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In this series of three posts, we'll look at colours in R graphics produced with
ggplot2: what are the available choices of colour schemes, and how to choose a colour palette most suitable for a particular graphic?
In kindergarten, choosing a colour was easy, palettes were limited to a few classics. As cool kids grow older and use R, the spectrum expands to present us with overwhelming choice of millions of colours, most of them with poorly defined labels such as
"lavenderblush3". Inasmuch as scientific graphics resemble a paint-by-numbers game, R can help us design more elegant palettes with pertinent colour choices based on the data to display.
Overview of basic colour functions in R
Base graphics rely mostly on the
grDevices package for the selection of colours, with a few palettes to choose from:
(some palettes can have many more colours, this image is only an illustration of their structure)
The package also provides a number of basic operations to convert colours (
adjustcolor, col2rgb, make.rgb, rgb2hsv, convertColor) and create interpolating palettes (
rgb, hsv, hcl, gray, colorRamp, colorRampPalette, densCols, gray.colors).
Beyond that, a good resource is the
colorspace package which provides further utilities to convert from one colorspace to another (
HLS, HSV, LAB, LUV, RGB, sRGB, XYZ) and perform various operations on colours.
A special note can be made of a few palette functions, "diverge_hcl", "diverge_hsv", "heat_hcl", "rainbow_hcl", "sequential_hcl", "terrain_hcl", which provide an easy way to produce colour palettes following a particular path in the colour space (varying hue with constant luminosity and saturation, for example).
While the combination of these tools is quite flexible, the user interface becomes a little bit chaotic. More recently, the
scales package has provided wrappers around these functions to provide some consistency in the naming schemes and organise the different categories of palettes in a structured way:
Utilities functions, such as
col2hcl, fullseq, muted, rescale, rescale_mid, rescale_none, rescale_pal, seq_gradient_pal, show_col
Palettes with consistent interface,
brewer_pal, dichromat_pal, gradient_n_pal, div_gradient_pal, hue_pal, grey_pal, identity_pal, manual_pal.
ggplot2 package uses
scales internally, and mirrors this structure. In this first part, we'll review the basic commands to assign colours in ggplot2.
Colours in ggplot2
Let's consider three plots for illustration:
p1 maps the colour of points to a continuous variable,
p2 maps the fill of bars to a discrete variable, and
p3 maps the fill of tiles to a continuous variable.
Colour vs fill aesthetic
Fill and colour scales in ggplot2 can use the same palettes. Some shapes such as lines only accept the colour aesthetic, while others, such as polygons, accept both colour and fill aesthetics. In the latter case, the colour refers to the border of the shape, and the fill to the interior.
Aesthetic mapping vs set values
Another common source of confusion, general to
ggplot2, is the distinction between set values and mapped values in a layer. Consider the following example,
d = data.frame(x = 1:10, y = rnorm(10), z = gl(5, 2)) a = ggplot(d, aes(x, y, group=z)) grid.arrange(a + geom_path( colour = "red" ), a + geom_path( aes(colour = z )), nrow=1)
The default continuous scale in
ggplot2 is a blue gradient, from
low = "#132B43" to
high = "#56B1F7" which can be reproduced as
scales::seq_gradient_pal(low = "#132B43", high = "#56B1F7", space = "Lab")
The default discrete scale in
ggplot2 is a range of hues from hcl,
scales::hue_pal(h = c(0, 360) + 15, c = 100, l = 65, h.start = 0, direction = 1)
In the next post of this series we'll describe how one can fine-tune or change altogether these default colours, and, perhaps more importantly, give some pointers on choosing an appropriate colour scheme for a particular graphic.


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Balokole is an African fundamentalist Christian reform movement that started in the 1930s. The Balokole arose within the East African Revival Movement which sought to renew the Protestant churches in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi. Despite its theological roots in the Western revival movement of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the Balokole evolved as an indigenous African movement. The term Balokole can be translated as "the saved ones" or "the chosen".
The Balokole movement criticized established hierarchies within the Church of Uganda and questioned prevailing amorality or double standards. The Balokole formed egalitarian brotherhoods, followed puritanical rules, publicly confessed their sins and professed their experience of conversion, which they understood as a radical break with their former sinful selves and a receiving of new life from God.[1] They stressed the importance of the Lordship of Christ over all areas of life.[1][2]
 1. ^ a b Behrend, Heike (1999). Alice Lakwena and the Holy Spirits. Ohio University Press, Athens. ISBN 0-8214-1311-2.
 2. ^ Joe Church, Quest for the Highest, Paternoster 1981


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Iron Fe Evaporation Process Notes
Iron is the most commonly used metal in the world. It is metallic-gray in color, ductile, ferromagnetic, and rusts easily when exposed to oxygen. It has a melting point of 1,535°C, a density of 7.86 g/cc, and a vapor pressure of 10-4 Torr at 1,180°C. Iron is found in a vast array of products including tools, automobiles, and machinery. When alloyed with carbon, steel is created which is an essential component for building construction and automobile manufacturing. Iron also has biological importance as it is responsible for carrying oxygen in blood. It is evaporated under vacuum to form layers in the production of semiconductors, magnetic storage media, and fuel cells, just to name a few.
Iron Fe Specifications
|Material Type||Iron †|
|Color/Appearance||Lustrous, Metallic, Grayish Tinge|
|Thermal Conductivity||80 W/m.K|
|Melting Point (°C)||1,535|
|Coefficient of Thermal Expansion||11.8 x 10-6/K|
|Theoretical Density (g/cc)||7.86|
|Max Power Density|
|Thermal Evaporation Techniques||
|E-Beam Crucible Liner Material||FABMATE®‡|
|Temp. (°C) for Given Vap. Press. (Torr)||
|Comments||Attacks W. Films hard, smooth. Preheat gently to outgas.|
† Magnetic material (requires special sputter source).
* This is a recommendation based on our experience running these materials in KJLC guns. The ratings are based on unbonded targets and are material specific. Bonded targets should be run at lower powers to prevent bonding failures. Bonded targets should be run at 20 Watts/Square Inch or lower, depending on the material.
Empirical Determination of Z-Factor
Unfortunately, Z Factor and Shear Modulus are not readily available for many materials. In this case, the Z-Factor can also be determined empirically using the following method:
- Deposit material until Crystal Life is near 50%, or near the end of life, whichever is sooner.
- Place a new substrate adjacent to the used quartz sensor.
- Set QCM Density to the calibrated value; Tooling to 100%
- Zero thickness
- Deposit approximately 1000 to 5000 A of material on the substrate.
- Use a profilometer or interferometer to measure the actual substrate film thickness.
- Adjust the Z Factor of the instrument until the correct thickness reading is shown.
Another alternative is to change crystals frequently and ignore the error. The graph below shows the % Error in Rate/Thickness from using the wrong Z Factor. For a crystal with 90% life, the error is negligible for even large errors in the programmed versus actual Z Factor.

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


0], 600-image[:,1])
 plt.title((title_data[plot_no-1])+' $\sigma %d$'%parameter_no)
Texture Model
The texture is defined as the pixel intensities over the modeled entity. Here we have described the procedures to build a statistical texture model.
 - Similarly to the shape model, where all the shapes are previously aligned into a common frame, the texture model requires the alignment of all texture samples to a reference texture frame also.
 - The texture is mapped in a way that the control points from each sample match the control points of a suitable reference frame, the mean shape.
 - Delaunay triangulation is used in the mean shape control points to establish triangles that will be used to map pixel intensities by Piece-wise Affine Warping.
 - A statistical texture model is build using Principal Components Analysis, describing the texture in a condensed model.
Texture Mapping - Warping
The texture mapping is performed by using a piece-wise affine warp, i.e. partitioning the convex hull of the mean shape by a set of triangles using the Delaunay triangulation.
In mathematics and computational geometry, a Delaunay triangulation for a set P of points in a plane is a triangulation such that no point in P is inside the circumcircle of any triangle formed. Delaunay triangulation maximize the minimum angle of all the triangles in the triangulation. They tend to avoid skinny triangles.
Below we have shown the Delaunay triangulation on the set of training face images with their annotated landmarks. The concept is very simple. We will create triangles including our annotated points and then map from one triangle to another.
In [9]:
import matplotlib.delaunay as md
plt.rcParams['figure.figsize'] = 17,8
for i in reversed(xrange(1,7)):
 tim_cootes=cv2.cvtColor(tim_cootes, cv2.COLOR_BGR2GRAY)
 _,_,dest_triangles,_=md.delaunay(dest_x, dest_y)
 for t in dest_triangles:
 t_ext=[t[0], t[1], t[2], t[0]]
 axes.plot(dest_x[t_ext], dest_y[t_ext],'r')
 showfig(tim_cootes, plt.get_cmap('gray'))


The students work at two facilities of the company - in Sosnovy Bor (69 people) and the Kaliningrad region (57 people).
Five brigades work in Kaliningrad: "Kariatida" (Rostov Region), "Prospect-15" (Republic of Chuvashia), "PSK-Master" (Nizhny Novgorod Region), "Tesla" (Republic of Tatarstan), "ShSO PGUAS" (Penza Region).
Most of the students were trained to be concrete workers and rebar fitters. Also, the session brigades include ten masons and seven carpenters. The students perform specialized types of work under the supervision of their team leaders.
As part of the employment at JSC CONCERN TITAN-2, the student construction brigades were briefed on occupational health and safety, electrical safety, working at heights, fire safety basics, they received special clothing and personal protective equipment. The company arranged three meals a day for the students. They live in a comfortable hostel and are transported to the facility by a company shuttle bus.
The winter practice shift of the student construction brigades will last until the end of February. The main task for this period is to fulfill all operational tasks set by the employer, strictly observing the labor safety rules.


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TED Talks: TED Talks are highly engaging and lend themselves to deeper thinking and valuable class discussions. These task cards use Dr. Sandra Kaplan's Depth and Complexity model to motivate students by extending their thinking to great heights! Custom created tasks, based on a highly motivating TED Talk: Adora Svitka ~ What Adults Can Learn From Kids, will create for you an engaged and exciting classroom!
Please be certain to watch the video prior to purchasing this product so you can determine if it is appropriate for your students. It can be found at this link:
TED Talk: Adora Svitka ~ What Adults Can Learn From Kids
* Students in grades 5 - 8
* Students identified gifted in grade 4
* 11 Task Cards
* 11 Response Tabs
* 11 Mini Titles (for station)
* 1 Response Mat (if cards aren't used)
* 1 Comprehensive Product Poster
This product was designed to be flexible in presentation and completion. It can be viewed as a whole class, in small groups, or independently at stations.
* View, analyze and discuss TED Talk
* The teacher might assign all tasks to be completed or offer student / group choice.
A comprehensive list of products is included and can be used as a mini poster in a work station to offer student choice or for teacher reference.
The task cards would best be used in or on a:
* Book / Spiral
* Response Mat (Teacher or students choose icons to address.)
Examples of Tasks
Imagine being a glass blower at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, WA! Research this career choice to determine how this occupation "travels" ACROSS DISCIPLINES. List 5 other subjects this profession crosses and describe how they are interdependent.
DETAILS: Anne Frank, Ruby Bridges, and Charlie Simpson are mentioned as strong role models for young people. Research one of these "kids" and develop a thorough outline in which you provide clear and accurate DETAILS about the person.
Positive feedback is greatly appreciated.
Please visit my TPT store for more TED Talks task cards.


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Remote Sensing Collections is a data management activity, developed to improve access to satellite remote sensed marine products and as such does not directly deploy instruments. The primary focus of Remote Sensing Collections is sea surface temperature and ocean colour products, but also assists the other Satellite Remote Sensing (LINK) Sub-Facilities, facilitating data availability and facilitate user access where needs can't be met routinely via the ADON portal.
The baseline datasets created and managed by Remote Sensing Collections are formatted and organised for efficient storage and access using community-adopted standards such as netCDF. A core activity of Remote Sensing Collections are:
- Provide documentation and tools
- Assist with managing and maintaining core Satellite Remote Sensing datasets
- Enable specialised tools to access datasets that are not readily delivered through the AODN data portal
- Re-organise data to improve useability in response to community demand
In addition to the data sets produced from IMOS Facilities, there are also many global datasets available. Remote Sensing Collections seeks (through community consultation) to identify datasets of value and, where appropriate, play a role in maintaining local archives.
Dr Edward King
P: +61 (02) 6246 5894
Users of IMOS data are required to clearly acknowledge the source material by including the following statement:
Australia's Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) is enabled by the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS). It is operated by a consortium of institutions as an unincorporated joint venture, with the University of Tasmania as Lead Agent.


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Buddhist prayer wheel, Tibet, _PHONE_
Thousands of prayers written on a long tightly rolled scroll of paper are within this Buddhist prayer wheel. The prayer scroll is coiled around a rotating central spindle. It is within a casing of silver and ivory. This casing is covered with traditional carvings depicting the Buddha. Tibetan Buddhists believe rotating the prayer wheel while reciting a positive sentiment or wish known as mantra releases the prayers and combats negativity. Buddhism is a religion originating from India. It promotes ethical and unselfish behaviour. Prayer wheels such as this are still used. They are an important part of the Buddhist faith.
Related Themes and Topics
There are 438 related objects. View all related objects
A belief system or religion originally from India and based on the teachings of Siddharta Guatama, known as 'The Buddha', who died about 400 BCE. It requires ethical and unselfish behaviour.
Glossary: prayer wheel
Cylindrical box often wooden, usually vertically mounted with external inscription or containing a mantra script. Used as an aid to meditation, with each revolution of the box being equal to the reciting of the religious text. Used in Buddism and common in Tibet.

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


text: The requirements for the sustainability and performance of concretes are continuously increasing. Both properties can be improved through optimisation of the concrete mixing process. The following article demonstrates that the application of Power Ultrasound (PUS) during the mixing of the concrete – the Sonocrete technology described here – brings about significant increases in the flowabilities and early compressive strengths for a practically relevant concrete recipe. It was thereby possible to save at least 30% superplasticiser, to use a cement of a lower strength class with the same or better strength development or alternatively to shorten or completely replace the heat treatment. Further investigations into durability show that the carbonation behaviour and freeze/thaw resistance are not negatively affected by an ultrasound-assisted mixing process.


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Mysql Lpad Function is used to add padding to the left end of the string.The Function stopped the combination of string and added padding if it reached the length character. Incase the string is shorter than the length,the string will be shortened from the left and will go with the specified length constraint.The padding can be any character.
Understand with example
The Tutorial understand an example from 'Mysql Lpad Function'.To understand this example we use the given below syntax:
Query to use Lpad Function:-
The Query below return you the all the letters of roseindia.net and are padded with 2 # to the left of the LPAD.
mysql> select LPAD('Roseindia.net',15,'#')as LPAD;
+-----------------+ | LPAD | +-----------------+ | ##Roseindia.net | +-----------------+ 1 row in set (0.00 sec)
If you are facing any programming issue, such as compilation errors or not able to find the code you are looking for.
Ask your questions, our development team will try to give answers to your questions.


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Bio::Ontology::DocumentRegistry - Keep track of where to find ontologies. Allows lookups by name.
my $registry = Bio::Ontology::DocumentRegistry->get_instance(); my($ont,$def,$fmt) = $registry->documents('Sequence Ontology'); my $io = Bio::OntologyIO->new(-url => $ont, -defs_url => $def, -format => $fmt); my $so = $io->next_ontology(); #...
Do not use this directly, use Bio::Ontology::OntologyStore instead. Bio::Ontology::OntologyStore uses Bio::Ontology::DocumentRegistry to load and cache ontologies as object graphs, you can just ask it for what you want by name. See Bio::Ontology::OntologyStore for details.
User feedback is an integral part of the evolution of this and other Bioperl modules. Send your comments and suggestions preferably to the Bioperl mailing list. Your participation is much appreciated.
_EMAIL_ - General discussion _URL_ - About the mailing lists
Please direct usage questions or support issues to the mailing list:
rather than to the module maintainer directly. Many experienced and reponsive experts will be able look at the problem and quickly address it. Please include a thorough description of the problem with code and data examples if at all possible.
Report bugs to the Bioperl bug tracking system to help us keep track of the bugs and their resolution. Bug reports can be submitted via the web:
The rest of the documentation details each of the object methods. Internal methods are usually preceded with a _
Title : get_instance Usage : my $singleton = Bio::Ontology::DocumentRegistry->get_instance(); Function: constructor Returns : The Bio::Ontology::DocumentRegistry singleton. Args : None Usage
Title : documents Usage : my($ontology_url, $definitions_url, $format) = $obj->documents('Sequence Ontology'); Function: Maps an ontology name to a list of (local or) remote URIs where the files can be located. Returns : A 3-item list: (1) URI for the ontology file (2) URI for the ontology definitions file (3) format of the files (dagedit, obo, etc) Args : Name of an ontology, e.g. 'Sequence Ontology', or 'Cellular Component (Gene Ontology)'


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The last time I checked, most sugar is really dry (unless it's something like brown sugar). So why is it categorized as "wet"?
Sugar is not really a wet ingredient, it's just treated as one in certain types of baking (i.e. cakes).
When making a cake or other "fluffy" baked good, you want a fairly small amount of gluten to be produced, otherwise you'll get a chewy texture instead, and you definitely don't want a cake to be chewy like bread.
Dissolving sugar in the water inhibits the gluten-forming proteins. It's a method (actually, the method) of adding more liquid to the mix without getting a tough, chewy cake. It is for this reason that sugar is considered a "wet ingredient" - because the process only works properly if you add it with the water, not with the other dry ingredients.
It's even possible for sugar to be a dry and wet ingredient in the same recipe; you might add just enough sugar to the water to get the right texture, and add more to the dry ingredients for further sweetening.
I'm not sure what the context is, but I dug up this article that mentions sugar being a wet ingredient when baking certain items such as cake. A quick summary from the article:
"...the general idea is that Sugar and Water are Best Friends Forever, and they swear that nothing will ever separate them."
I'm guessing basically sugar is used with water (as opposed to being kept undissolved as a solid) so much that this is why it is considered 'wet,' at least in the context the article talks about.
Hope this helps!


1 noun
ref‧er‧ence1 S3 W1
1 [uncountable and countable] part of something you say or write in which you mention a person or thing
reference to
There is no direct reference to her own childhood in the novel.
The article made no reference to previous research on the subject.
The governor made only a passing reference to the problem of unemployment (=he mentioned it quickly).
2 [uncountable] the act of looking at something for information
for easy/quick reference
A vocabulary index is included for easy reference.
Keep their price list on file for future reference (=so that it can be looked at in the future).
The book will become a standard work of reference (=a book that people look at for information).
reference point
also point/frame of reference
a) an idea, fact, event etc that you already know, which helps you understand or make a judgment about another situation:
Lee's case will be the reference point for lawyers in tomorrow's trial.
She used her work experience as a frame of reference for her teaching.
b) something that you can see that helps you to know where you are when you are travelling in an area
in/with reference to something
formal used to say what you are writing or talking about, especially in business letters:
I am writing to you in reference to the job opening in your department.
5 [countable]
a) BE also letter of reference a letter containing information about you that is written by someone who knows you well, and is usually intended for a new employer:
We will need references from your former employers.
b) BESE a person who provides information about your character and abilities [= referee]:
Ask your teacher to act as one of your references.
6 [countable]TCN a book, article etc from which information has been obtained:
a comprehensive list of references
7TCNSG [countable] a number that tells you where you can find the information you want in a book, on a map etc:
a list of towns, each with a map reference
➔ terms of reference
at term1 (10)
Explore EMPLOYMENT Topic
Word of the Day
The EMPLOYMENT Word of the Day is:
Other related topics


text: We present a new approach for personalizing Web search results to a specific user. Ranking functions for Web search engines are typically trained by machine learning algorithms using either direct human relevance judgments or indirect judgments obtained from click-through data from millions of users. The rankings are thus optimized to this generic population of users, not to any specific user. We propose a generative model of relevance which can be used to infer the relevance of a document to a specific user for a search query. The user-specific parameters of this generative model constitute a compact user profile. We show how to learn these profiles from a user's long-term search history. Our algorithm for computing the personalized ranking is simple and has little computational overhead. We evaluate our personalization approach using historical search data from thousands of users of a major Web search engine. Our findings demonstrate gains in retrieval performance for queries with high ambiguity, with particularly large improvements for acronym queries.


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Child labour monitoring (CLM) is an evolving area of child labour work which is closely linked to enforcement of national child labour legislation. A wide range of child labour monitoring initiatives have been designed, implemented and tested as part of over ten years of ILO-IPEC's global work against child labour.
CLM first started in early 1990's in the manufacturing sector through IPEC projects in Bangladesh and Pakistan from which it expanded into other economic sectors, such as fishing (in Indonesia and Philippines) and agriculture (in Central America and Western Africa). Currently CLM initiatives can be found in all areas of IPEC intervention including the informal and illicit sectors. More recently, CLM has been integrated into the design of Time Bound Programmes.
The earlier child labour monitoring initiatives were developed as a response to international pressure on specific export industries and the main objective was the monitoring of workplaces. Two well-known examples of this are the Bangladesh garment industry (BGMEA) project starting in 1995 and the Sialkot soccer ball industry project in Pakistan starting in 1997. Both projects developed specific monitoring procedures and tools with monitoring carried out by professional and skilled workplace monitoring teams.
These initial experiences highlighted the importance of combining social protection with the monitoring activity at an early stage of the initiative, in order to provide viable alternatives for children withdrawn from work. With the Central America coffee and agriculture projects, the concept of "community-based monitoring" became more fully developed. Using local resource persons and awareness-raising approaches to mobilize communities, these projects began to demonstrate the capacity of non-traditional actors to monitor child labour. These and other child labour monitoring initiatives have contributed to the evolution of the concept of CLM over recent years. The focus has shifted from monitoring the industry to monitoring the child as s/he is removed from work and provided with social protection services. The attention has also moved from the "withdrawal" of children from work to a coordinated child protection effort involving the identification, referral, verification and tracking that targeted children are provided with satisfactory alternatives. Lastly a change has occurred from monitoring specific target sectors to an area-based approach to monitor all types of child labour in larger geographical areas.


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Noel Semple has recently released a paper contributing to the ongoing discussion surrounding the cost of civil justice in Canada. He draws attention to the financially burdensome nature of civil justice claims, as well as temporal and psychological costs involved with legal disputes. His thorough investigation of the issue draws on the National Self Represented Litigants Project for quantitative information about the true costs of accessing civil justice. The paper is available on SSRN.
While much of the literature surrounding innovation emphasizes the importance of creativity and spontaneity, this article from McKinsey Quarterly reminds innovators that discipline and constraint have an important role to play in the process as well. The article suggests that "simple rules" can guide and structure innovation without hampering its generative qualities.
A group of 11 Toronto family lawyers are petitioning the Law Society to lift its contingency fee prohibition. They argue that the current regulatory framework poses a disadvantage to parties with access to fewer resources. The lawyers also point out that the high number of self-represented litigants in the family justice system warrants a change to current billing structures.
To read more about the petition, see this Toronto Star article.


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Sparse Approximate Inverses in a Finite Element Framework
My thesis describes a method for constructing sparse approximate inverses (SPAI) of blocks of matrices arising in the numerical solution of partial differential equations (PDEs), discretized using the finite element method (FEM). The matrices have a 2 by 2 block form, which in this case is obtained via refinement of the discretization mesh and classification of the nodes as coarse and fine. The SPAI matrix is assembled from small matrices, obtained by manipulation of the local stiffness matrices; a procedure that is fully parallelizable.
The framework can be used recursively on a sequence of meshes and is suitable for constructing of algebraic Multi-Level preconditioners of block-multiplicative type.
As an illustration, numerical results of using this method to solve the Poisson problem are presented, both serial and parallel. The serial test results show that this preconditioning method is robust with respect to problem size and to discontinuity of the coefficients of the PDEs, when the areas corresponding to different coefficients are aligned with the coarse mesh. The method is not fully robust to anisotropy. Parallel tests show that the performance of the method is independent of the number of processors used to solve the problem, and that the method is highly scalable with excellent parallelization properties.


An Expert Explains Why Your Hair Gets Greasy Overnight and What to Do About It
Do you fall asleep with freshly-washed strands only to wake up to them being oily in the morning? Are you struggling to understand why hair gets greasy overnight? This incredibly frustrating problem is all too common for some.
Kate Holden, consultant trichologist, has some answers and advice for you. The founder of Kate Holden Clinic in Manchester can tell you why your hair gets greasy when you sleep and what you should do about it.
Keep scrolling to read what she had to say!
Why does hair get greasy overnight?
"Our hair gets greasy when there is a build up of a natural oil on the scalp called sebum," Kate shares. "Sebum is produced by our sebaceous glands and functions to lubricate and waterproof the skin and hair, which is essential for maintaining a healthy hair and scalp. Our sebaceous glands are working all the time. But if you're noticing that your hair gets greasy overnight, that indicates that your glands may be overactive or you need to adjust your haircare routine."
There is also a laundry list of more common reasons for this problem. An increase in extra oil can be caused by "hormones (think puberty, periods and menopause), diet, genetics, medications, changes in the environment, and your haircare routine."
Sleeping habits can often be to blame for greasy hair. This is especially true "if you're not washing your pillowcases often enough."
There are also a number of ways your hair washing routine contributes to extra oil production.
"How you wash your hair can definitely contribute to an oily scalp," Kate says. "Washing your hair too often can cause your scalp to overproduce sebum. Not washing your hair enough will cause a buildup. Washing your hair two to three times per week is recommended to get a good balance."
You should even be weary of how hot the water is.
"Washing your hair in hot water also stimulates the sebaceous glands, so turn the temperature down on your shower to prevent this," Kate notes.
And though it feels amazing, Kate mentions massaging your hair for too long can contribute to oily strands.
"Massaging the scalp can activate the sebaceous glands too so try not to massage for longer than one minute," she notes.
Woman looking at the camera while laying on her bed and running her fingers through her hair
(via Unsplash)
Could it be a sign of a major underlying condition?
Kate assures us that "most of the time, greasy hair is nothing to worry about." There is one instance, however, when it should raise a bit of concern.
"If you are dealing with greasy hair every day, no matter what you try, then it might be a symptom of an underlying hormone imbalance such as PCOS. If you are worried that your greasy hair is a symptom of a medical condition, speak to your general practitioner, trichologist, or dermatologist."
What can you do to prevent hair from getting greasy overnight?
Luckily, there are a number of things you can do to decrease overnight oil production.
"I would recommend avoiding hot showers or baths before bed; using a shampoo designed for greasy hair; applying dry shampoo to the roots; tying your hair up to prevent the sebum traveling down the hair shaft; and making sure you're washing your pillowcases regularly to prevent buildup of grime and sweat," Kate shares.
Kate also recommends a few products that'll help with yoru problem.
"When you're looking for a clarifying shampoo, you need a stronger surfactant (cleaner) to remove the oil from the hair and scalp," she says. "In terms of dry shampoo, Batiste is my usual go-to. If you find aerosol-based dry shampoos too drying, you can get them in powder form. For example Lush does a powder dry shampoo. When you tie your hair up at night, I'd recommend a soft scrunchie, fabric hair tie, or head scarf to reduce friction on the hair shaft."
It's also important to look at your diet as a cause for excess oil production.
"If you have a diet which is high in refined carbs and saturated fats, then this might be contributing to your greasy hair," Kate mentions. "Swap out the refined carbs to wholegrain and the saturated fats with unsaturated fats. Also, make sure you're eating lots of fruits and vegetables."
After making these changes, you should quickly notice your hair being less greasy when you wake up. If the problem does persist, be sure to reach out to a professional.
Girl sleeping on a blue pillow
(via Unsplash)
Struggling with freshly-washed strands that look greasy? HERE is what you should do to fix that problem.
2 minutes
Looking for the freshest ways to breathe life into boring strands?
Take the quiz
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This study revealed the importance of SO4 2− ions during biogenic scorodite crystallization via a two-stage As-removal process, using a combination of liquid and solid analyses (chemical digestion, FT-IR, SEM, TG-DTA, particle distribution). The first-stage As-removal was induced by microbial oxidation of Fe2+ and As(III), precipitating SO4 2−-bearing amorphous precursors composed of basic ferric sulfate (MFex(SO4)y(OH)z) and ferric arsenate (FeAsO4·(2 + n)H2O). This was followed by an induction period (a period of constant concentration), where dissolution-recrystallization of unstable amorphous precursors proceeded: Re-dissolved metal ions became locally concentrated on the surface of precursors, which gave the driving force for the second-stage As-removal as secondary layers of crystalline biogenic scorodite (Fe(AsO4)0.94(SO4)0.08·1.69H2O) out of even more dilute and seeded solution. This phase transformation process was also accompanied by continuous dehydration. This two-stage As-removal via SO4 2−-mediated phase transformation was shown to be key to promote biogenic scorodite formation with greater final As-removal from dilute As(III)-bearing solutions.
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
- Metals and Alloys
- Materials Chemistry


text:
Arizona Trail now a National Scenic Trail
It has been 25 years since a new National Scenic Trail has been designated in America. That has now changed.
On March 30, 2009, President Obama signed the Omnibus Public Lands Bill passed last week by Congress. The bill includes the prestigious designation of the Arizona Trail as a National Scenic Trail. In addition to the Arizona Trail, the Pacific Northwest Trail and New England Trail joined an exclusive group of eight existing National Scenic Trails.
Traversing the state for more than 800 miles, the Arizona Trail route begins at the state's southern border with Mexico and ends at the northern border with Utah. It links deserts, mountains, canyons, communities and people.
Construction on 95% of the Arizona Trail has been completed. Volunteers and agency partners are working diligently to build the last 40 miles, filling in the few remaining gaps in the trail's statewide continuous pathway.
The vision of a Flagstaff fifth grade school teacher named Dale Shewalter, the trail building began in 1985 in northern Arizona. (It) winds its way through some of the state's most scenic, wild backcountry, luring adventurers into the remote regions that have drawn photographers from around the world to capture images of the state's diverse topography and ecosystems.
The Arizona Trail Association was formed in 1994 to take on the leadership required to build, maintain, promote, protect and sustain the trail statewide. For more information about the Arizona Trail, go to _URL_.
(Excerpted from ATA Email)
++ New Posts ++


text:
Exploring is Learning for Life's career education program for young men and women who are 14 (and have completed the eighth grade) or 15 through 20 years old. Adults are selected by the participating organization for involvement in the program. Color, race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic background, economic status, and citizenship are not criteria for participation.
Exploring's purpose is to provide experiences to help young people mature and to prepare them to become responsible and caring adults. Explorers are ready to investigate the meaning of interdependence in their personal relationships and communities.
Exploring is based on a unique and dynamic relationship between youth and the organizations in their communities. Local community organizations initiate an Explorer post by matching their people and program resources to the interests of young people in the community. The result is a program of activities that helps youth pursue their special interests, grow, and develop.
Explorer posts can specialize in a variety of career skills. Exploring programs are based on five areas of emphasis: career opportunities, life skills, citizenship, character education, and leadership experience.
- Career Opportunities
- Develop potential contacts that may broaden employment options
- Boost self-confidence and experience success at school and work
- Life Skills
- Build physical and mental fitness
- Experience positive social interaction
- Encourage the skill and desire to help others
- Gain a keen respect for the basic rights of others
- Character Education
- Help make ethical choices
- Fulfill one's responsibility to society as a whole
- Leadership Experience
- Acquire leadership skills to fulfill one's responsibilities in society
Young adults involved in Exploring will
- Gain practical knowledge of and experience in a career
- Engage in a program of activities centered on career opportunities, life skills, service learning, character education, and leadership experience to encourage the development of the whole person
- Experience positive leadership from adult and youth leaders and be given opportunities to take on leadership roles
- Have a chance to learn and grow in a supportive, caring, and enjoyable environment
The methods of Exploring have been carefully chosen to meet the needs of young adults.
- Voluntary association between youth and adults. Because Exploring is voluntary, youth are receptive to new ideas, experiences, and relationships. For the Explorer, these relationships provide a connection to new ways of thinking and acting as well as a new identity as a responsible young adult.
- Ethical decision making. Exploring asks young people to be responsible for themselves, for a program of activities and experiences, and for other people, thereby providing numerous opportunities for youth to make effective and ethical decisions. These opportunities are enhanced by the influence of capable adults and structured activities.
- Group activities. Exploring activities are interdependent group experiences. Success depends on the cooperation of all.
- Recognition of achievement. Recognition might come through formal awards, but it also is achieved through the acknowledgment by peers and adults of a young person's competence and abilities.
- Democratic process. Explorer posts provide exposure to democratic ideals and skills that are needed throughout life.
- Curiosity, exploration, and adventure. Curiosity is encouraged and a sense of exploration and adventure is developed through new experiences that provide opportunities for youth to acquire new skills and participate in action-oriented activities.
Every Explorer post specializes in a specific career program area. More than 100 different specialties have been organized, ranging from accounting to zoology. Some specialty programs, such as the following, have grown to include a national committee, activities, and staff support.
- Arts and Humanities
- The Arts and Humanities specialty area includes posts that are organized around interests in arts and hobbies, acting, commercial art, drama/theater, fashion design/modeling/buying, interior design/decoration, jewelry/watch-making, and movie directing/producing.
- The Aviation specialty encompasses a range of programs, including maintenance, operations, construction, flight attendants, airport management, and aerospace. The Federal Aviation Administration supports this growth, along with aviation organizations, unions, and industries.
- Through the Business specialty area, young adults become prepared for many types of careers, from accounting to financial planning. Many posts organize their program around knowledge of business planning and practices in addition to career preparation.
- This specialty is endorsed by the Broadcast Education Association, International Association of Business Communicators, National Association of Broadcasters, National Press Photographers Association Inc., Public Relations Society of America, and Women in Communications. The Exploring program can serve as an effective outreach program that exposes high school students to careers in communications and public relations.
- Many national engineering societies endorse this specialty area of Exploring. Its goal is to promote post programs that open and expand Explorers' understanding of the many opportunities in engineering and technology.
- Fire/Emergency Services.
- This specialty is endorsed by International Association of Fire Chiefs, National Volunteer Fire Council, U.S. Fire Administration National Fire Academy, and local fire authorities. Posts are organized around interests in fire/emergency services, civil defense, first aid/ambulance corps, fire fighting, rescue service, paramedic, EMT, and volunteer fire fighting. The national Fire/Emergency Services Exploring committee conducts every odd number year the national Fire/Emergency Services Exploring conference, which is open to all fire/emergency services Explorers and post Advisors.
- Law and Government
- The American Bar Association and other organizations support the high interest of many youth in law or government participation through Exploring. Law Day activities, mock trials, and other law-related activities provide firsthand experience in America's legal and court system.
- Law Enforcement
- This specialty is endorsed by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the National Sheriffs' Association and is helped by other national law enforcement organizations and industries. Departments and Explorers gain firsthand knowledge of each other. Explorers can support many community-based programs of the department. The post program is supported by national law enforcement competitions and academies.
- Medical and Health Careers
- The American Medical Association and other national health organizations support the establishment of posts in hospitals, clinics, medical centers, schools, and other health-care organizations. These posts render valuable community service and give members an insight into a variety of career opportunities.
- The Science specialty area includes posts that are organized around interests in general science, anthropology, archaeology, a career as an astronaut, astronomy, biochemistry, biology, chemistry, computers/programming, conservation/ecology, environmental science, wildlife/fish management, and zoology/zoo direction.
- Skilled Trades
- The Skilled Trades specialty area includes posts that are organized around interests in auto repair, cosmetology, electrical, carpentry, and construction, to name a few.
- Social Services
- The Social Services area includes posts that are organized around interests in social service, adult care, child care, drug/alcohol counseling, exercise attending, funeral direction, home economy, librarian work, museum curation, school counseling, social work, teaching, volunteer work, youth organization volunteerism, and disabled career profession.
- In addition to the above, other popular Explorer post specialties include conservation, computers, music, rescue, radio-TV, architecture, photography, and journalism.
An important goal of Exploring is to help young adults be responsible and caring people, both now and in the future. Exploring uses "character education activities" to help young adults develop the ability to make responsible choices that reflect their concern for what is at risk and for the people involved. Because a character education activity is a problem-solving situation, leaders expect young adults to use empathy, invention, and selection when they think through their position and work toward a solution.
What an Explorer post does is limited only by the imagination and involvement of its leaders — build a glider, make an electric car, produce a play, conduct a mock trial, or teach disabled people to swim. Posts across the country today are experiencing all these adventures and many more. All that is needed are concerned adults who are willing to share a little bit of themselves with today's youth —tomorrow's citizens.


Defensive Back Drills
Defensive Back Drills To Polish Your Skills
Defensive Backs are known for their explosive speed and lightning-fast reaction time. These two skills come in handy when you talk about stopping wide receivers in their tracks. These football drills are quite spot on when it comes to covering " Double Routes ", or the scenario when Wide Receivers try to double-cross you by attempting more than one trick in a single run of play. Defensive Backs are expected to be on their toes while disposing of their defensive duties so that they can react almost instantaneously.
These defensive back drills are meticulously crafted to make players practice in game-like situations so that they can make quick decisions when they actually are on the playing field.
It's talked over and over that speed is an indispensable element in a defensive back's game but one thing which is even more important is harnessing your speed to your advantage, using it at the right moment. This defensive back drill will improve your ability to make quick changes in direction and overspeeding.
These defensive back drills are made to provide you with an understanding of how to blanket the Wide receivers when they try to double-cross or fool you. Before moving onto the top drills for defensive backs let us try to figure out the major challenges a Defensive Back has to face while disposing of his defensive duties.
Major Challenges Faced by Defensive Backs on the playing field:
 - Contesting for balls in the air against receivers much bigger in size than you. In such cases, there is always a possibility that you'd lose hold of the ball. Moreover, you will be caught out of position because of the time you would take to regain your defensive position. So it's like a two-edged sword to contest for balls in the air.
 - Attempting rough physical challenges, whether they are head-on challenges or open space ones. This becomes even more challenging when you attempt to challenge oversized receivers who have greater chances of winning challenges given the momentum they carry with them.
 - Covering some of the fastest receivers in the opposition team, and at the same time being in a position to drive the game forward.
Best Defensive Back Drills to practice:
 - Comeback or Hitch Breaks:
In this defensive back drill, you will learn to cover or block the comeback route of a receiver. He will look to run hard towards you, catch you off balance, and then boom! He will make a stop all of a sudden, he will turn around and move in the direction where the ball is thrown.
What's there for you to learn is that when the receiver turns back, it's the time when the ball is thrown.
When something like this happens, you must look to be in front of him at all times. When the receiver tries to escape, you can drive your inside foot and move towards his break-side shoulder. At all times be prepared to discard his back off route or grab the ball.
To master this defensive back drill one has to backpedal for some good 5-10 yards then break back in a straight path. Keep changing the foot with which you break back because you never know which direction the receiver would take.
 - One-hip Comeback Drill:
Just in case the receiver succeeds to escape you and breaks your cushion because it's not possible that each time you will have an upper hand on the opponent. In situations when the receiver adopts a deeper comeback path and also manages to get past you. Then you must start running alongside him as soon as he is within 3 yards from you.
Now you have the option to choose whether to run facing the inside or the receiver.
You will have to firmly plant your back foot while driving with your front foot towards him. Since it's a deeper route, you will have a better chance of making it to the ball, if you have read the moving receiver timely and correctly.
 - 90 Degrees to Outbreak Drill:
Exactly what the name suggests, this defensive back drill is about making a sharp 90-degree break. This football drill comes into play when receivers are running onto out" or "in" routes. You should try and force them to undercut their direction while going for the pick. For this to happen, you should break at an angle slightly more than 90 degrees. For this drill, you have to backpedal for about 5-10 yards then plant your leg and break either left or right at an angle marginally over 90 degrees.
 - Post and Corner Breaks:
Both post and corners are the two of the deepest slants on the field. This defensive back drill comes into action when the receiver of the opposite teams tries to get the better of you to the corner of the field where they expect the ball to be thrown or while running to the post they will aim to get past you deep across the field.
They generally convey to their quarterbacks to put some extra bit of air beneath the ball so that they can be in a better position to win the ball. This makes it really crucial for you as a cornerback to stay right on top of the route to be in a position to make a play.
For this drill again you need to backpedal for about 7-12 yards, then with a jerk push your elbow inside, make an explosive move towards your outside foot, at the same time shifting the break-side leg upward and over, and running explosively for not less than 10 yards.
Repeat this football drill multiple times in quick succession for better efficiency.
 - Open-Hip Post Breaks:
Receivers are always looking to get the better of you or to catch you wrong-footed. This will allow them to burst into the post. This defensive back drill comes into play when the receiver has managed to breach your cushion. Once they have opened you up they will break from you towards the post as fast as they can.
You usually have the option to turn facing towards the receiver or show him your back while turning. In this defensive back drill you will turn facing towards the receiver, keeping a vigilant eye on him.
After backpedaling for 5-19 yards open up and run fast for about 5-7 yards. Then stir around and make 10 yards to either side of the post. Repeat this football drill 5 times.
 - Stop and go Drill:
This is an advanced level defensive back drill, and a crucial one keeping in mind game situations. The receiver will run hard towards you and break down with a jerk expecting you to fall for his break. The moment you would fall for his break and move towards him, he will increase his pace and will get past you down the field.
This football drill is very much similar to the Hitch Break drill, or you can say that it's a modified version of it. The only difference being you not driving all the way back but stopping halfway, and breaking down. Then accelerate in a 180-degree turn and run heavily for another ten yards.
Tips to Master this Drill
 - Try to read the receiver and not the quarterback because if you miss even a glimpse of the receiver's move because you were looking in the backfield, he will beat you.
 - Be ready to break towards the break side shoulder of the receiver, so that when he eventually tries to turn you can enforce a strong enough collision on him or turn and run faster than him.
 - Whip or Q-Route Breaks:
This football drill comes in handy when the receiver tries to lure you for his slant or arrow. He expects you to believe in his slant so that he can cut in the opposite direction. This defensive back drill requires a lot of agility and instant reaction ability from you as a receiver.
In this drill, you are always having a disadvantage because you never know what will be the next move of the receiver.
Tips to Ace this Drill
 - Keep looking at the hips of the receiver, as soon as he whips out of the slant, see the direction in which his hips are moving and make a move in that direction.
 - Always keep an eye on the receiver and not on what's happening in the backfield. Because they can anytime beat you on the slant and you might be wrong-footed to react.
For this drill backpedal for some 5-10 yards then break at 45 degrees and keep running until the next 5-yard line where you break again and continue running in the original direction.
 - Speed Turns:
This defensive back drill is effective when the receiver tries to make you move towards the post and at the same time, he himself moves to the center. This is a double route drill for covering post corner routes.
For acing this football drill run for 5 yards towards the post than with a sudden swing of your outside arm shift the momentum and turn towards the corner and again rush rapidly for 10 yards or more.
 - Slow turns:
Both Slow turns and Speed turns that we have just discussed are for covering post corner routes when the receiver is trying to beat you on the corner. But some coaches and veterans are of the opinion that Slow Turns are more effective than the counterpart. This is because they believe that While attempting Speed turns a player loses his vision on the game when he takes his eyes off the play.
Slow turns allow you those extra chunks of time to keep an eye on the play and thus are believed to be more effective.
But single Speed turns are faster and allow you to get on top of the route, they are too an equally important candidate. To attempt this defensive back drill you will try to cut on the inside towards the receiver instead of turning to the corner and trying to get on top of the route.
 - Hip Fl


text:
Trevor Hugh James Marchand. The Masons of Djenné. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2009. xvi + 352 pp. $75.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-253-31368-3; $29.95 (paper), ISBN 978-0-253-22072-1.
Susan Vogel. The Future of Mud: A Tale of Houses and Lives in Djenne. Video. Brooklyn: Icarus Films, 2007. Presented by the Musée National du Mali.
Reviewed by Elisabeth den Otter
Published on H-AfrArts (November, 2009)
Commissioned by Jean M. Borgatti
Building Mud Houses in Djenné (Mali): An Anthropologist as Apprentice
Djenné, a town on the Bani River in central Mali, is famous for its mud architecture, and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is a favorite town for tourists, because of its mosque, the beautiful traditional mud buildings, and the Monday market. Trevor Marchand, an architect as well as an anthropologist, worked for two winters (2001 and 2002) as an apprentice with established masons, went back every year after that, and co-produced a documentary film in 2005.
Marchand cooperated with Dutch projects, the first year (comprising chapters 1-4 of his book) constructing a new traditional Tukolor-style house for a Dutchman, Ton van der Lee, under mason Bayeré Kouroumansé. Van der Lee, who used to be a documentary filmmaker, is an author as well: he wrote a book about the building of his house, The Sand Castle, A Home in West Africa (2005). During the second year (chapters 5-10) Marchand was an apprentice in a Dutch government project of reconstructing the Moroccan-style house belonging to a French scholar, Brunet-Jailly, and the house of a marabout, both under mason al-Hajji Kouroumansé, "the Michelangelo of Djenné." His objective was to understand the training and transmission of knowledge and expertise to younger generations in the trade, through what anthropologists call participant observation. An outline of the book can be found in pages 23-27.
Marchand describes the principles of building and the social structure of the trade. The building process is minutely described: brick-making, the basics (the walls), the more complicated aspects (the arched openings and decorative elements), the proportions (measured by body measurements such as finger width, hand span, arm, stride). The masons are organized in a guild-like association called barey ton (barey means officially validated mason). Meetings are convened to organize the division of labor, to mediate conflicts between masons and clients, to settle disputes between masons, and to organize the annual replastering of Djenné's mosque. The masons' traditional education remains entirely practice-based, and their transmission of knowledge relies on an apprenticeship system which they control and reproduce. Technologies and secrets are transferred and transformed in the confluence of generations. The majority of the masons are Bozo, an ethnic group who are traditionally fishermen. They work together with apprentices (often Koranic students, and young men from other ethnic groups) and laborers. Interaction often takes place in the form of bantering, a common form of expression, often in the form of insults. The drawings and photos are welcome additions to the text.
Being a mason requires more than mere technical competence. The masons of Djenné demonstrate a keen ability to innovatively configure building plans and details, communicate their ideas and knowledge with words and actions, negotiate their positions and status, and perform secret knowledge. Or, as Marchand puts it, morals, muscles and mind are integrated, and his argument is that the traditions most worthy of support and conservation are part of the apprenticeship system itself.
Of course, the masons function in a changing world, and act accordingly. Some of them opt for working in other Malian cities or abroad, and work with modern materials such as cement. Marchand mentions "the interface between local building traditions and foreign intervention" (p. 25). An example is mason Bayeré Kouroumansé, who worked closely with several European researchers, had an integral role in the Mali-Dutch restoration projects, built houses for Europeans, traveled to Europe on several occasions, and participated in the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington DC in 2003. Another is the annual replastering of the mosque, which is now specially staged during a festival in February, in hopes of attracting tourists. This raises a question: what would have happened to Djenné if there had not been outside intervention?
In 2005 Marchand returned to co-produce a "constructed" documentary film on Djenné's masons, with Susan Vogel (director) and Samuel Sidibé (director of the National Museum in Bamako). Mason Konmoussa Tennepo is the central figure in the film. He was chosen because he had excellent camera presence and an effervescent personality. Moreover, he had not been part of Marchand's field research, a fact which precluded conflict between the masons with whom he had already established relations.
The film reveals the interdependence between masons, buildings, and lives lived in them. It examines the tenuous survival of the inherited learning of masons, and the hard work that sustain this style of architecture. It shows daily life in Djenné's mud buildings: courtyards, a blacksmiths' workshop, the construction site, and Friday prayers at the great mosque.
The main characters are Konmoussa and those who surround him: his apprentice Amadou, a Koranic student from Timbuktu; his father, who taught him the trade; his wife; and his teenage son. His sister is a business woman who lives in Bamako, an example of the modern Malian woman: enterprising and outspoken. Some actors are real persons (Konmoussa, his father, his wife, Amadou), and some are acted ("invented"), like his "sister" who in real life runs a cybercafé in Djenné, and his "son." Interviews in Bamana are subtitled, and Mme Diallo, an official of the Cultural Heritage Center, narrates the English voice-over. The music is by Issa Bagayogo and the editing was done by Henry Kafka. An invented story line is that of Konmoussa's childless sister taking his son with her to Bamako. I imagine it was put in the film to show the dilemma between keeping a son in Djenné to be a mason, or sending him off to Bamako for a formal education. The discussion between Konmoussa and his sister, about the future of his son, takes place in public: she is in the street below, he on top of a building. This does feel a bit staged.
The resurfacing of the great mosque, at the end of the film, is quite exciting to watch: one sees Konmoussa and Amadou clinging dangerously to slippery ladders and working feverishly, accompanied by drumming and rattles. The last shot, of the two of them leaving, holding hands, is quite touching. For me, this could have been the last shot of the film. In my opinion, the filmmakers succumbed to the temptation to say too much, and there are too many people and subjects in the film. It might have been a stronger film, if less pedagogically useful, had the Koranic scholar, the blacksmiths, and the epilogue ("Two Years Later") been left out and replaced by longer shots showing more of the actual work of the masons, and the interaction between them. Still, to have a film accompany a book is a wonderful thing, and I can only hope that it will be done more often in the future!
If there is additional discussion of this review, you may access it through the list discussion logs at: _URL_
Elisabeth den Otter. Review of Marchand, Trevor Hugh James, The Masons of Djenné and
Susan Vogel, The Future of Mud: A Tale of Houses and Lives in Djenne.
H-AfrArts, H-Net Reviews.
|This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.|


Swan song
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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For other uses, see Swan song (disambiguation).
"The singing swan" (1655) by Reinier van Persijn.
The swan song (in ancient Greek: κύκνειον ᾆσμα) is a metaphorical phrase for a final gesture, effort, or performance given just before death or retirement. The phrase refers to an ancient belief that swans (Cygnus spp.) sing a beautiful song in the moment just before death, having been silent (or alternatively, not so musical) during most of their lifetime. This belief, whose basis in actuality is long-debated, had become proverbial in Ancient Greece by the 3rd century BC, and was reiterated many times in later Western poetry and art.
Origin and description[edit]
In Greek mythology, the swan was a bird consecrated to Apollo, and it was therefore considered a symbol of harmony and beauty and its limited capabilities as a singer were sublimated to those of songbirds.
Aesop's fable of "The Swan Mistaken for a Goose" incorporates the swan song legend thus: "The swan, who had been caught by mistake instead of the goose, began to sing as a prelude to its own demise. His voice was recognized and the song saved his life."[1] There is a subsequent reference in Aeschylus' Agamemnon from 458 BC. In that play, Clytemnestra compares the dead Cassandra to a swan who has "sung her last final lament". Plato's Phaedo records Socrates saying that, although swans sing in early life, they do not do so as beautifully as before they die. Aristotle also noted that swans "are musical, and sing chiefly at the approach of death". By the third century BC the belief had become a proverb.[2][3]
Ovid mentions it in "The Story of Picus and Canens": "There, she poured out her words of grief, tearfully, in faint tones, in harmony with sadness, just as the swan sings once, in dying, its own funeral song."[4] The swan was also described as a singer in the works of the poets Virgil and Martial.[citation needed]
The most familiar European swan, the Mute Swan (Cygnus olor), although not actually mute, is neither known for musicality nor to vocalize as it dies. This has led some to criticize swan song beliefs since antiquity, one of the earliest[5] being Pliny the Elder: in 77 AD, Natural History (book 10, chapter xxxii: olorum morte narratur flebilis cantus, falso, ut arbitror, aliquot experimentis), states: "observation shows that the story that the dying swan sings is false." Peterson et al. note that Cygnus olor is "not mute but lacks bugling call, merely honking, grunting, and hissing on occasion."[6]
However, the Whooper Swan (Cygnus cygnus), a winter visitor to parts of the eastern Mediterranean, does possess a 'bugling' call, and has been noted for issuing a drawn-out series of notes as its lungs collapse upon expiry, both being a consequence of an additional tracheal loop within its sternum. This was proposed by naturalist Peter Pallas as the basis for the legend. Both mute and whooper swans appear to be represented in ancient Greek and Egyptian art.[3][5]
The Whooper Swan's nearest relatives, the Trumpeter and Tundra Swans, share its musical tracheal loop. Zoologist D.G. Elliot reported in 1898 that a tundra swan he had shot and wounded in flight began a long glide down whilst issuing a series of "plaintive and musical" notes that "sounded at times like the soft running of the notes of an octave".[7]
Post-classical cultural references[edit]
Chaucer wrote of "The Ialous swan, ayens his deth that singeth."[8] Leonardo da Vinci noted "The swan is white without spot, and it sings sweetly as it dies, that song ending its life."[9]
In Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, Portia exclaims "Let music sound while he doth make his choice; Then, if he lose, he makes a swan-like end, Fading in music."[10]
The well-known Orlando Gibbons madrigal "The Silver Swan" states the legend thus:
"The Swan Song" ("Schwanengesang") is the nickname of the 1733 Baroque Concerto written by Georg Philipp Telemann: Concerto in D minor for oboe, strings and continuo.[11] The concerto of Telemann begins with a sad part (adagio) later a glad part (allegro), the singing of the swan itself, another sad part (death), and finally a hopeful end.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the English phrase "swan song" or "swan-song" borrows from the German schwanen(ge)sang or schwanenlied.[12] The Scottish cleric John Willison, in one of his Scripture Sermons, 1747, proposes a verse from Psalm 48 as a "swan-song" for the faithful.[13]
Samuel Taylor Coleridge made comic use of the legend when he quipped ironically:
Tennyson's poem "The Dying Swan"[14] is a poetic evocation of the beauty of the supposed song and so full of detail as to imply that he had actually heard it:
Tennyson's poem was an inspiration for the ballet The Dying Swan created for Anna Pavlova in 1905, to the music Le cygne from The Carnival of the Animals by the French composer Camille Saint-Saëns.
Finnish composer Jean Sibelius's tone poem The Swan of Tuonela, in a famous solo, uses a cor anglais to play the dying song of the legendary swan of Tuonela.
In Carmina Burana by Carl Orff, there is a tenor solo called Olim Lacus Colueram about a swan who laments his end and looks back at his glorious days by the lake.
In his song '3005' rapper Childish Gambino references it with the line "And when I'm long gone, whole crew sing a swan song"
The season finale of Season 5 of the show Supernatural the episode is titled Swan Song. It refers to Sam Winchester's last act of averting the apocalypse, by jumping into the cage with Lucifer to save the world.
By extension, "swan song" has become an idiom referring to a final theatrical or dramatic appearance, or any final work or accomplishment.[15] It generally carries the connotation that the performer is aware that this is the last performance of his or her lifetime, and is expending everything in one magnificent final effort.[original research?]
 1. ^ Aesop (1998). The Complete Fables. Penguin Classics. ISBN 0-14-044649-4. p. 127. Annotation by Robert and Olivia Temple: "The premise of this fable is the odd tradition of 'the swan song.'" (Online version)
 2. ^ Arnott, W. Geoffrey (October 1977). "Swan Songs". Greece & Rome 24 (2): 149–153. JSTOR 642700.
 3. ^ a b Brazil, Mark (2003). The Whooper Swan. T & A D Poyser. ISBN 978-0-7136-6570-3. pp. 64-65. (Online version)
 4. ^ Ovid. "Metamorphoses (Kline) 14, the Ovid Collection, Univ. of Virginia E-Text Center; Bk XIV:320–396: The transformation of Picus". University of Virginia.
 5. ^ a b Arnott, W. Geoffrey (2007). Birds in the Ancient World from A to Z. Routledge. ISBN 0-203-94662-6. pp. 182-184. (Online version)
 6. ^ Peterson, Roger Tory, Guy Mountfort, P. A. D. Hollum, P. A. D. Hollom (2001). A Field Guide to the Birds of Britain and Europe. Houghton Mifflin Field Guides. ISBN 0-618-16675-0. , p. 49
 7. ^ Johnsgard, Paul A. (January 2013). "The Swans of Nebraska". Prairie Fire (USA). Retrieved 21 January 2013.
 8. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1896). Chaucer: the Minor Poems. Clarendon Press. , p. 86 (Online version)
 9. ^ da Vinci, Leonardo. The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, Complete. Google. ([1])
 10. ^ The Merchant of Venice, Act 3 Scene 2
 11. ^ _URL_
 12. ^ "swan, n.". Oxford English Dictionary. June 2011. Retrieved 3 August 2013.


Can you become immune to black widow bites?
 1. 0 Votes
 There is no evidence to suggest that a person can develop an immunity to black widow venom. Although its a very interesting topic, it is not one that is very easy to research because it would involve humans willing subjecting themselves to being bitten by a very venomous spider. Also, with any spider bite, it is not too easy to identify what type of spider (if a spider at all) was responsible for a bite. The human immune system can develop B cells which produce antibodies to help fight off invading pathogens after first being exposed to a certain substance. It is possible that this could occur after first being exposed to a black widow's venom in some rare cases, although it is not very likely and no evidence currently supports this theory.
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Frequency Distribution
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What is the purpose of developing a frequency distribution? What is the relationship between the relative frequency and the cumulative frequency? Could a frequency distribution contain qualitative data? Why? In thinking about frequency distribution which, shows various data that is divided into different classes within a business. It also divides the occurrences in each of the specific classes. These frequency distributions are used in quantitative, and qualitative data analysis within any type of business. Many of the graphs, histograms, pie charts, and bar charts can be used within the frequency distribution to keep track of how well any product or service is doing within the business. The relationship between the relative and cumulative frequency is that the relative frequency counts the total number of counts on a certain product or service. While the cumulative frequency sums up the number of counts on the product or service provided. In my opinion this would be a good tool to use because of the data that it would provide for any business. Especially to see how well a product or service is doing within that business. It is also used to see how many times a certain event would happen over the course of a certain period of time. If the data that has been collected over that period of time is quantitative then the data will be used within the frequency distribution.
Change Management in the Business World
I think that change management is just exactly what it means. This is the person or people who supervise anything that happens within the business. Managers are put in place within the organization to make sure that things are running properly and things are going smoothly. Managers are responsible for everything that happens or does not happen within that business. Making sure that the employees are doing the job that they are supposed to be doing without question. If the management team is not doing their job then things are probably not being done the way that they should. In any business change management is important especially if the business is just starting up because if the management team is not supervising the changes that are being made to make sure that they are implemented in the right way then this will cause other problems for the business. Making sure that shifts are running smoothly and correctly is the main key to having a successful day. For example, when I was a relief manager for a company I managed on my boss's day's off so therefore, I was in charge of making sure that the bank deposits were done correctly, I had to make sure that all three shifts were covered, and I also had to make sure that the shift had what they needed to make it through the night. I have made mistakes and learned from them but if I had paid close attention to what I was doing in the first place I would not have made mistakes. But you have to learn from your mistakes and make sure that you do not make the same one over again.
Implementation Process
Several potential mistakes within the implementation process for small businesses. One of the first mistakes is not being able to put the business strategy in motion for the business. Secondly, by having the wrong people in the strategy process could mean that the strategy process implementation will go the wrong way. The implementing the strategy process might be overwhelming. By nominating a certain amount of people to implement the changes that are necessary to accomplish the goals and objectives the business needs. Many companies have this problem when they are able to create the best strategies but fail to implement them the right way. This may cause problems that will not allow the company to move forward until the strategies, which implement the right way. In my opinion, the implementation process is the most important part however; this is the strategy process to make sure things run smoothly within the business by implementing the right strategic plan. If the company has the wrong people involved with, the implementation process will cause problems with making sure that the implementation of the strategy process is a success. One of the ways to avoid this is to have a certain amount of people working on the implementation process in identifying the short-term goals/objectives, communicating policies that will empower the company staff by keeping the company on the right path for success, and by designing rewards that will ensure that the company has effective results. Keeping the staff motivated in the success of the company and themselves. If the company does not have any type of motivational payoff for their employee's they are not going to be willing to make the effort in making the company a success.
Mission Statements


What Is Face Mapping (And Why Do I Need It?)
We're not going to lie – dealing with occasional skin dryness, acne, and redness are pretty standard fare this time of year. However, most of us have no idea why…until now. Enter face mapping.
Popular in Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine, face mapping links skincare issues to problems in other parts of the body, like your heart, liver, kidneys. Here's what you should know about face mapping (and why you need it!)
What is Face Mapping?
Face mapping is an early skincare technique that connects skincare problems to a person's general health. Amazingly, some dermatologists even describe face mapping as the perfect blend of Western and Eastern doctrines.
Here's the best part. Face mapping takes into consideration the real reason behind skin conditions, including:
 - Body type
 - Personality
 - Age
 - Family genetics
 - Hormones
 - Levels of stress
 - Diet
 - Allergies
Additionally, face mapping can be used to treat skin rashes, food allergies, and facial redness. Also, it can miraculously erase wrinkles, puffiness, and fine lines too.
How does it work? The answer is simple – by creating a map of your face and dividing it into about 10 different parts!
Why Do We Need Face Mapping?
So, why do we need to face mapping? Honestly, there are way too many reasons to count. For those of you who are dealing with forehead blemishes, you will be happy to know that face mapping can tell you why that is.
Answer: forehead blemishes are typically related to problems with the bladder and the small intestine. Thus, stepping up your sleep and digestion schedule could be the answer to your prayers. How about those irritating breakouts near the nose or eyebrow area?
According to face mapping experts, this signals a spleen, bladder, stomach, or kidney imbalance. Nostril acne also can be connected to small intestine inflammation and gut issues.
If you're curious about why wrinkles are forming near your right eyebrow, you could be dealing with underlying anger issues. Related to a malfunctioning liver, Chinese medicine suggests forgiveness as the medicine for this skin problem. Meanwhile, wrinkles near your left eyebrow point to spleen and liver issues.
Any more questions?
Face Mapping: What Does Science Think?
What does science say about face mapping? As nature's answer to acne and rashes, researchers claim that the jury is still out about the benefits of face mapping. Despite this fact, studies have still shown a relationship between particular skin problems and immune or stress reactions.
Another piece of evidence in favor of skin mapping occurred in 2019 when researchers showed that your face really can be impacted by your lifestyle. Besides this breakthrough, dermatologists agree that most skin disorders are tied to the following issues:
 - Bad sleeping habits
 - Reactions and irritations to hair, skincare, and makeup products
 - Too much exposure to the sun
 - Bad circulation
 - Lack of healthy gut bacteria
But have no fear – face mapping professionals will show you how to treat these skin issues the natural way!
Need to improve your skin health? Our Super Premium Collagen supplement is the answer!


Qualifying for Unemployment: Can I Get Unemployment Benefits?
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Unemployment benefits are paid to covered workers who have been laid off or terminated from their jobs. They are paid out of federal and state taxes collected from employers who have at least one employee or who pay wages equal to or greater than $1,500 in a single quarter.
Workers may generally collect these benefits as long as they are actively looking for work; have earned enough money or worked long enough to become eligible; and were not terminated for cause.
Qualifying for Unemployment Benefits
Although the Federal Unemployment Tax Act effectively makes unemployment a partnership between the states and the federal government, ultimately unemployment is largely a state-run program. This means that the rules and requirements for qualifying for unemployment benefits vary by state.
To find a detailed listing of the specific requirements for a particular state, applicants can visit the website of the state agency responsible for administering the unemployment program. In many states, this agency is called the Department of Labor, although other names are used as well. For instance, in Texas, the Workforce Commission handles unemployment issues. An experienced employment law attorney may also be able to provide advice on specific eligibility.
While the rules can vary somewhat by state, there are many common requirements that exist. A general overview of qualification requirements can offer an indication of whether a person may qualify. Typically, the four main issues that determine eligibility relate to:
1. How Long the Employee Worked/How Much Money Earned
It is not possible to take a job, work just a day or two, and then collect unemployment benefits. Instead, there are minimum requirements in every state that must be fulfilled before one can qualify for benefits. In some states, this takes the form of a minimum amount of money earned before meeting eligibility. In some states, the amount of time worked is key. In most cases, both the time worked and the money earned are relevant.
When considering time worked, the relevant question is how many of the most recent months were dedicated to that employment. In most states, the months of the year are broken up into calendar quarters. There are four calendar quarters: January through March; April through June; July through September and October through December. When determining eligibility for unemployment benefits, states often specify a set number of calendar quarters that will be looked at to determine if work history qualifies a person for benefits. These calendar quarters are referred to as a "base period."
In Ohio, for instance, the base period is defined as the first four of the previous five completed calendar quarters prior to the time the claim is filed. For instance, if a person is starting the claims process on January 1, 2012, the base period would start on October 1, 2010.
In New York, there are two different base periods used. The first is the basic base period, which uses the same requirement as Ohio and looks at employment in the first four of the last five calendar quarters. However, an alternate base period can also be used if the person does not qualify. The alternative base period allows use of the last four completed calendar quarters prior to making a claim.
There are also income requirements for how much must have been earned per quarter. For instance, in New York, one requirement related to income is that the claimant must have earned at least $1600 in one of the calendar quarters during the base period. Other states also impose different income restrictions and requirements.
2. The Reason for Leaving the Position
The reason for leaving a job is also relevant in determining unemployment benefits. Many people wrongly believe they can never get benefits if they quit their job. This is not always the case. If the reason a person quit was because of a problem at work (i.e. quitting was attributable to the employer) or because of a medical or family situation that forced them to leave their job, it may be possible to get benefits despite voluntary departure.
When fired from a job, an employee may also be able to get unemployment benefits. Typically, however, they cannot get these benefits if they were fired for misconduct related to the job. Being fired for other reasons: merely not getting along with a boss, the job wasn't a good fit, or because the employee performed the job poorly, may likely not produce unemployment benefits. Typical examples of misconduct that disqualify a person from unemployment include failing a drug test, lying or falsifying records or information, violating company policy deliberately, or stealing.
3. Whether the Person Is Actively Seeking Work
In order to be eligible for unemployment, one must be willing and able to work and must be actively looking for a job. The rules of unemployment say those receiving benefits must be using what time they would have been putting into a full-time job, to find new work. So if someone goes on vacation for a week, technically they should not be receiving benefits for that time. It is important that claimants keep careful and detailed records of jobs they are applying for and contacts they make as it may be asked of them to produce evidence that they are looking for work in order to receive benefits.
In many states, claimants must register for work with a specific organization or agency. For instance, in the state of Texas, they have to register as a job seeker on WorkInTexas.com or with a local Workforce Solutions office within three days of filing a claim for benefits.
4. Whether They Are Currently Earning Income
If an individual is working part time or in a temporary position, unemployment benefits may be reduced depending on the number of days worked and on the amount of wages or income earned. In Oregon, for example, benefits will be reduced by earnings paid that exceed the greater of ten times the minimum wage or 1/3 of benefit amounts. If a claimant earns more in a week than their benefit amount, they receive no unemployment benefits for that week.
Getting Legal Help
If you have been denied a claim for benefits or had your claim for benefits stopped inappropriately, you may be able to appeal in order to prove your eligibility and get the benefits you need. An attorney who specializes in unemployment law can provide you with assistance in appealing or understanding your rights and obligations for receiving unemployment benefits.
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text:
What is concrete written language? It is writing that is full of words that represent things we can see, hear, taste, touch and smell. We can see clouds. We can hear sirens. We can taste beer. We can touch the skin. We can smell perfume. See what I mean?
Concrete language is the opposite of vague language.
When a writer uses too much vague language, the writing loses impact. This is why it is better to show emotion then it is to tell the reader what emotion one or more characters are feeling.
If a character is in love, don't tell the reader that the character is in love. Show that the character is in love. And how does a writer show that a character is in love? There are several ways. Through the character's mannerisms, actions and dialogue. And when a writer does this, that writer's character will come alive for the reader because the reader will be able to see and hear that the character is in love.
That is much more satisfying for a reader than the writer telling the reader that the character is in love. Concrete language = show don't tell writing.
My Ebook of show don't tell fiction is ready for download on the Home Page of this blog.


text:
Did San Luis Obispo produce any goods? Were they well-known for producing anything?
Did San Luis Obispo produce any goods? Were they well-known for producing anything? I'm working on a Mission report and I can't find any literature on
The primary products produced by the missions were cow hides and tallow. The cow hides were also known as Yankee dollars, because they were traded for manufactured goods brought by ships which were mostly from Boston. San Luis Obispo was also famous for being the first mission to make roofing tiles, which the other missions soon copied.
As of 1832, the last year for which records were kept, San Luis Obispo had a herd of 2.500 cattle and 5,432 sheep. San Luis Obispo also had large agricultural fields under cultivation.


Expressiveness of ADL and Golog: Functions Make a Difference
Gabriele Röger, Bernhard Nebel
The main focus in the area of action languages, such as GOLOG, was put on expressive power, while the development in the area of action planning was focused on efficient plan generation. An integration of GOLOG and planning languages would provide great advantages. A user could constrain a system's behavior on a high level using GOLOG, while the actual low-level actions are planned by an efficient planning system. First endeavors have been made by Eyerich et al. by identifying a subset of the situation calculus (which is the basis of GOLOG) with the same expressiveness as the ADL fragment of PDDL. However, it was not proven that the identified restrictions define a maximum subset. The most severe restriction appears to be that functions are limited to constants. We will show that this restriction is indeed necessary in most cases.
Subjects: 11. Knowledge Representation; 1.11 Planning
Submitted: Apr 24, 2007


text: In the face of challenges like drought and growing demand in many European Union countries, it will be important to achieve a balanced mix of pricing and non-pricing measures to ensure efficient household water use. This report commissioned by the European Environment Agency (EEA) analyzes existing pricing and non-pricing measures for managing water demand in eight European countries. It finds that all monitored countries have mechanisms in place to provide an incentive for a more efficient water use in the domestic sector. But the evidence on the real incentives created by existing pricing (tariffs) for more efficient water use is scarce, if available at all. In some countries (Germany, Denmark, Spain and France) price does not appear to be a significant determinant of water demand. The report concludes that while water pricing will continue to be an important instrument to signal water scarcity and water costs, it should be complemented with non-price policies, such as education or awareness campaigns. The report is available to download on the Eionet website.


Parents weighing options on opting children out of state testing
By Joleen Ferris
(WKTV) - As state testing approaches, Central New York parents continue to struggle with whether or not to allow their children to take the tests or opt-out on their behalf.
BOCES District Superintendent Mark Vivacqua says if his now-adult son were back in school, he'd be taking the state tests.
"If students don't take the test, we won't have a measure of their growth toward these common core standards," Vivacqua said. "It's just one measure. It's not as though the world will end, but it's less information. If enough students don't take the tests, we're going to be mismeasuring schools and school districts."
New Hartford mom Jessica McNair says can't see any good reason to opt in for the standardized test.
"Parents found out that they didn't get feedback from the tests and the scores that came back; they just got a number," McNair said. "It's very vague, ambiguous and they thought, 'Why put my kid through a minimum of 400 minutes of testing just so my kid can be reduced to a number and instruction can be reduced to test prep in the months leading up to the test?' " said McNair.
As for your child's school district losing Title I funding if fewer than 95 percent of students take the state tests, both McNair nor Vivacqua say that's not going to happen.
"Theoretically, it could, but no, that won't happen," Vivacqua said. "But I think the idea that schools will lose money -- the federal government isn't in the practice of subtracting federal aid from schools because participation is low. I wouldn't expect that to happen."
Vivacqua says that there is no protocol for opting out of the test.
"The state hasn't given any guidance to school districts about what to do about opting out because technically there's no such thing. There's no provision for opting out," said Vivacqua.
The short answer on how to go about opting out if you choose to: Send a written communication to your child's school.
"All the state has done in terms of guidance is remind superintendents that they're not obligated to make any alternate provisions for children who are refusing to take the tests," said Vivacqua, adding that individual districts are deciding what, based on their test-day resources, to do with children who opt out.
Anyone contemplating refusing the state tests on their child's behalf should act quickly; state testing begins April 2.
What's On


Kara Dalkey, Author
Kara Dalkey, Author Tor Books $25.95 (448p) ISBN 978-0-312-89071-1
Reviewed on: 02/01/2001
Release date: 02/01/2001
Reality and fantasy collide in this engrossing tale of two warring clans vying for power, prestige and the chance to influence the man who sits on the chrysanthemum throne. Setting her tale in Japan during the last days of the Heian period (roughly _PHONE_ C.E.), Dalkey (Blood of the Goddess) deftly uses her knowledge of Japanese culture, mannerisms and bloodthirsty politicking to chronicle the wars of rebellion and counter-rebellion that end in the death of the emperor and the rise of the first Japanese shogun. Two rival clans, the Taira and the Minamoto, clash numerous times over a period of 30 years, with each clan calling on the aid of demons or gods to gain superiority and power. Did demons and gods play a part in the brutal wars of competing emperors and the rise of the Japanese shogunate? Dalkey dramatizes the tantalizing possibilities of what might have been if they had. While she succeeds in bringing the history, customs and traditions of Japan to life, her many characters maintain a remoteness that will keep most readers from caring about any individual. In addition, the fantasy realm of the demons and gods that she posits is rather intangible and distant. But even so, the book, which reads more like a historical novel of political intrigue than a fantasy, boasts a strong story that holds the attention. (Feb. 12)
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In my lab we did a microarray to analyze differential gene expression in S. cerevisiae treated with UV irradiation. We are now analyzing the results and one of the up-regulated genes is labeled "Alien4_60." I believe this is some kind of control, but I am having trouble understanding what it is.
I would think that a probe labeled "alien" in a microarray would be some kind of negative control. The probe-list (excel file) says "Control stringency: 60% identity to oligo Alien4" as the description for this probe. What does this mean?
..As you can imagine, searches for "Alien4" only brings up sci-fi movies!
p.s. perhaps someone with enough rep could tag this question with more meaningful tags.
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It's a probe to detect external 'Alien' RNA standard, a synthetic mRNA commercialized by Stratagene/Agilent.
The Alien RNA transcript is a ~500-nt, polyadenylated RNA molecule that is synthesized by in vitro transcription. The Alien RNA transcript is nonhomologous to all known nucleic acid sequences currently in public databases, as determined by BLAST comparisons against NIH sequence databases. _URL_
As any other external standard, you spike in the same amount of Alien RNA standard in your different reactions and then using the Alien probe you can normalize for extraction efficiencies etc. It works not only for microarrays, but also for qPCR, RNA-seq etc.
If you didn't spike in any of it, I expect your probes giving very low signal that's probably why you thought about negative controls.
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Do Bones Burn During Cremation?
By Staff WriterLast Updated Mar 28, 2020 1:30:38 AM ET
During the cremation process, bones are only partially burned and not completely destroyed. The process involves subjecting the remains to intense flame and heat, during which all organic matter is consumed.
The cremation process leaves behind certain bone fragments. After the remains are removed from the cremation chamber, a magnet removes any metal that was inside the body, such as implants and dental fixtures. The remaining bone fragments are then processed into fine particles and placed into a container. The cremation process generally takes about three hours and entails a careful labelling system to ensure that the remains are properly identified through the entire process.


text:
- When a rug is woven in India, this is an example of a time when the provenance is India.
- When a piece of art can be traced back in history as first having been owned by a King and then by two collectors, this history of the owners is an example of the provenance of the art.
Origin of provenanceFrench ; from provenir ; from Classical Latin provenire, to come forth ; from pro-, forth + venire, to come
- Place of origin; derivation.
- a. The history of the ownership of an object, especially when documented or authenticated. Used of artworks, antiques, and books.b. The records or documents authenticating such an object or the history of its ownership.
Origin of provenanceFrench, from provenant, present participle of provenir, to originate, from Old French, from Latin pr&omacron;ven&imacron;re : pr&omacron;-, forth; see pro–1 + ven&imacron;re, to come; see gwain Indo-European roots.
- Place or source of origin.
- Many supermarkets display the provenance of their food products.
- (archaeology) The place and time of origin of some artifact or other object. See Usage note below.
- This spear is of Viking provenance.
- (art) The history of ownership of a work of art
- The picture is of royal provenance.
- (computing) The copy history of a piece of data, or the intermediate pieces of data utilized to compute a final data element, as in a database record or web site (data provenance)
- (computing) The execution history of computer processes which were utilized to compute a final piece of data (process provenance)
- (of a person) Background; history; place of origin; ancestry.
- The term provenience in archaeology has largely replaced provenance because provenience is restricted to in situ location at the date of archaeological discovery rather than the "origin-to-present" chain of custody details of proper provenance as is customarily used by historians, museums, and commercial entities.


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Couple is a system of forces whose magnitude of the resultant is zero and yet has a moment sum. Geometrically, couple is composed of two equal forces that are parallel to each other and acting in opposite direction. The magnitude of the couple is given by
Where are the two forces and is the moment arm, or the perpendicular distance between the forces.
Couple is independent of the moment center, thus, the effect is unchanged in the following conditions.
- The couple is rotated through any angle in its plane.
- The couple is shifted to any other position in its plane.
- The couple is shifted to a parallel plane.
In a case where a system is composed entirely of couples in the same plane or parallel planes, the resultant is a couple whose magnitude is the algebraic sum of the original couples.