text:
Activation of cytochrome P450 gene expression in the rat brain by phenobarbital-like inducers
B. Schilter, M. R. Andersen, C. Acharya, Curtis John Omiecinski
Cancer Institute, Mechanisms of Carcinogenesis
Oxidative biotransformation, coupled with genetic variability in enzyme expression, has been the focus of hypotheses interrelating environmental and genetic factors in the etiology of central nervous system disease processes. Chemical modulation of cerebral cytochrome P450 (P450) monooxygenase expression character may be an important determinant of in situ metabolism, neuroendocrine homeostasis, and/or central nervous system toxicity resulting from exposure to neuroactive drugs and xenobiotic substances. To examine the capacity of the rat brain to undergo phenobarbital (PB)-mediated induction, we developed reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction methods and evaluated the effects of several PB-like inducers on P450 and microsomal epoxide hydrolase gene expression. Animals treated i.p. with four daily doses of PB demonstrated markedly induced levels of CYP2B1, CYP2B2, and CYP3A1 mRNA in the striatum and cerebellum. In contrast, 1 or 2 days of PB treatment resulted in unchanged or even slightly decreased levels of CYP2B1 and CYP2B2 in the brain, although the latter treatments produced marked induction of the corresponding genes in the liver. Only slight increases in epoxide hydrolase RNA levels resulted in brains of PB-treated animals. Substantial activation of cerebral CYP2B1, CYP2B2, and CYP3A1 mRNA levels also resulted when animals were treated with the neuroactive drugs diphenylhydantoin and amitryptiline, and with the potential PB-like xenobiotic inducers trans-stilbene oxide and diallyl sulfide, whereas dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane was less efficacious. Although the time course of the induction response is delayed in brain relative to that required for the liver, these results clearly establish that brain P450s are markedly PB inducible.
Cytochrome P-450 CYP2B1
Epoxide Hydrolases
Biotransformation
Schilter, B., Andersen, M. R., Acharya, C., & Omiecinski, C. J. (2000). Activation of cytochrome P450 gene expression in the rat brain by phenobarbital-like inducers. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, 294(3), 916-922.
Schilter, B. ; Andersen, M. R. ; Acharya, C. ; Omiecinski, Curtis John. / Activation of cytochrome P450 gene expression in the rat brain by phenobarbital-like inducers. In: Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. 2000 ; Vol. 294, No. 3. pp. 916-922.
@article{9c2b95b0b1004ddfa76069e05d1ec301,
title = "Activation of cytochrome P450 gene expression in the rat brain by phenobarbital-like inducers",
abstract = "Oxidative biotransformation, coupled with genetic variability in enzyme expression, has been the focus of hypotheses interrelating environmental and genetic factors in the etiology of central nervous system disease processes. Chemical modulation of cerebral cytochrome P450 (P450) monooxygenase expression character may be an important determinant of in situ metabolism, neuroendocrine homeostasis, and/or central nervous system toxicity resulting from exposure to neuroactive drugs and xenobiotic substances. To examine the capacity of the rat brain to undergo phenobarbital (PB)-mediated induction, we developed reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction methods and evaluated the effects of several PB-like inducers on P450 and microsomal epoxide hydrolase gene expression. Animals treated i.p. with four daily doses of PB demonstrated markedly induced levels of CYP2B1, CYP2B2, and CYP3A1 mRNA in the striatum and cerebellum. In contrast, 1 or 2 days of PB treatment resulted in unchanged or even slightly decreased levels of CYP2B1 and CYP2B2 in the brain, although the latter treatments produced marked induction of the corresponding genes in the liver. Only slight increases in epoxide hydrolase RNA levels resulted in brains of PB-treated animals. Substantial activation of cerebral CYP2B1, CYP2B2, and CYP3A1 mRNA levels also resulted when animals were treated with the neuroactive drugs diphenylhydantoin and amitryptiline, and with the potential PB-like xenobiotic inducers trans-stilbene oxide and diallyl sulfide, whereas dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane was less efficacious. Although the time course of the induction response is delayed in brain relative to that required for the liver, these results clearly establish that brain P450s are markedly PB inducible.",
author = "B. Schilter and Andersen, {M. R.} and C. Acharya and Omiecinski, {Curtis John}",
journal = "Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics",
publisher = "American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics",
Schilter, B, Andersen, MR, Acharya, C & Omiecinski, CJ 2000, 'Activation of cytochrome P450 gene expression in the rat brain by phenobarbital-like inducers', Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, vol. 294, no. 3, pp. 916-922.
Activation of cytochrome P450 gene expression in the rat brain by phenobarbital-like inducers. / Schilter, B.; Andersen, M. R.; Acharya, C.; Omiecinski, Curtis John.
In: Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Vol. 294, No. 3, 13.09.2000, p. 916-922.
T1 - Activation of cytochrome P450 gene expression in the rat brain by phenobarbital-like inducers
AU - Schilter, B.
AU - Andersen, M. R.
AU - Acharya, C.
AU - Omiecinski, Curtis John
N2 - Oxidative biotransformation, coupled with genetic variability in enzyme expression, has been the focus of hypotheses interrelating environmental and genetic factors in the etiology of central nervous system disease processes. Chemical modulation of cerebral cytochrome P450 (P450) monooxygenase expression character may be an important determinant of in situ metabolism, neuroendocrine homeostasis, and/or central nervous system toxicity resulting from exposure to neuroactive drugs and xenobiotic substances. To examine the capacity of the rat brain to undergo phenobarbital (PB)-mediated induction, we developed reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction methods and evaluated the effects of several PB-like inducers on P450 and microsomal epoxide hydrolase gene expression. Animals treated i.p. with four daily doses of PB demonstrated markedly induced levels of CYP2B1, CYP2B2, and CYP3A1 mRNA in the striatum and cerebellum. In contrast, 1 or 2 days of PB treatment resulted in unchanged or even slightly decreased levels of CYP2B1 and CYP2B2 in the brain, although the latter treatments produced marked induction of the corresponding genes in the liver. Only slight increases in epoxide hydrolase RNA levels resulted in brains of PB-treated animals. Substantial activation of cerebral CYP2B1, CYP2B2, and CYP3A1 mRNA levels also resulted when animals were treated with the neuroactive drugs diphenylhydantoin and amitryptiline, and with the potential PB-like xenobiotic inducers trans-stilbene oxide and diallyl sulfide, whereas dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane was less efficacious. Although the time course of the induction response is delayed in brain relative to that required for the liver, these results clearly establish that brain P450s are markedly PB inducible.
AB - Oxidative biotransformation, coupled with genetic variability in enzyme expression, has been the focus of hypotheses interrelating environmental and genetic factors in the etiology of central nervous system disease processes. Chemical modulation of cerebral cytochrome P450 (P450) monooxygenase expression character may be an important determinant of in situ metabolism, neuroendocrine homeostasis, and/or central nervous system toxicity resulting from exposure to neuroactive drugs and xenobiotic substances. To examine the capacity of the rat brain to undergo phenobarbital (PB)-mediated induction, we developed reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction methods and evaluated the effects of several PB-like inducers on P450 and microsomal epoxide hydrolase gene expression. Animals treated i.p. with four daily doses of PB demonstrated markedly induced levels of CYP2B1, CYP2B2, and CYP3A1 mRNA in the striatum and cerebellum. In contrast, 1 or 2 days of PB treatment resulted in unchanged or even slightly decreased levels of CYP2B1 and CYP2B2 in the brain, although the latter treatments produced marked induction of the corresponding genes in the liver. Only slight increases in epoxide hydrolase RNA levels resulted in brains of PB-treated animals. Substantial activation of cerebral CYP2B1, CYP2B2, and CYP3A1 mRNA levels also resulted when animals were treated with the neuroactive drugs diphenylhydantoin and amitryptiline, and with the potential PB-like xenobiotic inducers trans-stilbene oxide and diallyl sulfide, whereas dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane was less efficacious. Although the time course of the induction response is delayed in brain relative to that required for the liver, these results clearly establish that brain P450s are markedly PB inducible.
JO - Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
JF - Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
Schilter B, Andersen MR, Acharya C, Omiecinski CJ. Activation of cytochrome P450 gene expression in the rat brain by phenobarbital-like inducers. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. 2000 Sep 13;294(3):916-922.


text:
Microsoft updates Xbox 360 backwards compatibility
By Jose Vilches on November 28, 2007, 14:26
Continuing its support for backwards compatibility on the Xbox 360, Microsoft has announced a further 84 Xbox titles will now play on the console, bringing the complete list of original Xbox games which are playable on the Xbox 360 to 465.
New titles added to the list include Burnout 2: Point of Impact, Fight Night Round 3, The Chronicles of Narnia, Worms 3D, Blood Omen 2, and Freedom Fighters. You'll find a full list of compatible games over on Xbox.com.
The original Xbox games will now run in 720p and 1080i with anti-aliasing, with online games playable cross-platform between Xbox 360 and the original Xbox over Xbox Live. In addition, today's update increases the number of titles Microsoft will offer via the Xbox Originals program, which will enable Xbox 360 owners to download original Xbox titles from Xbox Live and play them without a disc. Each game will set you back 1200 Microsoft Points (or $15) when the service debuts on December 4.
More anti-robocall legislation is making its way to the House Energy & Commerce Committee
Microsoft scores multibillion-dollar cloud deal with AT&T
Intel CEO on 10nm delay: 'We prioritized performance at a time when predictability was really important'
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


flood stage is 13 feet (USGS).
click any image to view.
It is notable that four out of these five have occurred in the last few years. Many experts attribute this to overdevelopment or unplanned development in the area creating a high ratio of impermeable surfaces resulting in high runoff.
When we have a weather event in the area, check out the online resources below to help you make decisions about traveling or evacuation. If you have suggestions to add to these links, please let us know.
Click here to monitor levels for Blanco River at Wimberley - flood stage is 13 feet (USGS).


As part of an on-going speaker series sponsored by the Arts Administration Graduate Association, we were delighted to hear from last night's speaker Ron Cowell, former member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and current president of The Education Policy and Leadership Center (EPLC) in Harrisburg, PA. Mr. Cowell spoke about his current work with the EPLC and gave first year students advice and pointers on being successful advocates as we embark on our first Arts Advocacy Day in Washington, D.C.Mr. Cowell's current work at the EPLC centers around improving education policies in Pennsylvania for grades P-12 as well as increasing the operations of schools and enhancing educational opportunities for all ages. In March Mr. Cowell and his colleagues published a report deliberately titled "Creating Pennsylvania's Future Through the Arts and Education" so they could take a look at the ways and places that arts and education intersect in all institutions. The report, which has over 40 recommendations for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives has received a positive response creating a huge buzz in newspapers, radio, and other publications.
With Arts Advocacy Day right around the corner we were delighted to hear some wisdom from Mr. Cowell on being successful arts advocates. Mr. Cowell said one of the most important things to remember is that it's all about relationships. Good chemistry with a person leads to long relationships, which gives you a person to go to in the future! He also reminded us that we should know our issues and to not be intimidated. In most situations it is your job to advise the staff person so they can digest the information for their boss. Mr. Cowell also reminded us to not leave the office without asking for something, this makes that person accountable whether it's a speech, campus lecture, or co-sponsoring a bill. He also reminded us to always leave something behind, a book may be too long but a business card or organizational pamphlet will do the job! A final piece of advice he told us was to know everything about that lawmaker. It's an easy way to start a conversation and draw parallels to what you are there speaking about.
This post was written by Eric Colton.


On the page, the poem is even, syntactically measured, easy on the eyes. But once the words breach the blood/brain barrier, the poem jolts us awake with a banging first line—"This place is weird, sexless and white"—its effect disguised in plain view.
Fair warning, then: the poems in this collection are, at glance, straightforward and formally contained. Read the lines, and fall in love with linguistic style and aesthetic, with music. Read again (you'll read them again, trust me) and encounter the pathos and authentic truths about the human heart, memory, and its fracture.
The place G'Sell's speaker speaks from, the place she came from, may be sexless and white, but heed the first poem's instructions and prepare to be led down a complex weave of closets and car crashes, of postcards from wintry dreams. These poems cast a spell, feverish and lyric, punctuated by moments of clarity: glass-sharp, hard-hitting, grounding us for just a moment, a breath, an ache.
However, in spite of this deep wish to "sleep in perfect snow," G'Sell's collection comes from a place of resolve. Her poems are concerned with the dichotomy between form and content, and they carry both with class. These poems ask questions: What is honesty? What is truth? What is beauty? What is style?
As a reader, I found myself oscillating between elation over these poems and ache over the authentic emotion that populates them.
that cannot teach us anything?
Then, in a single sentence—"The secret is not hiding / from the music at a party"—the poem reveals G'Sell's approach: dive in, unarmored. Grit teeth and bare.
The initial sequence of poems, infused with confusions and innocence, gives way to narrative complexity as we peel back layers of impeccable craft. In a way, this collection asks that we reverse engineer a sweet cocktail of intoxicants: linguistic beauty, mischief, and seductive arrangement. Because once the swoon settles, the emotional honesty sends us again into tailspin.
These poems say: It's time to face the pain. But beauty tempers hard truths.
G'Sell acknowledges that words won't solve everything. Her speaker asks, again, "Where will you lead the patient reader when / all of your words are gone?" as though she isn't sure herself. This admission says much about the poet's process; the aesthetic inclination is potent but so is the unabashed honesty. It is as if G'Sell can't help but be vulnerable, can't help but include truth and raw feeling.
But later she expresses concern about forgetting. What will the speaker do, and where will we go, when the words run out? And thus begins our journey into Life After Rugby.
Such a graceful, elegant, relatable gut punch, this admission of need. These lines also echo back to G'Sell's desire to fall asleep in the snow, "infinitely held." In both instances, there is an element of self the speaker is willing to destroy for respite. She'll shoot herself in the foot for warmth. She'll freeze to death for embrace.
I get the sense here that G'Sell's speaker can't completely trust her version of events. This is the way traumatic memory unveils itself—all at once static and buzz, trickle and monster truck. This poem echoes an earlier sentiment: "I refuse to make this beautiful." Still, G'Sell seeks "the swiftest shorthand"; she tells us form (the bicycle) is necessary to contain difficult (brakeless) emotion.
Sometimes trauma and heartbreak are best left as fragment, as a windshield cracked.
I read one poem, "The Hit," to my partner, aloud. My intention was to share the musicality in G'Sell's poetry. But the poem coalesced into a snapshot, a water-damaged postcard: a portrait of a car accident—a blonde on the side of the road next to an upturned vehicle—smoking with a tragic urgency, and, again, a shock of clarity, and of place/image, and of feeling.
Is this G'Sell's take on an emotional break she alludes to throughout the book, a culmination of repeating images: bright light, a hemline, silt-filled closets, red ribbon unfurling wrists and long forearms? Is this an ekphrastic reportage?
Does knowing every detail matter more than feeling each bump and scrape along the way?
"The Hit" is a still life, smoking. It is a rendering of a mind overturned with heartache, violence (internal and external), and the death-urge. Still, G'Sell's voice remains cool and poised, effectively keeping a distance from the reader. The effect is spectacle, much like a car crash on a lonely highway.
how a windshield felt. A solitary cinema.
on the grass. Her shoes, her headscarf. Her earrings stayed on. I have no interest in lying here, she told the car.
It sounds so good. It hurts so good, too.
I could eat this poem.
though I treat them best.
Left shoe: craft. Right shoe: story.
Of course she has. Levity and illumination work in cohesion throughout, the bright and sharp, a softened blow. The importance of both are never lost on the poet.
Yes, these are heartbroken poems. But they are not tired, lovelorn tropes. G'Sell crafts her telling accessibly without sacrificing her luscious and playful styling.
And she doesn't ignore the truth of the matter: her heart was innocent, and it, along with the "gift" of her hands, was "ravaged," her innocence turned silt and chrome.
But she laughs at the hurt, contains it in form.
G'Sell sets us on a glittering journey where page by page a path is laid for the reader to arabesque and gumshoe—through artistry, past viscera, in search of meaning, inebriated on melancholy and delight.
horse will fall, your quest will fail to carry.
than you ever remembered—holier, too.
An ending, though unhappy, is still a kind of survival.
Shiver not, ye scrappy child.
could ever call reasonably possible.
There are no shortcuts. The pages turn and you forget.
So much for forgetfulness as being the "swiftest shorthand" ("Take Her Down"). Perhaps this is what we are meant to learn: there truly are no shortcuts when maneuvering trauma memory.
They say routine is important when nursing a broken heart. They say humor and pathos come from the same place. They say form and rigor is necessary to contain emotion; seek order when processing a broken heart.
I've reached for the retelling, relied on the reframe; I have turned to story in order to stave the bleeding heart.
I ask myself this question almost nightly: Does the opportunity to heal, to remedy a splinter lodged in our past, eventually expire? Can healing be achieved without absolute comprehension? Must story be seamless; must recollection be spot on? Can image stand for situation, effectively and honestly?
And how does one capture a memory so painful that it causes one to lose their words, altogether? How does one not just maneuver, but manipulate so beautifully the very thing, lost?
In Life After Rugby craft is not lost to truth, rawness, and confusion. In turn, truth is not dulled by brilliant craft. We begin the book unprepared; we end breathless, full of silt and snow and hard, bright light.
Still, the heart is broken.
to my wreckage or, please, let me go.
We are all parts. We are our shatter.
Besides, isn't it true that we are corporeal, spiritual mosaics made of every heart we break, and are broken by—every linoleum hallway, every bracelet lost, every bare foot and dream?
I laud G'Sell's poetic body, how her form corrals wound, which in turn highlights the heartache that bursts, seeps through straight lines and meter. She doesn't hold back, but her pain is not the sole workhorse that drives this collection, nor is it the only source of meat. There is much to sink one's teeth into here.
Wielding sharp taste and strong bones, G'Sell is a master of choreography, language, narrative, with an erudite dedication to both her craft and her heart. She sacrifices neither, nor does she traipse into the land of self-aggrandizement.
Life After Rugby is a deceptively accessible collection full of hidden delights. I recommend multiple readings, as you'll discover more to adore with each one. The collection is not overwrought or laden with woes. It is funny, sassy, and intelligent, and, G'Sell assumes the same of its reader. It is lush and dripping with linguistic moments and melody that I cannot help but read aloud over and over.
Did I already say it? I could eat this book.


text:
NWO (New World Order) / Globalization
NY Times attempt to disarm America?
alcohol firearms police tobacco usa
February 26th, 2009 in Breaking News, Disarming Civilians
FREE PRESS INTERNATIONAL
Home About FPI Global Emergency Targeted Populations
U.S. Is Arms Bazaar for Mexican Cartels - NYTimes.com.
PHOENIX — The Mexican agents who moved in on a safe house full of drug dealers last May were not prepared for the fire power that greeted them.
When the shooting was over, eight agents were dead. Among the guns the police recovered was an assault rifle traced back across the border to a dingy gun store here called X-Caliber Guns.
Now, the owner, George Iknadosian, will go on trial on charges he sold hundreds of weapons, mostly AK-47 rifles, to smugglers, knowing they would send them to a drug cartel in the western state of Sinaloa. The guns helped fuel the gang warfare in which more than 6,000 Mexicans died last year.
Mexican authorities have long complained that American gun dealers are arming the cartels. This case is the most prominent prosecution of an American gun dealer since the United States promised Mexico two years ago it would clamp down on the smuggling of weapons across the border. It also offers a rare glimpse of how weapons delivered to American gun dealers are being moved into Mexico and wielded in horrific crimes.
"We had a direct pipeline from Iknadosian to the Sinaloa cartel," said Thomas G. Mangan, a spokesman for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Phoenix.
Drug gangs seek out guns in the United States because the gun-control laws are far tougher in Mexico. Mexican civilians must get approval from the military to buy guns and they cannot own large-caliber rifles or high-powered pistols, which are considered military weapons.
The ease with which Mr. Iknadosian and two other men transported weapons to Mexico over a two-year period illustrates just how difficult it is to stop the illicit trade, law enforcement officials here say.
The gun laws in the United States allow the sale of multiple military-style rifles to American citizens without reporting the sales to the government, and the Mexicans search relatively few cars and trucks going south across their border.


theclockonline students can sell Gerontological Nursing (ISBN# 0132956314) written by Patricia A Tabloski, Patricia A. Tabloski and receive a $5.37 check, along with a free pre-paid shipping label. Once you have sent in Gerontological Nursing (ISBN# 0132956314), your Plymouth State University textbook will be processed and your $5.37 check will be sent out to you within a matter days. You can also sell other theclockonline textbooks, published by Pearson and written by Patricia A Tabloski, Patricia A. Tabloski and receive checks.


Max, the Argentine Mastiff, had already made headlines when he appeared on a local Denver news show Wednesday morning. The dog had been rescued after falling into an icy lake, and anchorwoman Kyle Dyer was reuniting Max with the firefighter who helped save his life.
But things didn't go as planned and now Max is in the news for a different reason. As Dyer leaned in to kiss Max's face, the dog bit her on the mouth, live on television. Dyer landed in the hospital and is recovering from reconstructive surgery on her lip. Max went straight into quarantine at the county animal control facility.
If you watch the video, you can see that Max was not out to get Dyer. But he did choose to communicate to her in no uncertain terms: "I don't know you and you're way too close to my face right now." He actually expressed the same sentiment in the moments prior. It's just that his body language was more subtle and the cues — stress panting, a couple of tongue flicks, a freeze and a lip curl — were not read correctly.
Almost any dog can be provoked or feel cornered to the point of biting. And frankly, so can almost any human. If I felt a stranger in unfamiliar surroundings hovering over me, I'd probably lash out too. So, maybe the lesson is this: We can't expect dogs to know what we're thinking, nor vice versa, but we can meet them half way by tuning in to their body language and responding accordingly.
Dyer acted the way many of us would have around a new dog. I meet new dogs on a weekly basis at the shelter, and even though I know better, I've done the same thing. Too much affection too soon. Dyer's experience now serves as a painful reminder to slow down, be observant.
From what I've read, Kyle Dyer is a true dog lover and cares deeply about animals. I wish her a speedy recovery. I wish Max and his family a happy reunion.
Warning: This video shows the bite as it occurs. I've included it only to illustrate the examples of body language pointed out above.
Editor's Note: Max will be going home tomorrow after completing a standard 10-day quarantine after a dog bites someone. Dyer was released from the hospital yesterday after undergoing extensive medical treatment. Earlier in the week, a certified applied animal behaviorist visited the news station to educate the staff on the safest way to interact with dogs and other animals that come into the station.
So it's for sure that Max will be going home to his family? I've been especially worried about this because anything else would just be wrong. Yes, he bit someone. But under the circumstances, it shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. He was stressed. He had a stranger in his face. Any dog would react the way he did. I just want him to get home safely and feel secure and happy again.
That's exactly what I blogged about and told people. The dog GAVE the signs to stay out of my face. The newswoman totally missed the signs, maybe due to not being well educated on dogs and their signs. It's sad for the woman she got nipped but I'm glad that the dog is now home. It totally wasn't his fault. People need to be more aware of the "signs" dogs are giving them. If it's a strange dog, under NO CIRCUMSTANCES put your face down in front of his or hers.
@Four-Legged Mom Agreed, perhaps many people will learn from her experience.
I'm *so glad* to hear that a) Max will be going home, and b) they brought a behaviorist into the station to educate the staff!


text:
package com.badlogic.gdx.ai.tests.steer.bullet;

import com.badlogic.gdx.Application.ApplicationType;
import com.badlogic.gdx.Gdx;
import com.badlogic.gdx.InputMultiplexer;
import com.badlogic.gdx.ai.steer.Limiter;
import com.badlogic.gdx.ai.tests.SteeringBehaviorsTest;
import com.badlogic.gdx.ai.tests.steer.SteeringTestBase;
import com.badlogic.gdx.ai.tests.utils.bullet.BulletConstructor;
import com.badlogic.gdx.ai.tests.utils.bullet.BulletWorld;
import com.badlogic.gdx.graphics.Color;
import com.badlogic.gdx.graphics.GL20;
import com.badlogic.gdx.graphics.PerspectiveCamera;
import com.badlogic.gdx.graphics.Texture;
import com.badlogic.gdx.graphics.VertexAttributes.Usage;
import com.badlogic.gdx.graphics.g3d.Environment;
import com.badlogic.gdx.graphics.g3d.Material;
import com.badlogic.gdx.graphics.g3d.Model;
import com.badlogic.gdx.graphics.g3d.ModelBatch;
import com.badlogic.gdx.graphics.g3d.attributes.ColorAttribute;
import com.badlogic.gdx.graphics.g3d.attributes.FloatAttribute;
import com.badlogic.gdx.graphics.g3d.attributes.TextureAttribute;
import com.badlogic.gdx.graphics.g3d.environment.DirectionalLight;
import com.badlogic.gdx.graphics.g3d.environment.DirectionalShadowLight;
import com.badlogic.gdx.graphics.g3d.loader.ObjLoader;
import com.badlogic.gdx.graphics.g3d.utils.CameraInputController;
import com.badlogic.gdx.graphics.g3d.utils.DepthShaderProvider;
import com.badlogic.gdx.graphics.g3d.utils.ModelBuilder;
import com.badlogic.gdx.math.Vector3;
import com.badlogic.gdx.physics.bullet.Bullet;
import com.badlogic.gdx.physics.bullet.collision.btCapsuleShape;
import com.badlogic.gdx.physics.bullet.linearmath.LinearMath;
import com.badlogic.gdx.physics.bullet.linearmath.btIDebugDraw.DebugDrawModes;
import com.badlogic.gdx.scenes.scene2d.ui.Table;
import com.badlogic.gdx.utils.Array;
import com.badlogic.gdx.utils.Disposable;
import com.badlogic.gdx.utils.viewport.ScreenViewport;
import com.badlogic.gdx.utils.viewport.Viewport;

/** Base class for bullet steering behavior tests.
 *
 * @author Daniel Holderbaum */
@SuppressWarnings("deprecation")
public abstract class BulletSteeringTest extends SteeringTestBase {

	public PerspectiveCamera camera;
	protected Viewport viewport;
	protected CameraInputController cameraController;

	// Set this to the path of the lib to use it on desktop instead of default lib.
	private final static String customDesktopLib = null; // "C:\\Xoppa\\code\\libgdx\\extensions\\gdx-bullet\\jni\\vs\\gdxBullet\\Debug\\gdxBullet.dll";

	private static boolean initialized = false;

	public static boolean shadows = false;

	public static void init () {
		if (initialized) return;
		// Need to initialize bullet before using it.
		if (Gdx.app.getType() == ApplicationType.Desktop && customDesktopLib != null) {
			System.load(customDesktopLib);
		} else
			Bullet.init();
		Gdx.app.log("Bullet", "Version = " + LinearMath.btGetVersion());
		initialized = true;
	}

	public Environment environment;
	public DirectionalLight light;
	public ModelBatch shadowBatch;

	public BulletWorld world;
	public ObjLoader objLoader = new ObjLoader();
	public ModelBuilder modelBuilder = new ModelBuilder();
	public ModelBatch modelBatch;
	public Array<Disposable> disposables = new Array<Disposable>();
	private int debugMode = DebugDrawModes.DBG_NoDebug; // DebugDrawModes.DBG_MAX_DEBUG_DRAW_MODE;

	protected final static Vector3 tmpV1 = new Vector3(), tmpV2 = new Vector3();

	public BulletSteeringTest (SteeringBehaviorsTest container, String name) {
		super(container, "Bullet", name);
	}

	public BulletWorld createWorld () {
		return new BulletWorld(new Vector3(0, -9.81f, 0));
	}

	protected void setNewTargetInputProcessor (SteeringBulletEntity target, Vector3 offset) {
		BulletTargetInputProcessor bulletTargetInputProcessor = new BulletTargetInputProcessor(target, offset, viewport,
			world.collisionWorld);
		setInputProcessor(new InputMultiplexer(bulletTargetInputProcessor, cameraController));

		container.helpMessage = "Keep SPACE pressed to move the target";
	}

	@Override
	public void create (Table table) {
		init();
		environment = new Environment();
		environment.set(new ColorAttribute(ColorAttribute.AmbientLight, 0.3f, 0.3f, 0.3f, 1.f));
		light = shadows ? new DirectionalShadowLight(1024, 1024, 20f, 20f, 1f, 300f) : new DirectionalLight();
		light.set(0.8f, 0.8f, 0.8f, -0.5f, -1f, 0.7f);
		environment.add(light);
		if (shadows) environment.shadowMap = (DirectionalShadowLight)light;
		shadowBatch = new ModelBatch(new DepthShaderProvider());

		modelBatch = new ModelBatch();

		world = createWorld();

		final float width = Gdx.graphics.getWidth();
		final float height = Gdx.graphics.getHeight();
		if (width > height)
			camera = new PerspectiveCamera(67f, 3f * width / height, 3f);
		else
			camera = new PerspectiveCamera(67f, 3f, 3f * height / width);
		camera.position.set(25f, 20f, 25f);
		camera.lookAt(0, 0, 0);
		camera.update();

		viewport = new ScreenViewport(camera);

		cameraController = new CameraInputController(camera);
		inputProcessor = cameraController;

		// Create some simple models
		float size = 200f;
		final Model groundModel = modelBuilder.createRect(
			size,
			0f,
			-size,
			-size,
			0f,
			-size,
			-size,
			0f,
			size,
			size,
			0f,
			size,
			0,
			1,
			0,
			new Material(ColorAttribute.createDiffuse(Color.WHITE), ColorAttribute.createSpecular(Color.WHITE), FloatAttribute
				.createShininess(16f)), Usage.Position | Usage.Normal);
		disposables.add(groundModel);
		final Model boxModel = modelBuilder.createBox(1f, 5f, 1f, new Material(ColorAttribute.createDiffuse(Color.WHITE),
			ColorAttribute.createSpecular(Color.WHITE), FloatAttribute.createShininess(64f)), Usage.Position | Usage.Normal);
		disposables.add(boxModel);

		final Model wallModel = modelBuilder.createBox(20f, 6f, 1f, new Material(ColorAttribute.createDiffuse(Color.WHITE),
			ColorAttribute.createSpecular(Color.WHITE), FloatAttribute.createShininess(64f)), Usage.Position | Usage.Normal);
		disposables.add(wallModel);

		// Create a visual representation of the character.
		// Note that we don't use the physics part of BulletEntity, we'll do that manually
		final Texture texture = new Texture(Gdx.files.internal("data/badlogic.jpg"));
		disposables.add(texture);
		final Material material = new Material(TextureAttribute.createDiffuse(texture), ColorAttribute.createSpecular(1, 1, 1, 1),
			FloatAttribute.createShininess(8f));
		final long attributes = Usage.Position | Usage.Normal | Usage.TextureCoordinates;
		final Model capsule = modelBuilder.createCapsule(0.49f, 2.9f, 16, material, attributes);
		disposables.add(capsule);

		// Add the constructors
		world.addConstructor("capsule", new BulletConstructor(capsule, 0.5f, new btCapsuleShape(0.5f, 2f)));
		world.addConstructor("ground", new BulletConstructor(groundModel, 0f)); // mass = 0: static body
		world.addConstructor("box", new BulletConstructor(boxModel, 1f)); // mass = 1kg: dynamic body
		world.addConstructor("staticbox", new BulletConstructor(boxModel, 0f)); // mass = 0: static body
		world.addConstructor("staticwall", new BulletConstructor(wallModel, 0f)); // mass = 0: static body
	}

	@Override
	public void render () {
		render(true);
	}

	public void render (boolean update) {
		if (update) update();

		viewport.update(Gdx.graphics.getWidth(), Gdx.graphics.getHeight());

		beginRender(true);
		renderWorld();

		if (debugMode != DebugDrawModes.DBG_NoDebug) world.setDebugMode(debugMode);
	}

	protected void beginRender (boolean lighting) {
		Gdx.gl.glViewport(0, 0, Gdx.graphics.getWidth(), Gdx.graphics.getHeight());
		Gdx.gl.glClearColor(0, 0, 0, 0);
		Gdx.gl.glClear(GL20.GL_COLOR_BUFFER_BIT | GL20.GL_DEPTH_BUFFER_BIT);
		camera.update();
	}

	protected void renderWorld () {
		if (shadows) {
			((DirectionalShadowLight)light).begin(Vector3.Zero, camera.direction);
			shadowBatch.begin(((DirectionalShadowLight)light).getCamera());
			world.render(shadowBatch, null);
			shadowBatch.end();
			((DirectionalShadowLight)light).end();
		}

		modelBatch.begin(camera);
		world.render(modelBatch, environment);
		modelBatch.end();
	}

	public void update () {
		world.update();
		cameraController.update();
	}

	@Override
	public void dispose () {
		world.dispose();
		world = null;

		for (Disposable disposable : disposables)
			disposable.dispose();
		disposables.clear();

		modelBatch.dispose();
		modelBatch = null;

		shadowBatch.dispose();
		shadowBatch = null;

		if (shadows) ((DirectionalShadowLight)light).dispose();
		light = null;
	}

	protected void addMaxLinearSpeedController (Table table, final Limiter limiter) {
		addMaxLinearSpeedController(table, limiter, 0, 50, 0.1f);
	}

	protected void addMaxLinearAccelerationController (Table table, final Limiter limiter) {
		addMaxLinearAccelerationController(table, limiter, 0, 50, 0.1f);
	}

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
JESS THOMAS, TENOR, FAMOUS
The New York TimesSUN-SENTINEL
Opera singer Jess Thomas, one of the greatest Wagnerian tenors of the past half-century, died late Monday night at his Tiburon, Calif., home after suffering a heart attack. He was 66.
Mr. Thomas, who made his debut with the San Francisco Opera in 1957 and went on to earn acclaim at all the major international opera houses and festivals, was admired for the power and beauty of his voice, as well for his musical intelligence and dramatic skill.
Mr. Thomas sang many leading tenor roles in operas by Verdi, Strauss and Puccini and Beethoven. But it was the heroic Wagnerian roles - Tristan, Parsifal, Lohengrin, Siegfried, Tannhauser, Siegmund in Die Walkuere and Walther in Die Meistersinger - for which he was famous.
"He loved to sing Aida and Fidelio," his wife, Violetta, said on Tuesday. "But they paid him to sing the heavy Wagner roles. There was really nobody else around to sing those heavy ones."
Mr. Thomas was born in 1927 in Hot Springs, S.D. He studied child psychology at Stanford University. Impressed by Thomas' voice, Stanford vocal instructor Otto Schulmann encouraged him to pursue a singing career.
After making his debut with the San Francisco Opera in 1957, he spent several years in Europe, singing Parsifal at Bayreuth in 1961. He made his New York Metropolitan Opera debut in 1962 as Walther in Die Meistersinger.
At first he sang lyric roles as well as the heavier Wagnerian repertory, but he increasingly made Wagner his specialty through the 1960s and 1970s. Although some critics felt he strained his voice with the Heldentenor roles, his interpretations nevertheless drew high praise.
Harold C. Schonberg, writing in The New York Times in 1974, singled out his "clear, intelligent, smooth singing; sympathetic acting; stylish musicianship."
Among Mr. Thomas's major achievements was a stirring Tristan, a role he performed in the late 1960s and early 1970s. What he lacked in sheer power he made up for with poetic intensity.
"One must forfeit ego to communicate ideas," he said in an interview in 1971. "Studying Wagner roles is like peeling an onion. Beneath the first layer is another and another until you reach the center, then - infinity."
Thomas also sang Siegfried, Lohengrin, Samson, Florestan in Fidelio and Lensky in Eugene Onegin, among other roles. His recorded legacy includes Lohengrin, conducted by Rudolf Kempe; Siegfried, conducted by Herbert von Karajan and a famous 1962 Bayreuth Parsifal under Hans Knappertsbusch.


PROVIDENCE, RI.- From an early age, Indian born, Los Angeles-based fine art photographer Rohina Hoffman understood that hair had power. At the age of seven, Hoffman's two ponytails were unceremoniously cut off leaving her with a boy's haircut for a good part of her childhood. The trauma of losing control of her identity at such a young age has stayed with Hoffman her entire life and provided the early inspiration for her photography series Hair Stories.
A solo exhibition of the work is on view at the Warren Alpert Medical Center of Brown University (222 Richmond St, Providence, RI 02903) from Saturday, February 2 until Friday, May 31, 2019. A closing reception and book signing with Rohina Hoffman will take place Friday, May 24. The accompanying book will be published world wide by Damiani on March 26, 2019.
Hair Stories, is a series of excerpted interviews and color portraits of a diverse array of women ages 14-100, that explores the complex relationship women have with their hair. Created in their home environments, Hoffman adopted the interviewing skills she developed during her training as a neurologist to establish an intimate rapport with her subjects. This allowed for a truthful dialogue about their personal stories and histories and their unique connection to their hair.
In her essay in the book, Hoffman writes: "What I discovered is that hair is a language, a shield, and a trophy. Hair is a construct reflecting our identity, history, femininity, personality, our innermost feelings of self-doubt, aging, vanity, and self-esteem. Hair also has deep sociological roots. It can be indicative of a certain religious or political belief system and like its genetic code, is complicated and touches our very core."
Hair Stories includes an introduction by Emily Lambert-Clements, Art Advisor & Former Associate Director at Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, and an essay by Esther R. Berry, Gender and cultural studies scholar and curator, Ryerson University, Toronto.
Lambert-Clements writes how Hoffman's photographs " ... reveal something about the subject beyond their hair: their pain, loss, spirit. There is explicit happiness and sadness in the photographs ... women discuss using their hair as a protective mechanism against society, or against their fears. A woman reflects on losing her hair, and the liberation she finds as a result. For some women, spending effort on their hair is an extension of self-care; for others, leaving their hair in its natural state is a symbol of freedom. ... Hair can also expose a person and humble them. Hair becomes a symbol of our spirit."
Though Hair Stories was conceived and shot before the #MeToo movement, this salient project presents hair as a metaphor for identity, femininity and the manner in which women struggle for control over their own bodies in a misogynistic world. Hair Stories shows that hair is more than just style or aesthetics; it is a physical manifestation of the ongoing hope and history of women.
Hair Stories, the book, comes with an insert featuring thumbnails of each portrait in the book accompanied by a QR code that can be scanned with a camera phone. This allows the reader to listen to excerpts of the audio interviews of the women sharing their stories.
Rohina Hoffman is a fine art portrait photographer working in southern California. Born in India and raised in New Jersey, Hoffman grew up in a family of doctors spanning three generations. While an undergraduate at Brown University, Hoffman also studied photography at Rhode Island School of Design and was a staff photographer for the Brown Daily Herald. A graduate of Brown University Medical School and resident at UCLA Medical Center, her training led to a career as a neurologist. Taught to be a skilled observer of her patients, Hoffman was instilled with a deep and unique appreciation of the human experience. Her ability to forge the sacred trust between doctor and patient has been instrumental in fostering a parallel connection between photographer and subject. Hoffman now works full time as a photographer.
Hoffman has exhibited in juried group shows both nationally and internationally, including at the Los Angeles Center of Photography in Los Angeles, CA, ph21 Gallery in Budapest, Hungary, Southeast Center for Photography in Greenville, SC, dnj Gallery in Santa Monica, CA, Center for Fine Art Photography in Fort Collins, CO, and Providence Center for Photographic Arts in Providence RI, among other venues. Most recently, she recently received a Silver Medal Award at the San Francisco Bay International Photo Show, 2018, and Honorable Mention with the 12th Julia Margaret Cameron Award in the Portrait Category for her series Hair Stories, 2018.


In the Student Technology Leadership Program (STLP), JCPS students work to solve problems in their schools and communities—and then share their work at local, regional, and national events. Many schools throughout JCPS participate in STLP. Ask staff members at your child's school for more information, or get general information about STLP in Kentucky schools.
Robotic programs allow students to learn basic programming through the use of LEGO WeDo, RCX, EV3, and VEX robots. Robotics enhances the 21st Century Skills and helps students meet International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Standards by promoting teamwork, problem solving, and project-based learning along with the integration of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) applications.
Computer Education Support sponsors RoboRumble, a regional STLP Robotics Competition, every spring.
For more information or to start a robotics program in your school, contact the JCPS Robotics team.
Twenty-four JCPS schools will participate in the NASA School District Grant from the Robotics Education & Competition (REC) Foundation. This grant provides equipment and training each year for four years to 30 local schools to begin or enhance robotics programs. The grant is connected with the VEX Robotics Competition, the world's largest educational robotics competition. VEX will hold five international competitions in Louisville, and JCPS participants will be able to attend and possibly compete in the annual contest, which is held in April. Learn more about the VEX Robotics Competition.
Talk with your school staff members to get involved in these activities or to start your own STEM club.
For those with a real passion for engineering and technology, JCPS offers magnet schools and programs for students of all ages.


text:
Georgia Removes Criminal History Question from State Job Applications
February 27, 2015 GLORIA TATUM	2 comments
(APN) ATLANTA — Gov. Nathan Deal on Monday, February 23, 2015 signed the fair hiring policy, also known as "Ban the Box," which postpones questions on a job application about a person's criminal history until it is shown that the person is qualified for the job.
This prohibits an automatic disqualification for potential state employees. It allows qualified applicants to explain in a face-to-face interview their past criminal history, any inaccuracies in that history, how they have rehabilitated themselves, and their past achievements and education.
If the conviction has no bearing on the job, then it cannot be used to disqualify the applicant.
"If a person is qualified to work, they should be allowed to work. Statistics show that once we get jobs, we keep jobs and exceed expectations because we have a fear of losing a job," Marilynn Winn, co-founder and lead organizer with Women on the Rise, an organization for formerly incarcerated women, told Atlanta Progressive News.
http://atlantaprogressivenews.com/2014/06/06/activists-seek-to-expand-ban-the-box-ex-prisoner-employment-reform-in-georgia
"I took a job working eight hours a week for six dollars and 35 cents an hours. My check hardly paid for my MARTA card. I had a plan to establish a work ethic and today I sit on the Board of Directors of the place [Atlanta 9 to 5] that gave me eight hours a week. I took those eight hours [a week] and made them into forty hours a week," Winn told APN.
Georgia is the first state in the U.S. South and the fourteenth in the nation to remove the "have you ever been convicted of a crime" question on state employment applications.
Currently 3.8 million people in Georgia have a criminal record, or one in every three Georgians, according to the Georgia Justice Project.
"The State of Georgia spends more than one billion dollars annually on costs for corrections, which includes probation, parole, and incarcerating people in prisons. It's a very high proportion of our budget that we spend keeping people in the criminal justice system," Marissa McCall Dodson, attorney and Policy Director, Georgia Justice Project, told APN.
Georgia taxpayers are paying for county jails and state prisons. Taxpayers are even paying private contractors, who enter into contracts with the government, to build more for-profit prisons.
Due to Georgia's history of incarcerating large numbers of people who are not a risk to society, some people were shocked and at first thought the news about the Governor signing "Ban the Box" was a satirical story, perhaps published by the Onion website.
Now, Georgia is starting to make some criminal justice reforms to save taxpayers money and give formerly incarcerated citizens better opportunities for employment and a more productive life.
When an individual is released from prison with no family support system, no job, no money, no place to live, the pressure to commit crime to survive is great and that often lands them back in jail again.
Research shows the most effective way to prevent recidivism is to help previously incarcerated people get stable employment. Taxpayers pay more to re-incarcerate people–about twenty thousand dollars per person a year–who are unfairly excluded from jobs opportunities and from public benefits.
A strong and diverse coalition came together to Ban the Box.
"People with different self-interests came at this issue from different viewpoints, but there were a commonality of interests that created this victory," Janine Brown, with Atlantans Building Leadership for Empowerment (ABLE), told APN.
The coalition consisted of fiscally conservative Republicans who had an economic interest; Libertarians who want smaller government with less interference in people's lives; people in the criminal justice system who saw mass incarceration was not working and destroying families; and people of faith who believe people should be forgiven and given a second chance.
Women on the Rise, a grassroots organization of women impacted by the criminal justice system, was very instrumental in helping to change the ban the box policy.
On Thursday, February 26, 2015, a victory celebratory press event was held on Washington Street across from the State Capitol. Winn, the vision and energy behind Ban the Box, told those gathered she had been imprisoned six times, mainly for stealing, because she could not get or keep a job because of her criminal history. She had to lie to get a job and when they found out about her background she was fired.
When a person is destitute and all doors are closed to them, sometimes crime is the only way to survive. It is difficult for the privileged class to understand survival living.
"It was my goal to change that law in Georgia and remove the box, so people like me would not be discriminated against because of past mistakes," Winn said.
Attendees at the rally signed personal thank you cards to Gov. Deal, walked across the street to the Capitol, and delivered them to his office.
As previously reported by APN, Ban the Box has already been implemented in the City of Atlanta.
The policy has also been implemented in Metro Atlanta cities and counties, including the City of East Point; and Fulton, DeKalb, and Macon-Bibb Counties.
Also major private employers such as Home Depot, Target, and Walmart have removed the criminal history question from their initial applications, according to Georgia Justice Project.
Atlantans Building Leadership for Empowerment
City of East Point
Gov. Nathan Deal
Janine Brown
Macon-Bibb County
Marilynn Wynn
Marissa McCall Dodson
Prison Industrial Complex
Women on the Rise
Margaret Reed
March 2, 2015	4:33 am
Your readers might want to know that there is another bill making its way through the legislative process, HB 9, that would "Ban the Box" in private employment. Your readers need to contact their reps and urge a yes vote on this bill. Thanks!
Deborah J. Gilley
March 2, 2015	9:36 pm
I think it should be against the law for an employer to check your credit when you put in an application. Some people have bad credit because their not working, or have a lot of medical bills that has caused them to not be able to pay their bills. When it comes time to make a choice to eat or pay a bill, you will choose to feed your family first! Most places won't hire you if your credit history is bad! If you can't get a job you can't pay your bills. Come on America wake up and help a fellow Human being!
6 − = three


Volunteering is a fantastic way to get involved with the work of the Broads Authority and opportunities arise in all areas of work from administration to ranger duties.
Many volunteers see it as a satisfying way of giving time, skills and energy back to a place they treasure, keeping it special for others.
Volunteers are invaluable to us, whether recruited directly or via our corporate volunteering scheme. We welcome interest from anyone over 18 who wants to help look after this part of the national park family.
By getting involved you'll meet new people, learn new skills, discover hidden parts of the Broads and make a difference.
Whether you are looking to develop yourself, make yourself more attractive to potential employees or just have fun, check out our current volunteering opportunities.


text:
Avatar: The Game (Xbox 360)
Avatar: The Game
By Ubisoft
Free Standard UK Delivery on this item
Assassins Creed - Classics
Batman: Arkham Asylum - Game of the Year Edition
Borderlands: The Pre-sequel!
The most technically advanced motion picture ever made has also inspired a video game that's set to make its own waves, as the world of Pandora becomes interactive. Just like the film you must choose whether to side with the human military or the native Na'vi, as both fight for control of the planet.
Just like the film the game can be played in stereoscopic 3D, but whether you don the goggles or not the intense third person action stands on its own. The game's huge levels leave plenty of space for the two sides to face off, with the technologically advanced humans surprisingly even matched against the super strong Na'vi.
You need brawn as well as brain to win though, with unlockable abilities that can change the course of battle and a strategic overview map to keep control of. With the whole game closely overseen by James Cameron this is one of the most authentic movie tie-ins ever made.
Untold story: Explore the world of Pandora in an exclusive prequel story set before the movie, but created with the help of the film creators - including James Cameron.
Cinematic visuals: Incredible graphics replicate the look and feel of the film, from the deadly wildlife to the giant floating islands.
Evolve or die: Unlock new skills and abilities by accumulating "effort points", from air strikes and invisibility for the humans to deadly animal mounts as the Na'vi.
Risky business: Strategic overview map lets you plot the overall course of the war - although the biggest decision is which army you choose to side with.
The third way: Just like the film you can experience the whole of the Avatar game in full 3D, if you have a console with HDMI output and a 120Hz TV.
New & Sealed UK Stock
This item is on order. It will usually be dispatched within after the order has been placed.
How will my order be sent?
Our standard delivery option is FREE in the UK via Royal Mail First Class, with large or high value orders sent via Parcelforce courier service. Delivery to Europe (from an additional £2 per item) and other Worldwide countries (from an additional £4 per item) are sent via Royal Mail International who work with trusted delivery partners to deliver to the destination country.
When can I expect it to arrive?
Deliveries to destinations in the UK usually arrive within 1-2 working days after the order is dispatched with the vast majority arriving on the next working day.
Deliveries to destinations in Europe take on average 3-5 working days, but times will vary depending on the import regulations and postal service in your country. Please check with your local postal service for an estimate on how long it takes to ship items from the UK to your country.
Deliveries to destinations outside of Europe take on average 5-7 working days, but times will vary depending on the import regulations and postal service in your country. Please check with your local postal service for an estimate on how long it takes to ship items from the UK to your country.
If your order has not arrived by the expected delivery date this is usually no reason for concern - see our delivery help pages.


text:
Evaluation of the integration of the Wind-Induced Flutter Energy Harvester (WIFEH) into the built environment: Experimental and numerical analysis
Aquino, A.I., Calautit, J.K. and Hughes, B.R. (2017) Evaluation of the integration of the Wind-Induced Flutter Energy Harvester (WIFEH) into the built environment: Experimental and numerical analysis. Applied Energy. ISSN 0306-2619
© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. With the ubiquity of low-powered technologies and devices in the urban environment operating in every area of human activity, the development and integration of a low-energy harvester suitable for smart cities applications is indispensable. The multitude of low-energy applications extend from wireless sensors, data loggers, transmitters and other small-scale electronics. These devices function in the microWatt-milliWatt power range and will play a significant role in the future of smart cities providing power for extended operation with little or no battery dependence. This study thus aims to investigate the potential built environment integration and energy harvesting capabilities of the Wind-Induced Flutter Energy Harvester (WIFEH) - a microgenerator aimed to provide energy for low-powered applications. Low-energy harvesters such as the WIFEH are suitable for integration with wireless sensors and other small-scale electronic devices; however, there is a lack in study on this type of technology's building integration capabilities. Hence, there is a need for investigating its potential and optimal installation conditions.This work presents the experimental investigation of the WIFEH inside a wind tunnel and a case study using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modelling of a building integrated with a WIFEH system. The experiments tested the WIFEH under various wind tunnel airflow speeds ranging from 2.3 to 10. m/s to evaluate the induced electromotive force generation capability of the device. The simulation used a gable-roof type building model with a 27° pitch obtained from the literature. The atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) flow was used for the simulation of the approach wind. The work investigates the effect of various wind speeds and WIFEH locations on the performance of the device giving insight on the potential for integration of the harvester into the built environment. The WIFEH was able to generate an RMS voltage of 3. V, peak-to-peak voltage of 8.72. V and short-circuit current of 1. mA when subjected to airflow of 2.3. m/s. With an increase of wind velocity to 5. m/s and subsequent membrane retensioning, the RMS and peak-to-peak voltages and short-circuit current also increase to 4.88. V, 18.2. V, and 3.75. mA, respectively. For the CFD modelling integrating the WIFEH into a building, the apex of the roof of the building yielded the highest power output for the device due to flow speed-up maximisation in this region. This location produced the largest power output under the 45° angle of approach, generating an estimated 62.4. mW of power under accelerated wind in device position of up to 6.2. m/s. For wind velocity (UH) of 10. m/s, wind in this position accelerated up to approximately 14.4. m/s which is a 37.5% speed-up at the particular height. This occurred for an oncoming wind 30° relative to the building facade. For UH equal to 4.7. m/s under 0° wind direction, airflows in facade edges were the fastest at 5.4. m/s indicating a 15% speed-up along the edges of the building.
Aquino, A.I.
Calautit, J.K.
Hughes, B.R.
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information:
© 2017 Elsevier. This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in Applied Energy. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. Article available under the terms of the CC-BY-NC-ND licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Aero-elastic flutter; Buildings; Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD); Energy harvesting; Wind tunnel
Published (online): 29 June 2017
The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > Department of Mechanical Engineering (Sheffield)
Symplectic Sheffield
Published Version:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.06.041
Accepted Version
Filename: Evaluation_of_the_integration_of_the_Wind-Induced_Flutter_Energy_Harvester__WIFEH__into_the_built_environment (2).pdf
Licence: CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0


text:
Q: Visual Studio Code (Windows 10) start external program via launch or tasks I'm trying to start an external program through VSCode (this program connects an LAN device and prints on the console information received on a specific port). I've searched all the forums but can't find a working solution.
I've tried creating a launch task in launch.json
{
    "configurations": [
        {
            "name": "Start Logging Console",
            "type": "node",
            "request": "launch",
            "program": "D:\\My Drivers\\things.exe",
            "args" : [
               "log", "--all", "--address=192.168.1.8"
            ],
            "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}",
            "console": "externalTerminal"
        }
    ]
}

While this start the program in an external window I se the following error

(However if I run the program via a shortcut from the desktop it works fine)
Then I tried creating a Build task in tasks.json
{
    "version": "2.0.0",
    "tasks": [
        {
            "label": "Start logging console",
            "type": "shell",
            "command": "${workspaceFolder}\\things.exe",
            "args": [
                "log",
                "--all",
                "--hub-address=192.168.1.8"
            ],
            "options": {
                "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}"
            },
            "presentation": {
                "reveal": "always",
                "panel": "new",
            },
            "problemMatcher": []
        }
    ]
}

While this runs the program and shows the logging output, it always opens the program in the integrated terminal and never in a new window when I run the task
Then I tried using a modified version as someone suggested I change the task command to:
"command": "Start-Process -FilePath \"${workspaceFolder}\\things.exe\"",

and it throws this error (again from the integrated terminal) when I run the task (still doesn't open an external terminal window)
& : The term 'Start-Process -FilePath D:\Drivers\things.exe' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program. Check the spelling of the name,
or if a path was included, verify that the path is correct and try again.
At line:1 char:3
+ & 'Start-Process -FilePath D:\...
+   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : ObjectNotFound: (Start-Process -...things.exe:String) [], CommandNotFoundException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : CommandNotFoundException

Any suggestions?

A: Okay I finally figured it out and I've posted the solution over here with all the necessary details and samples
https://stackoverflow.com/a/70988694/2280961

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


2. Go to the directory where the file was downloaded and double-click EP0000600989.exe.
a) In the computer shutdown condition, press the [ASSIST] button.
b) Press the F10 key or select the "Recover or maintain your system F10" and press the [Enter] key.
c) Select the language and the keyboard layout setting that you like if necessary.
d) Select the "Troubleshoot" option and press the [Enter] key.
e) Select the "VAIO recovery solutions" option and press the [Enter] key.
f) Select the "Restart" button and press the [Enter] key.
g) After reboot, "VAIO Care (Rescue Mode): VAIO recovery solutions" screen will be displayed.
h) Select the "Version" text link and click "More information" pull down button and confirm the version information of "Main Program" library.
For SVD1322 Series, the version information is 4.0.1.12160.
For the all other models, the version information is 4.1.2.12160.


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Expectations Regarding Workplace Health Coaching: A Qualitative Study With Stakeholders.
The updated Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) beryllium standard for general industry, construction, and shipyards reduced exposure limits for this known human carcinogen and became effective in 2018. Occupational and environmental health nurses need to monitor updates recently proposed for general industry to clarify implementation of the standard.
Workplace Bullying and Newly Licensed Registered Nurses: An Evolutionary Concept Analysis.
The Stress-Burnout Relationship: Examining the Moderating Effect of Physical Activity and Intrinsic Motivation for Off-Job Physical Activity.
Work-Related Perceptions, Injuries, and Musculoskeletal Symptoms: Comparison Between U.S.-Educated and Foreign-Educated Nurses.
Which Factors Influence Farmers' Use of Protective Measures During Pesticides Exposure?
Women's Smoking: Relationships Among Emotional Labor, Occupational Stress, and Health Promotion.
To Role Model or Not? Nurses' Challenges in Promoting a Healthy Lifestyle.
Rotating Shifts Negatively Impacts Health and Wellness Among Intensive Care Nurses.
A Move-A-Thon Event: A Workplace Demonstration of a Proposed Alternative Strategy to Incentivize Workers to Engage in Physical Activity.
Heat-Related Illness in Midwestern Hispanic Farmworkers: A Descriptive Analysis of Hydration Status and Reported Symptoms.
Barriers to Reentry Into Nurse Anesthesia Practice Following Substance Use Disorder Treatment A Concept Analysis.
Assessing Vaccine Contraindications Through the Use of the Immunization Action Coalition Screening Checklist.
Immunization action coalition (IAC) provides a checklist that occupational health nurses use to screen for vaccine contraindications to identify and prevent possible adverse effects.
Barriers to Reentry Into Nurse Anesthesia Practice Following Substance Use Disorder Treatment: A Concept Analysis.
Association Between Work-Related Factors and Diet: A Review of the Literature.
Return to Work Among Stroke Survivors.


When you use your camera to automatically chose aperture and shutter speed, what your camera is actually doing is using the built in light meter and measuring how much light is being reflected to the camera.
But that doesn't mean that's all there is to it. You should also think about the angle of the light entering the frame, what kind of shadows you want, and whether you want to use fill-in-flash (using flash to light the subject if you have a really bright background).
If you are shooting at night you can create all sorts of cool effects like lights in motion, pictures with moonlight, or silhouettes like the one shown here. The following are just some examples of all the possibilities.
Silhouettes are another interesting example of using light. The way to create a silhouette is to have significantly brighter light coming from behind the subject. In doing this it is important to take your camera light reading off of the background instead of the subject in order for the camera to adjust for an exposure based on the backlight..
If you keep experimenting with different ways of using light you will find that you can get very interesting results.


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The Bobby Lee Rodgers Trio returns to The Green Parrot stage with shows at 10 p.m. on Friday, December 4th, and 5:30 and 10 p.m. on Saturday, Saturday, December 5th.
A stellar songwriter, vocalist and guitarist, Bobby Lee Rodgers, whose music has been described as a mix of jazz, rock, blues, bluegrass and funk with improvised jams being the main theme in their live performances.
Some of their unique sound comes from their use of a rotating Leslie cabinet, pictured in the foreground, used for Rodgers' guitar. Rodgers' high level of playing has attracted luminaries like guitarist Jimmy Herring (Phil Lesh, The Dead) and Hubert Sumlin (Howlin' Wolf), who have toured with him. Other guests include the Allman Brothers' Derek Trucks & Warren Haynes, Phish's Mike Gordon, Susan Tedeschi, jazz pianist Art Lande, Joe Craven (Psychograss/David Grisman Quintet) and violin giant Vassar Clements. #greenparrotbar #bobbyleerodgers


Brochure shelves for Modular Pole Display.
Description All your Brochure Shelves will be sent as individual units by parcel delivery. Your Brochure Shelves will be sent in two separate deliveries – one by pallet, one by parcel.


Call me at (956) 725-3838 to find out more about how rental homes can help you reach your retirement goals.
Finding the right mortgage for the right home is a team effort where both mortgage and real estate professionals work in harmony to get a buyer into their own home. Call us at (956) 725-3838 for a recommendation of a trusted mortgage professional.


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O'Grady Lab
Mitochondrial Primers
Nuclear Primers
Dimensions in Biodiversity Grant Funded
The lab has been funded as part of a large grant (led by Rosie Gillespie) to examine the origins of Hawaiian biodiversity. Here's a link to the announcement on the ESPM web page.
Merging Phylogenetics with Niche Modeling to Examine the Evolution of Climatic Niches
In their 2009 paper "Climate, Niche Evolution, and Diversification of the"Bird-Cage" Evening Primroses", Evans et al. integrate climatic niche models and dated phylogenies to characterize the evolution of climatic niches in several taxonomic groups of the evening primrose. To do this, MAXENT was used to predict species occupancy of climatic niches. From this they quantified climatic disparity among taxa which was then used as a proxy for how niches have evolved. Using phylogenetic trees and niche differences, they inferred the evolutionary history of climatic tolerances for the primrose taxa in the southwestern US and California. They inferred that the speciation has occurred in response to temperature variation in past climates across this region.
This is an exciting application that combines phylogenetic, species distribution and environmental data. However, there are some assumptions at the core of environmental niche modeling that should be highlighted when considered this type of analysis. First of all, just because an organism is found in an area does not mean that this is its optimal niche. A population may be in an area that was previously its optimal niche or was the niche it evolved
into, but, due to changing climate, may now be in a suboptimal habitat, stuck as a relict. This is often the case for source and/or sink populations and may most likely occur for long-lived species like corals or large trees. Another issue is that the variables you choose for your environmental niche model may not be the key factors driving
presence or absence of a population. Say for example you chose temperature and precipitation variables to build you niche models, but actually, soil or species interactions are more important. If niche evolution models are of
interest, this could be very important because you are assuming the strongest correlated niche variables are drivers of speciation. Finally, when using environmental data, much of it is available in very course scales and may not
really represent on-the-ground ecology or natural selection. For example Bioclim is often available in 30" grids (1 km2 at the equator). Within each grid there may be a tremendous amount of temperature and moisture variability due to micro-topography, slope direction, vegetation, soil type, etc. It may be worth spending time on the ground looking in detail at the organism's actual niche to see if any micro-patterns emerge.
Evans et al. do clearly mention these issues and try to control for them. The issues are universal problems for niche modeling and difficult to avoid. Several ways to confirm that the plant species they examined are truly in optimal niches would be to out-plant one species into another species's niche space. This could be done in controlled greenhouse experiments and in the field. If the plants survive the switch and are able to reproduce, the original niche spaces may not be optimal. One caveat is that species may live in a place because of their ability to tolerate extreme climate events which do not happen very often. Another interesting thing to do would be to look at gene expression during the maximum and minimum temperature events for different species. This would tie environmental variables with genetic expression. I enjoyed this paper and recommend it to others.
Tamura et al. introduce a rapid method to estimate divergence times in large phylogenies
I was talking with Patrick earlier this week about the effects of large data sets, such as from so-called NextGen sequencing (I dislike that term), on phylogenetic and population genetic methods of analysis. It used to be that the analytical bottleneck was in obtaining sequence data, but that has shifted so that now large amounts of sequence data can be obtained quickly but we are limited by computational power after we have them. I recently read a paper (Tamura et al. 2012, in PNAS) that addressed this problem by bucking the trend for building more and more statistical complexity into Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian analytical packages, and instead introduced a quick and fairly simple method to analyze large phylogenetic datasets with extensive evolutionary rate variation along the branches. The method is implemented in RelTime.
In phylogenetics we try to determine two things, the relationships between taxa and the timing of their divergence, either in relative or absolute time. The most common way to date divergence times is to calibrate a molecular phylogeny using the fossil record. Some form of a molecular clock is then assumed to extrapolate rates of evolution and divergence times to uncalibrated parts of the tree. This extrapolation requires assumptions about if and how rates of sequence evolution vary along different branches of the tree. Phylogenetics programs like BEAST require the user to specify, a priori, a statistical distribution from which to model evolutionary rate heterogeneity among tree branches. This method has been largely successful, but is limited computationally because the complexity increases exponentially as the number of taxa in the tree increases. Thus, the challenge with large datasets is that it can take weeks for even powerful computers to complete each step of the analysis.
RelTime attempts to circumvent this computational limitation by calculating relative divergence times rather than placing them in the context of absolute time. To me, it looks similar to Neighbor Joining methods used for creating tree topology, except that the method assumes a bifurcating topology with branch lengths, then uses distance calculations as it allows for rate heterogeneity along any branches of the tree. RelTime computes branch-specific relative rates from the tree by averaging branch lengths for each pair of descendants at each node. Check out the paper if you want to dig into the math. The result is a tree with relative divergence times, which then can be converted to absolute divergence times using only a few fossil calibration points in a post hoc application. I assume geographic calibrations such as island age could just as easily be used to calibrate the tree.
The biggest advantage of this method is that it is very fast – the authors claim it is 1000 times faster than MCMCTree, which in turn is 1000 times faster than BEAST on their simulated dataset of 446 taxa – yet it performs as well as or better than popular Bayesian methods. It also outperforms Bayesian methods when evolutionary rates vary drastically across the tree.
One exciting aspect of the method is that, according to the authors, "the branch (relative) rates produced by RelTime directly reveal the statistical properties of the distribution of evolutionary rates in a phylogeny, which exposes clades and lineages with significantly slower or faster evolutionary rates." For a lab studying the radiation of the Hawaiian Drosophila, this is an important application. There are multiple examples in the clade where evolutionary rates probably exploded when a lineage colonized a new island or niche. RelTime looks like it is worth trying as a way to rapidly assess this phenomenon.
Divergence dating freed from node calibrations
Attempting to estimate divergence dates on molecular phylogenies is a messy affair. Bayesian methods (for example, BEAST and MrBayes) have the advantage of being able to accommodate a lot of unknowns and still often are able to generate distributions that seem to contain the true likely divergence date of interest. Three classes of information can be included in a Bayesian analysis of divergence dating to calibrate the phylogeny: molecular rates, biogeographic information, and fossils. Fossils tend to be thought of as the gold standard among these three – researchers take the date for the oldest known fossil from their group of interest and apply it as a calibration on a node in their phylogeny. However, this presents a few issues. First, fossils are often imperfectly preserved, making them difficult to place taxonomically. Second, it can be difficult to come up with appropriate prior distributions to apply in the dating machinery. In addition, in current dating methods, researchers have to assume that they know for certain on which group's node to place a fossil calibration and that the group is monophyletic – both of these can be strong assumptions.
In a new paper by Ronquist et al (2012), researchers present a new approach for dealing with these issues, using MrBayes 3.2. Instead of placing a calibration on a node in the phylogeny, the fossil is included as a species in the data matrix. How it works is that extant species in the data set have molecular and morphological characters included, while the extinct species are coded for all the morphological characters that can be assigned (usually a subset of all of the characters because it is often not possible to see all of the characters on a fossil). Rather than calibrating nodes of groups the user defines, the user can enter the dates of the strata the fossils came from as a calibration on the taxa itself. The Mr.Bayes machinery then takes this information and estimates a phylogenetic tree, placing the fossils alongside the extant taxa based on their morphological characters and using their dates to estimate divergence times for the rest of the tree. This approach is neat because it removes error associated with improperly classifying fossils and having to restrict the node it is placed on to be monophyletic.
Ronquist et al (2012) test the method on a data set of the early Hymenoptera radiation that includes 45 fossils, many of which are poorly preserved, and also run a comparative analysis using the more traditional node-dating technique. One issue they had to deal with in the development of this approach was that they did not feel that existing tree priors (e.g. birth-death, Yule) could be reasonably applied to their data set. So, they developed and described a new, uninformative tree prior that allows the tree to have terminals of different ages, which allows the branch length information to come from the data.
Because this was a proof-of-concept paper, they did extensive exploration of the method, sensitivity analyses, and took a lot of care with selecting their prior distributions. They first ran an uncalibrated analysis of the data, from which they could detect significant rate variation among the lineages. Because of this, they did not want to use a strict clock for the analysis (which assumes rates are the same along all of the branches in the tree). Instead, they wanted to allow for the rates to vary among the branches, so used a relaxed clock approach. There are several relaxed clock models available that model how rates vary in very different ways. As it was not clear which model fit their data best, they ran the analysis with three different models (two autocorrelated models and one uncorrelated model) and compared them using Bayes Factors. In addition to helping them identify the best model for their data, this allowed them to showcase one of the many new features in MrBayes 3.2, calculation of the marginal likelihoods using stepping-stone sampling. This is a major advance for MrBayes users, allowing them to do model comparisons and hypothesis testing without having to use the harmonic mean estimator of the likelihood, which is known to produce biased estimates. Plus, it was a really nice description for users of a method for going about accounting for rate variation for their own data sets.
In their final comparison of the Total-Evidence approach versus the node dating approach, Ronquist et al found several interesting things. First, they found that their method produced a tree that compared well topologically and in its estimates of divergence times with previous studies. They also found that their method is both more precise (smaller error bars) and less sensitive to prior choice than the node dating approach. Finally, the Total-Evidence analysis produced posterior probability distributions of less than 50% for over half of the fossils used as node calibrations in the node dating approach (even though the authors had sub-selected only the best-understood fossils in the group), indicating that their placement in the tree is highly uncertain, and thus indicating that specifying which node they belong to is inappropriate.
Ronquist et al's findings suggest that this is a method worth continuing to explore. Carefully selecting models and priors and running sensitivity analyses will be important for users as they begin testing this on new data sets. The authors provide their nexus file with all of the blocks of commands as supplementary information, so you can see for yourself how these elegant analyses are set up.
Kari Goodman
Ronquist, F., Kloppstein, S., Vilhelmsen, L, Schulmeister, S., Murray, D.L. and A.P. Rasnitsyn 2012. A Total-Evidence Approach to Dating with Fossils, Applied to the Early Radiation of the Hymenoptera. Systematic Biology 61 (6): 973-999.
Phylogenetics and ecological niche modeling
The other day I got into a class discussion about ancestral state reconstruction, or the assignment of ancestral states based on extant taxa. Some people thought that character mapping was not scientifically sound unless you had a time machine. I, however, disagree. The utility of phylogenetics is to determine evolutionary relationships between extant taxa, and while time machines do not exist, systematists are able to make hypotheses about these relationships. I think character mapping follows the same principles and gives science more insight into diversification processes. However, one problem I do see with ancestral state reconstruction is that your analysis is only as good as your phylogenetic tree. As many people say, "junk in, junk out." Therefore, use with caution.
One new ancestral state reconstruction method I recently learned uses the software package Phyloclim maintained by Christoph Heibl. Phyloclim is a package implemented in R that integrates species ecological niche models with phylogenetics in order to calculate and visualize niche evolution on a phylogenetic tree. To do this, the user must first create a predicted species occupancy model. This involves using ecological niche modeling software, such as Maxent, and species location data stored as a raster file--I believe this is done in a mapping program like GIS. There is a great tutorial on the Maxent website.
Patterns of niche evolution or niche conservation can then be determined by comparing the variation between niche space within and between subclades. One of two outcomes is expected: 1) either niche evolution occurs between subclades with conservation of niche space within each subclade or 2) niche conservation occurs between subclades and niche evolution occurs within each subclade. This means you could either see a divergence of niche spaces at the beginning family followed by conservation of their niche spaces or you would see niche space preserved early on in evolutionary history followed by diversification among species. Inference can then be made about ancestral niche spaces using a statistical analysis, and a statement of how climate (or other variables) may or may not result in the diversification of a group.
I really liked using this R package. The visual of ancestral state reconstruction (see figure above) is really informative and neat to look at. However, Phyloclim is still quite new and no formal tutorial from the developers exists, but there are examples in the software package complete with example data. I have yet to try using my own data in Phyloclim, but I think it's as simple reading a .csv file of your ecological niches models and your tree file in newick or nexus format (I like this tutorial) into R. I realize this may be easier said then done, but in theory it's simple.
Jessica Craft
Useful papers:
Evans, M. E. K., S. A. Smith, R. S. Flynn, and M. J. Donoghue. 2009. Climate, niche evolution, anddiversification of the 'bird-cage evening primroses' (Oenothera, sections Anogra and Kleinia). Am. Nat. 173: 225-240.
Fitzpatrick, B.M & Turelli, M. 2006. The geography of mammalian speciation:mixed signals from phylogenies and range maps. Evolution 60: 601-615.
Phillips, S.J, M. Dudik, & R.E. Schapire. 2006. Maximum entropy modeling of species geographic distributions. Ecological Modeling 190: 231-259.
Warren, D., R.E. Glor, & M. Turelli. 2008. Environmental niche equivalency versus conservatism: quantitative approaches to niche evolution. Evolution 62: 2868-2883
Review of "Climate, Niche Evolution, and Diversification of the "Bird‐Cage" Evening Primroses (Oenothera, Sections Anogra and Kleinia)"
The paper "Climate, Niche Evolution, and Diversification of the "Bird‐Cage" Evening Primroses (Oenothera, Sections Anogra and Kleinia)" from the journal The American Naturalist (2009) uses the relatively new technique of combining niche models and dated phylogenies to make conclusions about the drivers of biodiversity. Integrating ecological niche modeling into phylogenetics is a potentially powerful practice that could help us answer questions about the creation and sustaining of biodiversity. These questions are becoming increasingly important with large-scale anthropogenic disturbances to the environment including habitat destruction, landscape fragmentation and, of course, climate change threaten biodiversity globally.
While, "the use of niche models to address paleocli- matic explanations for diversification has only begun," this paper seems to be one of many studies on the topic, and the jury is still out on what the actual drivers of biodiversity are, as the results of the papers are clearly at odds with each other. This paper does a good job of citing previous studies that have gotten results that are both similar and opposing. However, for the reader, it lessens the credibility of the study itself. Why is this study any different or more believable than the others? This study seeks to fragment the question by concluding that different clades are driven in different ways. Furthermore, it concludes that the study itself offers a new method upon which other studies can build: " Here we have provided a method, beginning with climate and locality data, via ecological niche modeling, for reconstructing ancestral climatic tolerances that takes into account both the intraspecific variability of extant taxa and phylogenetic uncertainty."
Integrating phylogenies and niche data to infer information about the drivers of diversity seems like a good idea that can help us answer essential questions. While this study seeks to find some answers to these big questions, it proves to be just another building block in our understanding and application of this new process. Perhaps the methods laid out in this paper will be useful in future studies to come up with more definitive answers, or perhaps they will add further support to differing findings on the subject.
I guess that is the nature of what we do. We set up studies to answer big important questions that, slowly (this is ideally speaking) can gain momentum until someone can place a capstone on top and society embraces a new theory. I just hope that we as a species can understand the drivers of biodiversity before we forever deplete it.
O'Grady Lab Hosts ESPM Happy Hour
We're scheduled to host happy hour on the 15th at 1130 in the new Mulford conference room. Please bring something to share with the department.
Book Chapter Published
Teri Markow and I have a chapter comparing patterns of diversification in Hawaiian Drosophila and the cactophilic repleta species group.
Asteia
Dicranota
Dolichopodidae
Ephydra
Ephydridae
Hawaiian Drosophila
Kidwell
Lapoint
Limonia
Magnacca
Marrack
Nesophrosyne
Ogrady
Paceyn
Panbiogeography
Pediciidae
Phylogenetic Methods
Rhaphidolabis
Scaptomyza
Scatella
Stauffer
Tipula
Whiteman Lab
Wojciechowski
Wolbachia
Yeast And Fungi


Duns Motocross hosts many races during the course of each season. The circuit is used by independent motocross clubs (right) to host rounds of their respected championships throughout the year.
Each race day with each club caters for riders of all ages and abilities and they welcome new riders to come along.
To enquire about any of the race dates above please contact the corresponding club via the contact details on the left to find out more.


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Beetlejuice, anyone? Zara's December look book features a lot of boyish, basic pieces ornamented with bold prints and glitz. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't intrigued by that full head to toe plaid number. Definitely something I'd like to try this winter.


Renowed Mexican artist Mario Carcia Torres is more than just an artist. He is primarily – as he himself has stated – a "tourist of history," or something closer to what Walter Benjamin called "Flaneur". As an urban explorer with no specific professional commitment, he is able to freely experiment with no boundaries allowing him to have a clearer perspective.
Garcia Torres returns to the fields of Jalisco for Exploración Botánica, a project conceived specifically for Reserva de la Familia®. The project involves printing a catalogue of the region's native plants using a process that consists of oxidized metal powder on fabric. This transfer process creates a negative image. In other words, the masses of dark colors are converted into bright lights, and conversely, the light tones are converted into shadows.
Garcia Torres's project attempts to document a selection of the vegetation of the agave region of Jalisco using the transfer process described before. The result is a proposal from the artist of a reconfigured landscape through the distinctive images produced.


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BIG|BRAVE announce new album &...
BIG|BRAVE announce new album & share first single "carvers, farriers and knaves"
October 20, 2022 by Staff
Canadian trio BIG|BRAVE have announced their new album, nature morte, out on Febuary 24th, 2023 via Thrill Jockey. nature morte follows the band's acclaimed collaborative release with label mates The Body, Leaving None With Small Birds, and draws inspiration from those recording sessions, creating stories that, like many folk tales, are at once specific and universal.
Along with the album's announcement, the band have shared debut single "carvers, farriers and knaves," one of the most relentless and bracing pieces in the band's oeuvre.
Listen to "carvers, farriers and knaves" below:
The three members recorded nature morte primarily live over the course of a week at Machines with Magnets with engineer/producer Seth Manchester, pushing the potential of their instruments beyond expectations. The album tackles the folly of hope, the consequences of trauma, and often centers on the subjugation of femininity in all its pluralities. "It is violent and terrible. It is crushing and alarming. It is common and basic," says guitarist/vocalist Robin Wattie. "It is catastrophic and disheartening."
nature morte artwork & tracklist:
1. carvers, farriers and knaves
2. the one who bornes a weary load
3. my hope renders me a fool
4. the fable of subjugation
5. a parable of the trusting
6. the ten of swords
Tags: BIG|BRAVE, new music, Thrill Jockey


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There is a constant flow of commentary moving throughout the Internet on a daily basis. E-mail users are constantly sorting, forwarding, saving and trashing these materials on a continuing basis. I am reluctant to forward and often trash much of this type of incoming traffic. Yet, there are times when one comes along and you are struck by the meaningful presentation, often from the heart and/or personal experiences of the author. Many of these are degraded by repeated retransmission that makes them hard to read.
There have been cases where I was sufficiently impressed that I felt the need to share an item that seemed meaningful and pertinent to our daily lives. These have been posted on our web site where visitors may review the subject titles and choose to view or not to view any of these items. They are offered here for your consideration.