Overview of "Elephant's time and mouse's time"
Overview of "Elephant's time and mouse's time"
I will introduce about the Japanese book "Elephant's time and mouse's time (Zou no zikan nezumi no zikan)" It is written in Japanese only. If you can read Japanese book, so you should read this book. I wrote an overview for those who read with using dictionary.
Introduction "Elephant's time and mouse's time"
Is time feeling of elephant and mouse different?
Elephant is much bigger than mouse. So, the recognition of the same thing differs between both animals. A flat road for an elephant can be a bumpy road for a mouse. Furthermore, the author says that if they experience same time, but the time span they feel is can be different. There are two reasons.
1. The more weight of a mammal, the slower their beat of the heart and the lower the breathing frequency. So the larger the animal, the less dull the activity itself.
2. In mammals, all animals beat their heart about 2 billion times in their life time.
Although their lifespan is different, each mammals' feeling lifetime might be same.
Is there a limit on the number of heartbeat?
This book doesn't say there is a limit of heart beating times. It only says that mammals die on about 2 billion times heart beating. The cause of death includes predation or disease etc. 2 billion times when the heart beats, human beings are about 50 years old. (Calculated heart beating frequency: 80/min) The average lifetime of modern Japanese people exceeds 80 years old.
I think we should carefully live added life time span (30 years) that human beings grabbed themselves due to the development of medicine, improvement of hygiene environment, change of diet and so on.
The book I introduced this time is a good book that we can understand without science knowledge. This book is written about not only mammals but also insects and etc.


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Energy transfer performance of mechanical nanoresonators coupled with electromagnetic fields
© Javaheri et al.; licensee Springer. 2012
Received: 23 July 2012
Accepted: 6 September 2012
Published: 17 October 2012
We study the energy transfer performance in electrically and magnetically coupled mechanical nanoresonators. Using the resonant scattering theory, we show that magnetically coupled resonators can achieve the same energy transfer performance as for their electrically coupled counterparts or even outperform them within the scale of interest. Magnetic and electric coupling are compared in the nanotube radio, a realistic example of a nano-scale mechanical resonator. The energy transfer performance is also discussed for a newly proposed bio-nanoresonator composed of magnetosomes coated with a net of protein fibers.
KeywordsNanoresonators Magnetic nanoparticles Magnetosomes Energy transfer Nanotube radio
Mechanical nanoresonators exhibit resonance behavior involving the mechanical vibrations of the system elements. The natural frequencies of such resonances will, generally, be in the radio frequency range. Nano-scale mechanical resonators coupled with electromagnetic fields have been receiving significant attention recently [1–3]. The ability to interact with electromagnetic fields allow such resonators to be essential parts of nano-scale systems. Imaging, sensing, and targeted actuation in nano-scale are among several emerging technologies that rely on efficient energy and information transfer.
In principle, nanoresonators may couple to electromagnetic fields by the charge distributions (electric coupling) or by the magnetic moment they carry (magnetic coupling). Traditionally, the energy transfer via electric coupling has received more attention since materials are mostly transparent to the magnetic field. Also, magnetic field intensity in electromagnetic radiations is significantly smaller than the electric field. Consequently, magnetic coupling of mechanical resonators with electromagnetic radiations becomes impractical unless the size of the system significantly decreases. A desirable magnetic coupling, however, can be achieved if the coupling occurs within the near-field range. Take the example of a mechanical nanoresonator operating in a biological environment. In this case, magnetic coupling holds important advantages over electric coupling. First, magnetically coupled systems can provide more selective and localized energy transfer that is due to the fact that magnetic fields, unlike electric fields, couple weakly with non-targeted surrounding media, which are often not magnetic [5, 6]. Therefore, magnetic signals suffer from considerably less attenuations while propagating in the surrounding biological media and can drive a targeted resonator inaccessible to electric signals with the same level of energy. In addition, magnetic dipoles are normally more stable than electric dipoles and do not require significant energy from outside to maintain their state.
This work revisits the interactions of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields with mechanical nanoresonators. In particular, we are interested in the quantitative assessment of the energy transfer in such nanoresonators. We use the same methodology presented by Hamam et al. and focus on low-dissipation conditions that permit resonance. The feasibility of achieving such conditions has been demonstrated in the literature [1, 8]. The outline of this paper is as follows. We first present a general model for mechanical nanoresonators including electric and magnetic coupling mechanisms and describe the dynamics of the model. Then, we compare the resonant energy transfer performance of the resonator for electric and magnetic coupling using resonant scattering theory. Finally, we sketch a roadmap for a new nanoresonator composed of a magnetite nanoparticle embedded in a net of protein fibers.
A resonance can be achieved if.
Here, θ = x/L is the angular displacement, I ≅ m L2 is the system's second moment of inertia, κ ≅ k L2 is the rotational spring constant of the cantilever, and ψ is the stochastic torque caused by the thermal noise. For the magnetic coupling,, while in the case of the electric coupling.
One can think of U as the energy capacity of the resonator. An important observation is that U scales with Q2.
Note that the energy absorbed by the resonator over the relaxation time matches the resonator energy capacity. In general, the calculation of the force (or torque) exerted on the nanoresonator through electromagnetic coupling is not straightforward. As an alternative approach, one can use scattering theory [7, 11], which allows to work with fluxes instead of forces, to estimate the energy deposited on the resonant system. The two approaches are equivalent since our theoretical model is solely based on dipole-dipole interactions. In the next section, we will use this more convenient method to study the resonant energy transfer.
Resonant scattering analysis
Qa is obtained from the steady state solution.
which confirms that the energy deposited scales as Q2/k.
In our first example, we compare the energy transfer performance of the magnetic and electric coupling in the nanotube radio, a realistic example of a mechanical nanoresonator. We replace the electric dipole of the nanotube tip with a magnetic dipole in the form of spherical magnetite nanoparticle. According to the original study, a nanotube radio built from a cylindrical carbon nanotube of length L ≈ 1 μ m holding a net charge of q = 200 e− absorbs an amount of energy enough to detect radio signals from the electromagnetic radiation. To achieve the same amount of energy deposit, the magnetic moment of the replacement tip should be in the order of μ ≈ qLc = 9.6 × 10−15 Am2, which can be obtained by placing a magnetite nanoparticle of radius R approximately 160 nm.
In order to achieve higher quality factor, the nanoresonator should experience smaller viscous resistance. For instance, one can reduce drag forces in the system by coating the magnetite nanoparticle with hydrophobic proteins or lipids. In this case, the hydrophobic coat acts as a lubricant [19, 20]. In a more sophisticated design, a multi-layer shell of hydrophobic proteins may be used to engulf the nanoresonator and repel water molecules. In order to aggressively reduce the rotational friction, the nanoresonator could be packed in an inorganic shell that completely excludes the system from the cytoplasm. The elastic protein fibers may be replaced by synthetic nanowires or nanotubes with carefully designed rigidity. For example, del Barco et al. have demonstrated the possibility to have free rotation of magnetic nanoparticle embedded in a solid matrix.
Assuming that high quality factor, Q = 100, can be achieved, one finds that an AC magnetic field of intensity B = 3.5mT, generating an electromagnetic flux of 10 W/m2, deposits a significant amount of energy ΔU = 2,500kBT into the system over the resonance relaxation time. Since this field intensity is well below the coercivity field of the nanoparticle [15, 16], we neglect the energy losses via magnetic reversal. If this energy was entirely manifested as heat, the temperature of the magnetosome would be increased by 0.5°C during the relaxation time τ = 0.1μ s. As shown in Figure 3, Q = 10corresponds to ω0 = 66MHz, in air (η = 10−5Pa.s), while the same quality factor can be achieved at frequencies as low as about 1 MHz if the viscosity can be reduced by a factor of 100 compared to air. Magnetically coupled mechanical nanoresonators with high quality factor show good energy transfer performance while being tunable and may be useful in frequency selective heat production in the biological environment. The important contribution of mechanical motions in magnetic hypothermia has been experimentally shown in ; however, these applications have not yet benefited from the resonant energy transfer since their quality factors are well below one.
In conclusion, we have shown that carefully engineered magnetically coupled nanoresonators can match the energy transfer performance of its electrically coupled counterpart, while providing a more selective and robust interaction in biological environments. We have used a unifying framework of resonant energy transfer for electrically coupled and magnetically coupled mechanical nanoresonators and compared the performance for the two couplings. Our analysis suggests that if the interacting electric dipole of a small electrically coupled resonator is replaced by a magnetic dipole, a comparable amount of energy can still be deposited on the system. We have considered the example of nanotube radio, and we have shown that the strength of electromagnetic coupling remains the same using a magnetite nanoparticle of radius 160 nm instead of the charged tip. We have proposed a new resonator composed of magnetosomes embedded in a net of protein fibers and analyzed its energy transfer performance. We have discussed possible pathways to further improve the quality factor of the resonator. While this article focuses on quantitative aspect of energy transfer, our work also opens up new interesting questions on how to use efficient energy channels to transmit information to a nano-scale device or organism. Characterizing the transmission of information and the channel capacity will be discussed in future studies.
We would like to thank Professor Mark Dykman for his important suggestions and enlightening comments. We also thank the participants of NSF Workshop on Biologically-enabled Wireless Networks for stimulating discussions. This work is supported in part by the National Science Foundation under grant number NSF CNS-_PHONE_ and the US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences with contract numbers DE-FG02-07ER46352 and DE-FG02-08ER46540 (CMSN), and benefited from allocation of computer time at the NERSC and NU-ASCC computation centers.
- Jensen K, Weldon J, Garcia H, Zettl A: Nanotube radio. Nano lett 2007,

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


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Print version ISSN _PHONE_
Revista Mexicana de Investigación Educativa (RMIE), is a peer-reviewed academic journal published since 1996 by Consejo Mexicano de Investigación Educativa, as the scientific association of Mexican educational researchers. Appears on a quarterly basis since 1999 and since July 2002 has an electronic version. Since 2001 it is included in the Índice de Revistas Mexicanas de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica of the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT). RMIE aims to contribute to the strengthening of educational research, for what pretends to be a national and Latin American forum of convergence for research on various disciplinary fields, educational levels and modalities; address both long-standing research issues as well as those emerging ones; point out the gaps in national and regional production and possible lines of work not sufficiently developed by researchers; discuss and argue different positions on theoretical and methodological issues in the field of education, and contribute to the dissemination and establishment of quality standards in the products of educational research.


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The copy pattern allows you to copy an object and then edit the newly created object.
There are 4 use cases for copying an object:
- The object to be copied is part of the current table.
- The object to be copied is not part of the current table (for example, because it has been approved).
- The object to be copied is a template.
- The whole object is to be copied, for example, from an object page within a master-detail-detail view (flexible column layout).
For use cases 1–3, place the Copy function (a transparent button) in the relevant toolbar (for example, above the form or table control).
For use case 4, place the Copy function in the header toolbar of the object page (global actions). For more information about the interaction, read about the flexible column layout.
Behavior and Interaction
This section describes the interaction flow of the copy pattern for different use cases.
1) The copied object is part of the current table.
The user selects an item to be copied. Multiselection is not possible. Clicking the Copy button takes the user to the details page.
2 + 3) The copied object is not part of the current table or is to be copied from a template.
When the user clicks the Copy button, an action sheet appears. The user can choose one of three actions: Copy, Copy from Object, or Copy from Template. You can also choose to show only one or two of these actions to the user.
When the user selects Copy from Object or Copy from Template, a dialog appears prompting the user to choose an object or a template. When the user chooses one of these and clicks the Create button, the details page appears.
4) The copied object is located in the details view (flexible column layout)
The user selects the item to be copied from the master view, for instance list report or worklist. The Copy button appears in the header toolbar of the object page within the first details view. Clicking the Copy button takes the user to edit mode of the new item within the second details view of the flexible column layout, also known as master details details mode.
Want to dive deeper? Follow the links below to find out more about related controls, the SAPUI5 implementation, and the visual design.


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S7 Technical Assistance
Eastern prairie fringed orchid (Platanthera leucophaea)
Determining whether eastern prairie fringed orchid (Platanthera leucophaea) may be present in a proposed project area in the following northeastern Illinois counties: Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will.
|Photo by Mike Redmer
As part of Step 1 of the S7 process, you checked the Illinois species list and found that eastern prairie fringed orchid is present in the county where your proposed project is located. The next step is to determine whether eastern prairie fringed orchid "may be present" in the action area of your proposed project. Below is guidance to help you make that determination.
Habitat: The eastern prairie fringed orchid (orchid) occurs in a wide variety of habitats, from wet to mesic prairie or wetland communities, including, but not limited to sedge meadow, fen, marsh, or marsh edge. It can occupy a very wide moisture gradient of prairie and wetland vegetation. It requires full sun for optimal growth and flowering, which ideally would restrict it to grass and sedge dominated plant communities. However, in some plant communities where there are encroaching species such as cattail and/or dogwood, the orchid may be interspersed or within the edge zones of these communities and thus can sometimes occur in partially shaded areas. The substrate of the sites where this orchid occurs include glacial soils, lake plain deposits, muck, or peat which could range from more or less neutral to mildly calcareous (Bowles et al. 2005, USFWS 1999). In some cases, the species may also occur along ditches or roadways where this type of habitat is present.
Processes that maintain habitats in early or mid-successional phases may be important in providing the sunny, open conditions required by the orchid (USFWS 1999). Sedge meadow and marsh habitats that support this orchid are usually earlyor midsuccessional because of past grazing, drainage, or soil disturbance. Patch disturbances that expose the soil to this orchid's seeds, and reduce competition from established plants, may be needed for seedling establishment.
Hawkmoths are the pollinators of this orchid species. In Illinois the hawkmoth, Sphinx eremitus is a confirmed pollinator although there may be others. Eumorpha pandorus and Eumorpha achemon have been confirmed as pollinators in other states. Host plants for the caterpillars of Sphinx eremitus include various species of beebalm (Monarda spp.), mints (Mentha spp.), bugleweed (Lycopus spp.) and sage (Salvia spp.).
Follow the steps below to determine whether the eastern prairie fringed orchid may be present in the action area of your proposed project. This guidance is specific to Cook, Lake, McHenry, DuPage, Kane, and Will counties in northeastern Illinois.
1) Define the action area – all areas to be affected directly or indirectly by the Federal action and not just in the immediate area involved in the action. (For example: downstream areas, adjacent off-site wetlands, etc.)
2) Does the action area support any wet to mesic prairie or wetland
communities including, but not limited to sedge meadow, fen, or marsh edges?
If the answer is yes, go to number 3 (below). If the answer is no, conclude that "the eastern prairie fringed orchid is not present," document your finding for your records or provide this information to the federal action agency. No further consultation is required.
3) Conduct a floristic quality assessment for the proposed project site during the growing season or use a previous assessment that is not more than three years old and was conducted during the growing season.
4) If any wetland in the action area is determined to be high quality, (a Floristic Quality Index of 20 or greater and/or a Native Mean C of 3.5 or greater) proceed to number 5 (below) or contact the Chicago Field Office for further consultation.
Wetlands that are not high quality will not support eastern prairie fringed orchid. For those wetlands, conclude that "the eastern prairie fringed orchid is not present," document your finding for your records or provide this information to the federal action agency. No further consultation is required for those wetlands.
5) Compare the plant species list generated for each high quality wetland with our Associate Plant Species List for the Eastern Prairie Fringed Orchid. If four or more associates are listed, then proceed to number 6. If not, high quality wetlands that support three or less eastern prairie fringed orchid associate plant species are unlikely to support eastern prairie fringed orchids. Conclude that "the eastern prairie fringed orchid is not present" and document your finding for your records or provide this information to the federal action agency. No further consultation is necessary for those wetlands.
6) The eastern prairie fringed orchid may be present in your action area. You may either assume that the eastern prairie fringed orchid is present and proceed to Step 2 of the Section 7 Consultation Process or conduct a field search during the bloom date of the orchid; June 28 through July 11. Because northeastern Illinois orchid populations bloom sporadically rather than all plants blooming at the same time, searches should be conducted on a minimum of three non-consecutive days within this time period. Please notify the Chicago Field Office before conducting your survey.
7) If you assume that the eastern prairie fringed orchid may be present in the action area or a field search proves that the orchid is present, the next step in the S7 Consultation Process is to determine whether the proposed action may affect any eastern prairie fringed orchids. Go to Step 2 of the S7 Consultation Process to begin that determination.
Please contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Chicago Illinois Field Office if you for more information or if you have any questions.
Chicago Illinois Field Office
1250 South Grove, Suite 103
Barrington, Illinois 60010
Phone: 847/_PHONE_, ext. 20
1Swink, F. and G. Wilhelm. 1994. Plants of the Chicago Region, 4th ed. Indiana Academy of Science, Indianapolis. 921pp.
Step 1 of the Section 7 Process
Section 7 Technical Assistance

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


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- Strongly Support means you believe: Too few Americans have adequate health insurance. The government should make funds available for more complete coverage, or should expand existing government-run coverage to all citizens. A single-payer system would solve most healthcare problems.
- Support means you believe: The government should provide coverage or subsidize health insurance for at-risk groups such as children and the elderly. Society benefits when more people are covered. Universal health insurance is a good goal, although some market methods can work as well as government systems.
- Oppose means you believe: While more thorough health coverage is a noble
idea, further health coverage should be promoted through non-government means.
- Strongly Oppose means you believe: Nationalized health care would entail a government takeover of a large portion of the economy and undue intrusions into our personal medical histories.
Remove the federal government from the health care industry.
This question is looking for your views on how large a role the federal government should play in the health care industry. However you answer the above question would be similar to your response to these statements:
How do you decide between "Support" and "Strongly Support" when you agree with both the descriptions above? (Or between "Oppose" and "Strongly Oppose").
The strong positions are generally based on matters of PRINCIPLES where the regular support and oppose positions are based on PRACTICAL matters.
If you answer "No Opinion," this question is not counted in the VoteMatch answers for any candidate.
If you give a general answer of Support vs. Oppose, VoteMatch can more accurately match a candidate with your stand.
Don't worry so much about getting the strength of your answer exactly refined, or to think too hard about the exact wording of the question -- like candidates!
- Single-payer universal coverage
- Insure the millions of uninsured Americans
- Require coverage of all children
- Supported Obama's "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" (PPACA)
- Strongly Support means you believe in the principle of single-payer government-run healthcare.
- Support means you believe in practical progress toward universal health coverage.
- Oppose means you believe in practical progress towards healthcare availability via the free market.
- Strongly Oppose means you believe in the principle that government should not be involved with providing healthcare.
HMOs & MANAGED CARE
- 'ObamaCare' refers to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) of 2010, which reformed healthcare insurance with the goal of near-universal coverage.
- Critics refer to ObamaCare as socialized medicine -- which could mean the government runs the healthcare system, as in the United Kingdom, but more accurately in the United States means that the federal government mandates individual health coverage.
- Individual Mandate: The crux of the opposition to ObamaCare is whether the federal government can mandate that individuals purchase health insurance -- that will be tested in a Supreme Court case late in 2012.
- 'RomneyCare' refers to the Massachusetts state version of mandated healthcare initiated under Gov. Mitt Romney -- its principal difference being a STATE mandate instead of a FEDERAL mandate.
- Opponents of ObamaCare suggest replacing it with the following list of reforms: cross-state purchasing; tort reform; Health Savings Accounts; small business pooling; and transparency for better patient choice.
- Tort Reform refers to changing the rules about civil litigation, typically to cap damage awards. In a political context, it usually applies to medical malpractice lawsuits, but in a legal context, it also applies to personal injury and product liability lawsuits. The term "tort" means "at fault;" when a doctor is found at fault, a jury can currently award unlimited damages. Awards in the millions of dollars put upward pressure on malpractice insurance rates; hence many conservatives favor tort reform as a means to reduce healthcare costs. Proposed solutions include capping lawsuit compensation or restricting "frivolous lawsuits." Trial lawyers--the recipients of legal fees from tort awards--heavily favor Democratic candidates, so Republicans would like to limit their legal fees.
- The Supreme Court decided the case "National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius" on June 28, 2012, on the constitutionality of ObamaCare's individual mandate. Justices Roberts and Kennedy were very skeptical that the mandate was justified under the "commerce clause." But the government's lawyer made a strong case for the government's taxing power—that argument eventually won the day—because the mandate would be administered by the Internal Revenue Service, paid on your Form 1040 on April 15th. The president had argued that the mandate was not a tax; the court decided it was.
PATIENT'S BILL OF RIGHTS
- Prior to ObamaCare, comprehensive national health care reform had died in Congress in 1994 (after a report by a commission run by Hillary Clinton, hence the moniker "HillaryCare").
- 16% of Americans (42 million people) have no health insurance (and hence must pay for health services in full, or receive hospital charity).
- 14% of Americans receive some form of public health care or health insurance (70% have private health insurance).
- 20% of Americans are members of Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs).
Congress and the Presidential candidates are debating a 'Patient's Bill of Rights' which would establish rules of dealing with HMO managed care. The buzzwords in this debate are:
MEDICAID / MEDICARE
- External Appeal: Patients cannot currently appeal an HMO's decision to deny coverage, even if the HMO doctor agrees with the patient. The 'Bill of Rights' would establish some form of expert appeal board external to the HMO.
- Medical Necessity: At issue is whether the doctor or the HMO management determines what is necessary. Determination of 'necessity' may become subject to expert review as well, or it may become measured against established standards of 'generally accepted practices.'
- Legal Liability: Patients would be granted the right to sue HMOs for medical costs and damages, which is not a right under current law. Generally, liberals supoprt the right to sue HMOs while conservatives do not. This is the primary distinction between Republican and Democrat versions of Patient Bill of Rights proposals.
- Scope of Coverage: Some states regulate HMOs in ways similar to those described here; a 'Bill of Rights' could apply to them, to all HMOs, or to all patients.
- Prevention: Advocating prevention implies support for removing government from health care, or opposition to more federal health care funding or national insurance.
- Consumer Choice: Advocating consumer choice or reduction in healthcare bureaucracy implies support for removing government from health care, or opposition to national insurance.
- Medicare and Medicaid background is covered in the Social Security section (but quotations are cross-referenced here).
- The Supreme Court ruled unanimously in June 1997 that there is no constitutional right to euthanasia, but that states can allow euthanasia without federal intervention.
- 'Euthanasia' means 'good death' in the context of terminal illness. Buzzwords:
- Passive Euthanasia: Hastening death by withdrawing life support.
- Active Euthanasia: Causing death in response to a request from that person.
The best-known examples are by Dr. Jack Kevorkian, who was found guilty of 2nd degree murder in March 1999.
- Physician Assisted Suicide: A physician supplies information and/or the means of committing suicide so that a patient can easily terminate their own life.
- Involuntary Euthanasia: A synonym for murder; used by anti-euthanasia activists.
- Right to Die: Establishing suicide as a civil right; used by pro-euthanasia activists.
- The state of Oregon passed a Death With Dignity law, which was active until the federal Department of Justice reversed its enforcement policy in November 2001.
- In Nov. 1998, 46 states settled the cases they had filed against the tobacco companies.
(The other 4 states had previously settled, on similar terms)
- Now, the state legislatures are debating the best use of the settlement funds, which totals $246 billion to be paid over the next 25 years
($5 to $9 billion per year starting in April, 2000).


text: SCHEMA COERCION: USING DATABASE META-INFORMATION TO FACILITATE DATA TRANSFER by Terence Critchlow A dissertation submitted to the faculty of The University of Utah in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Computer Science The University of Utah June 1997 ABSTRACT As more information becomes available, the ability to quickly incorporate new and diverse data sources into existing database systems becomes critical. Schema coercion addresses this need by defining the mapping between databases as a collection of mappings between corresponding constructs. This work defines a comprehensive schema coercion tool: it transforms schemata into corresponding ER representations, identifies correspondences between them, and uses these correspondences to generate a program that automatically transfers data between the databases. In addition to creating a useful tool, this work addresses the significant theoretical problems associated with resolving representational and semantic conflicts between heterogeneous data sources. The approach advocated by this dissertation associates confidences with correspondences, and meta-information with schemata. This approach has successfully reduced the amount of interaction required to define several coercions, including a complex coercion between diverse genetics databases.


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Trans Atlantic Consumer Dialogue Resolution on Competition, Privacy and Consumer Welfare
Consumers benefit from the existence of competitive markets, in which they can freely choose among a wide range of products and services. Competition policy plays an important role in this regard by ensuring that competition is not disrupted in a way that can harm consumers directly (e.g. leading to price increases or less choice) or indirectly (e.g. weakening competition as a process by hampering the ability of firms to compete on the merits).


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Why Being a Hostess Is So Important
By Sandra Garson
Facing the Fear of Death. We've come to the coldest, darkest days of the year, which means holiday time, and there's a reason for its peculiar tsunami of food, drink and partying. It's the same reason meetings and seminars any time of year inevitably set out snacks and water in a "hospitality room." Hospitality —a Latin word that means "to meet the needs of guests"-- is as old as humankind, likely the reason we are still here because the primary survival need of any guest, any body, is food and water. We may know where the closest supermarket is, but our nomadic, hunter/gather ancestors could not be certain about their next meal, especially far from familiar tents. Survival totally depended on kindness in an encounter with strangers, and the IOUs that kindness created. To not give someone food, salt and water was tantamount to murder, which is why hospitality became the basis of morality. It's written into the precepts of all religions, its goodness being as close to godliness as we can get. Here are everyday examples.
Sandra Garson is the author of Veggiyana, the Dharma of Cooking and How to Fix a Leek and Other Food From Your Farmers' Market. As a longtime student of Tibetan Buddhism and well-known cook for Dharma centers from Maine to Mongolia, she became the first food historian to explore the Buddha's influence on how the world now eats. This led to exploration of more religious beliefs about food.


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In this classic paper, Sakai proves the following Radon-Nikodym theorem:
Let $M$ be a von Neumann algebra, and let $\phi$ and $\psi$ be two normal positive linear functionals on $M$. If $\psi \leq \phi$, then there is a positive operator $t_0\in M$ such that $0 \leq t_0 \leq 1$, and $\psi(x) = \phi(t_0 x t_0)$ for all $x \in M$.
The paper provides no uniqueness result. One would naively expect that any two such operators $t_0$ and $t_1$ would satisfy $\phi((t_1-t_0)^2)=0$. I can find no such statement in the literature. Is this true?
Please note that $\phi$ is not assumed to be faithful.
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2 Answers 2
up vote 4 down vote accepted
Such t_0 is unique if its support is at most p, where p is the support of ϕ. Note that we can replace t_0 by pt_0p and the support of pt_0p is at most p.
Without this additional condition t_0 is highly non-unique, because we can replace t_0 by t_0 + q, where q is an arbitrary self-adjoint element with support at most 1-p such that t_0 + q ≥ 0. Using simple algebraic manipulations one can show that all solutions can be obtained in this way.
See Lemma 15.4 (page 104) in Takesaki's book "Tomita's theory of modular Hilbert algebras and its applications". Electronic version: _URL_ [Note that Takesaki implicitly assumes that φ_0 is faithful, hence you need to introduce an additional condition on the support of h.]
One would naively expect that any two such operators t_0 and t_1 would satisfy ϕ((t_1−t_0)^2)=0.
This is a trivial corollary of the above statement characterizing all possible solutions.
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Thank you very much for the reference. I'm going to need some time to look at it. – Andre May 1 '10 at 10:42
Does this work if $M$ fails to have a faithful normal state? – Andre May 3 '10 at 22:08
Yes, the argument works for non σ-finite von Neumann algebras. (Actually, we can immediately restrict ourselves to the σ-finite von Neumann algebra pMp, where p is the support of ϕ.) – Dmitri Pavlov May 4 '10 at 1:15
Why is $pMp$ $\sigma$-finite? – Andre May 4 '10 at 6:37
Sorry, pMp is σ-finite only if ϕ is a state. For the case of general ϕ we can restrict our attention to all subalgebras of the form pMp, where p is a σ-finite subprojection of the support of ϕ. – Dmitri Pavlov May 4 '10 at 7:53
Does this paper have any relevance?
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As far as I can tell, this paper concerns another non-commutative Radon-Nikodym theorem in which the derivative is an element of $M'$. – Andre May 1 '10 at 9:44
Your Answer


I was reading the paper on SMA*+, which is very interesting as it implements most improvements I thought of when reading the paper on SMA*. But I have 3 questions that I think are related to my misunderstanding of the cost evaluation of the re-generated nodes.
Can there be some memory saved by not fully expanding a node immediately?
The third paragraph of section 4:
Unlike SMA*, SMA*+ fully expands a node each iteration, instead of adding only one successor to the open list every iteration. While adding one successor at a time may seem more efficient, the overhead required to determine which successor to add, adds unnecessary complexity and decreases performance with minimal memory advantage.
Maybe in this context "minimal" is a euphemism to mean "none" and I'm just arguing semantics here. But if taken literally, I actually don't see a case with a memory gain in adding one successor at a time.
I mean, if the heuristics is admissible, then every successor $n_i$ of a node $b$ has a higher $f$-cost: $f(b) \le f(n_i)$. And since we're expanding $b$, we know it already has the lowest $f$-cost of all the open nodes. Therefore we won't switch to expanding another node, and thus SMA* will always fully expand a node once it started, no matter what.
Or did I miss something that might make the progressive expansion worth it in some cases?
Does SMA* store its children when they are removed?
The SMA*+ paper says in section 4:
The original SMA* makes similar progress by keeping removed nodes in memory, until their parent is removed.
Which is think is surprising. When I read the algorithm in the SMA* paper section 3.1 I see:
Procedure BACKUP(n):
 if n is completed and has a parent then
 f(n) <- least f-cost of all its successors
 if f(n) changed, BACKUP(parent(n)).
I think it means that it stores only the least $f$-cost of all its successors. Not the successor nodes, not even one $f$-cost per successor.
Do I misunderstand the way SMA* recomputes the $f$-cost of the regenerated successor nodes?
Why do we need to set $f(n) \leftarrow max(f(b), g(n) + h(n))$?
In SMA* I thought this was needed because we forgot the actual value of $f(n)$ when pruning it. Therefore we underestimate its value by using $f(b)$ (the cost of its predecessor) which is either set to the minimum $f$-cost of all its pruned successors or its natural value which is also less than the $f$-score of its successors if the heuristic is admissible. Then we use $max$ to ensure the $f$-cost is non-decreasing along the way, which I guess would mean that the heuristic was non-admissible.
But here, in SMA*+, we store the $f$-cost of all the children, so why do we still need this $max$?
Your Answer
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I guess most of us who have been an ardent user of Linux O.S. must have seen dreaded "Kernel Panic" error messages at some point of time and generally those are very difficult to solve and takes away lot of time researching on it.There are many reasons for Kernel Panic error messages and one of them is related to ACPI and APCI, which I am going to talk about in this post. ACPI has superseded the old APM.
Typically you will see error messages like this:
kernel panic – not syncing: VFS: unable to mount root fs on unknown-block(0,0)
Try passing the following kernel parameters (all at once) in your GRUB (menu.lst) or LILO (lilo.conf) configuration file:
acpi=off pci=noacpi noapic nolapic
There are 90% chances that your problem will solve if it is related to ACPI and APIC. Once you can boot your system by giving above parameters, try eliminating each one of them, one by one, to find which parameter actually is required. However, there could be more than one parameter that you will end up using. For example, in my case I had to give:
to resolve my Kernel panic error.
If you are still getting Kernel panic even after giving the above four parameters, then try these additional parameters in permutation and combination with the above four to see if you resolve the issue:
pnpbios, pci=usepirqmask, pci=biosirq
If you are still not able to solve it, then I suspect that it might not be an APCI and ACPI related issue. However, I strongly encourage you to boot from a Knoppix live CD or Ubuntu live CD and look at the "Help" section before it starts booting. In the help section they suggest many kernel parameters that you may have to give because of broken firmware or buggy BIOS in order to boot your system.
In my next part of this post, I will explain and also give some useful pointers as to why we need to give those parameters to safely boot the Linux Kernel and how can we boot the kernel without giving those parameters because in some situation (when you are using a laptop) you simply cannot give up ACPI features.
As usual, please leave a comment/feedback if you have any. Comments encourages bloggers to post more and keep their spirits high.


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A person with paruresis (shy bladder syndrome) finds it difficult or impossible to urinate (pee) when other people are around. Paruresis is believed to be a common type of social phobia, ranking second only to the fear of public speaking. Paruresis is often first experienced at school.The condition affects men and women of all races. In mild cases, paruresis is an occasional event, like a form of performance anxiety. For example, a man at a public urinal may find that he is unable to urinate when flanked by other men. In severe cases, a person with paruresis can only urinate when alone at home. The condition is also known as 'avoidant paruresis', 'psychogenic urinary retention' and 'pee-phobia'.
A person with paruresis typically has a sensitive, shy, conscientious personality and is fearful of being judged or criticised by others. Paruresis can be mild, moderate or severe.
Signs and symptoms of severe paruresis can include:
- The need for complete privacy when going to the toilet
- Fear of other people hearing the urine hit the toilet water
- Fear of other people smelling the urine
- Negative self-talk while trying to urinate, for example: 'I can't do it. I'm never going to pee. I'm such an idiot.'
- Inability to urinate in public toilets or at other people's homes
- Inability to urinate at home when guests are present
- Inability to urinate at home if someone is waiting outside the toilet
- Feeling anxious about needing to go to the toilet
- Restricting drinks to reduce the need for urination
- Avoiding travel and social events.
Similarities to agoraphobia
Severe paruresis can affect a person's life in a similar way to agoraphobia, which is anxiety about being in places or situations from which escape seems difficult (typically, fear of crowds or being outside the home).
If a person can only successfully urinate when home alone, they may avoid leaving the house. This can reduce quality of life and curtail job opportunities.
Cause is psychological
Paruresis is not a physical condition because nothing is wrong with the person's urinary tract. The urinary sphincter must be relaxed for urine to flow from the bladder down the urethra. Anxiety about urinating overstimulates the person's nervous system and 'clamps' the sphincter shut. Failure to urinate heightens the person's anxiety, particularly if the bladder is uncomfortably full.
For some people, an embarrassing incident starts the social phobia – for example, the inability to urinate into a cup in front of a doctor or nurse. Worrying about the embarrassing incident makes the person feel anxious about urinating in the presence of others.
Various physiological conditions can hamper urination. Prostatitis, for example, can make urination difficult for affected men. The doctor will usually perform a series of tests to make sure that nothing is physically wrong with your urinary tract.
Generally, the diagnosis is paruresis if you can urinate successfully when alone at home. The doctor may suggest the short-term use of drugs such as tranquillisers or antidepressants. However, these drugs will only reduce anxiety, not cure the condition. In severe cases, the doctor may suggest that you learn self-catheterisation. A catheter is a slender tube inserted up the urethra and into the bladder to drain urine.
You may like to consider joining a paruresis support group. In severe cases, it may be helpful to see a psychologist. Treatment may include:
- Relaxation techniques – to learn a range of strategies to help reduce anxiety.
- Psychotherapy – a type of counselling that helps you deal with the here and now, and teaches problem solving.
- Cognitive behavioural therapy – changing the way you think and behave.
- Graduated exposure therapy – a step-by-step program that involves deliberately trying to urinate in increasingly more difficult places. About eight people out of every 10 with paruresis are helped by graduated exposure therapy.
Graduated exposure therapy (systematic desensitisation) explained
Be guided by your psychologist, but if it's felt that graduated exposure therapy will be helpful for you, your therapist will usually ask you to:
- Make a ranked list of urination locations from easiest to most difficult. For example, most people with paruresis find it easiest to urinate at home alone. The hardest location is usually a crowded and noisy public toilet. The idea is to start with the easiest locations and work your way up in degrees to the most difficult.
- Have a 'pee partner' to support you. This could be a family member or trusted friend.
- Ask your pee partner to stand as close to your home toilet as you feel comfortable while you are trying to urinate. Urinate for a few seconds then stop for a few minutes.
- Have your pee partner stand a little closer to the toilet. Go back into the toilet and urinate again for a few seconds, then stop.
- Keep practising, with your pee partner getting closer and closer to the toilet. This may take several sessions over a period of time.
- Try to make as much noise as possible while urinating. Deliberately splash your urine into the toilet water. Do this with your pee partner nearby.
- Pick a quiet public rest room (once you are comfortable with urinating at home) and then, with your pee partner standing outside the toilet door, practise the same way you did at home.
- Use your pee partner and work your way up the ranked scale of difficult locations until you can successfully urinate in a crowded and noisy public toilet.
- Graduated exposure therapy is more successful if it is practised often, perhaps three or four times per week.
- Drink plenty of water before your practice session to make sure that your bladder is full.
- Avoid any negative self-talk while trying to urinate. Remember that paruresis is a common social phobia. You are not abnormal or 'the only one'.
- Take it slowly, step by step. Don't pressure yourself. You should see considerable improvement after about 12 sessions or so.
Where to get help
This page has been produced in consultation with and approved by:
Mental Health Foundation of Australia
Content on this website is provided for information purposes only. Information about a therapy, service, product or treatment does not in any way endorse or support such therapy, service, product or treatment and is not intended to replace advice from your doctor or other registered health professional. The information and materials contained on this website are not intended to constitute a comprehensive guide concerning all aspects of the therapy, product or treatment described on the website. All users are urged to always seek advice from a registered health care professional for diagnosis and answers to their medical questions and to ascertain whether the particular therapy, service, product or treatment described on the website is suitable in their circumstances. The State of Victoria and the Department of Health & Human Services shall not bear any liability for reliance by any user on the materials contained on this website.


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Letzburgesch or Luxembourgian (in French, Luxembourgeois; in German, Luxemburgisch; in Luxembourgish Lëtzebuergesch) is a West Germanic language spoken in Luxembourg. It was adopted as an official language in 1984. It is also spoken in small parts of Belgium, France and Germany
Luxembourgish belongs to the Middle German group of High German languages, like standard German. However, it's not intelligible to most Germans, as it is more than just a german dialect. It borrows many French words. For example, the verb to propose is proposieren from the French proposer, which in German would be verschlagen.
Standard German is called "High German" in Luxembourg, where it is used for official purposes.


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Kentia / Howea forsteriana, total 50-60 cm
Howea forsteriana
Howea forsteriana (Kentia palm or thatch palm) is a species of flowering plant in the palm family Arecaeae, endemic to Lord Howe Island in Australia.
It is a relatively slow-growing palm, eventually growing up to 10 m tall by 6 m wide. Its fronds can reach 3 m long.
As potted plants Kentias are fairly tolerant of neglect: they can withstand low-light conditions, low humidity, infrequent watering and cool temperatures.
However, it is advisable to give Kentias bright, indirect light to encourage growth and a more robust appearance; Kentias placed in dark corners with little natural light tend to look leggy and grow very slowly.
In the northern hemisphere, a northern or northeastern window is best, as Kentias cannot tolerate direct sun and will sunburn if placed in such an exposure.
The roots are very sensitive to disturbance, so gardeners should only repot Kentias after they have become extremely root bound in their existing pot, and even then should take special care.
They appreciate regular water but should be allowed to dry out between waterings.
Overwatering, or allowing the roots to sit in water, can induce root rot and kill the palm.
An indoor houseplant fertilizer should be applied regularly in the spring and summer to encourage growth.
Información adicional
Specie Kentia / Howea forsteriana
Altura total: 50-60 cm
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text:
Designbuild Education adopts the intellectual framework of American Pragmatism, which is a theory of action, to investigate architects' compelling urge to build and how that manifests in collegiate designbuild programs. Organized into four themes—people, poetics, process, and practice—the book brings together new essays by some of today's most well-known designbuild educators, including Andrew Freear from Rural Studio and Dan Rockhill from Studio 804, to shed light on the theoretical dimensions of their practice and work. Illustrated with over 100 black and white images.
List of Authors. Forward Alberto Pérez-Gómez. Introduction: Hands On, Minds On: Motivations of the Designbuild Educator Chad Kraus.Part 1. People: Community Engagement and the Common Good 1. Backyard Architecture Andrew Freear 2. Design / Build / Evaluate: Connecting with Actual Humans John Quale 3. Embracing Uncertainty: Community Designbuild Nils Gore and Shannon Criss 4. Each One Teach One: Nested Associations in Designbuild Education Larry Bowne Part 2. Poetics: Experience and the Human Condition5. The Good of Doing Poetics, The Poetics of Doing Good Coleman Coker 6. Architecture into Presence Chad Kraus 7. The Action of Poetry Lori Ryker Part 3. Process: Methodology and the Tectonic Imagination 8. In Process Marie Zawistowski and Keith Zawistowski 9. Embodied Making: Designing at Full-Scale Terry Boling 10. Practicing the Digital Vernacular: Raising a Barn and Raising Questions James Stevens, Ralph Nelson, and Natalie Haddad Part 4. Practice: the Academic-Professional Bridge 11. Second Nature: Embedded Knowledge through Designbuild Education Tricia Stuth 12. Labor Intensive: Innovation by Necessity Erik Sommerfeld 13. From Scratch: How to Start a Designbuild Program Eric Weber14. Work Ethic, Ethical Work Dan Rockhill and Chad Kraus. Acknowledgements. Bibliography. Index.


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River & Physical Modeling Experience - David L. Derrick
For 19 years Mr. Derrick was the principle investigator on many
physical movable-bed model studies involving some of the most
hydraulically complex reaches of the Mississippi River. These research
projects have involved the application of various river training
structures to solve a number of environmental, navigation, and dredging
He was instrumental in the development and implementation of the
Bendway Weir methodology for navigable rivers, non-navigable rivers,
streams, and very small streams.
A Bendway Weir is an upstream-angled underwater sill. Water flowing
over the weir is redirected at an angle perpendicular to the weir. When
the weirs are angled upstream water is directed away from the outer
bank and toward the inner part of the bend. The river's
secondary currents in the bend are broken up. Weirs are typically built
in sets (4 to 14 weirs per bend) and are designed to act as a system to
capture, control, and redirect current directions and velocities
through the bend and well into the downstream crossing.
Both model (since 1988) and prototype (1989) results indicate that
construction of a series of Bendway Weirs in the navigation channel of
a bend results in the following improvements: the navigation channel
through the bend and immediate downstream crossing is widened and
better aligned, deposition occurs at the toe of the revetment on the
outside of the bend (increasing bank stability), surface water
velocities are more uniform across any specific cross-section, flow
patterns in the bends are generally parallel with the banks (not
concentrated on the outer bank of the bend), and the thalweg of the
channel is moved from the toe of the outer bank revetment to the stream
ends of the weirs.
Using a physical movable-bed model, Mr. Derrick first explored and
analyzed the multiple benefits of Bendway Weirs on two bends of the
middle Mississippi River. Prototype Bendway Weir plans (and
construction sequences) for these bends (Price's Landing and
Dogtooth) were developed using this model. Since 1989 over 190 weirs
have been built in 22 bends of the Mississippi River. Prototype
improvements have exceeded the results obtained from the model study.
Andy Cannava of American Commercial Barge Line said "This is
best thing to happen on the river in a hundred years".
of the 5 oldest weir installations show that from 1990-95 dredging was
reduced by 80%, saving $3,000,000. In addition, towboat accidents were
reduced, tow delay times at bends were reduced, sediment and ice
management were improved, Least Tern (an endangered species) nesting
areas were undisturbed, aquatic habitat area was increased, and fish
size and density in the weir fields dramatically increased.
This model study and associated prototype projects have revolutionized
river training structure conceptualization and thinking to such an
extent that St. Louis District present and future river plans almost
exclusively involve Bendway Weirs. The weirs represent a unique and
innovative solution to a perplexing set of problems in a number of
bends where traditional solutions were not applicable.
Mr. Derrick has served as the principal investigator or designed all
weir plans on the following Mississippi River physical movable-bed
model studies that involved testing of Bendway Weirs: Greenville Bridge
(improvement of current sets through a highway bridge navigation span),
Memphis Harbor (shallow-draft navigation improvement), Old River
(sediment diversion and navigation improvement), Redeye Crossing
(deep-draft navigation improvement and protection of docking
facilities) and St. Louis Harbor (improvement of navigation current
sets through a series of six highway bridges). Mr. Derrick also tested
weirs on the Montgomery Point reach of the White River (improvement of
navigation approach channel to a lock and dam) and a small sand-bed
stream model involving one unrevetted bend. In addition he assisted
with the following movable-bed model studies: New Madrid, Old River
(Fixed and Movable-bed), Kate Aubrey, Groins and Dikes Research, Lock
and Dam 26, Redeye Crossing, Loosahatchie-Memphis Harbor, White River,
and Buck Island.
Mr. Derrick designed a computer controlled automated sediment feeder to
introduce coal into movable-bed models and assisted with the Redeye
Crossing numerical and Greenville Bridge navigation modeling efforts.
Mr. Derrick conducted a four year Navigation Hydraulics research work
unit, "Hydraulic Design of Bendway Weirs",
expanding the envelope of knowledge of weir design in navigable rivers.
Mr. Derrick was the principle investigator in a four year REMR (Repair
Evaluation, Maintenance and Rehabilitation) research work unit which
inventoried all currently maintained Corps river training structures
located in shallow-draft non-tidal influenced waterways (over 10,000
structures). This work documented all past dike repair work, recorded
all current dike repair methods, evaluated all new technology related
to the field of dike repair, and formulated guidelines for structure
inspection, record keeping, evaluation, and repair. Results from this
research unit were recorded in three REMR technical reports.
During _PHONE_ Mr. Derrick headed a team tasked with designing a 10
mile long innovative, cost-effective, bank stabilization project on a
section of the laterally unrestrained Red River between Denison Dam and
Index, AR (TX-OK border). Construction costs were estimated at 4-8
million dollars, less than one-half the cost of conventional bank
protection. Mr. Derrick designed a 5-year monitoring program to assess
the performance of this proposed project.


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Inhalation/smoking has become the most common method of recreational opiate consumption in the United Kingdom and other countries. Although some heroin smokers appear to develop COPD, little is known about the association.
We present data from a cohort of 73 heroin smokers with clinician-diagnosed and spirometrically confirmed COPD, seen within our clinical service, where symptoms developed before the age of 40 years.
The whole group mean age at diagnosis was 41 years, subjects had smoked heroin for 14 years, and mean FEV1 was 1.08 L (31.5% predicted), with mean FEV1/FVC of 0.4. No subject was found to have severe α1-antitrypsin deficiency. Forty-four subjects had either a high-resolution CT (HRCT) scan (32) or measurement of lung diffusion (12). Overall HRCT scan emphysema score averaged across the upper, middle, and lower part of the lung was 2.3 (5%-25% emphysema), with 47% subjects having an upper lobe emphysema score ≥ 3 (25%-50% emphysema). Median diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide was 48% of predicted value.
Recreational smoking of heroin appears to lead to early onset COPD with a predominant emphysema phenotype. This message is important to both clinicians and the public, and targeted screening and education of this high-risk population may be justified.


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Crude Oil Market Volatility
There are two commonly referenced measures of market price uncertainty: historical volatility and implied volatility. Historical volatility measures how much prices have varied in the past, and implied volatility uses options prices to measure how market participants believe prices will vary in the future. In the Brent crude oil market, implied volatility is currently higher than historical volatility because of continuing market uncertainties (Figure 1). Implied volatility is expected to remain high until these uncertainties are resolved.
Historical volatility is calculated from the daily price movements of the front month futures price, typically for a 30-day period. It provides a snapshot of the magnitude of recent up-and-down price movements, but by definition is a backwards-looking metric.
Implied volatility is calculated from the prices of call and put options traded on futures contracts. The Black-Scholes option pricing model is widely used to price crude oil futures options based on a number of factors: the current trading price of the crude oil futures contract; the strike price of the option contract; the time until the option contract expires; and the expected future volatility of the price of the underlying crude oil futures contract. The only one of these variables that is not immediately observable is expected future volatility. By using the Black-Scholes option pricing model and the known values of the crude oil futures contract, the strike price of the option, the time until the option expires and the current trading price of the option contract, it is possible to calculate the future volatility that is implied by the relationship of the known values, hence "implied volatility."


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When you experience a traumatic event, initially it is certainly not the focal point of someone else's joke. However, as time goes on, many may ease their distress with humor, but when is it okay to joke about tragedies?
According to the Benign Violation Theory, humor emerges when we perceive something that is wrong (a violation), while also seeing that it is okay (benign). Psychological distance may be one key component that can make a violation seem okay. Research has demonstrated that once a person is removed from a violation by space, time, relationships, or imagination, it can foster humor.
In a study conducted by psychological scientist Peter McGraw, who runs the Humor Research Lab (HuRL) at the University of Colorado Boulder, and colleagues explored when violation severity and psychological distance work together to facilitate humor.
Participants were instructed to take an online survey where they would rate an event in their lives by the severity and distinguish if the event became more or less funny over time.
McGraw discovered participants who reported a violation, such as being hit by a car, was funnier if it occurred five years go. While a mild violation such as hitting a toe, was funny if it occurred yesterday.
Five studies were conducted and supported the theory. Participants stated events that became funnier over time were more severe than events that were categorized as mild violations.
All five studies demonstrated with space, time and social relationships, an individual may categorize a once severe event as very humorous one over time.
"These findings suggest that there's a real sweet spot in comedy - you have to get the right mix between how bad something is and how distant it is in order for it to be seen as a benign violation," McGraw said.
This study was published in the journal Psychological Science.


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What does Ante Meridiem and Post Meridiem mean in time?
They are Latin words ; Ante Meridiem (AM) means before midday and Post Meridiem (PM) means after midday.
AM and PM
Ante meridian simply means before noon, while post meridian means after noon. Each of these two periods have a total of 12 hours numbered, and you can find more details here _URL_


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UKLA is delighted to announce shortlists for the prestigious UKLA/ Wiley Research in Literacy Education Award 2019.
The Award is given annually for papers published in each of UKLA's journals – Literacy and Journal of Research in Reading (JRR) – judged to be exemplary in terms of criteria applied in both journals. Literacy and JRR are peer-reviewed journals with international reputations for excellence. The panel chair is Dr. Wayne Tennent.
UKLA congratulates all the shortlisted authors.
The winning authors will be announced at the UKLA 55th International Conference in Sheffield July 12-14 and invited to present a joint seminar at the conference.
Shortlist Literacy 2019
- Joy Alexander and Ruth Jarman, The pleasures of reading non-fiction Vol 52:2
- Amelia Hempel-Jorgensen, Teresa Cremin, Diane Harris and Liz Chamberlain, Pedagogy for reading for pleasure in low socio-economic primary schools" beyond 'pedagogy of poverty'? Vol 52:2
- Bobbie Kabuto, Family narratives of biliteracy vol 52:3
- Kimberly Lenters and Alec Whitford, Failing with grace: kids, Improv and embodied literacies vol 52:3
- Helen Victoria Smith, Cooking the books: what counts as literacy for young children in a public library? Vol 52:1
Shortlist JRR 2019
- Kaefer, T. The role of topic‐related background knowledge in visual attention to illustration and children's word learning during shared book reading Vol 41:3
- Liu, P., & Lu, Q. The effects of spaces on word segmentation in Chinese reading: Evidence from eye movements Vol 41:2
- Messer, D., & Nash, G. An evaluation of the effectiveness of a computer‐assisted reading intervention Vol 41:1
- Nouwens, S., Groen, M. A., Kleemans, T., and Verhoeven, L. The role of semantic retrieval in children's reading comprehension development in the upper primary grades. Vol 41:3
- Okkinga, M., van Steensel, R., van Gelderen, A. J. S., and Sleegers, P. J. C. Effects of reciprocal teaching on reading comprehension of low‐achieving adolescents. The importance of specific teacher skills. Vol 41:1
- Torppa, M., Eklund, K., Sulkunen, S., Niemi, P., and Ahonen, T. Why do boys and girls perform differently on PISA Reading in Finland? The effects of reading fluency, achievement behaviour, leisure reading and homework activity. Vol 41:1
The Literacy shortlists were selected by a working party led by Jill McClay and Clare Dowdall (out-going editors); the JRR shortlists by Jessie Ricketts and Nenagh Kemp(editors) in consultation with JRR associate editors.
Notes for Editors
The Award is given annually for papers published in each of UKLA's journals – Literacy and Journal of Research in Reading (JRR) – judged to be exemplary in terms of criteria applied in both journals.
Specifically, the award is given to a text which fulfils many of the following criteria:
- Relevance to readership – taking account of an international readership
- Accessibility to a knowledgeable readership
- Original content which contributes significantly to existing knowledge or the development of new knowledge, policy or strategy
- Clear theoretical position
- Methodologically sound research processes /design appropriate to the theoretical standpoint
- Sound level of critical analysis
- Relevant and appropriate citation base


text:
berg, Birger
Case studies of mountain forest wood fuel supply chains from Norway and Italy are presented and compared. Results from previous studies in which greenhouse gas emissions and costs were evaluated using life cycle assessment and cost analysis respectively, are compared. The supply chain is more mechanized in Norway than Italy. Steeper terrain and low road density partly explain the persistence of motor-manual felling in the Italian case. Mechanized forest harvesting can increase productivity and reduce costs, but generates more greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than motor-manual harvesting. In both cases, the main sources of GHG emissions are truck transportation and chipping. The total emissions are 22.9 kg CO 2 /m 3 s.o.b. (Norway) and 13.2 kg CO 2 /m 3 s.o.b. (Italy). The Norwegian case has higher costs than the Italian one, 64 €/m 3 s.o.b. and 41 €/m 3 s.o.b. respectively, for the overall supply chain. The study shows that mountain forests constitute an interesting source for fuel biomass in both areas, but are a rather costly source, particularly in Norway. The study also exemplifies the care needed in transferring LCA results between regions and countries, particularly where forest biomass is involved. - Highlights: • We compare two mountain forest wood fuel supply chains in Norway and in Italy. • Transportation by truck generate the highest emissions in both case studies. • The energy use of the Norwegian supply chain was approximately twice as high as the Italian one. • Changes in fuel consumption affect significantly emissions and energy use from transportation and chipping operations. • Cable yarding and transportation by truck were the most expensive phases respectively in the Italian and Norwegian supply chain
Magdalena Warter, Maria; Peeters, Mattias; Kuppen, Emiel; Blok, Kas; Dilly, Lina
Natural parks and protected natural areas provide excellent recreational opportunities for outdoor activities through the richness of the natural environment and the abundance of walking trails. Hiking, mountain biking and running have rapidly gained popularity over recent years increasing concerns about the erosion and degradation of hiking trails caused by (over)use. This is also the case in the Sierra Mariola Natural Park in southeast Spain, which is a popular destination for tourists due to its diverse fauna and flora. The increasing number of tourists together with the negative impacts of climate change necessitates a better understanding of the key soil erosion processes impacting hiking trails. There are 4 scenic trail routes in the Natural Park amounting to 21 km plus an additional network of unofficial trails. Apart from the heavy touristic traffic on the trails there are large trail running events with up to 1000 participants becoming increasingly popular, however local park authorities have voiced concerns about the impacts of these activities on the trails. Despite the popularity of walking trails around the world, there is a paucity of research exploring soil erosion from these features. Therefore, the aims of this study are: 1) to ascertain the amount of erosion that occurs on trails in the Sierra Mariola Natural Park, and 2) determine the key factors that influence soil erosion. Some 100 km of trails were evaluated (both official and unmarked trails), with route segments ranging between 2 and 10 km. A trail classification system was developed to group trail segments based on their surface characteristics (bedrock, gravel, mixed sediment, soil or man-made) and specific erosion features (rills, ditch-shaped, tilted). For each class, the average erosion rate was calculated which ranged from 262 t/ha for soil-based trails to 2006 t/ha for heavily eroded, ditch-shaped trails. The spatial distribution of the different erosion rates and trail types were
Zhang, Yuan; Wang, Zhezhi
Gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) were used to compare between the essential oil components from needles of Pinus armandii Franch versus P. tabulaeformis Carr., growing on the same site at Taibai Mountain, China. Under optimum extraction and analysis conditions, 65 and 66 constituents each were identified in P. armandii and P. tabulaeformis, which accounted for 87.9% and 87.1%, respectively, of their oils. Based on their terpene compositions, we concluded that these species belong to a high-caryophyllene chemotype, with sesquiterpenes comprising 54.4% to 54.8% of the total contents. We also determined minor qualitative and major quantitative variations in some compounds. Compared with that from P. tabulaeformis, P. armandii oil had more gamma-muurolene (7.5%), terpinolene (5.8%), and longifolene (5.7%). In contrast, alpha-pinene (8.6%) and caryophyllene oxide (7.4%) were the dominant compounds in P. tabulaeformis.
Hofmann, R.B.; Ibrahim, A.K.
Several western U.S. strong motion acceleration earthquake attenuation functions are compared to peak accelerations recorded during the 6/29/1992 Little Skull Mountain, Nevada earthquake. The comparison revealed that there are several definitions of site-to-source distance and at least two definitions of peak acceleration in use. Probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA) codes typically estimate accelerations assuming point sources. The computer code, SEISM 1, was developed for the eastern U.S. where ground acceleration is usually defined in terms of epicentral distance. Formulae whose distance definitions require knowledge of the earthquake fault slip zone dimensions may predict very different near-field accelerations when epicentral distance is used. Approximations to achieve more consistent PSHA results are derived
Awad, Louis N; Bae, Jaehyun; Kudzia, Pawel; Long, Andrew; Hendron, Kathryn; Holt, Kenneth G; O'Donnell, Kathleen; Ellis, Terry D; Walsh, Conor J
The aim of the study was to evaluate the effects on common poststroke gait compensations of a soft wearable robot (exosuit) designed to assist the paretic limb during hemiparetic walking. A single-session study of eight individuals in the chronic phase of stroke recovery was conducted. Two testing conditions were compared: walking with the exosuit powered versus walking with the exosuit unpowered. Each condition was 8 minutes in duration. Compared with walking with the exosuit unpowered, walking with the exosuit powered resulted in reductions in hip hiking (27 [6%], P = 0.004) and circumduction (20 [5%], P = 0.004). A relationship between changes in knee flexion and changes in hip hiking was observed (Pearson r = -0.913, P Exosuit assistance of the paretic limb during walking produces immediate changes in the kinematic strategy used to advance the paretic limb. Future work is necessary to determine how exosuit-induced reductions in paretic hip hiking and circumduction during gait training could be leveraged to facilitate more normal walking behavior during unassisted walking.
Vías, Jesús; Rolland, José; Gómez, María Luisa; Ocaña, Carmen; Luque, Ana
This paper describes a system for recommending hiking routes to help manage hiking activities in a protected area. The system proposes various routes, based on five criteria that maximize some aspects of hikers' requirements (by analyzing the viability and difficulty of the trails) and also those of protected areas managers (by proposals to relieve congestion in areas already used for hiking and to promote awareness of new ones, as a contribution to environmental education). The recommendation system uses network analysis, multi-criteria decision analysis and geographic information system by free software tools: PgRouting, PostgreSQL and PostGIS. This system has been tested in Sierra de las Nieves Nature Reserve (Andalusia, Spain). Of the 182 routes obtained by the system, 62 (34%) are considered viable for hikers in Sierra de las Nieves, taking into account the type of user most likely to visit this protected area. Most routes have a high difficulty level, which is coherent with the mountainous character of the protected area.
The recent Take a Hike event, sponsored by Occupational Health Services, featured a new twist: A Poster Puzzler challenge courtesy of Scientific Publications, Graphics and Media. Participants were asked to identify words on six objects along the Hike path based on photographs that showed the objects with the words blurred out.
Terzi, Stefano; Torresan, Silvia; Schneiderbauer, Stefan
Keywords: Climate change, mountain regions, multi-risk assessment, climate change adaptation. Climate change has already led to a wide range of impacts on the environment, the economy and society. Adaptation actions are needed to cope with the impacts that have already occurred (e.g. storms, glaciers melting, floods, droughts) and to prepare for future scenarios of climate change. Mountain environment is particularly vulnerable to the climate changes due to its exposure to recent climate warming (e.g. water regime changes, thawing of permafrost) and due to the high degree of specialization of both natural and human systems (e.g. alpine species, valley population density, tourism-based economy). As a consequence, the mountain local governments are encouraged to undertake territorial governance policies to climate change, considering multi-risks and opportunities for the mountain economy and identifying the best portfolio of adaptation strategies. This study aims to provide a literature review of available qualitative and quantitative tools, methodological guidelines and best practices to conduct multi-risk assessments in the mountain environment within the context of


5 Dangers of Using Wrong Pressure Washer Nozzle
5 Dangers of Using Wrong Pressure Washer Nozzle
Did you ever get any part of your house pressure washed? Well, if yes, how did it go? And if no, I'm guessing why you're reading this is you're doing research about pressure washing.
To start, pressure washing is a great method of cleaning which uses a pressure washing gun. There are two main types of pressure washing: Soft and Pressure Washing, which differs in terms of the 'nozzle' they use. For those who tried pressure washing their walls, this term should already be a bit familiar.
Nozzles are a component of a pressure washing and there are different kinds, labeled by color to determine the pressure. Nozzles function by increasing the velocity while also, restricting the flow, creating a variety of how the water shoots from the water gun, and how strong it is.
As I said before, soft washing and pressure washing differ with the nozzles they use. Soft washing, as the term suggests, uses less pressure. Pressure washing, on the other hand, higher. The standard psi or pounds per square inch is 500, and soft washing utilizes less than 500 psi or pounds per square inch. Pressure washing goes above 500 and can reach 4000.
Why Power Washing?
Aside from pressure and soft washing, there is another called power washing. It is basically pressure washing, but it uses hot water. A wash gun can hold four main types of nozzles being the 0-degree, 15-degree, 25-degree, and 40-degree nozzles. The higher the number, the lesser the pressure due to the area being increased.
 - The 0-degree nozzle shoots straight directly onto the surface with only an area comparable to the size of a quarter. It is mainly used for cleaning multiple layers of dirt that stacked over each other as time passes.
 - The 15-degree forms a sheet of water and has less pressure. This is used for melting paint from metal, masonry, and wood, and also prepping different surfaces for painting.
 - 25-degree nozzles are wider, and it is used for cleaning without damaging the surface or material.
 - 40-degree are for light cleaning and for fragile, glassy materials.
There are other types of nozzles which are the Soaping Black Tip Nozzle or 65-degree, Rotary Nozzle, and the Adjustable Nozzle.
As specified before, these nozzles are used for different purposes. If you used a wrong or inappropriate washer nozzle, it can cause damage to your surface or worse, might get you in danger. Here are the five dangers of using the wrong washer nozzle:
1. Damaging the surface or material.
If you used a nozzle that uses too much or too low pressure, it can ultimately damage, break, and scrape the material. For example, if you're cleaning a fragile surface, let's say, glass, using high-pressure nozzles such as 0-degree to 25-degree, the glass can break the glass. 0-degree nozzles push out too much force than necessary for cleaning glass.
2. Accidents.
Of course, having too much or too low pressure can not only harm your material but also the user. Higher pressures used in pressure washing and power washing are more dangerous and if mishandled, can cause fractures, burns for power washing, and skin damage.
3. Too much water.
Since the pressure is much higher, the water gushing out of the washing gun can be a little more than necessary, resulting in messier and wetter materials. If you used this on wood, the wood would get too soggy to work with later on.
4. Physical Injuries.
Abrasions and eye complications can also result if the pressure washer is not used properly.
5. It forces the water inside the walls.
The water inside the walls could render the walls too soft and make it not sturdy enough. Also, wirings are typically inside walls, and if water goes inside, a fire can result.
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293: KETTLEBELL CONCEPTS: Total Body KB Blast™!
It's hard to beat the KB for total body strength and aerobic conditioning! In this Level 1 class, you'll learn the basics behind the science of this unique modality. Then, you will see how incredibly versatile this "simple" tool can be, because it isn't just another weight! The movements and progressions demand time and patience on the part of the teacher, but can be very rewarding when properly applied. BYOM


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Gravity sewer piping consists of a large network of underground mains that rely on gravity to convey storm water and wastewater from homes and businesses to a central treatment plant. In route, the gravity must allow a self-cleansing flow velocity so that no particles accumulate in the line. In areas where such a flow cannot be maintained, pumps must be installed to generate necessary flow through lines that are called force mains.
AMERICAN ductile iron pipe has long been a popular choice for gravity sewer systems, which typically consist of a large sewer main running along a major highway that is connected to smaller lines in neighborhoods and even smaller lines leading from individual residences and businesses. All these lines run from manhole to manhole and are installed at a steady, even slope. When you see a manhole cover that says "Sanitary Sewer," there's a line like this underneath.
Ductile iron's superior strength makes it ideal for deep trenches and installations in areas of high water table, and the larger inside diameter of AMERICAN ductile iron pipe (compared with comparably sized competing materials), is conducive to higher flow velocity and carrying capacities. AMERICAN's bottle-tight joints ensure that roots and other foreign matter don't get into the pipe, that groundwater does get inside the pipe, and that waste materials do not escape into the environment.
In hotter and flatter areas where the slope is slight and the flow is very slow, it is often necessary to line the pipe with a grease and corrosion-resistant interior lining such Protecto 401 ceramic epoxy lining.
In those cases where a gravity sewer larger than 64 inches is required, AMERICAN's spiral-welded steel pipe with Ceramapure epoxy lining is an ideal solution. The strength and flexibility of steel matches that of ductile iron, and a welded or O-ring joint ensures the integrity of the flow.


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Soy supplements do not stave off breast cancer, study shows
Feb 6, 2012
A new study conducted by researchers at Northwestern University found that soy supplements do not protect women against breast cancer.
The researchers studied 98 women, and randomly assigned them soy supplements and a placebo. After six months, the findings suggested no real difference among the two groups.
"This was a small finding, but one that should suggest caution," said lead researchers Dr. Seema Khan. "Simply put, supplements are not food. Although soy-based foods appear to have a protective effect, we are not seeing the same effect with supplementation using isolated components of soy, so the continued testing of soy supplements is likely not worthwhile."
However, there were a lot of uncertainties in the study, which shows that there needs to be more research done before anything concrete is set.
According to the American Cancer Society, breast cancer is the second most common form of cancer among women, following skin cancer. The disease affects one in eight women in the U.S. at some point during her lifetime. Women are advised to schedule annual mammograms to check for breast cancer after they turn 40.


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Faulconbridge, James R. (2006) Stretching tacit knowledge beyond a local fix? Global spaces of learning in advertising professional service firms. Journal of Economic Geography, 6 (4). pp. 517-540. ISSN _PHONE_
The â��knowledge economyâ�� is now widely debated and economic geographers have made a significant contribution to understanding of the influences upon the production and dissemination of tacit knowledge within and between firms. However, the continued association of tacit knowledge with practices rooted at the local scale and suggestions of territorially sticky knowledges has proven controversial. Through examination of empirical material exploring the stretching of learning in advertising professional service firms, the paper argues that we need to recognise the use of two different epistemologies of organizational knowledge leverage - â��knowledge transferâ�� in the form of best practice and â��the social production of new knowledgeâ�� - and their complementary yet differentiated roles in organizations and differing spatial reaches. This highlights the existence of multiple geographies of tacit knowledge and the need to be more subtle in our arguments about its geographies. In particular, the paper reveals that tacit knowledge can have global geographies when knowledge management practices focus on reproducing rather than transferring knowledge across space.
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So the first thing you heard this morning, courtesy of the brave people at NPR. How they do stuff like this every day is truly admirable.
These are the rules. Write a story.
- Seven sentences of seven words.
- Each sentence begins with the successive word of the first sentence.
Broccoli and My Feelings for You: A Breakup Story
"I don't think I want broccoli tonight."
"Don't starting making demands—you're not deserving."
Think first, he mused, and then speak.
"I am tired of you saying I'm unworthy–"
"Want to argue this now?" she responded.
"–Broccoli is a metaphor for our relationship."
Tonight, he thought, this thing finally ends.


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Results of the 2007/8 Hong Kong Sustainable Development Index Survey (HKSDI Survey) produced by City University of Hong Kong (CityU) in conjunction with the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong were released on 20 November.
The findings of the survey reveal that environmental protection ranks alongside the education system as Hong Kong's top sustainable development priority. Among the issues of top concern are clean air, quality of teaching and the related issue of student-teacher ratio.
Launched in 2003, the Hong Kong Sustainable Development Index measures progress on 10 key economic, environmental and social priorities that have been identified as important for furthering the territory's sustainable development.
For 2007/8, the Index rose to a new high of 103.6, compared to 102.6 in 2006 and a baseline of 100 in 2003. The survey results indicate that the general public sees some overall progress being made toward Hong Kong's sustainable development goals.
While the education system has been identified as a top priority in every HKSDI Survey since 2003, the importance placed by the public on environmental protection rose significantly in 2007/8 to rank alongside the education system as a top priority. However, its performance rating fell from fourth in 2003 to ninth in 2007/8, resulting in the largest "satisfaction gap" among the sustainable development priorities tracked by the HKSDI Survey. (Click here for key findings)
"The satisfaction gap in nine of the 10 priorities decreased in 2007/8, resulting in an overall increase in the HKSDI," explained Professor Graeme Lang, convener of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce's Sustainable Development Index sub-committee and Head of CityU's Department of Asian and International Studies. The Index is, however, anticipated to decrease as a result of the deteriorating economy.
"Pursuing a sustainable quality of life should be the central objective of every society, but it is difficult to get a clear picture of where improvement is needed most unless you measure public perception of the issues," said Dr Geoffrey Tso Kwok-fai, Associate Professor, Department of Management Sciences of CityU. "Our survey is unique in providing a large-scale measure of public perception of the top priorities for sustainable development in Asia's world city. We randomly selected more than 2,000 Cantonese-speaking adults – forming a representative sample of the Hong Kong community – and interviewed them each for at least 20 minutes to generate this year's findings."
"These results enable us to assess the importance the community attaches to multiple facets of sustainable development and to track perceived progress in managing these areas, especially when viewed as a five-year series," said Professor Lang.


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Penn-designed non-invasive MRI screening method is cost-effective, statistically powerful
When trying to determine the root cause of a person's dementia, using an MRI can effectively and non-invasively screen patients for Alzheimer's disease or Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration (FTLD), according to a new study by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Using an MRI-based algorithm effectively differentiated cases 75 percent of the time, according to the study, published in the December 26th, 2012, issue of Neurology-, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The non-invasive approach reported in this study can track disease progression over time more easily and cost-effectively than other tests, particularly in clinical trials testing new therapies.
Researchers used the MRIs to predict the ratio of two biomarkers for the diseases - the proteins total tau and beta-amyloid - in the cerebrospinal fluid. Cerebrospinal fluid analyses remain the most accurate method for predicting the disease cause, but requires a more invasive lumbar puncture. "Using this novel method, we obtain a single biologically meaningful value from analyzing MRI data in this manner and then we can derive a probabilistic estimate of the likelihood of Alzheimer's or FTLD," said the study's lead author, Corey McMillan, PhD, of the Perelman School of Medicine and Frontotemporal Degeneration Center at the University of Pennsylvania.
Using the MRI prediction method was 75 percent accurate at identifying the correct diagnosis in both patients with pre-confirmed disease diagnoses and those with biomarker levels confirmed by lumbar punctures, which shows comparable overlap between accuracy of the MRI and lumbar puncture methods. "For those remaining 25 percent of cases that are borderline, a lumbar puncture testing spinal fluid may provide a more accurate estimate of the pathological diagnosis."


Skip to definition.
Noun: nitrate 'nI,treyt
 1. Any compound containing the nitrate group (such as a salt or ester of nitric acid)
Verb: nitrate 'nI,treyt
 1. (chemistry) treat with nitric acid, so as to change an organic compound into a nitrate
 "nitroglycerin is obtained by nitrating glycerol"
Derived forms: nitrated, nitrates, nitrating
Type of: chemical compound, compound, process, treat
Encyclopedia: Nitrate


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The economics of Burn care
By: Paul Trueman
Hospital Episode Statistics for England and Wales demonstrate the scale of burn injuries and associated costs, with the paediatric and elderly population being the most at risk. In the year 2009/2010 there were:
- Over 11,000 admissions
- Accounting for over 47,000 bed days
- Involving over 3400 critical care admissions
Health and economic impacts of burn care can be divided into direct (healthcare) costs, indirect (non-healthcare) costs and intangible costs (Table 1; Figure 1).
Table 1. Costs associated with burn care.
Reconstruction: specialist care, surgery (ICU, burns unit)
Rehabilitation: Multi-disciplinary inpatient or outpatient care
Reintegration: outpatient and community care
Patient and carer costs
Pain, suffering, quality of life
Figure 1. Distribution of costs in burn care (From Sanchez et al, 2008).
Approaches to burn care
Clinical and economic evidence is required to identify the most efficient approaches to burn care and in this respect economic stakeholders need to recognise the challenges that are inherent in conducting research in this indication. Burn care is not immune from the economic realities facing health services and when addressing the costs associated with treatment options the difficulties inherent in conducting randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in burns patients needs to be appreciated.
Regrettably there is limited evidence on the cost effectiveness of individual dressings/treatments, although early evidence suggests that dressing costs make up a very small fraction of the total cost of care. In assessing overall costs rationale for dressing selection should consider impacts on other total costs, such as reducing pain on dressing change, which may facilitate out-patient management and/or return to work which reduce the financial burden to the hospital system and the patient/economy respectively. With respect to the latter, societal costs of burns typically exceed the healthcare costs in the form of:
- Productivity losses
- Caregiver time
- Home care costs
- Permanent disability in severe cases
Quality of life (QOL) considerations are also important with burn care making an impact on the commonly reported domains of quality of life, either in the acute phase or during rehabilitation (Figure 2). However, there is a lack of robust quantifiable evidence on the impact of burns on QOL, with the available evidence tending to use disease-specific scales such as the Burn Specific Health Scale.
Figure 2. Burns and QOL.
Cost-effective burn care
In defining cost effective burn care it should be emphasised that cost-effective care does not necessarily equate to the least costly care. The true aim is to achieve the best possible outcomes for any given expenditure which can be influenced by:
- Burn severity
- Diagnosis – accuracy and speed
- Intervention, and Treatment pathways.
Regarding burn severity our interests lie primarily in the costs and outcomes of treating non-complex burns.
Looking at both complex and non-complex burns, cost is positively associated with the severity of the burn in question. Griffiths et al (2006) report the mean cost of treating an uncomplicated paediatric minor scald in a UK burns centre to be £1850, whereas costs soar for complex burns as shown by Pellat et al (2010) who reported the mean cost of treating a paediatric burn covering 30-40% of total body surface area (TBSA) to be £63,157. In this respect Klein et al (2008) reported that for each additional TBSA % that was grafted with autologous skin grafts, hospital costs increased by US$2,639.
Cost is also associated with patient age; children account for 40-50% of all severe burn injuries whereas the elderly account for between 10% and 16% of all severe burn injuries. With respect to mean levels of hospital stay, which also drives the cost of treatment and increases with burn severity, Brusselaers et al (2010) report this to be 15-16 days in the paediatric population and 18-26 days in the elderly population. Hospital episode statistics from England and Wales demonstrate the impact that burn severity has on costs in relation to average length of stay (ALOS), with length of stay and associated costs increasing with severity (Table 2)
[Insert table 2]
Table 2. Burn severity and ALOS
In a prospective, cross-sectional study in a Spanish burn centre, Sanchez et al (2008) collected information on healthcare and non-healthcare costs for 898 patient admissions categorised according to DRG code. Mean annual healthcare costs ranged from US$5,000 – US$41,000 (Figure 3).
[Insert Fig 3]
Figure 3. Healthcare and non-healthcare costs relating to burn care (From Sanchez et al, 2008).
Burns have far reaching health and economic impact. However, the commoner non-complex burns are relatively inexpensive. High cost severe burns are relatively rare, but when looking at individuals with severe burns the high associated expense leads to a general perception that burn care is expensive to treat across the board. Non-healthcare costs are associated with a high proportion of the cost relating to burn patients
Brusselaers et al. Critical Care 2010, 14:R188. _URL_
Griffiths et al. Burns journal of the International Society for Burn Injuries (2006) Volume: 32, Issue: 3, Pages: 372-374
Klein et al. (2008)
Pellat et al. Burns journal of the International Society for Burn Injuries (2010) Volume: 36, Issue: 8, Pages: _PHONE_
Sanchez et al. Burns Volume 34, Issue 7, November 2008, Pages 975-981


"Powered by the best blood lines."
Hackney Stud "De Heemhoeve"
Torendijk 2
7495 PX Ambt Delden
tel. 074 - _PHONE_
E-mail _EMAIL_
History of the Hackney
Mathias, 1895
There are different views on the origin of the name Hackney. It probably originated from the Middle English word 'Hakene', which meant lady's mount. Another possibility is that it originates from the French 'haquenee', which means small horse. The Hackney descends from the Norfolk Trotter and the Thoroughbred. By the influential Thoroughbreds Flying Childers (1714) and Bartlett's Childers (1716) the blood of de famous Arabian stallion Darley Arabian (1700) is anchored in almost all the sire lines in the Hackney breeding.
The stallion Mathias (1895) played an important part in the breeding history of the modern Hackney.
The most distinctive characteristic of the hackney is probably the special gait it has. Hackneys have a large suspended trot, at which the forelegs are lifted up high and far to the front. Before the foot is put down, it 'holds back' for a moment in the air, which prolongs the suspension. For good reason they are called 'Ballerinas of horse show arenas' due to their elevated, elegant gaits.
With regard to Hackneys, a distinction is made between ponies (with height of the withers between 1.20 - 1.40 meter) and horses (from 1.40 meter, in practice usually between 1.55 - 1.65 meter).
Initially, the Hackney was used as a pack and riding animal. Due to its speed and great endurance, particularly in Great Britain the Hackney has been hitched up in front of a stage-coach for a very long time. Nowadays, the Hackney is mainly used for various show disciplines of the driving sports.


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SEER in the News
Hispanic Lung Cancer Patients Tend to Live Longer than Blacks and Whites
April 26, 2012 - The journal Cancer has issued the following press release.
A new analysis has found that Hispanic lung cancer patients seem to live longer than white or black patients. The study suggests that, as with several other types of cancer, certain yet-to-be-defined genetic and/or environmental factors put Hispanic patients at a survival advantage. Most studies that look at ethnic and racial disparities in lung cancer compare black patients with whites. To see how Hispanics compare with other ethnicities with regards to survival after a lung cancer diagnosis, Ali Saeed, an MD/PhD candidate, and Brian Lally, MD, of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, led a team that analyzed patient information from the Survival, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Database, which compiles incidence and survival data from population-based cancer registries in the United States. The investigators identified 172,398 adult patients who were diagnosed with any stage of non-small cell lung cancer (the most common form of lung cancer) between 1988 and 2007. Compared with white patients, Hispanic patients had a 15 percent lower risk of dying during the years of the study, whether they were born in the United States or not. "This is important because it shows that our findings are indicative of the Hispanic population in general and not specific to specific groups of Hispanics," said Saeed. Black patients were slightly more likely to die than whites. Also, Hispanics were more likely to develop a lung cancer type called bronchioalveolar carcinoma that is not as serious or life-threatening as other types.
Saeed AM, Toonkel R, Glassberg MK, Nguyen D, Hu JJ, Zimmers TA, Robbins DJ, Koniaris LG, Lally BE. The influence of Hispanic ethnicity on nonsmall cell lung cancer histology and patient survival: An analysis of the Survival, Epidemiology, and End Results database. Cancer. 2012 Apr 23. [Epub ahead of print] (PubMed)