text:
How can we build resilient pharmaceutical systems? In a webinar organised by the Pharmacoeconomics Department at the Austrian National Public Health Institute (GÖG), three speakers reported on best practice examples from European countries and cross-country collaborations. The webinar took place on 20 May 2022 and formed part of the European Public Health Week which aims to raise awareness about public health and promote collaboration among the public health community in Europe.
Resilience in health systems was introduced as the ability to prepare for, manage, and learn from shocks, by Sabine Vogler, Head of the Pharmacoeconomics Department at GÖG and Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Pharmaceutical Pricing and Reimbursement Policies. Adding to strategies for building up resilience in the wider health system, which have been the focus of much debate in recent years, several levers for strengthening resilience in the pharmaceutical system exist, including how medicines are procured, and how countries prepare for and deal with emerging, high-cost technologies.
Optimising public procurement of medicines, with a view to safeguarding the environment – examples from Denmark and the Nordic Pharmaceutical Forum
In the first presentation, Trine Ann Behnk, senior strategic advisor at Amgros, described how her institution is thinking strategically about the role of procurement of pharmaceuticals to build up resilience. Amgros, a procurement body for hospitals owned by and acting on behalf of the Danish regions, is currently developing a sustainability strategy that aims to lessen the impact of pharmaceuticals on the environment as part of the Danish government's efforts to reduce CO2 emissions by 72% by 2030. Amgros has recently introduced environmental criteria into its national tenders for hospital medicines and has also applied such criteria for its joint Nordic tenders with Norway and Iceland (through the Nordic Pharmaceutical Forum). Key learnings from these tenders are that careful preparation of the inclusion of environmental criteria in procurement of pharmaceuticals is necessary (including dialogue with suppliers), and that, if done properly, having these criteria does not impact negatively on the number of suppliers competing in the market.
Beneluxa Initiative – working together for real improvement in patient access
Roisin Adams, Head of HTA Strategy and External Engagement at the National Centre Pharmacoeconomics (NCPE) in Ireland, introduced the Beneluxa Initiative, a cross-country collaboration between Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Austria, and Ireland, which aims to ensure sustainable access to innovative medicine at affordable cost for all patients through activities in four core domains. Horizon scanning (now increasingly shifted to the spin-off International Horizon Scanning Initiative (IHSI), see below) is used to stay ahead of emerging technologies and to inform health technology assessment (HTA). The Beneluxa Initiative has published a horizon scanning report on pharmaceutical developments on Alzheimer's Disease. HTA activities include joint HTA as well as considerations for re-using existing HTA reports across countries. A joint template for HTA submissions is being developed, as more joint HTAs are expected in the future. Pricing and reimbursement activities can include joint negotiations, which are informed by HTA. An example where this was conducted successfully for three countries (Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands) was Zolgensma for the treatment of Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). Finally, the initiative engages in information sharing activities. Statements on key issues around HTA (e.g. methodological considerations about costs to include in health economic evaluation of CAR-Ts), access to and pricing of high-cost medicines, and the need for rigorous evidence evaluation of Covid-19 pharmaceuticals have been issued on the initiative's website and member states engage in regular exchange on hot topics through webinars.
Being prepared: Looking into the pipelines of new therapies – International Horizon Scanning Initiative
Marcus Guardian, General Manager of the International Horizon Scanning Initiative (IHSI) introduced horizon scanning as a process that aims at identifying, filtering, and prioritising new and emerging health technologies as the basis for informed decision-making. IHSI is based on the experiences of Beneluxa and other regional initiatives and aims to provide its member countries with robust data on emerging technologies. Data are collected through a combination of automated (including machine learning approaches) and human scanning and curating processes. Data are then made available in two forms: firstly, IHSI will shortly launch the first global database of upcoming pharmaceutical products, containing all products in phase I or later trials. Secondly, the organisation provides high-impact reports focusing on compounds where significant impact on health systems are expected. These reports will be published bi-annually in eight categories. IHSI expects to grow in the future and provide more member countries with information to help prepare their pharmaceutical systems.
Q&A and conclusions
In the Q&A session, speakers further discussed the potential impact of the upcoming EU HTA regulation on joint HTA activities by Beneluxa, links between Beneluxa and IHSI, and how information generated through collaborative work, such as horizon scanning and joint HTA, feeds through into subsequent activities, including pricing and reimbursement. Participants were also keen on learning more about the experience of the Nordic countries with environmental criteria in tenders (additional information on the subject is available online).
The webinar concluded with the speakers' key messages on strengthening resilience in the pharmaceutical system. These highlighted the current period of transition in Europe which will be best navigated with a clear vision for the future and increased cross-country collaboration, transparency, and open dialogue between stakeholders.
*** The event took place in the framework of the European Public Health Week – Health throughout the life course ***


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Nanobubbles at the interface between water and a hydrophobic solid.
Xue Hua Zhang, Anthony Quinn, William A Ducker
Langmuir | Published : 2008
A very thin layer (5-80 nm) of gas phase, consisting of discrete bubbles with only about 40 000 molecules, is quite stable at the interface between a hydrophobic solid and water. We prepare this gas phase from either ambient air or from CO(2)(g) through a solvent exchange method reported previously. In this work, we examine the interface using attenuated total internal reflection infrared spectroscopy. The presence of rotational fine structure in the spectrum of CO(2) and D(2)O proves that molecules are present in the gas phase at the interface. The air bubbles are stable for more than 4 days, whereas the CO(2) bubbles are only stable for 1-2 h. We determine the average gas pressure inside t..View full abstract

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


text:
Some GNU programs (at least df, du, and ls) display sizes in "blocks". You can adjust the block size and method of display to make sizes easier to read. The block size used for display is independent of any file system block size. Fractional block counts are rounded up to the nearest integer.
The default block size is chosen by examining the following environment variables in turn; the first one that is set determines the block size.
If none of the above environment variables are set, the block size currently defaults to 1024 bytes in most contexts, but this number may change in the future. For ls file sizes, the block size defaults to 1 byte.
A block size specification can be a positive integer specifying the number
of bytes per block, or it can be
select a human-readable format. Integers may be followed by suffixes
that are upward compatible with the
for decimal multiples and with the
ISO/IEC 80000-13 (formerly IEC 60027-2) prefixes for binary multiples.
With human-readable formats, output sizes are followed by a size letter
such as 'M' for megabytes.
powers of 1024; 'M' stands for 1,048,576 bytes.
BLOCK_SIZE=si is similar, but uses powers of 1000 and appends
'B'; 'MB' stands for 1,000,000 bytes.
A block size specification preceded by ''' causes output sizes to be displayed with thousands separators. The LC_NUMERIC locale specifies the thousands separator and grouping. For example, in an American English locale, '--block-size="'1kB"' would cause a size of _PHONE_ bytes to be displayed as '1,234'. In the default C locale, there is no thousands separator so a leading ''' has no effect.
An integer block size can be followed by a suffix to specify a multiple of that size. A bare size letter, or one followed by 'iB', specifies a multiple using powers of 1024. A size letter followed by 'B' specifies powers of 1000 instead. For example, '1M' and '1MiB' are equivalent to '_PHONE_', whereas '1MB' is equivalent to '_PHONE_'.
A plain suffix without a preceding integer acts as if '1' were prepended, except that it causes a size indication to be appended to the output. For example, '--block-size="kB"' displays 3000 as '3kB'.
The following suffixes are defined. Large sizes like
may be rejected by your computer due to limitations of its arithmetic.
Block size defaults can be overridden by an explicit --block-size=size option. The -k option is equivalent to --block-size=1K, which is the default unless the POSIXLY_CORRECT environment variable is set. The -h or --human-readable option is equivalent to --block-size=human-readable. The --si option is equivalent to --block-size=si.

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


Automate Windows VM Creation using PowerShell
Automate Windows VM Creation using PowerShell
This article is focuses on how new latest AZ PowerShell module can be used to provision a Windows virtual machine on Azure.
You would need Azure account in order to execute these script. If you don't have one, you can create a free Azure account here.
If you are not planning for any Azure certification, I would strongly recommend to at least go for AZ-203 certification which is about knowing Azure products from developer perspective.
Please refer my blog article below and it should help you get prepared for the exam.
Plan your AZ-203 certification today !
Let's Get Started for creating a windows VM on Azure.
Setup few variables
Before logging in to Azure and starting VM creation, let's setup few variables.
Resource Group – All Azure resources are organized in Resource Groups. We are going to create new resource i.e. Virtual Machine inside resource group of this name.
Location – The Azure region in which we want to place the new resource
VM Name – to specify the name of virtual machine
[code language='powershell'] $resourceGroup = "Fully-Configured-Windows-VM-WE" $location = "westeurope" $vmName = "MyFirstVM" [/code]
Login to Azure
Below command would help to login to Azure. Once this command is executed, it would open a popup where you can enter your email id and password for logging into Azure. Once you are logged in PowerShell would show command prompt and you will be able to type the next command.
[code language='powershell'] # Login to Azure Connect-AzAccount [/code]
Create credentials object
This statement would show a popup where you can enter the username and password. This same username and password can be used by you to login to the Virtual Machine.
We are going to use this object in subsequent steps.
[code language='powershell'] # Create user credential object # which would be used for Virtual machine $cred = Get-Credential ' -Message "Enter a username and password for VM." [/code]
Create Resource Group
This statement would create the resource group. The virtual machine would be placed inside this resource group.
If this resource group is deleted, all resources inside this resource groups would be deleted.
[code language='powershell'] # Create a resource group New-AzResourceGroup ' -Name $resourceGroup ' -Location $location [/code]
Create subnet
This would create a new SubNet and it would also reserve the IP address space.
[code language='powershell'] # Create a subnet configuration $subnetConfig = New-AzVirtualNetworkSubnetConfig ' -Name mySubnet ' -AddressPrefix [/code]
Create virtual network
The virtual network allows virtual machines to securely communicate with one another.
[code language='powershell'] # Create a virtual network $vnet = New-AzVirtualNetwork -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroup ' -Location $location ' -Name MYvNET ' -AddressPrefix ' -Subnet $subnetConfig [/code]
Create public IP and DNS configuration
This command to reserve a static public IP address. Even if you boot multiple times, the static IP does not change. This IP can be used to connect with virtual machine using RDP.
[code language='powershell'] # Create a public IP address and specify a DNS name $pip = New-AzPublicIpAddress -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroup ' -Location $location ' -Name "mypublicdns$(Get-Random)" ' -AllocationMethod Static ' -IdleTimeoutInMinutes 4 [/code]
Create Network Security Group & Inbound rule for 3389 Port
The Network Security Group has rules which either allow or deny the traffic inbound to virtual network or outbound from virtual network.
The 3389 port is the port for allowing remote desktop.
[code language='powershell'] # Create an inbound network security group rule for port 3389 $nsgRuleRDP = New-AzNetworkSecurityRuleConfig ' -Name myNetworkSecurityGroupRuleRDP ' -Protocol Tcp ' -Direction Inbound ' -Priority 1000 ' -SourceAddressPrefix * ' -SourcePortRange * ' -DestinationAddressPrefix * ' -DestinationPortRange 3389 ' -Access Allow # Create a network security group $nsg = New-AzNetworkSecurityGroup ' -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroup ' -Location $location ' -Name myNetworkSecurityGroup ' -SecurityRules $nsgRuleRDP # Create a virtual network card # and associate with public IP address and NSG $nic = New-AzNetworkInterface ' -Name myNic ' -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroup ' -Location $location ' -SubnetId $vnet.Subnets[0].Id ' -PublicIpAddressId $pip.Id ' -NetworkSecurityGroupId $nsg.Id [/code]
Create virtual machine configuration
This block selects the virtual machine size, virtual machine operating system image, and network interface card. This object is then used to create the actual virtual machine.
[code language='powershell'] # Create a virtual machine configuration $vmConfig = New-AzVMConfig -VMName $vmName ' -VMSize Standard_D1 | ' Set-AzVMOperatingSystem ' -Windows -ComputerName ' $vmName -Credential $cred | ' Set-AzVMSourceImage ' -PublisherName MicrosoftWindowsServer ' -Offer WindowsServer ' -Skus 2016-Datacenter ' -Version latest | ' Add-AzVMNetworkInterface -Id $nic.Id [/code]
Create the virtual machine
This command uses all the configurations done till now and creates the virtual machine.
You will have to wait around 5 minutes of time to get the virtual machine created.
[code language='powershell'] # Create a virtual machine New-AzVM -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroup ' -Location $location ' -VM $vmConfig [/code]
Login to this virtual machine
You can login to this virtual machine using below PowerShell command
[code language='powershell'] # Login to virtual machine Get-AzRemoteDesktopFile ' -ResourceGroupName $resourceGroup ' -Name $vmName ' -Launch [/code]
Something to remember…
If you have created this VM only for learning purpose, please note that there is cost associated with every running virtual machine. So, please do not forget to delete your newly created resource group and all its contents by running below PowerShell commands
[code language='powershell'] _TAG_ all resources within this resource group Remove-AzResourceGroup -Name $resourceGroup [/code]
I hope you enjoyed this article. Please do not forget to comment and let me know if this information helped you.
Leave a Reply


text:
Jon Atwood, PhD
Department of Environmental Studies
Observers at the Kekoldi watchsite, in the Caribbean lowlands of Costa Rica, monitor the highest concentration of autumn, southbound migrant Peregrine Falcons (Falco peregrinus) in the world. Currently little data exist on the migratory behavior of this species in the tropics. During daily observations from 15 August-30 Nov 2005, I counted 2,344 peregrines as they passed within sight of the Kekoldi Reserve. The majority of observations (91%) occurred from 1-21 Oct. Most aged birds were adults. Of the juveniles counted, the most were seen later in the season. Peregrines relied primarily on circle soaring and passed predominantly during midday hours, coinciding with the peak of thermal activity. Flapping occurred most frequently early in the day, decreased through midday, and then increased slightly in the afternoon. The general daily flight path shifted from the coast to inland as wind direction shifted from south to northeast. Flight altitude was greatest during midday. Overall, peregrine movements reflected local weather patterns, and appeared to emphasize flight behavior that maximized efficiency. This preliminary study shows Kekoldi to be a valuable site for long-term monitoring of Peregrine Falcons, and provides a better understanding of how the species behaves as it migrates through the tropics.


text:
I am new to Infix and have faced the issue of letters overlapping each other when an old text is replaced with a new one. Some blocks of text are editable well enough but others are a hard nut to crack. I've spent hours figuring out what else can be done to insert my translation instead of the existing text. I've tried changing character space but didn't get anywhere with it. The letters still appear like glued when typed.
Last edited by Roman (2017-03-01 11:24:06)
Can you send us the PDF you are trying to edit? We will then take a look and let you know what we find.
What email should I use?
Please send to _EMAIL_
If it's a very large PDF (and you can't give us just a few pages) then we can supply an FTP address.
Done. Please, take a look and respond ASAP.
The reason you are encountering problems editing the text you mentioned in the document is because the characters in the document contain large negative letter spacing values.
This is down to the software that produced the pdf.
There is a way around the problem, by using the "Text Spacing Dialog". Just follow the following steps:
- Open the "Text Spacing Dialog", you can do this by selecting "Text->Spacing..." from the main menu in Infix.
- Select the text you wish to edit with the "Text Edit" (T) tool and delete it.
- On the "Text Spacing" dialog click on the red 'X' this will reset the spacing for the text.
- Type the text you wish to inset, it should now be spaced correctly.
If the text drops off or beyond the confines of the current box you can make the text box larger by clicking and dragging the text box by one of the smaller boxes on the left, right, top or bottom of the selection box. You can see when you are over one of the resizing boxes as the mouse cursor will change when you are over one.
You can also change the font size by selecting text and choosing/typing a new font size in the "Text Format" toolbar. The font size is displayed next to the font in the toolbar.
You can open the toolbar by selecting "View->Toolbars->Text Format" from the main menu.


Creation functions
Do I need teaching material about creating functions, what can be used for creation and how to use it?
I have already searched the sites of LibreOffice and OpenOffice, and found minimal material.
Anyone have any tips where to find it (site/book)?
Criação de funções
Necessito de material didático sobre a criação de funções, o que pode ser usado para criação e como usar?
Já procurei nos sites do LibreOffice e OpenOffice, e encontrei mínimo material.
Alguém tem alguma dica onde encontrar(site/livro)?
A function is simply a block of code which can accept information, do some processing and then return some information. This is programming. Functions are not necessarily specific to Calc. So in order to create functions, it is best to know how to program in Basic and use the UNO API.
There is a great deal of information spread around on these subjects. However, for the best single document, OpenOffice Macros Explained (OOME) by Andrew Pitonyak is available (click here) in PDF. It has a complete section on Calc as well as a great deal of other information.


text:
Thuringia - Sachsen Weimar - Eisenach – Herzogtum (duchy)Edit This Page
From FamilySearch Wiki
Back to Germany
(Add introductory text and/or an image here)
(Add text and/or an image here)
(Add text and/or an image here)
Did you know?
Research Problems and Strategies
When children were born illegitimately and the father's name is not known what research strategy is suggested?
1. Check who the witnesses were at birth of child. Likelihood is that there might be a relationship
There might exist a separate section in the church book for illegitimate births.
2. Check whether the mother marries the father later and the child became legitimized by the father's acknowledgment.
3. Check confirmation records.
4. Find school records to see if school fees were paid for the child and by whom (Search in School records. One possibility "Kirchenvisitationen", "Schülerverzeichnis")
5. Was the child adopted? (Search in court records, key word: " Adoptionen", "Vormundschaft")
6. See if a will exists in which the child was bequeathed money or property. (Search in court records for "Testamente")
When parents came from a city unknown what would be the research strategy?
1. Check the witnesses at the children's baptisms. Witnesses might be relatives and there may be a place name which could give a clue.
2. Check citizenship records of present residence (Search for" Bürgerrolle", "Bürgerbuch", "Bürgerliste"," Bürgerverzeichnis", "Einwohnermeldeverzeichnis")
3. Check for journeymen or servants records (Search for "Geburtsbriefe", "Gesindebuch", "Heimatscheine", "Wanderbücher", "Gutsarchiv" records)
4. Check census records. Search for "Volkszählungen".
5. Check guild records. Search for "Innungen"
6. Check neighboring church records to see if parents appeared as witnesses.
When given and surnames are present more than once in a parish and additional persons cannot easily be assigned to each other, what would be the research strategy?
1. Establish whole families. See who has married whom and had what children.
2. Compare findings in church books with court records. 90% of the population in Germany were dependent farmers. They did not own their farms but had usufruct, for which they were taxed and recorded in administrative records. Parents would bequeath, sell, lease or retire, and children inherit personal property. All such actions were recorded in court records. ( Search in archival records, such as "Schuldund Pfandprotokolle")
3. Check tax lists. Twice a year people were required to pay taxes. See if the same heads of family pay each time. If the head of household dies, the widow continues to pay taxes until her child becomes of age and takes over or she remarries. (Search for "Steuerlisten", "Steuerrollen", "Amtsrechnungen").
When different spellings exist for a family name what would be the research strategy?
1. Be aware that spelling rules are not set until the early 1900s. Dialects can apply when writing official records. Some consonants and vowels are interchangeable. The name Triebenbach can be spelled Driebenbach, Treubenbach, Drübenbach.
2. Names can be Latinized: The name Keller becomes Cellarius, names can sound as if they are Latin, such as Debelius.
3. The priest simply made a mistake
4. Consider looking at neighboring parish registers
5. Always compare the spelling of a name with other documents available for the time period. (The most common ones are taxlists, in German "Steuerlisten", "Steuerrollen").
When church records from a parish cannot be located what should be the research strategy?
1. Check if the correct parish was chosen. A good source to check is a gazetteer.
2. Have parish jurisdictions changed?
3. Check with the diocese (Bistum) or deanery (Dekanat) if a duplicate record does exist and where it was deposited.
For Evangelical records check here (Evangelische Kirche in Thüringen)
Catholic church (Adressen, Gemeinden, Dekanate)
When church books no longer exist because they were destroyed what should the research strategy be?
Gather information from other records:
1. Tax records (Steuerlisten, Schatzungslisten) – located in state archives
2. Debt registers, citizenship records, fire insurance registers (Schuldenregister, Löscheimerlisten, Brandregister, Bürgerlisten) – located in city archives, mayor's office
3. Guild records, notary records, land records (Innungslisten, Zunftbücher, notarielle Akten, Grundbuchsachen – state archives
4. Kataster, Bannbücher (cadastral, absolvent books) – state archives, cadastral offices, finance departments
5. Tax records of parishes (Lagerbücher) – church archives
6. House lists, address books, house ownership lists, military records, vaccination records (Häuserlisten, Adressbücher, Hauswirtslisten, Stammrollen, Impflisten) – city archives
7. News papers (Zeitungen, Amtsblätter) - city archive, state archive
8. Emigration records, census records, Wählerlisten (Auswanderungsakten, Volkszählungen,
voting records) – state archive
9. Cemetery records (Gräber, Gottesacker) – city archive
Check out the archive list available for Thüringen
(Your text or images here)
(Your text or images here, or use the table below:)
Things you can do
(In order to make this wiki a better research tool, we need your help! Many tasks need to be done. You can help by:
- This page was last modified on 28 November 2012, at 22:55.
- This page has been accessed 395 times.


Quick Answer: Are Snakes Legal In Japan?
You can bring animals like snakes, parrots, and parakeets and keep them as pets.
However, some species are targeted, so be careful.
Can you have a pet monkey in Japan?
Animals and pets. Every pet has its own life. Animals that could attack people such as medium-size monkeys, raptorial birds (eagles and hawks), crocodiles and snakes are categorized as specified animals. If you wish to keep one as a pet, you are required to obtain permission from the Governor of Tokyo.
What kind of pets can you have in Japan?
5 Animals That are Popular Pets in Japan
 - Dogs. Dogs are very popular in Japan, and you are able to get them from almost any pet shops.
 - Cats. Cats are also very popular in Japan because the owner does not need to take a time to take care of them so much compared to dogs.
 - Fish. Fish are also very popular as pet in Japan.
 - Birds.
 - Rabbits.
What snakes are in Japan?
There are three species of poisonous snake in Japan: the Japanese keelpack, the habu and mamushi. The Japanese keelpack(yamakagashi) has distinctive yellow, red and black markings and can be as thick as a man's arm.
Why do so many Japanese people have pets?
Because of the declining birthrate and aging population in Japan, there are an increasing number of households in Japan with pets and no children. Since some families have no children, they instead pamper and lavish their pets like they would do their own children. Pets in Japan are not only for companionship.
Can you have a pet fox in Japan?
Bringing a dog/cat/fox/raccoon/skunk
Dogs and cats brought from outside Japan are quarantined and kept in quarantine facilities. The period of quarantine can vary from 12 hours to 180 days. For more information about importing the domestic animals, check our article about moving with pets to Japan.
Can you own a raccoon in Japan?
Not surprisingly, it is now illegal to import raccoons to Japan. It's also important to look at the cause of Japan's raccoon importation specifically: a pet craze.
Do Japanese like dogs?
Although Japan's crowded environment makes for a not so pet-friendly country, Japanese have found ways to incorporate their pets into their everyday lives. Although small dogs are preferred, one of the most popular dog breeds in Japan is the Shiba Inu, which can grow to be two feet tall and weigh up to 25 pounds.
Can I buy a dog in Japan?
If you are living in Japan temporarily, animal rights advocates advise you not to buy or even adopt a pet while here. Instead, volunteer at adoption fairs, play with dogs and cats at shelters on weekends, and donate to an animal charity.
How do you say dog in Japanese?
Japanese word for dog is inu – YouTube.


Charles Ives: Holidays Symphony
Coming of age at the dawn of the twentieth century, Charles Ives saw the halcyon days of his youth fading fast. Not willing to let them go, he invented a striking new musical language to enshrine the feelings and ideals of a simpler time. But many, shocked by passages like the "fireworks" in 'Fourth of July,' found his new-fangled methods at odds with the memories he was trying to preserve. Did Ives go too far? Or did he succeed in turning his memories into music?
October 2009
Syndicate content


New oil train rules could improve safety (copy)
A train of tanker cars, carrying crude oil according to the placard pictured, enters the north end of Bend at Empire Avenue in this file photo.
The Bend City Council officially opposes crude oil coming through the city by rail, though the resolution passed by the council is largely symbolic.
On Wednesday, the council unanimously adopted a resolution that takes a stand against oil trains moving through Bend due to the safety and environmental risks.
The resolution does not mean oil trains are banned from Bend — cities aren't able to do that, according to city staff. But what the resolution does do is join several other cities in Oregon to put pressure on the federal government to instill more regulations for oil traveling by train.
"It's important for us as one of many cities to come together with this message," Mayor Sally Russell said in the council's meeting Wednesday.
The resolution states that the City Council will support an areawide environmental impact statement "to identify the cumulative effects that would result from existing and proposed oil-by-rail terminals, mitigation of safety and environmental risks, and the development and review of a comprehensive Health Impact Assessment prior to approval of any new oil transfer and storage permits by any state, regional or federal agency."
The resolution also calls on the city manager to write to federal representatives and senators, as well as Gov. Kate Brown, asking that they develop legislation that would require railroad companies to make information about both current and future oil transport by rail public, and provide adequate notice to local communities of any plans for new or expanded rail facilities.
The inspiration behind the resolution came from Councilors Gena Goodman-Campbell and Melanie Kebler, who in March asked the city's environmental committee to research the safety and environmental issues around oil trains and the derailments that have happened around the Pacific Northwest.
Safety considerations of oil traveling through Bend has long been a conversation. The issue came to the forefront in 2016 after a major derailment spilled roughly 42,000 gallons of crude oil in the community of Mosier in the Columbia River Gorge.
The full resolution can be found on the meetings and agenda page of
Reporter: _PHONE_,
(5) comments
Why stop at trains carrying oil? Don't forget the trains that carry chemicals, carbon emissions producing automobiles, coal, etc. Heck, just ban the slow moving trains from piercing the city's atmosphere, altogether.
What a waste of taxpayer money on a document not worth the paper it was printed on. Liberals are really clueless as they drove home after.
So you are asking the same government that stopped the Keystone Pipeline which is the most environmentally safe way to ship it, and that's even out of John Kerry's mouth. The city needs to spend its time better addressing issues of greater impact like a growing homeless population & fire safety measures for its citizens.
Funding Secured
At least we aren't paying them to focus on areas outside of their control, in one of the fastest growing cities in America, with many novel and fast changing problems to solve, amirite?
Gary Mendoza
why tackle real, often tough, problems?; isn't it better to virtue-signal, accomplish nothing but feel better about yourself?
Welcome to the discussion.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.


text:
the deleted column set to true.
- The new connection is _commit_ted, so the 'deleted' bitstream row is written to the database
- The bitstream itself is stored in a file in the configured 'asset store directory', with a directory path and filename derived from the internal ID
- The deleted flag in the bitstream row is set to false. This will occur (or not) as part of the current DSpace Context.
This means that should anything go wrong before, during or after the bitstream storage, only one of the following can be true:
- No bitstream table row was created, and no file was stored
- A bitstream table row with deleted=true was created, no file was stored
- A bitstream table row with deleted=true was created, and a file was stored
None of these affect the integrity of the data in the database or bitstream store.
Similarly, when a bitstream is deleted for some reason, its deleted flag is set to true as part of the overall transaction, and the corresponding file in storage is not deleted.
The above techniques mean that the bitstream storage manager is transaction-safe. Over time, the bitstream database table and file store may contain a number of 'deleted' bitstreams. The cleanup method of BitstreamStorageManager goes through these deleted rows, and actually deletes them along with any corresponding files left in the storage. It only removes 'deleted' bitstreams that are more than one hour old, just in case cleanup is happening in the middle of a storage operation.
This cleanup can be invoked from the command line via the Cleanup class, which can in turn be easily executed from a shell on the server machine using /dspace/bin/cleanup. You might like to have this run regularly by cron, though since DSpace is read-lots, write-not-so-much it doesn't need to be run very often.
The bitstreams (files) in traditional storage may be backed up very easily by simply 'tarring' or 'zipping' the assetstore directory (or whichever directory is configured in dspace.cfg). Restoring is as simple as extracting the backed-up compressed file in the appropriate location.
Similar means could be used for SRB, but SRB offers many more options for managing backup.
It is important to note that since the bitstream storage manager holds the bitstreams in storage, and information about them in the database, that a database backup and a backup of the files in the bitstream store must be made at the same time; the bitstream data in the database must correspond to the stored files.
Of course, it isn't really ideal to 'freeze' the system while backing up to ensure that the database and files match up. Since DSpace uses the bitstream data in the database as the authoritative record, it's best to back up the database before the files. This is because it's better to have a bitstream in storage but not the database (effectively non-existent to DSpace) than a bitstream record in the database but not storage, since people would be able to find the bitstream but not actually get the contents.
With DSpace 1.7 and above, there is also the option to backup both files and metadata via the AIP Backup and Restore feature.
Configuring the Bitstream Store
Both traditional and SRB bitstream stores are configured in dspace.cfg.
Configuring Traditional Storage
Bitstream stores in the file system on the server are configured like this:
(Remember that [dspace] is a placeholder for the actual name of your DSpace install directory).
The above example specifies a single asset store.
The above example specifies two asset stores. assetstore.dir specifies the asset store number 0 (zero); after that use assetstore.dir.1, assetstore.dir.2 and so on. The particular asset store a bitstream is stored in is held in the database, so don't move bitstreams between asset stores, and don't renumber them.
By default, newly created bitstreams are put in asset store 0 (i.e. the one specified by the assetstore.dir property.) This allows backwards compatibility with pre-DSpace 1.1 configurations. To change this, for example when asset store 0 is getting full, add a line to dspace.cfg like:
Then restart DSpace (Tomcat). New bitstreams will be written to the asset store specified by assetstore.dir.1, which is /mnt/other_filesystem/assetstore_1 in the above example.
Configuring SRB Storage
The same framework is used to configure SRB storage. That is, the asset store number (0..n) can reference a file system directory as above or it can reference a set of SRB account parameters. But any particular asset store number can reference one or the other but not both. This way traditional and SRB storage can both be used but with different asset store numbers. The same cautions mentioned above apply to SRB asset stores as well: The particular asset store a bitstream is stored in is held in the database, so don't move bitstreams between asset stores, and don't renumber them.
For example, let's say asset store number 1 will refer to SRB. The there will be a set of SRB account parameters like this:
Several of the terms, such as mcatzone, have meaning only in the SRB context and will be familiar to SRB users. The last, srb.parentdir.n, can be used to used for addition (SRB) upper directory structure within an SRB account. This property value could be blank as well.
(If asset store 0 would refer to SRB it would be srb.host =..., srb.port =..., and so on (.0 omitted) to be consistent with the traditional storage configuration above.)
The similar use of assetstore.incoming to reference asset store 0 (default) or 1..n (explicit property) means that new bitstreams will be written to traditional or SRB storage determined by whether a file system directory on the server is referenced or a set of SRB account parameters are referenced.
There are comments in dspace.cfg that further elaborate the configuration of traditional and SRB storage.


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This item is available under a Creative Commons License for non-commercial use only
Explicit numerical methods for the solution of a system of differential equations may suffer from a time step size that approaches zero in order to satisfy stability conditions. When the differential equations are dominated by a skew-symmetric component, the problem is that the real eigenvalues are dominated by imaginary eigenvalues. We compare results for stable time step limits for the super-time-stepping method of Alexiades, Amiez, and Gremaud (super-time-stepping methods belong to the Runge-Kutta-Chebyshev class) and a new method modeled on a predictor-corrector scheme with multiplicative operator splitting. This new explicit method increases stability of the original super-time-stepping whenever the skew-symmetric term is nonzero, which occurs in particular convection-diffusion problems and more generally when the iteration matrix represents a nonlinear operator. The new method is stable for skew symmetric dominated systems where the regular super-time-stepping scheme fails. This method is second order in time (may be increased by Richardson extrapolation) and the spatial order is determined by the user's choice of discretization scheme. We present a comparison between the two super-time-stepping methods to show the speed up available for any non-symmetric system using the nearly symmetric Black-Scholes equation as an example.
Gurski, K. & O'Sullivan, S. (2010). An Explicit Super‐Time‐Stepping Scheme for Non‐Symmetric Parabolic Problems. ICNAAM 2010: International Conference of Numerical Analysis and Applied Mathematics. AIP Conference Proceedings, vol. 1281, no. 1, pg. 761-764. doi:10.1063/_PHONE_


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What level of LabVIEW user are you—a developer, engineer, or architect? Is it even important?
Absolutely. These categories make it easy for NI to tailor helpful resources to your individual needs. By visiting the LabVIEW Skills Guide, you can see what defines these levels and which trainings or guides we recommend each use to help them develop successful applications faster.
Here are a few examples of skills you can learn from the latest guide:
For Technicians or Basic Developers
- Troubleshoot and debug LabVIEW code
- Apply key LabVIEW elements for relating data (such as arrays, clusters, and typedefs)
- Apply design patterns and templates
For Software Engineers
- Optimize reuse of existing code for your projects
- Design, implement, document, and test code modules for each task
- Derive a task list and high-level flowchart to guide design and development
For Software Architects
- Analyze, critique, and improve the architecture of a LabVIEW application
- Optimize code and resources to effectively reduce development time and costs
- Design an application using object-oriented design principles
Best of all, many of these resources are free or available at a discounted price for students. Questions? Post your comments below and we'll follow up on them personally.


It is easy to fish crabs
Have you tried to catch crabs and do you know how to do this?
If you are by the water near a bathing bridge boat bridge, then you are right where you can catch crabs, because they live in the seaweed around the bridge posts. You can also find them around the poles at the pier or under the big rocks that are laid out to break the waves.
It's just getting started. The only thing you need is a string that you tie on the stick that will be your fishing rod and a cloth clamp that you attach to the end of the string along with a small stone. The cloth clamp must keep the bait and ensure that the crab comes up. You must also have a bucket to store the crabs in. The bait can be mussels from the shore edge or a little topping from the fridge.
If you are fishing with mussels, you must punch the shell or open it in some other way so that the crab can get hold of the mussel.
When you feel that there are bites, it is about pulling the cord gently and getting the crab down into the bucket. The crabs can do well without water for a couple of hours, but then they must be released and they are not long to find the water again.
Enjoy the crab fishing!
Kategorier: Junior Fisker


Emergency Aid Tracking App
Track emergency relief assets and supplies, improving efficiency and accountability for government agencies and relief organizations.
Humanitarian organizations and government entities use CodeREADr to instantly enable the tracking of emergency aid supplies and assets anywhere in the world using smartphones and tablets. In a typical deployment, the team of emergency workers, authorized first responders and volunteers can track the distribution of food, medicine, services and non-perishable items using their own mobile devices as barcode scanners. The resulting scan records give management real-time logistics information for better resource allocation and help auditors account for the money spent. Each scan record can include who the beneficiary was and what they received, along with when, where, how and why they received it.
Start your free trial
Schedule a Demo
No credit card required.
Track Emergency Aid Supplies
Simultaneously enable thousands of relief workers to track every asset from every location.
Government entities and NGO's can authorize thousands of employees, subcontractors, first responders and even volunteers to scan and track emergency supplies, services, people or assets for them simultaneously from thousands of locations using the devices they are already carrying in their pockets.
Capture GPS, timestamps and ID
With each scan record the recipient, the GPS location, a timestamp, the provider, and the supplies or services given.
Emergency aid organizations and government institutions can account for supplies and services rendered. Analysts and auditors can track who, what, when, how, and why with every scan recorded in the cloud. They also know the location of each relief worker's scan using the GPS location.
track assets online or offline
Record data on the device when wireless internet is down, and automatically sync it later.
When wireless internet is available, management can get real-time visibility into relief workers and volunteers tasks. If internet connectivity is unavailable or unstable, relief workers can continue to work offline and auto sync their scan records later when connectivity is restored.
data collection barcode scanner
Collect data with text, voice, photos, barcode scans and signatures.
Configure codeREADr to optionally prompt for additional data after each scan such as photos or signatures.
Learn more about data collection with photos and signatures
Easily export data to Excel, Google Sheets, and third party services.
Integrate database with API
Send data to our server in the cloud or to your own server. You can connect to third-party cloud services using our API or auto-export the data to Excel, Google Sheets, and other databases.
relief aid photo documentation
Take photos of supplies, assets, workers, volunteers, buildings, locations and even recipients.
Your relief workers can take photos of the supplies or assets to document their condition and location. If needed they could even take photos of the recipients of supplies or services.
Use your own smartphone and tablet
Relief workers and volunteers can use their own smartphones and tablets.
Avoid the time-consuming logistics and expense of provisioning scanning devices. For instant deployment, instruct your team members to download the CodeREADr app to their own devices and give them login credentials to scan for authorized tasks.
Customize tasks and issue unique credentials
Configure multiple tasks and data collection workflows with our simple online service builder
Use the online service builder or our API to create tasks, each with a specific objective and workflow. Assign those tasks to your relief workers or volunteers giving them unique logins.
track and trace emergency aid supplies and assets
Track supplies, people or assets from origin to destination, including all transfer points.
Track the movement of supplies, donations, assets, relief workers in real-time. Export reports documenting the movement of assets from origin to destination. Comply with regulations and provide auditable paper trails for expense reporting. Scan products, shipping containers, equipment, pallets, ID Cards, asset tags, wristbands, or NFC tags.


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Linking to authority
Linking to authority describes a form of deceit people use online and in print. If a person uses a link as a reference to any claim, it appears to have authority backing it. In the form of books, these come as footnotes or endnotes which reference another print or online source.
However, following the links or reading the referenced material often reveals the deceitful nature of the claim. Sometimes a quote has been mined, sometimes the article linked has little to do with the claim, or even sometimes argues the exact opposite point the claim makes.
Playing on the notion that few of their followers will bother checking their work, or reading the referenced pieces, this form of deceit gives the author an aura of respect and his or her claim weight where none exists. You know where the best examples are.


Which is better a permanent or contract job position?
Getting a desirable career – a permanent position with benefits, recurring income, and retirement package at a respectable organization-is something of yesteryear. Some claim that these days, the principle of focusing on a single profession is out of date, especially with the gig economy.
In order to further their learning and acquire varied experiences, the new fashion is to invest their energies in many kinds of occupations. One of the common employment arrangements embraced by these individuals is contract employment. Let's look at the pros and cons that are possible.
 1. Pay
In pay terms, contract workers typically earn higher wages. No other advantages are predicted. During a deal, no holidays or unpaid leave. A fixed wage and a (variable) performance-related bonus mostly pay permanent workers. Additional benefits can include, in some cases, retirement, dental, paid leave, stock options and preferential rates on loans and mortgages. Although a reasonably rational comparison should be the overall reward, many individuals are slightly biased and drawn to the "guaranteed" higher pay of contract employee jobs. In order to determine the two choices, it would be more prudent to take an objective and risk assessed approach.
In short, the pay of a permanent career provides you a healthy net income, with a number of benefits to shield you from certain risks and add to your retirement savings. A fair comparison of the wages of the contract worker is to measure the disposable income by taking out the portion you will allocate for unexpected expenditure and retirement (which in turn is based on your risk appetite).
2. Job Security
As a contract employee, at the end of each contract, you need to find a new position. But there are also situations in which your client will employ you after the contract as a permanent employee if they see your value. If the company is doing well and not on a decreasing trend due to shifts in business model and technology, there will be greater work protection for permanent workers. Re-organization will alter your position, but your job will only be at risk of downsizing.
The availability of contract employee jobs would be more susceptible to economic conditions. For example, the first to cut contracts and contract employee services would be when an organization wants to downsize. The last to go would likely be permanent employees, especially high performers who clearly add value to the organization (if ever). There will be severance payments or other benefits equal to months of pay for those who are to be let go (depending on length of employment).
The other angle to consider is whether the position of the business and work you are in is on the increase. If so, the probability of making several or recurring contract offers is high and you have basically no chance of project gaps. Furthermore, your salary is likely to rise much quicker than that of a permanent employee.
Vice versa, it'll be just as real. If your work is easily replaceable or the market is shrinking, once your current one ends, you will face the dilemma of seeking a new contract. Even if you have a permanent employment, due to downsizing, you will still face layoffs. The benefit of working in a big corporation as a permanent employee is that you probably have a chance to re-skill yourself in a different role.
In conclusion, job protection is more important to your position in the job (i.e. the abilities you have) and the industry in which you are. You have more flexibility in re-skilling yourself if you are a permanent worker in a big organization. If you are a contract employee, you would be on your own, and you would be under constant pressure to keep your skills up-to-date and marketable.
3. Career Progression
Continuing as a contract employee means that your hard skills and expertise are being sold. In a specialized area, you will be the top expert, but it is doubtful that you will step into general leadership positions. There are 2 options open to permanent workers. To gain expertise in a special area, they can concentrate on a "technical path" or they can pursue a "management path" to be developed into an executive.
That's where the difference is greatest. Contract workers can shift horizontally, but if he has not been in a management role before, a business would seldom hire a contract employee into an executive position. By nature, permanent workers will have the channel for vertical movements. They will get the preparation, experience and opportunity needed to move up gradually.
As a young adult, a management position seems far away, so it does not matter to pick a contract staff job. However, after a few years of seeing what management looks like, if you plan to become an executive one day, you should seriously consider it. You need to prepare to move into permanent employment if you do. If you have moved up to the management tier, you can still switch positions, but the jump from individual contributor to manager would require you to gain faith from the senior level to give you the chance.
The choice between contract and permanent employment is not easy, but by being more cautious in comparing the compensation packages and deliberately self-assessing your risk appetite, you can mitigate your prejudices. If you have done well in acquiring your hard skills, improving your soft skills and choosing the right form of job in an insurrection industry, it makes no difference whether a contract worker or a permanent role.
As a matter of fact, you will get preferential benefits (e.g. bonus, paid training and vacation) even as a contract employee if you have outstanding skills (both hard and soft) in your career. Employers, regardless of their form of jobs, store great resources and will go all the way to hold them as long as they are needed.
It is also a good idea for you to try both if you have just joined the job market or in your first 5 years. After 10-15 years or when you have substantial life event shifts, the option will become more important (or plans, such as getting married, having children). This is because your risk appetite will shift, you are likely to commit to longer-term arrangements, and you need to take retirement savings seriously.
Check out my related post: What challenges do millennials face?
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text:
How to know you are in
higher ed a cult:
Ten warning signs of a potentially unsafe group/leader.
- Absolute authoritarianism without meaningful accountability.
- No tolerance for questions or critical inquiry.
- No meaningful financial disclosure regarding budget, expenses such as an independently audited financial statement.
- Unreasonable fear about the outside world, such as impending catastrophe, evil conspiracies and persecutions.
- There is no legitimate reason to leave, former followers are always wrong in leaving, negative or even evil.
- Former members often relate the same stories of abuse and reflect a similar pattern of grievances.
- There are records, books, news articles, or television programs that document the abuses of the group/leader.
- Followers feel they can never be "good enough".
- The group/leader is always right.
- The group/leader is the exclusive means of knowing "truth" or receiving validation, no other process of discovery is really acceptable or credible.
Apologies to the Cult Education Institute


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- Prayer and Worship
- Beliefs and Teachings
- Issues and Action
- Catholic Giving
- About USCCB
Migration and Refugee Services
Office of Migration Policy and Public Affairs
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
The religious worker visa program allows U.S. religious denominations to fill critical religious worker positions for which there are no qualified candidates in the U.S. with qualified religious workers from abroad. The program provides for two types of visas: (1) the Special Immigrant Visa, which allows qualified religious workers to immigrate to the U.S. permanently and later become citizens if they so choose and meet the qualifications; and (2) the Nonimmigrant Visa, which allows qualified religious workers to enter temporarily and perform services in the U.S. for a proscribed period.
Religious Worker Visas (both the Special Immigrant Visa and the Non‐immigrant Visa) may be granted to both ministers and non‐minister religious workers. Ministers covered by the program are those who are authorized by a recognized religious denomination to conduct religious worship and perform other duties usually performed by members of the clergy, such as administering the sacraments or their equivalent. The provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) that provides for the admission of ministers to the United States is a permanent part of U.S. immigration law. The Non‐Minister religious workers are those who are called to a vocation or who are in a traditional religious occupation with a bona fide nonprofit, religious organization in the United States. Examples of those who are called to a vocation include nuns, monks, and sisters. Examples of those in religious occupations include missionaries, counselors, translators, religious instructors, cantors, and other pastoral care providers. Some non‐minister religious workers are pursuing studies in a seminary or are otherwise in formation. The provision of law that provides for the admission of non‐minister special immigrant religious workers is not a permanent part of U.S. immigration law. Instead, its provisions sunset every few years.
The Special Immigrant Non‐Minister Religious Worker Visa Program, codified in INA § 101(a)(27)(C), was first enacted as part of P.L. 101‐649, the Immigration Act of 1990. Its chief sponsors in Congress at the time were Representative Lamar Smith (R‐TX) and the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D‐MA). The program provides for up to 5,000 Special Immigrant visas per year which religious denominations or organizations in the United States can use to sponsor foreign nationals to perform religious service in the United States. Once granted, this type of visa allows religious workers to immigrate permanently to the United States.
Among the important tasks non‐minister religious workers perform are: providing human services to the most needy, including shelter and nutrition; caring for and ministering to the sick, aged, and dying in hospitals and special facilities; working with adolescents and young adults; assisting religious leaders as they lead their congregations and communities in worship; counseling those who have suffered severe trauma and/or hardship; supporting families, particularly when they are in crisis; offering religious instruction, especially to new members of the religious denomination; and helping refugees and immigrants in the United States adjust to a new way of life.
When first enacted, this program was set to expire in three years. It has been reauthorized five times since then. Under current law, unless Congress acts to prevent it, the Special Immigrant Non‐Minister Religious Visa program will expire on September 30, 2012, leaving many religious denominations or congregations with no effective way of meeting their need for religious workers.
Prior to enactment of the Immigration Act of 1990, nonprofit, United States‐based religious organizations requiring the services of foreign‐born non‐minister religious workers were forced to undergo a burdensome labor certification process and/or fit their needs into the business, student, and missionary visa categories. These visa categories were mainly designed for the needs of profit‐making businesses and other employers and not the specific needs of religious organizations. Religious organizations faced sometimes insurmountable obstacles in using traditional employment immigration categories, which did not fit their unique situations. The resulting consequences were that religious entities found that they could not sponsor workers at all or could not do so within a time frame that corresponded to the actual need for their much‐needed services.
By enacting the Non‐Minister Religious Worker Visa Program, Congress recognized both the problems with asking non‐minister religious workers to fit the requirements of the employment based immigration categories and the genuine and critical need for foreign non‐minister religious workers to perform pastoral and other services in the United States.
Since its initial enactment in 1990, the Special Immigrant Non‐Minister Religious Worker Visa Program has been extended five times. While up to now, the program has been extended each time it has faced expiration, the process leading to that extension has often created uncertainty within the Department of State and Department of Homeland Security, the agencies that administer the program, about whether the program would be extended. This uncertainty also has wrought havoc in the religious community as religious organizations find themselves unsure about whether or not they will have the staff to carry out critical functions. And, the uncertainty has caused local communities to worry about losing vital services that religious organizations provide.
A permanent legislative extension would ensure the continuation of this important program, and would provide a measure of stability that would allow religious organizations to plan ahead. With the rapid decrease in the number of Americans turning to religious vocations, religious organizations are experiencing an acute shortage of non‐minister religious workers in the United States. In these times of uncertainty, it is more important than ever that faith‐based organizations be able to serve the community through the essential services provided by religious workers. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops urges the 112th Congress to make this possible by permanently extending the Non‐Minister Religious Worker Visa Program.
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text:
Where Did Naugahyde Come From?
Well, actually it could be argued that it started in Newburg NY. The Fabrikoid Company was a small textile business in the Hudson Valley that had been working on creating artificial leather materials, particularly for use in the carriage and luggage trade and the growing automotive market. Leather, of course, was used throughout human history for clothing, shelter, tools and many other purposes including upholstery and footwear. People had tried to create synthetic versions of the versatile material but it wasn't until the Industrial Revolution that some promising developments came into being.
Fabrikoid chemists realized that a more robust, less expensive alternative for leather would open huge markets and in 1908 the company developed a synthetic leather that consisted of a nitrocellulose coating (called pyroxylin) on cotton that was strong and flexible and could be colored with pigments suspended in castor oil. The material could be pressed with various patterns that simulated leather grain. It worked pretty well, was non-cracking and highly resistant to water, wind and sun damage. Fabrikoid quickly found its way onto automobile tops and upholstery and luggage. Its success was noticed by the DuPont Company and in 1910 they purchased Fabrikoid for $1.2 million. Fabrikoid was the first non-explosive product made from nitrocellulose that DuPont produced and it led directly to the firm's organic chemistry product development.
DuPont continued to work on synthetic fabrics but directed attention to materials that included Nylon, Rayon and a host of others. Their last foray into artificial leather was Corfam, a material that was used in shoe manufacture in the 60s and was a marketing flop. The company made tremendous strides in the development of dyes and automotive paint products, however, letting other companies take up the challenge of creating an artificial leather material.
DuPont wasn't the only company working on synthetic leather. In 1936 chemists at the US Rubber Company's plant in Naugatuck, CT came up with a knit fabric backing coated with polyvinyl chloride (PVC) that was an excellent leather substitute. They named it Naugahyde, after the location at which it was developed. Naugahyde came into widespread use in the 50s and 60s and was seen everywhere in auto upholstery and household furniture.
The material was extremely tough, resistant to staining and sun damage and very stretchable, making it nearly ideal for automotive use. It became so well known that an advertising campaign from the late 60s featured a fictitious animal called the "Nauga," from which the skin was obtained. Unfortunately, the humorous campaign was taken seriously by some animal welfare groups and the company received hundreds of letters pleading with them not to slaughter innocent "naugas."
Naugahyde, now manufactured by the Uniroyal division of Michelin, still enjoys a huge market that is shared with its many imitators. The material isn't used to any great extent in automotive upholstery anymore, as manufacturers have largely turned to synthetic fabrics and real leather (a very lucrative optional extra).


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- Study at Deakin
- Campus life
- Industry and community
- About Deakin
Pure basic research is experimental or theoretical work which is undertaken primarily to acquire new knowledge without a specific application in view, and is carried out without looking for long term economic or social benefits other than the advancement of knowledge. It includes most humanities research.
Strategic basic research is experimental or theoretical work which is undertaken primarily to acquire new knowledge without a specific application in view, and is directed into specific broad ares in the expectation of useful discoveries. It provides the broad base of knowledge necessary for the solution of recognised practical problems.
Applied research is original work which is undertaken to acquire new knowledge with a specific practical application in view. Applied research is undertaken to determine possible uses for the findings of basic research or to determine new methods or ways of achieving some specific and pre-determined objective.
Experimental development is systematic work, using existing knowledge gained from research and/or practical experience, for the purpose of creating new or improved materials, products, devices, processes or services. In the social sciences, experimental development may be defined as the process of transferring knowledge gained through research into operational programs.


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SIPOC is a tool used to determine the inputs and outputs of a process.
SIPOC is an acronym and it stands for:
A SIPOC is created for a number of reasons including to:
Creating a SIPOC is simple. Draw the following grid on a flip-chart or white board:
With a team of process experts in the room, start asking questions such as those below. There may be overlap but the point is to get the conversation flowing and gather all of the required information. As the answers come in list them under the appropriate heading. As to 'Process' map this out at a high level, the key stages, five to seven steps is best.
An easy way to get the conversation flowing is to use open ended questions. The 5 Whys and the 5Ws and 1H are ideal tools to use here.
In This Section:
For all enquiries please get in touchContact Us


text:
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, IPA has launched Research for Effective COVID-19 Responses, or RECOVR. Through this effort, IPA is generating rigorous evidence, advising governments, and bringing together partners across the research-to-policy sector to rapidly provide decision-makers with rigorous data and evidence to mitigate the impacts of the crisis.
We would like to acknowledge the Global Poverty Research Lab (GPRL) for their support and the Yale Research Initiative on Innovation and Scale (Y-RISE) for their partnership in this effort.
IPA's RECOVR Impact Goals
To equip decision-makers in vulnerable contexts with timely data, evidence, and analysis to:
Reduce COVID-19 transmission rates
Improve social-safety net responses
Build resilient and adaptable businesses and employment opportunities
Keep children safe, healthy, and learning
Improve women's health, safety, and economic empowerment
Build resilience and protect the financial health of families and individuals
Promote peace and safety, and improve humanitarian response
How we are achieving our RECOVR impact goals
Rapid Response Surveys to Answer Critical Policy Questions (8+ countries)
- The RECOVR survey: IPA has built a rapid response panel survey to directly inform key government partners on the health, economic, and social ramifications of the pandemic, and will be running it in eight countries to start. The survey is meant to document real-time trends of policy concern and inform decision-makers about the communities that are hardest-hit by the pandemic. Learn more here.
- The COVID-19 Economic Impact Surveys, a joint effort with the International Growth Centre, is measuring the economic impact of the crisis on a variety of agents, such as large companies, SMEs, informal and micro businesses, self-employed people, workers, and farmers in lowand middle-income countries. Learn more here.
A Portfolio of IPA Studies to Generate Rigorous Evidence on COVID-19 (80+ studies)
- We are rapidly developing more than 80 new individual evaluations related to the COVID-19 response. Some build on existing studies to answer how existing programs under evaluation are impacting people's ability to cope with the pandemic.
- Others are new studies that have been quickly developed to inform the design of new programs aimed at mitigating the impacts of the crisis on health, livelihoods, learning, and other outcomes.
A Global Hub that Centralizes Research and Policy Lessons (100+ projects)
- We are collaborating with peer organizations to centralize and share research, resources, and funding opportunities to inform global stakeholders and advocate for more funding to be allocated to economic responses, especially in the global south.
Advising Governments on Evidence-Based Approaches
- Over the last five years, we have partnered with dozens of ministries in over 15 countries. Almost every partner we have (and new partnerships we have just formed) has urgent requests for data needs and evidence-informed advice.
- For example, with Y-RISE, CEGA, and researchers, we are advising the government's social protection responses in Bangladesh, Ghana, Nigeria, and Togo. And we are supporting education system distance learning responses in Ghana, Peru, Rwanda, and Zambia.
Research-on-Research to Strengthen the Quality of Remote Data Collection
- Evaluating different methods and ways of conducting phone surveys
- Hub for data-gathering world: lessons for phone banking in low-income countries
- Evidence synthesis and 'how-to' guidance on phone survey methods (Coming soon!)


Saturday, April 09, 2011
Clojure: State Management
Those unfamiliar with Clojure are often interested in how you manage changing state within your applications. If you've heard a few things about Clojure but haven't really looked at it, I wouldn't be surprised if you thought it was impossible to write a "real" application with Clojure since "everything is immutable". I've even heard a developer that I respect make the mistake of saying: we're not going to use Clojure because it doesn't handle state well.
Clearly, state management in Clojure is greatly misunderstood.
I actually had a hard time not calling this blog entry "Clojure, it's about state". I think state shapes Clojure more than any other influence; it's the core of the language (as far as I can tell). Rich Hickey has clearly spent a lot of time thinking about state - there's an essay at which describes common problems with a traditional approach to state management and Clojure's solutions.
Rich's essay does a good job of succinctly discussing his views on state; you should read it before you continue with this entry. The remainder of this entry will give examples of how you can manage state using Clojure's functions.
At the end of Rich's essay he says:
In the local case, since Clojure does not have mutable local variables, instead of building up values in a mutating loop, you can instead do it functionally with recur or reduce.
Before we get to reduce, let's start with the simplest example. You have an array of ints and you want to double each integer. In a language with mutable state you can loop through the array and build a new array with each integer doubled.
result.add(nums[i] * 2);
In Clojure you would build the new array by calling the map function with a function that doubles each value. (I'm using Clojure 1.2)
user=> (map (fn [i] (* i 2)) [1 2 3])
(2 4 6)
If you're new to Clojure there's a few things worth mentioning. "user=>" is a REPL prompt. You enter some text and hit enter and the text is evaluated. If you've completed the list (closed the parenthesis), the results of evaluating that list will be printed to the following line.
I remember what I thought the first time I looked at a lisp, and I know the code might not look like readable code, so here's a version that breaks up a few of the concepts and might make it easier to digest the example.
user=> (defn double-int [i] (* i 2))
user=> (def the-array [1 2 3])
user=> (map double-int the-array)
(2 4 6)
In the first Clojure example you call the fn function to create an anonymous function, that was then passed to the map function (to be applied to each element of the array). The map function is a high order function that can take an anonymous function (example 1) or a named function (double-int, example 2). In Clojure (def...) is a special form that allows you to define a var and defn is a function that allows you to easily define a function and assign it to a var. The syntax for defn is pretty straightforward, the first argument is the name, the second argument is the argument list of the new function, and any additional forms are the body of the function you are defining.
Once you get used to Clojure's syntax you can even have a bit of fun with your function naming that might result in concise and maintainable code.
user=> (defn *2 [i] (* 2 i))
user=> (map *2 [1 2 3])
(2 4 6)
but, I digress.
Similarly, you may want to sum the numbers from an array.
result += nums[i];
You can achieve goal of reducing an array to a single value in Clojure using the reduce function.
user=> (reduce + [1 2 3])
Clojure has several functions that allow you to create new values from existing values, which should be enough to solve any problem where you would traditionally use local mutable variables.
For non-local mutable state you generally have 3 options: atoms, refs, and agents.
When I started programming in Clojure, atoms were my primary choice for mutable state. Atoms are very easy to use and only require that you know a few functions to interact with them. Let's assume we're building a trading application that needs to keep around the current price of Apple. Our application will call our apple-price-update function when a new price is received and we'll need to keep that price around for (possible) later usage. The example below shows how you can use an atom to track the current price of Apple.
user=> (def apple-price (atom nil))
user=> (defn update-apple-price [new-price] (reset! apple-price new-price))
user=> _USER_-price
user=> (update-apple-price 300.00)
user=> _USER_-price
user=> (update-apple-price 301.00)
user=> (update-apple-price 302.00)
user=> _USER_-price
The above example demonstrates how you can create a new atom and reset its value with each price update. The reset! function sets the value of the atom synchronously and returns its new value. You can also query the price of apple at any time using @ (or deref).
If you're coming from a Java background the example above should be the easiest to relate to. Each time we call the update-apple-price function our state is set to a new value. However, atoms provide much more value than simply being a variable that you can reset.
You may remember the following example from Java Concurrency in Practice.
public class UnsafeSequence {
private int value;
* Returns a unique value.
public int getNext() {
return value++;
The book explains why this could cause potential problems.
The problem with UnsafeSequence is that with some unlucky timing, two threads could call getNext and receive the same value. The increment notation, nextValue++, may appear to be a single operation, but is in fact three separate operations: read the value, add one to it, and write out the new value. Since operations in multiple threads may be arbitrarily interleaved by the runtime, it is possible for two threads to read the value at the same time, both see the same value, and then both add one to it. The result is that the same sequence number is returned from multiple calls in different threads.
We could write a get-next function using a Clojure atom and the same race condition would not be a concern.
user=> (def uniq-id (atom 0))
user=> (defn get-next [] (swap! uniq-id inc))
user=> (get-next)
user=> (get-next)
The above code demonstrates the result of calling get-next multiple times (the inc function just adds one to the value passed in). Since we aren't in a multithreaded environment the example isn't exactly breathtaking; however, what's actually happening under the covers is described very well on -
Also, remember that changes to atoms are synchronous, so our get-next function will never return the same value twice.
(note: while Java already provides an AtomicInteger class for handling this issue - that's not the point. The point of the example is to show that an Atom is safe to use across threads.)
If you're truly interested in verifying that an atom is safe across threads, The Joy of Clojure provides the following snippet of code (as well as a wonderful explanation of all things Clojure, including mutability).
(import '(java.util.concurrent Executors))
(def *pool* (Executors/newFixedThreadPool
(+ 2 (.availableProcessors (Runtime/getRuntime)))))
(defn dothreads [f & {thread-count :threads exec-count :times :or {thread-count 1 exec-count 1}}]
(dotimes [t thread-count]
(.submit *pool* #(dotimes [_ exec-count] (f)))))
(def ticks (atom 0))
(defn tick [] (swap! ticks inc))
(dothreads tick :threads 1000 :times 100)
_USER_ ;=> 100000
There you have it, 1000 threads updated ticks 100 times without issue.
Atoms work wonderfully when you want to insure atomic updates to an individual piece of state; however, it probably wont be long before you find yourself wanting to coordinate some type of state update. For example, if you're running an online store, when a customer cancels an order the order is either active or cancelled; however, the order should never be active and cancelled. If you were to keep a set of active orders and a set of cancelled orders, you would never want to have an order be in both sets at the same time. Clojure addresses this issue by using refs. Refs are similar to atoms, but they also participate in coordinated updates.
The following example shows the cancel-order function moving an order-id from the active orders set into the cancelled orders set.
user=> (def active-orders (ref #{2 3 4}))
user=> (def cancelled-orders (ref #{1}))
user=> (defn cancel-order [id]
(commute active-orders disj id)
(commute cancelled-orders conj id)))
user=> (cancel-order 2)
#{1 2}
user=> _USER_-orders
#{3 4}
user=> _USER_-orders
#{1 2}
As you can see from the example, we're moving an order id from active to cancelled. Again, our REPL session doesn't show the power of what's


Can an employee also be a volunteer at our organization?
 1. The work must be at the employee's initiative.
 2. The work must be outside normal or regular work hours.
 3. The employee must be performing a religious, charitable or other community service without contemplation of payment.
 4. The employee must be performing a task outside of the regular job functions performed for the same employer.
Source: Bureau of Labor and Industries


text:
- Press Release
- September 25, 2022
Coastlines of the Southern Baltic Sea
Coastlines of the southern Baltic Sea are featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 40 crew member on the International Space Station.
The crew photographed this panorama looking aft (back along the orbital path) of the spacecraft as the sun was setting over the North Sea. Seen from the space station, the sun's reflection point moves quickly across the landscape, momentarily lighting up water bodies. In this fleeting view the coast of southern Norway is outlined near the horizon.
The strongest reflection of the sun highlights the narrow sea passage known as the Skagerrak–revealing the thin tip of Denmark. Numerous small lakes in southern Sweden appear at center, and scattered clouds cast complex shadows on the southern Baltic Sea. The sweeping curves of the sand spit on the Polish coast, and the long barrier islands on the Russian coast appear in the foreground at the edge of the sun's reflection disc.


People in Goa are called Goans. By profession most people of Goa are fishermen. People of Goa are very co-operative and inherit a mingling of cultures, traditions and life-styles.
Language and religions
Goa is famously known for its New Year's celebrations and the Goan carnival is also an attraction attracting a large number of tourists. Some of the most popular celebrations of Goa are Ganesh Chaturthi, Diwali, and Christmas. A mix of Hindu, Christian or Muslim religion is seen here.
Languages spoken in Goa are Konkani and Marathi. Whereas most of the people in Goa can speak English and Hindi and it is a multi-lingual state. The various languages used in Goa are English, Portuguese, Konkani, Hindi and Marathi. And Konkani, is the official language of Goa.
The staple diet in Goa is rice with fish curry. The cuisine of Goa is known for its wide varieties of fish dishes cooked with elaborate recipes. The common ingredients used in Goan food are coconut, coconut oil, chili peppers, spices and vinegar adding a unique flavor to the food. Khatkhate is a very popular dish during the celebrations of festivals in Goa. A rich egg-based multi-layered sweet dish known as bebinca is a favourite during the Christmas.
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text:
Models of hygienic sanitary appliances, England, 1895
It's 1895 and Charles Campbell, a member of the Sanitary Institute, has designed and arranged this cabinet for lectures on hygiene and sanitary science – but who is attending such talks? Sanitary Inspectors employed to check and report on the state of hygiene in their neighbourhood are the most likely audience. It was an essential part of their training, in preparation for examinations held by the Sanitary Institute and other public health associations. Women gained the sanitary officer's certificate as often as men. In the mid-1890s, Hilda Martindale attended lectures at the Sanitary Institute, passed the examination, and went on to study public health and hygiene at Bedford College, London. What were her career prospects? She worked as a factory inspector for more than thirty years, becoming Deputy Chief Inspector in 1925. It's possible Hilda Martindale was taught using this or a similar cabinet, so what's inside? It has three layers of miniature water supply and sewerage fittings, sanitary appliances such as toilets and wash basins, and equipment relating to the ventilation of buildings. Best practice could be demonstrated, but the cabinet also contains items showing incorrect or defective fittings posing a hazard to health. Similar exhibits were found in the Parkes Museum, founded in 1876 as a memorial to military hygiene reformer Edmund Alexander Parkes. What was its role? It aimed to educate and inform the general householder and building tradespeople, complementing the work of the Sanitary Institute (with which it merged in 1888) to raise standards of public health.
Related Themes and Topics
There are 583 related objects. View all related objects
The science of health and how to maintain it. A condition or practice which promotes good health. The definition varies widely and differs across cultures.
Glossary: model - representation
Use for a scaled representation of an object or structure, usually three-dimensional. The item is often idealised or modified to make it conceptually easier to understand.
Glossary: sewerage pipe
Glossary: hygiene model


יובל קוג'מן (Yuval Kogman) > Data-UUID-LibUUID-0.05 > Data::UUID::LibUUID
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Module Version: 0.05 Source
Data::UUID::LibUUID - uuid.h based UUID generation (versions 2 and 4 depending on platform)
 use Data::UUID::LibUUID;
 my $uuid = new_uuid_string();
This module provides bindings for libuuid shipped with e2fsprogs or uuid-dev on debian, and also works with the system uuid.h on darwin.
new_uuid_string $version
new_uuid_binary $version
Returns a new UUID in string (dash separated hex) or binary (16 octets) format.
$version can be either 2, or 4 and defaults to whatever the underlying implementation prefers.
Version 1 is timestamp/MAC based UUIDs, like Data::UUID provides. They reveal time and host information, so they may be considered a security risk.
Version 2 is described here _URL_ It is similar to version 1 but considered more secure.
Version 4 is based just on random data. This is not guaranteed to be high quality random data, but usually is supposed to be.
On MacOS X getpid is called before UUID generation, to ensure UUIDs are unique accross forks. Behavior on other platforms may vary.
uuid_to_binary $str_or_bin
Converts a UUID from string or binary format to binary format.
Returns undef on a non UUID argument.
uuid_to_string $str_or_bin
Converts a UUID from string or binary format to string format.
Returns undef on a non UUID argument.
uuid_eq $str_or_bin, $str_or_bin
Checks if two UUIDs are equivalent. Returns true if they are, or false if they aren't.
Returns undef on non UUID arguments.
uuid_compare $str_or_bin, $str_or_bin
Returns -1, 0 or 1 depending on the lexicographical order of the UUID. This works like the cmp builtin.
Returns undef on non UUID arguments.
These two subroutines are a little hackish in that they take no arguments but also do not validate the arguments, so they can be abused as methods:
 package MyFoo;
 use Data::UUID::LibUUID (
 new_dce_uuid_string => { -as "generate_uuid" },
 sub yadda {
 my $self = shift;
 my $id = $self->generate_uuid;
This allows the ID generation code to be subclassed, but still keeps the hassle down to a minimum. DCE is UUID version two specification.
Creates a lexically ascending identifier containing a UUID, high resolution timestamp, and a counter.
This is not a UUID (it's longer), but if you can store variable length identifier (and exposing the system clock is not an issue) they can be used to create an identifier that is both universally unique, and lexically increasing.
Note that while the identifiers are universally unique, there is no universal ordering (that would require synchronization), so identifiers generated on different machines or even different process/thread could have IDs which interleave.
Data::GUID, Data::UUID, UUID, _URL_
Yuval Kogman
 Copyright (c) 2008 Yuval Kogman. All rights reserved
 This program is free software; you can redistribute
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text:
Philippine Historical Landmarks
The Historical Events knowledge database discusses the list of significant episodes in Philippine History. In relation to this, the country has hundreds of locations remembered for their historical relevance, and as such are called Historical Landmarks.
A landmark is defined as a position of a prominent or well-known object in a certain area or location. However, for the purpose of this knowledge database, by landmarks we mean "a building or any kind of structure known for its historical significance." Our list includes sites of battles, national shrines (e.g. ancestral house of prominent historical personalities), churches and places of worship, fortifications, military camps, among many others.
This knowledge database aims to generate recognition among the people of the many historical sites in the Philippines. They are not just tourist attractions; more importantly, they serve as fitting tribute to the momentous events that occurred and the people who took part in these defining moments of Philippine history. In addition, the Historical Landmark category advocates the protection and preservation of these historical and cultural sites as part of the country's heritage. In the process of appreciating these historical landmarks, there is also a heightening awareness of the Filipino national identity.
Below are some of the historical landmarks in the Philippines classified by geographical region:
(to access the knowledge database on the Philippine Historical Landmarks, click Historical Landmarks link)
Region I - Ilocos Region
Region II - Cagayan Valley
Cordillera Administrative Region
Region III - Central Luzon
Region IV A - CALABARZON
Region IV B - MIMARO
National Capital Region
Region V - Bicol Region
Region VI - Western Visayas
Region VII - Central Visayas
Region VIII - Eastern Visayas
Region IX - Zamboanga Peninsula
Region X - Northern Mindanao
Region XI - Davao Region
Region XII - SOCCSKSARGEN
Region XIII - Caraga
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao


text:
Definition of pluck :
1. Especially, to pull with sudden force or effort, or to pull off or out from something, with a twitch; to twitch; also, to gather, to pick; as, to pluck feathers from a fowl; to pluck hair or wool from a skin; to pluck grapes.
2. Spirit; courage; indomitable resolution; fortitude.
3. The act of plucking, or the state of being plucked, at college. See Pluck, v. t., 4.
4. The act of plucking; a pull; a twitch.
5. The heart, liver, and lights of an animal.
6. The lyrie.
7. To make a motion of pulling or twitching; - usually with at; as, to pluck at one's gown.
8. To pull; to draw.
9. To reject at an examination for degrees.
10. To strip of, or as of, feathers; as, to pluck a fowl.
piece, negociate, pull in, bustle about, bring, tweak, pull off, pat, gather up, bone, cabbage, range, extract, plank, turn over, blend, shoot, purloin, hock, pilfer, baton, dress, preen, rob, rive, heroics, beat out, plump, roll, accompany, overstretch, walk, attract, roam, lift, dive, swan, souse, pull out, filch, draw away, fine-tune, plop, displume, pick off, atmospherics, stray, articulation, pride, blanch, hook, rip, clump, crochet, roll out, guts, snatch, snitch, blast away, pick up, wheel, draw out, nobble, commit, cull, tear, swipe, deplume, intestinal fortitude, wrest, safety razor, bustle, accost, fish out, root for, cast, fiber, snarf, break up, revolve, overload, gallantry, get out, shave, cop, wrench, overcharge, draw off, rove, tug, grittiness, pinch, plonk, flap, gazump, plume, imbue, clop, draw in, drive, surcharge, drift, depilatory, hit it up, nobility, wind, bring off, wrap, butcher, addict, stroke, manage, bravado, hustle, chill, bust, graze, plunge, rupture, draw, pull up, perpetrate, constancy, beat, glom, haul, abstract, wander, bake, razor, sop, seethe, sneak, conduct, force, rend, ramble, haul off, intoxicate, shear, bikini line, drench, foot, escort, shepherd, twine, plunk, pluckiness, jerk, roll up, tramp, pull, brush, fleece, nibble, charge, buck, thieve, carve, blame, gutsiness, clunk, peck, deliver, shave off, clean, butter, aftershave, pawn, take out, vagabond, inebriate, deplumate, handle, douse, back, carry off, feel, soak, arrange, butchery, congratulate, come, lead, yank, shoot down, undulate, touch, find fault, snare, put in, dowse, primp, knock off, plunk down, electrolysis, solicit, plump down, bang out, beak, pick, snap, blast, flump, wave
bravery (part of speech: noun)
resolution (part of speech: noun)
grit, resolution, tenacity, steadfastness, toughness, fervency, devotion, perseverance, stubbornness, bullheadedness, tirelessness, heartiness, persistence, headstrongness, decisiveness, stamina, diligence, stoniness, indomitability, faithfulness, indefatigability, trueness, determination, dauntlessness, staunchness
courage (part of speech: noun)
- If I admire Rod, with his constant driving action, his indomitable pluck, his simple but tremendous belief in the importance of what he has undertaken to do, that's my own affair. - "The Front Yard", Constance Fenimore Woolson.
- If pluck will make you win, I am sure you will carry it through, but if at first you don't succeed, try, try again; and if you haven't the money, I'll supply the capital. - "Jennie Baxter, Journalist", Robert Barr.
- Though he had been found out, he still felt himself to be master of the situation; and with every minute's grace his pluck returned to him. - "The Red Rat's Daughter", Guy Boothby.