When designing for a digital brand, you or your designer has to find a balance between creating something visually novel and exciting whilst communicating all the important stuff. Icons and images come hand-in-hand to set the tone for your user's experience and invite them to soak up your brand's identity and ethos.
Here we put together a "how to" guide, focusing firstly on using icons and images in design. Covering all the basics, it's a great springboard for you to jump off and into your digitally creative pursuits.
Let's dive in.
simple line art icon designs
Icon designs by Clicky
How to feature icons successfully
Icons add visual accents to digital designs. If you have a lot of info to present, they are a brilliant tool for breaking up text-heavy content into a more digestible and exciting format. In order to do this effectively, you need to be strategic.
Read on to discover five great ways for implementing icons into your visual content.
1. Signify key points
Our favourite spring cleaners, bullet points or numbered lists, work to declutter text. Separating bits of info from the rest of the text body, they highlight key points and takeaways. A more creative approach to the classic list format involves iconography.
COVID measures icons
via Alex Solorzano
Designing unique symbols to further purvey your brand identity and relay your message in a visual way keeps the rhythm light and bouncy for your reader. For instance, take a look at this set of infographics, illustrating the steps that this brand is taking to handle the Covid-19 pandemic. Not only does it explain this important information in a light-hearted, easy-to-read way but it's full of character and represents the brand's values.
2. Label charts or graphs
Some designs suit being text heavy (think written articles or the blurb section of a book cover) but other informational content, such as infographics, requires a more visual approach. One of the benefits of iconography is that it allows readers to visualise the text, which can be especially valuable when you're trying to communicate data or stats.
Six components of human beings with and without icons
via Visme
Take a look at the above example, first without icons and then with icons. Doesn't the option that includes icons look so much less cluttered and easy to read? It's because there are visual supporting elements for each label, helping to explain each point.
One thing to be sure of is that you're always incorporating icons that are hyper-relevant to the point, or else they won't make sense. You're not adding icons for the sake of adding icons—you're doing it to ensure your designs are easy-to-understand and visually appealing.
Let's look at another type of infographic in the below images, noting the differences between these two data visualizations. Swapping written statistics and names for a chart labelled with visual logos creates a clearer, more accessible and, therefore, more efficient design.
Teen social media usage with and without icons
via Visme
3. Show consistency
There are so many different styles of icons, from flat, to outline, to isometric and more, that it can feel a little overwhelming to know where to start. We've rounded up three things for you to keep in mind when choosing or designing iconography for your project. Finding the right stylecolor and size is crucial for consistency and reflecting your brand identity.
Icon style
As there are so many different styles of icons to choose from, it's important to stick to a single icon style throughout your design, regardless of which one you choose.
Here's an example to help showcase why this consistency is so important:
Britain attitude to meat icon differences
via Visme
See how in the first instance, the icons have a similar look and feel? It makes the design as a whole feel cohesive and put together. But in the second example, the carrot is a black outline icon while the lettuce remains a colorful icon, throwing the viewer off and disrupting the design.
Icon color
Another important aspect of icon consistency is color. While certain contexts demand that icons retain "logical" colors (see the carrots and lettuce in our previous example), sometimes it's more fun to get creative. One way to do so is to match the icon's colour with the data widget they appear in (or the overall color scheme), like the following set of coordinating colors between the statistic and their corresponding icon.
Webinar viewers data
via Visme
Icon size
Large icons in Portuguese
Via Beatriz Ayres
A final major thing to consider when implementing icons into your design work is their size. Whatever message they are denoting, consider whether that message is just as significant as the other points. If so, and you want your reader to consider each one equally, the size of your icons should reflect this as each element in a design project should be streamlined together. What's more, using the same sized circles helps create a uniform look around some of the more oddly shaped icons, which leads us to our next point…
4. Add a background
Graph information
via Visme
As you may have noticed in the previous examples, an icon as a line shape is often dramatic enough. Sometimes, however, you may wish to add an extra contrasting layer to your design to really make the iconography dazzle and this means adding a background. Apart from the usual spherical shapes to back your icons, there are a couple of other creative avenues you can explore, including sizing, shape, placement and transparency… whatever takes your fancy, really.
infographics step by step
Via Visme
5. Adding animation
What is Design Thinking?
via Visme
If you weren't excited enough, why not contemplate animating your icons? Adding ticking, twitching or trembling adds drama and communicates the symbol's message more effectively. Allow an excess of creativity (and motion) to run through your iconic ideas and see what happens… until then, let's talk about images.
How to maximise your image potential
Got some fab graphics and not quite sure how to fit it into your webpage? Perhaps you're in the midst of designing a digital space or platform and need some inspiration on jazzing it up. Imagery grabs attention; they entice users towards your call-to-action and provide an enriched experience. Not only this, but they tell your brand's story and ethos; visually speaking.
Contrasting and complimenting white space and brand colors, featured images are so significant in design that you need to get it pretty perfect to distinguish yourself from competitors. So, we thought it'd be cool to put together five alternative techniques for presenting imagery in your designs.
1. Crack a crop
crop image pattern
Via Visme
crop image pattern
One unusual way to incorporate images into your designs is to crop them into abstract shapes and create unique patterns. You could start with something simple like a square, circle, or triangle (or something asymmetrical if you're feeling adventurous) and then play around with the dimensions to find the right fit. If it's a geometric design you have in mind, you could also try tiling, with some shapes exposing the image and some filled with complimentary/contrasting block colors.
2. Use images as a background
Community Share online marketing image
via Visme
Filling a background with an image creates atmosphere and welcomes the reader to make a deeper connection with your brand. You can try different techniques, like using a transparent box out to display text over the image but make sure you choose contrasting colours and placement to keep things easy to read.
3. Cutouts
food photography cut outs
Via Visme
food photography cut outs
Love the main element in an image but not its background? Slice away the bits you don't need into an image cutout (see donut). This technique gives you a lot more freedom as you're able to slot it's main feature into your design without having to worry about the edges of a square/rectangular photo feeling awkward. It also opens up your site to embrace white space. Get creative with it, and see how many similar image cutouts you can use. You might even place your image cutout over part of your text to give more depth to your design.
4. Collages
Surreal graphic
via Matt Pamer
Since around 1910, the practice of collaging has evolved alongside several art and culture movements. These days, it flirts with white space to create digital designs that are dynamic, packed with character and brand identity and enthralling to look at. A brilliant way to tease or playfully manipulate content, it is the ultimate alternative mode to present imagery through.
You can use a slick grid system as a base or perhaps you want to go "old school", scan and rip up photos before putting them together into a digital collage oozing a grungy D-I-Y aesthetic. Be explorative with compositions but ensure it all ties in nicely with your overall brand identity and color palette.
5. Add a simple transition
Artist magazine image
via Zhenya Rynzhuk
A big entrance never hurt anyone and images are no exception. Static websites can be incredibly powerful, but they can also be unapproachable. A simple motion transition increases interactivity between site and user, offering a memorable experience for the user while creating another chance to express individual brand identity.
Time to take the plunge
Icons and imagery may be small additions to your designs, but they can have a huge impact. With these 10 tips you can start integrating them into your designs to take them to the next level. Not sure what type of icon or image will work for you? The best approach to perfecting digital design is through experimentation. Choosing the right icons and imagery and learning how to manipulate them to fit the


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The term veld, sometimes anachronistically spelled veldt in English, is a generic term used to define certain wide open rural spaces of Southern Africa. It is used in particular to refer to flatter areas or districts covered in grass or low scrub, especially in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia. A certain sub-tropical woodland ecoregion of Southern Africa has been officially defined as the Bushveld by the World Wide Fund for Nature.
The word veld comes from the Afrikaans word for 'field', but a simple translation does not convey the subtleties of the many idiomatic nuances and technical applications of the term. A typical authoritative dictionary will devote columns, or even pages to the subject.
The etymological origin is the old Dutch language veldt, a spelling that the Dutch abandoned in favour of veld during the 19th century, decades before the first Afrikaans dictionary. Subsequent addition of the terminal "t" in the spelling "veldt" seems to have been mainly an English confusion with the already obsolete Dutch usage; it never was an Afrikaans form. Even in English its frequency of usage relative to "veld" peaked around the time of the Boer wars, and has lapsed into a minority anachronism since about 1920.
Veld can be loosely compared to the Australian terms "outback" or "bush", to "the prairie" of North America, to the "pampas" lowlands of South America, or to the steppe of Central Asia. Someone from Yorkshire might equate "wandering across the moors" to "walking through the veld."
By extension, the veld can be compared to 'the boondocks' or those places 'beyond the black stump' in Australia. There is a sense in which it refers in essence to unimproved land (and is therefore not the equivalent of the English "paddock") and does not include areas used both for pastoral activities and the planting of crops. These areas are referred to as fields. The word is less appropriate for land that is heavily forested, mountainous, or urban. The simplest explanation will be to say the word "veld" means "natural vegetation"; excluding vegetation like swamps and forests. It does include mountains with vegetation but not deserts or mountains without natural vegetation.
The veld definition may encompass different natural environments, both humid and dry, such as Coastal plain, Coastal prairie, Flooded grasslands and savannas, Grassland, Prairie, Savanna, Steppe, Meadow, Water-meadow, Flood-meadow, Wet meadow, as well as agricultural fields. Whereas mountainous peaks and thick forests do not really fit in with the term veld, bushes are acceptable. The area then becomes Bosveld, a term that is used mainly to describe Die Bosveld ("The Bushveld"), which is both a loose botanical classification and a specific geographical part of what used to be known as the Transvaal, as described for example in the story Jock of the Bushveld.
Other uses
- The word Renosterveld, "rhinoceros-field", is now used to differentiate one of the major vegetation types of the Cape Floristic Region.
- A carefully husbanded sports field on which the game of Rugby is played in the middle of cities such as Cape Town or Johannesburg is referred to as a "rugbyveld" in the Afrikaans language.
- The word "veld" also carries military connotations. The word "field" in English has a strong association with "war", as evidenced by the expression "the first foe in the field" and the lines of the ballad 'Lord Marlborough' (see John Churchill): "You generals all and champions bold, that takes delight in field, that knocks down churches and castle walls but now to death must yield". The same relationship is paralleled in Afrikaans. Just as the English Army has its Field Marshals, the Boer armies had their Veldkornets and Veldkommandos.
- The Rhodesian Ridgeback dog was famous for hunting large game on the African Veld. As a tribute to this wonderful breed many Rhodesian Ridgeback breeders incorporate the word "veld" or "veldt" in their kennel prefix. Once such notable example is the kennel prefix "Veldthund" who have been breeding and showing Rhodesian Ridgebacks in Australia since 1984. The dog Ch Veldthund Sabre ET appears on the pedigree of many of the top Rhodesian Ridgebacks around the world.
Highveld and Lowveld
Much of the interior of southern Africa consists of a high plateau, the higher portions (1500 m – 2100 m) of which are known as the Highveld, starting at the Drakensberg escarpment to the east of the Johannesburg, and sloping gradually downwards to the west and south west, as well as. These higher, cooler areas (generally more than 5,000 feet or 1,500 metres above sea level) are characterised by flat or gently undulating terrain, vast grasslands and a modified tropical or subtropical climate. In some areas there is a distinct escarpment bordering the plateau, while in others the boundary is not obvious. The blesbok and quagga were among the large animals that once roamed in the highveld in great numbers. Nowadays there still is a sizeable population of springbok in some areas.
The lower regions of the central plateau to the north of the Highveld, especially the Limpopo River lowlands, as well as the areas beyond of the Drakensberg escarpment in Mpumalanga, to the north east of the Highveld, are known as Lowveld and are generally hotter and less intensely cultivated. The arid lower plateau regions to the west, south and south west of the Highveld are not generally referred to as "Lowveld", nor is KwaZulu-Natal beyond the escarpment to the east. Before the middle of the 20th century, much of the Lowveld was home to the tsetse fly, which transmits sleeping sickness. These areas used to be known as "fever country" and were avoided by mounted travellers, owing to the susceptibility of horses to a form of the disease. Formerly malaria, carried by mosquitoes, was a major problem too in the hotter parts of the Lowveld.
The Lowveld is known for its high concentration of big game, including the larger animals, like African elephants, rhino, zebra and wildebeest, while the slow-flowing streams and wetlands of the Lowveld are a haven for the hippos. The Kruger National Park, for example, is located in the eastern Lowveld areas of Mpumalanga and Limpopo Provinces.
Thornveld or Thorn Veld, often referred to as "acacia thornveld", is a type of semi-arid savanna in which grassland with thorny acacia and certain species of thorny bushes predominate. The predominant plant species are usually different in the thornveld of the plains or in the hill thornveld, where, for example, species of genus Balanites are common. Some of the characteristic species in the thornveld include:
- Grasses: Grass species belonging to genus Themeda and Hyparrhenia
- Trees and bushes: Genus Acacia and Rhus, such as Acacia caffra, Acacia sieberiana and Rhus pentheri and other species like Ziziphus mucronata, Ehretia rigida and Cussonia spicata.
Sandveld and Hardveld
Sandveld, in the general sense of the word, is a type of veld characterised by dry, sandy soil, typical of certain areas of the Southern African region. It usually absorbs all water from the seasonal rains, although aquatic habitats, largely seasonal, may be also found in specific places in the sandveld. Only certain hardy plant species thrive in the sandveld environment. These consist especially of grasses forming clumps and certain kinds of trees and shrubs. The sandveld vegetation has a particular pattern of growth, rarely covering the whole terrain and thus leaving patches of sandy soil exposed on the surface. Some of the typical sandveld species are Acacia haematoxylon, A. luederitzii, Boscia albitrunca, Terminalia sericea, Lonchocarpus nelsii, Bauhinia petersiana and Baphia massaiensis.
The fauna of the sandveld includes mainly reptiles, mammals and birds adapted to living in the sandy environment; some of the small mammals and reptiles often use the sand for protection by burrowing in it.
The term Sandveld is also applied in a specific sense to certain well-defined areas in Southern Africa, such as the Sandveld of the Northwest, a 30 km wide strip along the Atlantic coast of South Africa. The Sandveld of the Kalahari was one of the areas inhabited by the Bushmen, who had adapted to life conditions in the Sandveld since ancient times. The Sandveld Nature Reserve is protecting the biotope of a sandveld zone of the Free State.
Hardveld is a term applied to certain areas of rocky soils in Botswana, located mostly in the eastern part of the country. The landscape is an undulating plain with scattered rocky hill ranges. There are areas of hardveld

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


Sudden-Onset Headshaking
My pony started tossing his head and cribbing at about the same time. The head tossing has increased to the point of not being able to ride him. He has had his teeth floated and has been checked by a vet for common problems. He has never had any problems before this, and has always been a great pony hunter. I've changed bits, used a hackamore, longed him with tack--still with the same problems. He doesn't toss his head when turned out. This only happens when he is being ridden or under tack. It started in April and has gotten worse (now late September). Any suggestions? Michele
With a sudden onset of head tossing in a horse that has been a good performer for many years, it's always good to look long and hard for a physical irritant as the root cause. And in the case of your pony that started cribbing at the same time, it's probably even more important to keep looking for something physical that is bothering him. After what you have done already, it might be best to ask your veterinarian to refer you to a large veterinary referral hospital, where a team of clinicians with in-hospital imaging equipment can systematically evaluate the many possibilities. Repetitive head movements--
headshaking, tossing, rubbing, etc.--can be provoked by anything abnormal in the head area, including ears, eyes, mouth, or guttural pouches. Infections, allergies, parasites, neurologic abnormalities, and any number of conditions should be systematically ruled out. There is a condition known as photic trigeminal hyperstimulation or photic headshaking syndrome in which bright light induces rubbing, sneezing, and sometimes frantic headshaking.
It can be frustrating sorting out the relationship of headshaking with riding and tack. When your horse only does the headshaking when ridden or under tack, it might be the tack itself that is presently irritating the horse, or just that the tack and riding exacerbate an existing irritation. Theoretically, the behavior could become learned--it could continue after the irritation goes away. In my experience, this has rarely been the conclusion. In other words, if you can identify and eliminate the physical irritation, the behavior immediately goes away.
About the Author
Sue McDonnell, PhD, Certified AAB
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Établissement public à caractère scientifique, culturel et professionnel
|This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2012)|
In French law, Établissement public à caractère scientifique, culturel et professionnel (EPSCP) is a formal category of more than one hundred and thirty public higher education institutes in the fields of sciences, culture and professional education. EPSCP have legal, administrative and financial autonomy in the French education system.
EPSCP category includes:
- public universities, per se
- four groups of other institutes with an operational status equivalent to a university.
EPSCP have full scientific autonomy to organise their research area, their curricula and degrees, up to and including doctoral degrees. They operate on the basis of a 4-year objective roadmap that they define and agree with the national fund-granting authority and their achievements are assessed by a national evaluation agency for research and higher education. They also have the ability to create their own research foundations.
Different types of EPSCP
The law establishes different groups of EPSCP, which are described below.
The 81 universities and institutes of technology are EPSCP led by a president and administered by a board of directors. They deliver bachelor, master and doctoral degrees as well as continuous education. They also contribute to national research programmes.
Autonomous higher education institutes
These higher education institutes with a university-equivalent status are managed by a board of directors, assisted by a scientific council and a board of studies and academic life. Chairman of the Board of Directors is elected from among persons outside of the institute. The director is appointed by the Minister of Higher Education for a period of 5 years. The following institutions have this status:
- Centrale Graduate School
- École nationale supérieure des arts et industries textiles
- Ecole nationale d'ingénieurs de Saint-Etienne
- Institut national des sciences appliquées are institutes of technology
- Universities of Technology
- Institut supérieur de mécanique de Paris
Écoles normales supérieures
The four Écoles Normales Supérieures are institutions educating researchers and professors. The ENS have a board of directors and a scientific council, and are headed by an appointed director.
French institutes abroad
There are five French institutes operating outside France, hosting world-class researchers. These institutes are intended to provide an intellectual and material support to such researchers, including the presence of resource materials in French language. Some of these institutes can also provide accommodation for researchers.
The following institutions are included in this sub-group :
- Casa de Velázquez in Madrid
- École française d'Athènes
- École française d'Extrême-Orient
- École française de Rome
- Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale in Cairo
Twenty large institutions with diverse roles are included in this sub-group.
Notes and references
- Décret no 2000-250 du 15 mars 2000 portant classification d'établissements publics à caractère scientifique, culturel et professionnel (in French).

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


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Gardens for entertainment
Vauxhall Gardens in the late 1740s had many delights. The gardens were situated just east of Vauxhall Bridge. They were first laid out around 1661 and were known as New Spring Gardens. However, it wasn't until 1732 when Jonathan Tyers took charge that the park became an elegant 'pleasure garden' where 'polite' society would meet.
The place to be seen
Tyers transformed the gardens. He added a music room, Chinese pavilion, gothic orchestra stand and numerous arches and temples. The many statues included one of the composer Handel, who often performed there. Tyers put in grand avenues where the fashionable could promenade. There were over one hundred supper boxes, each painted with a mural, where dinner could be served.
Many extravaganzas were performed at Vauxhall Gardens. These included a rehearsal of Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks in 1749. The gardens provided entertainment until the mid-19th century, when they went into a gradual decline.
Museum number 53.52/5


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TsAGI scientists develop new turbulence model
22 December 2017
Experiments are an important component of aircraft design. But often aerodynamic experiments are often replaced by computational simulation. This saves time and resources at the preliminary stages of work. Scientists of the Zhukovsky Central AeroHydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI, a member of the National Research Center "Zhukovsky Institute") are actively engaged in the development of computational methods. Among the recent results is the development of new turbulence models — the equations systems that describes turbulent gas flow — the methods to determine the turbulence influence of gas flow) for aerodynamic design of civil aviation equipment.
Young TsAGI specialists are the authors of the development and were awarded an annual prize in the field of science and innovations from the Governor of the Moscow region. The scientists set out to develop turbulence models, which would improve computational accuracy compared with standard models. This is a significant step to minimize errors when comparing a wind tunnel experiment and a numerical simulation.
The scientists used for their work the application program package EWT-TsAGI (an Electronic Wind Tunnel). It was developed at the Institute to research in computational aerodynamics. An important result was the turbulence modeling. In particular, the model can be used in jet stream flow analysis. The end results are for one of the modifications of the Russian regional Sukhoi Superjet aircraft.
An annual prize in the area of science and innovation for young scientists from the Governor of the Moscow region is awarded for outstanding scientific or technological achievements and their practical application, ensuring the promotion of innovation in the economy and the social sphere.


Union of Sets | Calculate A U B | Calculators4U
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Union of Sets - A U B
In the set operations, let's calculate union of sets A U B. The union of two sets A and B is the set that contains exactly all the elements that are in either A or B (or in both).
Union of Sets


text: Unis is a nurse expert system prototype specifically designed to assist nurses caring for elderly, incontinent patients residing in nursing homes. Two studies measuring the performance level of UNIS were implemented. In the first study, results of sessions with UNIS on case studies of elderly, incontinent patients were compared to sessions with nurse experts. The relevance of questions, value of recommendations and overall performance were rated by an evaluation panel. In the second study, UNIS was implemented on two nursing units in a nursing home. The number of wet occurrences of patients residing on units where UNIS was consulted by nurses was compared to the number of wet occurrences of patients residing on units where UNIS was not consulted by nurses. The knowledge of urinary incontinence of nurses who consulted UNIS and those who did not consult UNIS were also compared. The results indicate that when judged by an evaluation panel, the relevance of the questions and value of the recommendations generated by UNIS were not rated significantly different than ratings assigned to nurse experts consulting on the same case studies. There was a significant difference between assigned ratings for overall performance; F.01 (4,16) = 10.4. UNIS scored the highest on four out of five case studies. In the second study, the number of wet occurrences of patients residing on units where nurses consulted UNIS decreased significantly; F.01 (2,9) = 34.67. The knowledge of urinary incontinence also improved significantly when nurses' consulted UNIS; F.001 (2,157) = 19.46. The methods and results of these two studies are presented.


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This exhibition spotlights the lifestyles, and some of the religious practices of Orthodox Jewry in the years preceding the Holocaust, during the Holocaust, and in the immediate years following the Holocaust. It provides a rare glimpse into a world of tremendous religious faith and belief and allows us, through the images and through the testimony, to explore their experiences and their fate.
The video testimony is taken from the CD "Years Wherein We Have Seen Evil" - which is part of an educational unit* produced by the International School for Holocaust Studies at Yad Vashem. The unit focuses on the story of religious Jewry during the Holocaust within a general historical context as well as broader Jewish context. For more information about "Years Wherein We Have Seen Evil" click here.
Developed with the generous donation of Rudolph and Edith Tessler


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The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), Underage Drinking Enforcement Training Center (UDETC) is pleased to launch the second in a series of on-line distance learning courses. These courses aim to provide law enforcement and community organizations with valuable, no-cost training that focuses on the reduction of underage access to alcohol.
This two-hour online course is designed as a basic-level familiarization to environmental strategies targeting the reduction of youth access to alcohol and a foundation for follow-up on-site training provided by UDETC. The course provides basic strategies and information on assessing community needs and applying science-based strategies.
Specifically, the course helps participants:
- Understand the difference between individually focused prevention and environmental prevention
- Understand the importance of taking an environmental approach to address alcohol and other drug problems.
- Use environmental strategies to reduce youth access to alcohol.
This is the second in a series of on-line courses developed by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Underage Drinking Enforcement Training Center.
The newest course in this series is "Environmental Strategies" and is now available.


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Deputy Municipal Manager
Tel : _PHONE_
Fax : _PHONE_
This cluster is responsible for inter-alia the following:
- Lead and manage the provision of basic services within ELM. Provide operations and maintenance support in the provision of basic services across the Municipality.
- Develop and monitoring Service Level Agreements and other service delivery contracts in conjunction with relevant line management, external contractors and other key stakeholders.
- Report on risks pertaining to basic service delivery, and recommend remedial actions.
- Provide Council and the MM with relevant data and information pertaining to service delivery programmes' status, challenges and opportunities.
- Water and Sanitation (Metsi a Lekoa)
- Roads and Storm Water
- Waste and Landfill Management
- Fleet Services
- Customer Care


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A customized semantic service retrieval methodology for the digital ecosystems environment
MetadataShow full item record
With the emergence of the Web and its pervasive intrusion on individuals, organizations, businesses etc., people now realize that they are living in a digital environment analogous to the ecological ecosystem. Consequently, no individual or organization can ignore the huge impact of the Web on social well-being, growth and prosperity, or the changes that it has brought about to the world economy, transforming it from a self-contained, isolated, and static environment to an open, connected, dynamic environment. Recently, the European Union initiated a research vision in relation to this ubiquitous digital environment, known as Digital (Business) Ecosystems. In the Digital Ecosystems environment, there exist ubiquitous and heterogeneous species, and ubiquitous, heterogeneous, context-dependent and dynamic services provided or requested by species. Nevertheless, existing commercial search engines lack sufficient semantic supports, which cannot be employed to disambiguate user queries and cannot provide trustworthy and reliable service retrieval. Furthermore, current semantic service retrieval research focuses on service retrieval in the Web service field, which cannot provide requested service retrieval functions that take into account the features of Digital Ecosystem services. Hence, in this thesis, we propose a customized semantic service retrieval methodology, enabling trustworthy and reliable service retrieval in the Digital Ecosystems environment, by considering the heterogeneous, context-dependent and dynamic nature of services and the heterogeneous and dynamic nature of service providers and service requesters in Digital Ecosystems.The customized semantic service retrieval methodology comprises: 1) a service information discovery, annotation and classification methodology; 2) a service retrieval methodology; 3) a service concept recommendation methodology; 4) a quality of service (QoS) evaluation and service ranking methodology; and 5) a service domain knowledge updating, and service-provider-based Service Description Entity (SDE) metadata publishing, maintenance and classification methodology.The service information discovery, annotation and classification methodology is designed for discovering ubiquitous service information from the Web, annotating the discovered service information with ontology mark-up languages, and classifying the annotated service information by means of specific service domain knowledge, taking into account the heterogeneous and context-dependent nature of Digital Ecosystem services and the heterogeneous nature of service providers. The methodology is realized by the prototype of a Semantic Crawler, the aim of which is to discover service advertisements and service provider profiles from webpages, and annotating the information with service domain ontologies.The service retrieval methodology enables service requesters to precisely retrieve the annotated service information, taking into account the heterogeneous nature of Digital Ecosystem service requesters. The methodology is presented by the prototype of a Service Search Engine. Since service requesters can be divided according to the group which has relevant knowledge with regard to their service requests, and the group which does not have relevant knowledge with regard to their service requests, we respectively provide two different service retrieval modules. The module for the first group enables service requesters to directly retrieve service information by querying its attributes. The module for the second group enables service requesters to interact with the search engine to denote their queries by means of service domain knowledge, and then retrieve service information based on the denoted queries.The service concept recommendation methodology concerns the issue of incomplete or incorrect queries. The methodology enables the search engine to recommend relevant concepts to service requesters, once they find that the service concepts eventually selected cannot be used to denote their service requests. We premise that there is some extent of overlap between the selected concepts and the concepts denoting service requests, as a result of the impact of service requesters' understandings of service requests on the selected concepts by a series of human-computer interactions. Therefore, a semantic similarity model is designed that seeks semantically similar concepts based on selected concepts.The QoS evaluation and service ranking methodology is proposed to allow service requesters to evaluate the trustworthiness of a service advertisement and rank retrieved service advertisements based on their QoS values, taking into account the contextdependent nature of services in Digital Ecosystems. The core of this methodology is an extended CCCI (Correlation of Interaction, Correlation of Criterion, Clarity of Criterion, and Importance of Criterion) metrics, which allows a service requester to evaluate the performance of a service provider in a service transaction based on QoS evaluation criteria in a specific service domain. The evaluation result is then incorporated with the previous results to produce the eventual QoS value of the service advertisement in a service domain. Service requesters can rank service advertisements by considering their QoS values under each criterion in a service domain.The methodology for service domain knowledge updating, service-provider-based SDE metadata publishing, maintenance, and classification is initiated to allow: 1) knowledge users to update service domain ontologies employed in the service retrieval methodology, taking into account the dynamic nature of services in Digital Ecosystems; and 2) service providers to update their service profiles and manually annotate their published service advertisements by means of service domain knowledge, taking into account the dynamic nature of service providers in Digital Ecosystems. The methodology for service domain knowledge updating is realized by a voting system for any proposals for changes in service domain knowledge, and by assigning different weights to the votes of domain experts and normal users.In order to validate the customized semantic service retrieval methodology, we build a prototype – a Customized Semantic Service Search Engine. Based on the prototype, we test the mathematical algorithms involved in the methodology by a simulation approach and validate the proposed functions of the methodology by a functional testing approach.
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
Dong, Hai; Hussain, Farookh Khadeer (2011)The vision of Digital Ecosystems was initiated by the European Commission, with the purpose of constructing an information and communication technology environment to facilitate the sustainable development of small and...
Dong, Hai; Hussain, Farookh Khadeer; Chang, Elizabeth (2011)A digital ecosystem is a widespread type of ubiquitous computing environment comprised of ubiquitous, geographically dispersed, and heterogeneous species, technologies and services. As a subdomain of the digital ecosystems,...
A service concept recommendation system for enhancing the dependability of semantic service matchmakers in the service ecosystem environmentDong, Hai; Hussain, Farookh Khadeer; Chang, Elizabeth (2010)A Service Ecosystem is a biological view of the business and software environment, which is comprised of a Service Use Ecosystem and a Service Supply Ecosystem. Service matchmakers play an important role in ensuring the...


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FAQ about stonewool
- Does stone wool remain disease-free during cultivation?
- What is stone wool?
- How is stone wool made?
- People often mention capillary action capacity. What does that mean?
- What do growers gain from the "controllability of the substrate"?
- Why is a water buffer important in the cultivation system?
- Why is full rooting important?
- Are slabs with a high capillary action capacity too wet for Winter cultivation?
- How do I determine the moisture content?
Does stone wool remain disease-free during cultivation?
Stone wool arrives at the greenhouse disease-free. Whether soil diseases are able to penetrate is dependent on the level of hygiene within the company. Naturally, the plant material must also be absolutely disease-free. The careful setting up of the system, the use of ground sheets and properly packaged slabs will limit the risks still further. Should any problems nevertheless arise, they are then relatively simple to resolve. That is the advantage of the small root volume.
What is stone wool?
Stone wool is a mineral wool made of volcanic rock. Stone wool consists of 5% solid material in the form of stone fibres. The remaining 95% is made up of pores.
How is stone wool made?
The basic materials for Grodan stone wool are Basalt and Limestone. These are melted to form lava in an oven with a temperature of 1,500°C. The lava is then poured over a number of fast-rotating discs. Thanks to the centrifugal force, the drops fly off the discs and lengthen to form fibres. The process can be compared with candy floss being made at a fair. The fibres are then compressed to form a sturdy mass, from which the slabs and blocks are then cut.
People often mention capillary action capacity. What does that mean?
Stone wool slabs not only need to absorb sufficient moisture but also need to distribute it over the entire volume of the slab. Grodan stone wool has been specially developed to satisfy these requirements. If the moisture were to sink to the bottom straight away, there would be dry or salty spots in the slab.
The roots would not thrive in such an environment, so the "rootable" volume would be reduced. A good "capillary action capacity" (water distribution) ensures that the entire slab volume can be controlled and thus also fully rooted.
What do growers gain from the "controllability of the substrate"?
With a controllable substrate, the crop has access to whatever it needs at that moment. The plant will therefore respond optimally and thus also be more productive. With Grodan stone wool substrate, the slab volume can be controlled right down to every little corner of the slab volume. Comparable results may be possible with other substrates, but would require around 10 to 15% more water and nutrients.
Why is a water buffer important in the cultivation system?
In the first instance, the water buffer must be able to cushion a temporary disturbance in the nutrient unit. A substrate with a lower "capillary action capacity" is more susceptible to drying out. In addition, the shocks in EC, pH and temperature in a substrate with good capillary action and with a water buffer are less extreme.
Savings in terms of water and nutrients thanks to the controllability of stone wool substrate are of course also important if recirculation is to be applied. With a water buffer, there are far fewer cubic meters of water to be disinfected, so the disinfection costs per square metre are lower.
Why is full rooting important?
Compared with soil, substrate slabs have a smaller volume. However, it is important that that volume can be used fully by the roots. After all, if the weather suddenly changes, a plant needs all its roots in order to be able to cope with the extra transpiration. If the substrate is not fully accessible for root development, there will be risks in the event of changes in the weather leading to a significant difference in evaporation.
Are slabs with a high capillary action capacity too wet for Winter cultivation?
No, since the moisture content of a slab is determined by the evaporation and the watering. Not using trickle irrigation and allowing extreme transpiration in the plant (hot pipes) will automatically lead to the slab drying out.
In other words: the moisture content in the slab is controllable. In principle, we strive for a lower moisture content in the winter. We can achieve this by allowing the crop to transpire sufficiently (minimum pipe temperature, fast ventilation) and through holding long pauses in between the watering sessions.
How do I determine the moisture content?
The water content in the stone wool slab can be assessed with the aid of the Grodan water content meter (WCM). This indicates the current water content of the slabs precisely so that the water content variations can be closely controlled. The WCM also measures the EC and the temperature of the stone wool slab.


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A Polje is a large flat-bottomed valley feature of limestone regions formed by prolonged dissolution. The Carron Polje is the largest enclosed depression in Ireland, with an area of approximately 4.5 square kilometres. The "disappearing lake" or Turlough is the most noticeable part of the Polje.
The depression began forming several millions of years ago when overlying shale layers were eroded and rainwater began the slow process of dissolving the underlying limestone. As erosion continued and the depression grew, insoluble components of the limestone accumulated and formed an impermeable layer over the limestone, this prevented further downward dissolution and encouraged the lateral widening of the depression giving us the flat-bottomed feature we see today.
The disappearing lake or Turlough is the most obvious part of the Polje. After significant rainfall the bottom of the valley fills with water to form a lake. The only outlet to drain the water is through a small natural karst fissure in the limestone at the southern margin of the lake. This can get blocked by mud or other debris and drains slowly. If there is no significant rainfall the water will drain and the lake will disappear only to fill again after more rain. During dry periods the lake floor is grazed by cattle.
Despite the relatively high amount of rainfall (>1000mm per year) there is only one small surface river in the Burren. This is because soil is very thin or absent and the limestone has been karstified, so deep fissures carry the surface water underground very quickly. These fissures form a complex network and sometimes form conduits that can transport water long distances very quickly. The water that flows underground from the end of the Carron Tulough is known to emerge 6km to the south near Kilnaboy. This makes the Burrren particularly vulnerable to water pollution.


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Homeopet Skin and Itch Relief Natural Remedy for Cats and Dogs (15ml)
Homeopet Skin and Itch Relief provides your pet with natural relief from allergies and pollutants that cause skin irritation and scratching. Typical symptoms are: Constant chewing, itching and scratching, licking and gnawing, Seborrhea, dry flaky skin or oily, greasy coat, or a build-up of ear wax.
Suitable for all animals, with no known side effects.
Homeopathic remedies, in tablet or liquid form can help with a range of problems, such as:
- hormonal problems,
- acute and chronic conditions,
- anxieties and behaviour problems,
- puppy development.
In addition, many dog, cat and horse owners use homeopathic remedies to protect their animals from acute infectious diseases such as kennel cough, cat flu or equine flu and tetanus.


NAME 'IO::Ppoll' - Object interface to Linux's 'ppoll()' call SYNOPSIS use IO::Ppoll qw( POLLIN POLLOUT ); use POSIX qw( sigprocmask SIG_BLOCK SIGHUP ); my $ppoll = IO::Ppoll->new(); $ppoll->mask( $input_handle => POLLIN ); $ppoll->mask( $output_handle => POLLOUT ); $SIG{HUP} = sub { print "SIGHUP happened\n"; }; sigprocmask( SIG_BLOCK, POSIX::SigSet->new( SIGHUP ), undef ); # If a SIGHUP happens, it can only happen during this poll $ppoll->poll( $timeout ); $input_ev = $poll->events( $input_handle ); DESCRIPTION 'IO::Ppoll' is a simple interface to Linux's 'ppoll()' system call. It provides an interface that is drop-in compatible with IO::Poll. The object stores a signal mask that will be in effect during the actual 'ppoll()' system call and has additional methods for manipulating the signal mask. The 'ppoll()' system call atomically switches the process's signal mask to that provided by the call, waits identically to 'poll()', then switches it back again. This allows a program to safely wait on either file handle IO or signals, without needing such tricks as a self-connected pipe or socket. The usual way in which this is used is to block the signals the application is interested in during the normal running of code. Whenever the 'ppoll()' wait is entered the process signal mask will be switched to that stored in the object. If there are any pending signals, the Linux kernel will then deliver them and make 'ppoll()' return -1 with 'errno' set to 'EINTR'. If no signals are pending, it will wait as a normal 'poll()' would. This guarantees the signals will only be delivered during the 'ppoll()' wait, when it would be safe to do so. CONSTRUCTOR $ppoll = IO::Ppoll->new() Returns a new instance of an 'IO::Ppoll' object. It will contain no file handles and its signal mask will be empty. METHODS $mask = $ppoll->mask( $handle ) Returns the current mask bits for the given IO handle $ppoll->mask( $handle, $newmask ) Sets the mask bits for the given IO handle. If '$newmask' is 0, the handle will be removed. $ret = $ppoll->poll( $timeout ) Call the 'ppoll()' system call. If '$timeout' is not supplied then no timeout value will be passed to the system call. Returns the result of the system call, which is the number of filehandles that have non-zero events, 0 on timeout, or -1 if an error occurred (including being interrupted by a signal). If -1 is returned, '$!' will contain the error. $bits = $ppoll->events( $handle ) Returns the event mask which represents the events that happened on the filehandle during the last call to 'poll()'. $ppoll->remove( $handle ) Removes the handle from the list of file descriptors for the next poll. _USER_ = $ppoll->handles( $bits ) Returns a list of handles. If '$bits' is not given then all of the handles will be returned. If '$bits' is given then the list will only contain handles which reported at least one of the bits specified during the last 'poll()' call. $sigset = $ppoll->sigmask Returns the 'POSIX::SigSet' object in which the signal mask is stored. Since this is a reference to the object the 'IO::Ppoll' object uses, any modifications made to it will be reflected in the signal mask given to the 'ppoll()' system call. $ppoll->sigmask( $newsigset ) Sets the 'POSIX::SigSet' object in which the signal mask is stored. Usually this is not required, as a new 'IO::Ppoll' is initialised with an empty set, and the 'sigmask_add()' and 'sigmask_del()' methods can be used to modify it. $ppoll->sigmask_add( _USER_ ) Adds the given signals to the signal mask. These signals will be blocked during the 'poll()' call. $ppoll->sigmask_del( _USER_ ) Removes the given signals from the signal mask. These signals will not be blocked during the 'poll()' call, and may be delivered while 'poll()' is waiting. $present = $ppoll->sigmask_ismember( $signal ) Tests if the given signal is present in the signal mask. SEE ALSO * IO::Poll - Object interface to system poll call * 'ppoll(2)' - wait for some event on a file descriptor (Linux manpages) * IO::Async::Loop::IO_Ppoll - a Loop using an IO::Ppoll object AUTHOR Paul Evans


How important is braking in mountain biking?
I was never the most fit guy at the races, but by using my brakes smarter than others I was able to put together some good races. My strategy was always to minimize the time I lost on the climbs and to make up time on every corner and every descent.
10 years ago, power meters weren't popular in MTB, but we really didn't have any great way to compare ourselves anyway just by looking at power.
OK, you're normalized power was this and mine was that. So….?
Well as it turns out, pedalling hard is only one important aspect of mountain biking–it's no wonder power output only has a pretty good relationship with performance on an XC lap. Time and time again the research has backed this up.
This isn't to say that pedalling isn't import—it is very important—but in mountain biking especially, there are so many factors working for and against each other for speed.
I always ask this one important question: What wins races?
Speed wins races.
And how do you go fast? Well, lots of ways.
Anyone who has every mountain biked would probably know that braking is important. But how important?
In the first ever study using a brake power meter (well, second actually. The first one proved that the device worked!), we set 10 riders off through a short XC lap. There were three short climbs and three short descents. We measured their propulsive power (the power on the pedals using a standard power meter), their brake power using our newly invented brake power meter, and recorded the time it took to complete the lap.
OK, the world's first brake power meter is a bit of a dinosaur by now, but it did the job!
It turned out that average propulsive power was strongly related to lap time. That is to say, those with higher [relative] propulsive power output we able to go faster around the track. But this was no surprise.
We also found that braking was important, too.
With combined measures of braking and propulsion, we could explain more of the variation in lap time than pedaling alone. Science calls this a regression equation and it was the first time we saw the important of braking and pedaling together.
What this equation meant was that by measuring brake power AND propulsive power, we had a much better idea of what was going on out on the trails. Namely, a combination of pedaling hard and braking for a short time went along with really fast lap times.
Riders had the same lap time every lapbut how did they do this?
In our test, riders did 3 laps and there was no statistical difference in lap time between the first, second or third lap. However, when we compared averages of propulsive power, this was higher in the first lap and then dropped off for laps 2 and 3. That is to say that they did not pedal as hard on lap 2 or 3 than in the first lap.
But laps were the same time–how could this be?
This answer came after looking at the braking, and results showed how braking changed across laps.
By lap 3, riders had significantly changed how much braking they were doing—both brake work and brake time were reduced! This reduced in braking appeared to counterbalance the reduction in propulsive power.
In other words: by changing braking, riders could go just as fast around an XC lap even if they didn't pedal as hard!
This rider's average propulsive power was 328 W on lap 1 and 306 W on lap 3. He reduced his braking from 20,300 J to 18,500 J and was able to maintain his lap time to within 0.5 seconds. You can see where he saved time by braking differently.
To me, this one of the coolest findings. And on a personal note, I thought this did a pretty good job at explaining why I was able to finish with XC riders who were much more fit than myself. I couldn't pedal as hard, but was able to make up for some of this by braking better.
At the moment, it isn't totally clear why riders changed their braking. This might have something to do with learning the course at speed, though they did get a few laps of practice before testing started. If you look at the above figure there are a few instances of braking that were not present in lap 3, so this gives a good idea.
So how much braking do we actually do?
In our group of well-trained mountain bikers, their average propulsive power was 275 W across the entire lap. This included uphills, flats and -if it happenedon the descents. Across the ~5 minutes it took to do one lap, this was 85,000 joules of energy expended for pedaling.
Braking on the other hand was primarily done on the descents. The energy removed during braking was 21,000 J.
Riders used the brakes about 1/4 as much as they pedaled. That's a lot!
The time they spent braking was short overall at 28 seconds per lap.
Brake power was calculated using the brake work divided by brake time. This was 800 W as an average during the lap. The fastest riders were doing all of their brake work in a short window, which meant that they had the highest brake power.
Of course, this is course dependent, especially since some trails might be very very fast and could require you to slow down almost to a stop while other may be slow and require minimal slowing.
It's interesting because we can easily feel that work going through our legs to the pedals, but we can't feel what we are taking away with the brakes. Holding 800 W while pedaling would be pretty hard, but we can do this same thing with the brakes without much thought.
But let me ask you this: how many 800 W (or 200 or 400) intervals have you done? Probably many.
It's time we start thinking more about our braking.
It's not just in the numbers
This was the earliest braking research, and we've come a long way since then.
Some of the more important things we've learned is that it's not just how much you brake or how long your brake, but where you brake that is important.
You can brake really really hard for a short time, but if you do this at the wrong spot, you could be doing it better.
Linking brake power with a helmet camera is one of the most telling ways to use the data.
A lot of this we learned by linking braking data to a helmet camera, but also in a number of studies that followed on from the original one.
More on this soon. And more
Until then, check out these other articles:
5 Things You Need to Add to Your MTB Training Plan
Talking MTB on the radio!
3 Reasons Why You Should Have Bigger Rotors
5 Ways to Use the Brake Power Meter to Train Yourself to Ride Faster
Why do you have to be fit for gravity racing?
Picking the right power meter for mountain bike racing


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How to draw a dashed line in autocad?
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1. In AutoCAD, activate the Line command.
2. Select the style of the dashed line from the drop down menu in the Command Line window or by entering "-L " into the Command Line window.
3. Pick two points on the screen to specify the starting and ending point of the dashed line.
4. Press Enter and the dashed line will be drawn according to the selected style.


The UAE healthy future study: a pilot for a prospective cohort study of 20,000 United Arab Emirates nationals
Source of Publication
BMC public health
BACKGROUND: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is faced with a rapidly increasing burden of non-communicable diseases including obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. The UAE Healthy Future study is a prospective cohort designed to identify associations between risk factors and these diseases amongst Emiratis. The study will enroll 20,000 UAE nationals aged ≥18 years. Environmental and genetic risk factors will be characterized and participants will be followed for future disease events. As this was the first time a prospective cohort study was being planned in the UAE, a pilot study was conducted in 2015 with the primary aim of establishing the feasibility of conducting the study. Other objectives were to evaluate the implementation of the main study protocols, and to build adequate capacity to conduct advanced clinical laboratory analyses.METHODS: Seven hundred sixty nine UAE nationals aged ≥18 years were invited to participate voluntarily in the pilot study. Participants signed an informed consent, completed a detailed questionnaire, provided random blood, urine, and mouthwash samples and were assessed for a series of clinical measures. All specimens were transported to the New York University Abu Dhabi laboratories where samples were processed and analyzed for routine chemistry and hematology. Plasma, serum, and a small whole blood sample for DNA extraction were aliquoted and stored at -80 °C for future analyses.RESULTS: Overall, 517 Emirati men and women agreed to participate (68% response rate). Of the total participants, 495 (95.0%), 430 (82.2%), and 492 (94.4%), completed the questionnaire, physical measurements, and provided biological samples, respectively.CONCLUSIONS: The pilot study demonstrated the feasibility of recruitment and completion of the study protocols for the first large-scale cohort study designed to identify emerging risk factors for the major non-communicable diseases in the region.
Document Type
First Page
Publication Date


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filter : ('a -> bool) -> 'a list -> 'a list
Filters a list to the sublist of elements satisfying a predicate.
filter p l applies p to every element of l, returning a list of those
that satisfy p, in the order they appeared in the original list.
- FAILURE CONDITIONS
Fails if the predicate fails on any element.
- SEE ALSO
mapfilter, partition, remove.


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It's time to create new or re-design your websites to bring it to the next level.
In this article, we mention how to create a slider and set up the Unite Revolution Slider. Just scroll down and follow the instructions.
How to create a slider with Unite Revolution Slider
Step 1. Go to Components => Unite Revolution Slider.
Step 2. To create a new slider, just click on "New". After you finished configuring your new SLIDER, click on the "Save and Close" button.
Step 3. Click Edit slides.
Step 4. Just click the "New" button on top of the edit slides page. You've added a new slide to your slider.
How to set up the Unite Revolution Slider extension
Unite Revolution Slider allows you to put the slider on the HTML page. You can put one or more sliders on your web page.
Step 1. Please go to "Extensions" => "Module Manager". Next, publish the Unite Revolution Slider module.
Step 2. Click on a module which you want to edit.
Step 3. Select a Slider from the component.
Step 4. Select the module position and assign the module to pages under module assignment.
Step 5. Save and close. You're done!
Are you Web Freelancer or Web Design Company? Join our Club and Access our Resource!


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The ODPRN has conducted multiple studies that have both informed and evaluated the impact of drug policies in Ontario, and more broadly across Canada. This research includes a wide breadth of work ranging from large drug class reviews to specific rapid response projects resulting from decision makers' pressing initiatives.
Biologic drugs are important treatment options across a wide number of medical conditions, including rheumatic conditions, gastrointestinal disease, and diabetes. Although these drugs have had a measurable impact on patient outcomes, their substantial cost and growth in use threatens the sustainability of public drug programs. A biosimilar biologic drug, or biosimilar, is a drug that is highly similar and has no clinically meaningful differences to an innovator biologic. Biosimilars can also be developed at a lower cost and therefore offer an opportunity to reduce public drug spending.
Unfortunately, biosimilars are underutilized and as a result, public payers in Canada have begun developing policies designed to increase the use of biosimilar drugs. Essential to this work is a better understanding of biologics and biosimilars use across various clinical conditions.
This report describes the current and prospective utilization patterns and expenditures of innovator biologics and biosimilars through the public drug program in Ontario, Canada.
CADTH summarizes this report in "Utilization of Innovator Biologics and Biosimilars for Chronic Inflammatory Diseases in Canada: A Provincial Perspective" and discusses potential implications for decision-makers.


I understand about physic and waves, but I am a totally rookie in this topic. I was wondering which are the typical frequency ranges of the S-waves, P-waves and surface waves.
My idea would be to detect any seismic event using Software Defined Radio, but I am not sure at all If any peripheral could detect these kind of waves properly. For example, a HackRF peripheral works between 1 MHz to 6 GHz. And, as far as I know, lower frequencies below 3MHz travel efficiently as ground waves. Because of that I was wondering If I could detect anything through Medium Frequencies (0.3 to 3 MHz). For example, a HackRF would detect between 1 MHz to 6 GHz operating frequency, so it may detect something, but I don't know "what to look for".
If MF is too high, would there be any chance to detect anything through their harmonics?
I hope I understand your question right, I think there are some confusion about frequency range and wave-types.
Seismic waves are acceleration of matter that transfer kinetic energy from a seismic source (e.g. an earthquake, an explosion or ambient noise) to heat.
It's similar to sound waves, vibrations from the surface of e.g. a music instrument set the air in motion and compress the molecules of the air to transfer a wave that eventually reach e.g the eardrum. However, to add to the complexity, in solid matter some additional elastic properties are in play, as you notice. Waves can progress not only as pressure waves (P) but also as shear waves (S) and at boundaries special surface waves can form, often of high amplitude. The progression of the seismic waves depends on the elastic properties of the Earth.
A large part of the terminology used for seismic waves are similar to how we describe electromagnetic waves. E.g. frequency, damping and resonance are relevant for seismic waves as well. However, the ranges are very different and electromagnetic waves and acoustic waves behaves different. The earth is a efficient filter, and even transient energy, that contains high frequencies, is limited to low frequencies as it progress through the Earth. Ground wave propagation, as know from radio signals, are different from the properties of seismic surface waves.
An interesting coincidence is that wavelengths can be in the same magnitude, but that is because radio waves progress about 100.000 times faster than crustal seismic waves.
Charles J. Ammon Penn State University
A figure, prepared by Professor Charles J. Ammon, shows the ranges of frequency and amplitude. Source here. The amplitude and period have a large range, that's why prefixes as milli or micro can be used and a logarithmic scale is used for amplitude.
In shallow active reflection seismic surveys, we sometimes can use frequencies up to maybe 200Hz, but in the range the penetration depth is very small. For very local events, e.g. in mines and infrastructure frequency range up to 500-1000Hz might be used.
Most energy for P and S waves used in teleseismics are in the range of a few Hertz and maybe up to 10-20Hz.
Surface waves have the interesting property that the velocity depends on the frequency because low frequency content is affected by deeper elastic properties whiles high frequency content is more affected by shallow geological features. This is used for lithosphere tomography with rather good vertical resolution. The frequency range is 0.005Hz and up to 0.5Hz. This is the frequencies that you can actually see in ground motions caused by earthquakes, if you take resonance in consideration.
Normal modes are often in the range 0.3 - 1mHz. (m, as in milli, not M, as in Mega). That is frequencies about one billiard times lower than some radio frequency bands.
Another thing to remember in the context of Software defined radio, is that there is no carrier wave for seismicity. When seismologists talk about frequency, we mean energy content of a signal. We are looking at the convoluted wavelet, not continuous signals.
If you are interested in working with earthquake detection and to improve algorithms of signal processing of seismic waves, I'd suggest you to take a look at the Obspy package, there are some nice examples and tutorials that can get you started. There are also some project where people are constructing open architecture seismometers, eg the Raspberry Shake. For less than $100 or so you can build a seismograph and start to monitor local seismic events. Most geophones work by transfering ground acceleration to an induced electric current in a coil.
It's very possible that inspiration from other fields of signal processing, as in Software defined radio can improve seismic techniques in future. It is always great to get inspiration from other fields of research.
Your Answer


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Why are Chinese surgeons so keen on grafting hands onto legs?
This article is more than 2 years old.
After a Chinese man severed his hand in an industrial accident, surgeons decided to graft it onto the patient's leg to keep it from deteriorating. A month later, the hand was replanted onto the arm, and the man is said to be making a slow recovery.
However, this isn't the "groundbreaking surgery it has been made out to be. "The operation is only noteworthy because the picture is eye-catching," Dominic Furniss, a plastic surgeon and associate professor at Oxford University, tells Quartz. "Plastic surgeons perform [equivalent operations] routinely throughout the world on a daily basis."
Replantation surgeries have been performed since 1965. The world's first procedure involved a thumb, but the technique has since been used for arms, legs, ears, and penises. The level of function in the replanted organ can vary, but it's never quite fully functional.
A replantation surgery usually involves three steps. First, the damaged tissue is removed from both portions. This is done to ensure that in case the reattachment fails, the stump can be allowed to heal on its own. Then bones are shortened and joined with pins, wires, or plates and screws, which allows the two parts to be held together. Finally, tendons, arteries, veins, and nerves are repaired, which may sometimes require grafts from other parts of the body or a tissue bank.
A hand replantation typically takes between six and eight hours, according to Furniss. "The patient would begin rehabilitation within one week, and leave hospital within two weeks," he says.
But the Chinese surgeons split the surgery into two parts. Instead of replanting the hand right away, they let the stump heal for a few weeks. In the meantime, they grafted the hand to the leg so that it would survive this period.
The pioneer of grafting surgeries.
Such a graft involves taking easily-accessible blood vessels from one part of the body and attaching them to the severed body part. Ankle, groin, and under-arm areas have such blood vessels. Marko Godina, a Slovenian plastic surgeon, was the first person to perform such a grafting operation in 1984, when he attached an amputated hand to area under an arm.
Tang Juyu of Xiangya Hospital, who performed the recent surgery in China, tells Quartz that he felt the two-part procedure was necessary. The stump was badly crushed and the patient had lost too much blood, which could be dangerous for someone undergoing a long surgery at the outset. And this is the second time Tang is performed such a two-part replantation.
Ganga Hospital in Coimbatore, India has seen more than 2,000 replantation surgeries in the last 15 years. Hari Venkatramani, a leading plastic surgeon at Ganga Hospital, agrees with Tang's assessment of the situation.
A single-operation replantation surgery requires removal of damaged tissue, which in a severely crushed stump could mean losing a lot of the body part. If the limb is immediately replanted on to the body part, it might look more grotesque: Think about a hand attached at the elbow.
"For the layman it might look strange, but such two-part replantation surgeries have been performed many times before," Venkatramani tells Quartz. "Such cases are still quite rare, because you need the severed limb to be in a good condition even if the stump isn't."


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set introduced some Pokémon-ex with two different Resistances on the same card, such as Rayquaza ex. Resistances were initially fixed at -30 damage, meaning the Pokémon would take 30 less damage from an attack. Unlike Weakness, this rule was always printed on the card, either to the left of or above the Resistance-type in the form of "-30". As of the Diamond & Pearl set, Resistances are officially variables, though are always -20 (also printed on the cards) damage unless on a reprint of a Pokémon card that originally had a -30 Resistance.
- Main article: Retreat cost
When a player wants to move his or her Active Pokémon to the Bench, that player can retreat that Pokémon. Then, a Pokémon on the Bench must replace the previous Active Pokémon. Each Pokémon has a Retreat Cost: a specific number of Energy that must be discarded from the Pokémon being retreated in order to move it back to the Bench. Retreating can only be done once per turn. If the player doesn't have the required amount of Energy attached to discard or doesn't have any Benched Pokémon, his or her Pokémon is unable to retreat. Some Pokémon have no Retreat Cost and thus can retreat for free; others have a Retreat Cost of between one and five Energy inclusive. Any type of Energy can be used for retreating, as any Energy can count as Colorless.
A Restored Pokémon (known in Japan as Revived Pokémon) is a form of Pokémon that in the Pokémon games, is revived to life from a Fossil. As with the games, only nine Pokémon can be classified as Restored Pokémon; however, only Tirtouga, Archen, and Aerodactyl have appeared so far. In order to play a Restored Pokémon, the player must first play the respective Fossil card, search the bottom seven cards of their deck for the corresponding Pokémon, and then place into onto his or her Bench. This type of card was introduced in the Noble Victories expansion.
- Main article: Special Conditions (TCG)
A Special Condition is a result that some attacks have. Specific attacks may cause the Defending Pokémon to be affected by at least one of the five Special Conditions: Asleep, Burned, Confused, Paralyzed and Poisoned. Unlike status ailments in the video games, Special Conditions are not necessarily mutually exclusive due to the Poisoned and Burned Special Conditions being recognized by the placing of a marker on the afflicted Pokémon. However, between the other three, a Pokémon can only be affected by one at once.
- Main article: Stadium card (TCG)
A Stadium card is one of three types of "Trainer" card and is designed to change an aspect of gameplay for both players. Unlike Trainer cards and Supporter cards, Stadium cards cause a long-term change in gameplay which affects both players. Being competitive cards, they are often played in order to hugely help the player or hinder the opponent. For example, the Battle Frontier Stadium card would not be used by players whose decks included Colorless-type, Darkness-type or Metal-type Evolved Pokémon.
- Main article: Supporter card (TCG)
A Supporter card is one of three types of "Trainer" cards. Supporter cards are based on characters who are, more often than not, included in the Pokémon games, such as Scott, Professor Rowan and Bebe. A player can only play one Supporter card each turn, this is because they are usually very helpful to the player. They stay in play until the end of the player's turn—they are then discarded.
- Main article: Trainer card (TCG)
The Trainer card is the main type of "Trainer" card, was the first to be introduced, and was the only type of "Trainer" card until Supporter cards and Stadium cards were split into their own categories in Diamond & Pearl. Unlike these two, Trainer cards have subtypes, and thus have a wide range of effects. The two main subtypes of Trainer card are Pokémon Tools, which act very much like held items in the games, and Technical Machines, which include one additional attack usable by the Pokémon the card is attached to. Other set-specific types, such as Goldenrod Game Corner and Rocket's Secret Machine, also exist.
If a Pokémon has Weakness to a certain type, it means that if it is attacked by a Pokémon of that type, it will receive more damage. Most Pokémon have one Weakness, such as Diglett in the Base Set, but some have none, such as Togepi in the Neo Destiny set. The EX Sandstorm set introduced some Pokémon-ex with two different Weaknesses on the same card, such as Aggron ex. Weaknesses were initially fixed at ×2 damage, meaning the Pokémon would take twice the amount of damage dealt by an attack. Variable Weaknesses were later introduced in the Diamond & Pearl set, with Weaknesses of +10, +20, +30, +40 and ×2. Generally, Basic Pokémon will have a Weakness of +10, Stage 1 Pokémon one of +20, and Stage 2 Pokémon one of +30, with a select few having one of +40. There is no general pattern (except perhaps legendary Pokémon) of Pokémon with a ×2 Weakness; although, Pokémon SP always have a weakness of ×2. From HeartGold & SoulSilver onwards, Weaknesses return to ×2.


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Formal strategic planning, operating environment, size, sector and performance: evidence from the UK's manufacturing SMEs
Ghobadian, A., O'Regan, N., Thomas, H. and Liu, J. (2008) Formal strategic planning, operating environment, size, sector and performance: evidence from the UK's manufacturing SMEs. Journal of General Management, 34 (2). pp. 1-20. ISSN 0306-3070
Full text not available from this repository
Publisher's URL: _URL_
The relationship between strategic planning and firm performance has long interested strategic management researchers. In the past decade, this research effort has slowed down, while strategic planning has gained greater popularity among managers. However, some academics dispute the usefulness of strategic planning, particularly in turbulent environments. This paper examines the following key research questions that are relevant to both practice and theory. First, the relationship between the formality of strategic planning (conceptualised by considering whether firms have written strategic plans and the level of correspondence between the written strategic plan and the normative planning process) and a wide range of performance measures. Second, the relationship between three contingency factors - size, sector and environment, in addition to the incidence of formal planning and the level of formality. Of great interest are the effects of munificence and turbulence. The results suggest that the link between strategic planning formality and performance is tenuous. Nevertheless, managers tend to deploy strategic planning widely in difficult market environments. The conclusion is that strategic planning is perceived to enhance a firm's survival chances, but not necessarily its short-term performance.


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|Title||Feature Extraction for Hyperspectral Imagery via Ensemble Localized Manifold Learning|
|Publication Type||Journal Article|
|Year of Publication||2015|
|Authors||Li, F., L. Xu, A. Wong, and D. A. Clausi|
|Journal||IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters|
|Start Page||2486 - 2490|
A feature extraction approach for hyperspectral image classification has been developed. Multiple linear manifolds are learned to characterize the original data based on their locations in the feature space, and an ensemble of classifier is then trained using all these manifolds. Such manifolds are localized in the feature space (which we will refer to as "localized manifolds") and can overcome the difficulty of learning a single global manifold due to the complexity and nonlinearity of hyperspectral data. Two state-of-the-art feature extraction methods are used to implementlocalized manifolds. Experimental results show that classification accuracy is improved using both localized manifold learning methods on standard hyperspectral data sets.
Feature Extraction for Hyperspectral Imagery via Ensemble Localized Manifold Learning


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Take a look to this picture
As you can see there is a relatively intuitive way to map x,y rectangular coordinate system to the hexagonal one.
We may talk about "rect" irregular hexagons ie hexagons inscribed in ellipses or hexagons obtained from regular hexagons scaled in both directions disproportionately (no rotations-shearings).
A rect hexagon can be defined by the height and width of the circumscribing rectangle plus the width of the inscribing one. (W,w,h)
The easiest way to find out the hexagonal index is to partitionate the space as follow:
The rectangle width is w + (W - w)/2 = (w + W)/2, its height is h/2; the width of the green rectangle is (W-w)/2. Is easy to find out where in which rectangle the point falls:
u and v are the reminder coordinates that indicates where the point is whithin the i,j rectangle: Using w we can say if we are in the green area (u < (W-w)/2) or not.
if it is the case we are in the green area we need to know if we are in the upper or lower half of the hexagon: we are in the upper half if i and j are both even or both odd; we are in the lower half otherwise.
In both cases it is usefull to trasform u and v so they vary between 0 and 1:
if we are in the lower half and v < u
if we are in the upper half and (1-v) > u
then we decrement i by one
Now we simply have to decrement j by one if i is odd to see that i is the horizontal hexagon index (column) and the integer part of j/2 is the vertical hexagon index (row)


text: This data set represents the monthly, accumulated results of the final (10-day) version of the fire perimeters from the "Burnt Area Daily NRT Incremental Product - Europe, Sentinel-3" dataset. The burn perimeters are spatially and temporally correlated, so that interrelated detections from consecutive observations are combined into a single feature. A perimeter is interpreted as belonging to a given event if a spatial overlap exists within a time frame of 15 days. Besides the geometry, attribute information is also combined while considering the size of the perimeter as a weighting factor. Each feature contains information about the final fire perimeter, Date/Time of the first detection, and the averaged burn severity.


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An ad hoc committee is pushing a series of projects aimed at honoring the late-George I. Sanchez, a scholar credited with helping bring attention to the plight of poor Mexican-Americans in the 1930s. Those projects include naming a street and building after Sanchez, said Luisa Duran, a retired University of New Mexico bilingual education professor.
In addition, New Mexico state lawmakers are scheduled Tuesday to read a memorial about the pioneer scholar's contributions to Latino education.
For the Sanchez family, it's a stunning reversal of his legacy in a state where lawmakers once denounced him and forced him to leave because of his then-radical views on desegregation, said granddaughter Cindy Kennedy, 49, a Santa Fe teacher. "I think it's fantastic," Kennedy said. "It's about time he's being honored here nearly 40 years after his death."
Duran said the committee is working on more ideas to honor Sanchez, who wrote the 1940 classic book "Forgotten People" about Mexican-Americans in Taos. The group of educators formed the committee after reading a story by The Associated Press last year that Sanchez was relatively unknown in his birth state and in Albuquerque, an area he worked as a young school teacher.
"It's important that we remember him because
A dozen or so schools in Texas and California are named in honor of Sanchez—including the School of Education building at the University of Texas where he taught for many years—but not a single school in New Mexico bears his name. Few New Mexico educators or activists know much about him, according to historians and educators. No plaque exists to show his birthplace or the school where Sanchez taught. He is not listed among the state's notable figures in New Mexico Centennial guidebooks.
A son of an Arizona miner, Albuquerque-born Sanchez worked his way out of poverty as a rural public school teacher in New Mexico to become a pioneer scholar and education activist. Sanchez developed his theories on school inequalities using New Mexico's Hispanic and Navajo populations as examples. He argued that bilingual students were discriminated against by monolingual school systems and testified in landmark court cases about the negative effects of segregation and IQ testing on Hispanic, American Indian and black children.
But Sanchez clashed with the state's governor for pushing a state equalization funding formula for schools and came under fire from some lawmakers for helping with a University of New Mexico professor's survey on racial attitudes in schools.
Kennedy said her grandfather never sought much recognition while he was alive.
"But I'm glad New Mexico is finally beginning to honor him," Kennedy said. "He's finally coming home."
Follow Russell Contreras at _URL_


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Where Your Treasure Is
Where Your Treasure Is
Pastor Keith Hassell
Foundation Scripture: Luke 12:13-34
I. Where is your treasure? Show me where your treasure is, and I will show you where your heart is!
II. What is our definition of "life"?
A. What determines if we will have a happy life?
B. What is the focus of a happy life?
C. What is the finish line of a happy life?
D. Is not "LIFE" the goal of a happy life?
E. "LIFE" results from a relationship with Jesus Christ who is our life
III. Heart conditions that rob us of "LIFE"
A. Covetousness (verses 13-15)
1. LIFE does not consist in the abundance of the things a man possesses (or who he possesses in relationship)
2. Covetousness is setting your sights on a treasure that belongs to another
3. Covetousness is setting your focus on things of this world rather than on a relationship with God
4. Covetousness will lock you into wanting more and never being satisfied with what you have. This developing a life with the Lord is always on end of our list of "desires."
B. Selfishness (Parable of the Rich Fool, verses 16-21)
1. This man had worked hard and prospered
2. This man became a hoarder rather than a giver
3. This man laid up treasure for himself but was not rich toward God
4. Selfishness keeps our heart focused on ourselves rather than upon the Lord and others
C. Worry (verses 22-30)
1. Worry is borrowing potential trouble from tomorrow.
2. Worry consists of thoughts whirling around a center of fear.
3. What is the fear that Jesus is speaking of here? The fear of not having the things we need in life.
4. Fear keeps our hearts trusting in ourselves and in others rather than trusting in Him.
5. Fear paralyzes our obedience to the Lord.
IV. How do we experience true LIFE?
A. (Verse 31) Overcome covetousness by focusing on the true priority of our life---to seek the kingdom of God. What does this mean? It means to embrace the kingdom of God in our own lives and to seek to bring His kingdom into the lives of others.
B. (Verse 32) Overcome fear by trusting that God will give us everything we need as we seek first His kingdom.
C. (Verse 33) Overcome selfishness by focusing on the needs of others. Sell what you have and give alms. In doing so, you provide for yourself the kind of riches that no one can ever take from you and that can never lose their value.
V. What is the conclusion of the matter? It is the heart. "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
A. Where is your treasure today?
B. Show me where your treasure is and I will show you where your heart is.
C. If your treasure is "More" then your heart will never be satisfied.
D. If your treasure is "Me" then your heart will rot with selfishness.
E. If your treasure is "security in this life" then your heart will become paralyzed by fear and worry.
F. When Jesus and His kingdom become our treasure, then our heart is right and the truly important things will be ours as well.


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Implementing the OurSCHOOL Student Survey at St. Dominic in 2015 allowed former Principal Kevin DeForge and Assistant Principal Joelle Marshall to learn that 32 per cent of students reported feeling medium to high levels of anxiety at school. Knowing it's not just the data that matters, but what you do with it, Kevin and his team sought to understand what was driving this.
Using the insight gained from the OurSCHOOL survey, the St. Dominic staff created a three-pronged approach to reducing anxiety and empowering students.
1. Introducing opportunities for students to embrace experimentation and gain confidence
2. Working closely with students to reduce anxiety levels at school
3. Engaging parents and caregivers and integrating classroom practices into the home


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The Tax of Physics, The Physics of Tax
Stephen B. Cohen
Georgetown University Law Center
The Green Bag
Sometimes ideas from science illuminate muddled legal thinking. Physics teaches that for every particle of matter, there exists a corresponding particle of anti-matter. The idea of anti-matter helps explain the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals decision in Bradford v. Commissioner, which involved a baffling departure from established rules for taxing the discharge of a debt for less than the full amount owed.
Number of Pages in PDF File: 10Accepted Paper Series
Date posted: August 3, 2000
© 2013 Social Science Electronic Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Beersheba (Be'er Sheva) is the largest city in the Negev desert of Israel. In 2005 the population reached 185,000 and Beersheba became the sixth largest city in Israel. It is often called "The Capital of the Negev".
Beersheba is divided into fourteen residential neighbourhoods in addition to the Old City.
Beersheba is home to Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and the Soroka Medical Center.
Ben Gurion University
of the Negev
Nahal Ashan Park
Tel Be'er-Sheva, a few kilometers northeast,is where the ancient city of Beersheba can be found. Abraham's Well is where the first peace treaty was signed over 3700 years ago. Tel Be'er-Sheva was situated in the territory of the tribe of Simeon, in the extreme southern part of ancient Israel.
According to the Torah (Genesis 21:22-31), Beersheba was the place where Abraham, father of the Israelites, dug a well as part of his covenant with King Abimelech of Gerar. Abraham also planted a tamarisk tree here, invoking the name of HaShem. Another account (Genesis 26:26-33), however, attributes the naming of the site to Isaac; it was the place where both he and his son Jacob lived. Other events are also set here (1 Samuel 8:2; 1 Kings 19:3; Amos 5:5; Nehemiah 11:27-30).
Monument to the Negev Brigade
Beersheba National Park


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The pericentriolar recycling endosome is a fascinating organelle. It localizes within the centriolar regions of an animal cell where it does its job of degrading and recycling cell debris, including bacterial remnants. The location of this activity is reminescent of a model for animal mitotic evolution that is shown in this blog. In this model, a primitive cytopharnyx is used to capture bacterial prey by attaching "microtubules" to it that are then pulled back into the cytopharnyx along with the bacteria for consumption by the cell.
On a random note, if eukaryotes evolved from prokaryotes, there should be evidence for microtubules in at least some bacteria, right? Click here.


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STRENGTHS Protocol Workshop
The LSHTM Centre for Evaluation invites you to the following Protocol Workshop:
PI: Bayard Roberts
Date: March 27th, 2017
Time: 12:45 pm – 2:00 pm
Venue: Jerry Morris A, Tavistock Place
Background: Recent crises in the Middle East, most notably in Syria, have resulted in an unprecedented increase in the number of refugees seeking asylum in neighbouring countries as well as in Europe. The refugee crisis imposes highly challenging demands on health systems in Europe and the Middle East. The STRENGTHS (Syrian REfuGees MeNTal HealTH Care Systems) project a 5-year research project funded by the European Commission focusing on implementation of a trans-diagnostic mental health intervention related to the current Syrian refugee crisis. STRENGTHS will take place in Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. It is led by the Free University of Amsterdam and involves a consortium of academic and operational agencies, including LSHTM.
The overall aim of STRENGTHS is to provide effective community-based health care implementation strategies to scale-up the delivery and uptake of effective mental health interventions in different country contexts. STRENGTHS seeks to:
- Outline necessary steps needed to integrate evidence based low-intensity psychological interventions for common mental disorders (the PM+ programmes) into the health systems. These include key preparatory steps in the local political, regulatory and governance processes for uptake and scaling-up of the intervention and key contextual and system-related factors for its integration. These steps will be validated for the real-life impact on the responsiveness of the system.
- Adapt the PM+ programmes and training materials to the recipients of care within the specific health systems and co-create the necessary local conditions for implementation and up-scaling, e.g. training a workforce and develop internet-delivery modality and supporting tools.
- Scale-up the PM+ programmes successfully in terms of health-system performance, effectiveness, affordability and sustainability and identify barriers and facilitators to this end.
- Determine the invested cost and effort in terms of organisational, resource and political-economic requirements relative to the reduction of economic burden of the large-scale implementation of the specific PM+ programmes into the health systems in the different contexts.
- Disseminate the evidence-base for PM+ programmes as well as the validated implementation strategies and step-guides to maintain its sustainability and engage with new stakeholders and health systems to further scaling up across Europe and beyond.
LSHTM, through ECOHOST, will be leading one of the project work packages (and contributing to others). The work package led by LSHTM seeks to analyse the responsiveness of health systems to the scaling-up of PM+ across European host countries and LAMIC bordering Syria in addressing the mental health needs of refugees. Further technical input will be provided from KIT in Amsterdam. The objectives of the LSHTM-led work package are to:
- Analyse the responsiveness of health systems across European host countries and LAMIC bordering Syria in addressing the mental health care needs of refugees.
- Examine how contextual factors such as socio-economic, cultural, and political-economy factors influence the responsiveness of health systems to the mental health care needs of refugees in the project countries.
- Explore how the scaling-up of the low-intensity PM+ programmes can support health system responsiveness to the mental health care needs of refugees in the project countries
- Compare the responsiveness before and after implementation of the PM+ programmes of the health systems of European and LAMI countries bordering Syria.
Please contact _EMAIL_ with any queries.Back


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Introduction to Signposting Language
Have you ever felt lost while reading a long article or listening to a lengthy presentation? Like you're wandering aimlessly through a maze of words without any sign of direction? This is exactly what signposting language aims to resolve.
Definition of Signposting Language
Signposting language is a collection of phrases and words used in speech and writing to guide the listener or reader through the content. These linguistic markers serve as "signposts," helping to signal the structure of the discussion, highlight important points, connect ideas, and provide cues about what is coming next.
Just like the way physical signposts guide a traveler along their journey by indicating directions and distances, signposting language assists the audience in navigating the journey of an argument, a story, or any piece of content. These can include phrases that introduce a new idea ("firstly," "to begin with"), signal a contrast ("however," "on the other hand"), or indicate a conclusion ("finally," "in conclusion").
By clearly signalling the structure of your content and the relationships between different parts, signposting language helps to enhance the clarity and coherence of your message, making it easier for your audience to follow along and understand your points.
Types of Signposting Language
Signposting language is a specific type of language that writers and speakers use to guide their audience through their content. Just like road signs guide you on a journey, signposts in language guide the reader or listener through the content, making the narrative or argument easier to follow.
Importance of Signposting Language in Communication
Signposting language isn't just a fancy linguistic tool; it's a vital component of effective communication. Here's why:
Signposts enhance clarity by helping to highlight key points and ideas, making the content more comprehensible and coherent for the reader or listener.
Guiding the Audience
Signposts also guide the audience, allowing them to understand the flow of the content and how various points are connected.
Examples of Signposting Language
These include words or phrases that indicate time or sequence, such as "firstly," "then," "finally," etc.
These signposts emphasize the importance of a point. Phrases like "most importantly," "significantly," or "notably" are commonly used.
These signposts compare or contrast ideas, using phrases like "on the other hand," "similarly," or "in contrast."
How to Use Signposting Language Effectively
Consistency is key. Stick to a particular set of signposting phrases throughout your content to avoid confusion.
Keep It Simple
The goal of signposting is to make things clearer, not more complicated. So, use simple and familiar phrases that your audience can easily understand.
Final Thoughts on Signposting Language
Signposting language, when used correctly, can dramatically improve the clarity and flow of your content, making it much easier for your audience to follow and understand your points. Remember to be consistent and keep it simple!
Frequently Asked Questions
What is signposting language?
Signposting language refers to words or phrases that guide the reader or listener through content, making it easier to follow.
Why is signposting language important?
It enhances clarity and guides the audience, making the content more comprehensible and coherent.
What are some examples of signposting language?
Examples include temporal signposts ("firstly," "then," "finally"), emphatic signposts ("most importantly," "significantly"), and comparative signposts ("on the other hand," "similarly").
How can I use signposting language effectively?
The key to effective signposting is consistency and simplicity. Stick to a particular set of signposting phrases and use simple, familiar words.
Can signposting language be used in both written and spoken content?
Yes, signposting language is beneficial in both written and spoken communication.


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Homogenization heat treatment can be useful for improving the performance and life of an alloy while in service or for improving the processability during fabrication and hot working. This article describes the identification of incipient melt point, slowest-diffusing elements, and microstructural scale for homogenization of metal alloys. It also discusses the CALPHAD software to optimize the homogenization heat treatment and the Scheil module of the commercial thermodynamic modeling software.
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