To finish off shaping [narrowing] the ends of the bow, where they meet the trailing edge, I turned the wing vertical and placed on the purpose made stand. This position gave me a good comfortable sanding action. The bow is thicker than the trailing edge thickness, so it has to be tapered down to finish flush with the trailing edge. For this I used a 7" sanding block.
Tip: Originally I had cut the bow to fit snug up to the tail rib where the alum' trailing edge terminates, but I realized that I needed a small radius at that corner...this doesn't work too well trying to smooth the edge of an alum' extrusion. So, I planted in a 1/4" piece of spruce between the bow-ends and the tail rib. This gave me a wood-buffer-zone which I could round-over.
Before storing away the recently purchased required I-strut AN4 bolts, I remembered that I needed to look at the tie-down options available. what I decided to go with was, cutting the eye off an eye bolt and welding that to the lower forward I-strut attach bolt. This seems a very good way to go, since the eye is minimal and requires no extra attachment hardware except the already required I-strut attach bolt.
The most practical method of working with the cabane glass fairing was unfortunately to have the plane updside down. This seems a daunting task at first, but it turned out to be a real no brainer with the help of three other hangar ratz. I made a small trestle for resting the fuselage on, and the whole process was over and done with within 3 minutes. The wing frame you see on the ground in the pics is just the previously made vertical hanging frame turned downwards [lucky me!].
Way back when I was rigging the incidence of my top wing, I had dropped the spar center line slightly past the spar/cabane brackets a touch. This has come back to haunt me. As you can see by the inset pic, the belly of the ply clashes with the tube, causing it to sit high from where it should be. I need 3/16 off from somewhere. Taking this off the tube will really not give me much tube left, channeling a groove in the ply is a no-no since it is considered structural. So I have decided to move the tube by adding two triangular steel gussets and mounting a tube between them [see pink in pic]. The cabane fairing is tall enough to cover everything.


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Facebook and Sony are preparing to ramp up the output of upcoming gaming devices by as much as 50 percent, showing how the two big tech companies are profiting from users' thirst for home entertainment during the global Covid-19 pandemic, the Nikkei Asian Review has learned.
According to sources, the global leading provider of virtual reality headsets by market share Facebook's Oculus is eyeing growth of at least 50 percent from last year for its latest version of head-mounted VR devices, pushing production to two million units.
Meanwhile, sources familiar with the matter said that Sony, the world's No. 2 video game console maker only after Nintendo by shipments, has also raised production orders for its upcoming PlayStation 5 to about 9 million units, from the around 6 million units it had planned in spring. After the Japanese company launched the PlayStation 4 in 2013 and an upgrade in 2016, the PlayStation 5 is the first new generation of the console in seven years.
The big tech companies' optimism is a robust sign for a wide variety of suppliers in the entertainment segment for the last half of 2020, while many tech industry players are still finding ways to offset the declining smartphone market.
Facebook's move further underlines its ambition to further expand its footprint in the emerging VR market, where it is the leader with a 35% market share.
In comparison to the cyclical and relatively mature games console market, dominated by Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft, market watchers said VR was still a nascent market with a lot of players trying new applications. However, gaming is still the most important segment.
Facebook is going to further expand standalone VR, giving users a more immersive experience than PC and smartphone-based VR headsets. Other companies are also jostling for a market share. For example, HTC, formerly a leading smartphone maker, changed its focus from handsets to VR. Sony launched its first PlayStation VR in 2015. Google, Huawei Technologies, and Samsung Electronics all introduced phone-based VR headsets, which use smartphones as the VR headset's screens.
This entry was posted in News, Online Games and tagged Facebook, Sony, VR on July 15, 2020 by Rosemary Curtis.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Alolita Sharma
Software Engineering, Open Source, Open Standards, Observability, Search, Language Technologies, Culture
About Alolita
Alolita's Talks and Presentations
Topics I speak about
Tag Archives: Asia
Growing India's FOSS Ecosystem with Planet FLOSS India
A Conversation with Planet FLOSS India's co-founders Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay and Sayamindu Dasgupta.
Planet FLOSS India
India's free and open source software community is known for its vibrant diversity. It is diverse geographically, technologically and ideologically and has voices that range from the inspired to the obsessed. Planet FLOSS India is a successful online platform representing India's many FOSS voices. I've known the planet's co-founders, Sankarshan and Sayamindu for many years now and recently talked to them about the planet's origins, success and future. Here is what they had to say.
1. India's FOSS community is large yet mostly unknown. Planet FLOSS India is helping make the community's voices more widely known. Tell me about how this Planet came about and who came up with the idea.
Sankarshan: http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://planet-india.randomink.org shows that May 20, 2004 was when Planet FLOSS India first appeared on the World Wide Web. The idea for this planet was floating around in our heads for at least 3 months before that. As far as I recall, one evening, at Sayamindu's place, we realized that the two of us read other planets all the time. We ended up wondering what it would take to build one for India.
Sankarshan
Sayamindu
It took ten minutes to register the domain and a day or so to obtain the hosting space. Sayamindu helped out a lot by doing some research and selecting Dreamhost. Between the two of us, we did not actually know many folks; so we decided to get some word of mouth going (including instances where we had folks telling us "you have a piddly 12 folks blogging and getting syndicated on the planet and you call it Planet FLOSS India ?") That was then. We've come a long way since then I'd say.
Sayamindu: We could do more stuff really I guess we are limited by our own interest in getting things through.
2. Planets are excellent tools for community building. What has helped you in building and managing this community and maintaining its quality.
Sankarshan: Personally, one of the satisfying results of helping host this planet (I pay for the hosting while Sayamindu does other larger bits) has been seeing the breadth and quality of people we have come across. Most of the time the conversation has been long-lasting and interesting. There is a tremendous amount of work in the FLOSS space that happens in India, and what we syndicate now represents the subset of just those who write. Having a pan-India planet is also interesting as it allows us to see the regional or task specific ones (planets) like Planet Durgapur LUG and so forth.
Sayamindu: I'd also like to believe that it has allowed an online space for conversation. We have had bloggers send us notes of appreciation when someone stumbled on to their work because they were syndicated and, thereon collaboration flourished. This makes us happy.
3. Have you ever had a problem where you had to drop a blogger off.
Sankarshan: We don't actually have a policy on the content. The planet began with an aim to allow both of us to get to know folks and, we do tend to believe that it is always better to let every facet of personality shine through. Having said all of that, there have been times when we have had to comment out the feed URL in the configuration file thus taking the blogger off the planet.
Sayamindu: As a best practice, we try and reach out asking for a specific feed and so forth. It has not been a problem but yes, like other planets we have had to exercise some editorial control on the content.
4. What are your plans about growing Planet FLOSS India?
Sankarshan: The planet's growth has been more of an evolution.
One aspect we'd like to think about is how to get folks to have the discipline to write about what they are up to. The more they think about it in terms of collaboration (and less in terms of PR for their projects), we should see a good amount of writing coming up. We also try to convince folks to write in their local languages. Local language content would make a good amount of material fly past our readers, but it would be good to see content and blogs getting syndicated in Indian languages.
We haven't run too much analysis on the content that goes on the planet. Nonetheless we tried to test the grade at which it was written (turns out that it is mostly easy to read) but I'd say that in our evil plans there is this idea of expanding the 'S' in FLOSS beyond Software per se and make it easier for anyone to feel that they could be syndicated.
Sayamindu: There are some technical parts to the infrastructure that we have to look at in the near future – these include the ability to self-add oneself to the planet. For example, The Fedora Project Planet does this nicely. We also need someone to do up a newer theme and CSS for the planet now that I don't have the time at all. ** The current theme was cooked in one night and uses quite a few hacks which fall apart in some corner-cases. It would be nice to have someone preserve the look and feel, but rewrite the entire HTML/CSS part in a cleaner fashion. **
5. How do you support the infrastructure for the Planet. Do you take donations, gifts and hardware? What about ads? How many hits do you have to handle?
Sayamindu: Hosting and domain charges are paid entirely by Sankarshan personally. We have around a 1000 unique visitors to the site per month (its not very high, but most of them access the site daily). Moreover, people also access the site via RSS feedreaders. There's also a Google SMS channel which sends out a mobile text message when a new post shows up on the Planet. Most of the visitors are from India, and some are from North America and Europe.
6. What's next for Planet FLOSS India. What's in store in the future?
Sayamindu: A major priority is cleaning up of the design (visual as well as from the point of view of HTML/CSS). I also have some ideas like having a Google custom search so that people can search the posts made by the people on the Planet, letting people share and designate favorite posts directly from the planet interface, making the Planet self service (for example, people can add themselves, change their hackergotchi/rss feel url) etc.
And of course, we are always looking for people who would like to get syndicated on the planet. Please email us if you are interested in getting syndicated or volunteering to help with planet maintenance.
Thanks Sankarshan and Sayamindu for discussing Planet FLOSS India. I wish you great success in growing Planet FLOSS India!
This entry was posted in Asia, Blogging, Collaboration, Community, Culture, FOSS, India, OpenSource and tagged Asia, Blogging, Collaboration, Community, Culture, FOSS, India, OpenSource on July 25, 2010 by Alolita Sharma.
What's interesting: Hancom goes Open. A decade of Linux at HP. Open Source not a Business Model.
Recent statements in the world of Open Source and Linux.
Hancom, South Korea's leading software developer says it will open source its popular word processing software Hangul for community to develop software for mobile devices.
Hancom, the developer of a word-processing program known to Koreans as Hangul and foreigners as HanWord, said this week it will open up the product's source code so other people can modify it for smart phones, tablet computers and other new gadgets. smart phones, tablets and other new devices. Hangul was adopted by the South Korean government nearly 20 years ago and has been a standard in most South Korean companies too, making the country one of the few places where Microsoft's Office suite of workplace products has taken a back seat. Nearly all documents by the government, except for those of Korea Intellectual Property Office, are Hangul files, which are known by their "HWP" file extension. Companies and individual users have to either buy the software or download a free 'HWP viewer' to be able to read them. A person could open Microsoft Word documents in the Hangul program, but not vice versa.
Read more at WSJ.
Bdale Garbee, HP's Chief Technologist for Open Source and Linux talks about a decade of Linux at HP and what's coming up in M&As – perhaps Novell?
"HP is absolutely committed to open source". Bdale Garbee shares some statistics to back up this claim:
* Over 6,500 HP service employees to implement and support Linux and open source worldwide
* Over 3,000 open source software projects initiated
* Over 2,500 HP developers focused on open source
* Over 1,200 open source printer drivers provided
Read more at OSNews.
Red Hat CEO says open source is not a business model; it's a way to develop software.
Jim Whitehurst, president and CEO of Red Hat, the oldest and by far the most successful company whose business is based purely around open source, makes no bones about it: "Selling free software is hard," he says. In fact, he goes further: "Open source is not a business model; it's a way to develop software."
Read more in this interview with Glyn Moody at CIO UK.
OpenOffice.org – A Developer's Viewpoint: A Conversation with Michael Meeks
OpenOffice.org could be so much more, given a less top down approach to project management and a looser rein on developers' ability to get involved.
Read more at the H Open.
This entry was posted in Asia, Korea, Linux, ODF, OpenData, OpenGovernment, OpenSource, OpenStandards, RedHat and tagged Asia, Korea, Linux, ODF, OpenData, OpenGovernment, OpenSource, OpenStandards, RedHat on July 7, 2010 by Alolita Sharma.
ICT to the rescue in Bangladesh
I recently read a compelling story about how women are creating waves in rural Bangladesh using netbooks, GSM mobile phones, blood pressure monitors and other gadgets to help Bangladeshis and, at the same time, provide them with an opportunity to break out of poverty.
The story shows how a good idea along with some resources and local effort can solve real problems using information and communication technology (ICT). Even though this idea seems simple, there are few projects in the Indian subcontinent which utilize ICT successfully to educate and empower people in rural areas. Currently these netbooks run a version of Windows. It would be great to see projects like this get even more mileage by using FOSS and open knowledge repositories like Wikipedia.
Highlights from the article:
"Akhter belongs to a motley band of "InfoLadies," who are piloting a revolutionary idea – giving millions of Bangladeshis, trapped in a cycle of poverty and natural disaster, access to information on their doorstep to improve their chances in life.
"…An InfoLady's netbook is loaded with content especially compiled and translated in local Bangla language," says Mohammed Forhad Uddin of D.Net, a not-for-profit research organization that is pioneering access to livelihood information."
"…It provides answers and solutions to some of the most common problems faced by people in villages."
"…In Bangladesh this means nearly three-quarters of the nearly 160 million that live in rural areas. From agriculture to health, sanitation and disaster management, the content follows simple text, pictures and engaging multimedia animations to include all users, many of whom are illiterate."
This entry was posted in Asia, Community, Culture, FOSS, India, WomenInTechnology and tagged Asia, Community, Culture, DigitalDivide, FOSS, India, WomenInTechnology on June 22, 2010 by Alolita Sharma.
Meet CUBRID: One of Korea's Top Open Source Projects
A Conversation with Jay Kim and Esen Sagynov of CUBRID.
www.cubrid.org
I participate at the MySQL Conference in Silicon Valley every year and look forward to the diversity of ideas, projects and companies that represent the ever-growing open source database landscape. This year, CUBRID, an open source database project backed by a company from South Korea, caught my eye. What was most impressive to me was the team's enthusiasm about open source software and its belief that an open source model can work for developing good software and, at the same time, for building a healthy services business in Asia as well as globally.
CUBRID's team from Korea proudly announced its participation in the global open source ecosystem through the example of its open source relational database project at the conference. I talked with Jay Kim and Esen Sagynov from the CUBRID team about their experience building an open source database in Asia, growing the CUBRID community and increasing its adoption. Here is what they had to say.
1. Tell me about CUBRID?
CUBRID is an open source relational database highly optimized for web applications. In the summer of 2006, NHN, Korea's top portal and search engine joined the CUBRID project as a major co-developer. After two years of development, in October 2008, CUBRID became an open source project with a GPL v2 or later license. Code development was initially hosted at http://dev.naver.com/projects/cubrid, a CUBRID development project site in Korea. As of October 2009, the project has been now setup at Source Forge.
NHN's experience in database development and supporting its numerous on-line services provided a great opportunity to develop and scale CUBRID to handle large concurrent requests.The latest version CUBRID 2008 R2.2 was released in May 2010, the next version CUBRID 2008 R3.0 is expected to be released this summer.
2. How has CUBRID used the open source model for development?
CUBRID's presence in the open source industry has already brought many changes. It is one of the leading open source projects in Korea. With the help of its open source community, CUBRID has been able to deliver 8 releases of CUBRID DBMS at an interval of 1-4 months, twice more frequent than other database providers.
From our experience in Korea, we are trying to develop CUBRID Cluster and CUBRID Manager, a client GUI database administration tool, and spin-off projects with many other developers. All of these projects come to live and continue to be developed because of the open source community. We feel that we create value for both users and developers around CUBRID.
The open source model has helped us not only facilitate development of third-party applications and tools for CUBRID DBMS but also helped generate new ideas and encourage more users.
3. How do you see CUBRID playing in the US market, especially since you have to compete with larger, more entrenched competitors like Oracle and MySQL?
The U.S. has always been the land of opportunity. CUBRID envisions its niche in web applications. Instead of competing with the market leaders, CUBRID is positioned in a slightly different way, being a database highly optimized for web apps, particularly those which drive extremely high traffic with prevailing READ-transactions. It provides enterprise level features for all users under GPL and BSD license.
CUBRID is being used in NHN's numerous on-line services running on vast amount of servers in several environments, supporting scalability, stability and high performance. This allows CUBRID to support users' requirements and their bug reports more rapidly. In addition, the average response time at CUBRID Community forum in the fourth quarter 2009 was only 3.6 hours.
We believe, CUBRID can attract users, including enterprises, who really value their own customers and this is the right time for them to get acquainted with CUBRID.
4. Why did you select GPLv2 as CUBRID's license?
Unlike other databases, CUBRID does not distinguish our license policy between community and enterprise. There is only one version under GNU General Public License version 2.0 or later for the database server engine and under BSD license for the APIs and client tools. This CUBRID Open Source License Policy benefits both companies as well as community users.
We adopted the BSD license for our APIs because we do not want to impose any limitations for developing and distributing valuable products on the top of CUBRID. However, the core part of CUBRID, i.e. the database server engine itself, adopted the GNU General Public License so that any improved features on the server engine can be shared with many other users. For more information, see CUBRID's Open Source License Policy.
5. How large is CUBRID's user community?
We've gathered statistics related to CUBRID users since its first launch in October 2008. The number of total downloads has topped over 51,000 and latest statistics indicate a growing number of downloads with 3,200 downloads in May 2010 (per month). Also, the number of CUBRID Open Source community web site visitors increases daily. Last April, over 3,000 unique users visited CUBRID project home page.
Currently, there are over 20 active CUBRID open source contributors in Korea. There are also core developers in Romania and China. We are eager to support all interested developers and users to help grow interest in CUBRID. Considering our assumption that Korean database users account for only 1% of the entire global market, we believe the CUBRID community will grow very rapidly in the near future.
6. Has open source helped you grow CUBRID's user community and convert them into paying customers?
Definitely, yes. Open source, as a whole, facilitates CUBRID development in a number of ways, including improved user awareness and faster adoption, stronger competitive positioning in the database for web industry, and, most importantly, a large base of users to find and report bugs and recommend improvements to CUBRID.
As open source is one of the today's hot topics, most users and developers positively respond to the idea of holding Open Source Conferences and CUBRID Events. Therefore, we annually hold a CUBRID Bug Bash event. We bring together our experienced software engineers and CUBRID Community users and developers to search for and fix bugs in CUBRID and make code enhancements. NHN IdoCode (Summer of Code) is a large event to bring together professional software developers and enthusiasts to create new or port existing open source software for CUBRID. Those highly interested in open source development eagerly participate in the event and submit significant contributions to CUBRID Project. For instance, WordPress, phpBB, and MediaWiki have been extended to use CUBRID as the database server by our community contributors.
Ubuntu Users Community Guide is a Linux related event CUBRID also takes part in to facilitate the adoption of and software development for Linux Ubuntu OS. CUBRID also recently became a Linux Foundation Silver Sponsor. Linux' strengths in the enterprise translate into major advantages for supporting web-based businesses. It's ability to enable seamless high-volume transactions and high performance server/client infrastructure are among the reasons CUBRID has become an active member of the Linux development community and the Linux Foundation.
Additionally CUBRID supports various conferences like JCO Java Developer Conference, Advanced Computing Conference, attends global and local conferences like the O'Reilly MySQL Conference & Expo and Asia-Pacific Web Technology Conference.
We also organize an annual technical seminars called "CUBRID Inside" for our community developers. We discuss various details and challenges around CUBRID, including its three-tier architecture, CUBRID Quality Assurance process, CUBRID Heartbeat implementation, and so forth. As a result, we've experienced growing interest in CUBRID DBMS from developers and enterprise users, especially in the local market (Korea).
Nowadays, CUBRID is being actively used by IT industry leader in Korea – NHN Corporation, which deploys a farm of over 10,000 servers. In addition, large hosting companies Cafe24 and Mireene, software company ESTsoft, and many Korean local colleges manage their data with CUBRID. Two third of all CUBRID references come from the government sector. The Korea National Tax Service, Korea Ministry of Public Administration and Security, Korea Ministry of National Defense, Busan Transportation Corporation, and Korea White House are major customers who deployed CUBRID as their major database management software. Just imagine how much sensitive data they all have, how much security they all require – they all chose CUBRID as their database.
7. How would you attract newcomers to your community? What benefits can they expect and how can they contribute?
We often organize events for our community members to encourage their enthusiasm. We hold online seminars to share our knowledge, or bug bash events and distribute prizes for contributors. By participating in these events, newcomers can gain valuable knowledge in development and can share their knowledge with other.
We have enough interesting and exciting projects within CUBRID to get involved in, such as introducing a number of new query-embedded functions, porting existing open source projects for CUBRID, developing a newer version of CUBRID native libraries, and so forth. Besides major development activities, CUBRID community members are welcome to add to CUBRID's on-line Universal Knowledge Repository by contributing better documentation, more code examples, easy-to-replicate examples, and comprehensive tutorials. Likewise, reporting bugs and providing feedback are also valuable for the community.
We want the CUBRID community to not be a place just to come and go, but to be a community where users stay and enjoy the rapid development process, something most newcomers are seeking for. To make CUBRID projects more beneficial to all, we always welcome any suggestion in every possible way from YOU!
Thanks Jay and Esen for taking the time to talk about CUBRID. Good luck!
This entry was posted in Asia, Code, Collaboration, Community, Conferences, Contribution, FOSS, Korea, Linux, MySQL, OpenSource, Web 2.0 and tagged Asia, Code, Collaboration, Conferences, Contribution, FOSS, Korea, Linux, MySQL, OpenSource, Web2.0 on June 21, 2010 by Alolita Sharma.
Red Hat organizes Professors' Open Source Camp in Singapore
Professors' Open Source Summer Experience (POSSE), a training bootcamp targeted for faculty members of technical universities in Asia is being organized from November 9-13, 2009 at Nanyang Polytechnic in Singapore. Faculty members from Singapore, Malaysia, China, India are expected to participate.
The first camp was held in Raleigh, North Carolina earlier this year in July.
The goals for the camp are ambitious. A cross-section of topics focusing on development tools and techniques aims to recruit new contributors to open source projects by providing a hands-on experience to participants using Fedora as project examples.
The 5-day camp starts with an overview of open source, then dives into communication tools such as IRC, wikis and blogs to teach participants how to be effective contributors. Development topics include compiling source code, using build tools, setting up a build environment and packaging with RPM.
Testing and bug fixing are easy routes for users to become contributors. Participants walk-through the process of filing bug reports with Bugzilla as well as editing, testing and creating bug patches.
The camp is being organized by Harish Pillay, Jasmine Ee, and Alan Ho from Red Hat Singapore. Mel Chua and Greg DeKoenigsberg are mentors for the program. You can find out more about POSSE Singapore at its website.
I think this program is an excellent start in the right direction by Red Hat and its Asia Pacific (APAC) team to facilitate open source education. Engaging faculty from engineering universities is key to increasing contributions as well as growing the talent pool of engineers in emerging markets to support industry demand.
This entry was posted in Asia, Code, Collaboration, Community, Education, FOSS, OpenSource, RedHat and tagged Asia, Code, Collaboration, Community, Education, FOSS, OpenSource, RedHat on October 2, 2009 by Alolita Sharma.
Building open source communities at OSSPAC
OSSPAC Singapore
Singapore will be hosting its new open source conference OSSPAC from February 16-18 next month. OSSPAC is being supported by global open source players such as Red Hat, IBM, Oracle, MySQL (Sun) and Novell as well as influential local organizations such as Singapore International Chamber of Commerce and the Singapore Computer Society.
It is great to see an organized effort to hold a open source business conference in Singapore. The timing is right to emphasize how open source can support cost efficiencies and bring a greater value proposition for decision makers especially during the current global economic downturn. The conference is expecting about 500 attendees from quite a spread of nations all the way from India to Indonesia and Malaysia.
OSSPAC has some great keynotes lined up. A couple of keynotes I'm interested in attending include Harish Pillay's talk on "The Magic of Infinity: How abundance drives innovation and economies" and Dr. Leng's talk on "iN2015 and the Innovation Bazaar". The conference program covers a lot of ground with session topics ranging from the virtues of virtualization and Android 101 to building and governing open source communities.
I'll be speaking on a couple of topics I'm passionate about – on building successful open source communities and on "Open Source Open World" where I'll talk about the impact of open source outside the US especially in India where open source has developed a large and healthy grassroots community around it but still sees slow industry adoption.
I'm looking forward to being in Singapore and interacting again with the vibrant local open source community.
This entry was posted in Collaboration, Community, Conferences, FOSS, OpenSource and tagged Asia, Collaboration, Community, Conferences, FOSS, OpenSource on January 22, 2009 by Alolita Sharma.
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Home » Around Mexico » 13 killed when combi slams into parked truck
13 killed when combi slams into parked truck
Ecatepec, State of Mexico — The government of the State of Mexico says that a combi accident that occurred in the early morning hours of Friday has left 13 dead.
The accident happened at 5:00 a.m. when a public combi van hit the back of a parked dump truck at high speed. Reports say the combi, which was carrying a load of passengers, tried to pass a car while traveling at excessive speed along the Mexico-Pachuca highway.
The driver of the combi ended up crashing into the back of a broken down dump truck that was parked along side the highway. The government of the State of Mexico says that so far, 13 people have died and another 8 were taken to area hospitals.
They report that 12 people died at the scene, with one more, a woman, dying after being transferred to a Mexico City hospital.
The General Directorate of Federal Autotransport says the accident occurred at kilometer 18 of the Mexico-Pachuca Highway in Ecatepec, when José Luis N, who was driving the combi, tried to pass a car using the right lane. Instead, he encountered the parked dump truck.
Emergency personnel were on scene until 11:30 a.m. Traffic was heavily affected. The driver of the parked dump truck was reported injured. He was also arrested and remains under guard at an area hospital. Investigations continue.


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Original Abstract
22 publications for this project
3 journal articles for this project
Final Report: The Effect of Plants on the Bioavailability and Toxicity of Contaminants in Soil
EPA Grant Number: R825413
Title: The Effect of Plants on the Bioavailability and Toxicity of Contaminants in Soil
Investigators: Banks, M. Katherine , Schwab, Arthur Paul , Smith, J. Scott
Institution: Kansas State University , Purdue University
EPA Project Officer: Lasat, Mitch
Project Period: January 1, 1997 through December 31, 2000
Project Amount: $499,941
RFA: DOE/EPA/NSF/ONR Joint Program on Bioremediation (1996) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Hazardous Waste/Remediation , Land and Waste Management
The overall objective of this project was to evaluate the effect of plants on the bioavailability and toxicity of soil contaminants. This objective was accomplished with three concurrent studies. In the first study, the fate of representative petroleum contaminants in planted systems was evaluated using closed plant chambers and 14C radiolabeled compounds with an aggressive grass species. This study allowed us to trace the contaminant as it became incorporated into soil organic material. The second study was designed to evaluate the effect of weathering on petroleum contaminant bioavailability in unvegetated and vegetated soil. This two-phase study consisted of an outdoor weathering phase followed by an extensive greenhouse phase with a suitable grass species. Contaminants and toxicity were evaluated over time. The third study was a field project at the U.S. Naval Port in Hueneme, CA. Vegetated plots were established in petroleum contaminated soil, and contaminants and toxicity of the soil were evaluated over a 2-year period. In support of these three studies, a soil extraction method was developed to predict bioavailability of soil contaminants.
Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):
In the plant chamber study, 7.6 percent and 8.7 percent of the parent compound, pyrene, were recovered from the switchgrass and tall fescue treated soil, respectively, but the unplanted control contained 31.5 percent of the initially added pyrene. Pyrene concentrations in all organic fractions were significantly reduced in planted soil when compared to the unplanted control.
In the weathering study, for nearly every detectable contaminant with no aging, the presence of fescue and red clover resulted in lower contaminant concentrations than when plants were absent. Switchgrass was ineffective in the silty loam soil but superior to the unvegetated treatments in the sandy loam. These trends were not as apparent in the silty loam soil for the contaminants aged 6, 12, and 18 months in which treatment effects were absent or inconsistent. Aging did not affect the trends in the effect of vegetative treatment for the sandy loam soil. However, the concentrations in the sandy loam were much higher than in the silty loam. These interactions are likely the result of higher microbial activities in the finer textured silty loam soil, resulting in higher rates of degradation. Higher amounts of available water and higher total irreversible adsorption may have contributed as well.
In the field trial, the plant mixtures chosen for the field trial were not negatively affected by the presence of the contaminants after 9 months of aging. Root development was extensive in the second year of the project. Bacterial numbers, petroleum degraders, and plant biomass increased with time, and a strong relationship exists between the presence of plants and the degradation of total petroleum hydrocarbons in these plots. Also, more petroleum degraders were present in the rhizosphere of the test species than in the unvegetated soil.
The field soil samples were subjected to analysis by toxicity tests, including earthworm growth and mortality, Microtox, and lettuce germination. Some initial toxicity was observed for all tests (particularly the unvegetated soil using the earthworm test), but by the end of the test period no differences in toxicity existed among the vegetation treatments.
The octanol extraction method developed in this research marks a significant deviation away from the use of cosolvent extraction, which only reflects a specific point of bioavailability to a certain bioreceptor by a certain volume fraction of cosolvent. The method is flexible and provides release rates instead of mass of contaminants extracted from soil to water and to solvent. The octanol extraction technique more closely mimics the mass transfer mechanisms that govern the bioavailability of organic contaminants in soil.
The results from this research project support the hypothesis that aging decreases bioavailability and impedes phytoremediation, particularly in silty loam soil. Twelve months of phytoremediation are not long enough for plant treatments to reduce weathered petroleum contaminants to an acceptable regulatory level. Although plants accelerated detoxification of the soils, the same results eventually were achieved in the absence of plants. The modest changes in toxicity, particularly in light of the significant reduction in petroleum concentrations, reflect the fact that the aged contaminated material used for this research was fairly nontoxic from the outset. Also, the extraction technique developed in this project may provide a reliable means to determine the bioavailable fraction of a range of soil-associated organic contaminants and be applicable in the assessment of risk.
Journal Articles on this Report : 3 Displayed | Download in RIS Format
Other project views:
All 22 publications 6 publications in selected types All 3 journal articles
Document Sources
Journal Article Banks MK, Schwab AP, Liu B, Kulakow P, Smith JS, Kim R. The effect of plants on the degradation and toxicity of petroleum contaminants in soil: a field assessment. In: Tsao D., ed. Advances in Biochemical Engineering/Biotechnology, Special Volume: Phytoremediation. Springer-Verlag, 2001. R825413 (Final)
Journal Article Kulakow PA, Schwab AP, Banks MK. Screening plant species for growth on weathered, petroleum hydrocarbon-contaminated sediments. International Journal of Phytoremediation 2000;2(4):297-318. R825413 (Final)
Journal Article Silciliano SD, Fortin N, Mihoc A, Wisse G, Labelle S, Beaumier D, Ouellette RR, Whyte LG, Banks MK, Schwab P, Lee K, Greer CW, Roy R. Selection of specific endophytic bacterial genotypes by plants in response to soil contamination. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 2001; 67(6):2469-2475. R825413 (Final)
phytoremediation, toxicity, risk assessment, accumulation, uptake, degradation, pollution., Scientific Discipline, Geographic Area, Waste, Water, Ecosystem Protection/Environmental Exposure & Risk, Bioavailability, Contaminated Sediments, Environmental Chemistry, State, Bioremediation, Biology, fate and transport, petroleum, contaminated sediment, plants, greenhouse phase, contaminants in soil, toxicity, bioremediation of soils, grass species, phytoremediation, vadose zone, California (CA), diesel fuel, shrimp, earthworm
http://ce.www.ecn.purdue.edu/CE/People/Faculty/facpage.cgi?login=kbanks
http://www.agry.purdue.edu/staffbio/apsbio.htm
http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/dp_ansi/FACULTY/JSSCHEM.htm
Last updated on Wednesday, January 22, 2020


text:
Q: query data from elasticsearch using java highlevelrestclient How to query data from elasticsearch based on the property that is present inside the actual object.
Format of data stored in elsticsearch:
{
  "principals": [
    {
      "id": 1,
      "account": {
        "account_id": 2
      }
    }
  ]
}

Search query in postman:
{
  "query": {
    "terms": {
      "account_id": [
        1
      ]
    }
  }
}

This is returning the required result in postman.
How to achieve the same in java using highlevelrestclient.

A: I am not sure how your above search query worked in  fetching corresponding document.
But I had indexed and searched your document through this way :
mapping:
{
  "mappings": {
    "properties": {

      "principals": {
        "properties": {
          "id":  { "type": "integer" },
          "account": {
            "properties": {
              "account_id": { "type": "integer" }

            }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

search query:
 {
  "query": {
    "terms": {
      "principals.account.account_id": [2]
    }
  }
}

Search result :
"hits": [
  {
    "_index": "nestedindex",
    "_type": "_doc",
    "_id": "2",
    "_score": 1.0,
    "_source": {
      "principals": [
        {
          "id": 1,
          "account": {
            "account_id": 2
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  }
]

Search query through Elasticsearch Resthighlevelclient
SearchRequest searchRequest = new SearchRequest("testIndex"); //in place of "testIndex" you can give your index name
SearchSourceBuilder sourceBuilder = new SearchSourceBuilder();
List<Integer> accountIds = new ArrayList<Integer>();
accountIds.add(2);
sourceBuilder.query(QueryBuilders.termsQuery("principals.account.account_id", accountIds));
sourceBuilder.timeout(new TimeValue(60, TimeUnit.SECONDS));
searchRequest.source(sourceBuilder);
SearchResponse searchResponse =
                client.search(searchRequest, RequestOptions.DEFAULT);  //client is ES client

return searchResponse; //you can read your hits through searchResponse.getHits().getHits()

ElasticSearch client can be instantiated in spring-boot application by creating configuration file in your project and autowiring the client where required:
@Configuration
@Primary
public class ElasticsearchConfig {

    private RestHighLevelClient restHighLevelClient;

    @Bean(destroyMethod = "close")
    public RestHighLevelClient client() {

        RestHighLevelClient client = new RestHighLevelClient(
                RestClient.builder(new HttpHost("localhost", 9200, "http")));

        return client;

    }

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


The moral dilemma, should we stop designing open source software if terrorists and criminals use it?
What about terrorists, can they use Streembit? The reality is, terrorists can use all open source as well as proprietary software. The developers of Streembit are libertarians and certainly don't subscribe to terrorist agendas. Our values and what we believe in couldn't be farther from the murderous culture adopted by terrorists. The unfortunate fact of the matter is that terrorists and organized criminal gangs who can use our secure communication system can indeed pose a moral dilemma for a software developer who is designing such a secure communication system.
No one in their right mind can be happy if their software becomes the tool of killers, paedophiles, cyber criminals and drug traffickers. On the other hand, the reality is that terrorists and criminals use electricity, cars, mobile phones, drones and all other tools and modern innovations. Moreover, they even use weapons that are sold by Western and Russian governments. It make no sense, and it is certainly not fair to cherry pick technologies. Those that generate profit to corporations are available to terrorists and criminals, while others like open source software systems are banned. Right to privacy and private communication are both fundamental human rights. Benjamin Franklin said, "They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety". We should keep innovating and creating novel systems for law abiding citizens and businesses, even if a few bad guys take advantage of the system.
We operate from the UK and Ireland using the following companies: Zovolt Ltd registered in the UK 08249041 and Streembit Ltd registered in Dublin Ireland 591835.
Need to get in touch with the ZoVolt team? Please contact us.


I get this question a lot, and it truly is a fundamental question if your goal is to consistently brew great beer. Because of this, breweries need an easy AND objective way to tell if a given batch hits the flavor profile expected. This type of test has many names (e.g. go/no go, true to brand, TTB, etc.) and there are many approaches, all detailed below, but none so easy and powerful as using percent defect charts (p-charts for short).
Many breweries apply a "quality scale" where an arbitrary flavor and quality range is set to determine what is acceptable and non-acceptable. Here's how it works in practice. Your panel is given a baseline description, tastes the batch, and scores acceptability on a scale of X-Y, with "X" being least acceptable and "Y" being most acceptable. You take the scores and average them and if the average hits in the predetermined range of "good quality," then the batch is released. Accordingly, if the average quality score is within the range of "bad quality" then an action must be taken. The arbitrary nature of such a scale is tough for me to swallow and I've found that most averages skirt the line between acceptable and not acceptable, basically simplifying the measurement to the binary 0's and 1's or "Go/No Go." Super easy yes, but far from a best practice.
The sensory statistics knowledge gained in my academic training was primarily based on the application of advanced techniques like Quantitative Descriptive Analysis (hey, no drifting off, this is important!). Here's the deal with QDA, you've got to use crazy complex multivariate data analysis techniques to decode mountains of attribute scaling data. So not only do you need to collect the data, sift through it and clean it up, then you have to basically have a degree in stats to even do anything with the information. Even then it isn't clear to me how one would use such data to be sure that batch-to-batch variation was within the normal limits of the production facility. What does it mean if one attribute is scaled higher than usual? Is this something worthy of a reaction? My brewing courses outlined the use of control charts to set targets and ranges for various analytical specs like ABV and IBU (5.2+0.2% ABV); but there was no easy way to simply determine if the flavor (arguably the most important spec to hit) of the beer was within an acceptable range of variation. So sure, you can scale attributes, but you'll likely be wasting precious time if your goal is to determine if a batch is true to the brand profile.
P-Charting is a technique that has been applied in the quality assurance industry for over 30 years1 but has seldom (strangely) seen much use in brewery sensory programs. The term p-charting stands for percent defect charting - or probability charting, depending on who you ask - and was widely popularized by Six Sigma, but in the broader quality assurance world, these charts are referred to as X-bar charts (they are the same thing but we will refer to them as p-charts). I got the inside scoop on p-charts when I started working for Lauren Salazar at New Belgium Brewing Company in 2010. Lauren was frustrated with the lack of brand variation testing and used that frustration to pioneer p-charting in the brewing industry. I've since come to realize how appropriate and useful this technique can be when used to analyze sensory data! These charts provide a powerful, yet, simple and elegant way of determining adherence to the brand's target flavor profile while giving valid indication of process anomalies that influence the beer's final flavor profile. The beauty is that p-charts allow for some variation within the product (beer is a fermentation after all!), while maintaining rigorous, yet practical standards.
Bottom line: you should be using p-charts and we have your back. Let's demystify the different parts of a sensory p-chart.
Completed panel data: represented by dots, each dot represents the average number of panelists who selected "Not TTB" for a specific modality.
Mean or Center Line (CL): pretty straightforward, this is the middle line and it represents the average total percent defect. This is the average number of panelists that typically select "Not TTB." It's position is dynamic, meaning it will change slightly whenever new data is added (e.g. any time you have your panel complete a tasting).
Upper Control Limit (UCL): this is the top line, representing the highest you can go, in terms of variability within a batch, for it to still be considered true to the brand profile/description. It too is dynamic. For example, if you are making variable product as part of your normal process, the UCL will be quite large, but if your process is tight and you are making consistent beer, the UCL will be quite low. The UCL is the sum of the average percent defect, or the average number of validated panelists selecting "Not True to Brand," and three times the standard deviation of the mean.
Lower Control Limit (LCL): this is the bottom line, and it is always zero. This makes sense as you could never have a negative number of assessments.
Now that we know the parts, you can collect and calculate the limits on your own based on the definitions above, or you can let DraughtLab Pro p-charts do the work for you (see steps below). Either way, good on ya, this is the best practice for True to Brand testing.
Complete descriptive test for the brand. You'll need this baseline description before you can test for batch to batch variation in the True to Brand test.
Set up and have your panel complete True to Brand test.
Expert Tip: We recommend a minimum of 10 panelists per test to ensure your data has statistical meaning. For example, if you only have two panelists and one says the sample is not true to brand that sets your average percent defect to 50%! Don't forget, DraughtLab Pro makes is easy to invite people to a tasting (think beyond brewing staff to taproom bartenders, trusted and loyal customers, buddies from another brewery) so there's no excuse for not hitting your numbers.
You'll need to rack up 10 True to Brand Tests to get your p-chart's CL and UCL established.
Expert Tip: You may be thinking that it could take you a very long time to build your charts with ten independent samples of the same beer – FEAR NOT! – this is where the "All Brands" chart option comes into play. The All Brands chart encompasses all of the samples evaluated by the panel thus allowing you to see a broad view of how your brewery's process looks as a whole (not just per brand). It is absolutely permissible to use your All Brands chart as the benchmark while building each of the charts for your individual brands. In DraughtLab Pro, we show you where each sample lies on both the individual brand and all brands charts. When using this option, it is up to the panel administrator to make the final call based on where the sample lies in the chart and the comments that are associated with the sample during testing. Then once you have 10 tests for a particular brand, you can use the individual p-chart from there.
Note: These charts take into account all of your historical data so the samples must be independent in that they must be different batches. If you build your charts on multiple assessments of the same batch of beer you skew your data and the charts will not be based on the normal variation representative of your process.
Any sample that falls outside of the UCL is known to be out of the range of normal variation for your process, in that there were more panelists than normal saying that the sample is "Not TTB," meaning that the beer is not true to its baseline description/brand profile. And that's it. In DraughtLab Pro, all the data collection is digital and the calculations are on the back end, making this sensory test a breeze so you can get back to doing the millions other things you need to do to make your brewery the best it can be. And we can all cheers to that!
1.	Nelson, L. 1984. The Shewart control chart-tests for special causes. Journal of Quality Technology, 16, 237-239.


Per 1 September the Dept. Environment & Health welcomes Prof. Majorie van Duursen, who will take the Chair of Environmental Health and Toxicology.
Prof. Van Duursen obtained her PhD in Toxicology in Utrecht in 2004 and has since worked at the Institute for Risk Assessment Studies at Utrecht University, the last years as an associated professor. Her specializations are endocrine toxicology, in vitro models, female reproductive health, developmental origin of health and adult disease and human risk assessment of environmental contaminants. Her focus is on improving the health of (future) mothers and children through science and education.
Van Duursen has been involved in and coordinated various projects on the toxicological impact of environmental contaminants. A registered European toxicologist, she is a member of the WHO Collaborating Center for Children's Environmental Health, the Netherlands and US Societies of Toxicology and the European Society of Endocrinology.
The additional very good news is that she has just acquired a large European grant for the project FREIA, focused on the development of test systems for female reproduction, which she will bring to VU Amsterdam.


text:
BLUECHIP: ABOUT PEOPLE Joshua Burstein
By Joshua BursteinCOLUMNIST
Workforce development works
For employers to stay nimble, they need to evaluate customers' needs and articulate a hiring plan with both the present and the future in mind. Members of our regional workforce team — the various government agencies, nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, and more — need to tailor programs the same way: not just for today, but also for tomorrow.
And for the many tomorrows after that. This already is happening. High schools, colleges, and universities are revamping their training to meet future employers' needs. Look at the Career and Technical Education division at LCC, where they focus on everything from health professions to computer game development. And there's UO's recently renamed College of Design, too.
There's also key involvement here by community and government partners such as WorkSource Lane, the Technology Association of Oregon, chambers of commerce, and job training programs such as those at Goodwill, St. Vinnie's, and Sponsors Inc.
The human resources development assets in our area are substantial. So let's focus on one of them: You — the person we can presume is your favorite human resource. New year, new you. Reinvention, right?
Eugene is seen as a place where that can happen. A cynic may say that this results in a town full of overqualified, underpaid people — and there may be some truth in that. But at the same time, this is a place that was open to having a former lawyer and law school associate dean move into the public sector to serve as an HR manager. (Yes, I am talking about myself.)
For six years as a litigator, I helped one party fight another. It was fascinating, but I decided that I would rather work with people than argue with them.
So, I moved into law school career services, where I helped students and alumni find jobs, learn to network, and to sell themselves without being obnoxious. I felt I was part of a powerful workforce tripod, a balancing leg that helped connect people with employers.
I did that until the opportunity to run the office at the UO law school brought me here, now almost 12 years ago. It was a return to the state where my wife had grown up, and to a city that I quickly came to cherish.
Yet as I got more involved in my community, I realized that I wanted to merge my civic involvement and my work life. How I did that may be a lesson for those who want to reinvent themselves.
I sought a position in government, to give back to my community, so I started networking. That word may be scary to some — but not if you think of it as asking people to talk about themselves. Humans love that.
I talked with people in the public sector, reaching out to folks in areas that matched my interest and my experience. I spoke with people in HR, inter-governmental relations, city administration, and education. I drank a lot of coffee. And I applied to opportunities when they developed.
Try this approach, and while you may not end up with a job with someone from your network, you will hear valuable advice and stockpile information about what it's really like to work in that sector. All of that will help you with those applications and interviews when the jobs appear. And you will be super-caffeinated.
And when you find that match, you will be happy.
Happy new year, happy new you.


Baphomet, the balance of dark and light, masculine & feminine and carrying the flame of justice.
Depicting the image of Baphomet, this amulet can aid in invoking the God as a masculine balance for the Goddess.
Made in USA. Has cord. Pewter. 1 1/4"


On behalf of Marianne Bertuna of Aidala Bertuna & Kamins posted in Violent Crimes on Friday June 8, 2018.
On May 30, an 18-year-old New York man was charged in the 2017 machete murder of a Long Island teenager. He is the third individual to be charged in connection with the crime, which has been linked to the violent MS-13 gang.
According to media reports, the 16-year-old victim, originally from Honduras, disappeared while riding his bicycle in July 2017. In October, his body was found buried in a wooded area in Nassau County. Investigators determined that he had been hacked to death by a machete.
The defendant, a resident of Roosevelt, has been charged with second-degree murder in the case. He allegedly confessed to police that he is a member of the MS-13 gang. In January, two other male defendants, ages 18 and 26, were also indicted for the killing and face identical charges. In a visit to Long Island in late May, President Trump called the MS-13 gang "ruthless." His administration has called for attempts to crack down on the gang's activity.
Individuals charged with violent crimes like murder have the right work with a criminal defense attorney and fight the allegations in court. If the evidence in the case is shaky, it may be possible to convince a jury that a defendant is innocent. If the evidence is strong, it might be possible to prove that a defendant was acting in self-defense or attempting to defend another person. Another possible defense strategy may be to arrange a plea bargain with prosecutors. If this option is pursued, a defendant will decline his or her right to a trial and plead guilty to pre-negotiated charges, which may lead to a more lenient sentence.


An anonymous group claims to have breached CIA Director John Brennan's personal email account and has posted documents online, including a list of email addresses purportedly from Brennan's contact file.
One hacker from the group spoke to the New York Post, which described him in an article published Sunday as "a stoner high school student," motivated by his opposition to U.S. foreign policy and support for Palestinians. His Twitter account, @phphax, includes links to files that he says are Brennan's contact list, a log of phone calls by then-CIA Deputy Director Avril Haines, and other documents.
The hackers also claimed to have breached a Comcast account belonging to US Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, and released what appeared to be personal information.
One document purporting to come from Brennan's AOL email account contains a spreadsheet of people, including senior intelligence officials, along with their Social Security numbers, although the hackers redacted the numbers in the version he posted on Twitter.
It's unclear why Brennan would have stored such a document in his private email account. Based on the titles, the document appears to date from 2009 or before.
When people visit the White House and other secure facilities, they are required to supply their Social Security numbers. Brennan could have been forwarding a list of invitees to the White House when he was President Barack Obama's counter-terrorism adviser, the job he held before he became CIA director in 2013.
The hacker told the Post he had obtained a 47-page version of Brennan's application for a security clearance, known as an SF86. That document — millions of which were stolen from the federal personnel office last year by hackers linked to China — contains detailed information about past jobs, foreign contacts, finances, and other sensitive personal details.
Speaking to Gawker about the incident, one of the members of the hacking group remarked that "since only 13 i am pretty hype about it [sic]."
When asked about the New York Post's characterization of the hackers as stoners, the hacker seemed not to mind.
"Me and phphax know each other irl, most of our school and grade are smokers and stoners, so i mean it just kind of describes us in away...I dont find it insulting in anyway. [sic]," the hacker told Gawker.


text:
Amstelkwartier
Once it was a no man's land. But for some time now people have been building and developing on one of the most ambitious and exciting building projects of Amsterdam. What does the future hold for the Amstelkwartier?
A couple of years ago the Amstelkwartier only consisted of a rowing-club, a tile merchant, Weinholt marina and a couple of houseboats. In the mean time, the Amstelkwartier is well on its way to become one of the most sought-after places to live in Amsterdam.
Many building projects, one of them being ada, are currently being developed and will finish in years to come. These are all still part of the first phase of the Amstelkwartier. The neighbourhood will expand further towards the Duivendrechtsevaart, as phase two kicks in. This will begin with the development of more living space on the east side of the new park. Moreover, a new bridge will be build across the canal, connecting the Spaklerweg to the Joan Muyskenweg.
Eye-catcher of the area will be the old water tower. Since it was build in 1911 on the Zuidergasfabriek premise, it's always been rather isolated on a closed off terrain. Slowly however, it's becoming the key spot of the new Amstelkwartier. As the middle point of the new park Somerlust, it will be used for recreational purposes, and become the meeting place for everyone in the area.
Toewijzingen COMING SOON!
Jullie hebben je in groten getale ingeschreven voor ada Amsterdam! Veel dank voor alle interesse. Door het overweldigende aantal aanmeldingen gaan...
Once it was a no man's land. But for some time now people have been building and developing on one of the most ambitious and exciting building proje...
Pure Markt by pure people
Who doesn't love authentic and delicious food combined with a cosy market atmosphere? Soon, the travelling Pure Markt will plant their flag once aga...
This website is constructed to be as accurate as possible. Despite the constant care and acuity with which the website is made, it might be possible some of the information presented is incomplete or erroneous. No rights can be derived from this information. LamaLama, MVGM and Jacobus Recourt can not be held liable for direct or indirect damage that arises from using this website or the information presented on it. LamaLama, MVGM and Jacobus Recourt preserve the right to change or renew the information on the website without notification.


text:
Home » Posts Tagged "Erie County Public Library"
US Census Count Begins January 21st
January 16, 2020 By Compendium News Staff In Academic Libraries, Data, Resources of Interest, Rural and Small Libraries, School Libraries
The 2020 Census will officially begin Jan. 21st, 2020 in the Alaska Native village of Toksook Bay, Alaska, on the Bering Sea! Libraries in Pennsylvania have been preparing for months. Read how Blasco Library in Erie hosted a Census Ambassador Training! One of the best ways to...
Erie Builds Partnerships with PA Forward
November 26, 2019 By Compendium News Staff In Academic Libraries, Children's Services, Health Focus, Library News, PA Forward, Resources of Interest, Rural and Small Libraries, School Libraries
The Erie County Public Library (ECPL) is embracing PA Forward as the framework by which they are building partnerships to enhance services for patrons and to reach non-traditional library users. Their efforts focus on bridging the gaps in Basic, Information, Civic and Social, Health...
Libraries Blazing Star-Aligned Trails Throughout Pennsylvania
July 22, 2019 By Compendium News Staff In Academic Libraries, Library News, PA Forward, Resources of Interest, Rural and Small Libraries
Pennsylvania Library Association recognizes libraries for PA ForwardTM Star achievements earned between April 1 and June 30, 2019 Mechanicsburg, PA (July 22, 2019) – The Pennsylvania Library Association just announced the 2019 second quarter PA ForwardTM Star Library awardees....
New Director at Erie
April 11, 2019 By Compendium News Staff In Library News, Resources of Interest
Blane Dessy will be the new director at the Erie County Public Library. Read the the article on GoErie.com. ...
GAC Profile: Robert M. Gallivan
February 1, 2019 By Compendium News Staff In Academic Libraries, Governor's Advisory Council (GAC), Resources of Interest, Rural and Small Libraries, School Libraries
Robert Gallivan, PhD, is a lay member the Governor's Advisory Council from Erie. He is on the bylaw committee and has served on the legislative committee, as well as others. Gallivan is a retired Organic Chemist. He earned a PhD in organic chemistry from Purdue University...
Erie County Library Staff to Present at Jefferson Educational Foundation
September 4, 2018 By Compendium News Staff In Academic Libraries, Resources of Interest
Erin Wincek, Executive Director of the Erie County Public Library, and staff members Jude Shingle, Andrew Miller, and Chanel Cook, will present Public Libraries: Breaking Barriers, Building Connections on September 11 as part of the Jefferson Educational Foundation lecture series. ...
OCL News: STEM and Public Libraries
January 2, 2018 By Compendium News Staff In Academic Libraries, Glenn R. Miller Deputy Secretary and Commissioner for Libraries, Library News, Resources of Interest
Erie County Launches Idea Lab In October 2017, I was very happy to attend the grand opening of the Erie County Public Library's Idea Lab at the Blasco Library. Begun under the leadership of former library director Mary Rennie and completed by her successor, Erin Wincek, the...
New Director in Erie
June 20, 2017 By Compendium News Staff In Library News
Erin Wincek is the new Director of the Erie County Public Library. Read more on YourErie.com. ...
Rennie to Retire
May 15, 2017 By Compendium News Staff In Library News
Erie Times editorial praises Erie County Public Library Executive Director, Mary Rennie, who is retiring in June. Read more about Rennie and the $1 million in renovations at the library. ...
Erie County Public Library
September 5, 2016 By Compendium News Staff In Library News
The Atlantic featured the Raymond M. Blasco, M. D. Memorial Library in Erie! ...


Many researchers now use small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) to reduce the expression of specific mammalian genes. Here we describe five methods for producing siRNAs for use in mammalian RNAi experiments. Each of these methods has its advantages and drawbacks. The best method for generating siRNAs will depend on the goals of the experiment. This article briefly describes the five methods, presents their advantages and disadvantages, and discusses the types of applications for which they are best suited.
The first three methods involve in vitro preparation of siRNAs that are then introduced directly into mammalian cells by lipofection, electroporation, or other technique. The last two methods rely on the introduction of DNA-based vectors and cassettes that express siRNAs within the cells. Table 1, below, summarizes these methods.
All of the above methods, except digestion of long dsRNA by RNase III, require the design of individual siRNA sequences prior to siRNA preparation. High throughput screening of potential siRNAs and subsequent analysis for knockdown has recently led to the development of predictive algorithms for identifying functional siRNAs.
Although more expensive than any of the other methods, the production of chemically synthesized siRNAs requires almost no effort by the researcher. Ambion, and several other companies, provide high quality, chemically synthesized siRNAs on a custom basis. One of the major benefits of chemical synthesis is the large yield of high purity siRNA. Drawbacks include the price and turnaround times (typically 4–12 days depending on synthesis and purification options). Because of the relatively high price tag, many researchers find it beneficial to screen siRNA sequences using a less expensive preparation method, such as in vitro transcription, and then have the most effective sequence(s) synthesized chemically. A robust design algorithm that results in a high proportion of effective siRNA sequences is available from Ambion. Improved siRNA design criteria decreases the number of sequences that need to be tested, lowering the costs associated with this option.
Custom siRNAs: Ambion provides premium quality, made-to-order siRNAs with your choice of synthesis options. Our standard purification procedure includes deprotection and column purification, and typically yields siRNA that is 90% pure (guaranteed >80% pure). HPLC and PAGE purification is also available, yielding siRNAs that are guaranteed >97% pure. All RNA oligonucleotides are assessed by MALDI-TOF (matrix-assisted laser desorption-ionization – time-of-flight) mass spectrometry and annealed siRNAs are analyzed by nondenaturing gel or capillary electrophoresis to confirm that the strands are annealed properly.
Pre-designed siRNAs: A design algorithm developed by Ambion's partner, Cenix BioScience, predicts potent and specific siRNA sequences with an impressive success rate. Multiple siRNA designs are available for the human, mouse, and rat genes listed in the public RefSeq database maintained by NCBI. We can also use the algorithm to design siRNAs to other organisms or genes not in the RefSeq database.
Validated siRNAs: Silencer™ Validated siRNAs are single siRNA duplexes that have been verified experimentally to reduce the expression of individual human genes. Each siRNA has been shown to reduce target gene expression by at least 70% forty-eight hours post transfection by real time RT-PCR. Most of the siRNAs were found to reduce target gene expression by 90% or more. Every Silencer Validated siRNA strand is purified by HPLC and subjected to rigorous quality control measures. The result is the highest quality siRNA with a sequence verified to reduce gene expression.
siRNAs can be readily prepared by in vitro transcription. siRNAs produced by this method are considerably less expensive than their chemically synthesized counterparts, making them a more cost-effective choice for screening siRNA sequences. In addition, they can be produced more quickly than chemically synthesized siRNAs. Once template deoxynucleotides are obtained, the procedure takes about 24 hours, with little hands on time. Disadvantages of this method include the limited scale up potential (although each reaction produces enough siRNA for hundreds of transfections) and the fact that it requires more hands-on time from the researcher compared to chemically synthesized siRNAs which can simply be purchased. It should be noted that in vitro transcribed siRNAs work as well as chemically synthesized siRNAs and usually at lower concentrations -- 0.5–20 nM vs. 50–100 nM concentration per transfection (Figure 1).
The Silencer siRNA Construction Kit produces transfection-ready siRNA at a fraction of the cost of chemical synthesis. The kit is based on a patent-pending in vitro transcription method and can generate up to 15 purified siRNAs in less than 24 hours. The cost and time saved using the Silencer siRNA Construction Kit enable screening sequences of more genes and more potential targets within the target gene to find the most potent siRNA.
Figure 1. Use of Chemically Synthesized and in Vitro Transcribed siRNAs to Induce Gene Silencing. siRNAs targeting ß-actin were prepared by chemical synthesis (Ambion) or by in vitro transcription using Ambion's Silencer siRNA Construction Kit. HeLa cells were plated at 30,000 cells per well in a 24 well tissue culture plate containing glass slides. The cells were transfected 24 hours after plating, using 2 µl siPORT™ Lipid (Ambion) according to the manufacturer's protocol, at a final siRNA concentration of 75 nM. Immunofluorescence analysis was performed 96 hr post transfection using mouse anti-human ß-actin primary antibody and a FITC conjugated anti-mouse IgG secondary antibody. Photographs were taken using the appropriate fluorescent filters and quantified using MetaMorph software. Note that both siRNA preparation methods resulted in > 95% reduction in ß-actin protein levels.
One of the major drawbacks of all the other methods of siRNA production is the need to design and test several siRNA sequences before an effective one can be identified. Preparation of siRNA cocktails overcomes this limitation. In this method, long dsRNAs are prepared by in vitro transcription using a template that typically encodes a 200–1000 nt region of the target mRNA. The dsRNA is then digested in vitro with RNase III (or Dicer) to produce a population, or cocktail, of siRNAs. Since the cocktail contains many different siRNAs, efficient gene knockdown is virtually guaranteed. A representative of one of these experiments is depicted in Figure 2.
The major benefit of this approach is the ability to bypass the testing steps involved in selecting an effective siRNA sequence, saving researchers both time and money (note that RNase III reactions are typically less expensive than those performed with Dicer). One downside of this approach, however, is the theoretical potential for nonspecific silencing effects, particularly for closely related genes. Most research to date indicates that this does not pose a problem (1-4).
With the Silencer siRNA Cocktail Kit (RNase III), a population of siRNAs to a specific target can be prepared in a quick, simple procedure. The population of siRNAs produced by the Silencer siRNA Cocktail Kit (RNase III) elicits gene silencing effects comparable to well designed individual siRNAs, without the need to design and screen individual siRNAs. Ambion scientists have tested many genes and they have yet to see an increase in cytotoxicity. They have also not observed any nonspecific effects associated with the use of siRNA populations as compared to individual, chemically synthesized siRNAs targeting the same gene. To date, Ambion scientists have used this kit successfully with NIH-3T3, HeLa, S3, 293 and BJ cell lines and have knocked down the expression of numerous genes, including c-fos, GAPDH, La, ß-actin, and Ku-70.
Figure 2. Gene Silencing with the Silencer siRNA Cocktail Kit. A population of siRNAs targeting 200 nt of the Ku-70 mRNA was prepared with the Silencer siRNA Cocktail Kit (RNase III) and transfected into HeLa cells at a final concentration of 100 nM. Cells were analyzed 48 hours later by immunofluorescence. Ku-70 levels were reduced 86% in cells transfected with the siRNA cocktail, compared to non-transfected controls.
All of the methods described so far rely on the in vitro preparation of siRNAs. The use of siRNA expression vectors and PCR-based expression cassettes, however, relies on in vivo transcription of siRNAs from DNA templates introduced into cells. One advantage of these two approaches is that there is no need to work directly with RNA.
Most siRNA expression vectors rely on an RNA polymerase III (pol III) promoter to drive the expression of a small hairpin siRNA in mammalian cells (1–4). RNA pol III was chosen to drive siRNA expression because it naturally expresses relatively large amounts of small RNAs in mammalian cells, it terminates transcription upon incorporating a string of 1-4 uridines, and its transcripts lack poly(A) tails.
To use siRNA expression vectors, two oligodeoxynucleotides encoding the desired short hairpin RNA sequence are ordered, annealed, and cloned into the vector downstream of the promoter. Because cloning is involved, the procedure takes several days, and sequencing the region containing the insert is required. However, this limitation is balanced by the ability to produce large quantities of vector once the vector is shown to work well in gene silencing experiments.
Without a question, the main advantage of siRNA expression vectors is that they are amenable to long term studies. Vectors with antibiotic resistance markers can be used to reduce the expression of targeted genes for several weeks or longer. Transient selection of cells transfected with selectable marker containing plasmids also permits the enrichment of cells that have taken up the plasmid. This can help compensate for low transfection efficiencies in difficult to transfect cells. Recently, several groups including Ambion have begun preparing adenoviral, retroviral, and other viral vectors for siRNA expression (see pSilencer adeno 1.0-CMV). These vectors offer the added advantage that cells can be transduced for gene silencing studies, thus reducing problems associated with inefficient plasmid transfection.
Long term and other studies in which antibiotic selection of siRNA containing cells is desired. Retroviruses allow for efficient integration of the siRNA expression cassette.
Screening siRNA sequences (note: screening siRNA sequences is possible, but is time and labor intensive with vectors).
pSilencer siRNA Plasmid Expression Vectors feature U6 and H1 pol III promoters, an ampicillin resistance gene; an E. coli origin of replication; and one of three antibiotic selectable markers (neomycin, puromycin, or hygromycin resistance genes). An siRNA template is cloned into the vector resulting in siRNA expression once the plasmid is delivered to cells.
pSilencer-adeno siRNA Expression Vectors are also available, making expression vector delivery much easier in otherwise hard to transfect cells.
Figure 3. Long Term Silencing of GFP with pSilencer 2.1-U6 hygro. HeLa cells expressing cycle 3 GFP were transfected with pSilencer 2.1-U6 hygro containing an insert encoding an siRNA targeting cycle 3 GFP or pSilencer 2.1-U6 hygro without an siRNA-encoding insert. Following transfection, the cells were selected with hygromycin. Three weeks following selection, the cells were analyzed for GFP expression by fluorescence microscopy. Green: GFP. Blue: DAPI stained nuclei. GFP levels were remarkably reduced (94%) in cells transfected with the GFP siRNA-encoding pSilencer 2.1-U6 hygro siRNA Expression Vector as compared to those transfected with an "empty" siRNA expression vector.
siRNA expression cassettes (SECs) are PCR-derived siRNA expression templates that can be introduced into cells directly -- without first being cloned into a vector. Initially described by Castanotto and colleagues (5), SECs include an RNA pol III promoter, a sequence encoding an siRNA hairpin, and an RNA pol III termination site. In contrast to siRNA expression vectors, which require cloning and sequencing prior to use and thus take 1–2 weeks to prepare, SECs can be generated by PCR in less than a day. SECs thus provide an excellent screening tool to find the most effective siRNA sequence, or to identify the most effective combination of promoter and siRNA in a given cell line. In fact, SECs provide the perfect complement to siRNA expression vectors. By incorporating restriction sites at their ends, SECs found to effectively elicit gene silencing can be readily cloned into a plasmid or viral vector to create an siRNA expression vector. The siRNA expression vector can then be used for stable expression and long term studies. One disadvantage of SECs is that they are not as easily transfected into cells as siRNAs. As new transfection agents and protocols are developed, however, SEC transfection efficiency should increase. Because they are generated by PCR, SECs are not amenable to scale up without being cloned into plasmids. Figure 3 shows data from an experiment in which SECs each containing one of three different promoters were tested for their ability to drive siRNA expression and induce knockdown of c-fos expression.
Figure 4. Variable Reduction in Target Gene Expression Using SECs with Different Promoters. siRNA Expression Cassettes featuring the mouse U6 (Mo-U6), human U6 (Hu-U6), and human H1 (Hu-H1) promoters and encoding a c-fos-specific hairpin siRNA were transfected into HeLa cells. 72 hours post-transfection, the cells were assessed using nuclear staining with DAPI and immunofluorescence using a c-FOS antibody. Non-transfected cells (NT) as well as cells transfected with an SEC expressing a negative control siRNA (scramble) demonstrate wild-type levels of c-FOS. The relative level of reduction in gene expression was quantified and is provided in the bar graph.
Once siRNAs or siRNA expression vectors are obtained, they must be delivered to cells. Poor delivery efficiency is one of the main reasons RNAi experiments fail (or give false negative results) and deserves much attention.
The use of RNAi to induce gene silencing is an exciting new method for creating loss of function phenotypes. The table above summarizes the five different methods for producing siRNAs. More information about each of these methods can be found throughout this issue.
Sui G, Soohoo C, Affar EB, Gay F, Shi Y, Forrester WC, Shi Y. (2002) A DNA vector-based RNAi technology to suppress gene expression in mammalian cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 99: 5515-20.
2. Brummelkamp TR, Bernards R, Agami R. (2002) A system for stable expression of short interfering RNAs in mammalian cells. Science 296: 550-3.
3. Paul CP, Good PD, Winer I, Engelke DR. (2002) Effective expression of small interfering RNA in human cells. Nature Biotechnology 20: 505-8.
4. Lee NS, Dohjima T, Bauer G, Li H, Li M-J, Ehsani A, Salvaterra P, Rossi J. (2002) Expression of small interfering RNAs targeted against HIV-1 rev transcripts in human cells. Nature Biotechnology 20: 500-5.
5.Castanotto D, Li H, Rossi JJ. (2002) Functional siRNA expression from transfected PCR products. RNA 8: 1454-60.


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GT Solar receives $218.9 million order for advanced sapphire crystallization furnaces
Date Announced: 28 Apr 2011
-- GT Solar receives $218.9 million order for advanced sapphire crystallization furnaces from Guizhou Haotian Optoelectronics Technology Co. Ltd
-- Market momentum continues for GT's cost-reducing sapphire crystal growth technology
MERRIMACK, N.H. -- GT Solar International, Inc. (NASDAQ: SOLR), a global provider of polysilicon production technology, and sapphire and silicon crystalline growth systems and materials for the solar, LED and other specialty markets, today announced that it has received an order for its advanced sapphire crystallization furnaces totaling $218.9 million from Guizhou Haotian Optoelectronics Technology Co. LTD (HTOT). The order marks HTOT's entrance into the fast-growing LED industry, and continues GT Solar's market momentum for its sapphire crystalline growth technology based on its advanced sapphire furnace. The order will be included in GT Solar's backlog for its current Q1 FY12, which ends on July 2, 2011.
"Our entrance into the LED market offers a new strategic growth opportunity for our company and Guiyang City as well as the Guizhou region of China," said Mr. Hao Xu, chairman of the board of Guizhou Industrial Investment Group.
"Our new sapphire production facility will help to stimulate economic growth in the region and establish HTOT as a leading supplier of material to the LED industry. This project requires a technology partner that can deliver reliable, highly productive equipment as well as installation and support know-how to quickly get our new factory up and running. We selected GT Solar because of its leading technology, proven track record, and years of experience enabling cost-effective, high-volume manufacturing."
"We are pleased that HTOT has selected our advanced sapphire crystallization furnaces and look forward to a long and successful partnership over the coming years," said Tom Gutierrez, GT Solar's president and CEO. "We continue to see growing interest from companies looking to enter the fast-growing LED industry. Our sapphire crystal growth technology provides a proven path to producing high quality material, and our global installation and support resources enable our customers to quickly ramp to high volume, low-cost manufacturing."
GT Solar's advanced sapphire furnace technology is the result of over 40 years of continual process improvement and development at Crystal Systems, which was acquired by GT Solar in July of 2010. Crystal Systems is recognized as one of the leading providers of quality sapphire material for the LED and specialty optical and mechanical industries.
About GT Solar International, Inc.
GT Solar International, Inc. is a global provider of polysilicon production technology, and sapphire and silicon crystalline growth systems and materials for the solar, LED and other specialty markets. The company's products and services allow its customers to optimize their manufacturing environments and lower their cost of ownership. For additional information about GT Solar, please visit www.gtsolar.com.
About Guizhou Haotian Optoelectronics Technology Co. LTD.
Guizhou Haotian Optoelectronics Technology Co. LTD (HTOT) will be a vertically integrated manufacturer of a wide range of sapphire products including sapphire crystal, sapphire cores, sapphire wafers and other crystalline products for light-emitting diodes (LEDs), silicon on sapphire (SOS), radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs), optoelectronics and other optical applications. Once fully operational, HTOT will be capable of producing very high-quality sapphire in volume production of various sizes and orientations of substrates and windows. The company's products and services will provide its customers with large volume and high quality materials so that they can lower their cost of ownership. For additional information about HTOT, please visit www.ghtot.com.
Media: Jeff Nestel-Patt 603-204-2883 jeff.nestelpatt@gtsolar.com Investors/Analysts: Ryan Blair 603-681-3869
E-mail:ryan.blair@gtsolar.com
Web Site:www.gtsolar.com