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The purpose of DECA is to develop occupational competencies in the field of marketing and management, and to promote understanding and appreciation of our free enterprise system.
DECA, organized at the national level in 1947, is a tool used by a teacher-coordinator to motivate, inspire, teach, and recognize young people in unique ways. It complements the marketing education classroom instruction and work experiences. DECA's activities focus on competition at the local, state, and national levels in specific occupational skills, leadership development and management training. DECA also offers many opportunities for young people to develop leadership qualities in a student-directed organization.
Developing strong, aggressive leadership in America's future businessmen and businesswomen is the primary objective of the Future Business Leaders of America/Phi Beta Lambda (FBLA/PBL). FBLA is the national career and technology student organization for secondary students, and PBL is for postsecondary/collegiate students who are studying business and exploring careers in the business world.
Organized on the national level in 1941, FBLA/PBL members learn to compete honorably with fellow students who share similar goals. They learn to engage in individual and group enterprises, and to lead others and direct a group. Members develop their leadership, human relations, communications and business skills by working on projects that put them in touch with the business community. Members are provided the opportunity to test the skills that they have developed in the classroom and through FBLA in a wide range of competitive events.
The FFA Association is the oldest career and technology student organization. Organized in 1928, the FFA is an integral part of the program of agricultural education in the public schools. FFA strengthens instruction for students of agricultural education by providing a laboratory for practical training in agriculture, leadership, cooperation, and citizenship.
Through active participation in the FFA, members learn by taking part in and conducting meetings, speaking in public, participating in events based on occupational skills, earning awards and recognition, and becoming involved in cooperative efforts and community improvement. As new technologies and new job opportunities emerge, so will the need for well-trained and educated people. Getting involved in high school agriculture and the FFA is the first step to a bright future in agriculture.
SkillsUSA is a national organization of young men and women enrolled in trade, industrial, technical, and health education programs. The SkillsUSA Maryland Association is one of the nation's strongest with members striving for self-improvement through scholarship, citizenship, and participation in school and community activities.
The national SkillsUSA organization was founded in 1965 with the purposes of fostering a respect for the dignity of work, establishing realistic career goals, creating enthusiasm for learning, and helping students obtain full and rewarding lives. SkillsUSA also promotes high standards in trade ethics, workmanship, scholarship, leadership, and safety.
Develop essential Skills for Success such as
Learning, Thinking Communication,
Technology and Interpersonal Skills
Gain a positive image through competitive skill events,
leadership development, and service projects
Serve their communities and nation
Gain a competitive edge in the workforce
Interact with future employers
Enhance their academic and career technology education
Increase student involvement in the curriculum
Improve student attitudes toward learning in the classroom
Involve local business and industry support and participation
Gain direct involvement in the preparation of future employees
Ensure that the education curriculum reflects current industry practices
Support students, schools, and the community through scholarship opportunities
Policies & Procedures for Implementing Career Technology Student Organizations (CTSOs) in Maryland


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A gengineered insect, with an altered biochemistry. It is modified to produce an internal deposit of some explosive (most commonly Penthyle, since it is a naturally existing chemical in most biosystems).
The explosive charge can be set of by an encoded signal or an external stimuli, such as proximity to magnetic fields, body heat and so on. It can also be wired to explode at a given time, or when stepped on.
The Cockroach is an effective tactical weapon, commonly deployed against power-, and data conduits. It can also be used successfully against unarmoured personnel, locked doors and the fuel tanks of a vehicle. The exploding cockroach is sometimes regarded as a variety of synsect.

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


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FlaglerLive is dedicated to the following values:
- Fostering open, honest and civil conversations and debate about public, private, social and cultural issues that matter to the Flagler County community.
- Being an integral part of the community it serves as both a non-profit business and a trust.
- Getting up the noses of autocrats, bureaucrats and the powerful in general without fear or favor.
- Maintaining the highest level of credibility and journalistic standards while expanding and protecting the boundaries of free speech.
- Advertisers and underwriters matter. Readers matter more. Independence, honesty, accuracy and accountability matter most.


5 Simple Reasons Why I Prefer Non-Toxic Bar Soap Over Liquid
5 Reasons Why I Prefer Bar Soap Over Liquid
I started this blog after I had been searching for a toxin-free baby shampoo for over a month. Somewhere in the midst of the research, I realized that most liquid soaps are not even soaps but detergents made of synthetic ingredients that make bubbles and lather. Those detergents (aka surfactants) often lack safety data or may cause irritation or allergy. During this process, I found a few manufacturers that still make real soap. Real soap is made by the process of saponification, where oil is reacted with an alkali (if made correctly, no alkali remains in the final product). If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know that I recommend saponified soap – both liquid and bar soap. In this post, I will tell you five simple reasons why I prefer non-toxic bar soap over liquid.
Reason 1: Non-toxic bar soap is better than liquid because there is no plastic involved
Plastic is everywhere and it is really difficult not to use it without making sacrifices. But sometimes it is easy to avoid it. I don't like to use plastic because there is emerging evidence that even BPA-free plastic may release estrogen-mimicking chemicals. When the balance of the hormone system is disrupted, there is an endless number of health problems that may arise (read more about hormone disruptors here). We can't fully know what is in the plastic we use and how it may potentially impact our health and the health of our children. So it is better to avoid it, if possible. So using non-toxic bar soap is a great opportunity to cut down on the usage of plastic.
Reason 2: Bar soap is better than liquid because it reduces carbon emissions
Liquid soap is packaged in plastic. Making the plastic increases emissions of greenhouse gasses, which leads to climate change – not a good thing. In addition to that, liquid soap is heavier than bar soap so transportation of liquid soap to your house produces more greenhouse gasses.
Reason 3: Non-toxic bar soap is better than liquid because it is cheaper
When you buy liquid soap, you pay for the plastic bottle it comes in and for the extra transportation costs. And in most cases, you are paying for the water that makes soap liquid. According to Dr. Bronner, a soap maker of both bar and liquid soaps, bar soaps are 5% water; liquids are 61% water (for more information, visit here). Dr. Bronner's bar soap costs $4.69, which makes it $0.94 per ounce; while their liquid soap with 12 times more water is $1.12 per ounce. As you can see, it is not a good deal. By the way, you can always make your own liquid soap out of bar soap. It is easy. The only difficulty is to know how to prevent bacteria and mold growth. Ask me how if you are interested in knowing how to do this.
Reason 4: Non-toxic bar soap is better than liquid because it does not need preservatives
Preservatives are needed when there is water or a water-containing ingredient in the formulation. Obviously, liquid soap does have water, and so (with a few exceptions) requires a preservative. One exception is when the pH is high enough to prevent mold and bacteria growth. However, high pH might be too drying on the skin.
Preservatives are often a source of concern. In fact, you learn a super easy superpower method to avoid using body products with the most harmful preservatives. To find out what people said about the superpower method, please visit here.
Reason 5: Non-toxic bar soap is better than liquid because I find it easier to use
I am impatient. I tend to squeeze the soap bottle too hard to get soap faster. As you can imagine, I get more soap than I need, which I end up wasting. I do not have this problem with bar soap because I can stop lathering as soon as I see enough lather. And I also like the feeling of holding a bar of soap in my hand. Something about it makes me feel in control.
My favorite natural soap bars
Meliora Means Better: this is what I currently use! It lathers well, moisturizes, and does not get soggy, which is so important. I had my share of soap bars that became gooey after a few uses. Not this one. Of course, like with any non-toxic bar soap you should use a soap dish that allows water to drain well.)
Blissoma: This is one of my favorite skin care brands. Along with liquid facial cleansers, they offer natural soap bars to wash your face with. I like their cleansing bars but I personally prefer the oil cleansing method.
I do not like Dr. Bronner's bar soap as well as Meliora's but if would like to include it here if you prefer to buy on Amazon or health food store.
It is critical to get the right soap dish so your soap won't get soggy. We tried a few different soap dishes before we found this one that actually works the best.
So these are my five simple reasons to choose non-toxic bar soap over liquid soap.
Are all-natural shampoo bars good for you?
Why I Prefer Bar Soap Over Liquid
Your Superpower To Read Ingredients
52 thoughts on "5 Simple Reasons Why I Prefer Non-Toxic Bar Soap Over Liquid"
 1. Thanks for the perspective and recommendations! I tend to avoid bar soap because it leaves me feeling squeaky after I rinse off, which I don't like. Do you know what I mean? Do the soaps you recommend avoid the squeaky feeling?
 1. Will do. I wish I had a better way to describe it than "squeaky" clean… 🙂 it's just not a smooth, silky feeling I get from liquid soap. Maybe it's because bar soap doesn't lather as much?
 2. How in the world do you use bar soap for dishes and laundry? Seems like I could logically figure it out, but somehow I can't… I understand Christine's comment about the squeaky clean feeling. It's like the outer layer of skin barrier lipids is removed? Anyway, I haven't tried any of the above recommendations, but I have tried Dr. Bronners. It's too drying for me. Maybe I need the coconut oil soap. I'll try that, but Luminance is local so maybe them first?
 Oh, no worries, I'm not "on the spot"! 🙂
 1. Actually, coconut oil soap is too drying for bathing but perfect for doing the dishes. You know what? You just gave me an idea. What if I took a short video of doing the dishes with coconut oil bar soap? Try Luminance. And let me know. I have a feeling a squeaky feeling is from commercial soaps. The ones I selected are made by hand. Thank you, Elizabeth! 🙂
 1. Hi Irina!
 My daughter and I got two bars of soap (rose and tangerine) from Kim at Luminance at the farmers market last Sunday. They are fantastic! No "squeaky" feeling or skin tightness during/after bathing. Kim was a font of information and spoke VERY highly of you (all of which I agreed with)! These soaps will last a long time, I think, but I plan on buying more when they are used up. Thanks!
 3. For bathing, John uses One with Nature "Dead Sea Salt" bar soap. I like a good scrubbing and I use Reviva Labs "Seaweed Soap" that is an exfoliant. John hates liquid soap for showers. I used to use it, but I have found that bar soap is quicker for me than putting liquid soap on a scrubber and then having to rinse out the scrubber at the end of the shower. So I think I save water by using bar soap, too! 🙂
 1. Sue's comment is exactly what I hate about liquid soaps. They leave a greasy residue on your skin after lathering. One needs to spend more water, energy, and time to wash off that layer. It's moisturizer overkill.
 4. Saving on plastic is one of the major reasons I started using bar soaps. My current favorite is Ava Anderson Body Bar. 100% non-toxic, lathers beautifully and lasts a long time. I'll never go back to a liquid soap.
 5. I really like using Soaps 'n' Such. She is a local soap maker in upstate NY. I love her baby soap and facial soap. She also has hand cream and stain remover (I know it's a little irrelevant but she makes a lot of great products.) Her bar soap is the first bar soap that I used that doesn't leave that "squeaky clean" feeling people keep on making comments on. Fantastic article! I go back and forth between using liquid soap and bar soap. I am currently using Alaffia liquid soap and i just convinced my husband to stop using his anti-bacterial commercial soap and after reading this article, I think I am convinced to use locally made bar soap for the whole family. Thanks Irina!
 1. Hi, Laura! Thank you for your nice feedback! I'm so glad that you were able to convince your husband. Those husbands can be a little stubborn at first but they always come


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Xyce is an open source, SPICE-compatible analog circuit simulator developed by Sandia National Laboratories. It supports large-scale parallel computing platforms. As a consequence Xyce is capable of solving extremely large circuits.
Xyce can generate output files in multiple formats. BeSpice Wave reads the default file format (*.prn), CSV files (*.csv) and CSD files (*.csd). However these files are text based. This makes them human-readable but reading them by software is relatively slow.
Therefore BeSpice Wave is a lot faster when reading binary raw files (*.raw). These files are generated by Xyce when the command-line option -r is added. BeSpice Wave accesses these files like a database. That means the curve list is read very quickly and the corresponding data is parsed only when it is required. All data is re-read from file when the file changes in an ongoing simulation.
The evaluation version that is available from our downloads page reads *.prn files, *.csv files and *.raw files generated by Xyce.


- Racist Mural Puts Tate Galleries in a Bind
 Portions of a Rex Whistler mural in the Tate's restaurant contain racially offensive images. The work as a whole is protected by British heritage laws and can't be altered, putting the museum in a bind between preservation and cultural sensitivity.
 - Museums as Monuments to White Supremacy
 by Ana Lucia Araujo
 Recent protest and scholarship have highlighted the knowledge of major cultural institutions that artifacts in their collections were looted from Africa and other colonized places, and support calls to repatriate the artifacts.


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On the joint eigenvalue distribution for the matrix ensembles with non zero mean
Exact distributions are given for the two-dimensional case when the mean of the off-diagonal element is non-zero. The joint eigenvalue distribution for theN dimensional case, derived using the volume element in the space ofN ×N orthogonal matrices, is checked by rederiving the exact results forN=2. The smooth nature of theN-dimensional joint distribution supports the claim of the method of moments that the single eigenvalue distribution is a smooth function of the ratio of mean-to-mean square deviation.
Volume 94, 2020
Continuous Article Publishing mode
Click here for Editorial Note on CAP Mode


Dr. William H. Oldendorf, a medical researcher whose work helped lead to the development of the CAT scan and magnetic resonance imaging technology, died in a Los Angeles hospital on Dec. 14. He was 67 and lived in Los Angeles.
Dr. Oldendorf, who was a professor of neurology and psychiatry at the Medical School of the University of California at Los Angeles and a senior medical investigator for the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Medical Center, died of complications of heart disease, said his wife, Stella.
When the British researchers Godfrey N. Hounsfield and Allan M. Cormack received the Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology in 1979 for work leading to the development of computerized axial tomography, the CAT scanner that provides three-dimensional images of living organisms, Dr. Oldendorf maintained that he should have also been recognized.
"Anybody who goes into science expecting to win the Nobel Prize is about as realistic as a person going to Las Vegas to get rich," he was quoted as saying in January 1980 by the journal Science. "But my feeling is that I should be preparing to go to Stockholm." Independent Work
Dr. Oldendorf, who wrote the first paper on cross-sectional scanning of the brain with X-rays and received the first patent for such a scanner, worked independently of the British researchers. His device scanned a plane of the brain by moving a high-energy photon source and a mechanically coupled detector around the head. He had difficulty attracting interest in his device, which he developed in the early 1960's, until the British-made scanner gained attention in 1972.
In 1975, Dr. Oldendorf and Mr. Hounsfield shared an Albert and Mary Lasker Award, one of the most prestigious awards in American medicine, for work on imaging techniques.
Although best known for his work on the CAT scan, Dr. Oldendorf also did research work on the flow of cerebrospinal fluid, the structure and function of the blood-brain barrier and the application of nuclear and radiological techniques to neurology.
He was born in Schenectady, N.Y., on March 27, 1925, and attended Union College there. He earned his medical degree from Albany Medical College in 1947. He became associated with what is now the West Los Angeles V.A. Medical Center in 1955 and joined the U.C.L.A. faculty in 1956.
He is the author of more than 250 scientific publications, including several books. He also received many honorary degrees and awards, including the President's Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service, and in 1991 he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.
In addition to his wife, Dr. Oldendorf is survived by three sons: Eric Oldendorf, of Los Angeles, Mark Oldendorf, of Albany, and William Oldendorf Jr., of Sherman Oaks, Calif.; two sisters, Florence Karlen, of Schenectady, and Dorothy Brown, of Duanesburg, N.Y., and three grandchildren.


Laser Cut Leather – What You Need to Know
Laser Cut Leather – What You Need to Know
1 comment, 15/08/2019, by, in Articles
Leather is a premium material that's been used for centuries but also exists in modern fabrication processes.
 1. The precision of laser cutters makes it much easier to produce intricate designs compared to using manual cutting.
 2. There's no risk of physical damage or abrasion to the leather since the cutting tool is literally light.
 3. Laser cutters are also equipped to cut a wide range of materials, such as cardboard, wood, MDF, fabric, acrylic, and even metal, depending on their power.
 1. Laser cutting leather requires some trial and error. Due to natural variances in material composition, experimentation and experience is necessary to operate these machines successfully.
 2. Fumes are inevitably produced since the laser vaporizes and burns the material to make cuts, thus machines need to be placed in a well-ventilated area with a dedicated exhaust system.
 3. Careful when use laser cutters on synthetic leather and chrome-tanned leather as they contain chemicals capable of producing toxic fumes when burned.
Choosing a Machine
Power: Leather, a flexible and durable material, needs a significant amount of power to be vaporized and pierced using a laser. CO2 lasers are the most popular in the general community for this reason. They typically have a power of 40 W and above, the recommended minimum for cutting leather of various kinds.
Working Area: Larger laser cutters are much more expensive, but in the long run, they can save you more leather since it's possible to strategically arrange cuts to get the most possible "objects" from one sheet of material. With a small cutter, the raw material must be cut in order to fit the working area before you can cut your designs, potentially wasting more trimmings.
Speed: This depends on the power of the laser, the type of material, and its thickness. A high-powered laser can increase cutting speed in direct proportions (double the power, double the speed). As for the material and thickness variation, the impact on speed varies.
Let's Get Cutting!
1. Prepare the file : When creating your design for leather cutting, you can use any application that outputs vector images. Vector graphics are versatile and come in many formats like:
DXF and DWG (Autodesk AutoCAD), CDR (CorelDRAW), AI (Adobe Illustrator) EPS (Adobe Illustrator), PDF, SVG.
4. Finish: Finishing improves the look of the finished product, and the removal of burnt edges may be necessary for some cuts.
About FutureFootwear
One comment
 1. April 10th, 2020 14:18
 Laser marking is so much more versatile than some might believe; what seems like an efficient method of design is also an effective marketing technique and prevents forgery, among other things. Great article
Leave a reply translated


A safe energy
Natural gas is one of the safest sources of energy there is. In Québec, nearly 200,000 customers, including a high percentage of schools, hospitals, businesses and large companies, use it every day.
It's not toxic
Natural gas is a safe energy and it is not toxic. Medical research has shown that people can breathe air with a natural gas concentration as high as 25% without any harmful effect on their health. It is the lack of oxygen in the air and not natural gas that might cause illness.
It's easy to detect
In its natural state, natural gas is odourless. Its signature smell comes from mercaptan, a substance added to natural gas in order to be able to detect it. Thanks to mercaptan, natural gas can be detected in the air at concentrations of as little as 0.2%.
It's lighter than air
If natural gas escapes into the air, it simply rises and dissipates into the atmosphere. Open doors and windows to ensure maximum ventilation. It does not accumulate on the ground, unlike propane and gasoline.
It does not ignite easily
Natural gas does ignite easily. For this to happen, a leak must spring in an enclosed space and the gas must mix with oxygen in the air at a concentration of 5-15%. The temperature must also be extremely high for natural gas to ignite -- 538 °Celsius-- or there would have to be a flame or static electrical discharge caused by a socket. We tell our clients of the importance of using a competent contractor, one of Énergir's Authorized Partners, for installing natural gas appliances. The proper installation of natural gas appliances prevents leaks that could cause a natural gas explosion.


Unit 731
Unit 731 was a Japanese research unit tasked with the development of biological weapons for use in the Pacific War. It was the successor to Zhong Ma Fortress, headed by the Imperial Japanese Army scientist Ishii Shiro. The Chinese in Manchuria and other parts of China suffered throughout the war with Japan from germ-ridden packages developed by Unit 731 dropped onto their towns and villages.
After Japan surrendered in 1945, they tried to cover the experiments up but the United States found out. In order to prevent the research falling into the hands of the Soviet Union at the onset of the Cold War, the Americans offered the Japanese perpetrators immunity from their crimes in exchange for the data, to learn from human experimentation such as the US would never countenance. Many were never brought to justice and lived full lives of comfort, wealth and power.
The Americans incorporated the data into their medical knowledge and even employed biological weapons against North Korea during the Korean War. (PROSE: Log 384)


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"The United States never remembers, and Mexico never forgets," is an oft-quoted maxim about the relationship between the North American neighbors. And there is no chapter in the history of those two nations that it better describes than the Mexican–American War (known as the invasión estadounidense south of the border). In this workshop, we will take an in-depth look at a conflict that is often glossed over in U.S. history courses in spite of the fact that it sharpened sectional divisions in the antebellum United States and cost Mexico half its territory.
Speakers include UC Berkeley history professors Alex Saragoza and Brian DeLay.
The institute is free and open to all educators. Registration forms are available online or by calling Jean Spencer at _PHONE_.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011, 8:45 am – 5:00 pm
2223 Fulton Street, Sixth Floor

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


FREE SHIPPING IN THE UK, delivered to your door
TCM Mini-Series: Treating Winter Ailments in The Summer
July 10, 2018
TCM Mini-Series: Treating Winter Ailments in The Summer
TCM Mini-Series: Treating Winter Ailments in The Summer
Treating "winter ailments" in the summer is a popular concept in Traditional Chinese Medicine, applied for illnesses that typically worsen in the cold winter times, such as:
 1. Respiratory problems, including asthma, bronchitis, sore throat and chronic cough
 2. Arthritis, body aches and pains that worsen in winter time
 3. Stomach problems caused by too much cold and dampness (yin)
 4. Low immune system causing one to easily catch a cold and flu
The intention is to reduce and prevent winter ailments caused by the invasion of Yin (cold energy) when Yang is at a low level.
During the summer time, the "Yang" reaches its peak through heat, light, and increased physical activities. The sufficient Yang can be utilized to fortify and strengthen Yang energy of the body.
In addition, this can be enhanced by nutrition (warming foods), herbs, treatments such as moxibustion (a type of heat therapy) and acupuncture to further strengthen the body, enhance disease resistance, improve general wellbeing, and extend longevity. The period between mid-July and end of August is considered especially useful for treatments.
The hot weather in the summer will help open the pores and make it easier for medicinal properties to be absorbed in the body. As Yang energy accumulates, cold energy is expelled or reduced. In this way, many winter illnesses are successfully treated or prevented.
Did you know that the Red Date / Jujube Fruit has mildly warming properties, which makes it complementary to the above-mentioned treatments? Find lovely Red Dates / Jujube Fruits here which you can enjoy as a snack, in soups, teas, or on breakfasts.


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(draft version--still some problems with getting the italics to show up)
C. Deily, Schola Saint George - Boston Area
Guy Windsor, in his essay "Half full? Meza and Tuta in Fior Battaglia",1 looks at poste (guards), volte (turns), ligadure (binds) and grips, coming to the conclusion that in Fiore dei Liberi's work the word meza (or mezza) generally means half, and tutta means full.2 In his exhaustive coverage of the words, he pins down for interpreters exactly why this obvious translation can be used consistently in Fiore's manuscripts. This essay should not be seen as a challenge to his work or to change our physical interpretations, but to suggest a possible reason why these terms are used to describe the volte (plural of volta, a turn) of the feet and the sword.
The paragraph containing the definitions of footwork is given in the Getty version of Fiore's manuscript as:
"… Volta stabile che stando fermo po zugar denanci e di dredo de una parte. Meza volta si e quando uno fa un passo o inanzi o indredo, e chossi po zugare de laltra parte denanzi e di dredo. Tutta volta sie quando uno va intorno uno pe cum laltro pe, luno staga fermo e laltro lo circundi. E perzo digo che la spada si ha tre movementi, zoe volta stabile, meza volta, e tutta volta …."3
which I translate as
" … A stable turn is staying in place; one can fight in front and behind on one side. A half turn is when one makes a step forwards or backwards, and thus one can fight on the other side in front and behind. A full turn is when one turns one foot with the other foot, the one stays in place and the other circles it. And thus I say that the sword has three motions, namely a stable turn, a half turn and a full turn …"
In the Schola Saint George's current interpretation,4 the footwork of the volta stabile (stable turn), the meza volta (half turn) and tutta volta (full turn) have remained fairly consistent over time, and seem to agree with other schools' interpretation of this passage, although we choose to also emphasize the resulting position of the hips in order to generate power for the blow. A volta stabile is generally a swiveling motion on the balls of the feet, turning the body to face a new direction and charging the hips so the opposite side of the body (left or right) now has more potential power. A meza volta is not merely a step (which we would term a passo), but a step that swivels and powers the opposite hip.5 Thus, a meza volta requires a passo, but a passo does not require a meza volta if the hips remain twisted toward where they were at the beginning of the step. A tutta volta is, as Fiore says, a motion rotating around the ball of one foot (either the front or back foot). The hip that is charged remains the same throughout a tutta volta. As Guy Windsor points out in "Half full?", the body's center of gravity tends to move along an arc during a tutta volta, and more along a straight line during a meza volta.
Our interpretations of the three motions of the sword, as they are not clearly defined by Fiore, are more conjectural but have withstood the test of time and are consistent with the tactical framework of the Zhogo Largo. We tend to teach our current interpretation from the incrosada, the position where the swords are crossed, as in the 2nd Master of Crossed Swords, introducing the Zhogo Largowhere the swords are crossed at mezza spada (halfway up the blade).
In analogy to the volte of the feet, the volta stabile is a motion where one is fighting on the same side and gains a tactical advantage by a twisting of the wrists and blade, either down into a cut on the hands and body, or upwards into a position similar to the German winden (windings). The meza volta is a change in line, generally a coupé to the other side. The tutta volta is a full circling of one part of the blade around another part, generally one of the hands on the grip, as in the colpo di villano6 (Peasant's Strike) where the opponent's blow powers the blade through a nearly-full rotation.
With these interpretations, I propose the following equation:
Tutta Volta = Mezza Volta + Volta Stabile
That is, any one tutta volta motion can theoretically be replaced by a mezza volta (a step) and a volta stabile (a body twist).
|a tutta volta =||a mezza volta||+ a volta stabile|
Despite this, it is sometimes helpful for me to describe an action in the context of these separate parts. For example, in the play of daga contra spada (dagger against sword, M107), the initial incrosada of the blades can be thought of during an initial volta stabile, and the reasserting of control on the elbow and counterstrike during a subsequent meza volta step. In practice, both actions of the hands happen during a single action of the feet, blurring the idea of whether the action occurs in one tempo7 (for the feet), due tempi (for the hands), or mezzo tempo (as a combination of these motions). In George Silver's terms, the true action of the hands and arms is sufficiently faster than the action of the feet that one can make two hand/arm motions during such a step.
This interpretation must also be matched against the volte of the sword that was originally quoted above.8 If the volta stabile is a twisting of the wrists and blade, and a mezza volta moves the sword smoothly to the other side of your opponent's weapon, then the tutta volta should be a moving to the other side while twisting the blade. Because of the biomechanics of the tutta volta, the wrists do rotate in the opposite way as they do when swinging a bat. Colin Hatcher9 once suggested that the volta stabile of the sword rotates on one spatial axis (along the length of the blade), the mezza volta rotates on two spatial axes, i.e. a plane, and the tutta volta rotates and tumbles through all three spatial axes in its circle. So the mezza volta does seem to be a necessary but not sufficient part of a tutta volta for the sword as well as the feet.
Thus, though it is impossible to ever answer definitively why these terms were chosen by a man dead for nearly six centuries, I propose that a mezza volta is named such because it is only half of what is required for a tutta volta, and the tutta volta is complete, with both other volte making up its parts. This does not change how the actions are executed, but gives both a possible reason for why they are named what they are, and a way of talking about the parts of a combative action. As Guy Windsor concludes, "I feel confident in translating meza as 'half' when referring to the volta."10
1Guy Windsor's many writings and interpretations have influenced me from the beginning of my study of Fiore dei Liberi, so I often fall back on his analogies and thoughts when teaching and interpreting.
2Within the Schola Saint George, we tend to leave many terms untranslated from the original Italian/Friulian, both to emphasize that the words may carry connotations of which we are unaware and to encourage scholarship within the original language. Thus, the Italian is in italics, but I have tried to provide translations on the first instance of a word.
3Paragraph M126 from Massimo Malipiero's transcription of Il Fior di Battaglia.
4For full details, consult Brian Price, our principale's book Sword in Two Hands, pp.113-117.
5When this swinging step is repeated, it has been characterized by a former member of Guy Windsor's school as a "John Wayne walk," the strut of Hollywood Western gunfighters as they approach the showdown.
6Paragraphs M156-157 from Massimo Malipiero's transcription of Il Fior di Battaglia.
7Tempo, plural tempi, literally means time. It is a measure of how long it takes to complete an action or make the next decision against an opponent. An action that is done stesso tempo is done at the same time, mezzo tempo (half time) is done after the first tempo but generally before an opponent has a chance to react, and due tempi (two times) allows your opponent a chance to change their action as well, or, as Brian Price says, gives them a vote in the outcome.
8Thanks to Deborah Barolsky of the Schola Saint George who suggested this requirement.
9The Schola Saint George's chief instructor in abrazzare (grappling) and daga (dagger).
10Again, Guy Windsor's "Half full? Meza and Tuta in Fior Battaglia." An earlier version I have (downloaded 17 June 2007) was even more quotable at the end, but I defer to Guy's revision.
Malipiero, Massimo. Il Fior di battaglia di Fiore dei Liberi da Cividale. Ribis, 2006.
Price, Brian. Fiore dei Liberi's Sword in Two Hands. Highland Village,


Question: Why Do You Add Vinegar And Cornflour To Meringue?
Do you need cornflour in meringue?
Don't Add Cornflour — even though this will help stabilise the meringue for your pav it will bring a noticeable and unwanted chalkiness to the party.
Use Caster Sugar — Finer caster sugar is more quickly and easily absorbed into the egg whites than granulated sugar..
How do I stop meringue from weeping?
Make sure your filling is very hot when you pour it into the pie shell. Top it immediately with the meringue. The meringue will start cooking as soon as it touches the hot filling. This heat, in addition to the oven heat, will help prevent weeping.
What can you use in Pavlova instead of cornflour?
So corn starch, wheat starch, potato starch, rice starch, etc. will work, no matter what name they are sold under (e.g. you are more likely to find "rice flour" than "rice starch"). Try to avoid starches that are high in amylopectin ("waxy" starches), for the pavlova you want fluffiness in the starch.
What is the difference between a meringue and a pavlova?
They both require egg whites to be whipped into a foam, with sugar mixed in, and are then baked at a low temperature until dry. However, meringue is crispy and dry throughout, while pavlova is crispy on the outside, but fluffy, soft and marshmallow-like on the inside.
Should meringues be chewy inside?
Can you fix deflated meringue?
What does cornflour do in Pavlova?
Adding cornstarch/Cornflour to egg white foam also interfers with the egg proteins. It forms a buffer to prevent them from overcooking. Both act as stabilisers but the interference helps create a soft marshmallow centre which is characteristic of pavlova.
How do you make meringue not chewy?
You can store your meringues in an airtight container for four to five days at room temperature or up to a month in the freezer. If they seem sticky or chewy, Jackson and Gardner suggest baking them for 10 minutes at 200 degrees to restore crispness.
What does weeping meringue mean?
Weeping, in culinary terms, defines the yucky looking sticky liquid that begins escaping between the layers of a lemon meringue pie, or any dessert with a layer of meringue that was not created properly. … Weeping is a common problem with meringue that luckily has a pretty basic solution.
Is it safe to eat weeping meringue?
Is there an alternative to cornflour?
What does vinegar do for meringue?
An acid, such as a vinegar, can be added to a meringue mixture to help create a more stable foam when the meringue is mixed. In scientific terms the acid helps to denature, or break down, the coils of amino acids in the egg white's proteins so that they become long strands instead.
Can I use baking powder instead of cornflour?
Baking powder can stand in for baking soda in some recipes, but it doesn't have the thickening power of corn starch and should not be used as a substitute. … In a pie filling or pudding, it might produce air bubbles, but it would not thicken the food properly.
Can you use cornflour instead of self raising flour?
If you have cornflour, this can help to lighten it, so take 1-2tbsp of bread flour out of the recipe and replace it with the same amount of cornflour. If you're replacing self-raising flour with bread flour, add 2tsp baking powder per 225g of flour (this stands for substituting self-raising flour with plain flour too).
Can I use plain flour instead of cornflour for batter?
Can I use plain flour instead of cornflour for batter? This means it's possible to swap your cornstarch for flour, but you will need more of it to get the same effect. In general, it's recommended that you use twice as much white flour as cornstarch for thickening purposes.
Why do you put vinegar in Pavlova?
In a meringue recipe, such as Nigella's Mini Pavlovas (from Domestic Goddess and on the Nigella website), the vinegar is added as it helps to stabilize the whisked egg whites and helps the meringue mixture to hold the air whisked in to it. … However some vinegars may still contain tiny traces of alcohol.
Why is my meringue leaking?
Make meringue pie on dry, low-humidity days. Don't overbake your meringue! Overbaking causes the egg whites to shrink and squeeze out small droplets of moisture. … Undissolved sugar in the egg whites can also cause weeping.
How do I make my meringue thicker?


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Criteria for consciousness in humans and other animals
Topics:Theory of Consciousness
Keywords:Accurate report; Brain physiology; Criteria; Mammals; Thalamocortical system
Deposited by:Dr Anil Seth
Date of Issue:2005
Journal/Publication Title:Consciousness and Cognition
Abstract:The standard behavioral index for human consciousness is the ability to report events with accuracy. While this method is routinely used for scientific and medical applications in humans, it is not easy to generalize to other species. Brain evidence may lend itself more easily to comparative testing. Human consciousness involves widespread, relatively fast low-amplitude interactions in the thalamocortical core of the brain, driven by current tasks and conditions. These features have also been found in other mammals, which suggests that consciousness is a major biological adaptation in mammals. We suggest more than a dozen additional properties of human consciousness that may be used to test comparative predictions. Such homologies are necessarily more remote in non-mammals, which do not share the thalamocortical complex. However, as we learn more we may be able to make â€œdeeperâ€ predictions that apply to some birds, reptiles, large-brained invertebrates, and perhaps other species.


Home > Technology > VentureBeat presents AI Innovation Awards nominees at Transform 2021
VentureBeat presents AI Innovation Awards nominees at Transform 2021
Did you miss today's livestream? Watch the AI at the Edge & IoT Summit on demand now.
There is a consistent theme that runs through the agenda for VentureBeat's Transform 2021 virtual conference, and that is artificial intelligence and data analytics are being used in many different areas and in creative ways. AI is being used in the field of fitness, apparel, energy, and real estate. It's expected that social media companies founded in the past ten or so years will be using AI and other advanced technologies, but it is extremely reassuring when a company that has served generations is still keeping up with the latest technologies — and doing well.
AI is a complex field and the technology is ever-evolving, and VentureBeat has the front-row seat. There is research pushing boundaries of what is considered possible. There are new products transforming how people work, live, and play. Amidst all of that, there are organizations and individuals working on solving certain challenges in ways that are innovative and creative. That is the purpose of the AI Innovation Awards, where emergent, compelling, and influential work gets recognized. For the third annual AI Innovation Awards honored people and companies engaged in compelling and influential work in five areas: natural language processing and understanding, business applications, edge innovation, "Startup Spotlight", and AI for Good.
A nominating committee helped the editorial team with the selections. The members of the nominating committee for this year's AI Innovation Awards were: Vijoy Pandey, the vice-president of engineering and CTO of cloud and distributed systems at Cisco; Raffael Marty, senior vice-president of product, cybersecurity, at Connectwise, and the former chief research and intelligence officer at Forcepoint; and Stacey Shulman, vice-president of the IoT Group and general manager of Health, Life Sciences and Emerging Technologies at Intel. They were generous with their time and knowledge, and provided the editorial team with an intriguing list of individuals and organizations to consider.
Natural language processing/understanding
Many things become possible when machines can understand the language people speak and write. Smart assistants can handle more tasks and are responsible for numerous tasks in different industries. Translation services create a more global world. Productivity tools are more effective. There are so many different use cases, and natural language processing — which includes natural language understanding, natural Language Generation, and Natural Language Interaction — makes it all work.
Primer uses machine learning techniques to help parse and collate a large number of documents across several languages in order to facilitate further investigation. Users feed Primer's software a stream of documents, and it automatically summarizes what it determines to be the most important information out of that haystack of data. Users are then able to filter by topic, event, and other categories to drill down into the information Primer collected so they can go beyond the automatically generated headlines. Primer's NLP platform is used by a number of United States federal agencies, and recently raised $110 million in funding.
EleutherAI was founded on the idea of making AI technology that would be open source — and the first one on deck was making am open source model replicating the GPT-3 work from OpenAI. This past March, the EleutherAI team released two trained GPT-style language models, GPT-Neo 1.3B and GPT-Neo 2.7B. The code and the trained models are open sourced under the MIT license and can be used for free via Hugging Face's Transformers platform. This team is pushing the envelope of NLP research through an open source approach. The platform also makes
Dr. Pei Wang of Temple University was nominated for his Nonaxiomatic Reasoning Engine and its application to NLP. The NARS project, which Wang has been working on for approximately 20 years, attempts to uniformly explain and reproduce many cognitive facilities — including reasoning, learning, and planning — to generate a unified theory, model, and system for AI. The nomination is for Wang's persistence on his symbolic approach to AI, now being absorbed widely in other applications.
Hugging Face is democratizing NLP by building an open source community for sharing models, datasets, and other resources. The team is conducting research, creating NLP libraries such as Transformers and Tokenizers, and releasing tools to leverage models such as BERT, XLNet, and GPT-2. The nominating committee specifically noted that Sasha Rush — Associate Professor at Cornell Tech — is one of the brains behind Hugging Face.
CoPilot, the project launched by GitHub that acts as a pair programmer and helps developers write better code, may be brand new, but it jumped into the nomination lists because of the way it suggests new code and learns the developer's coding style. Copilot uses OpenAI Codex, which may be more capable than GPT-3 in terms of programming code.
Business applications
It's interesting to explore new ideas and compelling research, but the true impact of AI comes from the practical applications. Low-code/no-code tools are helping non-developers create applications and data pipelines. Robotic process automation streamlines workflows and makes business operations more efficient. Intelligent software and services help solve real-world problems. This is where life starts to feel like something out of science-fiction.
Incorta offers all-in-one data crunching service for customers to analyze corporate data spread across multiple databases and then render it all into charts and graphics. The company's service help organizations acquire, enrich, analyze, and act upon business data — upwards of tens of billions of rows of data become "analytics-ready" without the need to pre-aggregate, reshape, or transform the data in any way. Incorta helps reduce data bloat in organizations.
Dr. Sheila Nirenberg, a neuroscientist for Cornell Medical School, has successfully "cracked the code" for how the retina sends signals to the brain. Her work, combined with optogenetics, help blind people see again. While that is impressive on its own, Dr. Nirenberg was nominated because of the way she has taken what she learned in this field and applied them into the AI space. Her company, Nirenberg Neuroscience, applies the "neural code approach" from a mamalian retina to greatly reduce the amount of training data needed for activity based detection models. This new approach will allow very hard-to-train models to become easy to train with supervised learning.
DeepSee.ai automates manual business processes by combining open source and proprietary machine learning, linguistic comparison and prediction techniques, and sentiment analysis. DeepSee's cloud-hosted platform captures, extracts, normalizes, labels, and analyzes unstructured data, and then surfaces trends and patterns for review. DeepSee provides a pipeline to deliver AI-generated templates, rules, and logic.
Pilot applies AI to the field of financial tech — fintech — and provides context-specific reporting, insights, and expertise for businesses that may not have an in-depth finance team. Pilot's software provides automated visibility, error management, and predictive insights to help customers make better budgeting and spending decisions.
Indico allows customers to automate the intake and analysis of documentand image-based workflows. The platform, which can be deployed in private cloud or on-premises environments or as a managed service, ingests PDFs, Word documents, and other unstructured text, images, and documents. Once ingested, the data is processed using natural language understanding models and chained together into pipelines to perform data classification, extraction, and comparison. Indico applies transfer learning — where a model developed for one task is used for another task — to deploy unstructured content more effectively.
Last year's awards focused on computer vision, but this year, edge AI is becoming a bigger topic of conversation. The pendulum swings regularly between processing all the data in a centralized location and processing data right on the device. A farmer standing in the middle of the field doesn't have WiFi — making it really difficult to use the data collected by sensors and other smart devices. This is a situation that is going to be familiar across multiple industries, as the Internet of Things and near ubiquitous network capabilities promised by 5G creates new opportunities with real-time data.
Autonomy Institute is a cooperative research consortium focused on advancing and accelerating autonomy and AI at the edge. The consortium announced a pilot program at the Texas Military Department's Camp Mabry location in Austin, Texas to build out a test smart city environment to optimize traffic management, autonomous cars, industrial robotics, autonomous delivery, 911 drones, and automated road and bridge inspection. The program deploys the Public Infrastructure Network Node (PINN), a unified open standard supporting 5G wireless, edge computing, radar, lidar, enhanced HPS, and intelligent transportation systems (ITS). PINN clusters in a city deployment could be positioned to collect information from the sensors and cameras at a street intersection. Edge computing using PINN is what will make it possible to process all of the signals and do something about it, such as making the traffic lights change as a car approaches the intersection.
DEKA Research's ROXO bot was built on top of the iBot wheelchair base — a wheelchair that can climb stairs and lift riders to eye level with others — to fill inventor Dean Kamen's (person behind the Segway) vision to make wheelchairs more affordable. Removing the chair attachment and replacing with a delivery pod turned the robot into a hardened delivery solution that can drive over nearly any terrain and can climb stairs. Under a partnership with FedEx, the ROXO bot provides package delivery.
Edgeworx turns any computing device — regardless of compute and resources, or operating system — into an edge software platform to allow developers to simply and securely deploy, manage, and orchestration applications from cloud


olive" in German (I think they did use the English like that) wasn't what I would call "olive" in English. We had a big debate in the office whether to leave it as olive or translate it to an appropriate name for the colour patch - can't remember what we decided in the end! It's possible that either (a) the colour patch was inaccurate or (b) whoever labelled it as "olive" wasn't familiar with what colour "olive" is actually supposed to be (whether in English or German).
I wonder whether some of the examples of "mismatched" colour + noun pairs are to do not so much with visual perception of colour and more to do with the symbolic associations of certain colours which led to certain objects being assigned that way? Not a question I'd be able to answer though!


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Most FTL travel basically has the planet remain stationary in a bubble of space and then moves that bubble at FTL speeds through real space.
In this case the effects on the planet would be the same as for any other spacecraft - whatever the effects of the drive might be.
The main additional consequence though is that you have moved away from your star. Gravity would keep your atmosphere in place but you would have immediate night that never ends. Temperatures would start dropping quite fast and keep dropping, I've not done the maths but I expect the surface would start freezing within weeks although it would take time for the freeze to spread and geothermal activity would slow it in some places.
You also need to consider two more things, the first is the effect on the system the planet is removed from. Orbits could well be distorted or changed. For example depending on where it was in its cycle around us our Moon could well swing away from it's current orbit and go rogue were the Earth to disappear.
The second is the inertia of the planet. You put it into FTL with a certain velocity. When it emerges from FTL then does it keep that same velocity? If not what happens to it? You will somehow need to synchronize the velocity of the planet with a suitable orbital velocity for its new position.
One way around this might be to use the FTL drive to place you in a suitable place next to a gas giant and let the giant's gravity accelerate you. By pulsing the FTL drive to remain in the right place you could achieve a constant acceleration until the required velocity is achieved.
As a side note this could potentially be weaponized. It was suggested in E.E. Doc Smith's Lensman series that they could find two planets that at some point in their orbit had opposed directions. They attached FTL drives to both planets and then moved them into positions each side of the target and turned off the FTL drives at the same time, causing the two moved planets to pancake the target's planet between them, overwhelming all that planets defense systems completely.


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Home > Fishing Alabama > Freshwater > Where to Fish in Alabama > Ponds > Pond Problems > Aquatic Plants > Field Guide to Aquatic Plants of Alabama > Floating
WatermealScientific Name: Wolffia spp.
-Very tiny, rootless floating plant; slightly larger than a grain of sand.
-Resembles a blue-green algae bloom from a distance.
-Forms a layer on surface that is at the will of the wind; may cover an entire pond if conditions are calm; heavy infestations can shade sunlight required for oxygen synthesis and fish productivity. Often found in association with duckweeds.


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- THIS IS IMSE™
- NEWS & PRESS
IMSE Electronics Design - How to Start?
If you are an electronics designer, becoming an IMSE electronics designer is not a giant step. You already have basic understanding about the tools and methods for traditional electronics. These can be utilized in IMSE electronics, as well. In the big picture, the design flow is similar in PCB design and IMSE electronics design, but the details make the difference. In this post, I will explain the key differences.
1. Understand Electrical Characteristics of IMSE Materials
When you design the electrical characteristics of your layout, you need to recognize that the materials are not similar with a PCB. This also means that the circuit's electrical characteristics are different. The same layout, one made with IMSE and the other with a traditional PCB, has different electrical characteristics. Traces have big differences in terms of conductivity and are one of the most important design parameters. In addition, the plastics used in IMSE creating the mechanical structure are electrical components as well, and these are worth considering in the design.
2. IMSE Stack-up
An IMSE stack-up contains
A substrate film,
Traces, which are printed on top of the substrate and
Injection molding resin.
Calculation methods used in PCBs, for example, relating impedance, are not applicable for IMSE. IMSE sets certain limitations on how to build stack-up, but also what kind of a grounding structure we can use. Designing the IMSE stack-up is different compared to the PCB world, since the IMSE stack-up is also a mechanical structure of a product and typically an optical light guide, as well. So it is not designed only by an electrical engineer, but a mechanical engineer and an optical engineer together.
3. Design for Manufacturing
Materials used in IMSE are not similar to those used in PCBs. This means that the manufacturing methods are different. In IMSE, traces are printed with silk screen printing, the assembled electrical circuit is 3D formed and finally the electronics are encapsulated inside the plastic by injection molding. All of these impact on how to consider design for manufacturing. Make sure that your design can be manufactured by understanding the IMSE manufacturing steps.
4. One Integrated, Solid Piece
An IMSE part is an integration of electronics, optics, mechanics, graphics, antennas, etc. All disciplines are integrated into a one solid piece, and all have critical parameters, which need to be designed properly. Design work is a close collaboration between all engineers, and compromises should be done. Things become easier if all understand well what the technology limitations are and where we need to be strict and what items can be flexible.
These four key points set the foundation for IMSE electronics design. For a PCB designer, this is not a side step. It is just learning something new and different.
About the writer
Tuomas Heikkilä, Principal Engineer, Electronics
Tuomas has over 13 years of experience in the electronics industry in consumer and automotive areas. He has designed PCBs, printed electronics and structural electronics. Before TactoTek, Tuomas worked on mobile phones and gained experience in sensor ICs development and component verification and validation. Tuomas holds an M.Sc in Electronics from University of Oulu. In his free time, Tuomas enjoys jogging and bicycling in summer and skiing in winter. As a counterbalance for physical exercises, Tuomas relaxes by reading books.


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I've implemented this in Flash and C++. It's the real deal: it uses Box2D's internal sweep and prune structure for efficient calculations. You should see the best performance gains on the previous naive solutions when doing very long diagonal casts, or when doing a long cast that hits something immediately.
Pretty simple, really. Either call
b2World::Raycast in a similar manner to
b2World::Query, or call
b2World::RaycastOne in a similar way to
b2Shape::TestSegment. The former is for finding multiple shapes, and the latter for the common case of just wanting one shape. It should be pretty obvious, but there are also Doxygen style comments in the code.
In both cases, there is a argument called
userData. This is so that you can filter which shapes the ray can hit. By default, passing null means the ray can hit everything, while passing a shape means the ray can only hit things that shape can hit. You can customize it further by overriding the contact filter, which now has an extra method,
solidShapes determines if rays can hit shapes that they start inside. Fixing this nicely has changed
b2Shape::TestSegment's return type to an enum.
See the wiki article for more explanation.
None known, though it can be fiddly to ensure that rays always collide with what you want. I advise starting from inside a shape, and using solidShapes=false.


What is e-NACH & e-Mandate?
Just curious, e-NACH is an abbreviation, right?
Yes, e-NACH stands for Electronic National Automated Clearing House.
Sounds promising, tell me more...
E-NACH and e-Mandate are easier ways for merchants and their buyers to handle all recurring payments like telephone bills, insurance premiums, utility bills, SIPs, school fees etc.
For instance, if you are signing up for an insurance plan through an e-Mandate, you can schedule all your premium payments through a simple online process at the start of the insurance period, instead of manually keeping track and making individual premium payments. No more pesky reminders or late fees!
e-Mandate Screen
So is there a difference between e-NACH & e-Mandate?
They are two different services, both delivering the same result i.e. enabling automated recurring payments. e-NACH is governed by NPCI & covers over 40+ banks while e-Mandates are controlled by individual banks and is currently available across 4-5 banks.
Interesting, so how does the service work?
E-Mandates can be directly set up through a netbanking transaction from merchant websites. In order to do this, a customer would need to complete a one time netbanking transaction authorization after which all subsequent payments will not require customer intervention.
Netbanking is the primary mode for e-Mandates at the moment, with more payment modes to be added in the future.
e-Mandate Screen
This seems similar to ECS (Electronic Clearing System). How is it different?
ECS is an offline process where physical documents have to be filed and checked manually, while e-Mandate is a paperless online process. This has reduced the processing time from 21 to just 2 working days, in most cases.
As a customer is there any eligilibility criteria to apply for the service?
Anyone with an Aadhaar linked bank account at a participating bank is eligible to apply for e-Mandates.
Are there any limits for the number of e-Mandates that can be set up through a single bank account?
No, there is no limit to the number of e-Mandates that can be set up for an account.
What happens in case of insufficient balance in the bank account?
Like any other online transaction, in times of insufficient balance, the payment to the merchant is denied.
How does the payment appear in the bank statement?
Payments will be reflected as NEFT Bank transfers from the customer account to merchant account.
Can I set up e-Mandates or e-NACH as an option for collecting recurring payments from my customers?
Absolutely! e-Mandates are now available for merchants to use. Razorpay Subscriptions is a great way to automate recurring payments using e-Mandates and other payment modes like credit cards.
e-Mandate Screen
That's cool! Tell me more about Razorpay Subscriptions…
Razorpay Subscriptions allows your business to handle all subscription needs like setting up flexible payment schedules, support for multiple billing models and many other value added services.
Like what you see? Share this page!
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Published on March 5, 2013 by Amy
Moccasin, skin shoe worn by indigenous people of North America, excepting the sandal wearers of the Southwest area. There were two general types of moccasins, the hard-soled, which was used in the Eastern woodlands and the Southeast cultural areas, and the soft-soled, used in the Plains area. The hard-soled moccasin was made by sewing, with sinew thread, a rawhide sole to a leather upper piece; the soft-soled moccasin was one piece of soft leather with a seam at the instep and the heel. Boot or legging moccasins (sometimes reaching the hip) were worn from Alaska to Arizona and New Mexico, but they were generally part of the woman's costume. The moccasins of certain tribes were distinctive, and sometimes a moccasin track could indicate the tribe of the wearer. Moccasins were usually symbolically decorated with porcupine quills and, after the coming of the Europeans, with glass beads. Special moccasins were used for ceremonies such as the Iroquois adoption service, which required that a recruit put on Iroquois moccasins to indicate that he would follow Iroquois ways.
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The High-Power IgnitionSystem Difference
The use of modern day high-powered ignition systems such as computerignitions, multiple-spark ignitions, and many of today's digital systemsalso creates problems in spark-plug selection, but not in a way youmight first imagine. High-quality, high-power ignition systems producerelatively large amounts of coil current. Because of this, thespark-plug condition is not as critical as it once was (in the days ofsingleand dual-point distributors). While the spark-plug condition isless critical, it doesn't mean the spark plugs are "set and forget"components. Reading of the plugs with these ignition systems iscertainly more difficult, but it isn't impossible.
Many Corvette enthusiasts make the switch from a conventional ignitionsystem to a high-powered system of some sort, then claim the spark plugsare reading lean. Think about this: The air/fuel mixture hasn't beenchanged; how can the ignition system affect the air/fuel mixture? Itcan't, but because of the better burning properties of a modern ignitionsetup, changes may be required in the air/fuel mixture.
So why are the spark plugs so clean? Because the ignition system isefficient. In order to read spark plugs used in conjunction with acontemporary ignition system, MSD offers the following suggestions.
1. Pick up a copy of a spark-plug tuning guide (all of the majorspark-plug manufacturers offer some form of a high-performance pockettuning guide). Examine the correct color and appearance of your sparkplugs and compare them to the guide. This should give you some insightinto things like detonation, overheating, and coloration.
2. There are several methods to prepare for reading spark plugs, but inthe case of a high-performance Corvette, there is only one right way toaccomplish it. The engine must be shut off "clean." This means youshould run through a quarter-mile and click off the engine, allowing thecar to coast to a stop at a safe location. Don't drive the car anyfurther. The idea is to stop the engine clean, then remove the plugs andinspect them. Obviously, this type of clean shutoff will be easier withmanual-transmission Corvettes than it is with automatics. Nonetheless,it's necessary because the trip back down the return road can wipe outany valuable reading information provided by the spark plugs.
3. The point of effective heat transfer generates a ring on thespark-plug insulator nose. The ring almost looks like a shadow and ismore easily observed with a spark-plug inspection light or loupe. Thering forms quickly and is an indication of burning in the combustionchamber. The closer to the tip the ring forms, the richer the fuelmixture. The closer to the spark plug shell, the leaner the mixture. Ifthere is no ring and the spark plug insulator tip is bone white, thefuel mixture is too lean (this information applies only togasoline-fueled race cars). The total range from rich to lean (ring nearthe tip to ring near the shell) may only take a change of 7-10 percentin the air/fuel mixture.
When making the switch to a high-powered ignition system, you may findthat the actual fuel curve will have to be "fattened" by 5-10 percent,because the ignition system is now burning more efficiently. Inaddition, the total spark timing might have to be reduced byapproximately 3 degrees.
As you might have guessed, reading the spark plugs isn't a black art,but it isn't an exact science either. You have a number of variablesopen to you: Air/fuel mixture, spark-plug heat range, ignition timing,fuel type, transmission type, and a host of other things that aren't inyour control (ambient temperature, weather conditions, altitude, and soon). The idea is to make the most of your situation and tune from there.Let your elapsed times be the final judge.
Bridging The Gap
Some Corvette engine combinations like a bunch of gap and others don'trun well until the gap is tightened up. A gap of approximately 0.025inch is commonly used, but some combinations (particularly those withhigh-powered contemporary ignition systems) can fire a gap ranging from0.045 to 0.060 inch. In all situations, the gap, air/fuel mixture, andheat range must be coordinated to produce the best possible results fromthe engine. In simple terms, it's a case of trial and error coupled withthe correct reading of the spark plugs.
Once you have the correct heat range dialed in, the gap sorted out, thespark plug type selected, the jetting squared away, and all of the othervariables inside your Corvette handled, there is no need to continuemessing with the plugs. The idea is to get your combination set upcorrectly, and to use the spark plugs as a tool in the setup. Onceeverything is right, no magic power will be found in the spark plugs. Remember, they're the window inside your Corvette engine. Don't forgetthem.


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A biblical theology of guidance allows for two categories of means by which God directs His children: objective and subjective. There is one objective means of guidance and four subjective.
ONE OBJECTIVE MEANS OF GUIDANCE
The one objective, unchanging standard of guidance for the believer in Christ is the written Word of God, the Scriptures. This is the primary means by which a Christian determines the will of God. The psalmist declares his assurance, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" (Ps 119:105). The Scriptures are sufficient for our growth and maturity in Christ: "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work" (2 Tim 3:16-17). And Jesus made it clear that the Spirit of God would guide us in our understanding of the Word. "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come" (Jn 16:13). Jesus then equated this "truth" with the Word of God in the next chapter, "Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth" (Jn 17:17). As believers, we can never have greater confidence than when we align our lives with the written revelation of God. Scripture is the mind of God in written form (1 Cor 2:10-16). Therefore, when we align our mind with His mind we are assured of God's clear guidance.


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The Great Chia Glossary
This guide will act as a glossary for many of the concepts utilized in Chia. If you are familiar with how Bitcoin transactions work, a lot of this will be familiar.
 - Coin (TXO/transaction output) - A coin stores value. All coins are generated as the output of a transaction or a coinbase reward or fee target. A coin is spent exactly once, allowing its value to go into other coins, and is then permanently destroyed. Each unspent coin is locked with a ChiaLisp program which is that coin's puzzle, and whoever has the information to solve that puzzle is the person who can spend that coin. The most basic puzzle has a public key and accepts a solution which contains a list of conditions signed by the corresponding private key, so only the owner of the private key can unlock the coin and spend it.
 - Unspent Coin (UTXO/unspent transaction output) - A coin which has been created but not yet spent and hence is storing value. Unspents (UTXO set/unspent transaction output set) - This is the set of all unspent coins on the network. It is used to check if a transaction is valid, acting as a lookup for the puzzles. It maps a coin ID to a birthdate in blockheight. A transaction must contain a reveal of the information used to calculate the ID in order for it to be possible to validate because the unspents doesn't contain that information, only hashes which can be used to validate it.
 - Coin ID/CoinName (TXO ID/transaction output ID) - The ID of a coin in Chia is generated by hashing the primary input ID, puzzle hash, and amount concatenated in that order. This is very different from Bitcoin which uses much more data to form the TXO ID, restricting what smart contracts are capable of. (See also: SegWit)
 - Primary Input/Parent - When a coin is created the coin that was used as input in the transaction is designated as the primary input. This is used to create the coin ID. If more that one coin is used up as an input in a transaction then one of the coins is designated the primary input, and the others simply reinforce the transaction.
 - Spend/CoinSolution - A spend is a reveal of a coin's ID, along with the full puzzle code, and a solution to be ran with the puzzle. The result of a spend is determined by the returned Op Constraints after running the puzzle with the solution.
 - Spend Bundle - A spend bundle is a collection of spends grouped together with an aggregated signature to be sent to the network.
 - ChiaLisp - ChiaLisp is the Turing-complete functional language which the puzzles for spending coin are programmed in. For more information see our CLVM Guide
 - Puzzle (Scriptpubkey) - A ChiaLisp program which specifies the behaviour of a coin when it is spent. A puzzle can either reject a solution or output a set of constraints.
 - Solution (Scriptsig) - This is some ChiaLisp which is passed to the puzzle for evaluation when a transaction is submitted. For more information about how transactions work, and how solutions can generate new coins check out this guide
 - CLVM - The CLVM is the ChiaLisp Virtual Machine which is the sandboxed environment that puzzles and solutions are run in. The CLVM only runs the compiled minimal version of ChiaLisp, though a compiler can convert the higher level ChiaLisp to the compiled minimal version. See more about that here
 - Aggregated Signature/AggSig - Aggregated Signatures allow us to condense multiple signatures into a single aggregated signature, such that if we know a public key and value we can verify if it exists inside of the single aggregate. This uses BLS non-interactive aggregation.
 - Prepend Signature - Prepend signatures are used so that we can retain metadata about the structure of an aggregated signature. TODO: Expand
 - Op Constraints/Conditions - Constraints are returned by the puzzle when it's passed the solution. If all of the returned conditions are met then a transaction is valid.
 - Wallet - Software written to interact with transactions. Chia uses Hierarchical Deterministic Wallets (HD Wallets). This means that they can generate many different public keys that are all valid and verifiable as unique to that wallet. A wallet contains a coin if it possesses the information necessary to unlock that coin and create a transaction which spends it.
 - Puzzle Generator - A wallet will use a Puzzle Generator to define how it wants to receive transactions. Most wallets will want to generate the standard transaction, however by storing a ChiaLisp program that generate a puzzle, all a Sending Wallet needs to do is ask the Recipient Wallet what its Program Generator is and then run that to create the puzzle to lock the coin up with.
 - Puzzle Generator ID - This is the hash of a wallet's puzzle generator. A wallet can do a hash-lookup and see if it already knows the source code for that puzzle generator. If not, it will request the full source code and store that information in its lookup table.
 - Smart Contract - A smart contract is a specialised ChiaLisp puzzle which locks a coin up and enables complex blockchain interactions.
 - Coloured Coins - Coloured Coins are a special kind of chia coin which are created by users. A coloured coin is a uniquely marked subset of chia which can't be forged and can be linked to other assets.
 - Authorized Payees - Authorized Payees is a smart contract that means that Wallet A can give Wallet B some money, but Wallet B is only allowed to spend that money in ways that Wallet A has explicitly authorised.
 - Decentralised ID - A decentralised ID is a smart contract that enables a wallet to act as an ID which can create messages to other IDs. Based on the work of the identity foundation.


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Someone recently posted a scientific article on our Facebook page which purportedly demonstrates that Roundup can be damaging to earthworms at concentrations that would typically be used in a field situation. Wow. Scary. I mean really, if we're damaging earthworms when we apply Roundup, then that lends fuel to the emotional fires that rage against this pesticide. But is that really what this article shows?
It's unfortunate, but most of you will not be able to see the article that I'm writing about because you won't have access to the journal in which it was published. Here's the abstract though.
Basically what the authors did was to place worms in small pots, expose the pots to different concentrations of a commercial formulation of Roundup, and measure how the worms fared over time (about a month and a half). Unsurprisingly, the worms not exposed to Roundup performed better than the worms exposed to the Roundup.
After reading the above paragraph you might think that this is an open and shut case. Roundup is bad for worms, potentially leading to "local extinction" of these animals in agricultural fields (that's the authors' wording).
It's not that simple. The authors are stretching well beyond the data, and the research has some issues, most of which could be cleared up by better, more thorough reporting.
First, let's take a look at some of the problems that this paper has in terms of reporting its materials and methods. You may think this is picky, but it's not. It's fundamental to figuring out how valid the reported results are. From the materials and methods as they were written it is impossible to figure out exactly what was done in terms of watering the pots (we know soil moisture was kept at 80%, but we don't know how. Watering? With what?). We don't know what the ground plant materials were that were added to the pots (Lima beans?). We know that pots were placed into 1m X 1m X 0.60 m containers, but we don't know how many pots were placed into each container or whether pots were randomized by treatment within each container. Sure, we could make assumptions – but in a well written scientific paper we shouldn't have to. Would knowing these things affect how the worms performed in the Roundup treatment versus the no Roundup treatment? In a word, yes. The watering regime in particular might very well alter the results of this study.
That's enough of that. Now let's take a look at my BIG PROBLEM with this study. Six worms were placed into small (28cm X 14cm), half-filled pots and treated, or not treated, with Roundup.
Let me offer an extreme analogy to explain why this is such a problem. Let's say that you want to see whether shooting bullets into the ocean will kill all of the fish that live there. To test the theory you grab a 50 pound fish and you stick it in a 5 gallon bucket. The tail is hanging out, the fins are flapping, water is getting all over the place. Then you shoot the bucket. Dead fish. You do this 50 more times. Each time, dead fish. You conclude that shooting bullets into the ocean is indeed a threat to fish and may lead to local extinction. Right?
From this study you can conclude that bullets can kill fish. That's an easy conclusion to make. You cannot conclude that shooting bullets into the ocean will kill all the fish there. Now, if we hired a swat team to fire bullets into the ocean and all the fish were killed, well then we could make that conclusion. Would that actually happen though? No way of knowing unless we try it. I suspect the ocean would retain its fish – but I'm just hypothesizing. (Quick FYI – high velocity bullets lose so much of their speed when they hit water that they wouldn't be lethal to fish after traveling about 3-4 feet).
There are any number of studies out there that FORCE target organisms to be exposed to whatever chemical is being tested (that is basically what is being done here). These studies CAN show that the chemicals tested MAY affect the target organism. They CANNOT show that the target organism IS AFFECTED IN A GIVEN ENVIRONMENT. You need to test the chemical in that environment to figure that out.
To give an example of how you might test the effects of Roundup against worms in an agricultural environment: Take an acre of agricultural field, divide it into six sections. Treat three with Roundup and control weeds in the other three sections with hand weeding. Sample the sections every two or three weeks after Roundup application to see how the worms are doing.
Now, my final problems with this paper. Much of it is related to other, already published studies. This, in and of itself, is no problem. It is good that there are many studies on this topic. The problem is that most of these studies weren't mentioned in this article. When I read a scientific article I count on its authors to put their study into context for me so that I can see where it belongs in the already existing collection of related literature. Without referencing these older papers the authors do us a disservice. I'm not going to list out all of the studies, but if you go to scholar.google.com and type in earthworm and glyphosate you'll see what I mean.
I believe that any experiment from which data can be extracted should be published. I think that the authors of this article had every right to publish it. However, as a scientist, I think that there are enough problems with the reporting of this article, particularly the materials and methods, that, as it is currently presented, I can't extract much of value. I certainly can't reach the sweeping conclusions that its authors do.


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The Lovebunnies' friends know that they like to plant trees, shrubs and flowers, and those good friends sometimes bring them plants to plant! So Bucky has made a list of plants to put in a garden or yard that will help support native Maryland wildlife and maintain the native Maryland plant populations.
Many "wildflower" seed mixes or plant catalogs make no distinction between flowers that are native to our region and those that are native to the prairie or western states, or that have gone wild after being introduced here. Many of the non-regional species escape cultivation and become obnoxious, crowding out native plants. Beware, therefore, the label of "wildflower," and help preserve bio-diversity by encouraging our regionally native plants, which are noted as "Native."
Some plants that are not native species are included in the list. These plants should be placed in the garden to feed insects, birds or animals. They are believed to be not obnoxious if escaped.
Some plants are marked "Gatherable." These species are wide-spread and hardy enough to be judiciously gathered from the wild. (If you find a huge stand of some of these, take a couple. If you find a couple, or if someone else has gathered, leave them alone.) All others should be purchased.
Click the "Continue" heart to read the list!


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HELPING YOUNG PEOPLE BUILD A BETTER FUTURE
Too many children in the UK are failing to reach their potential, usually because they face challenges at home, at school, or in the community.
Bridges Outcomes Partnerships has worked on a number of projects that provide targeted support and opportunities to vulnerable young people – from helping children in care find suitable foster families, to therapy for families with children on the edge of care, to extra support for those struggling at school.
If these young people fail to achieve their potential, it has significant long-term costs for the individuals themselves, society more broadly and the public purse. By creating positive change in young people's lives, these projects are not only helping commissioners meet their statutory responsibilities but also driving tangible long-term value for Government.


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Community Effort Links
In-School, After-School Learning
Louisville, Kentucky, school officials wanted youngsters to get more out of their after school hours, so now with the help of a software program, they share data with after-school program staff who develop content to address students' areas of weakness. Included:Ways schools and community agencies can work together.
The hours between school dismissal bell and a youngster's bedtime can be long and often unsupervised and unproductive. But that all changes when a community comes together to fill those after school hours with the additional instruction and the support that many students need.
Somehow, municipal, community, and school officials in Louisville, Kentucky, have managed to restring the red tape that can stretch among bureaucracies into lines of communication that allow everyone to know and support the community's education goals.
A software program links community organizations to the district's database, so those running the city's after-school programs know the subjects in which children need additional help, and then provide it.
"The community just puts its arms around the program," said Martin Bell, deputy superintendent of the Jefferson County Public Schools in Louisville, Kentucky. "The community-based organizations are developing programs to meet kids' needs. That's one of the huge positive outcomes of this."
Jefferson County Public Schools is the first district in the nation with such a comprehensive system linking in-school and after-school learning.
The data-collection system that makes sharing information possible is called KidTrax, which is made by nFocus Software.
"The community just puts its arms around the program. The community-based organizations are developing programs to meet kids' needs. That's one of the huge positive outcomes of this."
"You can track money, kids, and resources," Ananda Roberts, president of nFocus Software, told Education World. "We are the only ones doing this with public education."
When an agency uses KidTrax, a youngster checks in to an after-school program with an identification card that is scanned into a computer. A staff member can look at a computer screen and see the subjects in which the student is struggling, and even if he or she played hooky that day. Parents or guardians sign a form agreeing to allow the school system to share their child's information with the after-school programs.
Then the after-school program staff members arrange for the student to receive individual tutoring or to work on a computer program to build skills in a particular subject area. School officials also can monitor which after-school programs are benefiting students the most.
School officials adopted KidTrax five years ago when they were looking for someone to create a software program that operated like KidTrax. "We needed a way to track effectively," Bell said. "We wanted to know how after-school programs could get information about kids they were working with so they could be helpful."
A member of the Boys and Girls Clubs mentioned he was investigating KidTrax for their use. The school system ordered it, and soon many of the community organizations were installing it. Now any community organization that provides after-school programming and receives city funding must agree to use KidTrax, although the city pays to have it installed, said Bell.
"We worked with after-school partners and providers; we had meetings with them, where we agreed to set some outcomes, and look at attendance," he added.
KidTrax is used in about 3,500 sites across the country to monitor kids signing into programs, but Louisville has the most comprehensive program, Roberts said. "No one else has taken a holistic approach to this."
Some companies that offer products similar to KidTrax are Social Solutions, YouthServices.net, and CitySpan.
"Using KidTrax has been real exciting," said Don Shaw, executive director of the Salvation Army Boys and Girls Clubs of Louisville, one of the participating organizations. "Before this, we had to do lots of legwork and time-consuming hand calculations."
While the system is working well in Louisville, other communities may be reluctant to adopt an inter-agency program because of the need to share information, Shaw added.
KidTrax information also helps the local agencies to assess the effectiveness of their programs, so they can make adjustments based on students' needs.
That makes sense since often students spend just as much time at the Boys and Girls Clubs, which are open from 2:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., as they do in school, noted Shaw. "I say to the schools, 'You've got them for six hours, we've got them for six hours.' This gives us a clearer picture of the real needs of the kids. This allows us to identify kids not at grade level and set up specific programs to meet their needs."
Between 9 and 10 percent of the district's 97,000-student population attends programs monitored by KidTrax, noted Bell, and many of them are the students who need the most help. "This group [in the after-school programs] often is the most challenged population academically and economically."
"It's impossible now to separate schools from after-school programs. We need to have both working in tandem to enhance a child's educational experience."
Boys and Girls Club staff members in Louisville also stay on top of what's going on in neighborhood schools by talking frequently with teachers and administrators. Often the after-school program staff members even know the weekly spelling words for a particular grade, and will weave those into an activity. If children are shooting pool, they might have to spell a word correctly before taking a shot, Shaw said. Staff members also might bring a protractor to a basketball game and show the children the angle at which they need to shoot to get a basket.
While there has been some anecdotal evidence that students in after-school programs are doing better academically, the school system has found that students who attend the after-school programs do have a higher school attendance rate and behave better in school, said Bell.
One program on which all local agencies are cooperating is Every1Reads, a citywide initiative launched in 2003, with the goal of having every child reading at grade level by 2007. The Boys and Girls Clubs bought software to help teach reading, and recruited tutors to work with children who are reading below grade level to support that goal.
"The club has a set curriculum and schedule," said Shaw. "The first two hours are academic. Kids have homework time then tutoring in reading, math, or science. If we have a group of kids who need help with math or reading, we have a solid base of volunteer tutors, including older kids and parents of kids who used to belong to the club."
Developing the level of cooperation that exists among city agencies in Louisville has taken some time and some rethinking, according to Bell.
"We have nurtured and cultivated relationships with providers over the years," he said. "It's not a huge city -- we can know the youth providers and get them to the table."
Fifteen years ago, education and government officials began realizing they had more to gain from working together than assigning blame, Bell noted. "We were pointing fingers at one another about who was responsible for school performance," he said. "The legislators would ask why the kids weren't doing better, and we would say we were doing the best we could with the money we had and without support from the community. It just was not a productive conversation.
"The better conversation is for communities to work together," he said.
Linking schools and after-school programs only makes sense, added Roberts of nFocus. "It's impossible now to separate schools from after-school programs," she said. "We need to have both working in tandem to enhance a child's educational experience."
Software like KidTrax helps make that possible, Shaw noted. "Now we can see minute-by-minute the impact of having them [children] here," Shaw said. "We can see test results. This way we're all shooting for the same things -- academic success."
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Epicac Analysis
1029 Words5 Pages
Analysis of EPICAC
A short story written by Kurt Vonnegut
The short story EPICAC is written by Kurt Vonnegut. It is a fictional text about a very intelligent and expensive computer, EPICAC, built by Dr. Ormand Von Kleigstadt to solve complex worldly problems. The narrator works with EPICAC on the night shift along with another mathematician; Pat Kilgallen, whom the narrator wishes to marry, but because of his lack of romance and poetic skills she keeps turning him down. That is how one day the narrator "invents" a number-for-letters code explaining his real problem in life to EPICAC. EPICAC recognizes the code and answers to it. The narrator wins Pat's hand in marriage because of the poetry EPICAC has written to her, but because the
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5, lines 10-11)
That is when the narrator realizes how grateful he is that EPICAC was his friend - and maybe that is why the story tributes EPICAC so beautifully.
The language used in the story is informal and there is no use of complex syntax or difficult vocabulary - in fact it is quite the opposite. With swearwords like hell and a use of irony and sarcasm between the narrator and Pat, the language and tone causes a sense of a relaxed relationship between the characters and adds a humoristic side to the otherwise almost sad story about EPICAC's lost love and unrealistic dream.
Furthermore the tone helps to create a certain relationship, in particular between Pat and the narrator, and the reader obtains insight and knowledge about the different dreams of the two of them.
My first impulse when I finished reading the short-story was "what is the difference between man and machine really?" and that is why I believe there is a certain purpose with the story; to make the reader reflect on whether the narrator deserves Pat's love more than EPICAC does. Ergo could the message be something about where development and technology are headed and furthermore to what extent love can be explained. Exactly because the narrator had to trick and lie his way out of his conversation with EPICAC and by that justify why he deserved her, it makes you wonder; how come just telling the truth wasn't enough?
To sum up, I
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More evidence that mosquitoes have been assholes for millions of years
Unlike Jurassic Park, this mosquito wasn't trapped in amber. Rather it was discovered in oil shale in northwestern Montana. When it died, it quickly fell into fine anaerobic sediment, allowing for this pristine preservation.
Also unlike Jurassic Park, this mosquito was alive after the age of the dinosaurs, some 19 million years after the end of the Cretaceous — an era paleontologists refer to as the Eocene.
Also also, unlike Jurassic Park, scientists know that DNA molecules are too complex and fragile to survive fossilization. DNA also has a very short shelf life. So you can put your cloning kits away.
The Last Blood Meal
But that doesn't mean other large molecules, like those big enough to indicate the presence of blood, can't survive fossilization.
Indeed, after taking a closer look at this particular fossil, a team of paleontologists led by Dale Greenwalt decided to run some tests on what looked like blood inside its abdomen. Their first scan revealed high levels of iron ions — a mineral associated with blood.
Then, after performing mass spectroscopy on the sample to get a more precise sense of its chemical makeup, the team found organic compounds that indicated the presence of a substance called heme, a molecule that allows hemoglobin in blood to carry oxygen. It's the same compound that gives blood its red color.
The paleontologists say it's "incontrovertible evidence" of heme, and by consequence, hemoglobin in the mosquito.
So, while we can't use these traces of blood to clone an extinct species, the discovery does tell us a bit about the behavior of mosquitoes that lived 46 million year ago — and it doesn't appear that these bastards have changed very much.
Read the entire study at PNAS: "Hemoglobin-derived porphyrins preserved in a Middle Eocene blood-engorged mosquito."
Image: PNAS/Greenwait et al.


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Multi-task Generative Adversarial Learning on Geometrical Shape Reconstruction from EEG Brain Signals
Jul 31, 2019
Xiang Zhang, Xiaocong Chen, Manqing Dong, Huan Liu, Chang Ge, Lina Yao
Synthesizing geometrical shapes from human brain activities is an interesting and meaningful but very challenging topic. Recently, the advancements of deep generative models like Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) have supported the object generation from neurological signals. However, the Electroencephalograph (EEG)-based shape generation still suffer from the low realism problem. In particular, the generated geometrical shapes lack clear edges and fail to contain necessary details. In light of this, we propose a novel multi-task generative adversarial network to convert the individual's EEG signals evoked by geometrical shapes to the original geometry. First, we adopt a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) to learn highly informative latent representation for the raw EEG signals, which is vital for the subsequent shape reconstruction. Next, we build the discriminator based on multi-task learning to distinguish and classify fake samples simultaneously, where the mutual promotion between different tasks improves the quality of the recovered shapes. Then, we propose a semantic alignment constraint in order to force the synthesized samples to approach the real ones in pixel-level, thus producing more compelling shapes. The proposed approach is evaluated over a local dataset and the results show that our model outperforms the competitive state-of-the-art baselines.
* 12 pages
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text: Desalination offers an opportunity for source diversification of water for many communities, along with possible defenses against security threats potentially affecting clean water supplies. The economic costs associated with constructing and operating desalination plants in South Texas are investigated. Primary data utilized in the analysis include engineering considerations and actual costs associated with existing and plants under construction in South Texas. Specific costs considered include raw water acquisition and transport, pretreatment, and purification. Sensitivity parameters include source and quality of raw water, energy costs, size of plant, and other heuristic aspects of plant design and development. Annuity equivalent costs are reported on a per ac-ft of finished water basis, f.o.b. desalination plant.