A CeraWatt ceramic heating element designed and manufactured by BCE. Composed of high temperature materials, such as tungsten and alumina ceramic substrates, CeraWatt heaters are reported to provide excellent corrosion resistance, high operating temperature, long life, energy efficiency, uniform surface temperatures, and outstanding thermal conductivity. Photo courtesy of BCE Inc.
The design and manufacture of custom heating elements, thermal systems, and vacuum feedthroughs are a specialty of BCE Inc. (Belilove Company-Engineers), a Hayward, California-based company that has served the semiconductor and medical equipment industries for more than 25 years. As both a manufacturer and integrator of components, BCE offers custom electrical heaters, sensors, and controls as discrete components, or as part of a larger, value added thermal system.
According to CEO Hussain Khazee, BCE is known to produce high quality and complex assemblies for a variety of applications without compromising lead times and cost. Its team of engineers is "at the full disposal of customers for all of their engineering design, manufacturing, and testing needs," he wrote in an emailed response.
"We provide engineering consultations from the start of a project to its end, and have CAD modeling capabilities," wrote Khazee. "We ensure that the most optimal manufacturing methods are used for quick turnaround times and low production costs. All parts are tested, as well, based on industry and customer specified standards."
The company is able to accommodate multiple revision changes to designs and provides on-site and off-site customer support for any repairs and follow-ups. BCE is ISO 9001:2008 certified and ITAR registered and compliant.
Assemblies produced by BCE include machined parts that require ceramics machining, grinding, metallization, and precision laser drilling and etching. They can also incorporate several kinds of sensors, such as thermocouples and resistance thermometers, or resistance temperature detectors (RTDs), through the use of advanced proprietary epoxies.
Khazee said that all of BCE's Epoxy Vacuum Feedthroughs have a proprietary seal meeting NASA's Low Outgassing Spec (ASTM E595). The company is also able to seal fiber optic cables for high vacuum applications compatible to 10-9 cc/sec, "which is very difficult to do," Khazee added.
For one large semiconductor company, BCE designed, engineered, and manufactured an entire heating apparatus that needed to satisfy numerous stringent criteria, including vacuum compatibility to 10-8 Torr, and a maximum operating temperature of 200°C. It would have to operate at 1500W, 240V, and all epoxies were required to meet NASA's Low Outgassing Spec (ASTM E595). In addition to being capable of sensing temperature, the heating apparatus also needed to be a circular configuration, between 34 and 36 inches in diameter, with the height of the part not to exceed 1 foot. BCE was challenged to provide effective heat transfer from the heating device while reducing the cost of the machining.
According to Khazee, the ability to provide uniform heat to semiconductor devices in degassing chambers is essential in extracting impurities. This can only be achieved if a heating device has the proper fit and temperature uniformity for a given chamber, he said.
"In order to heat this company's semiconductor wafers, it was critical that the heating device be manufactured to fit precisely into a large and circular degassing chamber, posing manufacturing challenges due to dimensional and application parameters," said Khazee. "BCE was able to provide extensive design consultations, 3D CAD modeling, and lean manufacturing capabilities to this semiconductor giant at a competitive price. All these services were rendered while catering to all requirements needed to successfully manufacture their products."
Khazee said that BCE's Vacuum Ring Heater proved to be the ideal product for this application. Its strong aluminum ring construction ensured effective heat transfer to the circular wafers while keeping manufacturing costs low, he explained. Its strategically embedded heater with stainless steel sheath allowed the temperature uniformity of the device to remain at ±2% at 150°C, greatly exceeding customer requirements, he added.
"Moreover, BCE's proprietary epoxy, meeting NASA's low outgassing spec, was used as the primary sealant, and Kapton insulated leads were provided for the heater and integrated thermocouple to reduce contamination. In fact, the integrated thermocouple type K further served to monitor the temperature supplied to the chamber. Finally, all electrical, vacuum, and dimensional requirements were met to provide the most optimal thermal environment."
In addition to semiconductor and medical equipment, BCE (https://heater.belilove.com) serves industry sectors such as aerospace, agriculture, automotive, and energy. The company also does work for the government and defense, transportation, and telecommunications sectors, among others.


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Garcia: No longer viable to hold barangay, SK polls in December 2022
By HANA BORDEY, GMA News
Published October 21, 2022 6:25pm
Updated October 21, 2022 7:17pm
Commission on Elections Chairman George Garcia on Friday told the Supreme Court that the poll body could no longer hold the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE) in December 2022.
During the SC's oral arguments on the petition challenging Republic Act 11935, Garcia said the Comelec has suspended the printing of the ballots for the supposed December 2022 BSKE upon President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.'s signing of the law resetting the local polls to October 2023.
"We suspended the printing of the ballots simply because the ballot does not reflect the date that the election will be continued, which will be on October 31 of next year, 2023, and if we are to count the number of ballots that had not been printed during this period from October 10 to the present, then if we are supposed to print the ballots 3 million per day, 12 days, then that will be about 36 million ballots, your honor," Garcia said during the interpellation of Associate Justice Antonio Kho Jr., who was a Comelec commissioner prior to his appointment to the High Tribunal.
"From now to the conduct of election by December 5, it's almost at least 44 days. Definitely, your honor, we'll not be able to finish printing the ballots," he added.
The Comelec chairman also informed the magistrates that they cannot proceed with the procurement of other election paraphernalia as there is already a law that postponed the December 2022 polls. Hence, there might be no legal basis for their purchases.
"Such other election paraphernalia, we have a legal issue and the legal issue is whether we can legally proceed with the procurement despite the postponement of the election," Garcia said.
He disclosed that the Comelec Law Department was already instructed to inquire and make a recommendation to the En Banc regarding the pending awarding of contracts and the notice to proceed.
"We do not want to violate any auditing rules and we do not want that COA will be giving notices to the commission as far as these awards are concerned," Garcia said.
"So we are in a dire predicament. So material time, we do not have [that] anymore. It is really not viable and feasible at this time," he added.
Garcia also mentioned that the poll body has already stopped its procurement for the indelible inks for the December 2022 BSKE as these may dry up after one year.
"We have been preparing for the procurement of indelible ink... However, indelible ink will be expiring [in] one year and so if we will proceed with the procurement of indelible ink even after the signing by the President on October 10 and there is already a law which says the election is postponed, then definitely by next year, all of these indelible ink [will be] dried up. Surely, we will not proceed with the procurement of the indelible ink," he said.
Veteran election lawyer Romulo Macalintal, who challenged the law postponing the 2022 BSKE, however, said that Comelec can push through with the polls in December, citing Section 5 of the Omnibus Election Code.
"I don't believe, your honors, that the Comelec is not capable of proceeding with the elections," Macalintal said.
"Maybe not on December 5, your honors, but on a date close, very close to the date of the elections that is postponed because that is provided for under Section 5 of the Omnibus Election Code, that while the Comelec may postpone, it has still to continue with the election on a date reasonably close to the date of the postponed election after the cessation of the cause for the postponement," he said.
Section 5 of the Omnibus Election Code provides: "When for any serious cause such as violence, terrorism, loss or destruction of election paraphernalia or records, force majeure, and other analogous causes of such a nature that the holding of a free, orderly and honest election should become impossible in any political subdivision, the Commission, motu proprio or upon a verified petition by any interested party, and after due notice and hearing, whereby all interested parties are afforded equal opportunity to be heard, shall postpone the election therein to a date which should be reasonably close to the date of the election not held, suspended or which resulted in a failure to elect but not later than thirty days after the cessation of the cause for such postponement or suspension of the election or failure to elect."
Kho then asked if Macalintal is asking the SC to prod Congress to pass another law that will set another date for the BSKE as the questioned law—RA 11935— does not provide for any other day except last Monday of October 2023.
Macalintal, in response, reiterated Section 5 of the Omnibus Election Code.
During the interpellation of Associate Justice Mario Lopez, Macalintal asserted that the law does not prohibit the Comelec from fixing another date because of some circumstances beyond their control.
"December 5, 2022 elections could push through because it was not the fault of the Comelec that these delays were caused. It was the enactment of this law that prevented the Comelec from pushing through with this preparation or suddenly stop their preparation. In other words, the cause of the delays is because of the passage of the law," he said.
"Now, if this law is declared unconstitutional, then the people's right to vote should be respected and how do we respect it if the Comelec is not ready on December 5, then the Comelec will be directed to set another date close to December 5 where a clean, honest, and orderly elections should be held," he added.
Macalintal added the terms of incumbent barangay and SK officials will end by December 31, 2022. Hence, the Comelec can still hold the elections by December 26 or close to the termination of their term of office.
At the latter part of the oral arguments, Lopez pointed out that Comelec's power to postpone polls under Section 5 of the Omnibus Election Code is limited to the declaration of failure of elections due to the circumstances enumerated in the said provision.
"Therefore, the matter of postponement is not an original function or duty of the Comelec. It is simply a delegated authority by the legislature or the Constitution for that matter," Lopez said.
With the consistent statement of Garcia that they cannot push through with the December 2022 BSKE, Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo instructed the Comelec to include in their memorandum the possible dates of elections should the SC issue a temporary restraining order on the implementation of RA 11935.—AOL, GMA News
Tags: news, Supreme Court, COMELEC, barangay and sk elections postponement, George Garcia

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text:
Indoor dining, fall sports out; mask mandate more restrictive - Albuquerque Journal
Indoor dining, fall sports out; mask mandate more restrictive
By Dan McKay and Rozanna Martinez / Journal Staff Writers
Published: Thursday, July 9th, 2020 at 3:40PM
Updated: Thursday, July 9th, 2020 at 11:12PM
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham on Wednesday displays her face mask with "Governor" and a St. Michael's High School emblem on it before giving her weekly update on the COVID-19 outbreak in New Mexico. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
SANTA FE — Citing an explosion in virus cases, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said Thursday that New Mexico will reimpose a ban on indoor dining and call off high school football and other contact sports this fall.
She also urged colleges and universities to postpone their football seasons but said she is still weighing whether it's safe for New Mexico United, a professional soccer team, to play its season.
The new rules — set to take effect Monday — will also require joggers and anyone exercising to wear a mask, eliminating an exception in New Mexico's current health order.
The changes are necessary, Lujan Grisham said Thursday, to safeguard the lives of New Mexicans — another six of whom died from the virus, pushing the statewide death toll to 533.
By one estimate, the governor said, the number of deaths could more than double within the next five weeks, unless there's quick action to limit transmission of the disease.
Masks must now be worn if you leave home for almost any activity, including exercise. (Marla Brose/Journal)
"Where we are is an untenable situation," Lujan Grisham said in a public briefing broadcast from the Capitol.
The tightened restrictions come as New Mexico sees a spike in the number of COVID-19 infections detected by testing.
The average number of new cases each day shot up 79% in a recent 16-day period, with "astronomical growth" in southeastern New Mexico, Human Services Secretary David Scrase said.
New Mexico's case trends, he said, show signs of "the pandemic being out of control." Lea County in southeastern New Mexico, he said, is emerging as a particular concern.
Large family get-togethers, travel to Arizona and Texas, the relaxed restrictions on indoor business activity and other factors appear to be driving the increase, state officials said.
New rules are set to take effect Monday, including:
A ban on dining indoors at restaurants and breweries, though outdoor seating can remain open at 50% capacity. Delivery and curbside pickup are permitted.
More stringent mask rules. The state will require people to wear masks when they leave their homes for almost any activity, eliminating the exemption for exercise whether outside or in a gym.
Out-of-state visitors will be prohibited from using state parks.
All contact sports, including football, soccer and wrestling, for high schools and youth clubs are canceled for the fall.
The governor said she did not have the authority to cancel football at the collegiate level but she would be contacting school leaders to strongly recommend they do so. As for United professional soccer, she said she is talking to the organization but said the team would not practice or play games in New Mexico for now.
"These are not easy decisions," Lujan Grisham said. "These are not decisions any governor wants to make."
(Roberto E. Rosales/Albuquerque Journal)
Restaurants react
Restaurants and breweries without patios are expected to take the biggest hit from the new rules.
"I'm furious," said Chef Mike White, owner of High Point Grill. "I understand the restrictions are because citizens didn't properly follow guidelines. However, this in-between prohibition of services is bleeding small businesses dry. We need to be open 100% because it's safe enough to do so, or we need to be forced to fully close all services because it's not safe to be out intermingling at all."
Palmer Brewing and Cider House, which does not have a patio, is feeling the sting again.
It will go to a limited-hours, takeout-only model.
"I think the majority of us understand the reasoning behind it, but it still hurts," said Robert Palmer, owner and brewer of Palmer Brewery and Cider House. "(We're) having to lay off our staff that we just brought back."
Restaurants may continue to provide carryout and delivery services. Growlers, crowlers and packaged product are available for pick up at breweries. Kilt Check Brewing Co. owner and brewer Mike Campbell is taking some comfort in that.
"We were expecting some sort of shutdown," he said. "I was hoping it was not going to be complete closure, of course, so allowing us to do some business gives me a chance."
Santa Fe Bite-ABQ owner Jaclyn Gomez said sales had risen significantly since the state on June 1 began allowing indoor restaurant seating at 50% capacity. She said restricting dine-in service will hurt local restaurants significantly.
Advocates say they do not know how local businesses will be able to weather the new restrictions.
"While we appreciate the Governor's focus on public health, we are increasingly concerned about the financial health of the small business restaurant owners affected by this order and the welfare of their employees, especially at a time when the federal government has not indicated additional financial support," Mary Martinez, Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors chairwoman, said in a written statement.
She said everyone can do their part to "help small businesses and their employees" by wearing a mask in public.
Risk for younger adults
Texas and Arizona are seeing strong growth in infections, too, and they have also rolled back some of their earlier openings. They had gone further in reopening than New Mexico had.
Lujan Grisham said Thursday that six more state residents had died of COVID-19, including two in their 30s and one who worked in health care.
High school and youth club football, soccer, wrestling, have been canceled for the fall. (Roberto E. Rosales/Albuquerque Journal)
Testing confirmed 238 new cases of the disease. About 3.8% of the test results that came in Thursday were positive, just a shade higher than the 3.6% rate overall since the pandemic arrived in March.
The positive percentage varies but has been on the rise recently.
"We are beginning to see the kind of community spread that is creating spikes around the country," Lujan Grisham said Thursday.
Adults in their 20s, meanwhile, are an increasing share of the infections, Scrase said, and "we're starting to see more mortality in younger age groups."
There are signs, he said, of serious health problems even for younger people who contract the virus but don't die.
Starting in June, the state allowed restaurants, gyms, salons and a host of other businesses to operate at partial capacity. But a new health order will go into effect Monday outlining the tightened restrictions.
Schools under review
Lujan Grisham said her administration hasn't made a decision yet on how to handle the potential start of school next month.
Out-of-state visitors no longer welcome at state parks under the latest public health order. (Source: New Mexico State Parks)
She went through a list of possibilities that included postponing school for a few weeks or even into the winter. In some cases, she said, older students throughout the country might finish high school through online classes, never returning to school buildings if it isn't safe to do so.
"Those are the realm of possibilities," Lujan Grisham said.
But she said no decision has been made and that it's important for children to be in school for a variety of reasons. Online-only classes are a "poor substitute," she said.
Journal staff writers Pilar Martinez and Jessica Dyer contributed to this report.
Prep football, soccer postponed to spring; other fall sports iffy


Ecological niche models are widely used for mapping the distribution of species during the last glacial maximum (LGM). Although the selection of the variables and General Circulation Models (GCMs) used for constructing those maps determine the model predictions, we still lack a discussion about which variables and which GCM should be included in the analysis and why. Here, we analyzed the climatic predictions for the LGM of 9 different GCMs in order to help biogeographers to select their GCMs and climatic layers for mapping the species ranges in the LGM. We 1) map the discrepancies between the climatic predictions of the nine GCMs available for the LGM, 2) analyze the similarities and differences between the GCMs and group them to help researchers choose the appropriate GCMs for calibrating and projecting their ecological niche models (ENM) during the LGM, and 3) quantify the agreement of the predictions for each bioclimatic variable to help researchers avoid the environmental variables with a poor consensus between models. Our results indicate that, in absolute values, GCMs have a strong disagreement in their temperature predictions for temperate areas, while the uncertainties for the precipitation variables are in the tropics. In spite of the discrepancies between model predictions, temperature variables (BIO1-BIO11) are highly correlated between models. Precipitation variables (BIO12- BIO19) show no correlation between models, and specifically, BIO14 (precipitation of the driest month) and BIO15 (Precipitation Seasonality (Coefficient of Variation)) show the highest level of discrepancy between GCMs. Following our results, we strongly recommend the use of different GCMs for constructing or projecting ENMs, particularly when predicting the distribution of species that inhabit the tropics and the temperate areas of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, because climatic predictions for those areas vary greatly among GCMs. We also recommend the exclusion of BIO14 and BIO15 from ENMs because those variables show a high level of discrepancy between GCMs. Thus, by excluding them, we decrease the level of uncertainty of our predictions. All the climatic layers produced for this paper are freely available in http://ecoclimate.org/.
Data Availability: We programmed a webpage to share the climatic data www.ecoclimate.org. Relevant data are available at Figshare: http://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.1418256.
Funding: This paper was made possible by funding from the Education for Competitiveness Operational Programme (ECOP) project 'Support of establishment, development and mobility of quality research teams at the Charles University' (CZ.1.07/2.3.00/30.0022). SV is funded by the European Science Foundation and Czech Republic. Research projects of LCT and MSLR are supported by CNPq (processes 563727/2010-1 and 473811/2013-8) and FAPEG (2012/1026.700.1086). LCT is supported by a CNPq researcher fellowship. MSLR thanks FAPEG for financial support to his research in paleobiology (process number 2012-1026.700.1086).
The last glacial maximum (LGM) was a period of extreme dry and cold climatic conditions . During the LGM, the ice sheets covered large areas of the Northern Hemisphere and the sea level decreased globally an average of 120 meters, modifying the shapes of the continents and altering the current oceanic barriers . Biologists are interested in understanding the impacts that this glacial period had on current and past biotic and genetic diversity. To do this, ecological niche models [3, 4] have been extensively used for mapping the range shifts of species through time as a consequence of the climatic changes [5, 6]. Questions about past species extinction events [7–10], population genetics  and population dynamics  have been addressed using this methodology.
In this context, ecological niche models are often calibrated and/or projected on paleoclimates simulated with General Circulation Models (GCMs). In general terms, a GCM is a mathematical representation of the physical processes operating in the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere and land surface and are widely applied for hindcasting (including the LGM scenario) and forecasting the global climatic responses to variations in planetary parameters through time (e.g., solar constant, greenhouse gas concentration, ice sheet dynamics) . Currently, there is an attempt to summarize the knowledge about the climatic dynamics from GCMs (see IPCC Fifth Assessment Report in ). Large research projects such as the Coupled Modelling Intercomparison Project (CMIP5: http://cmip-pcmdi.llnl.gov/cmip5/) and the Paleoclimate Modelling Intercomparison Project (PMIP3: https://pmip3.lsce.ipsl.fr/) aim to standardize and coordinate the climate model experiments involving multiple research groups from around the world .
However, in spite of the standardization of the basic conditions for the experiments, each GCM has its particularities. Each model uses a particular set of equations to simulate the climatic dynamics, a particular model of global vegetation and a particular resolution to run the simulations (see Table 1). The differences in the initial setup conditions and in their algorithms have the inevitable outcome of ending in different climatic predictions for similarly forced models .
Table 1. Details of the nine general circulation models (GCMs) used in this comparative study.
Although the use of the paleoclimatic simulations to map species distributions during the LGM has increased in recent years, there has been no systematic review to guide researchers to fully understand the uncertainties and particularities of these climatic predictions. In the last years, researchers often used MIROC and/or CCSM models, mainly because they were easily available through the www.worldclim.org web repository (nowadays this changed and it is possible to download more than these two GCMs in worldclim.org). Besides, normally, variable selections are based on species requirements, but not on the inherent uncertainties of those climatic layers.
In this paper, we aim to initiate a debate for biogeographers and macroecologists about the uncertainties of the climatic predictions for the last glacial maximum and how to deal with those uncertainties when working with ecological niche models. We aim to provide a simple guideline to help researchers in selecting the most appropriate GCMs and variables for constructing their maps of species ranges during the LGM. We analyze the predictions of nine GCMs for the LGM scenario (see Table 1) in a three-fold discussion. First, we quantify and map the global spatial patterns of the discrepancies between the GCM predictions. Second, we identify the similarities between models and group them to help researchers choose between GCMs. Third, we analyze the correlations between the predictions of 19 bioclimatic variables across the GCMs to help researchers select the appropriate variables for lessening the uncertainties in their predictions about species ranges during the last glacial maximum.
We used the most recent climatic simulations for the LGM scenario from all coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation models available in the CMIP5 and PMIP3 databases (Table 1). We downloaded four atmospheric variables per month: precipitation (pr), mean temperature (tas), maximum temperature (tasmax) and minimum temperature (tasmin). All of these are from the same ensemble member (r1i1p1), except GISS (r1i1p151).
The raw outputs of the GCMs have different spatial resolutions (see Table 1). Thus, in order to compare the climatic predictions of the GCMs, we built a set of climatic layers directly comparable between models (same variables, same geographic extent and same spatial resolution). For doing so, first, we calculate a long-term mean from the time-series data of the GCMs, then we interpolate the obtained values to the same grid, and finally, we constructed the 19 bioclimatic variables based on monthly temperature and precipitation values.
GCMs run long-term simulations for stabilizing paleoclimatic predictions. Thus, we averaged the monthly-predicted values from the entire time span available for each GCM. Most GCMs have 100 years time-series, providing standard long-term means. However, some GCMs stabilized predictions on a longer time-series (see Table 1). For those models, we maintained the original time spans to guarantee reliable long-term means from all GCMs. Temperature variables were transformed from Kelvin to degrees Celsius and precipitation flux (in mm m-2 s-1) was converted to total monthly precipitation (mm month-1), taking into account a month with 30 days according the specific calendar of 360 days year-1. The original netCDF files with the GCM outputs were manipulated using the functions from ncdf R-package .
Next, the long-term means were downscaled to a resolution of 0.5 degree of latitude and longitude. The downscaling procedure followed the standard change-factor approach , as follows: (i) firstly we compute the anomalies (also called climate change trends) between LGM and current climate for each raw variable at original GCM resolution, (ii) secondarily we interpolate the climate change trends (instead of LGM climates directly) and the current climate from each GCM to the standard 0.5° grid, and (iii) thirdly we apply interpolated climate change trends to the interpolated current climates to obtain the interpolated layers for LGM. In the first step, the climate change trends for temperature variables were computed as the simple difference between LGM and modern conditions (a standard climate anomaly) from each GCM. For precipitation, climate change trends were computed as ratios of such anomaly in relation to its correspondent modern condition [(LGM—modern)/modern]. We used ratios because they are a robust method in order to maintain the original spatial patterns when accounting for large values, like precipitation .
In the second step, we used ordinary kriging technique to statistically downscale raw climate change trends (differences and proportions) and current climate from each GCM to a standard global 0.5° grid. We automated all that interpolation procedure by coupling different function from gstat R-package  as follow. Interpolations were based on function krige from the 12 nearest observations to a given focal point (instead of fitting an inverse distance weighted power from global neighborhood) and a variogram model. To model the spatial structure in data, a variogram was fitted using the function fit.variogram. This function fits ranges and sills from a variogram model (in our case, a spherical variogram) to a sample variogram. The spherical variogram model was used because it shows a progressive decrease of spatial autocorrelation until some distance, beyond which autocorrelation is zero, like the common spatial structures observed in climate data. From an exponential model, for example, autocorrelation would disappear completely only at an infinite distance, differing from the often observed. The sample variogram was obtained using the function variogram, following the direction with the largest range (i.e. the omnidirectional model type) in each variable and assuming a constant trend for variables (i.e. we did not specify predictor variables to fit sample variogram).
A variety of statistical methods have been used for downscaling spatial data and generating interpolated climate surfaces. We used ordinary kriging technique because it is known to produce reliable continuous interpolated surfaces by considering the spatial structure in raw variables to minimize the variance of the errors . This is an important advantage in relation to other simple linear interpolation techniques (e.g. regression methods, see  for an overview), as it is desirable to interpolate climatic simulations which reflect the spatial structure of their boundary conditions (e.g. ice sheet, topography, vegetation, insolation). Moreover, because our dataset is based on climatic simulations, it makes no conceptual sense accounting for effects on observed climate patterns, like coastal influence, terrain barriers, temperature inversions (explicitly accounted by PRISM method, for example; see , nor linking weather stations along isoclines from irregularly spaced data points (which, for example, would be obtained by thin-plate spline-fitting techniques like ANUSPLIN; see  and )).
To test the accuracy of our layers we spatially interpolated temperature and precipitation layers from GCM CCSM4 using other four often used methods (thin-plate splines, inverse distance weighting, trend surface with 12th polynomial regression, natural neighbour), which were highly correlated with our correspondent originally interpolated layers (r > 0.96 for precipitation, except from trend surface method, and r > 0.98 for temperature; S1 Table). Moreover, we evaluated the efficiency of all methods by comparing the values of 5000 spatially correspondent points (~10% of original CCSM4 grid cells) from interpolated (X) and original (Z) layers using mean square errors [MSE = 1/n*Σ(Xi–Zi)2]. The points were randomly sampled across geographical space and the general procedure was repeated 1000 times. Kriging method showed the lowest MSEs (S1 Fig). Summarizing, our sensitivity analyses showed that although all methods interpolate climatic layers with similar spatial patterns (high correlations), kriging was the most precise for interpolating both temperature and precipitation (lowest MSE).
Finally, we applied the interpolated climate change trends (differences and ratios) to their correspondent interpolated modern conditions to obtain the interpolated LGM conditions. Working with interpolating anomalies (climate change trends) instead of directly interpolating the original variables from all climate scenarios (e.g. modern and LGM) ensures coherency of the simulated climate patterns across time (see  for a similar procedure to guarantee topography coherency across time when using observed modern climates instead of pre-industrial simulations as a control data).
We then used the downscaled layers of the four initial variables of the 12 months—precipitation, mean temperature, maximum temperature and minimum temperature—to construct the 19 bioclimatic variables (see www.worldclim.org): BIO1 = Annual Mean Temperature, BIO2 = Mean Diurnal Range (Mean of monthly (max temp—min temp)), BIO3 = Isothermality (BIO2/BIO7) (* 100), BIO4 = Temperature Seasonality (standard deviation *100), BIO5 = Max Temperature of Warmest Month, BIO6 = Min Temperature of Coldest Month, BIO7 = Temperature Annual Range (BIO5-BIO6), BIO8 = Mean Temperature of Wettest Quarter, BIO9 = Mean Temperature of Driest Quarter, BIO10 = Mean Temperature of Warmest Quarter, BIO11 = Mean Temperature of Coldest Quarter, BIO12 = Annual Precipitation, BIO13 = Precipitation of Wettest Month, BIO14 = Precipitation of Driest Month, BIO15 = Precipitation Seasonality (Coefficient of Variation), BIO16 = Precipitation of Wettest Quarter, BIO17 = Precipitation of Driest Quarter, BIO18 = Precipitation of Warmest Quarter, BIO19 = Precipitation of Coldest Quarter. We followed the standard equations from worldClim database to compute bioclimatic variables (see www.worldclim.org/bioclim). However, BIO1 (annual mean temperature) was obtained directly from GCM simulations (raw variable tas) instead of from average of maximum and minimum temperatures. We decided to use these 19 bioclimatic variables because they are the most often used variables by ecologists and biogeographers for training the ecological niche models. We also created a web-repository to share these variables. These downscaled bioclimatic layers are free to use for research and available for download in the Ecoclimate Database (www.ecoclimate.org) and also in Figshare (http://figshare.com/articles/past_GCMs_Sup_material_PLOS_ONE/1418256). e believe that these 0.5° grids would be highly used in macroecological studies.
We constructed our initial array with the 19 variables of the 9 GCMs using the function abind, from the abind package in R . We then chose to run simple statistical analyses. We used the standard deviation between all models to calculate the heterogeneity of the predictions for every pixel using the function apply, from the base package in R . For plotting the maps we used raster  and maptools , and the coastline shapefile map from Natural Earth (http://www.naturalearthdata.com/downloads/110m-physical-vectors/). For quantifying the agreement between models at each cell we calculated the standard deviation of the 9 GCMs, plus the quartile coefficient of deviation (q3-q1)/q3+q1, in order to have a relative value of the climatic uncertainties. We classified the models into groups by using the correlation between their climatic predictions. We used the function hcluster from the R-library amap  for running a hierarchical clustering analysis to order the similarities between the model predictions (based on the correlations between the predictions for the same variables), and we set the maximum number of clusters to 4. All R-scripts are available in github/SaraVarela/LGM_climate.
Our results show that the differences between the GCM predictions are not randomly distributed in geographic space (Figs 1 and 2). Predictions about temperature (BIO1-BIO11) during the LGM have a low deviance in the tropics and a very high deviance in the temperate areas (Figs 1 and 3). Conversely, differences in precipitation (BIO12-BIO19) are located in the tropics (Figs 1 and 3). Comparing the agreement of the model predictions for BIO1 (annual mean temperature) and BIO12 (annual precipitation) across 8 ecoregions we show that Paleartic, Neartic and Antartic ecoregions show low agreements between GCMs for BIO1, while Afrotropical, Indo-Malay, Neotropic, Australia and Oceania show higher levels of agreement between models (S2 Fig). Precipitation values show the exact opposite pattern (S3 Fig).
Fig 1. Standard deviation of the climatic conditions predicted by the GCMs.
Standard deviation of the temperature variables (BIO1-BIO11) and the precipitation variables (BIO12-BIO19) predicted by the nine General Circulation Models for the last glacial maximum. In general, temperature predictions are more robust for the oceans than for the continents, while precipitation errors are distributed in both seas and continents. Temperature predictions for the last glacial maximum are highly heterogeneous for cold climates, including the mountains, while predictions for tropical, warm and desert environments are more similar between models. On the other hand, tropical areas have highly heterogeneous predictions about precipitation, while predictions for the temperate and cold environments show better agreement.
Fig 2. Maps identifying the areas where the bioclimatic predictions for the last glacial maximum show between-model agreement (in dark red) separated by (A) temperature layers (BIO1 to BIO11) and (B) precipitation layers (BIO12-BIO19).
Pink areas are those with more climatic uncertainty (GCMs predict different values for temperature and precipitation). These maps are based on the quartile coefficient of dispersion (see methods), which takes into account the dispersion of the predictions related to the actual range of the predictions.
Fig 3. Standard deviation of BIO1 (annual mean temperature) (A) and BIO12 (annual precipitation) (B) in relation to latitude.
Our analysis indicates that these variables show an opposite latitudinal distribution of their uncertainties. Temperature predictions diverge at high latitudes, while precipitation predictions have high standard deviations in the tropics.
After calculating the correlations between the model's predictions for each climatic layer, we observed that temperature variables are highly correlated; some models have more extreme temperature predictions for the temperate and cold areas, but all the temperature predictions are highly correlated. Precipitation variables show more discrepancies between models; correlations between the predicted precipitation layers between models are not high, and the COSMOS climatic model showed the most different predictions (Fig 4 and S2 Table).
Fig 4. Boxplot showing the correlation values for the temperature variables (in red) and the precipitation variables (in blue), of each General Circulation Model (GCM) compared with the rest of the layers from the other GCMs.
Although there are discrepancies in certain variables, temperature variables are highly congruent between models. On the other hand, precipitation variables show more discrepancies between models. COSMOS is the most different model in relation to its predictions about precipitation. Points are outliers (located 1.5 times the interquartile range above the upper quartile and bellow the lower quartile, which is the default definition of outlier in the R function boxplot).
By identifying the groups of models with similar predictions, our hierarchical clustering analysis suggests that the four GCMs that should be selected to cover the widest range of climatic predictions for the LGM are: COSMOS (the model with the most singular predictions); one model from the group MPI and MRI; one model from the group CCSM3, FGOALS and MIROC; and the last model from the group GISS, CNRM and IPSL (Fig 5 and Table 2). However, the selected GCMs are dependent on the variables that we choose to use in our analysis. For instance, if we only consider BIO1 and BIO12 (Mean Annual Temperature and Annual Precipitation), the groups of GCMs that cover all the variability between models for these two variables are different. In this case, the simplest combination to cover all the variability between GCM predictions for the LGM would be the group CCSM3, GISS, MRI, and one model from the group of COSMOS and MPI (Table 2).
Fig 5. Hierarchical cluster grouping the nine GCMs by the correlation of their predictions for all 19 bioclimatic variables.
Table 2. Results from the hierarchical clustering analysis (k = 4) identifying the groups of general circulation models (GCMs) that have similar predictions for each variable at a global scale.
Finally, each temperature variable (BIO1-BIO11) shows high correlations and low deviations between models, with two exceptions: BIO2, Mean Diurnal Range (Mean of monthly (max temp—min temp)) and BIO3, Isothermality (BIO2/BIO7) (* 100). Moreover, precipitation variables (BIO12-BIO19) show intermediate correlations, and BIO14 (Precipitation of the driest month) and BIO15 (precipitation seasonality) show the lowest correlations between the model predictions (Fig 6, S2 Table).
Fig 6. Boxplot showing the correlation between GCM predictions for each bioclimatic variable.
In general, continental climatic predictions show lower agreement between models than oceanic climatic predictions (Fig 7), and some regions in the continents show a high consensus between GCM predictions (such as Greenland and North-East Asia), while others show a low consensus regarding climatic conditions (such as Europe, North Africa and Australia) (see Fig 7). Thus, our analysis suggests that the robustness of the predictions about the distribution of species in the LGM is strongly dependent on the geographic extent of the studies. Until now, the uncertainties about the climatic predictions of the GCMs were not generally discussed in studies about biogeography, but see [29, 30]. The discussions have mainly focused on the biases of the data , or the differences between the solutions found by different algorithms for constructing the ecological niche models . However, the climatic predictions from the GCMs do not converge to one unique solution regarding the spatial pattern of the climatic layers in the LGM (Fig 1). We assume that the GCMs will improve their climatic predictions, and in the near future should reach a stronger consensus. Meanwhile, a practical solution for biogeographical studies is to include a wide array of climatic simulations (GCMs) and discuss the potential uncertainties of the so-obtained predictions. We strongly suggest the consideration of different GCMs when predicting the LGM ranges of species suspected to inhabit areas with a low level of consensus between models (Fig 7), in order to cover the observed variability in climatic predictions. However, questions remain. Which models should be used? How many? And further, which variables should we choose in order to decrease the uncertainties of our species range maps?
Fig 7. Areas with high agreement between models.
Red areas show high agreement across the 19 bioclimatic variables (quartile coefficient of dispersion lower than 0.5 all variables at each cell).
Given our results, we suggest the selection of at least four different GCMs for calibrating and projecting ecological niche models (ENM) in the LGM attempting to cover all the variability observed between the GCMs (see Results and Table 2). However, as discussed above, there is no single solution about which models should be included. We grouped the GCMs according to their similarities across variables (see Table 2), and we show that GCM groups are not identical across the 19 bioclimatic variables. This suggests that, for example, GCMs that have similar predictions for BIO1 and thus belong to the same group, diverge in their predictions for BIO2, BIO3, etc. Therefore, our results suggest that there is no general solution about which GCMs should be included in our studies about the past ranges of species to cover all the variability of climatic predictions. This is dependent on the variables used for constructing our ENM and on the extent of our analysis.
Averaging the predictions of different GCMs is a common procedure in biogeography. However, doing an ensemble of different GCMs is based on the idea that the errors are normally distributed between the GCM predictions and that the mean of those maps will be a close proxy of the "truth". Also, averaging the species range predictions smoothes the species geographic shifts, hiding extreme optimistic or pessimistic predictions. For all these reasons, we recommend to repeat the models (the model calibration and the map projections) with different GCMs in order to have different measures of range shift, area, etc. according to the different GCMs. And, after that, show the dispersion of the obtained results. This is a more conservative approach that allows researchers to include the GCMs uncertainties in their results. Table 2 should help researchers select the adequate GCMs for their models considering the selected variables at a global scale. Continental and regional scales will be analyzed in the future.
A priori, the selection of the climatic layers used to calibrate ecological niche models could be based on the climatic requirements of the focal species. However, here we deal with this issue from a different perspective; we investigate the correlations between the predictions of each bioclimatic layer across the different GCMs (Fig 6). Our results show that in general, ENMs calibrated with temperature layers will be more robust than ENMs calibrated using precipitation layers, because temperature layers show more agreement between GCMs (Fig 6). These analyses support the results observed with real data; some former versions of the GCMs failed to predict precipitation conditions estimated using pollen records .
Between the precipitation layers, two variables, BIO14 (Precipitation of Driest Month) and BIO15 (Precipitation Seasonality), show a high variability between GCMs (Fig 6). Consequently, if we need to include precipitation variables, excluding certain variables (like BIO14 and BIO15) would increase the robustness of the ENM's predictions.
Further, if we want to use both temperature and precipitation layers, not including BIO2 (Mean Diurnal Range (Mean of monthly (max temp—min temp)), BIO3 (Isothermality), BIO 14 and BIO15, for calibrating or projecting the ENMs on the LGM scenario would highly decrease the uncertainties of our species range predictions.
This method for discarding climatic variables does not take into consideration the biotic requirements of the species, but rather the intrinsic uncertainties of the climatic models for the LGM. In macroecological studies that deal with a large number of species at a continental level, applying these types of criteria for discarding problematic variables will increase the robustness of our map predictions. However, if working with a particular species that is highly sensitive to those variables, e.g. to the precipitation of the driest month (BIO14), then we suggest projecting the species niche using all the climatic scenarios from the nine GCMs, to obtain a more complete picture of the solutions according to the different GCMs.
To summarize, climatic predictions for the last glacial maximum show different levels of agreement across space, and, in general, temperature layers show higher consensus than precipitation layers. Thus, when mapping the distribution of species in the last glacial maximum we should try to 1) select different GCMs for constructing our ENM and show the results of our predictions with their associated uncertainty; 2) if possible, exclude the variables that show high levels of uncertainty in our study area (normally precipitation variables) in order to reduce the differences between our predictions.
S1 Fig. Comparison among interpolation techniques for temperature and precipitation.
Comparison among interpolation techniques for temperature (A) and precipitation (B) layers. Boxplots show the mean square errors [MSE = 1/n*Σ(Xi–Zi)2] from interpolated (X) and original (Z) climatic values.
S2 Fig. Differences between models: Annual Mean Temperature.
Standard deviation of the predictions of the 9 different General Circulation Models (GCMs) for the last glacial maximum annual mean temperature (Bio1) across the 8 WWF ecoregions (ecoregions downloaded from http://maps.tnc.org/files/metadata/TerrEcos.xml). Paleartic, Neartic and Antartic ecoregions are the ones with higher differences between GCMs, which means a less agreement between climatic predictions for Bio1 (Annual Mean Temperature). On the other hand, Afrotropical, Indo-Malay, Neotropic, Australia and Oceania show higher levels of agreement between models.
S3 Fig. Differences between models: Annual Precipitation.
Standard deviation of the predictions of the 9 different GCMs for the last glacial maximum annual precipitation (Bio12). In this case, Antartic, Neartic and Paleartic show higher agreement between GCMs than Afrotropic, Indo-Malay, Neotropic and Oceania regions.
S1 Table. Comparative of different interpolation techniques.
Correlation (Pearson's coefficient—r) among interpolated temperature (above diagonal) and precipitation (below diagonal) layers from distinct techniques. Krige: ordinary kriging, IDW: inverse distance weighting, Splines: thin-plate spline; Trend: trend surface with 12th polynomial regression; NN: natural neighbor.
S2 Table. Correlation coefficients of climatic variables between GCMs.
Correlation between the same variables of the different GCMs. Temperature layers (BIO1-11) show better agreement between models than precipitation layers (BIO12-19).
Conceived and designed the experiments: SV MSLR LCT. Performed the experiments: SV. Analyzed the data: SV MSLR LCT. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: SV MSLR LCT. Wrote the paper: SV MSLR LCT.
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Is the Subject Area "Precipitation techniques" applicable to this article?


One more thing is that while looking for a good online electronics retail outlet, look for web stores that are frequently updated, trying to keep up-to-date with the most recent products, the most beneficial deals, in addition to helpful information on products. This will ensure you are dealing with a shop that stays on top of the competition and provides you what you ought to make educated, well-informed electronics buys. Thanks for the vital tips I have really learned through the blog.
"Well this is a real country. It's not some projection of what you want it to be, and it has a right to evolve and change…. " It's not a real country. It has no history. It is a system of power based around an army, an economy, an insular language and an ideology.
Szymon Kubanski12 listopada 2012Zgadzam się z Pawłem, że wcześniejsze zdobycie linków do domeny zanim postawimy na niej właściwą stronę daje niejako przewagę czasową. Można wtedy łatwiej wystartować i szybciej gonić konkurencję. Często mi się zdarza, że wpisując strony z pamięci mylę literki. Pojawiają się wtedy często zaparkowane domeny. Jaką waszym zdaniem musiała by mieć odpowiedzialność taka strona, żeby na niej zarobić np. 50 zł miesięcznie ?
Bah! I love the second one. What fabulous design! I love the retro-80's-flashdance-stripper-half-shirt look. Get me the number for that cover designer! I need it for when I release my new book next year, "Stripper-Pole through Dracula's Heart"
At last! Something clear I can unresdtand. Thanks!
We have been going to Deception Pass State park for many years. We very much enjoy it- it is one of our go to areas for spur of the moment Spring weekends. Some of the roads that access spots can be a bit narrow but not impossible. Not all RV pads are dirt or "Forrest mix" (pine cones, needles, dirt, etc.). You are in the deep woods. Each site has a pinic table and fire ring. There are many families about and the kids usually someone to play with. Also, pretty beaches and trails to walk. Geocaching is in the park too. Back out at the highway there are 2 zippy marts with basics if you need them along with fuel. Grocery stores are in Anacortes.
Me and my family really enjoy Deception Pass State Park. You are correct, the roads into the campground can be tight in places. This was the first place we camped when we bought our 30 foot trailer. Talk about stress trying to back it into a space for the first time!
Nice views, lots of trees. Warning although they have pull throughs, the sites are all dirt. Also the roads are trails, dirt again, and not wide. Several turns to make it through. The rangers are helpful. I paid for two days, but with the rain, and the close quarters, I did not want to risk hitting a tree with my 28′ trailer. The bathrooms are spread out. No wifi, etc.


text:
Q: saving zoom scale between viewpager fragments? I use a viewpager in my app , the pager fragments consist of webview (viewpager of webviews)
The user can zoom in and out in the fragment , the question is how to preserve the zoom scale for the webview to the next or previous page
hope it's clear
Thanks

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Oolong tea is a semi-fermented tea, combining the best qualities of green tea and black tea. Oolong tea is not only as clear and fragrant as green tea, but also as refreshing and strong as black tea.If you drink Oolong tea, the natural aroma may linger in your mouth and make your throat much comfortable.
The processing of Chinese Oolong tea include six procedures: sunshine withering, tedding fresh leaves, rocking green, stir-fry gree, rolling, drying.
According to different producing areas, Chinese Oolong tea is sorted by four types: North Fujian Oolong tea, South Fujian Oolong tea, Guangdong Oolong tea and Formosa Oolong tea.
It's hard to confirm the specific time when Oolong tea was created. All historical records indicate that Fujian is the origin location of Oolong tea.
The name of "Oolong" is also a enigma to Chinese tea history. Is it named after a placename or any variety of tea plant? The pinyin for "Oolong" is "Wu Long", which means "black dragon". Does the tea name of "Oolong" have any relation with "Dragon" which traditionally taken as the Chinese lucky indication?
Packing:In plywood chests lined with aluminium foil,paper cartons lined with plastic bag or aluminium foil bag,each chest or carton weighs 18-22kg net.
Grading for oolongs changes from Fanciest or Extra Fancy (best) to Common (worst). Unlike other grading systems, this one actually rates the quality of the drink you can get from the leaves. The top grades are Fanciest or Extra Fancy, Fancy, and Extra Choice (or Extra Fine).


Hearing amateur signals on on 10m, low part for CW & digital, USB and FM stuff up at 29.58+ MHz.
11m is quite active as well.
12m has a digital mode & a QSO.
Checked it out and nothing now (hardly a surprise being 0056 GMT), but did save the URL for future use.


text:
Interactive, customizable, intuitive: the Self-Directed Search online
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The new SDS is here!
The next generation of John Holland's Self-Directed Search is here! Based on data collected for the SDS Form R, 5th Edition (2013), the gold standard in career personality assessment has been rebranded, repackaged, and refreshed!
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Learn from PAR Authors at NCDA!
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Exploring the Gender Gap in STEM: The Impact of Women's Ratings of Mathematical and Scientific Self-Concept on Aspirations
Friday, July 1, 10:15 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Melissa Messer, MHS, co-author of the Self-Directed Search® (SDS®) Form R, 5th Edition
Examining the Differences in Interest, Skills, and Abilities Across the Workforce
Friday, July 1, 4 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.
Using an Interactive Career Counseling Tool to Engage Clients
Jennifer Greene, MSPH, co-author of The Veterans and Military Occupations Finder™
The Relationship Between RIASEC Personality Types and Negative Thinking: Implications for Career Counseling"
Assessing Your Clients' Work Values: A New Way to Home in on Occupational Matches
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career, Holland Code, John Holland, RIASEC, SDS, Self-Directed Search
Now available… the SDS Interactive Report!
More than 35 million people worldwide have used the Self-Directed Search® (SDS®) to discover the careers and fields of study that are likely to be a good fit for their interests and skills. Now, the SDS is even better with the addition of a Web-based, easy-to-use report that provides a personalized snapshot of your client's career-related personality. The new Interactive Report is offered in addition to the traditional printable report at no extra cost!
See what's important
A simple interface allows clients to more quickly and easily navigate the various sections of the report.
Custom links enable immediate access to job openings nearby and allow clients to see the typical salary range for their recommended occupations.
A Summary and Resources tab provides helpful links and follow-up recommendations.
Customize the experience
The SDS display can be customized to show occupation, field of study, and leisure activity results by how closely they match a person's results.
Sorting and filtering tools narrow results.
Be confident in the results
The Interactive Report is the newest offering of the SDS, one of the most widely used career interest inventories in the world.
A full, printable SDS report with detailed, personalized information is available.
Help your clients find their future with an even better SDS experience. Available only at www.self-directed-search.com!
career, career assessment, career centers, career counseling, John Holland, RIASEC, SDS, Self-Directed Search
New Products, PAR Author, PAR Staff
Helping Veterans Make the Transition to Civilian Life
The latest edition of the Career Planning and Adult Development Journal features a chapter by PAR authors Melissa A. Messer, MHS, and Jennifer A. Greene, MSPH.
The article details the development of the newest edition to our Self-Directed Search® product line, the Veterans and Military Occupations Finder™ (VMOF™), and explains how to use this new tool when counseling veterans through their transition from the military to the civilian job force. The VMOF helps clients better understand how to transition their skills to civilian occupations through use of John Holland's RIASEC theory of career development.
The entire Fall 2014 edition of the Career Planning and Adult Development Journal focuses on helping veterans with career development and transition.
Click here to read the article by Melissa A. Messer, MHS, and Jennifer A. Greene, MSPH.
career, career transition, John Holland, military, RIASEC, SDS, Self-Directed Search, soldiers, transition, veterans, VMOF
PAR Author, PAR Staff, Practice, Products
Introducing the Self-Directed Search® (SDS®), 5th Edition Spanish Version
One of the most respected and widely used career interest inventories in the world has been revised and updated to meet the needs of Spanish-speaking clients.
Developed concurrently with the English version, the Self-Directed Search (SDS), 5th Edition Spanish Version by John L. Holland, PhD and Melissa A. Messer, MHS is a self-administered, self-scored, and self-interpreted career counseling tool designed specifically for use with Spanish speakers living in the U.S. Translated by experts and reviewed by practicing bilingual counselors, the SDS Spanish components include the Assessment Booklet, the Occupations Finder, and the You and Your Career booklet; the complete SDS Spanish Kit also includes the 5th Edition Professional Manual (in English) along with a Manual Supplement for the Spanish Version.
An online Spanish Version is also available at www.self-directed-search.com, where clients can not only take the SDS online but also receive their client reports in Spanish, as well. Visit the SDS Web site to take the SDS in Spanish or to see the new Spanish language features and resources.
assessment, author, career assessment, career counseling, career interest inventory, John Holland, Melissa Messer, SDS, SDS Spanish Version, Self-Directed Search
New Products, PAR Author
Finding a Satisfying Career: Help is on the Way!
Only 45 percent of the working population in the U.S. are satisfied with their jobs, according to a recent survey of 5,000 households. To address this problem, people need tools to help identify careers that are a good fit for their interests and skills. The popular Self-Directed Search® (SDS®) from PAR provides a solution for today's job seekers. The brand-new SDS 5th Edition is a 15-minute, self-administered test for those beginning their career search as well as those considering a career change.
"Taking the SDS is an important first step in developing a career plan that can prevent years of dissatisfaction on the job," says SDS 5th Edition author Melissa Messer. "The SDS guides users toward careers that will help them meet their personal and financial goals and that they enjoy."
According to Ms. Messer, no special training or qualifications are needed with the SDS; it is designed to be self-administered, self-scored, and self-interpreted. The SDS can be taken online; with paper and pencil; or via PARiConnect, PAR's new online assessment system.
The SDS 5th Edition is based on Dr. John Holland's theory that both people and work environments fit into six basic categories: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional (known collectively as RIASEC). The SDS generates a three-letter Summary Code for each user, based on his or her aspirations, activities, competencies, and interest in different occupations. Users can match their Summary Codes to jobs in the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) database, which lists thousands of current jobs at all skill and education levels.
The SDS Web site has also been updated with new resources targeted to specific groups and a contemporary, easy-to-navigate user interface. The newly revised report includes an "at-a-glance" summary, and users can share their results via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and more. The SDS 5th Edition is designed to work on mobile devices and tablets.
To learn more about the SDS 5th Edition or any of PAR's other career or vocational products, visit www.parinc.com or call 1.800.331.8378.
assessment, authors, career, career interest inventory, John Holland, RIASEC
The New Self-Directed Search, 5th Edition Now Available from PAR
PAR is delighted to announce the release of the new Self-Directed Search® (SDS®), 5th Edition, by John L. Holland, PhD, and Melissa A. Messer, MHS.
The Self-Directed Search (SDS), John Holland's original gold-standard assessment and one of the most widely used career interest inventories in the world*, has been updated to meet the needs of today's clients. Whether they are college students choosing a major, veterans entering the civilian job market, or adults pursuing a career change, individuals can use the SDS to learn about themselves and their career options.
Like its predecessors, the SDS 5th Edition is based on Holland's theory that both people and work environments can be classified according to six basic types: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional (known collectively as RIASEC). The SDS asks questions about the user's aspirations, activities, competencies, and interest in different occupations, and from the responses it generates a three-letter Summary Code. Using the revised Occupations Finder, users can match their Summary Codes to jobs in the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) database, which lists thousands of current jobs at all skill and education levels.
No special training or qualifications are needed with the SDS; it is designed to be self-administered, self-scored, and self-interpreted. The SDS can be taken on the internet, with paper and pencil, or via PARiConnect, PAR's new online assessment system.
*The SDS has been used more than 35 million times and has been translated into more than 25 languages.
assessment, authors, career interest inventory, John Holland, O*NET, Occupational Information Network, RIASEC, SDS, Self-Directed Search
PAR Author, Products
Helping Clients Find Their Own Direction: Robert Reardon and Janet Lenz Reflect on Career and the Success of the Self-Directed Search®
The Self-Directed Search® has been used by more than 30 million people worldwide and has been translated into more than 25 languages. There are a number of career assessments on the market, yet the SDS continues to be extremely successful. What sets it apart? Recently, PAR had the opportunity to catch up with two SDS experts, Robert Reardon, PhD, and Janet Lenz, PhD, both from the Career Center at Florida State University and widely published in the career counseling arena. Reardon and Lenz have worked closely with SDS author John Holland as collaborators and authors of many SDS-related publications, including The Self-Directed Search and Related Holland Materials: A Practitioner's Guide (PAR, 1998).
The SDS is based on Holland's career theory, which argues that vocational choice is an expression of personality, and that by identifying certain personality characteristics and preferences, better career choices can be made. "People often feel overwhelmed about how to relate their self-knowledge to career options," says Reardon. "The SDS gives them a way to intuitively and logically make that connection." One of Holland's most important contributions was his identification of the personality and environmental characteristics that have become known collectively as RIASEC: realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, and conventional. These factors form the basis of the SDS.
Reardon and Lenz have worked with the SDS for nearly 40 years, and they have seen it develop in response to career counseling research and new technology. "Our counseling service started using the SDS in 1973 because it included a self-help feature that we knew would be useful to our clients," they explain. "Holland took note of what we were doing and was supportive along the way."
Reardon and Lenz have been deeply involved in revisions of the SDS, and they have been key players in updates and revisions to many of the individual elements in the SDS product family, such as the interpretive report generated by the SDS software. But what keeps these products current and relevant? "The SDS is informed by both practice and research," they explain, "and we continue to draw upon both to keep SDS materials current and relevant. For example, the revised Occupations Finder published in 2010 is very important because it now connects the SDS to the O*NET system of occupational information, which is online and updated constantly. Unlike many other assessments, the SDS embraces users—after all, 'self-directed' is in the title—and this user perspective helps to keep the SDS relevant."
Today, using the on-screen administration, clients can complete the SDS electronically on a laptop computer, a tablet, or even an iPhone® or Android device. For college students and other clients living in this era of instant information, the SDS has kept pace by providing a fast, accessible, portable, and reasonably priced tool that can help them gain real insight into making good choices about career.
In the category of reliable, valid, theory-based instruments, the SDS is one of the most user-friendly, and it is very easy for practitioners to use with clients. "Some have described the SDS as simple," say Reardon and Lenz, "but when fully interpreted and connected to Holland's theoretical constructs (for example, congruence, differentiation, coherence, consistency, vocational identity), it provides a rich source of information for both clients and practitioners to discuss and incorporate into a plan for next steps. The information not only addresses self and option knowledge, but it provides diagnostic data about the client's ability to move effectively through the career decision-making and problem solving process."
As the SDS has evolved, it has always been research-based; through the years, more than 1,600 published studies have examined, evaluated, and supported Holland's career theory. Reardon and Lenz have themselves collaborated in more than 35 publications related to the SDS and RIASEC theory. "Over time, our interest in the SDS has deepened as we learned more about the instrument, not only from our own research, but from hundreds of studies and articles that were published as more practitioners adopted the SDS and more researchers began to consider it."
"One of the things we've seen from doing workshops with counselors all over the country is how many different settings and with how many different client populations the SDS has been used successfully," say Reardon and Lenz. "It's been rewarding to see how it has helped so many people become more effective career problem solvers."
To learn more about the Self-Directed Search and other materials related to career intervention services and resources, visit the SDS product page on PAR's Web site; to take the SDS online right now, click on http://www.self-directed-search.com/.
assessment, career, career counseling, career interest inventory, career transition, Holland Code, John Holland, Occupations, SDS, Self-Directed Search


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HomeLifeRelationshipMatt Roloff Shares a Photo of His Grownup Son 'Baby J' in a Suit for His Upcoming Wedding
Matt Roloff Shares a Photo of His Grownup Son 'Baby J' in a Suit for His Upcoming Wedding
6421 June 26, 2019 | by Gracious Egedegbe
Matt Roloff from the popular television show "Little People, Big World" shares a photograph of his son, Jacob Roloff in a suit as he prepares for his wedding with his fiancee Isabel Rock.
Jacob is one of American actor, Matt Roloff and ex-wife Amy Roloff's children. Their marriage lasted for 27 years after which the couple got separated in March 2014 and finally got divorced in May 2016.
Before their separation, the couple raised their four kids together with three being of average height and Zachary possessing the "dwarfism gene" in his parents.
Matt's youngest child, Jacob Roloff, who is known as the black sheep of the Roloff family because of his retirement from the "Little People, Big World" television show in 2016, is about to get married to Painter and social media star Isabel Rock. Matt shared a photograph of Jacob as he tries a suit for his big day.
Jacob and Isabella met each other after he quit the reality show and focused on writing. The two got acquainted through their desire for art; Jacob is focused on writing and has a popular blog where he shares his thoughts and Isabella is focused on visual art.
After dating for a while, Jacob popped the "big question" on the 25th of December 2017, as the couple were on a trip to Iceland. On the 8th of September 2018, Isabella announced their wedding date — the 7th of September, 2019.
She stated the challenges she was facing in an Instagram post and captioned the photo, saying:
"This has been a really challenging season of life for me, and for us, and we have been in 'transition' for what feels like an eternity. I know it is all part of our journey, and I am trying to honour that while also manage my anxiety."
The couple has however decided that their wedding would not be televised. Just like Molly Roloff's wedding with Joel Silvius, Jacob and Isabella will be keeping their marriage private, away from cameras and the entire TLC universe.
The news didn't come as a surprise to the fans, after Jacob's departure from the show in 2016, accusing the producers of creating unnecessary "drama" for ratings.
Matt Roloff Reunites with His Two Sons for Father's Day in an Adorable New Photo
While some may welcome the news without any complaints, other fans who had monitored the Roloff family's growth over time, wished the opposite was the case.
When asked if the marriage would be televised, Jacob responded,
"Thanks! Molly's was not televised, and neither will ours be! Sorry".
While fans understand Jacob and Isabella's intentions to keep things private, they, however, anticipate pictures of the wedding on different social media platforms.
TV Apr 23, 2019
Jacob Roloff and Isabel Rock Reportedly Disappointed Fans Who Wanted to Watch Their Wedding
Amy Roloff Shares a Meaningful Easter Message for LPBW Fans
Amy Roloff Remembers Her Oldest Sister Who Died from 'Illness' in an Emotional Message
TV Mar 21, 2019
LPBW Fans Are Wondering Who Will Get Remarried First, Matt or Amy Roloff
James Holzhauer's 'Jeopardy!' Fans React to His New TV Appearance on the 'World Series of Poker'
Fan's Reaction to Meghan Markle's Appearance at 'The Lion King' Premiere Goes Viral
US Air Force Responds to People Who Signed a Call to Storm the Infamous Area 51


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Celebrating The Astor Theatre and Appreciating Melbourne's Vibrant Arts Scene
June 27, 2015 June 27, 2015 ~ mairineilcreative writer
Melbourne's winter has been colder than usual this year and some days have been bleak. Night falls early, the sky beginning to darken at 5.00pm, making it easy to stay home and cuddle up with a book by the fireside. It has to be an enticing reason to venture into the cold and on Thursday night, 25th June 2015, such a reason occurred, an offer, in Godfather parlance, I couldn't refuse.
Courtesy of Anne, my eldest daughter, Mary Jane and I attended a gala event to take part in a piece of Melbourne's history – the celebration of the refurbishment and saving of The Astor Theatre, an icon of entertainment and a legend in the city.
Anne's gift stirred many memories of my teenage years, the 60s and 70s in Melbourne where we would travel in from the outer suburbs to taste the nightlife of the city! The Astor Theatre open long after other cinemas had closed for the evening and its Chapel Street location such a contrast to Croydon, a 'bush' town that still had horse rails attached to wooden verandahs outside some shops when we arrived from Scotland in 1962.
A short walk from Windsor Railway Station, The Astor is one of the last single screen movie palaces in the world and has shown movies continuously since 1936, a time when 'going to the pictures' a highlight of many people's week.
Always a treat, to go to The Astor, the home of the double feature that grew into a cinema showing cult favourites, Golden Era classics and new releases long after the cinema monopolies take them off screen for the latest 10 day wonder. You don't sit through 20 minutes of advertising or promos at The Astor – you see two movies or experience an event. (Mary Jane and I watched Joss Whedon's Cabin in The Woods with an extremely appreciative audience! My friend Eva and I sat through Tim Winton's The Turning comparing the film interpretation to the short stories we'd read.)
Thursday night's gala event was no exception from other Astor evenings sitting in the art deco time warp. The charm of the theatre has to be experienced and you know you are with an audience that appreciates the suspension of disbelief, the wonderment of 'going to the pictures'.
Your ticket gives you a seat – first in, best dressed – sit in the Stalls or Upstairs in the balcony. The sound, large screen and projection state of the art and modern, in comparison to the now heritage listed leather seats – if you have back problems you'll appreciate the intermission between features.
The gala event special because like many of Melbourne's live music venues and entertainment icons, The Astor, being an old building on prime real estate was threatened with closure. Maintenance costs and expenses for upgrading seemed insurmountable in a difficult economic climate and the spread of the digital revolution .
The public outcry and support for a piece of Melbourne's history and current culture, some wealthy investors and the Palace Cinema group combined to save the day. Miracles do happen. My daughters and I thrilled to be part of the celebration knowing when we held up our glasses of bubbly to 'long live The Astor' the theatre's future is secure with a promise to retain the features supporters cherish.
Needless to say the champagne,wine and beer flowed freely courtesy of Brown brothers and Peroni, 'a delicious Italian beer' the young hosts promoted as they carried trays of bottles and glasses around the rooms. Everyone received a famous Astor Choc Ice specialty too – an ice-cream cone with thick chocolate topping. A jazz band's lively repertoire ensured toes tapped and punters danced.
There were nibblies served in cardboard boats – a link with the motif of the special Melbourne premiere of 'Women He's Undressed', the new documentary by Gillian Armstrong on the life of Australian costume designer Orry-Kelly who dressed stars from the Golden Era of Hollywood, won three Oscars and is largely unknown in Australia.
When Mary Jane and I walked past the theatre at 5.30pm to meet Anne for dinner, we were surprised at the crowd already gathering outside The Astor – one middle-aged matron dressed like a Hollywood silent movie star knocking on the glass doors trying to get the attention of those inside.
'She's keen,' I commented.
'And we're underdressed,' said MJ, as we took in some of the evening and fancy dress of the crowd.
Later, egalitarian Melbourne and The Astor witnessed plenty of folks dressed casually coming straight from university or work. We weren't made to feel oddities.
However, the number of photographers present and the ABC van parked outside while spotlights raked the night sky plus the music from the live jazz band drifting up the street signalled this was an exciting evening.
We were part of history – a lovely memorable part of history.
Director Gillian Armstrong and co-producer Damien Parer introduced the film, Women He's Undressed. Gillian ecstatic to be in her hometown and getting a cheer from the crowd when she said she regarded this night, not the Sydney launch, as the world premiere. Most of her family were present and The Astor was a world famous institution – what more could she ask!
She begged us to wait until after the credits at the end so she could introduce the writer, Katherine Thomson and the star, Darren Gilshenan. It was wonderful she publicly acknowledged the team who helped make the documentary, including researchers. Film is a collaborative art, a fact often forgotten when people gush over stars or directors.
The cinema length documentary explored the life of three-time Oscar winner, Australian costume designer Orry-Kelly. A man who I'll openly admit I knew nothing about until the promos for the gala event at The Astor. Very few Australians will have heard of him, or realised he was Australian, so I'm not alone in my ignorance.
The film draws on his memoir 'Women I've Undressed', hidden until recently because Cary Grant extracted a promise it wouldn't be published and then used the legal system to block publication. Orry and Cary (real name Archie Leach) lived together and the famous film star insisted Orry keep their relationship secret.
We learn about Orry's early life in Kiama and later Sydney, Australia, but most of the film concentrates on his journey in America where he makes his name as a costume designer for Warner Brothers becoming a friend and confidante to actors such as Ginger Rogers, Bette Davis, Betty Grable, Humphrey Bogart, Marilyn Munroe, Kathryn Hepburn, Barbara Stanwyck, Angela Lansbury… and the list goes on. His Oscars won for An American in Paris (1951, shared with two others), Les Girls (1957) and Some Like It Hot (1959).
The metaphor of the sea and rowing boat plus Kiama's famous Blowhole a stroke of genius, no doubt inspired by a photograph of Orry the boy in a sailor suit and sitting in a boat, but used to great effect in the documentary.
Historically, life has never been easy if you are homosexual and Orry suffered periods of discrimination and anguish because of his sexuality. After trouble in Sydney with a gangster boyfriend he fled to New York arriving at a time when despite Prohibition, Broadway and jazz clubs thrived. Orry's artistic talents and homosexuality soon found a niche.
Later, Orry developed an addiction to alcohol and was also known to be temperamental. A talented artist he worked at a frenetic pace. Interspersed with interviews of people who knew him, worked with him or knew of him, we return again and again to Orry in the boat – in and out of deep water, rowing gently or paddling furiously, adrift or beached, or at last in safe harbour.
We learn about the adoring, unconditional love from his mother, her foresight paying for his art lessons, as well as his aptitude for sewing from his tailor father. When a costume designer, Orry sketched the clothes, including the faces of the actors, an unusual practice at the time. His drawings became much sought after works of art. These drawings helped him become a great costume designer, actors knew the clothes were made for them as well as enhancing their roles.
A snippit from the film reveals that Bette Davis had long droopy breasts, but refused to wear an underwire bra for fear of breast cancer. Orry accommodated her figure by having clothes with fancy pockets, large collars, designs that disguised or drew attention away from her chest. They collaborated and became great friends.
The amazing, eye-popping dresses worn by Marilyn Munroe in Some Like It Hot, whereby she appears almost naked a triumph of design and to this day people wonder how Orry managed to circumvent the strict guidelines Hollywood adhered to regarding nudity, sex, swearing etc.
The official release date of Women He's Undressed is July 16th. A film about a talented Aussie bloke few have probably heard of – someone today's celebrity worshippers have missed! The documentary deserves a good run and judging by the reception it received from The Astor's audience it was a great choice for a fabulous gala event.
The film left me wanting to know more about Orry-Kelly – let me know if you felt like that too!
Posted in Australia Australians in Hollywoodcostume designercreative writingfilm reviewfilms in Australiagala eventGillian ArmstrongMelbourne's art sceneOrry-KellyThe Astor TheatreWomen he's UndressedWomen I've undressedwriting about film
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package model;

/**
 * @author Philipp Winter
 * @author Jonas Heidecke
 * @author Niklas Kaddatz
 */
public interface Scorable {

    public int getScore();

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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Staff take over Dundee building services business
Scan Building Services becomes Scotland's latest employee-owned company
Kristy Dorsey
Directors Graham Prophet (lower front left) and Mark McKenzie (lower front right) with other staff members of Scan
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An engineering services firm in Dundee has become Scotland's latest employee-owned company in a move that will keep the business "rooted" locally.
Fifty-six staff members are the new owners of Scan Building Services, which provides heating, ventilation, air conditioning and plumbing systems to domestic, commercial and industrial buildings. Founded in 1980, the company generates annual revenues of £3.9m.
Brown McFarlane becomes latest firm to move to new Eurocentral office park
Previous owner David Anderson sold 100 per cent of the shares to an Employee Ownership Trust under the guidance of Co-operative Development Scotland (CDS) and chartered accountants Henderson Loggie. There are further plans to introduce an Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI) scheme for senior members of staff.
Graham Prophet, part of the senior management team at Scan, said the new structure ensures that all employees now have a real interest in the success of the business, which will further motivate performance.
"Throughout the years we have endeavoured to provide the best possible quality of products and services to our clients and to pride ourselves in the standard of the work we provide," Prophet said. "To do this we employ a highly skilled workforce of dedicated and local craftsmen, many of whom trained through the company's apprenticeship scheme.
Aberdeen shipping firm Vroon Offshore Services clinches BP contract
"So when we were considering our options for future ownership of the business, we wanted to ensure the jobs were retained in Dundee and the staff were rewarded for any success. Employee ownership ticked all of those boxes and following a feasibility study last year, we knew it was the best option for us."
Rod Mathers , partner at Henderson Loggie, said employee ownership is a tax-efficient option for owners to realise their investment.
Previous owner Anderson added: "Henderson Loggie has been a valued adviser to the business and the team's advice has helped it to grow over two decades.
"Rod Mathers suggested this very effective structure which met my objectives and allowed ownership of the company to pass to the employees, who now have a vested interest in making it the best company it can be and to benefit directly from their efforts."
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