Rapidly rising energy costs and increasingly rigid environmental standards have led to an emerging trend of addressing "energy efficiency" aspect of wireless communication technologies. Cognitive radio can play an important role in improving energy efficiency in wireless networks, because from the green perspective, spectrum is a natural resource which should not be wasted but be shared. In this article, we propose two energy-efficient and time-saving one-bit cooperative spectrum sensing schemes, which have two stages in the spectrum sensing process. If the signal-to-noise ratio is high or no primary user exists, only one stage of coarse spectrum sensing is needed, by which the sensing time and energy are saved. Otherwise, the second stage of fine spectrum sensing will be performed to increase the spectrum sensing accuracy. Furthermore, only one-bit decision is sent by each secondary user to minimize the overhead. The second proposed algorithm fully utilizes the local decisions of the coarse detection, and its energy consumption is further reduced with its sensing performance close to the first one. Plenty of simulation is performed, and the results show that the sensing time and energy consumption are both reduced significantly in the proposed schemes.
Cognitive radio (CR) has attracted significant attention as a promising technology to overcome the spectrum shortage problem caused by the current inflexible spectrum allocation policy [1, 2]. In CR networks, secondary (unlicensed) users (SUs) should sense the radio environment, and adaptively choose transmission parameters according to sensing outcomes to avoid the interference to primary (licensed) users (PUs) . Hence, it is a fundamental issue in CR networks that SUs should be able to efficiently and effectively detect the presence of PUs [4, 5].
The existing spectrum sensing techniques can broadly be divided into four categories: matched filter detection , cyclostationary detection , entropy-based detection [8–10], and energy detection [11, 12]. In matched filter detection and cyclostationary detection, SUs should have some knowledge about the primary signal features. Entropy-based detection can solve the noise uncertainty of the spectrum sensing through information entropy. In , an entropy-based spectrum sensing scheme is proposed by combining the entropy detection in the time domain and the matched filter. However, the matched filter in the scheme needs some necessary knowledge about the primary signal features, which requires additional overhead and even hardly holds in CR, and thus it is not a blind detector. An entropy-based spectrum sensing scheme in the frequency domain based on the spectrum amplitude is proposed in  and proved to be robust to the noise uncertainty; however, its performance can still be improved. In , a novel entropy-based spectrum sensing scheme in the frequency domain based on the spectrum power density is proposed, and it is proved that it is also robust to the noise uncertainty with better probability of detection and lower computational complexity. Energy detection has widely been applied, since it does not require a priori knowledge of the primary signals, and has much lower computational complexity than the other three detection schemes. Hence, we focus on energy detection for spectrum sensing throughout this article.
Spectrum sensing is a tough task especially when signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is low. To improve the performance of spectrum sensing, cooperative spectrum sensing (CSS), where individual SUs sense the spectrum and send the information to a fusion center to obtain the final decision, has been studied extensively [10, 13–15]. In conventional hard combination CSS , only one-bit decision is sent to the fusion center by each SU, and its overhead is minimum; however, its performance can still be improved. Soft combination CSS scheme  has the optimal performance through using the accurate sensing results from different SUs; however, its overhead is large, which makes it difficult to be implemented in practical networks.
Two-bit overhead combination CSS scheme is proposed in [10, 15], which is a trade-off between hard combination and soft combination CSS. In , a three-threshold decision-based CSS (TTD-CSS) scheme is proposed, in which the second local decision bit is sent to the fusion center after the failure of the first cooperation to eliminate the sensing failure. However, the performance of TTD-CSS is not improved much compared with the conventional hard combination CSS. In , a two-stage spectrum sensing scheme is proposed for multi-channel sensing. It can decrease the average channel sensing time by allowing the spectrum detector to focus on the channels that are more likely to be vacant. A two-stage sensing scheme using energy detection in the first stage and cyclostationary detection in the second stage is designed in , and the second stage detection is performed when the decision metric is greater than the threshold. In , a two-stage sensing scheme is proposed to minimize the sensing time. Although the above two-stage spectrum sensing schemes can achieve better performance than the single-stage schemes [17–19], none of them considers CSS. A two-stage two-bit CSS (TSTB-CSS) is given in , and its performance is improved over the conventional hard combination CSS; however, it uses two-bit overhead, and its sensing time and energy consumption can still be reduced.
Although some excellent works have been done in CSS, most of them focus on achieving high data rate for SU networks while avoiding the interference to PU networks. Consequently, many of these techniques significantly increase system overhead and energy consumption. However, rapidly rising energy costs and increasingly rigid environmental standards have led to an emerging trend of addressing "energy efficiency" aspect of wireless communication technologies . CR can play an important role in improving energy efficiency in wireless networks, because from the green perspective, spectrum is a natural resource which should not be wasted but be shared. CRs enable this paradigm with smart operation and agile spectrum access. Therefore, the "green" requirements of CR should be well satisfied [21–23].
In this article, we propose two time-saving and energy-efficient one-bit CSS (TSEEOB-CSS) schemes, which have two stages in the spectrum sensing process. If the SNR is high or no PU exists, only one stage of coarse spectrum sensing is needed, by which the sensing time and energy are saved. Otherwise, the second stage of fine spectrum sensing will be performed to increase the spectrum sensing accuracy. In addition, only one bit decision is sent to the fusion center to minimize the overhead. Simulation results are presented to show that the sensing time and energy consumption are both reduced significantly in the proposed schemes. The distinct features and contributions of this article are as follows.
We propose a TSEEOB-CSS algorithm, which can improve the energy efficiency of the system with almost the same detection performance as the conventional CSS algorithms.
Based on the first TSEEOB-CSS algorithm, another algorithm is proposed. The algorithm makes full use of the local decisions of the first stage coarse detection, and it can further reduce the energy consumption of the first TSEEOB-CSS algorithm with reliable detection performance.
The parameters setting is important to the two proposed algorithms, and it can affect the performance greatly. Therefore, some rules are given in this article to help to set the parameters suitably.
The sensing time and energy consumption of the proposed schemes are reduced significantly compared to the conventional CSS scheme, and the time-saving and energy-efficiency performance of the proposed two schemes are analyzed theoretically.
Extensive simulation results are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the algorithms in reducing energy consumption and the rules of parameters setting in the proposed algorithms.
The remainder of this article is organized as follows. In Section 2, the system model of the CR network is described, and the energy detection and CSS schemes are introduced. In Section 3, two proposed TSEEOB-CSS algorithms are introduced. In Section 4, parameter setting of the algorithms is discussed, and the performance is analyzed. Simulation results are discussed in Section 5. Finally, we conclude this study and present the future work in Section 6.
We consider CSS in a centralized CR network consisting of a cognitive base station (fusion center) and a number of SUs. In the network, each SU sends its sensing data to the base station, and the base station combines the sensing data from different SUs and makes the final decision on the presence or absence of the PUs. We assume the sensing data are sent from the SUs to the base station free of error throughout this article. In this section, energy detection and CSS are introduced.
where T is the test statistic, and λ is the predetermined threshold.
where Q(.) is the Q-function.
We consider a CR network composed of K SUs and a base station (fusion center), as shown in Figure 1. We assume that each SU performs energy detection independently and then sends the local decision to the base station, which will fuse all available local decision information to infer the absence or presence of the PU.
Cooperative spectrum sensing structure in a CR network.
where H0 and H1 denote the decision made by the base station that the PU is present or absent, respectively. The threshold k is an integer, representing the "n-out-of-K" rule. It can be seen that the OR rule corresponds to the case of k = 1, the AND rule corresponds to the case of k = K, and in the VOTING rule k is equal to the minimal integer larger than K/2 .
Only one-bit decision information is used in the hard combination CSS, and thus its detection performance is limited. Soft combination CSS scheme uses the accurate sensing results from the SUs, and it can achieve the better performance; however, its overhead is large. Two-bit overhead combination CSS scheme can obtain relatively higher performance than hard combination CSS with lower overhead than soft combination CSS, and it makes a trade-off between hard and soft combination CSS schemes.
The TSTB-CSS algorithm proposed in  can improve the performance of the conventional hard combination CSS algorithm; however, its sensing time and energy consumption are the same as those in hard combination CSS. In this article, two TSEEOB-CSS algorithms are presented with almost the same sensing accuracy, and their sensing time and energy consumption are reduced greatly especially when the SNR is high or no PU exists.
In the proposed algorithms, we try to reduce the energy consumption of conventional CSS scheme with N s samples by designing two TSEEOB-CSS schemes with α N s -sample first stage detection and (1 − α)N s -sample second stage detection. We assume that, in the N s -sample detection of these three algorithms, the presence/absence status of the PU does not change. In other words, the received signal is stationary with the observation time T (i.e., N s samples); this assumption is commonly used in the literature [29–32].
where x i (n) is the n th sample of the signal to be sensed at the S U i .
If the detection result of SU i (i = 1, 2, …, K)T 1 i > λ1 + Δ, sends the local decision D 1 i = 1 to the fusion center indicating that PUs exist; if T 1 i < λ1 − Δ, sends the local decision D 1 i = 0 to the fusion center indicating that no PU exists; if λ1 − Δ ≤ T 1 i ≤ λ1 + Δ, nothing will be sent. λ1 and Δ are two positive parameters that define the upper threshold λ1 + Δ and the lower threshold λ1 − Δ in the first stage detection.
DF = 1 , More than K / 2 SUs indicate presence of PU 0 , More than K / 2 SUs indicate absence of PU Final decision cannot be obtained , Otherwise .
If the final decision DF can be obtained, DF is sent to each SU. If the final decision DF cannot be obtained, nothing will be done.
T 2 i = 1 ( 1 − α ) N s ∑ n = 1 ( 1 − α ) N s x i n 2 .
Assume τ ≪ T1 < T2 in Figure 2, and thus τ can be ignored compared with T1 and T2.
where T 2 i is the second stage local sensing result of S U i using energy detection. Then the local decisions D 2 i are sent to the fusion center.
DF = 1 ∑ i = 1 K D 2 i ≥ K / 2 0 Otherwise.
DF is sent to each SU, and goes to step 6.
Step 6: Current detection ends.
The proposed two-stage one-bit cooperative spectrum sensing scheme.
The first TSEEOB-CSS algorithm described above can achieve almost the same performance as the conventional hard combination CSS algorithm. Its sensing time and energy consumption are reduced obviously when no PU exists or the SNR of PU is high, and therefore the sensing time can be saved and the energy efficiency can be improved effectively.
Step 1: Perform the first stage coarse energy detection with α N s samples at each SU as in Equation (6). If the detection result of S U i (i = 1, 2, …, K)T 1 i > λ1 + Δ, sends the local decision D 1 i = 1 to the fusion center indicating that PUs exist; if T 1 i < λ1 − Δ, sends the local decision D 1 i = 0 to the fusion center indicating that no PU exists; if λ1−Δ≤T 1 i ≤ λ1 + Δ, nothing will be sent.
Step 2: The first stage local decisions D 1 i are fused at the fusion center, and the final decision DF can be obtained as in Equation (7).
Step 3: If the final decision DF is received by the SUs, goes to step 6.
If the final decision DF is not received by the SUs after τ period, for the SUs that did not obtain the local decision D 1 at the first stage, perform the second stage fine energy detection with (1 − α)N s samples as in Equation (8), and for the SUs that obtained the local decision at the first stage, no more processing is needed.
where T 2 i is the second stage local sensing result of S U i using energy detection, D 1 i is the local decision of the S U i in the first stage. Then the local decisions D 2 i are sent to the fusion center.
The first proposed TSEEOB-CSS algorithm can achieve excellent performance with less energy consumption; however, the local decisions of the coarse detection are not fully used. The local decisions of the coarse detection are obtained through two-threshold sensing scheme, and they are more reliable than those of the conventional sensing with the same number of samples. If the local decisions of the coarse detection are utilized in the algorithm, its energy efficiency can be improved. Thus, the second TSEEOB-CSS algorithm is proposed based on the first one, which uses the local decision of the coarse detection to improve the energy efficiency of the algorithm with the same length of sensing time. However, the detection performance of the second TSEEOB-CSS algorithm is worse than the first TSEEOB-CSS algorithm. Thus, we should make a trade-off between the energy efficiency and detection performance to choose the proper algorithm in practical applications.
The parameters are important to the proposed algorithms, so in this section, the threshold setting is discussed. In addition, the energy-efficiency and time-saving performance of the algorithms are further analyzed.
There are three important parameters in the two proposed TSEEOB-CSS algorithms, λ1, λ2, and Δ. These parameters affect the detection performance greatly. Thus, we discuss the parameters setting, and give some rules as follows.
Remark 1. For a fixed value of λ1, the larger the value of Δ is, the better the detection performance can be achieved with longer sensing time.
P = 1 − ∫ λ 1 − Δ λ 1 + Δ 1 2 π α N s σ e − x − μ 2 2 σ 2 / ( α N s ) d x .
Hence, when Δ is larger, and the probability (1 − P) indicating the need of second stage fine detection correspondingly becomes larger, which means the sensing time becomes longer. Also, the detection performance becomes better for the probability of second stage detection is larger.
Remark 2: Δ should be smaller as the sample number α N s of the first stage coarse detection becomes larger.
when no PU exists, and it follows Gaussian distribution with mean 1 and variance σ H 0 2 = 2 / ( α N s ) according to the central limit theorem.
where a is a positive constant. When the number of samples becomes larger, e.g., Ns 2 = 2α N s , the variance of the first stage coarse energy detection result changes to 2/(2α N s ) = 1 / (α N s ), and hence Δ should be set as a 1 / ( α N s ) accordingly. Therefore, the larger the number of samples is, the smaller the value of Δ should be.
Remark 3: λ1 should be set according to the requirement of the false alarm probability (P f ).
In Case I as shown in Figure 3, λ1 is set relatively low (e.g., below 1). If no PU exists, the distribution of the first stage energy detection result is shown in Figure 3. The probability that the detection result is larger than λ1 + Δ is so large that P f cannot be set small (e.g., P f = 0.01). In Case II as shown in Figure 3, λ1 is set relatively high (e.g., above 1). The probability that the detection result is smaller than λ1 − Δ is so large that P f cannot be set large (e.g., P f = 0.5). For P f above 0.5 is not meaningful in practical networks, λ1 is usually set above 1.
The distribution of the first stage energy detection result.
Furthermore, if certain P f can be achieved, the detection performance is better when λ1 is smaller. However, when λ1 becomes smaller, the probability indicating the need of second stage fine detection becomes larger when SNR is low or no PU exists, which means the sensing time becomes longer and the energy consumption becomes larger.
As analyzed above, we know that the parameters Δ and λ1 determine the detection performance and the computational complexity of the algorithms. Thus, Δ and λ1 should be set first according the requirements of the detection performance and energy consumption when applied to practical systems.
λ2 can be set according to the values of Δ and λ1 When Δ is fixed, λ2 should be set larger with smaller λ1. When λ1 is fixed, λ2 should be set larger with larger Δ. With certain values of Δ and λ1, the value of λ2 is deterministic. Thus, after λ1 and Δ are set, λ2 can be set according to the required value of P f through measurements in advance.
The above rules in setting Δ, λ1, and λ2 are all suitable for both of the two proposed TSEEOB-CSS algorithms.
Remark 4: The energy consumption and sensing time of the proposed schemes are reduced significantly compared to the conventional CSS scheme with the same number of samples, especially when the SNR of the PU signal is high or no PU exists.
where Pr(H1) and Pr(H0) = 1 − Pr(H1) denote the probabilities of the presence and absence of the primary signal, respectively.
where K is the number of SUs in the CSS, N s is the number of samples at each SU in the detection, and e0 is the energy consumption corresponding to one sample of the detection.
E 2 = K α N s e 0 + K ( ( 1 − α ) N s ) e 0 1 − ∑ i = K 2 + 1 K K i P 1 i 1 − P 1 K − i − ∑ i = K 2 + 1 K K i P 0 i 1 − P 0 K − i ( 1 − P 1 − P 0 ) .
E 2 < E 1 < E C SS .
Thus, we can conclude that the energy consumption is reduced significantly by the two proposed CSS schemes, and the energy consumption of the second TSEEOB-CSS algorithm is much lower than that of the first algorithm.
where t0 is the duration corresponding to one sample of the detection.
T 1 = T 2 = α N s t 0 + ( ( 1 − α ) N s ) t 0 1 − ∑ i = K 2 + 1 K K i P 1 i 1 − P 1 K − i − ∑ i = K 2 + 1 K K i P 0 i 1 − P 0 K − i .
T 1 = T 2 < T C SS .
Thus, we can conclude that the time consumption is reduced significantly by the two proposed CSS schemes, and the time consumption of the two algorithms is the same.
The time and energy consumption of the proposed algorithms can be reduced effectively, and we will clarify it briefly. When there are PUs in the network, the first stage coarse energy detection result T follows a distribution with the mean of 1 + μ s . If the SNR of PU signal is larger, 1 + μ s will be larger, and thus the probability that T > λ1 + Δ will also become larger. This means the probability indicating the need of second stage fine detection becomes smaller, and thus the sensing time and energy consumption will be reduced due to the low probability of the need of second stage fine detection. When no PU exists in the network, the probability that T < λ1 − Δ is relatively large because λ1 is usually set above 1. Therefore, the probability indicating the need of second stage fine detection is relatively small, and the sensing time and energy consumption will also be reduced greatly when no PU exists.
From the above analysis, we can conclude that the sensing time and energy consumption is reduced greatly when the SNR of PU signal is high or no PU exists in the proposed two algorithms, and it enables a "green" CR network.
In this section, we illustrate the performance of the proposed TSEEOB-CSS algorithms using computer simulations. We assume that the signal of PU is BPSK modulated, and the baseband symbol rate f b is equal to 1 Mbps. The sampling frequency f s at SUs is 64 MHz. In the TSEEOB-CSS algorithms, the number of samples of the two stages, N s , is set to 768, α = 1 / 3, and Δ is set to 0.1, which is equal to 1.13 σH 0.
First, we compare the detection performance of the first TSEEOB-CSS algorithm with that of TTD-CSS algorithm in  and TSTB-CSS algorithm in . In TTD-CSS algorithm, λ is set to 1.007 and Δ is set to 0.1, the number of samples, N, is set to 768, and VOTING rule is used. In TSTB-CSS algorithm, the number of samples in the first and second stages is both set to 768 / 2 = 384, λ is set to 1.034, and Δ is set to 0.1. The detection performance of the energy detection and the hard combination CSS scheme is also compared. The detection probability (P d ) of these algorithms is compared in Figure 4, with unit power of the background noise and P f = 0.1.
Detection performance against SNR comparison when P f = 0.1.
From Figure 4 we can see that the performance of the first TSEEOB-CSS algorithm with λ1 equal to 1.125, 1.100, and 1.050, and corresponding λ2 equal to 1.024, 1.0295, and 1.033, respectively, is all better than that of 768-sample energy detection algorithm and 256-sample hard combination CSS algorithm. The larger the value of λ1 is, the better performance the first TSEEOB-CSS algorithm can achieve. The detection performance of the first TSEEOB-CSS algorithm with λ1 = 1.1000 is close to that of TTD-CSS algorithm, TSTB-CSS algorithm, and 768-sample hard combination CSS algorithm, and its performance is even better than that of these algorithms when λ1 is equal to 1.050.
In Section 4, we have analyzed the rules in setting λ1, and we can conclude that when the required P f is relatively small, λ1 should be set larger accordingly, and when the required P f is relatively large, λ1 should be set smaller correspondingly. For example, from the simulation results in Figure 4 we can see that when P f = 0.1, the detection performance of the first proposed algorithm with λ1 = 1.05 is better than that with λ1 = 1.1. However, the requirement P f < 0.05 cannot be achieved when λ1 = 1.1, and thus λ1 = 1.05 should be selected in this case. Therefore, λ1 should be set properly according to the required P f . The receiver operation characteristic (ROC) curves of the energy detection with 768 samples, the hard combination CSS algorithm with 768 samples and the first TSEEOB-CSS algorithm with 256 samples in the first stage and 512 samples in the second stage are depicted in Figure 5. P f is usually set below 0.2, and thus only part of the ROC curves with P f ∈ (0, 0.2] are given in Figure 5. λ1 should be set according to the required P f , and the λ1 setting in the simulation of Figure 5 is listed in Table 1.
ROC curves comparison of the detectors when SNR is equal to −10 dB. In the first TSEEOB-CSS algorithm, λ1 is 1.10 when P f ∈ (0, 0.05], λ1 is 1.05 when P f ∈ (0.05, 0.1], and λ1 is 1.00 when P f ∈ (0.1, 0.2].
From the simulations results in Figure 5, we can observe that the ROC performance of the first TSEEOB-CSS algorithm is almost equal to that of the CSS algorithm with different λ1 set according to the required P f in Table 1. Thus, the proposed first TSEEOB-CSS algorithm can achieve the same performance as CSS algorithm with much less sensing time and energy consumption.
In Section 3, the second TSEEOB-CSS algorithm is also proposed. It can improve the energy efficiency of the first TSEEOB-CSS algorithm, with its sensing performance a little decrease. The detection performance of the first and second TSEEOB-CSS algorithms is compared in Figure 6 with unit power of the background noise and P f = 0.1. The detection performance of the CSS algorithm with 768 samples is also adopted in Figure 6.
Detection performance comparison between the first and second TSEEOB-CSS algorithms when P f = 0.1.
From the simulation results in Figure 6, we can see that the detection performance of the second TSEEOB-CSS algorithm is close to that of the first TSEEOB-CSS algorithm and the CSS algorithm with 768 samples.
A remarkable advantage of the proposed TSEEOB-CSS algorithms is that it can save sensing time and energy consumption greatly, which will be discussed in the following. The probability of second stage fine detection under different SNRs of the two proposed algorithms is analyzed in Figure 7.
Probability of the second stage detection of the first and second TSEEOB-CCS algorithms with different λ 1 values.
We can see that although the detection performance with λ1 = 1.125 is worse than that with λ1 = 1.100 and 1.050 (from Figure 4), the probability of second stage detection is the lowest with the shortest sensing time and smallest energy consumption when the SNR is low or no PU exists. Hence, we can conclude that the sensing time is shorter, the energy consumption is smaller, and the detection performance is worse with larger λ1. In practical CR networks, if the sensing time or energy consumption is the most important factor to be considered, we can use large λ1; otherwise, λ1 should be smaller. In addition, the sensing time and energy consumption of the second TSEEOB-CCS algorithm is much lower than those of the first TSEEOB-CCS algorithm, and about 20% of the energy consumption can be saved in the second stage detection.
Using the probability of second stage fine detection obtained from Figure 7, we can calculate the percent of the reduced processing energy by the TSEEOB-CSS algorithms under different SNRs, and the results are shown in Figure 8.
Energy-efficiency performance comparison of the proposed algorithms to the CCS algorithm with different λ 1 values.
From Figure 8, we can see that when SNR is larger than −5 dB, the percentage of the reduced energy of these two proposed algorithm is more than 60, and the maximal percentage of the reduced energy is 66.67. When no PU exists in the network, the energy consumption can also be reduced by 50, 35, and 15% when λ1 is set to 1.125, 1.100, and 1.1050, respectively, in the first TSEEOB-CCS algorithm; while in the second TSEEOB-CCS algorithm, the energy consumption can be reduced by 55, 45, and 30% with these values of λ1, respectively. Thus, the proposed algorithms can improve energy efficiency of the conventional CSS algorithm significantly with almost the same sensing performance.
In Theorems 1 and 2 of the Section 4, we know that the value of the parameter Δ affects the detection and energy-efficiency performance greatly, so the performance of the algorithms according to Δ is analyzed. In the following simulation, we set λ = 1.1. The detection performance of the two proposed algorithms with different values of Δ is shown in Figure 9, and the probability of second stage fine detection with different Δ s of the algorithms is compared in Figure 10.
Detection performance comparison of the two proposed algorithm with different values of Δ. λ1 is set to 1.1 in the simulation.
Probability of the second stage detection of the first and second TSEEOB-CCS algorithms with different Δ values. λ1 is set to 1.1 in the simulation.
The simulation results in Figure 9 have shown that the larger Δ is, and the better detection performance can be obtained for both the two algorithms. However, it is shown in Figure 10 that when Δ becomes larger, the probability of second stage fine detection, which also means the energy efficiency becomes lower. Thus, in the practical systems, we should choose appropriate value of Δ to balance between the detection performance and energy efficiency.
Plenty of simulation results are given in this section, and they have shown the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms. The algorithms can achieve reliable detection performance with much lower energy consumed. The rules in setting the parameters of the two algorithms described in Section 4 are also proved.
In this article, we have presented two two-stage time-saving and energy-efficient CSS algorithms for CR networks. In the algorithms, only one stage of sensing is needed when the SNR is high or there is no PU. One-bit decision is sent by each SU to minimize the overhead. The second TSEEOB-CSS algorithm fully uses the local decision of the coarse detection, and it can achieve even better energy-efficiency performance with its sensing performance close to the first one and the CSS algorithm. We have also further analyzed the design parameters in the proposed algorithms, and given the rules in setting the parameters. Simulation results were presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.
In this article, energy detection is used due to its low computational complexity; however, it cannot avoid the noise uncertainty effectively [11, 33]. When the background noise fluctuates severely, the performance of the proposed algorithm using energy detection becomes unacceptable. In our previous research work, a spectrum sensing detector based on the entropy of spectrum amplitude with relatively low computational complexity was proposed, and it is robust to the noise uncertainty . The proposed entropy detection algorithm  can easily be applied to the proposed TSEEOB-CSS algorithms. In our future work, we will further apply entropy-based spectrum detection to the TSOBEE-CSS algorithms proposed in this article, and conduct more research to conquer the problem of noise uncertainty. Moreover, it is interesting to derive closed-form expressions for detection performance and energy efficiency, and analyze the effects of different parameters on the system performance.
We thank the reviewers for their detailed reviews and constructive comments, which have helped to improve the quality of this article. This study was supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) under Grant no. 61201224, the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation under 2012M510806, and the Natural Science Foundation of Changzhou City under CJ20120015.


text:
Red Sox reverse course a year after World Series title
Ortiz terrific again, but injuries, inconsistency lead Boston to fifth-place finish
By Ian Browne
BOSTON -- Fresh off the glory of going worst to first, the Red Sox encountered disaster en route to an anemic title defense, doing the exact opposite in 2014.
First to worst isn't nearly as enjoyable. For the second time in three years, Fenway Park served as the host of a last-place team in the American League East.
"It certainly isn't what we anticipated, and yet there's no denying exactly where we are," said manager John Farrell. "We've gone through a lot of change. We encountered some things that we didn't expect. Prior to the Trade Deadline, it felt like we had pitching that was deep and talented, but the offensive inconsistencies -- there were greater peaks and valleys than we anticipated coming at the start of the year."
So bad was the offense that general manager Ben Cherington felt he had no choice but to dip into his pitching inventory, dealing ace Jon Lester and No. 2 starter John Lackey for two bats (Yoenis Cespedes and Allen Craig) and one arm (Joe Kelly).
And by the time late August rolled around, the Red Sox made a $72.5 million investment in Cuban outfielder Rusney Castillo, hoping his bat, glove and legs can play a significant role going forward.
If 2013 was defined by magical moments, the summer of '14 will be remembered for an utter lack of offense.
"The thing that always will jump off the page at me was the gap between our on-base [percentage] and our runs scored," said Farrell. "Whether that then entails younger guys in RBI situations, or whether that takes into account that our lineup could be managed a little bit more effectively by the opposition or we had RBI situations that we didn't cash in on. As we went through the season, everyone was aware of it. Everyone was aware of the inconsistencies with runners in scoring position. That became a point of frustration for all of us."
Record: 71-91, fifth place in the AL East
Defining moment: Following a 14-1 romp over the Blue Jays on July 21, the Red Sox had won eight out of nine and finally seemed ready to get back into contention. Then, they proceeded to lose eight of the next nine, forcing Cherington to essentially pull the plug on the season by trading Lester, Lackey and lefty relief ace Andrew Miller.
What went right: Mookie Betts looked ready to be a solid Major Leaguer by season's end, showing consistency in the leadoff spot and in the outfield ... Xander Bogaerts finished strong with the bat after a maddeningly inconsistent season ... David Ortiz remained an elite slugger, even at the age of 38 ... Young catcher Christian Vazquez emerged into a run-stopper on defense ... Brock Holt turned into Mr. Versatility, playing seven positions for Farrell.
What went wrong: The offense was largely unproductive from start to finish ... Jackie Bradley Jr. and Will Middlebrooks were unable to get anything going at the plate, leaving the Red Sox to question whether they can fit in to the club's future plans ... Shane Victorino never got healthy and underwent back surgery in August ... Dustin Pedroia re-injured his surgically repaired left hand on a takeout slide during the home opener, and it plagued him all season. He wound up having season-ending surgery in September ... Closer Koji Uehara endured a late-season slump, creating at least some dilemma on whether the club should re-sign him for next season ... Mike Napoli was another player who grinded through a barrage of injuries and didn't hit with the production he hoped ... Bogaerts was productive early and late, but far too quiet for the meat of the season.
Biggest surprise: Holt went from not making the team in Spring Training to becoming one of the team's most consistent two-way players. Look for Holt to play a role again in 2015, be it as a utility man or the starting third baseman.
Hitter of the Year: Ortiz. What more can you say about the star slugger? For the eighth time in his Red Sox career, Ortiz produced a 30-homer, 100-RBI season, establishing a new team record. Once Cespedes came on board, Ortiz became even more dangerous, because pitchers were no longer free to work around him.
Pitcher of the Year: Uehara. Despite a late-season slump, the righty was the most dominant pitcher the Red Sox had for the bulk of the season. Lester was on course to be the club's top pitcher, but he was dealt to the A's on July 31.
Rookie of the Year: Holt. Perhaps he was a victim of late-season fatigue, as his batting average dropped quite a bit. But until suffering a concussion in early September, Holt was a steady presence and the consummate grinder.
Ian Browne is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his blog, Brownie Points, and follow him on Twitter @IanMBrowne.
Read More: Boston Red Sox, Joe Kelly, John Lackey, Andrew Miller, Yoenis Cespedes, Jackie Bradley Jr., Shane Victorino, Mookie Betts, Mike Napoli, Rusney Castillo, Brock Holt, Dustin Pedroia, Xander Bogaerts, Koji Uehara, Will Middlebrooks, Christian Vazquez, Allen Craig, David Ortiz

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
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syntax::<wbr>ext::<wbr>tt::<wbr>macro_parser

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Enum syntax::<wbr>ext::<wbr>tt::<wbr>macro_parser::<wbr>NamedMatch<wbr>Unstable
            [-] [+]
        [src]

pub enum NamedMatch {
    MatchedSeq(Vec<Rc<NamedMatch>>, Span),
    MatchedNonterminal(Nonterminal),
}

NamedMatch is a pattern-match result for a single token::MATCH_NONTERMINAL:
so it is associated with a single ident in a parse, and all
MatchedNonterminals in the NamedMatch have the same nonterminal type
(expr, item, etc). Each leaf in a single NamedMatch corresponds to a
single token::MATCH_NONTERMINAL in the TokenTree that produced it.

The in-memory structure of a particular NamedMatch represents the match
that occurred when a particular subset of a matcher was applied to a
particular token tree.

The width of each MatchedSeq in the NamedMatch, and the identity of the
MatchedNonterminals, will depend on the token tree it was applied to:
each MatchedSeq corresponds to a single TTSeq in the originating
token tree. The depth of the NamedMatch structure will therefore depend
only on the nesting depth of ast::TTSeqs in the originating
token tree it was derived from.

Variants

MatchedSeq

MatchedNonterminal

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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


A well written, winning CV is a personal marketing tool, and its purpose is to get you an interview.
Your CV is the first impression a potential employer will have of you. A winning CV should show your achievements and value to the company in a short, sharp and proactive way. Huge number of resumes are often received, so managers usually only have a couple of minutes to scan each one. Make sure that the key information isn't buried, or that your CV is hard to read.
Your profile is an ad for the rest of the CV. What you write must make the hiring manager want to read more. Your profile must quickly show who you are and what you can do for the company.
In the employment market, education is always an advantage. However, if your education is incomplete or non standard, you will find many tips online to help you make your education work for you. Education includes continuing education; onsite training at your previous job and training seminars that you have attended just to list a few.
Every job you apply for you are likely to be pitched against hundreds of other job seekers, which means you have to stand out in a crowd. The way to do that is make sure all your skills are on display and your unique abilities in the application of those skills.
It is said that employers spend as little as 20 seconds scanning your CV so it needs to get to the point, present your skills and abilities and be easy to read. If in doubt try the 20-second test with a few strangers.
Recruiters may need to know different, wider and/or new information an employer may not. The longer your career the wider the range of skills you may have, present those that match the job your applying for is a great way to go.
Typos are a no, no pure and simple. Get your CV proof read.
You may have sent your CV out a few times over the years, having an up to date version is key. Each quarter you work take 5 mins to review your success on your master CV file. It will help no end to jog your memory later on when looking to build up your skills & contribution profiles to your present/past employers.


Masao Obata (1943–2010), whose works were shown in the recesses of the gallery at Halle Saint Pierre, Paris, last year and who was allocated the first wall that confronted visitors at the Collection de l'Art Brut show in 2008, was one of the most notable artists in recent Japanese Art Brut. He appeared in the world of outsider art suddenly, at the end of the 20th century, and, after receiving wide attention for about 10 years, he was lost at the peak of his fame through his sudden death in 2010.
Obata's work was first shown at a public museum in November 1998 as part of a group show of Japanese outsider artists held at the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Modern Art. Although it was shortly before the deadline for finalising the artists in the show, I was able to slip him into the line-up and 70 of his pieces were included. He has frequently appeared in Japanese museums since then, and has become one of the most important and popular figures in the outsider art world in Japan. But despite his fame, little is known about him. We do not even know exactly when he first started to draw.


Omega-3 fat often found in Fish oil capsules has been around for decades and there are many claims regarding the 'healthy fat'. They say it can fight depression, reduce risk of heart disease, improve bone and joint health and lower inflammation.
But can it reduce delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS)?
Every repair in the body starts with inflammation, and inflammation has an important role in muscle repair and muscle soreness (read more about that HERE).
Omega-3 is known to reduce inflammation [2,3,4,12,13,15], it does that by promoting the release of anti-inflammatory cytokines and inhibit the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Studies show that when participants use Omega-3 capsules the concentration of TNF, CRP and IL-6 (all associated with inflammation) lowers. Besides omega-3 also seems to attenuate muscle damage (likely due to a lower inflammatory response) this is shown by lower levels of Myoglobin and Creatine Kinase in the bloodstream. The Myoglobin and Creatine Kinase sit inside the muscle fibers and end up in the bloodstream when the muscle fiber gets damaged, bloodsamples are therefore often used by scientists to measure muscle damage.
Not every omega fat reduces inflammation, Omega-6 for instance fires up inflammation thereby known to be pro-inflammatory [2,4]. Omega-6 is found in red meat and scientist think we consume to much omega-6 relative to omega-3. They say that the ratio between the two is very important . We should eat more fish (which contains omega-3) and/or use supplements to improve the ratio. If you want to use fish oil supplements, find one with only omega-3 and without omega-6.
I found 9 studies where scientist tested the ability of omega-3 to reduce muscle soreness and the studies produce mixed results.
Whereas no effects were found in studies: 5, 6, 8 and 9.
So there is a slight advantage for the positive effects.
All studies used eccentric weight exercises to elicit muscle soreness and used dosage between 360mg to 3000mg (most studies that produced a positive effect used 3000mg).
So omega-3 capsules could attenuate muscle soreness, but the results are not consistent. There are better ways to reduce muscle soreness, read more about it HERE.
But omega-3 fat has lots of other health benefits and because most of us don't consume enough omega-3 rich food it's probably a good idea to increase omega-3 intake by taking supplements.
3 Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and inflammatory processes: nutrition or pharmacology?
9 Can a standard dose of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) supplementation reduce the symptoms of delayed onset of muscle soreness?
10 Erratum to: Eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids-rich fish oil supplementation attenuates strength loss and limited joint range of motion after eccentric contractions: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group trial.
11 Effects of Short-Term Docosahexaenoic Acid Supplementation on Markers of Inflammation after Eccentric Strength Exercise in Women.
12 Docosahexaenoic acid affects markers of inflammation and muscle damage after eccentric exercise.
13 A dietary supplement attenuates IL-6 and CRP after eccentric exercise in untrained males.
14 The Effect of Omega-3 Fatty Acid Supplementation on the Inflammatory Response to eccentric strength exercise.


Home for sale at 726 Penny Lane Plainfield, IN 46168.
Description: The property at 726 Penny Lane Plainfield, IN 46168 in Hendricks county with the BLC / MLS 21617082 is currently listed for $537,000 and has been on this site for 77 days.
You are viewing the MIBOR listing details of the property for sale at 726 Penny Lane Plainfield, IN 46168, which features 5 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms, and is approximately 4895 sq.ft. in size.


text:
Board reorganizes, recognized for School Board Appreciation Month
Dearborn Public Schools > The First Bell > News > Board reorganizes, recognized for School Board Appreciation Month
← Career Academies let high school students explore job options District releases school calendar for 2020-21 school year →
As part of School Board Recognition Month, Superintendent Dr. Glenn Maleyko took time at the January 13, 2020 School Board meeting to thank the Trustees for their service to the community.
"On behalf of our students, staff and community, I would like to thank our board trustees for their enduring dedication to public education. As superintendent, I truly appreciate the diversity of experience and the professionalism this group of trustees brings to the table. They are very knowledgeable about the workings of our district and the latest issues impacting education," said Superintendent Dr. Glenn Maleyko.
School Board members in Dearborn develop policies and make tough decisions that help shape the future of the district. They bear responsibility for the third largest district in Michigan with an annual budget of more than $220 million, an enrollment of almost 21,000 students, and 2,700 employees working in 34 buildings.
In addition, Dearborn School Board trustees also serve as trustees for Henry Ford College. They are the only school board trustees in the state that also serve as trustees for a local college. This dual responsibility means trustees spend twice the amount of time dedicated to serving the community. They evaluate both the superintendent and college president, attend twice the number of meetings, and must keep abreast of issues, laws, and legislation impacting both grades P-12 and the college.
Superintendent Maleyko added, "I have worked with them this past year on several important projects including the renewal of our strategic plan, budget planning for the 19-20 school year, and most importantly addressing our infrastructure and capacity needs that ultimately led to the bond proposal this past November. Although the outcome of the election was not favorable, the board did a tremendous amount of work providing leadership throughout the entire process leading up to and during the bond campaign. I look forward to continuing that work as we move forward to develop a modified plan. "
The board began the calendar year with a brief organizational meeting to select new officers. Those appointments include Hussein Berry as president, Jim Thorpe as vice president, Mary Lane as Secretary and Roxanne McDonald as treasurer. Trustee Mary Petlichkoff was given an honorary gavel to commemorate her service last year as School Board President.
Below are your Dearborn Public Schools trustees for 2020. Four terms will expire by the end of the year and will be part of the November ballot.
Trustee Roxanne McDonald has served six years on the board after being elected in November 2011. She did not serve in 2017 and 2018, but was reelected in November 2018. Her current term expires at the end of 2024.
Trustee James Thorpe has served three years on the board after first being elected in November 2016 to a partial term. He was reelected in November 2018 to a full term, which expires at the end of 2024.
Trustee Hussein Berry has served on the board for eight years. He initially served from 2010 to 2014 and was elected again in November 2016 to a term which lasts through 2022.
Trustee Mary Lane was first elected to the board in November 1999, but did not serve in 2008. She has 18 years of board experience, and her current term expires at the end of 2020.
Trustee Michael Meade was elected in November 2014 and has five years of board experience. His current term expires at the end of 2020.
Trustee Mary Petlichkoff has served on the board nine years. She was first elected in 2006 and served from 2007 to 2010. She returned to the board after being elected again in November 2014. Her current term expires at the end of 2020.
Trustee Adel Mozip was appointed to the board in April 2019. He will serve until elections are certified in November, when the winning candidate for the partial term will join to board to fill the remaining two years of the seat vacated by Fadwa Hammoud.
The Dearborn Board of Education, and the hundreds like it across the state, preserves public education, the core of the United States democracy. They ensure that decisions on school programming are made by people elected to represent the community's values, culture and circumstances. They are citizens whose decisions affect students and build the local community.
See board meetings by visiting our YouTube channel.


Role: asset creator, environment artist, illustrator and key artist.
Gatorade: Fuel Force is a webbrowser game and one of the first Snapchat games. With this quick rhythm game you can control the world's top athletes to beat alien robots from space across six sports. Users can access the game by scanning one of the 300 million Fuel Force Snapcodes on Gatorade bottles. By tapping the controls at just the right time, users can prove themselves worthy of playing with stars such a Messi and Serena Williams.
For this game I've created the backgrounds, different poses for the characters, some interface screens, like the character select screen and assets for (intro and outro) animations.


text:
A Group Of NH Firefighters Are Trying To Warm Up Kids This Winter (And Here's How You Can Help Them)
Jadd Published: November 17, 2020
Ryan Chase
Nothing is better than when members of the community try and help each other out, right? Whether it's something simple like asking your neighbor for a cup of sugar so they can finish whatever recipe they're working on, or something bigger -- like warming up people in need. Especially the kiddos.
There are a group of firefighters in Dover, New Hampshire, that have been doing just that for the last six years, and they just announced they're doing it again this year. The 7th annual Dover Professional Firefighters IAFF Local 1312 "Operation Warm" Fundraiser is officially live.
On his Facebook page, Dover firefighter Ryan Chase said they've teamed up with Philbrick's Ski, Board & Bike this year for the fundraiser, and Operation Warm is actually one of his personal favorite of the many community-oriented fundraisers that the Local 1312 Firefighters do. The cool thing about this particular fundraiser is it's not like others where gently-used coats are collected (not that those are in ANY WAY a bad thing) -- but with money raised, the Local 1312 Firefighters actually purchase BRAND NEW coats for local children in need, which ups the excitement.
He said that unfortunately none of the firefighters could make it into the schools to visit the kiddos that would be receiving the brand new coats, but he shouted out school councilors at Head Start, Horne St, Woodman Park, and Garrison Schools for getting sizes and doing a lot of the legwork.
So how can you help AND get a sweet hook up in process? Tickets are on sale for the 7th annual Operation Warm Fundraiser RIGHT NOW for only $20. But here's the thing -- only 150 of them will be sold, which means two things: 1) They're going to go FAST, and 2) The odds of winning are pretty sweet! The winner receives a $1,000 gift card to Philbrick's.
CLICK HERE TO SECURE YOUR RAFFLE TICKETS
The raffle winner will be selected on Facebook Live on Wednesday, December 9th at 5:30p. Good luck if you participate in the raffle, congrats on being a good human to support the cause, and good on the Local 1312 Firefighters for putting such a great event together!
And actually, they're just getting started, because Ryan told me personally that they are already ramping up for their upcoming toy drive. More info on that coming soon...
5 Old NH Seacoast Slang Words and Names
Source: A Group Of NH Firefighters Are Trying To Warm Up Kids This Winter (And Here's How You Can Help Them)


I don't know if it was the excitement of starting a new job or what but during the first few days I felt pretty good. 'This isn't so bad!' I thought. But it wasn't long until I realised I wasn't getting as much sleep as I needed. And it's amazing what a lack of sleep can do to your mind!
First I started getting mild hallucinations. I would constantly see things out of the corner of my eye and mistake them for something else. I would think a dog was behind me, but turn to see it was just a cardboard box. Or think someone had walked past, but realise no one was there.
By the end of the first week I was really feeling the effects of the lack of sleep. When I got home from my morning shift I would struggle to switch off and get a good nap in, even though I felt exhausted both mentally and physically. While working I was making silly mistakes and forgetting things, and if I just stood and stared at something, it would start to move. Especially towels, the fibres in the material would breathe in and out.
When you start a new job, especially one that's odd to you, it seems to be all you think about, so much that you start to dream about it too.
One night I woke up, but I wasn't in my bedroom, I was in the dairy. It was dark and I couldn't see much, but lying next to me was a large, white cow. I cautiously prodded it to make sure it was definitely a cow, and yeah I was pretty sure it was. I started pushing it, trying to get it away from me and shouted, "get out, get out!" Next thing Chris started shouting back at me, "It's me, it's me, you're dreaming!" I instantly came back to reality, realising I was, in fact, in my room and must have been hallucinating after waking from a dream. These dreams and hallucinations continued for at least the first month of work before they began to stop.
I've been working as a dairy farmer for 3 months now and things are definitely easier. I don't know if I'm sleeping better or if my body and mind's just got used to sleeping less, but I feel a lot more sane than what I did at first.
But I can't help thinking this sort of lifestyle can't be good for you in the long term. I recently read a BBC news story that suggested long-term loss of sleep could lead to permanently killing brain cells, although nothing is proven yet. But after my experiences, I could see the possibilities of this being true!


Background: In Iran, there has been a considerable increase in the number of women infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Within a socio-political context, social rights inequality of HIV positivity is still a prevailing concern among women. Little is known about the understanding of how Iranian women living with HIV, live their social rights experience. The aim of this study was to examine lived experience of these women against their social rights.
Methods: In this qualitative study, a phenomenological–hermeneutic framework was adopted. We conducted narrative interviews with sixteen women. A purposeful sample of Iranian women was chosen.
Results: Five themes were identified to understand the experience of social rights in women: 1) A state of profound suffering 2) lack support 3) Insecurity in a social-economic life 4) Any respecting and 5) Exerting oneself to keeping. For these women, social rights by their HIV status meant: Living the ambivalence of a process of equality/inequality.
Conclusion: Health professionals have to broaden their role and work on individual, interpersonal and inter-organizational levels. Mobilization of actors from different sectors would facilitate the implementation of pertinent and opportune interventions.


text:
June 18, 2019 • Rev. Dr. Marian Stewart
Hello First UUers,
Sitting here in my hotel room just before the opening of Ministry Days that precede the UUA General Assembly, I am struck by the news that another person has been identified in the beating death of UU minister, the Rev. James Reeb. Three people were arrested and later acquitted by an all-white jury in the Civil Rights era murder of Reeb that also injured two other ministers as they walked together on the streets of Selma, AL in 1965. Reeb's death drew national attention (partly because a white minister from Boston had been murdered in the Deep South working for justice) and led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act, which outlawed Jim Crow voter discrimination against African-Americans.
According to the NPR report, the case remains unsolved. Their investigation unveiled a confession from William Portwood and an admission from eye-witness Frances Bowden that in fact, she did know the attackers – all of them, not just the three officially charged. Portwood later admitted that he "was more than there". But minimized his participation by saying, "All I did was kick one of them." The FBI has a mandate to investigate cold cases from the Civil Rights Era, but refused to pursue this one further as the statute of limitations on lying had expired and the murder and beatings did not include bombs, kidnapping, or cross state lines.
I wonder about the expiration on hate itself, whether it be deceit by witnesses, acquittal by a probable white supremist jury, or actual violence. Does hate ever let the offender off the hook? Certainly, the harm caused is long-lasting and sometimes permanent. It can also go far-beyond single acts. In this case, it prompted the long-overdue passage of legislation that benefited many, but the private hell of the victim's families is overlooked, as is the long-suffering of those who endured brutal injustice for decades and centuries. Hatred still seems to grab the headlines and make for political hay.
But I also wonder about how I perpetuate a culture that tacitly gives permission to hate. Am I, even if indirectly, responsible for enforcing a system of laws and practices that hurt others? Could it have me on that jury back then or even today? It is always easier to go along with what 'seems right' because it is 'how things are'. I don't think I could have kicked anyone but does my inaction have the same results? Maybe not murder, but certainly keeping discrimination and all its harm in place. Would I lie to protect my friends, covering up heinous deeds born of hatred?
Rev. Reeb would have been sitting here with us at Ministry Days if he had lived long enough (he'd be quite old now but we do have active colleagues who worked with him in Selma). What in his heart caused him and dozens of other UU ministers and lay people to answer to call to come to Selma? Despite whatever life Portwood and Bowden lived post-Civil Rights era, their legacies include hate against fellow human beings. On the other hand, Reeb's legacy, etched in stone far too early, was one of love and compassion for those he didn't even know.
What legacy will I leave? What is your legacy? What is our legacy together?
Blessings with love at the center,
Rev. Marian
P.S. I look forward to reporting to you all the happenings at General Assembly which opens on Wednesday. Stay tuned!
Gratitudes and more…
Thank you to all who made signs, decorated the float, and either rode, walked, or cheered us on as we participated in the nation's 3rdlargest PRIDE parade.
END-of-CHURCH-YEAR: Pledges due
June 30 is the end of our fiscal year. Thank you in advance for paying your pledge in full before then.Your support matters in all of our endeavors to help build a better world, community, and church where we can all live, learn, and love.


text:
title: Plugin Title Nine
link: https://github.com/vmware-tanzu
BackupItemAction: true
RestoreItemAction: true
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam.


Sometimes, it amazes me how we, as individuals and a society, can accept concepts without question. When a belief becomes so integrated into the fabric of society, we often just float along with it relatively complacent. As a strategic social impact advisor, I've been drawn to the world of supporting businesses to identify, streamline, integrate and execute the social impact they know is possible while improving their bottom line. Bringing social impact to you..and, more accurately bringing you to your social impact potential. The majority of this is focused on streamlining the philanthropic efforts that are a type of 'stand-alone' outside of the business process itself – for example, we 'donate' $50,000 to this charity, or we offer our services yearly to this group discounted and so forth. However, I have to admit, it was only more recently as I transitioned from the nonprofit and governmental arena after 15 years to a business owner, that I begged a question – Who said business is simply transactional? Who says that social impact can't be integrated throughout your business model? To be fair in disclosure, I'm operating from the belief that every entity has the opportunity to be transformational, that every business owner has a choice.
Do we choose to accept the status quo that somehow business success is at odds with creating positive outcomes for those around us? We often focus on job creation as a key positive outcome but by doing so we limit our scope of awareness and impact.
What if we were driven by, and integrating, an awareness for the social and environmental implications from the beginning of research and development through our business process?
And, what if successful business models were actually enhanced by this social impact orientation and integration? What if we recognized that business + social impact = 'win-win'?
I've asked myself what it is that allows us to be complacent about our businesses being transactional? As a unique combination of a strategic consultant and a yoga teacher, I sense this stems from the disconnection many of us feel from our true drivers and, as a result, follow the encouragement to focus solely on transaction and profit. Through a range of mediums, including yoga or simple stillness, we can start to ask the question of why do we do what we do every day? What is it that drives me to provide this product or service? What is it that speaks to my core as an injustice when I hear it on the news? When we can create the space to ask these questions, reflect on what we stand for, what we want to see improve in the world, and combine it with what resources we have available (i.e. talent, time, treasure)…. I believe we can start the process of moving our own lives and our businesses from transactional driven entities to those that recognize and embrace the challenge and responsibility of transformational businesses. The key is to meet every business where they are on the social impact spectrum and, for those that seek to fully integrate the social impact model, assuring them it not only is possible, it is rewarding on many levels.
Do you think business +social impact = 'win-win'? Have you done this? Are you interested in trying? What are your experiences?


How many times have most of us been told: 'You have your mother's eyes' or 'You have your father's nose'.
When it comes to parents and their offspring people are always quick to point out resemblances.
But recent research has proven that although family resemblance is undeniable, there's a science behind which features came from mom and dad.
Using 3D face mapping software to study the faces of almost 1000 female twins a team of scientists at King's College London came up with some interesting findings. The study found that the part of the face that is the most 'handed down' is the tip of the nose. The facial feature which is second most likely to be inherited from your parents is something many people don't often notice - the space between your nose and your lip (called the philtrum).
The tip of the nose is about 66 percent likely to be the result of your genetics, while the philtrum around 62 percent.
Other areas often influenced by our genetics include the cheekbones and the inner corner of the eye, as well as the areas above and below the lips.
To conduct the study the team looked at the faces of 952 identical, and non-identical female twins.
They scanned the twin's faces using 3D cameras and used custom built statistical software to calculate the points of similarity between the twins, and their non-identical sibling.
Using the analysis they created face maps which shed light on which parts of the face are most likely to be inherited. The researchers, who published their results in Scientific Reports, compared how similar these measurements were between identical twins, who have the same genes, and non-identical twins, who only share half of the genes.
They used their findings to create a likelihood code for 'heritability', which ranges between 0 and 1, with 1 indicating that the shape of the face is controlled by genes.
"The notion that our genes control our face is self-evident. Many of us have facial traits that clearly resample those of our parents and identical twins are often indistinguishable," said the team's lead researcher, Professor Giovanni Montana. "These 'face heritability maps' maps will help identify specific genes shaping up the human face, which may also be involved in diseases altering the face morphology," he added emphasizing the scientific value of the study.


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Home » TV & Movies » Ant McPartlin and Dec Donnelly dont feel pressure to make popular shows anymore
Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly have admitted they don't feel "pressure" to deliver high-ratings shows anymore.
The presenting duo confessed that they stopped worrying how their programmes would perform with viewers after realising that TV has changed significantly over the years.
Ant, 46, and Dec, also 46, recently launched new gameshow Limitless Win adding to their already impressive CV of hosting duties including Saturday Night Takeaway, Britain's Got Talent and I'm a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!
But they have insisted they won't have any "sleepless nights" over the popularity of the show that sees contestants battling to secure an unlimited cash prize.
Speaking to Mail Online Ant said: "I don't feel that much under pressure in terms of overnight figures anymore because the landscape has changed. The pressure is to get it right and to make the right show.
"It looks really good, we delivered what we set out to deliver. You're nervous launching any new project but we're very proud of what we've done. It's the show we had in our heads."
And Dec admitted that the sleepless nights come when you're filming the show, not when it goes to air.
He added: "We're proud. You put it out there and hope people like it. It's a fun, exciting, dramatic watch.
"We hope people like it as much as we do but you can never tell, can you?
"You feel a bit of pressure but that's not where you have the sleepless nights, the sleepless nights are before you shoot the show."
Viewers of the new offering from the Geordie pair were left a little confused by its debut over the weekend.
Taking to Twitter to discuss the format one wrote: "Oh dear Limitless Win just doesn't work!!! Too slow, too complicated and all a bit pointless really as they don't even have to get the answer right to go up the ladder!!!"
Another added: "This format is incredibly complicated! Wtf is going on? It's easier to understand Only Connect!"
But it wasn't all bad and Ant and Dec thanked their fans for their more keen fans for their support following the debut broadcast.
They wrote: "Thank you so much for all your lovely Limitless Win messages. We're so glad you enjoyed watching it as much as we enjoyed making it. Roll on next Saturday!"
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By now everybody who likes rock 'n' roll, rockabilly and/or surfmusic must have heard of Eddie Angel. If you have listened to only one of Eddie recordings you know that this man is a legend in his own lifetime. Playing awesome guitar with legends like Ronnie Dawson and Link Wray and a very active recording artist as well. Eddie recorded with Tex Rubinowitz' band "The Bad Boys", Martha Hull (both on Ripsaw label), the legendary rockabilly revival band "The Planet Rockers" (with Sonny George), "Eddie Angel's Dinosaurs", "The Neanderthals" and "Los Straitjackets" and of course he had some great solo-issues, amongst which self-penned "Rampage". Eddie plays a mean guitar in every genre he picks up, rock 'n' roll, rockabilly, surf, garage, you name it, Eddie plays it!
Though Eddie's name pops up quite often on the Internet, nothing much is really known about him. Luckily I got some info from Jimmy "The Kid" Kirk, former co-owner of Ripsaw Records, the label where Eddie first started out. I also surfed the net collecting snippets that will give you a good idea about what Eddie stands for. As for myself, I just love to play his records real loud, just try his self-penned "Rampage" on for size!
Eddie Angel's Guitar Party (CD). Los Straitjackets guitarista Eddie Angel recorded this pet project & issued it on the tiny No Hit label in the UK, then reissued it on CD in the US on Art Bourasseau's MuSick Recordings. The Eddie Angel's Dinosaurs's "Jurasic Beat" c/w "Caveman" single comes from this album. Over all sound is more garage than surf. Still, there's enough coolness and reverb in the tracks to please the most dedicated reverbivore. "Werewolf" is the great Frantics tune from the Pacific Northwest, covered more familiarly by the Ventures as "Fourth Dimension." With Eddie, simple progressions and very little melody doesn't mean boring. Eddie has always been able to carry off simplest non-melody tracks and make them shine!
Eddie Angel "Guitar Party" (No Hit LP).
Dang it, just as I go to review the darn record I can't find it. Anyway, this is a vinyl release from No Hit Records of England, known for their Ronnie Dawson (and Dave & Deke Combo) releases. Eddie Angel is the guitar player in the popular Los Straitjackets band (and is/was the guitar player of the rockabilly Planet Rockers) but this album has moved me more than anything else he's ever done. A whole bunch of guitar instrumentals ranging from Link Wray-styled stuff to surf style stuff to hard-drivin' 50's instrumental styled stuff and more. He plays the heck outa his guitar on this one. Pick it up and you won't regret it.
A note from Roger Park: After a Los Straitjackets gig I approached guitarist Eddie Angel and asked him what the hell he and his buddies were playing '60s-style surf music in 1995. "We're just meant to do this," answered Angel. The way he said it, you got the feeling that God had come down from on high and personally asked Angel to carry the surf rock torch.
NRBQ mastermind Terry Adams visited Sundazed Studios so he and Bob could put the finishing touches on our upcoming Neanderthals' release. Featuring Los Straight Jackets guitar-slinger Eddie Angel, The Neanderthals' sound harks back to the glory daze of good time frat-rock ala the Kingsmen, the Trashmen, Link Wray etc.. Terry and Bob have it souped-up and ready to roar out of the garage in just a short while... Also, Terry will be back in town soon to work on the NRBQ Live At Ludlows Garage vintage tapes that will also be released on Sundazed!
Scribbles from a concert review: Next on the agenda were the "No Hit Eecords All Star Band." Celebrating 10 years of the British-based label, with Brian Neville playing drums, and Eddie Angel (Planet Rockers, Los Straitjackets) on guitar, it was obvious that we were in for something special. "Casbah", the haunting instrumental from Eddie's Guitar Party album on the label, grabbed everyone's attention. Eddie's all-time smash "Rampage" still sounded beautiful and delivered delicious chills.
Various Artists; Rock Don't Run. Eddie Angel (Los Straitjackets) has a nifty label called Spin Out that issues cool basic rockin' stuff from all over the planet. This compilation gathers together 12 bands from 4 countries doin' 18 instros. All in all, a very good compilation.
Hunker Down With Those Legendary Shack-Skakers (Spinout Records). You still can found some real music even from Nashville. This is second release of this absolutely excellent blues-a-billy band. Eddie Angel (Planet Rockers, Los Straitjackets) has produced this record, alltought there hasn�t been much of production. This CD is very lively collection of songs, mostly written by the band. Covers are "Love Bug Crawl" and old Ray Smith favourite "Right Behind You Baby". Shack-Shakers� style is great mixture of blues and rockabilly. Very refreshing in these days.


Granular-Lime in winter barley is consistently under-utilized, despite the fact that the level of acidity and nutrient availability from the soil is critical to the yield of a barley crop. In addition to the prevalence of acid soils in Northern Ireland, they also tend to be very high in magnesium, and conversely low in calcium. Barley is a calciphilic crop, requiring soils with high levels of available calcium to produce maximum yields as well as preferring a pH above 6.4. With nearly 7000 hectares of winter barley sown in Northern Ireland annually, there should be a huge demand for calcium based lime sources such as G-Lime to prepare the upcoming barley crop. Especially, due to the increasingly difficult winter weather conditions that we face in NI. As the window for sowing winter cereals can be narrow, and AgLime can take 4-6 months to have full effect, lime is generally an afterthought when it comes to sowing winter barley. Often, lime is not applied at all. As a result, these fields tend to have a lower pH, and therefore lower nutrient availability and fertiliser use efficiency than fields that have been treated with lime. This results in weaker plants with small roots that can have difficulty surviving the winter.
Further, these un-limed crops often present in spring with symptoms of nutrient deficiency and may require a foliar application of expensive micronutrients to correct the deficiency. However, usually when a crop is showing symptoms of deficiency, yield damage has already been done. These nutrient deficiencies can potentially be avoided by correcting soil pH at sowing.
Granular-Lime is ideal for winter barley as it reacts quickly in the soil, giving a full pH lift in just 4-6 weeks and is easily applied to the seedbed either pre or post-planting. The highest quality Granular-Lime is superfine with 99.7% passing through a 125mm sieve and the granules break down quickly – meaning pH around the seed is ideal for barley establishment. This ensures the plant gets off to the best start, maximizing root development so the plant comes into the spring full of vigour and not sluggish due to nutrient deficiency.
It is advisable to always use a soil test to determine your soil pH before applying lime. Farmers should be careful when addressing very low soil pH values as over-liming the soil can result in temporary pH values above 6.5 - this causes further nutrient deficiency. It is not advisable to apply more than 2 tonne per acre of fine quality AgLime or 300 kilograms/acre of G-Lime in one application. Should your field require a pH correction of greater than 0.6, G-Lime is an ideal product as you can apply 300kg/ac in the autumn, and then you can apply G-Lime again in early spring when field conditions suit. Your G-Lime supplier should be able to recommend to you the right rate for applying G-Lime based on your soil test results.
G-Lime is ideal for correcting the soil pH for your winter barley crop. It is cost effective, reacting quickly, and raising soil pH for optimal fertiliser efficiency and nutrient uptake. G-Lime gives your crop the best chance for good establishment, limiting the need for expensive spring applied foliar nutrients. Make sure to use G-Lime and make the most of your winter barley crop this year.


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Home Walt Disney World 16 Exotic Animals That You Might Just Be Able to See at...
16 Exotic Animals That You Might Just Be Able to See at Kilimanjaro Safaris
When was the last time you saw a lion face-to-face? Did you know that there is an actual safari inside Disney World?
You guessed it—we're talking about Animal Kingdom. The one theme park at Walt Disney World Resort that's dedicated to animal conservation.
As you'd expect, there are tons of attractions from nighttime shows to boat rides. The highlight, though? Definitely Kilimanjaro Safaris.
Tucked away in East Africa, the safari ride offers you a chance to see real animals from a free-moving vehicle. What type of animals, you ask? Lots.
Want to know which species? If so, be sure to read the rest of the post!
What Kinds of Animals Will You Be Able to See At Kilimanjaro Safaris?
Dozens of animals roam the savannah at Animal Kingdom. Which ones will you be able to get a glimpse of?
1. Okapi
2. Spotted Hyena
3. Bontebok
4. Hippopotamus
5. Greater Flamingo
6. Cheetah
7. Greater Kudu
8. Nile Crocodile
9. Black Rhinoceros
10. African Wild Dogs
11. Lions
12. African Bush Elephants
13. Ostriches
14. Pink-backed Pelican
15. Somali Giraffe
16. Warthogs
Which Safari Animal Do You Want To See?
Okapis are a type of mammal that is native to Central Africa. Also known as the zebra giraffe, these animals are known for their brown coats and white horizontal stripes, the latter of which is on their legs.
Herbivores, they feed on fruits, grasses, and leaves—something that is made easy with their 18-inch long tongues!
Tip: There are five okapis at Disney's Animal Kingdom Park. Not only will you be able to see them on the safari, but you'll also be able to find them on the Pangani Exploration Trail.
Spotted hyenas are noted for their round ears and bear-like builds. Not only do they hunt, but they scavenge for food as well.
They mainly eat birds, snakes, antelope, insects, and lizards. Did you know that they're able to eat and digest bone?
Tip: Hyenas typically rest during the day. If you want to see them, your best bet is to go on a nighttime safari. They tend to be the most active around dusk.
The bontebok is a medium-sized antelope that is extinct in the wild. In captivity, however, their population has recovered.
Upwards of 350 pounds, these animals are brown in color with a noticeable white underside. They also have a patch of white near their tails.
The hippopotamus is the third largest land mammal in the world—just behind elephants and rhinos. Males can easily weight upwards of 1,500kg!
In the wild, they are found in swamps, lakes, and rivers, where they remain during the day. At dusk, they emerge from the water to feed on grass.
Despite being herbivores, they are one of the most dangerous animals in the world. Why? They are highly aggressive!
Tip: You can often see them basking in shallow waters at the safari. Pay attention when you're nearing the water, you never know when they might pop their heads up!
The greater flamingo is the largest species in the flamingo family. Pinkish white with a black-tipped beak, these birds can be kept in captivity for more than 60 years.
Fond of shrimp, mollusks, and algae, these feathered animals tend to reside in lagoons and mudflats. Their natural habits can be found in Southern Asia, Africa, Southern Europe, and the Middle East.
Tip: You'll know them when you see them. Their pink feathers are hard to miss!
Cheetahs are the fastest animal in the world. Did you know that they can run up to 70 miles per hour?
Known for their distinctive spots, these professional hunters eat fowl, antelopes, hares, birds, ostriches, gazelles, and impalas.
While females are solitary, males form small groups that are called coalitions.
Tip: It's hard to predict where you'll be able to see the cheetahs. If you're lucky, however, you might see one basking in the sun on the grass.
The greater kudu is a type of antelope that is found in Africa. Narrow with long legs, they have white stripes that run vertically down their torso. Their heads are also darker in color.
Active throughout the day, these horned animals form small groups in home areas. Solitary males, however, only join during mating season.
While they're not particularly aggressive, it's not uncommon to see males sparring each other.
Tip: Greater kudus tend to stay near the trees and bushes. Look for their vertical stripes!
Nile crocodiles are the biggest freshwater predator that lives in Africa. Widespread, these reptiles can be found in rivers, marshlands, and lakes.
Highly aggressive, they are capable of killing almost any type of animal that comes their way. Their diet, however, mostly consists of birds, fish, mammals, and reptiles. It's not uncommon for them to wait days, sometimes weeks, for a suitable chance to attack.
Did you know that they're fully capable of taking down a human? In fact, they're responsible for hundreds of deaths every year!
Tip: Nile crocodiles tend to wade in shallow waters. You might see them cooling off in a shady area on a hot day.
Black rhinos are one of the biggest types of rhinos in the world. Despite their name, they are actually grey in color.
Due to poaching, they are critically endangered in the world. As a matter of fact, three subspecies have already gone extinct!
Herbivores, they mainly eat leaves, bushes, shoots, and grass. They also like to pluck fruit from branches. Interestingly enough, they have been shown to prefer quality over quantity.
Tip: Black rhinos can often be seen near the trees in the savannah.
African wild dogs are known for their irregularly-colored coats, which are white, black and yellow. Social animals, they live in packs in the savanna, woodlands, and scrublands.
High-stamina hunters, they often engage in long pursuits to chase down antelope. They also hunt bushbucks, impalas, and greater kudus. One pack of African wild dogs generally eat four pounds of meat every day.
Tips: These wild dogs are diurnal; they generally move at night. Going on a nighttime safari is probably the best choice. Still, there's no guarantee that you'll see one!
You're probably familiar with lions. King of the jungle, they form prides that consist of males, females, and cubs. Over the past couple of decades, however, their population has dropped significantly.
An apex predator, they hunt most mammals including zebras, wildebeests, giraffes, and buffalos. Oddly enough, they avoid hippos, elephants, and rhinos (assuming that they're full grown).
Due to predation, starvation, and abandonment, 8 out of 10 lion cubs will die before the age of two.
Tip: These regal creatures can often be found sunbathing on the rocks. Listen for their roars!
African bush elephants are the largest land animal in the world. Due to their sheer size, they have no natural predators (besides humans).
However, calves and juveniles are prone to lion and hyena attacks.
Herbivorous mammals, they mainly eat leaves, trees, and herbs. It's not uncommon for them to consume 500 pounds of plants every day! They also drink lots of water—more than 50 gallons on a daily basis.
Tip: It's hard to miss the elephants given their size. Sometimes, they like to play in the water when it's hot!
Ostriches are the largest species of bird in the world. Hunt to extinction in Arabia and Anatolia, these animals are now exclusive to Africa.
Similar to the kiwi in that they're flightless, these gigantic birds feed on seeds, leaves, and roots. When hungry, however, they're also known to eat rodents, snakes, lizards, and insects.
Did you know that they purposely swallow sand and stones to grind up their food?
Tip: It's not uncommon for the ostriches to come right up to your safari vehicle! Don't forget to check the ground—you might be able to see some eggs.
The Pink-backed pelican lives up to its name in that it has a pinkish hue on its back. Found in shallow lakes, slow-moving rivers, and swamps, these birds have large bills that can reach up to 15 inches in length!
When eggs are laid, both parents will take turns sitting on them until they hatch. For the first week, they will feed it up to 30 times a day!
These types of giraffes are commonly seen in zoos. In the wild, they can be found in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Somalia.
Due to poaching and habitat destruction, their numbers have dropped by 30 percent over the past few years. As it is, these creatures are slowly inching toward extinction.
To prevent that, many conservation organizations have formed. Scientists have also begun to attach tiny trackers to their "horns" in attempts to study their preferred habitats and home ranges.
Tip: The giraffes at Animal Kingdom tend to be in open areas near the trees. From time to time, however, they might walk on the same path as your car!
Warthogs are known for their shovel-shaped heads and long tusks. Native to Africa, they prefer living in the savanna woodlands and grasslands.
However, they can also be found on Mount Kilimanjaro—more than 3,000 meters above the ground!
Despite their fierce look, these animals tend to avoid fights by backing into a burrow or running away. When cornered, often by predators, however, they will attack with their lower tusks.
Tip: The warthogs can often be seen grazing in the grassy areas of the savannah.
Disney's Animal Kingdom Park is home to many animals—we didn't even list them all!
Don't be discouraged if you don't see all of the animals that you want to see in one "trip". Remember, different species come out during different times of the day.
Want a chance to see all of the animals? If so, your best bet is to go on multiple safaris—don't forget to go for the nighttime ones as well!
Which animals were you able to see at Kilimanjaro Safaris? Which was your favorite? Let us know in the comments below!
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Senan, with a PhD from University College Dublin and a career background in sales and marketing, took over the helm of The Care Trust in 2000. Senan is results focussed individual with a passion for effective communication / teamwork, strategic planning and joint goal-setting.
With his team, Senan has taken The Care Trust through continuous change programmes, which have ensured sustainability in meeting funding targets for its beneficiaries – the CRC, Rehab and the Mater University Hospital.
Building on the successful implementation of integrated management information and control systems, Senan is now focussing, with his team, on the exploration and exploitation of appropriate digital marketing techniques, in conjunction with Wolfgang Digital. This will ensure future growth and viability of The Care Trust, in the highly competitive charity fundraising sector.
Senan works with the Board of The Care Trust to ensure the development, implementation and maintenance of appropriate corporate governance and compliance standards. The Board comprises representatives of the Central Remedial Clinic and the Rehab Group.