text:
Mapping climatic mechanisms likely to favour the emergence of novel communities
Alejandro Ordonez1,
John W. Williams2,3 &
Jens-Christian Svenning ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-3415-08621
Nature Climate Change volume 6, pages 1104–1109 (2016)Cite this article
Climatic conditions are changing at different rates and in different directions1,2, potentially causing the emergence of novel species assemblages3. Here we identify areas where recent (1901–2013) changes in temperature and precipitation are likely to be producing novel species assemblages through three distinct mechanisms: emergence of novel climatic combinations4,5, rapid displacement of climatic isoclines1,2,6,7,8 and local divergences between temperature and precipitation vectors1,2. Novel climates appear in the tropics, while displacement is faster at higher latitudes and divergence is high in the subtropics and mountainous regions. Globally, novel climate combinations so far are rare (3.4% of evaluated cells), mean displacement is 3.7 km decade−1 and divergence is high (>60°) for 67% of evaluated cells. Via at least one of the proposed mechanisms, novel species assemblages are likely to be forming in the North American Great Plains and temperate forests, Amazon, South American grasslands, Australia, boreal Asia and Africa. In these areas, temperature- and moisture-sensitive species may be affected by new climates emerging, differential biotic lags to rapidly changing climates or by being pulled in opposite directions along local spatial gradients. These results provide spatially explicit hypotheses about where and why novel communities are likely to emerge due to recent climate change.
Fine-scale variation in projected climate change presents opportunities for biodiversity conservation in Europe
Tomáš Hlásny
, Martin Mokroš
… Martin Lukac
Cities as hot stepping stones for tree migration
Qiyao Han
, Greg Keeffe
… Alan Simson
npj Urban Sustainability Open Access 27 May 2021
Climate-human interaction associated with southeast Australian megafauna extinction patterns
Frédérik Saltré
, Joël Chadoeuf
… Corey J. A. Bradshaw
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Figure 1: Diagram representing the differences between climatic novelty, displacement and divergence.
Figure 2: Bivariate kernel-density plots of the bearing and rate of displacement for temperature and precipitation from 1901 to 2013.
Figure 3: Global maps of climatic novelty, average displacement, divergence, and combined divergence and displacement, with kernel-density plots of divergence and displacement for the period 1901–2013.
Dobrowski, S. Z. et al. The climate velocity of the contiguous United States during the 20th century. Glob. Change Biol. 19, 241–251 (2013).
Ordonez, A. & Williams, J. Projected climate reshuffling based on multivariate climate-availability, climate-analog, and climate-velocity analyses: implications for community disaggregation. Climatic Change 119, 659–675 (2013).
Hobbs, R. J., Higgs, E. S. & Hall, C. Novel Ecosystems: Intervening in The New Ecological World Order (John Wiley, 2013).
Williams, J. W., Jackson, S. T. & Kutzbach, J. E. Projected distributions of novel and disappearing climates by 2100 AD . Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 104, 5738–5742 (2007).
Jackson, S. T. & Overpeck, J. T. Responses of plant populations and communities to environmental changes of the late Quaternary. Paleobiology 26, 194–220 (2000).
Ordonez, A., Martinuzzi, S., Radeloff, V. C. & Williams, J. W. Combined speeds of climate and land-use change of the conterminous US until 2050. Nat. Clim. Change 4, 811–816 (2014).
Burrows, M. T. et al. The pace of shifting climate in marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Science 334, 652–655 (2011).
Loarie, S. R. et al. The velocity of climate change. Nature 462, 1052–1055 (2009).
Ordonez, A. Realized climatic niche of North American plant taxa lagged behind climate during the end of the Pleistocene. Am. J. Bot. 100, 1255–1265 (2013).
Parmesan, C. & Yohe, G. A globally coherent fingerprint of climate change impacts across natural systems. Nature 421, 37–42 (2003).
Chen, I. C., Hill, J. K., Ohlemüller, R., Roy, D. B. & Thomas, C. D. Rapid range shifts of species associated with high levels of climate warming. Science 333, 1024–1026 (2011).
Ordonez, A. & Williams, J. W. Climatic and biotic velocities for woody taxa distributions over the last 16 000 years in eastern North America. Ecol. Lett. 16, 773–781 (2013).
Svenning, J.-C. & Sandel, B. Disequilibrium vegetation dynamics under future climate change. Am. J. Bot. 100, 1266–1286 (2013).
VanDerWal, J. et al. Focus on poleward shifts in species' distribution underestimates the fingerprint of climate change. Nat. Clim. Change 3, 239–243 (2012).
Crimmins, S. M., Dobrowski, S. Z., Greenberg, J. A., Abatzoglou, J. T. & Mynsberge, A. R. Changes in climatic water balance drive downhill shifts in plant species' optimum elevations. Science 331, 324–327 (2011).
Hijmans, R. J. Comment on "Changes in climatic water balance drive downhill shifts in plant species' optimum elevations". Science 334, 177 (2011).
Davis, M. B. Pleistocene biogeography of temperate deciduous forests. Geosci. Man 13, 13–26 (1976).
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Williams, J. W. & Jackson, S. T. Novel climates, no-analog communities, and ecological surprises. Front. Ecol. Environ. 5, 475–482 (2007).
Radeloff, V. C. et al. The rise of novelty in ecosystems. Ecol. Appl. 25, 2051–2068 (2015).
Field, C. B. et al. In Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability (eds Field, C. B. et al.) 35–94 (IPCC, Cambridge Univ. Press, 2014).
Lenoir, J., Gegout, J. C., Marquet, P. A., de Ruffray, P. & Brisse, H. A significant upward shift in plant species optimum elevation during the 20th century. Science 320, 1768–1771 (2008).
Millar, C. I., Stephenson, N. L. & Stephens, S. L. Climate change and forests of the future: Managing in the face of uncertainty. Ecol. Appl. 17, 2145–2151 (2007).
Anderson, M. G. & Ferree, C. E. Conserving the stage: climate change and the geophysical underpinnings of species diversity. PLoS ONE 5, e11554 (2010).
Parmesan, C. et al. Beyond climate change attribution in conservation and ecological research. Ecol. Lett. 16, 58–71 (2013).
Harris, I., Jones, P. D., Osborn, T. J. & Lister, D. H. Updated high-resolution grids of monthly climatic observations—the CRU TS3.10 Dataset. Int. J. Climatol. 34, 623–642 (2014).
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A.O. and J.-C.S. were financially supported through grant ERC-2012-StG-310886-HISTFUNC to J.-C.S. J.W.W. was supported by NSF grants DEB-1257508 and DEB-1353896. This manuscript benefited from detailed comments by D. Ackerly.
Department of Bioscience, Section of Ecoinformatics and Biodiversity, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 114, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
Alejandro Ordonez & Jens-Christian Svenning
Center for Climatic Research (CCR), University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA
John W. Williams
Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA
Alejandro Ordonez
Jens-Christian Svenning
A.O. developed and implemented the methodological approaches, downscaled the climatic data, ran analyses and produced figures and tables. A.O., J.W.W. and J.-C.S. interpreted the results. A.O. led the writing, with the assistance of J.W.W. and J.-C.S.
Correspondence to Alejandro Ordonez.
Supplementary Information (PDF 2692 kb)
Ordonez, A., Williams, J. & Svenning, JC. Mapping climatic mechanisms likely to favour the emergence of novel communities. Nature Clim Change 6, 1104–1109 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate3127
Greg Keeffe
Alan Simson
npj Urban Sustainability (2021)
Martin Mokroš
Martin Lukac
Climate and land-use changes reduce the benefits of terrestrial protected areas
Ernest F. Asamoah
Linda J. Beaumont
Joseph M. Maina
Nature Climate Change (2021)
Temperature-related biodiversity change across temperate marine and terrestrial systems
Laura H. Antão
Amanda E. Bates
Aafke M. Schipper
A unifying framework for studying and managing climate-driven rates of ecological change


Show: Let's Stay Together S3E6 Network: BET Almarie as a nanny guest stars in the role of "Dawn."
New Media Campaign for Disney Resorts. Almarie announces the opening of the Cars Wing of Disney's Art of Animation Resort. This is the second video from the Disney Resorts' You Tube series: "Desde la mesa del Dibujo", hosted by Almarie Guerra.
Clip of the short-film: "Uncorked" in which Almarie plays the lead role.
Fully Bilingual (English and Spanish) Basic French. Almarie is part of an LA/NY based improv group (The Story Pirates) whose members include these comedic actors: Conan O'Brien, Nick Offerman, Patton Oswalt, Jon Sewart.


OpenStack has the potential to revolutionize how enterprises do virtualization, so lots of people are currently busy with setting up OpenStack private clouds. I've been part of such a project too. In this post, I'll explain why I believe Docker makes a lot of sense to use for deploying the services that together make up an OpenStack cloud. Docker features flexibility, orchestration, clustering and more.
OpenStack is commonly viewed as a platform for virtualization. However, under the hood OpenStack is nothing more than a bunch of microservices which end-users can interact with, either directly or through the Horizon UI. Most of the microservices are REST APIs for controlling different aspects of the platform (block storage, authentication, telemetry and so on). API nodes for an OpenStack cloud end up running dozens of small processes, each with their own distinct purpose. In such a setting, Dockerizing all these microservices makes a lot of sense.
Of several improvements Dockerizing brings, the most important is the flexibility. Running a Docker Swarm for OpenStack API services makes it possible to easily scale out by adding more swarm nodes and launching additional copies of the containers on them. Coupled with HAProxy, the new containers can join the backend pool for an API service in seconds and help alleviate high load. Sure, the same can be accomplished by adding physical API nodes, provision them with Chef/Puppet/Salt/Ansible and reconfigure HAProxy to include them in the backend pool for each service, but that takes considerably longer time than just launching more pre-built containers.
Since Docker images are versioned and pushed to a central registry, it's trivial to ensure that all instances of a service run with identical configs, packages and libraries. Furthermore, even though a service like Nova typically consists of 4-5 different sub-services, all of them can share the same config and therefore use the same container image. The only difference is which command the container runs when started. Being able to easily check that all backend instances are identical (use the same version of the image) is important when debugging issues. Also, Docker Compose has built-in support for viewing logs from several containers sorted chronologically, no matter which physical node they run on. That also includes the option to follow logs in real-time from several containers at once.
Using Docker Compose to orchestrate microservices is important. Compose provides an interface to scale the number of containers for each service and supports constraints and affinities on where each container should run. For example if you run a clustered MySQL instance for the internal OpenStack databases, Compose can ensure that each database container runs on a different physical host than the others in the MySQL cluster. When creating container images for each service, an entrypoint shell script can be included and used to detect if there is an existing cluster to add itself to, or if this is the first instance of the service. Clustering the services that OpenStack APIs rely on (notably MySQL and RabbitMQ) becomes easier with this type of pattern.
A solution for Service Discovery is a requirement when operating dozens of microservices that expect to be able to find each other and talk together. In the Docker ecosystem, Consul is a great option for service discovery. Coupled with the Registrator container deployed on each swarm node, all microservices that listen on a TCP/UDP port are automatically added as services in Consul. It's easy to query Consul for the IP addresses of a particular service using either the HTTP or DNS interface. With the right Consul setup, each Dockerized service can reference other services by their Consul DNS name in config files and so on. This way, no server names or IP addresses need to be hard coded in the config of each service, which is a great plus.
There are more desireable effects of Dockerizing OpenStack microservices, but the most important ones in my opinion are flexibility, ease of debugging, orchestration and service discovery. If you wonder why Docker doesn't just replace OpenStack entirely, I recommend reading this TechRepublic article. There Matt Asay points out that a common enterprise pattern is to utilize OpenStack for its strong multi-tenancy model. Applications can in that case be deployed with Docker on top of VMs provisioned using OpenStack, which I think will be a very useful way of utilizing OpenStack and Docker for big enterprises with a diverse set of applications, departments and users.


The IMF's Balance of Payments Statistics contains more than 425,000 data series including aggregate and detailed information for about 200 countries and reporting entities. BOP delivers data on interna-tional economic transactions including total goods, services, factor income, current and capital transfers, and changes in an economy's external financial claims and liabilities. The Balance of Payments Statistics (BOPS) Yearbook, usually published in December, provides tables of data, featuring regional and world totals of balance of payments and IIP components and aggregates as well as detailed information in the form of analytical and standard component presentations for economies. It is compiled in accordance with the IMF's Balance of Payments Manual (BPM6).


When do you need a bulk bag conditioner?
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On request, it can be equipped with a system of closure on four sides by means of three fixed gates and one that can be opened with safety micro – switch.


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Let's pretend for a moment that our beloved is named "Breath". How would our present relationship with our breathing change?
If breath became shallow and contracted we might take some moments to notice and then soften shoulders, neck, facial muscles and belly/pelvis so that Breath could expand, relax and feel our love.
In those times when Breath leaves us all together for moments at a time, we might decide to invite Breath out for a walk, run, or a dance around the room embracing every inhale and exhale making certain that Breath feels they are the most important part of our life.
When Breath becomes all out of sorts coming and going in short bursts and irregular rhythms, we might offer a gentle touch or massage, or share laughter to soothe the "savage beast", opening Breath back again to the natural innate rhythm that Breath prefers to live within…..and where your relationship thrives.
Without Breath we would not be here to cherish others. Without other beings we would not learn all the ways to cherish ourselves.


While you are here pursuing your dream of skiing Whistler Blackcomb, obtaining your CSIA, Avalanche and Park riding certifications, what we know from experience is that having the right gear matters. A lot!
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Here are our ski recommendations for this year. They fall into the all mountain category and are good for skiing everything you want here at Whistler Blackcomb. If you would like more piste oriented skis, we have recommendations for you on those. Please email me if you want those recommendations forwarded to our advisor.
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Due to popular demand, EZ Express tokens can now be used as alternatives to both free and TCredit entries for Card King and Knockout Trivia!
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Also…be on the lookout for a coming announcement expanding EZ Express options for Gold Streak!


text:
Metopomyza laeta är en tvåvingeart som beskrevs av Mitsuhiro Sasakawa 1955. Metopomyza laeta ingår i släktet Metopomyza och familjen minerarflugor. Inga underarter finns listade i Catalogue of Life.

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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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text:
//******************************************************************************************
// Function: ac_atan_pwl
//
// Description:
//    Calculation of arctangent of real inputs.
//
// Usage:
//    A sample testbench and its implementation looks like this:
//
//    #include <ac_math/ac_atan_pwl.h>
//    using namespace ac_math;
//
//    typedef ac_fixed<16, 8, false, AC_RND, AC_SAT> input_type;
//    typedef ac_fixed<16, 8, false, AC_RND, AC_SAT> output_type;
//
//    #pragma hls_design top
//    void project(
//      const input_type &input,
//      output_type &output
//    )
//    {
//      ac_atan_pwl(input, output);
//    }
//
//    #ifndef __SYNTHESIS__
//    #include <mc_scverify.h>
//
//    CCS_MAIN(int arg, char **argc)
//    {
//      input_type input = 0.25;
//      output_type output;
//      CCS_DESIGN(project)(input, output);
//      CCS_RETURN (0);
//    }
//    #endif
//
// Notes:
//    This file uses C++ function overloading and templates for various datatype
//    implementations. Attempting to call it with a type that is not implemented will
//    result in a compile-time error.
//
//    This file uses the ac_reciprocal_pwl() function from ac_reciprocal_pwl.h as well as the
//    ac_shift_left() function from ac_shift.h.
//
// Revision History:
//    3.4.3  - dgb - Updated compiler checks to work with MS VS 2019
//    3.3.0  - [CAT-25797] Added CDesignChecker fixes/waivers for code check violations in ac_math PWL and Linear Algebra IPs.
//             Waivers added for CNS and CCC violations.
//             Fixes added for FXD, STF and MXS violations.
//               - FXD violations fixed by changing integer literals to floating point literals or typecasting to ac_fixed values.
//               - STF violations fixed by using "const" instead of "static const" parameters. LUT generator files also print out "const" LUTs instead of "static const" LUTs.
//               - MXS violations fixed by typecasting unsigned variables to int.
//    2.0.10 - Official open-source release as part of the ac_math library.
//
//******************************************************************************************

#ifndef _INCLUDED_AC_ATAN_PWL_H_
#define _INCLUDED_AC_ATAN_PWL_H_

// The functions use default template parameters, which are only supported by C++11 or later
// compiler standards. Hence, the user should be informed if they are not using those standards.
#if (defined(__GNUC__) && (__cplusplus < 201103L))
#error Please use C++11 or a later standard for compilation.
#endif
#if (defined(_MSC_VER) && (_MSC_VER < 1920) && !defined(__EDG__))
#error Please use Microsoft VS 2019 or a later standard for compilation.
#endif

#include <ac_int.h>
// Include headers for data types supported by these implementations
#include <ac_fixed.h>
#include <ac_float.h>

#if !defined(__SYNTHESIS__) && defined(AC_ATAN_PWL_H_DEBUG)
#include <iostream>
#endif

#include <ac_math/ac_reciprocal_pwl.h>
#include <ac_math/ac_shift.h>

//=========================================================================
// Function: ac_atan_pwl (for ac_fixed)
//
// Description:
//    Calculation of arctangent of real, positive inputs, passed as
//    ac_fixed variables.
//
// Usage:
//    See above example for usage.
//
//-------------------------------------------------------------------------

namespace ac_math
{
  template<ac_q_mode pwl_Q = AC_TRN,
           int W, int I, ac_q_mode Q, ac_o_mode O,
           int outW, int outI, ac_q_mode outQ, ac_o_mode outO>
  void ac_atan_pwl(
    const ac_fixed<W, I, false, Q, O> &input,
    ac_fixed<outW, outI, false, outQ, outO> &output
  )
  {
    // Store the approximate value of pi by 2
    const ac_fixed<11, 1, false> pi_by_2 = 1.5703125;

    // Give the number of fraction bits to be assigned for the normalized input. 14 is chosen for this implementation, because it results in
    // a very low error.
    const int f_b_n_i = 14;
    ac_fixed<f_b_n_i, 0, false, pwl_Q, AC_SAT> normalized_input;

    // Start of code outputted by ac_atan_pwl_lutgen.cpp
    // Note that the LUT generator file also outputs values for x_min_lut (lower limit of PWL domain), x_max_lut (upper limit of PWL domain)
    // and sc_constant_lut (scaling factor used to scale the input from 0 to n_segments_lut). However, these values aren't considered in the header
    // file because it has been optimized to work with a 4-segment PWL model that covers the domain of [0, 1). For other PWL implementations, the user will probably have
    // to take these values into account explicitly. Guidelines for doing so are given in the comments.
    // In addition, some of the slope values here are modified slightly in order to ensure monotonicity of the PWL function as the input crosses segment boundaries.
    // The user might want to take care to ensure that for their own PWL versions.

    // Initialization for PWL LUT
    const unsigned n_segments_lut = 4;
    // The number of fractional bits for the LUT values is chosen by first finding the maximum absolute error over the domain of the PWL
    // when double-precision values are used for LUT values. This error will correspond to a number of fractional bits that are always
    // guaranteed to be error-free, for fixed-point PWL outputs.
    // This number of fractional bits is found out by the formula:
    // nbits = abs(ceil(log2(abs_error_max)).
    // The number of fractional bits hereafter used to store the LUT values is nbits + 2.
    // For this particular PWL implementation, the number of fractional bits is 10.
    const int n_frac_bits = 10;
    // slope and intercept value array.
    const ac_fixed<n_frac_bits, 0, false> m_lut[n_segments_lut] = {.2451171875, .2197265625, .1796875, 0.138671875};
    const ac_fixed<n_frac_bits, 0, false> c_lut[n_segments_lut] = {.0009765625, .24609375, .4658203125, .646484375};

    // End of code outputted by ac_atan_pwl_lutgen.cpp

    // If the input exceeds or equals 1, we take the reciprocal of the input and find the arctangent of that reciprocal. We then use the formula
    // atan(x) = pi/2 - atan(1 / x) to find the arctangent of the original input.
    // Also, keep in mind that the input can only exceed 1 if the number of integer bits are greater than or equal to 1 and we won't need a reciprocal operation if that's
    // not the case. The "if (I >= 1)" condition will then ensure that the reciprocal block is optimized away.
    bool input_exceeds_1 = false;
    #pragma hls_waive CNS
    if (I >= 1) { input_exceeds_1 = (input > 1); }
    if ((I >= 1) && input_exceeds_1) { ac_math::ac_reciprocal_pwl<pwl_Q>(input, normalized_input); }
    // If input is lesser than 1, then it is within the domain of the PWL function. Hence, no reciprocal operation is required.
    else {normalized_input = input;}

    // Compute atan using pwl.
    const int int_bits = ac::nbits<n_segments_lut - 1>::val;
    // Scale the input from 0 to 4. Note that the below expression is simplified and optimized for 4 segments and a domain of [0, 1). Any other PWL implementation
    // with a different number of segments/domain should be scaled according to the formula: x_in_sc = (normalized_input - x_min_lut) * sc_constant_lut
    // where sc_constant_lut = n_segments_lut / (x_max_lut - x_min_lut)
    // where x_min_lut and x_max_lut are the lower and upper limits of the PWL Domain.
    ac_fixed<f_b_n_i, int_bits, false> x_in_sc = (ac_fixed<f_b_n_i + int_bits, int_bits, false>)normalized_input << 2;
    // Take out the fractional bits of the scaled input
    ac_fixed<f_b_n_i - int_bits, 0, false> x_in_sc_frac;
    x_in_sc_frac.set_slc(0, x_in_sc.template slc<f_b_n_i - int_bits>(0));
    ac_int<int_bits, false> index;
    // The integer part of the scaled input is the index of the LUT table
    index = x_in_sc.to_int();
    // The precision given below will ensure that there is no precision lost in the assignment to output_pwl, hence rounding for the variable is switched off by default.
    // However, if the user uses less fractional bits and wishes to turn rounding on instead, they are welcome to do so by giving a different value for pwl_Q.
    ac_fixed<f_b_n_i - int_bits + n_frac_bits + 1, 1, false, pwl_Q> output_pwl = m_lut[index]*x_in_sc_frac + c_lut[index];

    // If the input exceeds 1, apply the previously mentioned formula.
    if ((I >= 1) && input_exceeds_1) { output_pwl = pi_by_2 - output_pwl; }

    output = output_pwl;

    #if !defined(__SYNTHESIS__) && defined(AC_ATAN_PWL_H_DEBUG)
    std::cout << "FILE : " << __FILE__ << ", LINE : " << __LINE__ << std::endl;
    std::cout << "input            = " << input << std::endl;
    std::cout << "normalized_input = " << normalized_input << std::endl;
    std::cout << "x_in_sc          = " << x_in_sc << std::endl;
    std::cout << "output_pwl       = " << output_pwl << std::endl;
    std::cout << "output           = " << output << std::endl;
    #endif
  }

//=========================================================================
// Function: ac_atan_pwl (for ac_float)
//
// Description:
//    Calculation of arctangent of real, positive inputs, passed as
//    ac_float variables.
//
// Usage:
//    A sample testbench and its implementation looks like this:
//
//    #include <ac_math/ac_atan_pwl.h>
//    using namespace ac_math;
//
//    typedef ac_float<16, 8, 8, AC_TRN> input_type;
//    typedef ac_float<16, 8, 8, AC_TRN> output_type;
//
//    #pragma hls_design top
//    void project(
//      const input_type &input,
//      output_type &output
//    )
//    {
//      ac_atan_pwl(input, output);
//    }
//
//    #ifndef __SYNTHESIS__
//    #include <mc_scverify.h>
//
//    CCS_MAIN(int arg, char **argc)
//    {
//      input_type input = 0.25;
//      output_type output;
//      CCS_DESIGN(project)(input, output);
//      CCS_RETURN (0);
//    }
//    #endif
//
//-------------------------------------------------------------------------

  template<ac_q_mode pwl_Q = AC_TRN,
           int W, int I, int E, ac_q_mode Q,
           int outW, int outI, int outE, ac_q_mode outQ>
  void ac_atan_pwl(
    const ac_float<W, I, E, Q> &input,
    ac_float<outW, outI, outE, outQ> &output
  )
  {
    #ifdef ASSERT_ON_INVALID_INPUT
    // ac_atan_pwl only works for first quadrant angles and hence can only accept positive
    // inputs. The AC_ASSERT below will ensure that that is always the case.
    AC_ASSERT(input.mantissa() >= 0, "Input must be positive.");
    #endif
    const ac_fixed<11, 1, false> pi_by_2 = 1.5703125; // Store the approximate value of pi by 2

    // Calculate intermediate bitwidth of reciprocal output. Consider changing the formula if PWL implementation changes from the default.
    const int recipW = AC_MAX(1, AC_MIN(10, W - 4)) + 10 + 2;

    ac_float<recipW, I, E> atan_input_fl; // Temp variable to store the reciprocal of the ac_float input, if necessary.

    // If input exceeds one, pass the reciprocal of the input to the atan function and use
    // the formula atan(x) = pi/2 - atan(1/x) to calculate the final output.
    bool input_exceeds_1 = (input >= 1);
    #pragma hls_waive CNS
    if (input_exceeds_1) { ac_math::ac_reciprocal_pwl<pwl_Q>(input, atan_input_fl); }
    else { atan_input_fl = input; }

    // Since inputs are always supposed to be positive, we don't need the signed bit of the
    // mantissa as that will always be zero. Reduce the bitwidth of mantVal accordingly.
    ac_fixed<recipW - 1, I - 1, false> mantVal = atan_input_fl.mantissa();
    int exp_val = atan_input_fl.exp().to_int();
    // Ultimately, we will have to convert the input to an ac_fixed value and pass it to the ac_fixed
    // implementation of ac_atan_pwl. The purpose of performing the reciprocal operation before passing
    // the input to the ac_fixed implementation is to restrict the input domain to [0, 1) and hence restrict the
    // bitwidth of the ac_fixed input. We need zero integer bits (since the ac_fixed input is always fractional),
    // which will enable further optimizations in the ac_fixed version code.
    ac_fixed<14, 0, false, AC_RND, AC_SAT> atan_input_fi;
    // atan_input_fi = mantVal*2^(exp_val) = mantVal << exp_val
    // Use ac_shift_left, as well as output rounding/saturation, to prevent overflow and ensure rounding.
    ac_math::ac_shift_left(mantVal, exp_val, atan_input_fi);
    ac_fixed<23, 1, false> atan_output_fi;
    ac_atan_pwl<pwl_Q>(atan_input_fi, atan_output_fi); // Call ac_fixed version.
    if (input_exceeds_1) { atan_output_fi = pi_by_2 - atan_output_fi; } // atan(x) = pi/2 - atan(1/x)
    // Convert ac_fixed output to ac_float by using a constructor.
    ac_float<outW, outI, outE, outQ> output_temp(atan_output_fi);
    output = output_temp;
  }

// For this section of the code to work, the user must include ac_std_float.h in their testbench before including the arctangent header,
// so as to have the code import the ac_std_float and ac_ieee_float datatypes and define the __AC_STD_FLOAT_H macro.
  #ifdef __AC_STD_FLOAT_H
//=========================================================================
// Function: ac_atan_pwl (for ac_std_float)
//
// Description:
//    Calculation of arctangent of real inputs, passed as ac_std_float
//    variables.
//
// Usage:
//    A sample testbench and its implementation looks like this:
//
//    // IMPORTANT: ac_std_float.h header file must be included in testbench,
//    // before including ac_atan_pwl.h.
//    #include <ac_std_float.h>
//    #include <ac_math/ac_atan_pwl.h>
//    using namespace ac_math;
//
//    typedef ac_std_float<32, 8> input_type;
//    typedef ac_std_float<32, 8> output_type;
//
//    #pragma hls_design top
//    void project(
//      const input_type &input,
//      output_type &output
//    )
//    {
//      ac_atan_pwl(input, output);
//    }
//
//    #ifndef __SYNTHESIS__
//    #include <mc_scverify.h>
//
//    CCS_MAIN(int arg, char **argc)
//    {
//      input_type input(0.25);
//      output_type output;
//      CCS_DESIGN(project)(input, output);
//      CCS_RETURN (0);
//    }
//    #endif
//
//-------------------------------------------------------------------------

  template <ac_q_mode pwl_Q = AC_TRN, int W, int E, int outW, int outE>
  void ac_atan_pwl(
    const ac_std_float<W, E> &input,
    ac_std_float<outW, outE> &output
  )
  {
    ac_float<outW - outE + 1, 2, outE> output_ac_fl; // Equivalent ac_float representation for output.
    ac_atan_pwl<pwl_Q>(input.to_ac_float(), output_ac_fl); // Call ac_float version.
    ac_std_float<outW, outE> output_temp(output_ac_fl); // Convert output ac_float to ac_std_float.
    output = output_temp;
  }

//=========================================================================
// Function: ac_atan_pwl (for ac_ieee_float)
//
// Description:
//    Calculation of arctangent of real, positive inputs, passed as
//    ac_ieee_float variables.
//
// Usage:
//    A sample testbench and its implementation looks like this:
//
//    // IMPORTANT: ac_std_float.h header file must be included in testbench,
//    // before including ac_atan_pwl.h.
//    #include <ac_std_float.h>
//    #include <ac_math/ac_atan_pwl.h>
//    using namespace ac_math;
//
//    typedef ac_ieee_float<binary32> input_type;
//    typedef ac_ieee_float<binary32> output_type;
//
//    #pragma hls_design top
//    void project(
//      const input_type &input,
//      output_type &output
//    )
//    {
//      ac_atan_pwl(input, output);
//    }
//
//    #ifndef __SYNTHESIS__
//    #include <mc_scverify.h>
//
//    CCS_MAIN(int arg, char **argc)
//    {
//      input_type input(0.25);
//      output_type output;
//      CCS_DESIGN(project)(input, output);
//      CCS_RETURN (0);
//    }
//    #endif
//
//-------------------------------------------------------------------------

  template<ac_q_mode pwl_Q = AC_TRN,
           ac_ieee_float_format Format,
           ac_ieee_float_format outFormat>
  void ac_atan_pwl(
    const ac_ieee_float<Format> &input,
    ac_ieee_float<outFormat> &output
  )
  {
    typedef ac_ieee_float<outFormat> T_out;
    const int outW = T_out::width;
    const int outE = T_out::e_width;
    ac_float<outW - outE + 1, 2, outE> output_ac_fl; // Equivalent ac_float representation for output.
    ac_atan_pwl<pwl_Q>(input.to_ac_float(), output_ac_fl); // Call ac_float version.
    ac_ieee_float<outFormat> output_temp(output_ac_fl); // Convert output ac_float to ac_ieee_float.
    output = output_temp;
  }
  #endif

  // The following version enables a return-by-value.
  template<class T_out,
           ac_q_mode pwl_Q = AC_TRN,
           class T_in>
  T_out ac_atan_pwl(const T_in &input)
  {
    T_out output;
    ac_atan_pwl<pwl_Q>(input, output);
    return output;
  }

}

#endif // _INCLUDED_AC_ATAN_PWL_H_

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


THREE-DIMENSIONAL NONLINEAR SOIL-STRUCTURE INTERACTION ANALYSIS OF PILE GROUPS AND ANCHORS.
Analysis and design of structures supported by geological media pose various complexities such as nonlinear behavior of supporting media, nature of loading, irregularities in geometry and boundary condition, and the interaction effects. It is extremely difficult to find closed-form solutions for such problems. So often, numerical techniques such as finite difference, finite element and boundary integral methods are used. In this research two soil-structure interaction problems are analyzed using the finite element method involving fully three-dimensional idealizations. In order to incorporate nonlinear behavior of a soil, a nonlinear elastic (hyperbolic model), and generalized single surface plasticity model including hardening are implemented in the finite element program for analysis of a pile group foundation, and an anchor in sands, respectively. The parameters required to define these models are determined from comprehensive laboratory stress-strain data obtained by using a multiaxial testing device. Typical stress paths are back predicted using the generalized plasticity model to verify that it is capable of predicting those paths, and is found to be satisfactory. In order to include the interaction effects resulting in relative slip and debonding or crack and openings at the junction between two dissimilar materials, the thin-layer element model is implemented. Load deformation behavior, force and stress distributions in various components of pile group foundation, and the anchor-soil system are predicted by using the numerical procedure. The predictions are compared with results from a model test for the pile group and field observations for the anchor problem; the comparisons are found to be satisfactory. The effects of soil nonlinearity and interface behavior are also delineated and it is found that their inclusion, particularly in case of anchors analysis, can substantially effect the behavior of the system. Detailed analysis of the results permits an increased understanding of the stress deformation mechanisms of the three-dimensional problems.


Lake of the Woods, VA, Featured in the Washington Post!
In October, I had the privilege of sharing Lake of the Woods with fabulous Washington Post freelance writer and nature photographer, Ann Cameron Siegal. An avid wildlife person like me, Ann, my husband John, and I trolled around the lake, and Ann was able to take some incredible photos of her favorite, the Blue Heron, and my favorite…the swans. Ann spent the weekend with me and was truly able to gain the "Lake of the Woods experience." We had a great dinner at Clearwater on Saturday night and a great brunch at the Clubhouse on Sunday. Ann stopped people walking their dogs and kids fishing to learn how they felt about life at the lake. Overwhelmingly, residents love the community! I believe that Ann captured the essence of Lake of the Woods extremely well in her feature. But don't take my word for it: please click on the link to see why "It's another beautiful day at the lake" each and every day at Lake of the Woods!


text:
Posted on June 25, 2015 by Wilmington News Journal
WIMBLEDON 2015: Capsules on top women's players
FILE – In this June 28, 2014, file photo, Serena Williams gestures during a women's singles match against Alize Cornet of France at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London. A five-time champion and two-time runner-up at Wimbledon, Serena Williams hasn't been past the fourth round either of the last two years at the All England Club. (AP Photo/Sang Tan, File)
FILE – In this July 5, 2014, file photo, Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic plays a return to Eugenie Bouchard of Canada during the women's singles final at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London. Kvitove has made it to at least the quarterfinals at the All England Club each of the last five years. (AP Photo/Sang Tan, File)
FILE – In this June 24, 2014, file photo, Maria Sharapova makes a return to Samantha Murray during a first round match at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London. Sharapova won her first Grand Slam title as a 17-year-old at the All England Club, surprising Serena Williams in the final. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, File)
Women to watch at Wimbledon, which begins Monday:
Seeded: 1
2015 Match Record: 32-1
2015 Singles Titles: 3
Career Singles Titles: 67
Major Titles: 20 — Wimbledon ('02, '03, '09, '10, '12), U.S. Open ('99, '02, '08, '12, '13, '14), Australian Open ('03, '05, '07, '09, '10, '15), French Open ('02, '13, '15)
Last 5 Wimbledons: '14-Lost in 3rd Round, '13-4th, '12-Won Championship, '11-4th, '10-W
Topspin: Halfway to a true Grand Slam and, as she prefers to see it, three-quarters of the way to a self-styled "Serena Slam," having won the past three major tournaments in a row. … Steffi Graf in 1988 was the last woman to win all four Grand Slam tournaments in a single season. … A five-time champion and two-time runner-up at Wimbledon, Williams hasn't been past the fourth round either of the last two years at the All England Club. … As usual, did not enter any grass-court tuneup tournaments between French Open and Wimbledon.
Major Titles: 2 — Wimbledon ('11, '14)
Last 5 Wimbledons: '14-W, '13-QF, '12-QF, '11-W, '10-SF
Topspin: Left-hander with a big serve and flat forehand consistently produces her best Grand Slam results on the grass at the All England Club, making it to at least the quarterfinals each of the last five years, including two titles in that span. … Pulled out of a warmup tournament on grass at Eastbourne, England, citing an illness and saying she needed "to be in bed and drink hot tea."
Major Titles: 5 — Wimbledon ('04), U.S. Open ('06), Australian Open ('08), French Open ('12, '14)
Last 5 Wimbledons: '14-4th, '13-2nd, '12-4th, '11-F, '10-4th, '09-2nd
Topspin: Won her first Grand Slam title as a 17-year-old at the All England Club more than a decade ago, surprising Serena Williams in the final. Since then, though, Sharapova has returned to the championship match at the All England Club only once in 10 appearances. … In seven of the past eight years, she's failed to even reach the quarterfinals at Wimbledon.
Seeded: 12
2015 Match Record: 8-13
Career Singles Titles: 1
Major Titles: 0 — Best: F, at Wimbledon ('14)
Last 5 Wimbledons: '14-F, '13-3rd, '12-Did Not Play, '11-DNP, '10-DNP
Topspin: After making it to at least the semifinals at the first three majors a year ago, including her Grand Slam final debut at Wimbledon, has taken significant step backward this season. … Lost 10 of 11 matches in one stretch this year, including a first-round exit at the French Open. … Pulled out of match at tuneup tournament in Eastbourne, England, citing stomach muscle injury, but said she'll still play at Wimbledon. … Girls' junior champion at Wimbledon in 2012.
2015 Match Record: 15-15
Last 5 Wimbledons: '14-QF, '13-F, '12-QF, '11-SF, '10-DNP
Topspin: Never as good on any surface as she is on grass, where her booming serve becomes especially effective. She hit a record 27 aces in a victory at a Wimbledon tuneup tournament at Birmingham, England. … She also holds the record for the fastest recorded serve, reaching 131 mph (211 kph) in a 2014 match.
Major Titles: 0 — Best: SF, at Australian Open ('15)
Last 5 Wimbledons: '14-3rd, '13-3rd, '12-DNP, '11-DNP, '10-DNP
Topspin: Big serve and forehand should work well on grass, although she fared poorly in pre-Wimbledon play this year. … Seven-time major champ John McEnroe, now an ESPN analyst, says about Keys: "If she can figure out the movement on the court, she's going to have a shot at going deep at an event like Wimbledon."
Hi! A visitor to our site felt the following article might be of interest to you: WIMBLEDON 2015: Capsules on top women's players. Here is a link to that story: https://www.wnewsj.com/sports/local-sports-3/655/wimbledon-2015-capsules-on-top-womens-players

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
ANNIE MURPHY PAUL is an acclaimed science journalist who contributes to Scientific American, the New York Times,Time,Slate, and many other publications. Formerly senior editor at Psychology Today, Paul is a Future Tense Fellow at New America, as well as a senior adviser at the Yale University Center for Teaching and Learning.
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Works by Annie Murphy Paul


Today marks an important day in the history of Independent India. Not that this has not been experienced before, it has been a countless number of times; but today we are again reminded of the position a common man holds in nation of billion plus citizens – "Humaari Aukaat", as put by Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut. After days of one-sided war of words, Air India has been forced to lift ban on MP Ravindra Gaikwad after the Civil Aviation Minister wrote to the Air India management.
On 23 March 2017, while travelling from Pune to Delhi, Ravindra Gaikwad, the Member of Parliament from Osmanabad Lok Sabha constituency of Maharashtra was accused of hitting a 60-year-old Air India employee with his shoe 25 times and attempting to throw him out of the plane.
When Mr Gaikwad's flight from Pune landed in Delhi, he refused to get off the plane for nearly an hour. The lawmaker was reportedly upset about travelling economy when he has an open business class ticket that he is entitled to as an MP. The morning flight he took was all-economy, but that failed to mollify him, where he allegedly tore the employee's shirt and broke his spectacles.
This act led all of the Indian Airline companies to impose a No-Fly ban on him.
Mr. Gaikwad had absolutely no remorse over hitting the Air India staff member. Rather he accused Air India as guilty of poor service and that the manager who he thrashed should apologize to him and not the other way around.
If this wasn't enough, the Shiv Sena launched a scathing attack on Air India for banning their MP. "Who is this Air India? Who is their CMD? Uski aukaat kya hai? (What is his status?)" said Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, addressing the media inside the Parliament. He further threatened that the party will stall operations of Air India in Mumbai and Pune, following which security was increased at these airports.
After about a week, he wrote to Union Minister for Civil Aviation Ashok Gajapati Raju, stating that he regrets the incident, but stopped short of accepting guilt. Instead, he said investigations will reveal the truth as he won't apologize to the staff or airlines and requested Mr. Raju to lift the restrictions imposed on him by various airlines.
And Air India was today forced to lift ban on the goon MP due to the pressure by Civil Aviation ministry.
The whole process has definitely shown that a common man holds no status – Aaj aukaat pata chal gayi iss desh ke aam nagrik ki.
As for the answer of "aukaat' jibe, the CMD of Air India, Ashwani Lohani holds four "engineering degree equivalents" in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Metallurgical Engineering and Electronics & Telecommunication Engineering from Institution of Engineers, India; and has successful run of the 'Fairy Queen Express', the world's oldest working steam locomotive as his achievement. He has also served as DRM, Delhi Division; Director, National Rail Museum; Chief Administrative Officer, Rail Alternate Fuels; Commissioner and Managing Director of Madhya Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation and Chairman & Managing Director India Tourism Development Corporation.
On the other hand, our "honourable" MP Mr. Gaikwaad is the same man who tried to force-feed a Muslim caterer during the fasting month of Ramzan. He has various criminal charges against him which include voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servants from duty, criminal intimidation and rioting among others.
But the bigger question that needs to be answered is that, why do we, the common citizens, forget our status?
On every election, citizens like me enthusiastically go out to choose our representatives. We flaunt our inked finger on social media for the representatives, who we feel will stand up for our causes and will help in solving our problems. Many-a-times we forget their corruption scandals, their muscle-game or even their indulgence in anti-social activities, giving them another chance for improvement; but incidents like these remind us that after all, we are common public – with Aukaat only during elections and not otherwise.
If Shiv Sena is to be blamed, why should BJP be spared? Why the party with largest majority in the lower house is is mum on the whole issue? When the same party is in coalition with the accused in the state from where the MP belongs from. But then the Congress has practised the same in the past and regional parties are also living up to the expectation of making VIP culture relevant. And this is not a first incident; neither will it be the last. We stay maintain our calm when staff at Toll Booths is beaten, or when our leaders justify rapes with Ladke hain galtiyaan ho jaati hain remark or when roads are closed for VIP movement.
We always stay in our Aukaat. If our leaders could also stay in their limits, will these incidents ever happen?
We, are the People of India!


text:
using System.Reflection;
using System.Runtime.CompilerServices;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;

// General Information about an assembly is controlled through the following
// set of attributes. Change these attribute values to modify the information
// associated with an assembly.
[assembly: AssemblyTitle("Genesys Source Framework for for ASP.NET MVC and Web API")]
[assembly: AssemblyDescription("Genesys Source Framework for powers your resuable framework for your .NET Core PCL/libraries, Universal x-platform mobile apps and all .NET Full libraries and apps.")]
[assembly: AssemblyConfiguration("")]
[assembly: AssemblyCompany("Genesys Source")]
[assembly: AssemblyProduct("Genesys Source Framework for for ASP.NET MVC")]
[assembly: AssemblyCopyright("Copyright © 2017-2018 Genesys Source. All rights reserved.")]
[assembly: AssemblyTrademark("Genesys Source is a registered trademark of Genesys Source. Genesys Source Framework and Genesys Cloud Dev Environment are trademarks of Genesys Source.")]
[assembly: AssemblyCulture("")]

// Setting ComVisible to false makes the types in this assembly not visible
// to COM components.  If you need to access a type in this assembly from
// COM, set the ComVisible attribute to true on that type.
[assembly: ComVisible(false)]

// The following GUID is for the Id of the typelib if this project is exposed to COM
[assembly: Guid("8f0b10ec-d093-4be8-a8fd-64a15d10be50")]

// Version information for an assembly consists of the following four values:
//
//      Major Version
//      Minor Version
//      Build Number
//      Revision
//
// You can specify all the values or you can default the Build and Revision Numbers
// by using the '*' as shown below:
[assembly: AssemblyVersion("4.18.11")]
[assembly: AssemblyFileVersion("4.18.11")]


text:
Association & News Menu
About MSGA
Soybean Business Magazine
MSGA Home
Invest in MSGA
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The Minnesota Soybean Growers Association spends much of its time in St. Paul and Washington, D.C., fighting for farm-friendly policies.
From regulatory overreach to additional funding for rural mental health, MSGA makes sure soybean farmers have a voice at the Capitol year-round. Simply put, MSGA looks out for the best interest of soybean farmers in St. Paul and Washington D.C.
Farmer leaders are vocal and active in their support of Minnesota's soybean farmers. But sometimes that isn't enough. We need farmers like you to step up and let your individual voice be heard in concert with the voices of other Minnesota farmers.
Use the Take Action section of this site to connect to your local representatives and voice your opinion on key issues.
2019 policy initiatives
With a membership of over 3,000 Minnesota soybean farmers, MSGA can make a lot of noise in St. Paul and Washington, D.C. to effectively fight for farm-friendly policies that protect your freedom to farm.
Biennium Budget
With the likelihood of a sizable surplus in the state budget, establishing the 2020-'21 biennium budget will be a chief MSGA priority in 2019. The agricultural budget is the smallest in Minnesota, but remains vital to MSGA's mission. In the budget, MSGA will be advocating for research funding and rural mental health initiatives.
Soy Innovation Campus
In conjunction with the University of Minnesota, MSGA will be taking to St. Paul to advocate for the Soy Innovation Campus, a one-of-a-kind crush and biodiesel educational facility in Crookston, Minn. The operation of the new crush and biodiesel plant would generate an estimated $324 million to local economies in northwest Minnesota.
Fighting Regulatory Overreach
The state's agencies continue to work on regulations and rules that impact the day-to-day operations of Minnesota's soybean farmers. MSGA continues to be committed to being a part of the rulemaking process and work with the legislature to ensure these rules meet the legislative intent of the laws they are based upon. MSGA advocates for checks and balances and for the legislature to make the laws, the judicial branch to interpret the laws and the executive branch to implement and enforce, not create, the laws.
Become an advocate (Phone2Action)
Become Advocate
Become a MSGA member
Regulatory Certainty
Regulatory certainty will be one of MSGA's key proactive initiatives in 2019. Currently, the Commissioner of Agricultural sets the standard or regulation for pesticide and fertilizer preemption, but local governments retain authority in regards to seed. Because many Minnesota growers farm across county or township lines, MSGA will be seeking regulatory clarification.
On May 1, 2018 Minnesota proved itself as the biodiesel capital of America by moving to a 20 percent biodiesel blend during summer months. The success of requiring a 20 percent blend in Minnesota has helped bring an additional 63 cents per bushel back to soybean farmers' pockets.
MSGA remains committed to protecting the biodiesel mandate and the state's biodiesel industry. Protecting the biodiesel industry and its benefits continues each legislative session. In addition, MSGA will work to ensure there are no added exemptions.
Ways you can help make sure your individual voice is heard.
The Buffer Law
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text:
Glossary of Forest Ecology
S.S. Sagwal (Author)
Synopsis The book, Glossary of Forest Ecology is an attempt to give first hand knowledge on the subject of forest ecology to the beginners. The present book has been written in a very simple and lucid language. It has been illustrated with relevant examples, wherever, possible. The terms have been explained fully and at a length. The living entity is the main identity in the science of first ecology.
S.S. Sagwal
Dr. Sewa Siingh Sagwal having done B.Sc. (Hon's) Agriculture (Soil Science) and M.Sc. (Forestry) in 1973 and 1978 from Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar and Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur respectively, started his career as Assistant Research Officer and Associate Head of Department of Forestry of H.P. Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur (District Kangra), Himachal Pradesh. During August, 1985, he joined as Associate Professor-cum-Senior Scientist and Head of Agroforestry at S.K. University of Agricultural Sciences & Technology, Shalimar (Srinagar), Jammu and Kashmir State. He undertook on Advance Training for one year (August 1987 to July 1988) in 'Forest Nursery and Tree Crops' under the auspicious programme of USAID. He worked at University of Idaho, Moscow, U.S.A. and Canada which impart forestry education. Dr. Sagwal has published more than 170 articles and 15 books on various aspects of forestry. He has attended / participated in a number of seminars / workshops / symposia / conferences / summer institutes at National / International level. He is a member of several professional societies. He is the winner of the award (1982) of Associated Journal's Ltd., Rafi Marg, New Delhi, outstanding Personalities Award (1998), and Great Indian Achievers Award (1999), MSPI, New Delhi. He has done his Ph.D. (Forestry) Degree from The International University of Contemporary Studies, Washington, D.C. (U.S.A.). At present, Dr. Sagwal is worwkiing at S.K. University of Agricultural Sciences & Technology, Srinagar (J & K State), India.
Dictionary of Silviculture
Dictionary of Botany
Essentials of Environmental Studies
Forest Tree Seeds: Handbook
Tadoba: The Untold Story
Handbook of Wild Edible Plants
Edible Wild Plants of the Himalayas
Gir National Park & Sanctuary: Bibliography
Title Glossary of Forest Ecology
Author S.S. Sagwal
Publisher Vinod Book Depot
length xii+171p., Illustrations; 22cm.
Subjects Science & Nature > Zoology > Forestry


text:
Des travaux work-in-progress.
Yiu Fai Chow, Jeroen de Kloet et Helen Hok-Sze Leung
Evaluating Academia.
Towards an Ethics of Slowness in an Era of Academic Corporatism.
'Now, of course, we live in Thatcher's psyche if not her anus, in the world she made, of competition, consumerism, celebrity and guilt's bastard son, charity: bingeing and debt.'
Hanif Kureishi (2008: 271)
The hidden injuries of the neo-liberal University.
In a recently published piece titled 'Breaking the Silence: The Hidden Injuries of the Neoliberal University,' Rosalind Gill reflects upon the experiences of academic work at Uk universities. Inspired by her text, we wish to build further on her arguments and reflect upon academic work from different localities: Canada, the Netherlands and Hong Kong. Before doing so, we will start with briefly outlining the main arguments in Gill's text, after which we will move to our own musings, to end with possible tactics of resistance.
The pleasure of reading her piece lies very much in the constant feeling of recognition, when she bit by bit unpacks the increased demands imposed upon academic work. She does so after outlining four bodies of literature related to changes in work conditions. The first body of work reflects upon transformations of work under late capitalism. Key terms to describe life under late capitalism—a life where boundaries between work and play increasingly dissolve and where mobility and flexibility are requested, both of which are facilitated by a constant retraining and re-skilling—are, among others, liquid modernity, network society, risk society, coming from authors like Zygmunt Bauman, Manuel Castells and Ulrich Beck. The second, much smaller body of work discusses structural transformation in higher education, including its increased corporatization, in which students become clients or consumers. A third body of work, often inspired by feminist scholarship, analyses the micro-politics at the work-floor, for example, supervision of phd students and promotion patterns. A last body of literature Gill describes draws on Foucault's work on governmentality and neo-liberalism, and discusses the individualization of work and an audit culture that produces the always self-monitoring and overtly responsible academic.
Gill's aim in this piece is to think these four approaches together in order 'to explore the relations between transformations in capitalism, new forms of governmentality and psychosocial experiences of working in the university' (2010: 231). She does so not by focusing on theory but rather on the practices and experiences of fellow academics as well as herself. Whereas this makes her argument somewhat jumpy and unstructured at times, it also generates numerous moments of recognition for workers at universities like us. Academic jobs have become precarious, in particular for younger faculty members, who often shoulder the heaviest workload on the basis of unreliable short-term contracts. Gill refers to this situation as an emergent 'aristocracy of labour,' which is sustained by an ideology that frames scholarship as a noble thing, a 'calling' that allows little space to muse over financial compensation and job security. The inequalities produced here between the tenured and the fluid work force is, Gill argues, profoundly gendered. Drawing on our experiences, we want to supplement a geopolitical dimension. Better-paid Hong Kong academics, for instance, often employ cheap research assistants in mainland China to collect all the data, based on which the Hong Kong academics write and publish their articles, solely under their own names. This outsourcing of academic labour is becoming increasingly prevalent as academics struggle to comply with the output demands of universities that are caught up in the race of global ranking. When the University of Hong Kong ended up on the 18th position of such a ranking list in 2008, its Dean explained that such a ranking is not an honour but instead should inspire the staff to work even harder so as to deserve that position. To us, this is an example of how the ranking culture is used as a disciplinary device.
In the global rush to become excellent, a tendency that saturates today's promotion of universities, nearly all universities claim to work with excellent teachers and accept only excellent students, who are constantly innovative and creative in their pursuit to become even more excellent than they already are. As we can read on the website of the University of Hong Kong:
We admit the best students
We nurture leaders with an international outlook
We deliver quality teaching
We excel in research
This discourse of excellence is often embedded in a wider discourse about our assumed 'knowledge economy' and 'information society.' At the same time, it comes, at least in the Netherlands, with a slow but steady process of budget cuts from the government. Whereas two decades ago Dutch students were generally allowed six years of study, this has now gone down to four years, during which, due to concomitant cuts in student grants, they are forced to take side jobs to support themselves. These budget cuts affect both students and faculty, constantly requiring them to deliver more in less time, a paradoxical demand believed to be possible by means of all kinds of training and re-skilling to make us work more 'efficiently' and become acrobats of time management. Recently, the Dutch science foundations announced the ambition that, by 2020, the Netherlands would be ranked in the global academic top five. Not only given the size of the Netherlands, but also in the context of continuous budget cuts, this is quite a bizarre and perverse ambition.
The intensification of work comes with an audit culture that aims to measure how excellent universities 'really' are. For example the research assessment exercise (rae) in the Uk, which creates quite an 'overheated competitive atmosphere in which acts of kindness, generosity and solidarity often seem to continue only in spite of, rather than because of, the governance of universities' (Gill 2010: 235). As Gill observes aptly, the academic is the ideal neo-liberal subject whose working practices are characterized by self-regulation, calculation, conscience and responsibility—all under the guise of 'freedom,' 'flexibility' and 'autonomy.' In a sense, academic work increasingly resembles creative work, sharing with the emerging creative class what Richard Lloyd (2005) refers to as a neo-bohemian ideology to justify the prevailing practices of uncertainty, exploitation and perpetual financial insecurity. The use of technologies like e-mail and mobile phone has further blurred the line between work and private life, and created an 'always on' culture without walls, where we are constantly checking our emails. If we feel we do this too much, we individualize the issue by pathologizing ourselves as being 'addicted,' instead of questioning the structural conditions that make us check our emails so frequently. This 'always on' culture is being intensified with other applications, such as Blackboard, which stretches teaching up to a potentially 24-7 activity, and which increases techniques of student-monitoring and feedback.
Gill then moves on to explain how these working practices often translate in what she terms a 'kind of toxic shame' (2010: 240). The culture of anonymous peer review produces a constant cycle of shaming each other, in which failure is always individualized. For example, an article submitted by one of the authors was rejected with the anonymous review that 'this is much worse than what a Ba student would ever submit to me.' This propels a 'deeply gendered, racialized and classed' culture of shame that makes us feel useless. The solution left to us is to work even harder, so as to have a better chance of avoiding shame. The online journal Participations may serve as a counter example: it has a deliberate policy of giving positive feedback whenever possible, of avoiding shaming by having an open, rather than anonymous, review process. This helps, in our view, to at least humanize the review process.
More fundamentally, we also wonder if it is not possible to turn shame into something more positive, something more productive. Rather than negotiating shame by working even harder, we can also use shame as a moment to pause, to take a step back to reflect upon why we feel shamed, what this tells us about us and our relation towards the other. Here we draw on the book on shame by Elspeth Probyn (2005), who argues that we need 'to embrace the sometimes painful ways shame makes us reflect on who we are—individually and collectively' (2005: 8). Precisely because shame is such a strong emotion, one that often takes us by surprise, it may be used as an opportunity to reflect carefully upon the conditions that have produced this feeling of shame. In other words, shame, being an 'affect of proximity' (34) can be read as a signal that prompts us to unpack the micropolitics of everyday life, that may make us reflect upon the ways we relate to ourselves as well as to the other. Shame reveals what matters, what interests you; as Probyn writes, 'interest is the key to understanding shame, and shame reminds us with urgency what we are interested in. Shame reminds us about the promises we keep to ourselves' (2005: x). Shame can thus, like power (and, after all, this is also what shame does: it brings to light relations of power), be a productive force, a technology of the self. After all, 'when we feel shame it is because our interest has been interfered with but not cancelled out. The body wants to continue being interested, but something happens to "incompletely reduce" that interest' (15).
At the end of her piece, Gill retreats to a rather problematic hierarchy of suffering when she questions the relevance of her piece and its potential narcissism in the context of a world of growing inequalities and injustices. She refers to her protesting against Israel while writing this piece—as if implicitly suggesting that this would morally balance things out. A rather awkward ending in our view, as it pushes the argument out of its context, to issues that paralyze rather than empower the reader. Gill's postscript reveals another pernicious dynamic in the 'progressive' or 'leftist' sector of the academy where we find ourselves located. The creeping guilt that our own 'injuries' surely cannot compare to that of less privileged 'others' is as paralyzing a force as any other. Gill attributes her own momentary hesitation to publish the article as a result of this potentially 'silencing dynamic.' We also find ourselves hesitating to finish this piece, wondering if we are not complying too much with the system by adding yet another publication on our cv? Furthermore, an early response to our efforts in writing this piece argued that what we are exploring amounts to no more than individual 'coping strategies' that actually contribute to, rather than resist, the very neo-liberal tendencies we are supposed to be critiquing. The responder expresses a spectrum of emotions from disappointment, being flabbergasted, to contempt for privileged academics that cannot even begin to contemplate collective action. In the face of such opinions, we may well appear to our esteemed colleagues as pawns—or (worse!) collaborators—in the neoliberal regime. But we wonder: what kind of collective action is possible when the people acting collectively are shamed, exhausted, insecure, and guilt-ridden human beings'
Rather than reproducing Gill's somewhat moralistic line of thought, we think it is important to, first, address one implicit bias in her piece—its Uk-centrism—and to discuss one further complication, namely the increased dominance of a hard-science paradigm that proves inadequate and problematic, in particular for the humanities. Finally, we will move towards the tactics we hope may help to deal with the current situation. We consider these tactics as technologies of the academic self, a terminology that betrays our Foucauldian take on these matters, a take that also explains why we refrain from framing the issue as a conflict between management and staff. We hope these technologies may facilitate the development of alternatives or produce potential points of resistance or lines of flight out of the contemporary neoliberal mode of academic work. We will outline four technologies: a politics of whining, an ethics of slowness, more stress on collaborative work, as well as the promotion of new publication strategies.
Gill's piece is clearly grounded in her experiences of working in the Uk. She refers to how race, gender and class are implicated in growing disjunctures between working conditions at today's universities. However, she does not reflect further upon wider geopolitical divisions and inequalities. From that perspective, our first and most obvious observation concerns language. English has become the lingua franca of the neo-liberal University. Nearly all ranked and high-impact-factor journals are English-language journals. This issue has, of course, been extensively discussed elsewhere, but remains an urgent point of attention, as it does marginalize and complicate the working conditions of all non-native speakers. These speakers do have to comply with the same system, yet always from a disadvantaged position; and, as non-native speakers, it strikes us time and again during conferences as well as in reviews that we receive on our texts how utterly ignorant and unaware native speakers are, and remain, of this issue. Just think of the speed with which so many native English speakers speak during conference talks, and their impatience to listen to a contributor whose English is shakier.
This issue is in turn connected to the pertaining hegemony of the West in the global production of knowledge. Whereas Western academics can easily make universal claims, and write books with titles such as Gender Trouble, those operating outside the West generally bear the geopolitical burden of localizing their knowledge production—a Chinese author would have to add the prefix 'Chinese' to 'gender trouble,' for example (see Chow 2006 for a sophisticated elaboration of this critique). Whereas Western scholars can easily gain academic capital by displaying their knowledge of, for example, Walter Benjamin of Michel Foucault, for academics outside the West, it is hardly possible to share with their Western counterparts their knowledge of scholars like, for example, Yu Ying-shih, Mou Zongsan or Feng Youlan—to play a Sinocentric instead of Eurocentric card. The persisting Euro- and Anglocentrism of global academia, and the related bias in the production of knowledge, remains an unresolved issue. Even worse, it seems to us that this bias is strengthened—despite decades of fierce critique from postcolonial studies and related fields—under the conditions of neo-liberalism. This bias often relegates scholars working outside the West or those working on research related to places outside the West towards specialized fields such as area studies, allowing them not much of a voice outside that specialized domain. The observed schism between decades of postcolonial critique and increased geopolitical cleavages feeds the urgency not to theorize more, but to think of practices that may help counter this schism. One example of a successful counter-tactic comes from the inter-Asia cultural-studies project from Chua Beng Huat and Chen Kuan-hsing. This network of scholars based in Asia organizes conferences and phd summer schools and has established a successful and ranked journal (the Journal of Inter-Asia Cultural Studies) that allows submissions in other languages than English and that clearly privileges 'Asian' scholarship.
The journal hence operates on a tactic of complying with the global neo-liberal standard of anonymous peer review, ranking, and English as its mode of language, but simultaneously tries to change the parameters by taking Asia as the basis of production and circulation of knowledge, connecting intellectual individuals and communities in Asia that might have hitherto conducted dialogue more readily or even exclusively with their Western counterparts (hence the term 'inter-Asia'). In that sense, Asia is employed as a method to problematize Asia itself on the one hand, and to problematize the universality, the legitimacy and hegemony of the West on the other. Chen formulates 'Asia as method' in the following way:
When the dialogue partner is changed, multiple frameworks of reference will gradually enter our vision, seeping into our subjectivity. Only then will our anxiety towards the problem of the West be diluted, and critical and productive work will truly emerge, in multiplicity. (2007: 360; original in Chinese, our translation our)
Embedded in these politics, the Iacs project aims to facilitate regional and local scholarship, and basically, by shifting the dialogue partner, and no longer privileging 'Western' academia. It thus inverts the balance, and replaces the naïve ignorance of the West about its own hegemony by a deliberate practice of ignoring the West to undermine that hegemony.
Furthermore, with the increased demand to secure funding for one's own research, and the rigorous competition that is a result of this demand, funding schemes are becoming more and more important. Yet, these funding schemes often operate on a logic that comes from the hard sciences and, to a lesser extent, the social sciences. Big grants are preferred over smaller grants, while large research groups are privileged over individual scholars. Yet, most scholarship in the humanities is based on labour-intensive individual research, and requires quiet time of focus rather than the facilitation of big research teams working in labs with expensive equipments or software. As a consequence, scholarship in social sciences is gravitating more and more towards a hard-science model (for example, linking genetic research with communication-effect research) as this model suits the funding schemes better. In one of the authors' experience of being a humanities-and-arts researcher in Canada, she faces tremendous pressure to shoehorn her research program into a similar paradigm, not for creative or intellectual reasons but purely for increasing her chance of getting grants. Research time stipends for 'time off' from teaching/administrative responsibilities are now virtually a relic and we are expected to increase research productivity in addition to our rapidly intensifying teaching and administrative duties. An area of priority in most major grants is graduate student training, which downloads funding responsibility of graduate programs to faculty members. It also ensures that faculty members with bigger grants will be able to fund more students, thus influencing the intellectual directions of programs. This has often resulted in the absurd situation of a researcher whose needs may be best met with a $10 000/year grant with partial time off instead retooling her research project to request $100 000 per year to employ a team of graduate students who require time-consuming supervision to conduct work that is in fact best done by the researcher herself.
Michel Foucault once responded to the critique that his work merely reveals a gloomy picture of a world of surveillance and discipline as follows: 'My point is not that everything is bad, but that everything is dangerous, which is not exactly the same as bad. If everything is dangerous, then we always have something to do' (1983: 256). This brings us finally to the last and probably most difficult part of this essay: how to deal with the current situation? what is that 'something' that we have to do? First and foremost, we don't want to simply whine. Or do we? While writing this piece, both Helen and Jeroen got increasingly anxious, working in an environment in which people often complain about their work, their students, and the lack of time to read or to enjoy doing research. What is the point of complaining here again? Isn't there a better way to deal with the pressures? To which Yiu Fai responded, 'What is the problem with whining? Isn't it more that we are not whining enough—in the sense that we should do it more extravagantly, more outrageously, and ultimately more creatively'' Here, we want to draw on Yiu Fai's experience with the Hong Kong Complaints Choir project as one of the possibilities to do whining creatively. Launched in Birmingham in 2005 by Finnish artists Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen and Tellervo Kalleinen, the Complaints Choir project spread to Hong Kong in 2009, where members of the public were asked to supply their complaints (which would be turned into a song), joined in an ad hoc choir and performed their complaint song in public. Participating in the project, Yiu Fai did not only experience the possibility of 'transforming the huge energy people put into complaining into something else. Perhaps not directly into heat—but into something powerful anyway'; he was struck by the solidarity, the liveliness and the pleasure of the process. Whining can be fun. We wonder if academics could do the same—after all, the Hong Kong complaints song opens with the lines 'Why do we never stop having to work? Why are our bosses always jerks'' We wonder if academics could also turn their private, individual whining into a collective, creative and public performance. In other words, we want to whine shamelessly, and there, perhaps, are the politics of whining, politics that give expression to injustice felt; that does not, however, aspire to any 'solution'; that opens up the space for us to whine while we are being told constantly that we should not. All of these we can do collectively, creatively and publicly.
Second, we may consider bringing an ethics of slowness to our profession. In In Praise of Slowness, Canadian journalist Carl Honoré documents the rise of the Slow Movement. From the 'Slow Food' ethos that supports the conservation of local food traditions and the planning of 'Slow Cities' with sustainable and livable urban space to complementary and alternative medical practices that consider 'slow' treatments, there are concerted attempts to slow down the drive of acceleration towards corporatized efficiency in every sector of life. Is it possible to bring the Slow Movement to academia? What practices would it inspire? How can we use these practices to help us not only cope with the system but more importantly change it? Many of the activists and practitioners associated with the Slow Movement are also concerned with ecological issues like preservation and sustainability. What Gill's article shows very clearly is that our current professional environment is patently not sustainable and that the transformation of academic labour towards ever greater level of efficiency is depleting what was once considered the primary resources of academic work: creative freedom, adventurous innovation, collegiality between colleagues. No individual strategy can overhaul the structural causes, as outlined by Gill, that have transformed the modern University into its workforce of 'precarious lives.' At the same time, as we find small ways to turn precarious conditions into more sustainable ones, we are also making an impact, however uncertain or itself precarious, on the future.
Gill suggests that 'as good neoliberal subjects,' our response to our livable work conditions is simply to work harder, as though there is a magical threshold across which we would finally be able to 'hack it' and become the good academic citizen we are supposed to be. Yet, the intensification and extension of work have made that goal a moving target, a fiction that perpetuates our anxiety and intensifies our shame. A slowing tactic would nudge us towards working less hard, or what we like to think of as working softer. By working soft we mean working in ways that run counter to institutional expectations. Gill's very article is an example. It is work that is produced as part of our academic labour, yet its very existence questions the nature of that labour. In a similar vein, we see refusing work with thoughtfulness, such as explaining clearly to an editor why a manuscript should not be reviewed by me, or devising alternative teaching practices that reduces the volume of grading, or imposing limits on email hours as active ways of working less. Launching complaints with editors over unnecessarily rude or insulting reviews, unapologetically highlighting the complete lack of time and mental space to catch up with the vast amount of literature in each of the ten or more fields we are responsible for, refusing to perpetuate the myth of our 'passion' for our work in instances where none actually exists are tactics that may all go a long way towards losing that 'toxic shame' Gill writes about. Finally, in place of the work we have actively refused, we should pursue work that sustains, nurtures and pleases us, such as collaborations with colleagues on adventurous projects, researching on unfashionable (thus 'unfundable') topics, even writing blogs instead of accepting book reviews… even if all of these are considered 'lesser' endeavours on our cvs. Ultimately, if we can begin to not equate the steps on our salary scale to our net human worth, we are bringing slowness to our profession.
Third, we should consider placing more stress on collaborative work, a tactic that would also require more methodological promiscuity. Too often, disciplines guard their boundaries by privileging certain methods. In cultural analysis, it is the object that speaks back; in cultural studies, it is the ideological context that is often taken as the dominant explanatory factor; in communication studies, it is the psychological effects of media messages. A call for more cross-fertilization between disciplines and methods is nothing new; yet, in the context of the problems outlined in this essay, it may help to forge creative and productive alliances. We do need to create strategic alliances to counter the current paradigm, to turn different disciplines into bedfellows in order to look for an alternative model of academic work. This tactic can come together with taking an approach to academia that involves more humour, more parody and more fun, a Bakhtinian inversion of the symbolic neo-liberal order in which we laugh both at ourselves as well as at the academic environment we operate in.
Fourth, we should explore the promotion of new publication strategies. The already mentioned inter-Asia cultural studies project provides one example of the possibility to counter Western hegemony in the sciences, just as the example of Participations presents an alternative to the shaming practices of the dominant anonymous peer review process. The EspacesTemps.net project offers in its multilingual policy an alternative to the hegemony of English. The further promotion of open-access journals, and to make sure that they do count as well, presents another way of retreating from the current publication regime. Or, just for discussion's value, we can take the neo-liberal logic to the extreme, and start working, for instance, as a record company, in which the University takes care of all the publishing of the work of its staff, offering better reward mechanisms to the authors, while circumventing the publication regime as a whole.
We are aware that these technologies will not fix the system—but it is hard to believe in a clear fix. What is left to us are the everyday practices in which we deal with our work, our colleagues, and our students, practices that are changeable, malleable, at times with great effort, at other moments more light-heartedly. There are no fixed solutions in a system that thrives on flexibility, a system that operates with different parameters in different localities and at different moments—and our politics are highly contingent upon our sensibilities towards these differences and our creativity to respond accordingly. With Gill's article, the issue of academic neo-liberalism has been put on the agenda. It is our hope that the technologies we can employ to whine, to slow down, to form collaborative alliances, to publish differently—in other words, to tease, poke fun at, counter, undermine or evade the corporate University—, and with them our range of alternative modes of scholarship, will amplify slowly but steadily.
Illustrations: atomicshed, 'Great British Pencil', 14.4.2008, Flickr (Creative Commons license); Lianqing, "National Flags (China and Hk)", 24.12.2008, Flickr (Creative Commons license); if i were going, "God Save the Queen", 30.4.2008, Flickr (Creative Commons license); mars_discovery_district, "Citizienship@Mars—Flags", 15.5.2008, Flickr (Creative Commons license).
Chen Kuan-hsing, Qu Diguo: Yazhou Zuowei Fangfa [Towards De-Imperialization: Asia as Method], Taipei: Xingren, 2006.
Rey Chow, The Age of the World Target: Self-Referentiality in War, Theory, and Comparative Work, Durham: Duke University Press, 2006.
Michel Foucault, 'On the Genealogy of Ethics' in Michel Foucault. Ethics, Subjectivity and Truth, New York: New Press, [1983] 1997: 253-80.
Rosalind Gill, 'Breaking the Silence: The Hidden Injuries of the Neoliberal University' in Roisin Ryan Flood and Rosalind Gill (eds.), Secrecy and Silence in the Research Process: Feminist Reflections, London: Routledge, 2010: 228-244.
Hanif Kureishi, Something to Tell You, London: Faber and Faber, 2008.
Elspeth Probyn. Blush: Faces of Shame, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2005.
'Now, of course, we live in Thatcher's psyche if not her anus, in the world she made, of competition, consumerism, celebrity and guilt's bastard son, charity: bingeing and debt.' Hanif Kureishi (2008: 271) The hidden injuries of the neo-liberal University. In a recently published piece titled 'Breaking the Silence: The Hidden Injuries of the Neoliberal […]
Yiu Fai Chow, Jeroen de Kloet et Helen Hok-Sze Leung, « Towards an Ethics of Slowness in an Era of Academic Corporatism. », EspacesTemps.net [En ligne], Laboratoire, 2010 | Mis en ligne le 12 juillet 2010, consulté le 12.07.2010. URL : https://www.espacestemps.net/articles/towards-an-ethics-of-slowness-in-an-era-of-academic-corporatism/ ;
Touristes, tourismes : ce que des sciences sociales en disent (et ce que j'en pense).
Éric Boutouyrie | 01.04.2005
'Jugement de la faculté critique'.
Christian Ruby | 01.11.2005
Pál Nyíri et Barak Kalir | 12.07.2010
Quantified Control and the Mass Production of "Psychotic Citizens."
Grahame Lock et Herminio Martins | 31.01.2011
Mot-croisé : Trafic.
Christophe Jemelin, Jacques Virchaux et Esteban Rosales | 25.05.2006


State affiliate membership with the NSFA was established for state associations of K-12 foundations, offering them an opportunity to partner with a national organization, the NSFA. Existing state affiliate members are: the Consortium of Florida Education Foundations, Iowa Association of School Boards, Indiana Association of Public Education Foundations, Nebrask Public Education Foundations, New Jersey Education Foundation Partnership, Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence, Pennsylvania Education Foundation, Texas Education Foundation and Utah Association of Public Education Foundations. If you are a member of any of these organizations, you are automatically an NSFA member. For more information on these state affiliate members, click here.
All individual foundation members of the state association receive full benefits of NSFA membership (as described above). All annual memberships are based on the calendar year.


Around 600 second year pupils from across North Lanarkshire enjoyed fun in the sun as they descended into M&D's theme park for a rewarding day out.
The large scale pupil event which forms part of North Lanarkshire Council's Celebrating Success programme has partnered with Scotland's Theme Park for a number of years to offer the day out as a reward for good behaviour throughout the year.
M&D's continues to support the initiative by offering free wristbands to the Council to mark good behaviour, attendance and timekeeping amongst the local authority's second year students.
Pupils made the most of the #funtastical rides and activities at Scotland's Theme Park with their friends in one of the nicest days of the year so far.
The students also took the opportunity to take a spin on Musik Express, a brand new ride which opened this season.
Pupils came from schools across North Lanarkshire including Braidhurst in Motherwell, Cardinal Newman in Bellshill, St Ambrose in Coatbridge, Greenfaulds in Cumbernauld, St Margaret's in Airdrie and Clyde Valley in Wishaw.
There are very few venues in the country that can host so many pupils at once to recognise their hard work and effort so we were delighted to be a part of it. The day had a fantastic atmosphere and offered the opportunity for students from across North Lanarkshire to meet up and enjoy all that M&D's has to offer.