Primate's scent speaks volumes about who he is
Jun 23, 2008
Perhaps judging a man by his cologne isn't as superficial as it seems.Duke University researchers, using sophisticated machinery to analyze hundreds of chemical components in a ringtailed lemur's distinctive scent, have found that individual males are not only advertising their fitness for fatherhood, but also a bit about their family tree as well.
"We now know that there's information about genetic quality and relatedness in scent," said Christine Drea, a Duke associate professor of biological anthropology and biology. The male's scent can reflect his mixture of genes, and to which animals he's most closely related. "It's an honest indicator of individual quality that both sexes can recognize," she said.
Lemurs, distant primate cousins of ours who split from the family tree before the monkeys and apes parted ways, have a complex and elaborate scent language that until recently was completely undiscovered by humans. Drea said it's language that is undoubtedly richer than we can imagine.
"All lemurs make use of scent," she said. "The diversity of glands is just amazing."
Ringtailed males have scent glands on their genitals, shoulders and wrists, each of which makes different scents. Other lemur species also have glands on their heads, chests and hands. Add to these scents the signals that can be conveyed in feces and urine, and there's a lot of silent, cryptic communication going on in lemur society.
Wearing a scent-based nametag declaring one's genetics is probably useful in avoiding aggression with closely related males, Drea said. It's also quite likely to help prevent inbreeding by signaling family relationships to females, but the research to prove that is still ongoing.
For this study, Drea and postdoctoral fellows Marie Charpentier and Marylène Boulet focused solely on male ringtailed lemurs living at the Duke Lemur Center (
The males have a gland and spike on each wrist that is used to scratch and mark saplings with highly aromatic scents. A pair of glands on the shoulders "like misplaced nipples" manufacture squalene, a scent molecule that works like glue to keep the more aromatic compounds in place longer. Males can be seen dabbing the wrist gland on the chest gland and then scratch-marking. The wrist glands are also central to the "stink fighting" of ringtails, in which they rub the glands along the length of their bushy tails, and then foist them into each others' face to express dominance.
Most importantly, the male also has a scent gland on his scrotum that becomes critical to marking territory and advertising fitness during mating season. He does a handstand and rubs this gland directly onto a tree trunk to let any interested lemurs know who he is and what he's made of.
Scent not only speaks volumes, it's physiologically expensive to make, Drea said. When a lemur is ill or socially stressed, its scent changes dramatically. "If he loses his signals, it's quite likely its because he's less genetically fit," Drea said. "And his sexual or social partners can know that."
Female ringtailed lemurs have just one scent gland in the genital area, but their scent is more complex than the males'. Via scent, females may advertise not only their fertility, but the presence of a pregnancy and how far along it is, Drea said.
To a human, a lemur has a sort of musky scent. "In its little vial, the sample smells just terrible," said Charpentier, the postdoctoral fellow who deciphered the genetics and is now examining the behavioral response to these scents.
But under a gas chromatograph and mass spectrometer, postdoctoral fellow Boulet found that the powerful musk resolves into at least 203 different chemical compounds in a complex mix that has been found to vary not only by season, but by an individual's genetics as well. Boulet conducted this analysis after collecting cotton swabs of scent from the scrotums and other parts of 19 male lemurs throughout the seasons.
These findings fit with work done on how people feel about the odors individual humans leave behind on a T-shirt and sheds more light on Charles Darwin's theories about sexual selection being one of the drivers of evolution, Drea said. In both cases, there is some subtle signaling in scent that apparently helps govern mate choice or nepotism, even when humans' meager sense of smell isn't conscious of it, she said.
Source: Duke University
Explore further: Zimbabwe to export elephants in population curb
add to favorites email to friend print save as pdf
Related Stories
Lemur lovers sync their scents
Jan 31, 2014
Scent signals stop incest in lemurs
Dec 02, 2009
Chemical identifiers secreted from the genital glands of lemurs, allow them to avoid incest and also to engage in nepotism. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology have identified the smells...
Recommended for you
Research sheds light on what causes cells to divide
Dec 24, 2014
Locking mechanism found for'scissors' that cut DNA
Dec 24, 2014
User comments : 0
Click here to reset your password.


text:
Definition: Area is the total amount of space inside a two dimensional shape. Area is measured in square units, such as "square meters" or m².
Each two dimensional figure has its own unique area formula.
Example: Find the area of the rectangle:
Use the area formula for rectangles to find the area of the figure.
Step 1: For this figure, we'll use the formula Length x Width = Area. We can determine these values from the figure:
length = 5 m
width = 2 m
Step 2: Plug the values into the formula and solve.
Length x Width = Area
5 x 2 = Area
10 = Area
Because area is always measured in square units, we will label this answer as 10 square meters or 10 m².
Still need help finding the area of a figure? Download Yup and get help from an expert math tutor 24/7.

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


text:
When importing tables into Cartographica using File > Import Table Data… Cartographica uses a sampling of the file to help determine the types of the data.
If the imported file is a DBF file, field information (name, length, and type) are taken directly from the schema in the file.
The process is as follows:
- First it scans the beginning of the file looking for delimiters to determine the end of line, field break, and field escape characters. Line breaks are expected to be either CR, LF, or CRLF.
- If you have marked the first line as containing the field names, they are taken as the field names and the line is skipped.
- A series of lines (usually 30) are read by Cartographica to sample the data for type information. All fields are originally presumed to be string (text) fields, but each of the fields in each of the lines is tested to see if they could also be another format, such as date or number.
- Once the lines are read and the testing is done, Cartographica makes a determination based on the data in the fields as to the type. If all read lines contain valid numbers, the field is presumed to be numeric; if all lines contain valid dates, the field is presumed to be dates; otherwise, it is taken as a string.
In versions prior to 1.4, if you encounter a situation where a field is mistakenly recognized as a date or number field, it is possible to remedy this by moving a line (or lines) that does not comply with that to the top of the file.


population mean and the hypothetical mean. Prism presents the uncertainty as a 95% confidence interval. You can be 95% sure that this interval contains the true difference between the overall (population) mean and the hypothetical value you entered. 11.5.2 If the P value is large (one sample t test) If the P value is large, the data do not give you any reason to conclude that the overall mean differs from the hypothetical value you entered. This is not the same as saying that the true mean equals the hypothetical value. You just don't have evidence of a difference. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Further Reading: Bryman, A.S and Cramer D. (1997). Quantitaive data analysis with SPSS for Windows: A guide for social scientists. New York: Routeledge <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<  To purchase e-copy online, go to  Prospective purchasers in Nigeria should pay N1950= through GTB or UBA Accounts and provide evidence of payment.  Hard copies available soon 6
 - 7. 7


text: This article uses framing theory to examine how activists and trade unions have framed labour's political agenda in Malaysia. A polity grounded in ethnicity continues to hinder the formation of cross-ethnic collective worker identities and labour politics. However, inclusive popular democratising movements have strengthened in recent years, providing a favourable context for greater emphasis on non-ethnic political action by trade unions. The latter have shifted in this direction, adopting elements of the popular movement's 'human rights' internationalism. Thus, the democratic movement's frame has influenced that of the trade unions, with implications for framing theory.


True Religion, Sweet Salvation and Spiritual Liberation: The Power of African American Spirituals and Gospel Music
There is an inherent power in African-American spirituals and gospel music. The sanctity of this musical lineage transcends its religious context. This workshop traces the power of gospel and the spirituals to their historical, cultural, and elemental sources. Empower your ability to self-soothe, turn inspiration into aspiration, and heal through song.


text:
Many manufacturing plants employ compressed air systems in one capacity or another, and, for the most part, these systems provide similar output. While all compressed air might be the same, the engineering of that air is not. The needs of a petrochemical plant are quite different from those of an automobile manufacturing plant. Application-specific engineered air addresses those different needs.
Engineered air describes compressed air tailored to meet specific industry needs—100 percent oil-free, particulate filtered, and reliable. It goes beyond the simple output of compressed air at a specified pressure pounds per square inch. Engineered air provides the right type of air for the right application. A good example of this concept put into practice is work done at a North American ethylene plant.
Ethylene processing plants use compressed air systems in a number of ways. Air powers pneumatic tools used in general maintenance, and it is employed for other plant operations, such as blow-down and dry-out. Blow-down uses compressed air to clear pipes and vessels of debris and blockage, while dry-out uses compressed air to remove moisture from pipes prior to ethylene processing.
Ethylene plants also use compressed air combined with steam to remove the coke build-up in the cracking furnaces. Scheduled periodic removal of this solid build-up allows the overall ethylene processing operations to run more efficiently.
Recently, a world-scale North American ethylene plant was undergoing a major expansion project that required a specially designed compressor system to handle the additional requirements. With this major expansion underway, it was vital that this new system provide absolutely reliable engineered air.
In order to ensure the most dependable compressed air source possible, the compressor package included a custom-designed compressor with a high-tech control system, meeting requirements for durability and reliability, accessibility and maintainability, and high level of control (Fig. 1).
The base design for this customized system also had to meet stringent API 672 standards for packaged, integrally geared centrifugal air compressors for petroleum, chemical, and gas industry services.
Durability and reliability
A baseload ethylene plant is the lynchpin of any petrochemical manufacturing complex. Ethylene is the building block and feedstock for all the downstream feeder plants. A baseload plant is expected to run continuously, maximizing efficiencies and minimizing costs. Downstream plants totally rely on the plant to provide a continuous supply of feedstock—in this case ethylene.
This is one of the key reasons the compressor system had to be designed to be extremely durable. To ensure this durability, the customized air compressor features self-adjusting tilting pad journal bearings that can adapt to load changes, providing stability, as well as double-acting thrust bearings to accommodate all load conditions. In addition, the system features stainless steel impellers, resistant to corrosion and erosion.
All of the compressor systems had to run reliably also. An unplanned shutdown would have an adverse impact on the entire petrochemical complex manufacturing capabilities. The compressor was built with a redundant oil system, helping eliminate the possibility of system failure, allowing the ethylene plant to meet its availability targets (Fig. 2).
Within an air compressor, the oil pump is the heart of the lubrication system; it is what keeps the machine running smoothly. If the pump breaks down, the machine comes to a grinding halt. To avoid this, we included not one, but two full capacity, full pressure pumps in the design—one motor-driven auxiliary and the other a shaft-driven main.
During regular operations, the shaft-driven main is operating, while the motor-driven auxiliary is on perpetual standby for emergency situations, providing additional overall package protection. Without this redundant system, in the event of an oil system malfunction, the entire compressor system needs to be shut down. The redundant system eliminates downtime and provides a reliable source of engineered air.
Accessibility and maintainability
In order to keep the plant's compressor system running efficiently and reliably, it was essential to design the unit for maximum accessibility and maintainability. While requiring additional time and attention from plant engineers, scheduled cleaning and maintenance are a sound investment. As with all other plant operating systems, compressed air systems that have a planned maintenance program are less likely to have unexpected breakdowns. Simply put, less downtime allows for more production. In addition, consistent cleaning and maintenance practices help keep wear and tear to a minimum. This ultimately saves money in replacement parts.
The intercooler design is an example of the ease-of-maintenance design philosophy. Within a compressor intercooler, both U-shaped and straight intercooler tubes are industry practice. However, straight tubes are easier to clean than those with a U-bend design. An engineer can simply remove the water piping, unbolt the water box, and rod the tubes in place. Rodding is not possible with U-bend tubes found in some compressors.
In addition, intercooler tubes with a water-in-tube design are easier to clean and maintain than those with an air-in-tube design that require wire brush or chemical bath cleaning. This compressor features straight intercooler tubes with water-in-tube design for this very reason. The longer it takes to clean the intercooler, the longer engineered airflow is down.
Another example of important compressor components that benefit from diligent inspection and maintenance are journal and thrust bearings. These bearings help provide a stable and near frictionless environment to support and guide the rotating shaft. Properly installed and maintained, these bearings can last for extended periods of time. However, regularly scheduled inspections and maintenance keep them running reliably. The ethylene plant's compressor features horizontally split bearings, which are easy to maintain, inspect, and replace. An engineer simply removes the top half of the gear case to service. No other disassembly is required.
Interchangeability of parts is another factor taken into consideration when designing the ethylene plant's compressor system. Interchangeability contributes heavily to ease of maintenance. Interchangeable parts save time and money. Multiple stage air compressors use a bull gear and pinion system to power the impellers at each stage of air compression. The quality of the bull gears used directly determines whether they are interchangeable. The customized compressor uses high precision AGMA Quality 13 gears.
The American Gear Manufacturers Association (AGMA) provides established gear quality ratings, ranging from 3-15. These numbers signify the quality levels, or standards, developed by the AGMA that differ per application. AGMA Quality Level 13 gears, otherwise known as aircraft-quality gearing, are generally regarded as high-precision gears. They provide lower noise levels and, under normal operating conditions, have a longer performance life. More importantly, though, they provide interchangeability.
If the gear is AGMA Quality Level 12 or below and any one of the three pieces needs to be replaced, all three pieces—one gear and two pinions—need to be replaced. However, with Level 13 gears, rather than remove and replace all three pieces, the plant engineer needs to swap out only the component in question. This saves time and money in unnecessary replacement parts.
High level of control
The operation of multiple compressors feeding into a single plant air system needs to be coordinated, monitored, and controlled in order to accommodate various applications. An initial investment in innovative monitoring technology can ultimately pay for itself.
With that in mind, the customized compressor can be accommodated with a PLC-based automatic sequencer, which permits up to eight compressor units to communicate with one another and operate in sequence according to a programmed schedule. High-tech PLC-based automatic sequencers are capable of monitoring and matching compressor supply to demand. For example, they can select which compressors to use at any given time, shutting down those compressors not necessary to plant operations, even choosing back-up units if needed. By turning multiple compressors into one, an automatic sequencer can ensure stable system pressure, which allows the entire operation to run as efficiently as possible, saving both time and money.
In addition, a PLC-based modular control system allows for remote monitoring and diagnostic checks on the compressed air systems, helping to predict and prevent any systems malfunctions that could result in stoppage of engineered air. This can save money on repairs and replacements, as well as lost production time.
The most cost-effective systems, like the FS-Elliott Regulus control system, provide state-of-the-art technology and ease-of-use. The ideal control system should feature an easy-to-operate touch screen with a graphic color display. These features allow operators to view easy-to-understand graphics while monitoring the plant engineered air systems. An advanced system also provides easy adjustment of set-points and control mode changes using the touch screen. These flexible controls are fully adaptive, changing to meet the plant's application-specific needs.
The control system also stores and logs operating data used for trend monitoring and preventive maintenance. This feature permits engineers to monitor and predict trends in their engineered air systems and act before problems arise. Extended monitoring of vital parameters is important for equipment protection, saving money in maintenance and avoiding repairs.
Ethylene plants are extremely energy conscious. A systems operation closer to surge lines saves power and minimizes wasteful unloading, while lower set-points and precise control minimizes energy usage. The advanced control system is able to make more efficient use of the ethylene plant's manpower. With easy-to-use remote control and monitoring capabilities, this system can reduce the tasks of the ethylene plant operators, allowing them to shift focus to other plant responsibilities.
An engineered air system is created with specific plant applications in mind, to increase reliability and efficiency. The custom-engineered compressor we installed at the ethylene plant was designed with the following key points in mind:
- Durability and reliability—A robust engineered design combined with key system redundancies.
- Accessibility and maintainability—Moving parts designed with ease of access and maintenance in mind.
- High level of control—High-tech control systems provide for efficient operation and allow plant operations to predict and prevent possible problems.

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


text:
Building a sustainable future for UK children
Thursday 17 September 2009
Living sustainably means living within
environmental limits while also ensuring a strong, healthy and just
At NCB, we recognise that sustainable living is central to the
wellbeing of all children and young people, as well as their
families and communities. More importantly, it is a key concern of
the children and young people with whom we work.
We are calling on the government to revise the UK's sustainable
development strategy - Securing the Future - to have a stronger
focus on children and young people, and particularly those who are
disadvantaged. The strategy must aim to ensure that all children
and young people can take part in and lead action to promote a more
sustainable future. It must also go further in developing the role
of children and young people's services and the workforce in
empowering children and families to make sustainable choices in all
aspects of their lives.
Furthermore, the strategy must look again at the range of
settings where children and young people live, work and play - not
just schools - to consider ways to reduce their environmental
impact. Children's trust partners must drive this locally, and
prioritise sustainable development when developing and
commissioning services for children and young people.


text:
Gas Exchange in Fish
Last updated 18 March 2013, created 16 September 2012, viewed 1,816
Good for Revision purposes and main class introduction.
Includes starter activity, an activity including pupils acting gas exchange in fish demonstrating both parallel flow and the benefits of counter current flow, and exam question activity involving the whole class participation. It makes exam question answering that little bit more fun :)


text:
Significance and Use
Heat Gain to Space—This test method determines the heat gain to the space from a hood/appliance system.
Note 2—To maintain a constant temperature in the conditioned space, this heat gain must be matched by space cooling. The space sensible cooling load, in tons, then equals the heat gain in Btu/h divided by the conversion factor of 12 000 Btu/h (3.412 W) per ton of cooling. Appliance heat gain data can be used for sizing air conditioning systems. Details of load calculation procedures can be found in ASHRAE, see Ref (1) and Ref (2). The calculation of associated cooling loads from heat gains to the test space at various flow rates can be used along with other information by heating, ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC), and exhaust system designers to achieve energy-conservative, integrated kitchen ventilation system designs.
This test method also can be used to conduct parametric studies of alternative configurations of hoods, appliances, and replacement air systems. In general, these studies are conducted by holding constant all configuration and operational variables except the variable of interest. This test method, therefore, can be used to evaluate the following:
The overall system performance with various appliances, while holding the hood and replacement air system characteristics constant.
Entire hoods or characteristics of a single hood, such as end panels, can be varied with appliances and replacement air constant.
Replacement air characteristics, such as makeup air location, direction, and volume, can be varied with constant appliance and hood variables.
1.1 This test method covers the determination of appliance heat gain to space derived from the measurement and calculation of appliance energy consumption, energy exhausted, and energy to food, based on a system energy balance, parametric evaluation of operational or design variations in appliances, hoods, or replacement air configurations.
1.2 The values stated in inch-pound units are to be regarded as standard. The values given in parentheses are mathematical conversions to SI units that are provided for information only and are not considered standard.
1.3 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.
2. Referenced Documents (purchase separately) The documents listed below are referenced within the subject standard but are not provided as part of the standard.
F1275 Test Method for Performance of Griddles
F1361 Test Method for Performance of Open Deep Fat Fryers
F1484 Test Methods for Performance of Steam Cookers
F1496 Test Method for Performance of Convection Ovens
F1521 Test Methods for Performance of Range Tops
F1605 Test Method for Performance of Double-Sided Griddles
F1639 Test Method for Performance of Combination Ovens
F1695 Test Method for Performance of Underfired Broilers
F1704 Test Method for Capture and Containment Performance of Commercial Kitchen Exhaust Ventilation Systems
F1784 Test Method for Performance of a Pasta Cooker
F1785 Test Method for Performance of Steam Kettles
F1787 Test Method for Performance of Rotisserie Ovens
F1817 Test Method for Performance of Conveyor Ovens
F1964 Test Method for Performance of Pressure Fryers
F1965 Test Method for Performance of Deck Ovens
F1991 Test Method for Performance of Chinese (Wok) Ranges
F2093 Test Method for Performance of Rack Ovens
F2144 Test Method for Performance of Large Open Vat Fryers
F2237 Test Method for Performance of Upright Overfired Broilers
F2239 Test Method for Performance of Conveyor Broilers
ASHRAE Terminology of Heating, Ventilation, Air-Conditioning, and Refrigeration
ANSI/ASHRAE51andANSI Laboratory Method of Testing Fans for Rating
appliances; commercial kitchen ventilation; cooling load; heat gain; test method; Commercial kitchen ventilation (CKV) systems; Heat gain/loss; Space performance;
ICS Number Code 97.040.20 (Cooking ranges, working tables, ovens and similar appliances)
ASTM International is a member of CrossRef.
Citing ASTM Standards
[Back to Top]


text:
Performed in villages and closely attached to water rice agriculture, water puppetry is a unique performing art and is the intangible cultural heritage of the Viet people in the Northern Delta region of Vietnam. Created in the tenth century, the first historical record on water puppetry was inscribed in an ancient stele in 1121 called the Sung Dien Dien Linh in the Long Dọi Buddhist Temple of Ha Nam Province. The inscription reads that water puppetry was performed to entertain the king on the occasion of his longevity ceremony.
Puppeteers, water, and puppets are the three core elements of water puppetry. The cultural spaces for water puppetry in villages are ponds and lakes. Different from other art forms, puppeteers do not appear on the stage, which is a two-story pavilion on the water face. The top floor is for worshiping the ancestral puppeteer; the lower floor serves as the backdrop and is very evocative. Puppeteers stand in the water behind a curtain and manipulate the puppets with sticks. They are talented and brave people as they stand in the cold water for hours performing puppetry, a job which is extremely taxing.
The puppets are hand-made from a special wood, which is light and floats. The process to fully complete the construction of a puppet is a long one, from carving the core to final decoration. The puppet is then painted with natural resources so that it is water proof and durable. The puppet makers create puppet characters according to performances that are related to legend, historical periods, and folktales such as the Fairy, the King, the Queen, the God, the Villager, the Girl, the Man, the Boy, and amiable animals. All are inspired by the vitality of life and the rich imagination of peasants in the Northern Delta region.
The puppet is composed of two parts: the body and the base. The body is the part that floats on the water and represents the character and the base is submerged under water and keeps the body floating. The base also holds a mechanic system which moves the puppet using two manipulating systems involving the use of sticks or strings. Both the sticks and the strings function in the water using the waters force to remotely control the movements of the puppets. The performers stand behind the curtain and control the puppets by manipulating each stick or a system of strings outside the pavilion or under water.
Each puppet show includes many scenes, which are short stories. The stage is decorated to evoke the story's background using elements of light, music, sound, color, and especially language to make the water puppet stage cheerful, lively, and attractive.
In the past, many villages were well-known for performing puppetry, but now only a few villages keep this tradition alive. They are Dao Thuc (Ha Noi), Thanh Hai (Hai Duong), Nguyen (Thai B.nh), Vĩnh Bao (Hai Ph.ng), and Rạch (Nam Dinh) to say a few. Some village organize puppet shows and tours in many parts of the country and abroad.
At present, Vietnam's water puppetry is not only performed in villages with ponds, lakes, fields, and villagers, but also in performing arts theaters and centers in towns and cities. Water puppetry has also been performed internationally, however, despite its development, the water puppetry of communities as a living heritage, is facing the risk of oblivion. Ancient performances have been forgotten, old puppeteers do not know who to pass on the tradition, with many Vietnamese people having never seen a water puppet show and are unfamiliar with it as part of their own heritage.


[haf, hahf]
noun, plural halves [havz, hahvz].
one of two equal or approximately equal parts of a divisible whole, as an object, or unit of measure or time; a part of a whole equal or almost equal to the remainder.
Sports. either of two equal periods of play, usually with an intermission or rest period separating them. Compare quarter ( def 10 ).
one of two; a part of a pair.
Football. a halfback.
British Informal.
a half-crown coin.
the sum of a half crown; two shillings, sixpence.
a half pint: He ordered a half of ale.
partial or incomplete: half measures.
in or to the extent or measure of half.
in part; partly; incompletely: half understood.
to some extent; almost: half recovered.
half again as much/many, as much as 50 percent more: This mug holds half again as much coffee as the smaller one.
half in two, Southern U.S. (chiefly Gulf States). in or into two parts; in half: Cut the cake half in two.
not half,
not at all; not really: His first attempts at painting are not half bad.
half ( def 15 ).
not the half of, a significant yet relatively minor part of something that remains to be described in full: He accused them of being responsible for the error, and that's not the half of the story. Also, not half of, not half.
before 900; Middle English; Old English h(e)alf; cognate with German Halb, Old Norse halfr, Gothic halbs
13. barely, somewhat, partially; sort of.
See well1.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Cite This Source Link To half
World English Dictionary
half (hɑːf)
n (often foll by on, in, etc), pl halves
1. a. either of two equal or corresponding parts that together comprise a whole
 b. a quantity equalling such a part: half a dozen
2. half a pint, esp of beer
3. (Scot) a small drink of spirits, esp whisky
4. sport the half of the pitch regarded as belonging to one team
5. golf an equal score on a hole or round with an opponent
6. (in various games) either of two periods of play separated by an interval (the first half and second half)
7. a half-price ticket on a bus, train, etc
8. short for half-hour
9. short for halfpenny
10. sport short for halfback
11. obsolete a half-year period
12. jocular better half a person's wife or husband
13. by half by an excessive amount or to an excessive degree: he's too arrogant by half
14. (used with a negative) by halves without being thorough or exhaustive: we don't do things by halves
15. go halves
 a. to share the expenses (of something with one other person)
 b. to share the whole amount (of something with another person): to go halves on an orange
16. a. being a half or approximately a half: half the kingdom
 b. (as pronoun; functioning as sing or plural): half of them came
17. not perfect or complete; partial: he only did a half job on it
18. to the amount or extent of a half
19. to a great amount or extent
20. partially; to an extent
21. informal half two 30 minutes after two o'clock
22. have half a mind to to have the intention of
23. informal not half
 a. not in any way: he's not half clever enough
 b. (Brit) really; very; indeed: he isn't half stupid
 c. certainly; yes, indeed
Related: bi-, demi-, hemi-, semi-
[Old English healf; related to Old Norse halfr, Old High German halb, Dutch half]
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History
O.E. half, halb (Mercian), healf (W. Saxon) "side, part" (original sense preserved in behalf), from P.Gmc. *khalbas "something divided" (cf. O.N. halfr, O.Fris., M.Du. half, Ger. halb, Goth. halbs "half"). Used also in O.E. phrases as in modern Ger., to mean "one half unit less than," cf. þridda
healf "two and a half," lit. "half third." The construction in two and a half, etc., is first recorded c.1200. Of time, in half past ten, etc., first attested 1750; in Scottish, the half often is prefixed to the following hour, as in Ger. (halb elf "ten thirty"). Half-and-half "ale and porter" is from 1756; half-baked in sense of "silly" is from 1855; half-breed "mixed race" is from 1760; half-blooded in this sense is from c.1600. Half-brother (early 14c.) and half-sister (c.1200) were in M.E.. Halftime in football is from 1871. half-truth is first recorded 1658; half-hearted is from 1610s. To go off half-cocked "speak or act too hastily" (1833) is in allusion to firearms.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases
In addition to the idioms beginning with half, also see at half-mast; better half; by half; glass is half full; go halfway; go off (half-cocked); in half; not bad (half bad); six of one, half dozen of the other; time and a half; with half an eye. Also see under halfway; halves.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
Example sentences
So instructors who teach half time make half as much as full-time colleagues
 with similar experience who do the same work.
Perhaps half of all hedge funds will go out of business.
The easiest way to see increasing temperatures is through the thermometer
 records kept over the past century and a half.
Copyright © 2014 Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
 - Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature


Take the 2-minute tour ×
After debugging a particularly tricky issue in VB.NET involving the order in which instance variables are initialized, I discovered that there is a breaking discrepancy between the behavior that I expected from C# and the actual behavior in VB.NET.
Nota bene: This question concerns a slight discrepancy in the behaviors of VB.NET and C#. If you're a language bigot that is unable to provide an answer other than "that's why you should use C#, noob", there is nothing for you to see here; kindly move along.
Specifically, I expected the behavior outlined by the C# Language Specification (emphasis added):
When an instance constructor has no constructor initializer, or it has a constructor initializer of the form base(...), that constructor implicitly performs the initializations specified by the variable-initializers of the instance fields declared in its class. This corresponds to a sequence of assignments that are executed immediately upon entry to the constructor and before the implicit invocation of the direct base class constructor. The variable initializers are executed in the textual order in which they appear in the class declaration.
Contrast that with the portion of the VB.NET Language Specification concerning Instance Constructors, which says (emphasis added):
When a constructor's first statement is of the form MyBase.New(...), the constructor implicitly performs the initializations specified by the variable initializers of the instance variables declared in the type. This corresponds to a sequence of assignments that are executed immediately after invoking the direct base type constructor. Such ordering ensures that all base instance variables are initialized by their variable initializers before any statements that have access to the instance are executed.
The discrepancy here is immediately obvious. C# initializes class-level variables before calling the base constructor. VB.NET does exactly the reverse, apparently preferring to call the base constructor before setting the values of instance fields.
If you want to see some code, this related question provides a more concrete example of the divergent behavior. Unfortunately, it does not provide any hints as to how one might coerce VB.NET into following the model established by C#.
I'm less interested in why the designers of the two languages chose such divergent approaches than I am in possible workarounds for the problem. Ultimately, my question is as follows: Is there any way that I can write or structure my code in VB.NET to force instance variables to be initialized before the base type's constructor is called, as is the standard behavior in C#?
share|improve this question
I don't believe it's possible to change this - and the VB compiler will fight against any attempts to do so. If you're relying on such behaviour, it's usually an indication of problems elsewhere in your code. There has been advice against calling virtual members within constructors for a long time (as in the sample code in the other question) – Damien_The_Unbeliever Jan 5 '11 at 9:45
_USER_: You're right about it being bad practice to call virtual members within constructors. Unfortunately, that decision wasn't mine to make. I'm subclassing a type provided by the Framework while also overriding one of its virtual methods. I am pretty sure that the problems lie outside of my code, and the only thing I can think of to fix this screams "ugly hack" to me. – Cody Gray Jan 5 '11 at 9:49
+1 interesting question. Also a good nota bene – MarkJ Jan 5 '11 at 12:34
see also stackoverflow.com/q/_PHONE_/185593 – serhio Sep 25 '12 at 15:09
2 Answers 2
up vote 8 down vote accepted
If you have virtual members that are going to be invoked during construction (against best advice, but we've already agreed on that), then you need to move your initialization into a separate method, that can protect itself against multiple calls (i.e. if init has already happened, return immediately). That method will then be invoked by the virtual members and your constructor, before they rely on initialization having occurred.
It's a bit messy, and may represent a minor performance penalty, but there's little else you can do in VB.
share|improve this answer
Any well-written class must either ensure any virtual members which could possibly be invoked on a partially-constructed instance will behave sensibly. C# takes the philosophy that a class instance whose field initializers have run will be in a sufficiently-sensible state to allow virtual methods to be used. VB.net takes the philosophy that allowing field initializers to make use of a partially-constructed object (and--with a little work--any parameters passed to the constructor) is more useful than a guarantee that field initializers will run before any virtual methods are called.
IMHO, the right approach from a language-design standpoint would have been to provide a convenient means of indicating that specified field initializers should be run "early" or "late", since there are times each can be useful (though I prefer the "late" style, since it allows constructor parameters to be made available to field initializers). For example:
Class ParamPasserBase(Of T)'Generic class for passing one constructor parameter
 Protected ConstructorParam1 As T
 Sub New(Param As T)
 ConstructorParam1 = Param
 End SUb
End Class
Class MyThing
 Inherits ParamPasserBase(Of Integer)
 Dim MyArray(ConstructorParam1-1) As String
 Sub New(ArraySize As Integer)
 End Sub
End Class
In C#, there's no nice way to have field declarations or initializers make use of arguments passed to a constructor. In vb, it can be done reasonably cleanly as illustrated above. Note that in vb, it's also possible to use a by-reference constructor parameter to smuggle out a copy of the object under construction before any field initializers are run; if a class's Dispose routine is properly written to deal with partially-constructed objects, an object which throws in its constructor can be properly cleaned up.
share|improve this answer
I'm not sure I follow what you're trying to say here. I don't have the ability to redesign either language, and I'm not particularly arguing over the relative merit of the choices. Furthermore, where does RIAA() come from in your code sample? You say that one can do this now in VB.NET. I'm not familiar with the syntax. Is RIAA() a custom wrapper class that you've written? And how is that different from a using statement? Beyond that, what's the distinction between "older" VB.NET and "newer" VB.NET? One is type safe and the other isn't? What does destruction have to do with the question? – Cody Gray Feb 12 '11 at 4:22
_USER_ Gray: RIAA is a class method which registers an IDisposable for deterministic automatic cleanup (in the style of C++/RIAA) and then returns it. In vb.net, the field initializers run after the list of disposables is created, so the RIAA method can add them to that list. VB.Net also allows an object under construction to be smuggled out of the constructor, so the constructor can be wrapped in a factory method which will clean up any registered IDisposable objects if the constructor throws. – supercat Feb 12 '11 at 5:48
Can you give me a link to where this RIAA method is discussed? I can't find the documentation online. I'm also not sure what disposing items has to do with initializing instance variables before the base class constructor is called. My question is not even about objects, much less those that implement IDisposable. The test case was actually an Integer or Boolean type, both of which are value types and do not need to disposed. RIAA is as useless here as it is irrelevant. – Cody Gray Feb 12 '11 at 5:51
_USER_ Gray: Sorry I was unclear. RIAA is a method in some of my classes which achieves the stated functionality when used in conjunction with other code. My point was that vb.net allows one to declare, initialize, and clean up an field in a single line of code, rather than having to have one area of the source code for object declarations, another area for initialization, and a third area for cleanup. Keeping all three aspects of a field together seems cleaner and less error-prone than having them separate. – supercat Feb 12 '11 at 5:55
I still don't get it. First of all, how is a method you've implemented in your own programs going to help me here? Second, the rationale behind implementing such a method escapes me. You can wrap the object in a using statement, which has the additional benefit of limiting its scope. I don't have any problems with the syntax of the language; my issue is with the behavior described in the spec. And third, what does this have to do with value types that don't implement IDisposable? The question I linked to with some sample code isn't calling any constructors. RIAA won't do any good there. – Cody Gray Feb 12 '11 at 5:59
Your Answer


text:
Females and males in the range of 5 to 10mm.
Slim and pale-coloured. Often found together with a silken nest, the'sac'. Identification of the relevant species is possible only on the basis of microscopic characters.
Cheiracanthium species are common in many parts of the world, including Europe. The species most likely to be responsible for a bite include: C. punctorium (Europe); C. mildei (Europe and N. America); C. inclusum (North, Central and South America); C. lawrencei (South Africa); and C. japonicum (Japan). Imported species are frequently associated with grapes.
Some species of the genus bite readily if their movements are restricted. Typically, the bite is sharp and painful, with pain, immediate and radiating, lasting for 30-45 mins, plus erythema and swelling. A wheal may develop, producing a necrotic area which can take 8 weeks to heal. Cheiracanthium lawrencei is said to be capable of causing cutaneous necrosis. Pain or numbness at the site of the bite may be followed by sweating and nausea lasting for up to 24 hours. After 48 hours, necrotic scar tissue may develop around the site of the bite (Newlands et al., 1980).


text:
Date of this Version
Conjoint behavioral consultation (CBC) is an extension of traditional behavioral consultation in that parents and teachers, with the assistance of a consultant, are joined to identify and address child-related difficulties collaboratively. This article presents a background review of the conceptual and empirical grounds for CBC. A case study of the use of CBC with a young student manifesting an irrational fear of sleeping in his bedroom at home is presented. Specifically, procedures and outcomes of each stage of CBC are described. Considerations for interpreting and using case study results are also presented.


Carl de Boor's Piecewise Polynomial Package
PPPACK is a FORTRAN90 library which evaluates piecewise polynomial functions, including cubic splines, by Carl de Boor.
Piecewise Polynomial Functions:
Typically, a set of data ( X(I), Y(I) ) for I=1, L+1 is available which is to be interpolated. A function F(X) is to be found which passes through the given data. F(X) is to be constructed from some order of polynomials, often cubic, and is to be continuously differentiable to all orders except at certain 'break' points, most likely at the same X points given with the data. Thus, to determine the types of functions F we can construct, it is necessary to specify the number of break points L+1, or intervals L, the location of the breakpoints 'BREAK', the values that the function is to assume at the breakpoints 'Y' or some other condition, and the order 'K' of the polynomial pieces. Sometimes auxilliary information, such as the slope or second derivative of the function at the left and right endpoints is part of the prescription.
Given a set of interpolating conditions or other requirements, the piecewise polynomial routines that follow will produce or manipulate a representation of the function F which has the form:
 ( BREAK, PCOEF, K, L )
These quantities represent the function F in the following way. If a point X is between breakpoints BREAK(I) and BREAK(I+1), then set
 H = X - BREAK(I),
and we have
 F(X)= PCOEF(1,I)
 + PCOEF(2,I) * H
 + PCOEF(3,I) * H^2 / 2!
 + PCOEF(4,I) * H^3 / 3!
 + PCOEF(K,I) * H^(K-1) /(K-1)!
Note that the piecewise polynomial functions make F and its derivatives continuous from the right. Thus at the break point I+1, we use the definition of F appropriate for the interval ( BREAK(I+1), BREAK(I+2) ) and not ( BREAK(I), BREAK(I+1) ).
Note also that the behavior of the function F for X values below the first breakpoint BREAK(1) or above the last breakpoint BREAK(L+1) is not specified. In fact, generally, F is set to zero below BREAK(1), and the definition of F on the last interval ( BREAK(L), BREAK(L+1) ) is extended all the way to the right.
Whenever you have a piecewise polynomial representation of the above form, you can evaluate the function F(X) by calling the function PPVALU. Moreover, other routines like BSPLPP can convert a B-spline representation into a piecewise polynomial representation. Also, KNOTS can use the information in the breakpoint sequence BREAK, with the continuity conditions required, to construct an equivalent knot sequence for a B-spline.
PPPACK is available in a FORTRAN77 version and a FORTRAN90 version.
Related Data and Programs:
DIVDIF, a FORTRAN90 library which computes interpolants by divided differences.
HERMITE, a FORTRAN90 library which computes the Hermite interpolant, a polynomial that matches function values and derivatives.
SLATEC, a FORTRAN90 library which includes PPPACK.
TEST_APPROX, a FORTRAN90 library which defines a number of test problems for approximation and interpolation.
Carl de Boor
 1. Samuel Conte, Carl de Boor,
 Elementary Numerical Analysis,
 Second Edition,
 McGraw Hill, 1972,
 ISBN: 07-012446-4,
 LC: QA297.C65.
 2. Carl de Boor,
 A Practical Guide to Splines,
 Springer, 2001,
 ISBN: _PHONE_,
 LC: QA1.A647.v27.
 3. Roger Martin, James Wilkinson,
 Solution of Symmetric and Unsymmetric Band Equations and the Calculation of Eigenvectors of Band Matrices,
 Numerische Mathematik,
 Volume 9, Number 4, December 1976, pages 279-301.
Source Code:
Examples and Tests:
List of Routines:
You can go up one level to the FORTRAN90 source codes.
Last revised on 14 February 2006.


What is Stargirl about? Who is the main character? What is a basic summary? Author: Jerry Spinelli. What is the story about?
Stargirl tells the story of a free spirited high school girl named Stargirl Caraway. Her story is a tumultuous tale of how her presence changed the people within her school and how those very same people turned against her uniqueness.
Expert Answers
An illustration of the letter 'A' in a speech bubbles
Stargirl is about Stargirl Caraway; however, the story is told from the perspective of Leo Borlock. The result is that both Leo and the reader are outside observers to Stargirl, her antics, and her motivations. I would say that both Leo and Stargirl function as protagonists to the novel, and a great deal of the novel reads like it is Leo's attempt to figure out and define Stargirl. Leo will eventually learn that she isn't a person that is so easily defined.
While I would like to say that Stargirl is an uplifting story about a free spirited girl and her transition into the life of a public high school student, I can't fully embrace such a simplistic summary of the book. On one hand, the novel is about Stargirl, her relationship with Leo, her time on the cheer leading squad, her lunch room antics, her random acts of kindness, and so on. On the other hand, the story is also very much about how powerful the forces of conformity are. Stargirl exists as her own person, and she doesn't care what anybody else thinks about her, except for perhaps Leo. When she decides to conform to the "norm" in order to make Leo happy, readers see how Stargirl's own happiness begins to dwindle.
Last Updated by eNotes Editorial on
An illustration of the letter 'A' in a speech bubbles
As is the case at just about any high school, the students at Mica Area High School know that the key to not being picked on is to fly under the radar, and make yourself as invisible as possible. Nobody, however, has ever told our main character, Stargirl Caraway, this. Having been home schooled for fifteen years, she arrives at Mica in the tenth grade, and there's nothing conventional about her.
The story is told from the perspective of Leo Borlock, an eleventh-grader who falls head over heels in love with Stargirl.
Stargirl is undeniably eccentric, and her classmates initially react to her odd behavior with suspicion and seem to be afraid of socializing with her. As time goes by, however, Stargirl's individualism and unique character inspires some of her classmates to think outside the box and become more open-minded. Later in the year, however, the tide turns against Stargirl, and her peers unite in rejecting her.
It is in the second half of the novel that Stargirl and Leo start dating, but Leo makes the mistake of trying to change Stargirl and make her more conventional—which she firmly is not. Leo eventually breaks up with Stargirl and ends up regretting it later in life.
This coming-of-age story, or bildungsroman, forces young readers to think about what it means to stand out and what the consequences of ostracizing someone are.
Last Updated by eNotes Editorial on
An illustration of the letter 'A' in a speech bubbles
Stargirl is about freedom and conformity. More specifically, it follows what happens when a strange and wonderful young woman named Stargirl enters a public high school. She's free-spirited, and unlike anything the students have seen. The students, including Leo the narrator, find her strange, then come to like her, then find her strange again. In Leo's case, the liking is personal--they become boyfriend and girlfriend--and in moving away from her, he breaks her heart and essentially betrays her. A fine and sad story.
Approved by eNotes Editorial Team
We'll help your grades soar
 - 30,000+ book summaries
 - 20% study tools discount
 - Ad-free content
 - PDF downloads
 - 300,000+ answers
 - 5-star customer support
Start your 48-Hour Free Trial


text:
St. Louis, Mo.
Size: Sound recording: 2 sound cassettes
Collection Summary: An interview of Joseph Pulitzer conducted 1985 July 9, by Sue Ann Kendall, for the Archives of American Art.
Biographical/Historical Note: Joseph Pulitzer (_PHONE_) was an art collector from St. Louis, Mo.
This interview is part of the Archives' Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.
How to Use this Interview
- A transcript of this interview appears below.
- The transcript of this interview is in the public domain and may be used without permission. Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Joseph Pulitzer, 1985 July 9, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution
- For more information on using the Archives' resources, see the FAQ or Ask Us.
Also in the Archives
This transcript is in the public domain and may be used without permission. Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Joseph Pulitzer, 1985 July 9, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Interview with Joseph Pulitzer, Jr.
Conducted by Sue Ann Kendall
At the interviewee's home in St. Louis, Missouri
July 9, 1985
The following oral history transcript is the result of a tape-recorded interview with Joseph Pulitzer, Jr. on July 9, 1985. The interview took place in St. Louis, Missouri, and was conducted by Sue Ann Kendall for the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
[Tape 1, side A]
SUE ANN KENDALL: Mr. Pulitzer, in your last interview with the Archives, you spoke of the discipline and the connoisseurship of your training at Harvard. You said that that led you to wait until pieces were—I think you used the word, "settled in"—and accepted before you purchased them. In your more recent collecting, though, you have bought and commissioned works by relatively young artists. What brought about the change in your collecting?
JOSEPH PULITZER: Well, when I was developing this acreage in St. Louis County, and had built a house, designed by William Adair Bernoudy, and a garden which he also designed, it was quite clear to me that this would be an ideal setting for outdoor sculpture. And so I had met and liked and admired Andrea Cascella, the Italian sculptor who lives in Milan, and I arranged through another friend, Beatrice Monti, who was the director of the Galleria del Ariete in Milan to have him do a fairly large scale stone piece for the property and that worked out very nicely. It was a commission and one that I have enjoyed greatly, and it was the beginning, then, of a trend toward perhaps more contemporary artists that came along in due course. But I should remind you that the other artists of the more established and historic position, such as Maillol, Rodin, Matisse and Lipchitz, were already coming into the collection and had already been installed in the country, and so it was really an extension of that process that led into the more contemporary. My wife, Emily, who had been the curator—the curator, very funny—of the St. Louis Art Museum—which now has I think five or six curators, but that was a number of years ago—was very interested in the more contemporary things, and through her I met Dan Flavin, Donald Judd, Richard Serra, and Mark diSuvero, either directly or indirectly through my wife. And that led to the moving of the collection as a whole into a more contemporary mode. Now when I say "settled," I'm not sure I ever used the word "settled," but what I think I meant, and what I certainly do think today, is that I like art that has stood the test of time and been around a while, and I liked the feeling that it can get into the mainstream of art and be comfortable, as an expression that is not so unconventional or so totally at odds with the art that one has become accustomed to that one can't relate it to the art of the past. I think that all of these things that have emerged on our property have and can easily be related, through formal contemplation and through style, through the artist's perception and his expression of form and his intent. Those things are not radical to me, and I don't believe they are really radical in the sense of being out of place with the more established art of the past; it's simply that they are new forms that took me a little longer to get acquainted with.
SUE ANN KENDALL: Is it their formal characteristics that you related to works of the past?
JOSEPH PULITZER: Well, I believe that.... There's no question that the formal character of these works has a great deal of interest to me, but then of course there are the other, the humanistic, I mean, and the perception of the artist, in his interest in space or in whatever his particular interest is, whatever his focus is, that I think I also understand and appreciate—or try to understand and appreciate, right.
SUE ANN KENDALL: Do you feel that you're collecting what you would call definitive works from say the sixties and seventies and even into the eighties?
JOSEPH PULITZER: Well, I think the.... I believe that the objects that we have fit quite comfortably into the criterion of being well-expressed examples of what the artist was striving to do. I think our examples are good examples. And I think those examples are—to the extent that one can use the word—accomplished, in that they accomplish what the artist intended. There's nothing tentative or particularly unsettling about the examples we have; they seem to have a definitive, finite and final... a finality that is very, I think, consistent in this collection as a whole. I think that the collection as a whole has achieved a rather finished and final and realized expression. And I believe these contemporary things do fit into that quite comfortably.
SUE ANN KENDALL: Um hmm. You also said in the previous interview, and I can quote this one, "I hoped that I would be able to assemble a few things that would have quite a relevance to what was emerging as a twentieth-century School of Paris." And that was back in the thirties when you were beginning....
JOSEPH PULITZER: Oh, yes, when I was in school.
SUE ANN KENDALL:... to put into your collection the School of Paris works. How do you define relevance today in regard to the works that you are collecting?
JOSEPH PULITZER: Well, the whole Minimalist experience in the sixties is very well expressed, I think, in the.... Or even later than that: Serra certainly, in Kelly, in Judd. And these are very disciplined works, very reduced, very simplified, but at the same time extremely expressive works of art. I find that that phase of art is much closer in its overtones to classic art than it is to Expressionism. I believe that this collection as a whole is not as involved in Expressionism as it is in the more resolved and classic and composed works. And the Minimalists, of course in my perception have achieved a composure and a stability and an authority that is quite dramatic and positive and has a good deal of force and persuasion to it.
SUE ANN KENDALL: What led you in that direction, although I think maybe you've just answered some of that question, but [what—Ed.] led you in that direction rather than some of the manifestations of art that exist today, or have existed since, in the sixties, seventies.
JOSEPH PULITZER: Well, I don't know that there's any (chuckles) deliberate sort of scheme. I've never been systematic at all. I've never tried to fill gaps and cover everything and be sort of encyclopedic. That wouldn't have been my style, and nor would I have had the resources always to do that sort of thing, which maybe museums do. But I bought things that appealed to me and attracted me but which, again, had received enough critical evaluation and enough judgments had been made that I could read a bit and know something about the artist's intent—and often met them. In fact, the people who have done the commissions here were all well known to us and then became friends, so there was no problem in that respect. But as to expressionism as a whole, I think that this collection—and romanticism as a whole—this collection rather leans toward classicism in the sense of the repose and the finality and the stability and the classic sense of order rather than the dramatic and the disorder of expressionism—on which I can go on at considerable length if you like (chuckles), but I think we'll hold that for later.
SUE ANN KENDALL: (chuckles) All right. How are the Minimalists' and the Conceptualists' work today.... How do you relate their work to life today?
JOSEPH PULITZER: Well....
SUE ANN KENDALL: In other words, how do you relate the work to its time?


text:
George Frederick II, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach
|This article does not cite any sources. (July 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)|
|George Frederick II, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach|
|Noble family||House of Hohenzollern|
|Father||John Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach|
|Mother||Joanna Elisabeth of Baden-Durlach|
3 May 1678|
|Died||29 March 1703
George Frederick II, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (3 May 1678 – 29 March 1703), known as George Frederick the Younger, the third son of John Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach by his first wife the Margravine Joanna Elisabeth of Baden-Durlach (and thus a half-brother of Queen Caroline of Great Britain), succeeded his elder brother as Margrave of Ansbach in 1692.
In the War of the Palatinian Succession he fought from 1695 to 1697 as a volunteer in the Imperial Army. During the Spanish War of Succession in 1702 he succeeded in taking the fortress Bersello Modena. He was killed at the Battle of Kittensee in 1703, and as he was unmarried, Ansbach passed to his younger half-brother William Frederick.
|Ancestors of George Frederick II, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach|
George Frederick II, Margrave of Brandenburg-AnsbachBorn: 3 May 1678 Died: 29 March 1703
|Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach
|This article about a member of the German nobility is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.|


text:
When an adult gets a hold of Sophie The Giraffe, the first comment is usually "Oh! It is so soft! What is that texture? Amazing!", and when we mention that it is natural rubber straight from the trees, he or she immediately starts smelling Sophie. Some love the smell because it reminds them of their childhood. Others like it less. Some would love to taste it but refrain themselves, due to the fact that they are adults.
But what do babies think of Sophie? Actions speaking louder than words, it seems that they all agree: Sophie The Giraffe is fun to hold, but it is also the greatest object to gnaw and chew on.
The counter-pressure from biting on Sophie's nubs, ears, and feet helps relieve the pressure from under the gums when a baby teethes.
For parents the best thing about Sophie ( handmade in France) is that she is made out of a natural flexible rubber, and non-toxic paint and that she has no harmful chemicals (such as Parabens, PVC, Phtalates, BPA (Bisphenol-A) and Nitrosamines). She is a safe alternative to a plastic teether and helps minimize a baby's chance of being exposed to chemicals.
In the first year, babies put everything in their mouths, and in doing so, they can absorb large amounts of toxic chemicals that we aren't always aware of. Some of those chemicals have not been around long enough for us to know what the long-term consequences might be, but why take a chance when our babies can have Sophie? ^__^


text:
Our CHI 2013 paper on environmental crowdsourcing received a Best Paper Honorable Mention.
Community groups typically rely on core groups of highly motivated members. In this paper we consider how crowdsourcing strategies can be used to supplement the activities of pro-environmental community groups, thus increasing the scalability of their campaigns. We focus on mobile data collection applications and strategies that can be used to engage casual participants in pro-environmental data collection. We report the results of a study that used both quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate the impact of different motivational factors and strategies, including both intrinsic and extrinsic motivators. The study compared and provides empirical evidence for the effectiveness of two extrinsic motivation strategies, pointification – a subset of gamification – and financial incentives. Prior environmental interest is also assessed as an intrinsic motivation factor. In contrast to previous HCI research on pro-environmental technology, much of which has focused on individual behavior change, this paper offers new insights and recommendations on the design of systems that target groups and communities. Close the door


text:
Claims are the structured description of the unique elements of a patented technology. The claims in a patent application are the specific pieces that are examined and eventually approved by a patent examiner to define the scope of an invention. Thus, the claims of a patent, rather than the description, serve the practical purpose of defining the elements that are protected. This also means that the claims are the pieces that are targeted in invalidity searches, to prove that they existed previously.
In practice, the patent claims enable the practitioners in the field of the invention to determine whether or not a product or process can be considered to fall under the invention protected by a patent. The scope of the granted claims may be as broad as those of the patent claims initially submitted by the patent applicant for examination, or they could be substantially restricted in scope or number by the examiner based on the available prior art.
Claims in AOP Studies
In many cases, AOP Studies focus on a particular claim or set of claims in the Study patent that are of significant interest. This is because the issues of Invalidity and Patentability are largely based on whether the claims in the patent or application are indeed novel and non-obvious. The particular claim then becomes the primary basis for the choice of initial keywords used in a search.
For your submission to serve as prior art for a given Study patent, the reference needs to disclose as many of the features in the claims of the Study patent as possible. For example, consider that the following claim (1) is the primary focus of the Study:
1. A composition for extending the durability of car paint comprising:
– low-molecular weight polyethylene polymers
– ultraviolet light stabilizer
– titanium oxide nanoparticles
In this case, the winning reference would describe the claim and all four of the additional features, or "elements." If your reference only has one or two of the elements, it may still be useful, but it is less likely to win the Study. Also consider that the reference cannot simply contain all of these keywords. In this example, the keywords must fit together to represent a car paint that consists of each feature together.
Independent vs. Dependent Claims
Independent claims are solitary claims that do not need any further explanation, whereas dependent claims include the details of the corresponding independent claim. Independent claims represent the foundation of the technology, while dependent claims provide additional detail about the features and aspects that make the basic technology unique and different from anything else.
The example in the above section represents an independent claim. The claim describes a technology that improves car paint, and it defines four specific features. This full claim can stand on its own without any necessary support.
Claim 2 below is an example of a dependent claim, which depends on claim 1 above:
2. A claim according to claim 1, wherein the ultraviolet light stabilizers comprise nitrogen-containing bicyclic rings.
By definition, the dependent claim contains all of the features and details of the independent claim on which it depends. Thus, claim 2 includes all the four features of claim 1, plus the additional pieces described in claim 2. The main difference is that claim 2 is narrower than claim 1 based on those additional features. Thus, if an AOP Study points to a dependent claim, it is important to remember that all of the features in the independent claim also apply to your search.


text:
FABBS is pleased to announce the 2022 Early Career Impact Award winners. This award is presented to early career scientists of FABBS member societies during the first 10 years post-PhD and recognizes scientists who have made major contributions to the sciences of mind, brain, and behavior. The goal is to enhance public visibility of these sciences and the particular research through the dissemination efforts of the FABBS in collaboration with the member societies and award winners.
2022 Association for Behavior Analysis International Award Winner
California State University, Stanislaus
Dr. Shrinidhi Subramaniam is an Assistant Professor in Psychology at California State University, Stanislaus and a Board Certified Behavior Analyst. Dr. Subramaniam received her PhD in Psychology from West Virginia University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in behavioral pharmacology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She teaches courses in applied behavior analysis, research methods, ethics, and addiction treatment, and mentors graduate students in their thesis research. Dr. Subramaniam's research applies behavior analytic principles to solve problems like addiction, unemployment, and poverty in her community. Currently, her lab is evaluating the feasibility of a contingency management program to engage residential substance use disorder patients in continuing care. In addition to this work, she has published over 20 manuscripts and chapters across broad research interests. These publications include clinical studies evaluating the effectiveness of behavioral interventions like incentives and education, and basic and translational studies exploring processes underlying human decision making such as choice and temporal learning. Dr. Subramaniam is an Associate Editor for The Psychological Record, is on the editorial board for the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, and serves as the Board Secretary of the Society for the Quantitative Analysis of Behavior.
"Supporting Patients in Recovery: Researcher Tests the Efficacy of Incentives on Behavior Change"
2022 Cognitive Neuroscience Society Award Winner
Maureen Ritchey, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at Boston College. Dr. Ritchey directs the Memory Modulation Lab, which uses the tools of cognitive neuroscience to investigate the neural bases of episodic memory. She combines cognitive neuroscience methods, including behavioral, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and computational approaches, to investigate the relationship between brain networks and memory processes.
Dr. Ritchey's research offered one of the clearest demonstrations of the role of the hippocampus in the process of recapitulation. Dr. Ritchey's experiments would change the way we think about human memory, as she combined sophisticated analyses of fMRI data and used graph theory to analyze functional connectivity and multivariate analyses to examine information carried in voxel-patterns. She brought these methods to bear on a new hypothesis: that there are two different memory systems, a posterior medial (PM) system that includes the parahippocampal cortex and retrosplenial cortex, and an anterior temporal (AT) system that includes the perirhinal cortex, that support different aspects of human memory. Her results were consistent with this hypothesis and led her to develop the "PMAT" framework for human memory, which has been a highly influential model.
Dr. Ritchey is now testing how these networks are involved in encoding and reconstructing the details of episodic memories, and how factors that modulate memory—such as emotional arousal—affect the function of these different memory systems. She has more recently begun a new line of work to examine whether individual differences in memory can be understood within the PMAT framework: Can differences in the balance of these networks explain why some people are better at remembering certain event content (faces, or context, or emotion)?
Dr. Ritchey's research is consistently published in leading outlets, including eLife, Journal of Neuroscience, and Psychological Science. Her research has been funded by the K99/R00 "Pathway to Independence" Award from NIMH, a NARSAD grant from the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, and a CAREER award from the National Science Foundation. Dr. Ritchey has also served in leadership roles in the Memory Disorders Research Society and the Context and Episodic Memory Symposium, and as a consulting editor for the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.
"Researcher Explores the Interaction of Emotions and Memories in the Human Brain Network"
2022 International Congress of Infant Studies Award Winner
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Dr. Victoria Leong is a developmental cognitive neuroscientist who is interested in how parents and infants communicate and learn from each other. She is a pioneer in the use of dyadic-EEG to study parent-infant neural synchrony during social interactions.
Dr. Leong is currently Associate Professor of Psychology at Nanyang Technological University (Singapore), and also Deputy Director of the Cambridge-NTU Centre for Lifelong Individualized Learning (CLIC) which aims to develop neuro-personalised training programs for flexible learning across the lifespan.
Vicky received her undergraduate degree in Medical Science from the University of Cambridge. After working as a special education teacher and in special education policy in Singapore, she returned to Cambridge for a Masters in Psychology & Education and she obtained her PhD in Psychology from Cambridge in 2013. Vicky's PhD thesis was awarded the 2014 Robert J. Glushko Prize by the Cognitive Science Society, in recognition of outstanding cross-disciplinary work (integrating neuroscience, psychology, linguistics and computational modelling). Shortly after completing her PhD, Vicky was awarded a prestigious Junior Research Fellowship for early-career independent research at the University of Cambridge, followed by a Parke Davis Exchange Fellowship at Harvard University in 2015. Vicky has been awarded research grants from the UK Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC), the British Academy, Rosetrees Medical Trust, Welcome Trust, and Ministry of Education (Singapore) to study language learning and social influences on neural development in infants and young children.
"Researcher Studies How Parent-Infant Neural Attunement Supports Healthy Development"
2022 Society for Computation in Psychology Award Winner
Brendan T. Johns
McGill University, Canada
Dr. Brendan Johns is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at McGill University, serving since January 2020, where he runs the McGill Cognitive Computing Laboratory. He is also an Associate Editor of Behavior Research Methods. Previously, he was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communicative Disorders and Sciences at the University at Buffalo. Before becoming a faculty member, Dr. Johns was an NSERC post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Psychology at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, under the supervision of Dr. Douglas J. K. Mewhort. He received his Ph.D. at IU under the supervision of Dr. Michael N. Jones in the Cognitive Computing Lab in August 2012. He received his Bachelor of Computing (with a major in Cognitive Science) from Queen's University in 2007.
Dr. Johns' research interests lie in big data and machine learning approaches to cognitive science. His research focuses on the development of large-scale computational models of cognition, with a specific emphasis on understanding the computational mechanisms that support the acquisition and representation of semantic information from naturalistic big data, as well as how this knowledge is used in online natural language processing and memory retrieval. The goal of this research is to develop cognitively plausible machine learning models that can further our understanding of human cognition. Additionally, his research involves using these models to gain a better understanding of the effects of lifelong learning on cognitive aging, bilingualism, and memory and language disorders.
2022 Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues Award Winner
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Dr. Alvin Thomas is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where he explores positive youth development and father involvement especially among Black families. Dr. Thomas earned his BA from Morehouse College and his PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He runs the Thomas Resilient Youth Lab (TRYlab), which engages child and community mental health research to understand the factors that hinder or contribute to positive outcomes in youth, particularly those exposed to greater risks in their day-to-day environments. The lab also explores father-child relationships as an under-examined resource in the lives of families and youth.
As a clinical psychologist, Dr. Thomas focuses on the risk and protective factors for boys situated in conditions that imperil them toward negative outcomes. His work exists at the intersection of positive child and youth development and father involvement. More broadly, he also researches ethnic identity, father-son engagement and relationships, and mental health in men and boys. Dr. Thomas focuses on risks and protections for Black children and youth, especially boys, and explore outcomes including violence, grades, and well-being. Dr. Thomas is interested in influencing fatherhood policy to highlight the efficacy of father involvement for Black and underrepresented families and for fathers across other contexts. Currently, he is exploring gaps in diversity training specifically related to father (non-resident) involvement in service provision to their children, as well as aggressive behavior, social media use, and police interactions for Black youth.
"Researcher Studies Black Fatherhood and Mental Health to Improve Youth Developmental Outcomes"
2022 Society for Research in Psychopathology Award Winner
McGill University, Canada
Dr. Anna Weinberg is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology and Canada Research Chair in Clinical Neuroscience at McGill University. She received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at Stony Brook University, New York.
Dr. Weinberg's research focuses on identifying biological pathways that give rise to disordered emotional experience. This involves using multiple methodologies, most often event-related potentials (ERPs) to examine the activity of neural systems devoted to processing errors, emotional stimuli, and rewards, and working to establish reliable links between the function of these


The New International Encyclopædia/Rate (taxes)
From Wikisource
Jump to: navigation, search
The New International Encyclopædia
Rate (taxes)
Edition of 1905. See also Rates (tax) on Wikipedia, and the disclaimer.
RATE. The term applied to the taxes assessed and collected by local authorities in England. The objects subject to taxation being assessed, a 'rate' is fixed sufficient to bring in the needed income. The taxes being imposed by various administrative bodies such as the counties, or poor law districts, we find frequent references to 'county rates,' 'poor rates,' etc. As the entire revenue of local bodies rests upon this basis, the term rate is frequently used by English writers as synonymous with direct taxation, other forms of taxation being designated customs, duties, imposts, etc. The distinctions here noted are not in use in the practice of American communities or in the writings of American authors upon taxation.


text:
A Answers (1)
NorthShore University HealthSystem answeredThe BRAC Analysis Rearrangement Test (BART) is an additional level of analysis, which goes beyond DNA sequences of genes. BART looks for large rearrangements, deletions, and insertions of DNA material. A positive BART result has the same medical implications as a mutation found with more routine types of analysis. Anyone who has had comprehensive BRCA1/2 testing could go on for BART analysis. It is a matter of yield (chances of finding a mutation), and cost. For high-risk families (multiple cases of breast cancer; early-onset usually; often ovarian cancer in the family), the yield is 1-3%. The cost is $650.


Skip to main content
Offensive vs Loathsome vs Repulsive vs Repugnant vs Revolting
Offensiveloathsomerepulsiverepugnantrevolting are comparable when they mean utterly distasteful or repellent.
Something offensive subjects one to painful or highly disagreeable sensations. Sometimes the term implies injured feelings as a result of an affront or insult and frequently it suggests the evocation of such aversion that endurance involves mental strain or moral distaste or it may imply a vileness (as of appearance or odor) that excites nausea or extreme disgust.
Something loathsome is so foul or obscene that one cannot look upon it, hear it, feel it, or have to do with it without a sense of deep disgust and abhorrence. Often the term is not clearly distinguishable from offensive in the sense of disgustingly nauseating but is applied more often to things which are generally or universally distasteful; thus, some people find the heavy fragrance of tuberoses offensive, but nearly everyone finds the sight and odor of meat rotting and crawling with maggots loathsome.
Something repulsive is so ugly in its appearance or so completely lacking in all that attracts or allures or charms or even challenges interest that it either drives one away or makes one unwilling to dwell on it.
Something repugnant (see also REPUGNANT 1 ) is highly offensive or loathsome because in direct conflict with one's nature, one's principles, and one's tastes and irreconcilable with them.
Something revolting is so extremely offensive, loathsome, repulsive, or repugnant to a person of delicate sensibilities that the sight or thought of it arouses in him a desire or determination to resist or rebel.


text:
Food quality of anemophilous plant pollen for zooplankton
Limnol. Oceanogr., 56(3), 2011, 939-946 | DOI: 10.4319/lo.2011.56.3.0939
ABSTRACT: Pollen rain can lead to considerable allochthonous particulate organic carbon input into freshwater systems. However, the importance of allochthonous pollen deposition for zooplankton production has not so far been considered. Here, standardized growth experiments were performed to assess the quality of pollen from three species (Alnus sp., Populus sp., and Cedrus sp.) as a food source for two cladocerans (Daphnia longispina and Simocephalus vetulus). Although lipid analysis revealed high polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) contents in pollen, both cladoceran species exhibited suboptimal development when directly fed on pollen (ranging from 0.2 d−1 to 0.3 d−1). The low food value of pollen was attributed to the presence of a refractory wall reducing its digestibility. In a second set of experiments, cladocerans were fed on a mixture of heterotrophic microorganisms (bacteria, chytrids, and protozoa) that had grown on pollen grains (Cedrus sp.). The introduction of microorganisms as an intermediate trophic level resulted in cladoceran growth rates that were about double those obtained on pollen alone. Hence, our findings suggest that pollen carbon could sustain zooplankton growth indirectly, and highlight the key role of microorganisms, and especially of chytrids, in transferring and upgrading pollen PUFA to higher trophic levels.


text:
One of the benefits of using your iPad to make presentations is its mobility. You can take it anywhere with you without much trouble, then hook it up to a projector or monitor to make a presentation. While the iPad doesn't come with presentation building software, you can download one of many applications from the app store that are designed to help you create and make a variety of different types of presentations.
1. Get Keynote from the Apple iTunes Store. Keynote allows you to choose various themes for your presentation, then organize the presentation itself by dragging and dropping various photos and bits of text to where you want them. As of the date of publication, Keynote costs $9.99.
2. Download Corkulous from the Apple iTunes Store. Rather than the traditional slideshow presentation, Corkulous allows you to use a virtual corkboard. You can tack up photos and virtual note cards, then proceed to talk your way through the corkboard, allowing all of the people watching your presentation to see how everything connects to the big picture. Corkulous costs $4.99 as of the date of publication.
3. Use Power Presenter, available from the Apple iTunes Store. While this software doesn't allow you to create a presentation, it does allow you to upload a PDF file, then present from that PDF file. During the presentation, you can highlight various bits of text, write onscreen, and draw if need be. As of the date of publication, Power Presenter costs $1.99.
- Practice your presentation before you have to make it.
- Don't rely completely on the iPad. People still expect you to be interesting during the presentation.
- Larry Busacca/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images


text:
Reindeer see their world in glorious ultraviolet, helping them find food and avoid predators.
Most mammals, including humans, see using light from the visible part of the spectrum; ultraviolet light, which has a shorter wavelength, is invisible. But not so reindeer, says Glen Jeffery of University College London.
The frozen wastes of the Arctic reflect around 90 per cent of the UV light that hits them; snow-free land typically reflects only a few per cent. So Jeffery and colleagues wondered whether reindeers had adapted to their UV-rich world.
In dark conditions, they shone LED lights of different wavelengths, including UV, into the eyes of 18 anaesthetised reindeers while recording with an electrode whether nerves in the eye fired, indicating that the light had been seen. The UV light triggered a response in the eyes of all the reindeer.
"Since migrating to the Arctic 10,000 years ago, these animals have adapted incredibly quickly," says Jeffery.
The team's experiments with a UV camera in the Arctic suggest why. They showed that urine – a sign of predators or potential mates – and lichens – a major food source for reindeers in the winter months – absorb UV light, making them appear black in contrast to the UV-reflecting snow.
"Very few mammals see UV light. Rodents do and some species of bat do but we have no idea why they have developed this capability," says Jeffery. "This is the first time we have got a real handle on why a mammal uses UV light."
The eyes of most mammals cannot cope with UV light because it carries enough energy to destroy their sensitive photoreceptors, permanently damaging vision. To prevent this happening we experience "snow blindness": our corneas respond to UV light by becoming temporarily cloudy, preventing excess amounts of UV reaching and burning the retina.
"Why don't reindeer, arctic fox, polar bears or arctic seals get snow blindness?" asks Jeffery. "Arctic mammals must have a completely different mechanism for protecting their retinas."
To try to shed light on this conundrum, Jeffery and his team plan to return to the Arctic later in the year. "If we could work out what this protective mechanism is perhaps we could learn from it and develop new strategies to prevent or treat the damage UV can cause to humans," he says.
Journal reference: Journal of Experimental Biology, DOI: 10.1242/jeb.053553
More on these topics:


text:
Environmental Quality Advisory Council
What is EQAC?
The Fairfax County Environmental Quality Advisory Council (EQAC) is an advisory group that has been appointed by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors to advise the Board on environmental matters. The Council is comprised of one citizen representative from each Magisterial District, four at-large members, and one student representative. Each member is appointed by the Board of Supervisors to serve a three-year term, except the student member, who serves during his or her junior or senior year of high school.
EQAC provides advice to the Board of Supervisors through its Annual Report on the Environment and through resolutions and positions resulting from discussions at EQAC's monthly meetings. EQAC recommendations typically focus on improvement of the County's efforts in environmental protection and enhancement; they also can address legislative issues as well as state, regional, and federal matters. Environmental issues considered by EQAC include water quality, air quality, noise, hazardous materials, solid waste, stream valley protection, deer management, light pollution, visual pollution, and the use and preservation of ecological resources.
Each year EQAC holds a public hearing to obtain citizen input on issues of environmental concern. The public is encouraged to attend and share views on the state of the environment and to identify any environmental issues applicable to Fairfax County. The public also is invited to attend any EQAC meeting and to submit correspondence for EQAC's consideration at any time.
If you have questions about EQAC, contact Noel Kaplan of the Fairfax County Department of Planning and Zoning at _PHONE_, TTY 711 (Virginia Relay) or send an e-mail message.


Coming from someone who grew up in the "Bluegrass State," I will be the first to tell you some state nicknames don't make sense — or are at least misleading. The state got this nickname from early settlers who named a certain type of grass "Bluegrass" because of the blooms on the top, which were slightly blue. But this grass isn't as common as the state nickname would lead you to believe. Here is a look at five other state nicknames that no longer make sense.
Wisconsin — The Badger State
Credit: MarynaG/Shutterstock
Wisconsin's state nickname no longer makes sense — and technically never did — because there are no more badgers in this state than there are anywhere else. The nickname "The Badger State" comes from the 1820s, when thousands of miners flocked to the Midwest. They made homes for themselves by digging caves in the rock under the ground, much like badgers do. For this reason, these miners became known as "badgers" or "badger boys." There were so many of them (or maybe the nickname was just so funny) that the whole state became known as the Badger State.
Minnesota — The North Star State
Credit: f11photo/Shutterstock
It is not clear why Minnesota was ever called the North Star State, unless it was just due to its position as one of several northern states in the contiguous United States. The name comes from the translation of the state's French motto "L'Etoile de Nord," but the state isn't particularly well-known for its eoile (star) or being in the nord (north). This nickname has been especially misleading since Alaska joined the United States in 1959, making that state the northernmost in the country.
Utah — The Beehive State
Credit: Johnny Adolphson/Shutterstock
Like Wisconsin, this is another nickname that is more misleading than "wrong." With a nickname like "The Beehive State," you would expect Utah to be a leader in honey sales or production, but it is actually 24th in the nation when it comes to that industry. So why is it called the Beehive State? According to historians, Utah has used the beehive as its state symbol for hundreds of years, as it stands for "hard work and industry." In fact, Utah values industry so much that its state motto is simply "Industry." So the busy bees in the Utah beehives are not real bees, but hard-working people.
Alaska — The Last Frontier
Credit: Maridav/Shutterstock
Space is the final frontier, according to Star Trek, but Alaska has long been known as "The Last Frontier," due to its unsettled areas and its general wildness. Many people take this nickname to mean that it was the last territory to be settled in America, and this is no longer true. While both Alaska and Hawaii officially became states in 1959, Alaska achieved statehood in January, while Hawaii didn't become a state until August. In this case, maybe Hawaii is the real last frontier.
New Jersey — The Garden State
Credit: ESB Professional/Shutterstock
Anyone who has ever been to New Jersey, especially the northern part, can tell you there is not much garden to be found in this "Garden State." A good portion of the state is bustling with businesses, people and traffic. The origin of the nickname actually comes from a speech given by Abraham Browning in 1876. He said that "our Garden State is an immense barrel, filled with good things to eat and open at both ends, with Pennsylvanians grabbing from one end and New Yorkers from the other." How that translates to a garden, I'm not sure, but it makes a great example of a state whose nickname no longer makes sense.


G Messaging
A time saving and basic gesture detector app that allows you to store and detect your custom gestures.
These gestures can be used to recognize corresponding text values for sending sms.
Following are the guidelines for using G-SMS.
1. Add the gestures with its respective text values which can be used later to send SMS.
2. You can view and delete gestures with its corresponding text values."
3. Add text by drawing gestures and send SMS easily.
Users review
from 14 reviews


text:
A Long, Illustrious Past
The Aviation and Technology Department has a rich history of educating and empowering students for over a century. Although Aviation and Technology are distinct fields in their own right, both departments share the core principle of rising to any occasion — whether that be adapting to rapidly changing technology or preparing for a World War. Discover our histories and how we came to join together in 2001.
The Aviation Program
It all began in the _PHONE_ academic year when a group of students formed a flying club at SJSU. Over time, this small club would become the foundation of the modern Aviation program.
The Technology Program
Our origins at San José State University begin over 100 years ago when we were originally known as a teacher education program for Engineering Technology Education. Over the years, we have transformed into an innovation and education powerhouse.