.
- The Appsanywhere client download will start. Wait for it to complete.
- Navigate to your downloads and double click the downloaded package.
- Follow the steps as prompted by the installer to install AppsAnywhere. Depending on your computer's security settings, you may be asked to confirm whether you want to allow the installer to make changes to your computer. Click OK.
- Close the installer when you see the confirmation that the installation was successful.
- In your browser, click the Done button.
- A pop-up will ask if you want to Open AppsAnywhere Launcher. Click the button to do so.
- After a few seconds the validation process will complete and you will see all available applications.


Shadow-free light guaranteed. Unlike traditional multi-bulb surgical lights, HyLite 6 series produces light with perfect shadow reduction. It achieves this using only one bulb attached to a parabolic reflector composed of thousands of facets which function like miniature mirrors. Every facet receives light and projects it onto the operating field. Light rays projected from every facet make up a light column that is uniformly projected on every corner of the operating field, thus ensuring a shadowless field, even if a surgeon is standing directly under the light.
 - HyLite generates minimized disturbance in two ways: firstly, it features a smooth outline that hides the encircling grips; secondly, it consumes so little power that the warming effect on the outer surface is extremely low
 - HyLite employs a state-of-the-art reflector to produce a perfect light column that presents a depth of illumination up to 1,200mm (L1+L2, as defined by IEC 60601-2-41)
 - HyLite has two identical bulbs, one in operation and the other standing by. If the bulb in use fails, HyLite will switch to the backup bulb in 0.2 seconds and and move it into the working position. A surgeon will not perceive any difference in either illumination or light field center


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As a participant in SOS, students will:
- Meet weekly with a peer mentor for support and guidance.
- Take an assessment to help identify strengths as well as factors that may have contributed to poor academic performance.
- Develop a personal action plan and goals for the semester.
- Develop skills to help achieve academic success this semester and sustain it in future semsters.
- Identify and utilize campus resources.
All students participating in SOS are expected to:
- Attend all classes.
- Meet weekly with SOS peer mentor for support and guidance.
- Meet regularly with an academic advisor.
- Communicate frequently with their course faculty.


text: Can you please answer these questions 1. How did an understanding of the theory of evolution enable Shubin to predict the age and type of sedimentary rock in which he would find Tiktaalik? 2. Why did Shubin look for fossils in Canada's north? kJo 3. It took five years of field work to find Tiktaalik. What does this suggest about the nature of palaeontology? What challenges do you think Shubin's team faced? 4. Some fish have primitive lungs. Do you think Tiktaalik had lungs in addition to gills? Why or why not? Use the Internet and other sources to check your prediction. 5. Articles submitted to the science journal Nature undergo a rigorous peer review process before being accepted. What is the benefit of such a process? Why would scientists not publish their findings in journals that do not require a review?.


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Jump to main content or Bold Kids site navigation
The OSV Bold supports a variety of monitoring and educational tasks. The ship carries high-tech instruments to collect data from the water column, sediments, and even marine life. The Bold also carries onboard equipment that can take underwater video, side-scan sonar, and sampling instruments such as corers, dredges, and trawls. Onboard laboratories allow scientists to process, analyze, and store samples while they are out at sea.
The sturdy A-frame on the back deck of the Bold, helps the scientists deploy the equipment for sampling and monitoring.
A bottom grab, does exactly what it sounds like! This piece of equipment catches muddy sediment, and it can collect down to about two feet into the bottom. The grab is lowered to the bottom by a cable and water is able to flow through it as it is lowered down. When it hits the bottom, it releases a catch that allows the two doors to close, capturing the mud. Scientists use this grabbing technique to measure the concentrations of pollutants in the mud or to look at the small marine invertebrates, such as worms (polychaetes), crustaceans (such as amphipods), or mollusks (such as small clams) that may live in the surface of the sediments. This type of sample is incredibly important. Scientists can tell if the study area is a healthy environment or polluted depending on the types of species of organisms they find in the mud grabs.
Next to the onboard dry lab, there is a computer room. In here, scientists can use remote control equipment to steer the side scan tow fish, tell the CTD how deep to go and watch underwater video of the area they are studying!
A CTD is the primary tool for understanding the physical properties of sea water that are essential for supporting marine life. C stands for "Conductivity," T stands for "Temperature," and D stands for "Depth". A CTD gives scientists an accurate and comprehensive charting of the distribution and change in water temperature, salinity, and density for the water column they are studying. All of these are important for understanding how healthy an area of water is for supporting marine life.
How does a CTD work?
The CTD is made up of a set of small high tech probes, attached to the large metal rosette water sampler. The rosette is lowered on a cable down to the depths that the scientists want to evaluate, sometimes all the way to the seafloor. While the CTD is still underwater it reports electronic messages through a cable back to the onboard computer lab. While the CTD is gathering data underwater, computers on the ship are constantly reading that data and creating charts and line graphs. This helps the scientists understand right away the changes in the water column as the CTD goes deeper and deeper.
A typical CTD drop, or hydro-cast as the scientists like to call it, can take 5 to 15 minutes depending on how deep the scientists want to go. For the work that EPA does, generally within depths of 300 feet, gathering a complete set of CTD data can take less than 20 minutes.
True or False?
Salinity and conductivity both refer to the amount of dissolved salt in a body of water.
Up in the dry lab, on board the ship, scientists can look at organisms under microscopes. These organisms can be collected in the mud, or water and by looking at the species, the scientists can tell if the environment is healthy or polluted, or even being taken over by invasive species that don't naturally belong there.
Believe it or not! Some oceanic organisms like pollution, and there presence in a mud sample can tell a scientist a lot about that underwater environment.
The otter trawl is a specialized net for catching fish on the bottom of the ocean in sandy, silty seabeds. Contrary to the name, it is not used for collecting otters! When scientists are trying to determine the health of ocean bottom environment, it is sometimes helpful to collect real fish for the study.
If the ocean bottom is too muddy, or has too many rocks or boulders, the otter trawl doesn't work very well. When it is slowly dragged on the bottom, (at about 2 knots, or 2 mph) the scientists do not want it to get snagged on a boulder that could tear it!
In 2007, this type of trawl helped scientists on the OSV Bold check on some close-to-shore habitats for winter flounder in Rhode Island Sound. The population of winter flounder has decreased dramatically off the coast of Rhode Island in the past 25 years. To try to better understand why this has happened, the scientists wanted to identify the most important nursery zones for flounder. The Bold helped scientists collect data from off shore adult flounder to compare with younger, juvenile flounder still living in the near-shore nursery habitats. By a trace chemical, "fingerprint technique", the scientists could tell which nursery zone the adult flounder had come from. Once EPA and the state of Rhode Island have a better idea where most of the flounder are coming from, everyone can work to better protect those important habitats.
A rocking chair dredge is like the trawl, as it is slowly pulled behind the boat. This type of dredge is used to collect or sample for shellfish such as clams, or scallops in the bottom sediments, it works well in sandy bottom environments. The dredge rocks up and down in the sediment collecting the shellfish, which are contained in its mesh bag.
While EPA scientists usually collect waters samples within 300 feet deep, this equipment has the ability to go down thousands of meters.
How many feet are in 1 meter?
Read about the latest dive mission in Puerto Rico!
Every day, I commute to my EPA office in downtown New York. However, twice a year, I'm assigned to work on EPA's Ocean Survey Vessel BOLD. I am currently on assignment in Puerto Rico to monitor coral reefs. Read More »
Coral Condition Survey Continues
We spent the first eight days of BOLD operations deploying dive teams to 60 locations spread across the entire southern coast of Puerto Rico to collect data on the corals. Read More »
Side-scan sonar is a type of sonar system that is used to be able to understand what lies at the bottom of the sea floor. On the Bold, the side-scan sonar "tow fish" can create an image of the sea floor so that the scientists can understand the hills, valleys, reefs and debris that are in the study area. This tool is used for mapping the seabed for a wide variety of purposes, including creation of nautical charts and detection and identification of underwater objects and bathymetric features.
Bathymetry is the study of underwater depth. Check out this map! Purple areas are the deepest, yellow shows areas of land above the surface of the water.
Side scan sonar can be used to conduct surveys for maritime archaeology; along with seafloor samples, the sonar can help scientists understand the different materials and textures of the seabed. The pictures that the sonar tow fish sends back to the ship oftentimes find debris items left from human activities. Check out our gallery of side scan images!
What else can side scan sonar help with?
On the Bold, the side-scan sonar is called the "tow fish" because it is pulled behind the ship underwater. Slowly, and carefully, the ship's crew guides the ship in a set path to gather an image of the ocean floor beneath.
To make the image, the sonar "tow fish" sends out a fan shaped series of pulses (sound frequencies) down toward the seafloor. The intensity of the acoustic reflections from the seafloor of this fan-shaped beam is recorded in a series of cross-track slices. When stitched together by a computer, these slices can form an image of the sea bottom within the swath (coverage width) of the beam.
One of the inventors of side-scan sonar was German scientist, Dr. Julius Hagemann, who worked for the US navy Mine Defense Laboratory in Florida after WW II. His work is documented in US Patent 4,197,591, which remained classified by the US Navy until it was issued in 1980.
In 1963 Dr. Harold Edgerton, Edward Curley, and John Yules used side-scan sonar to find the sunken Vineyard Lightship in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts.
A team led by Martin Klein developed the first successful towed, commercial, (non-military) side-scan sonar system from 1963 to 1966.
In 1967, Klein's sonar helped find King Henry VIII's flagship Mary Rose. That same year the side scan sonar also aided in the archaeologist George Bass, find a 2000 year old ship off the coast of Turkey.
In 1968 Klein founded Klein Associates, Inc, the company that designed the side scan sonar that is used on the Bold.
Why do YOU think this area is called the WET LAB? This room is right on the deck where scientists on the Bold deploy the sampling equipment. This way, a mud grab can be put directly into the wet lab to be studied. Sometimes the scientists hose down the sediment to see what organisms are in it and it can get a little messy!
The wet lab is equipped with a sieve station (sieving tables and trays), wash station with hot and cold, freshwater and salt water, an ice machine for sample preservation, refrigerator, and an electronic navigation chart that displays the ship's location and navigation information.
Contact the Bold Kids web editor to ask a question,