High Profile Killings since 1984. Civic Institutions Structural Failure.
Today's Chicago Tribune included a perspective written by Dan Profit, a talk show host on WLS 890. It started with listing the high profile deaths of Chicago youth like Ben Wilson (1984) then jumped to Derrion Albert (2009), Hadiya Pendleton (2013) and Demario Bailey (2014), then said "These are children in Chicago whose gruesome deaths give life to the dreary body-count headlines that bleed over from one day to the next."
The article focused on how media attention is short-lived, and concluded with "In short, Chicago's civic institutions are structural failures. City government has failed. CPS has failed. The Police Department has failed. Nearly everything we have tried has failed." He writes, " We need to contemplate and debate deep, transformative, difficult changes."
I've highlighted these same stories since the early 1990s. There were quite a few high profile stories between Ben Wilson in 1984 and Derrion Albert in 2009.
Since 1993 I've offered a strategy, that if it had been embraced and followed over the past 20 years, would have resulted in a stronger network of tutoring, mentoring, learning and career development programs in all high poverty neighborhoods of Chicago, engaging people from all parts of the region in an on-going effort to make such programs available and help them each become the best at transforming lives of youth and adult participants. This story in the 1995 Chicago Tribune is one of many that give evidence that such a plan existed.
As the Internet has become a tool I've moved my ideas and resources to web sites. Since late October 2014 I've shown concept maps that visualize the strategy and point to the information available in the library.
In 2011 I set up a conversation thread on Debategraph where we start with the topic "Helping kids in poverty move to jobs and careers". This is a platform where the conversation is broken down into sub topics, and then sub-sub topics and is intended to engage large numbers of people. In blog articles on the Tutor/Mentor Institute site I've pointed to additional tools that can support community-based problem solving.
The central tenets of the Tutor/Mentor Connection strategy are outline here and here and here.
Better information, including maps showing locations of existing programs needed to help youth move from one grade to the next, is essential. There's a cost to collecting, maintaining and constantly updating this information. However, without more people looking at the information it has little value. Since non-profits don't have advertising dollars to reach out every day to millions of people, other strategies need to do this work. I've collected news clips of hundreds of media stories. Few, if any, point readers to resource directories where they can find organizations where they can get involved with their time or talent.
More frequent "call to involvement" messages, in traditional, non tradition, business and religious media will bring more people to the type of information I and others share in on-line libraries. However, there also needs to be a process of facilitation, helping people find information they are looking for, understand existing information, and ways to become strategically involved on a personal or organizational level. Church groups have weekly discussions of scripture. The Tribune has a weekly feature highlighting "book clubs". A strategy that encourages people to learn more about poverty, violence, jobs, education, etc. and about places where they can get involved, would result more people building a growing sophistication of where and how they could give time, talent and dollars to help youth move safely through school and into jobs.
Unfortunately, I've not been able to attract consistent support from city leaders to this strategy. Not that I've not shared these ideas in a variety of formats since 1993.
I'll share this article on Twitter, Facebook and other media over the weekend. Hopefully people like Dan Profit will take a look and become an advocate and champion for this strategy. I encourage you to browse this blog and the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC blog, to find more stories like this that you and people in your own network can use to support your own planning and growing involvement.
Since October 25th I've been posting a series of articles that use concept maps as a tool for communicating strategy for helping kids in poverty move from birth to work, while also pointing to resources available to support leaders who adopt this commitment.
In the Tutor/Mentor Institute blog you can see more articles where I've embedded concept maps and ideas on systems thinking.
Today I'd like to introduce another map, showing the process I've been developing over the past 20 years.
On the left, I show the inputs, or information I've been aggregating since I formally created the Tutor/Mentor Connection in 1993. Across the middle I show various ways I've tried to expose this information to a growing number of people. Since I've never had advertising dollars, nor support from high profile business, political or celebrity spokespersons, the number of people I've reached has been limited, but still over a million visits to my web sites alone since 1998.
On the right, I show how formal and informal learning can help people innovate new ways to draw resources to all tutor/mentor programs in a geographic region as large as Chicago, and to help leaders of these programs use these resources, and what they can learn from each other, to constantly improve the work they do to connect youth and volunteers and help kids succeed in school, and move to jobs and careers not limited by poverty.
I've been sharing ideas like this on blogs since 2005 and email newsletters since 2001. I published printed newsletters between 1993 and 2001. Everything I've done can be done much better by others who may have more talent and resources than I have.
I've been looking for leaders in business, universities, philanthropy, etc who embrace the strategies and the way I share this information, and who want to adopt my efforts and support them with their own leadership and resources into future years.
If you're interested, here's a link to social media places where you can connect with me.
On October 25 I started a series of articles showing Concept Maps I've created. The first was a "Strategy Map" that could be adopted by any one in business, philanthropy, politics, as a unifying image that engages the entire village of people in a city in on-going efforts intended to help youth move more successfully from "birth to work" with the help of a wide range of "extra adults" beyond family and traditional educators. Then I showed a 4-part strategy that would lead to achieving this vision, if adopted by everyone who commits to the first map.
This next map shows the information available in the Tutor/Mentor Connection web library.
The library divides into four sections. 1) Research - why and where are volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs needed? What do they look like? How do they differ?; 2) What do I need to know about the "business" of building and sustaining a non profit tutor/mentor program that needs to grow from a start up to becoming a great organization, and then needs to stay great over a decade or longer? How to raise money? How to recruit and train volunteers? How to draw attention to your organization?; 3) If I'm a parent, volunteer, donor, reporter, etc., how do I find individual non-school tutor/mentor programs in Chicago? How might I find volunteer involvements in other forms of service?; and 4) Where can I find ideas about collaboration, innovation, knowledge management, visualization and mapping that I can use to stimulate innovation and constant improvement in my organization?
While the map above shows these four information categories in detail, the map at the left shows the four sections. Click this link to go to the map. At the bottom of each node, you can click into additional maps that offer greater detail on each section, or into web sites with information related to each node.
There is a lot of information in this library, just as there's a lot of information that you will need to learn to get a degree from Harvard, Stanford, Oxford or any other university. You don't need to learn it in a day. Keep coming back to it as you build your program, or you build a corporate support strategy, and look for ideas that you can use to constantly improve the impact and scale of your effort.
I've been following MOOCs, such as the Deeper Learning MOOC, for the past couple of years. I feel the structure of these offers a form of organized learning that could attract a growing number of people who need to be involved in building and sustaining a citywide, or nationwide, network of high quality non-school tutoring, mentoring and learning programs. Such MOOCs could lead people through the various sections of my library, and of the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC web site, so people build their own understanding of the ideas and resources that are available, and learn to apply the information in their own efforts, and to add new information to the library based on what they are doing in their own programs, and what they learn through their own efforts.
I just need to find partners in universities, business and philanthropy to organize these, as well as manpower and talent to maintain the library, the concept maps, and share them daily with others throughout the world.
How does a city get from "here" to "there"?
There's plenty of information showing a need to provide extra learning support and mentoring for youth in high poverty areas, but few examples of sustained, decades-long, efforts by cities to build and sustain a network of programs reaching a growing number of youth in all of the high poverty areas of a city. I've used maps and graphics to illustrate the need for planning, leadership and resource development strategies that would take a city from its current level of youth serving organizations to a future level reaching more youth with higher impact organizations.
Last Saturday I posted a "strategy map" illustrating a shared commitment that needs to be adopted by leaders in every sector of business, philanthropy, government, education, non profit, etc. so more are innovating and leading actions that support the growth of strong programs.
Then on Tuesday, I posted a concept map illustrating the different supports youth in high poverty areas need to move from first grade to first job, over a 20 year period of continuous support, available in multiple neighborhoods.
So what might a city need to do to mobilize and support this level of sustained effort? Since 1994 I've been piloting a four step strategy aimed at helping tutor/mentor programs grow in all of Chicago's high poverty neighborhoods.
Step 1 includes building a library of information, including information on existing non-school youth serving organizations, and information people can use to borrow ideas from others and innovate actions that lead to constantly improving programs. These actions include new ways to generate flexible operating dollars throughout the program and intermediary network in any city.
Step 2 focuses on the marketing, social media and leadership needed to build public awareness and draw more people to the information in step 1. One of the challenges that must be overcome is the lack of advertising dollars available to create a reach and frequency of message delivery that gets more people involved, and keeps them involved.
Step 3 focuses on ways to help more people understand the information in the library, how it relates to them, and actions they can take to support the growth of one, or many, tutor/mentor programs in the city where they live, or in other parts of the country. There is so much information available that I've written many articles focused on "learning" cultures, where youth and adults are motivated to spend time on a regular basis reading and reflecting on this information.
Step 4 focuses on actions repeated throughout each year, for many years, which generate a greater flow of needed dollars, talent, technology and ideas to every one of the tutor/mentor programs operating in a city, and to every neighborhood where such programs are most needed.
This animation was created to help you understand the four part strategy and strategy map. This PDF also shows the four part strategy. This blog article does the same.
The heart of this strategy is the information collected and shared via step one. Articles I've read about innovation show that if you're exposed to ideas of how other people are already solving the same, or similar programs, you are stimulated in more ways to innovate ways to solve the same problem where you are. I've devoted an entire section of the tutor/mentor library to creativity and innovation ideas.
I've spent the past 40 years thinking of ways to influence youth and volunteers and of ways to build and sustain mentor rich non school programs that focus on the relationships between youth and adult volunteers and the long-term impact these programs can have on youth and volunteers. This, my understanding of how all of these ideas relate to each other is probably more intuitive than most other people in the country.
Yet, because I share my thinking, and my library, others can build learning organizations in high schools, colleges, business and communities and support a process that shares what I've learned with thousands of others, who then add their own ideas and talent to improve what they do to help youth in their communities move through school and into productive, adult lives and careers. Spend time looking at this information, then look for people who may already be leading this strategy in your own community. If you can't find such a group, start it yourselfe, as I did back in 1993.
As you look at this information I hope to connect with you in on-line communities as well as in conferences I host every six months in Chicago or that others are hosting at different times each year.
What does "mentoring to career" pipeline look like?
Last Saturday I posted an article with a strategy map, showing commitments many leaders need to take to help youth living in high poverty neighborhoods move from birth to work. Below is another map I hope you'll spend some time looking at. The link is here.
Most of us take for granted the support system we have that helps shape who we are, and how we grow up. This PDF is includes some graphics that show that the network surrounding kids living in high poverty is much different than that of most kids living beyond high poverty areas.
The concept map is intended to show supports that should be available in the lives of youth as they move from first grade to a job and career. This is a "hub and spoke" design, with the spokes leading to nodes indicating a type of support. In a couple of the nodes, such as the homework help section, you can see how I link to a web library with links to quite a few sites that learners could draw ideas from.
This graphic shows the concept map in a different way, yet it intends to communicate the same idea.
I've been seeking volunteers from engineering, design and architecture firms who would help me create an animated version of this graphic. I'm also looking for writers and data visualization people who will help fill each node on this map with links to information people can use to build and sustain age-appropriate non-school learning programs. If someone is working with a youth in 3rd grade, you should be able to click into that section of the graphic, and find information related to mentoring, tutoring and providing social/emotional support for youth at that age level. If you're working with high school kids, you should be able to click into nodes that show things you can do to support high school youth.
You should also be able to find discussion forums where people are sharing ideas, and where funders, policy makers, researchers and business leaders are also participating. Without their involvement in the process, the commitment of resources will be too narrowly focused, and to short a time frame.
The goal of these graphics is to show that youth need a wide range of support at each age level, and they need this support to continue through high school and post high school years. That means the way programs are supported needs to change, to be more consistent.
The maps on this blog intend to show that this "birth to work" support system needs to be available in every high poverty neighborhood, not just a few neighborhoods.
What is the role of volunteer mentors and tutors? They not only can draw from this information to innovate better ways to support the youth they work with. They can use this to help youth in different neighborhoods have access to more of the supports the youth need.
Visit my Tutor/Mentor blog to read more about these ideas.
If you browse through articles posted on this blog since 2008 you'll see how geographic maps have been used to show where volunteer-based, non-school, learning, mentoring and tutoring programs are most needed in Chicago, based on indicators such as poverty, poor schools, violence, health disparities, etc. In the next few blog articles I'm going to post concept maps that show commitments and strategies that need to be adopted by leaders from business, government, philanthropy, entertainment, sports, and the non profit sector, if the map is to be filled with high quality programs.
I've been using CMaps, a free concept mapping tool, since 2005. This was introduced to me by Ariane Lee, a former Peace Corps volunteer, who worked for me for one year. Once she introduced CMaps to me, I began to create a variety of maps. In these maps you can follow a train of thought, from one node to another. In this strategy map, the blue box at the top can be filled by any leader who makes this commitment. As you follow the train of thought, you'll see small boxes at the bottom of each map. The box on the left leads to other web sites with related information. The box on the right, leads to additional concept maps, that provide deeper thinking related to that specific node.
In this particular map you can see a box to the left, indicating that there is an animated version of this map. It was created by interns from IIT, during six week internships in Jan-Feb and May-June, 2009. The voice over was provided by a Northwestern University graduate, who was serving a one-year fellowship. I encourage you to listen to it. The information it provides will help you navigate the map. Some of the links are broken and this needs to be updated, but the information is still useful.
This strategy can be adopted and applied to Chicago, or to any other city in the world. It can be adopted by a University or a Hospital and focus on the area around that specific university or hospital. If you'd like my help in thinking through your strategy introduce yourself to me on Twitter, LinkedIN or Facebook or email tutormentor2 at earthlink dot net.
NOTE: since posting this article in October 2014 I've posted several related articles. View them all-click here.
This map view was created using the Chicago Health Atlas, one of the projects of the Smart Chicago Collaborative.
While a majority of the maps in the Mapping for Justice blog were created by Tutor/Mentor Connection, I've also used articles to point to other map platforms that provide indicators showing a need for extra investment and support of youth and families in neighborhoods highlighted on these maps. In this section of the Tutor/Mentor web library are more links to poverty and crime maps.
Our aim is to encourage, and inspire, a growing number of people to create videos, blog articles, books, slide presentations, etc. that use these indicators to show people beyond poverty where they need to be investing time, talent and dollars to help communities overcome challenges they cannot overcome by themselves. If youth learn to create map stories, and how to communicate these regularly as part of a call to action, they learn skills they can apply in adult lives, and provide talent that helps draw needed resources to various places shown on the map. If you're creating map stories with a goal of drawing resources to volunteer based tutor/mentor programs in different parts of Chicago, or in another city, please share your link.
All of the maps on this site are intended to support actions that draw volunteers, dollars, technology and ideas to all of the high poverty areas in Chicago where a wide range of volunteer-based tutoring, mentoring and learning organizations are needed in the non-school hours.
Below is a graphic showing the home page of the Boston Indicators Project, which I've been following since around 2004.
What I've liked about this site is that it has created a list of 10 indicators/issues which represent most of the major issues of concern to people in the Boston area. If you click into any of the issue areas you can dig deeper into a wide range of data, maps, articles, etc. to help you better understand the problem and potential solutions.
On the right bottom of the home page is a section focused on the Boston Giving Common, created by the Boston Foundation.
I created screen shots showing the progression of pages you find as you click into the Giving Common. First, you'll find ten categories, which align with the 10 issue areas on the Boston Indicators site. If you click any of these, such as youth development, you go to a page listing youth development organizations in the Boston area. If you click on an organization you go to a page with financial information, web site address, and a button that you can click to make a donation!
I don't know if this represents all youth serving organizations in Boston, or just a few.
I also don't see maps that show locations of different organizations, with layers showing different types of services, or different age groups served, which is what I've created on the Chicago Tutor/Mentor Program Locator.
I also don't see an explanation of a year-round strategy intended to draw a growing number of volunteers and donors to this web site so more will become supporters of different programs. I also don't see a use of MOOCs or engagement of youth as story-tellers, as part of a strategy to engage growing numbers of people to focus on each separate issue area.
Yet this is a great model of a high profile community organization acting to leverage it's own giving by encouraging others to support organizations in the region who require consistent, on-going and flexible operating dollars and a wide range of talent to have a growing impact on solving the problems that the indicators show face Boston. It has constantly been improving what it does since I first saw the site many years ago. I suspect it's leaders will be adding some of the features I've mentioned as the look for more ways to engage Boston area citizens, social benefit organizations and resource providers.
While I write about this, I also share my interest using my Twitter @tutormentorteam feed. And I've added the link to this section of my web library so others can find this and use it to inspire their own efforts. I've shared this with Chicago organizations and hope I'm invited into brainstorming conversations and planning groups who are looking for ways to mobilize all stakeholders in the region in long-term problem solving.
If you're aware of something like this in other cities, or something working even better to draw needed resources to all of the neighborhoods who need a wide range of services, share the link on your own blog and with me via a comment or a Tweet.
This Metro Trends Blog article shows that "Despite our country's growing diversity, our public schools provide little contact between white students and students of color. Metro Trends has mapped data about the racial composition of US public schools to shed light on today's patterns at the county level. These maps show that America's public schools are highly segregated by race and income, with the declining share of white students typically concentrated in schools with other white students and the growing share of Latino students concentrated into low-income public schools with other students of color." Read the article.
This interactive map can be used to help build and understanding of where poverty is concentrated in the US and how this has changed since 1980.
Browse the articles on this site to see how map stories can be created using map platforms like this. Such stories can be used to build public awareness and mobilize leaders and resources to fill high poverty areas with a wide range of youth and family supports.
Browse sections of the Tutor/Mentor Institute blog and you'll see more examples of maps and graphics. Use these as examples that can be duplicated by volunteers, leaders, media in Chicago and other cities.
I use maps to show where organized volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs are located, and where they are most needed, based on indicators like high poverty, violence, health disparities, etc. My efforts intend to catch the attention of donors who have the ability to provide on-going operating dollars to support high quality programs in all neighborhoods.
Today I was encouraged to take a look at an interactive map on the Forbes.com web site showing locations of 180 billionaire families. See the map here.
Imagine how much more we could do to help young people in high poverty areas is just one of these familes in each part of the country adopted the Tutor/Mentor Connection strategy and commitment, shown on this animation, and this concept map.
Throughout this blog and the Tutor/Mentor Blog I show how maps can be created to focus attention and resources on places in Chicago where bad things are happening to good people.
Maps can be created using the Tutor/Mentor Program Locator, or by using other map resources, such as this homicide map hosted by the Chicago SunTimes.
If you browse this blog you'll see other mapping platforms that can be used to create images for blogs and social media articles. These are tools that youth and adult volunteers could use in creating map stories that leverage the attention created by traditional media coverage of negative news. Such stories, if repeated over and over, could begin to motivate adults in different parts of the Chicago region (or in other cities) to provide the on-going flow of resources that are needed to create mentor-rich programs and learning opportunities for K-12 youth in neighborhoods where lack of opportunity contributes to lack of hope, which contributes to many of the negatives that are reported too often in the media.
See this album for map stories from the 1990s and this Map Gallery for stories from between 2008 and 2011.
If you're already creating map stories for the purpose of drawing resources to neighborhoods, point to this list of Chicago tutoring and/or mentoring programs as you call on leaders to provide resources so your stories are helping existing programs grow.
Share your stories with me on Twitter @tutormentorteam or on Facebook in this group.
How is the Chicago Tutor/Mentor Program Locator Supposed to Work?
If you've visited the Chicago Tutor/Mentor Program Locator recently you'll see that some features, such as the boundary overlays, the zip code overlay, and the political district overlays, do not work. We're also having trouble adding new program information. This is all a result of Google changing how sites like mine interface with their map, and the fact that I don't have any money, or tech talent, to fix the problem.
If you want to know how this should work, visit the Chicago Public Schools "School Locator" page. It may take you a while to figure out how this works, but on the left side is a label that says "political overlays". Click on any of these and you'll see political district outlines on the map.
Now on the Tutor/Mentor Program locator, you'd be able to use a drop down menu to zoom into a specific district or geographic areas. I don't see this on the CPS locator, but I really like the way the technology works.
Of course, having a great map-directory is only useful if many people are using the maps to tell stories that draw needed resources into school neighborhoods so families and schools have more help encouraging youth to become active learners who take a greater responsibility for their own learning, and their own futures.
If you are creating map stories using this information please post a link to this article so others can learn from how you are using the maps.
In the articles on this blog I've shown maps I've created using a desk top GIS mapping system, as well as the interactive Chicago Tutor/Mentor Program Locator. However, this is just one of many resources that need to be used to build a better understanding of the comprehensive problems caused by where you live or where you were born. I feel there needs to be a generation of activists who create map stories, drawing upon all of these resources.
As I find new map portals I add them to the web library that I've been building since 1998. Then I write a blog article here, or on the Tutor/Mentor Blog, to draw attention to the resource.
The map at the left is from the 2014 Annie E. Casey Foundation report titled "Race for Results: Building a Path to Opportunity for All Children" Visit the web site and view the report, as well as a recording of a panel discussion held to announce the release of the report and discuss its findings.
This second map is from a Civil Rights Project report titled "New York State's Extreme School Segregation: Inequality, Inaction and a Damaged Future"
This third image is from the County Health Rankings and Roadmaps web site, showing health disparities in Illinois counties.
Browse this blog and you'll find links to many other map resources. Visit this section of the web library for more examples of mapping and visualization.
Each of these web sites is a tremendous resource, but they only tell part of a story. If we're to build public will to solve the problems indicated in these reports, in all of the places shown on the map, we need a massive increase in the number of people telling map stories on a daily basis, connecting maps and data from many sources into stories that motivate more people to give time, talent, dollars and votes to solve the problems these reports show to be embedded in many parts of the country.
In 1997 I had to strokes of good luck. HSBC Worldwide selected my organization to share in its year-end holiday gift, which amounted to nearly $60,000. At the same time, an anonymous donor gave $50,000 to rebuild the GIS mapping capacity of the Tutor/Mentor Connection. As a result, this blog and all of the map stories created since 2008 were made available and the interactive Chicago tutor/mentor program locator was created.
Unfortunately that good luck was followed by seven years of bad luck, starting with the financial melt down that resulted in loosing HSBC support for our technology strategies, and ultimately, looking the funding to keep paying for a map maker and continued upgrades to the program locator technology, and then the 2011 decision of the Cabrini Connections Board to discontinue its support of the Tutor/Mentor Connection strategy.
Despite all of this I've continued to publish map stories, build the network of support for tutor/mentor programs in Chicago and other cities, maintain a web library that records more than 9,000 visitors a month, and host a spring and fall Tutor/Mentor Leadership & Networking Conference in Chicago.
It's about time for some good fortune to come this way and maybe today will be the beginning.
Yet, while I seek financial and talent support for my own efforts, I know nearly 70% of the other tutoring and/or mentoring programs in Illinois are also seeking the same support. Thus, I keep pointing to the program locator, and this list of Chicago youth organizations, hoping they all have the luck of the Irish and receive the financial and talent support they need.
I started using maps to tell stories in 1993. Back then the technology to create a map story was beyond reach of most people and the distribution channel needed to get your map story in front of a desired audience was also closed to most people.
Much has changed since then. Here's an article on the GIS and Science blog showing how anyone can create their own map stories.
Here's a tutorial showing how to use the Chicago Tutor/Mentor Program Locator to create maps focused on helping volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs grow in high poverty areas.
As you create your maps and share them on blogs, Instagram, Pinterest, etc. share them with us via Twitter or by posting a comment on this blog.
This album shows some of the map stories created by Tutor/Mentor Connection since 1993 as part of a strategy intended to increase attention on volunteer-based tutoring/mentoring as a strategy for engaging more adults in a wide range of long-term efforts to help kids stay safe in non-school hours, expand their social capital, and keep moving through school toward jobs and careers.
In this blog, the Tutor/Mentor Blog and the Tutor/Mentor Institute,LLC site you'll see numerous examples of maps included in stories.
In this article we describe how youth from many different schools, non school programs, colleges and faith groups could create their own map-stories, focusing on their own school neighborhood or community.
If you are already applying these ideas please share your web address so we can point to you and learn from you. If you'd like our help in developing this strategy, introduce yourself.
In 2008-2009 I was able to build an interactive Chicago Tutor/Mentor Program Locator Map/Directory that could be used by leaders in Chicago to help build and sustain mentor-rich, non-school tutor/mentor programs in high poverty neighborhoods. This image was created by combining layers of information showing poverty, poorly performing schools, existing programs and community assets, like banks then zooming in to show a specific part of Chicago.
We ran out of money in 2009 and have not been able to update the technology, or the content, in the years since then, except for keeping the information about tutor/mentor programs (the green stars) current.
One section of the Program Locator focuses on Assets, such as banks, insurance companies, faith groups, colleges, hospitals, etc. who could be strategically involved in supporting the on-going operations of tutor/mentor programs in sections of the city where they have facilities.
When we built the Program Locator in 2008-9 we included locations of eight banks. Since then some have expanded, and some have gone out of business, such as Park National Bank. Since I was not able to update the program locator myself, we've had to live with this outdated information.
I've had interns from Illinois Institute of Technology working with me for six week periods in Jan-Feb and May-June since 2006. On this page you can see work they've done to communicate strategies via various visualizations.
One of our Jan-Feb 2014 interns volunteered to look at the Program Locator, and after three weeks he has updated the Banks section, adding six additional banks and replacing Park National with one more.
Now when you look at the Banks section of the asset maps you'll see a much richer range of banks. I hope that neighborhood groups and volunteer teams from the banks will use this information to bring together networks of business, non profit, educator, faith groups and other community assets and leaders to develop an understanding of the current level of tutor/mentor programs available in different neighborhoods, and to build on-going strategies to help existing and new programs constantly learn from each other and from effective practices around the world, so each program in every neighborhood of the Chicago region can be considered "world class" in helping kids through school and into 21st century jobs and careers.
The purpose of the Interactive Program Locator is that when bad things happen in a city neighborhood, and get feature and editorial attention in the major newspapers, a map can be created showing where the incident happened, and showing businesses, hospitals, faith groups, etc. in the neighborhood who should be working together to make mentor-rich non-school tutoring, mentoring and learning programs more available in the neighborhood where the incident occurred, and in other neighborhoods with similar history. Until the interactive Program Locator was created in 2008-09 we were making map stories and displaying them like you see in this graphic.
If you're doing this work join us at the next Tutor/Mentor Conference to share what you're doing. If you're a business or volunteer who wants to support the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC's mapping strategies, introduce yourself on Twitter, Facebook and/or Linked in. Email tutormentor2@earthlink.net to offer your time, talent AND/or financial support to booster this effort.
Today I posted a story on the Tutor/Mentor Blog showing how I've been creating map stories like this one since 1993, in an effort to build greater attention for tutor/mentor programs in neighborhoods where incidents of violence are highlighted in the media.
I've been doing map stories with the help of volunteers, and occasionally with paid staff, since launching the Tutor/Mentor Connection. Since I don't have advertising dollars, my strategy has been to follow news stories where violence, gangs and/or poorly performing schools have been giving front page, or major emphasis on inside pages of the Chicago Tribune or the Chicago SunTimes, which are the two major papers in Chicago, each reaching several hundred thousand readers a day.
If the media story builds public interest and a desire for readers to get involved, map-stories like these can tell "The Rest of The Story", which is what the media do not do consistently include in their stories. We can show indicators of why shootings are taking place, or why students perform poorly in public schools, and we can show if there are any non-school, volunteer-based tutoring and/or mentoring programs in the area around where the story took place. We can also show some of the businesses, faith groups, hospitals and/or universities that share the same geography, and who should be strategically involved in making high quality, constantly improving tutor/mentor programs available in these areas.
Youth in middle and high schools throughout the Chicago region, and in other cities could be creating these stories, and could be involved in collecting and maintaining information about non-school programs in different neighborhoods. This article and this article offer suggestions for getting young people involved.
See additional map stories here and in the Tutor/Mentor Map Gallery.
If you're implementing this strategy, share a link to your own blog articles and connect with us on Twitter or Facebook.


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Brett Pope, cross country and track and field
Brett Pope was among four Bellefonte Area student athletes who signed their letters of intent Nov. 13 as a commitment to play a sport in college. Pope lives within the Bellefonte Area School District boundaries, but is educated through Connections Commonwealth Charter Academy.
Pope was a four-year member of Bellefonte Area cross-country. He committed to run at Lock Haven University siting the reason he chose the school was because it was close to home and had a good athletic program. There, he also has plans to major in criminal justice.
During his senior year, Pope, a middle- and long-distance runner, ran a personal record, and placed in the top 10 of every invitational and placed first in every Mountain League dual meet. He also placed third in the Mountain League championship, second at Bloomsburg and in districts, and 28th overall in states. He was named to the first-team Mountain League All-Star team, and was also team MVP and the 2017 Jeremy Herbstritt award winner. Pope was also undefeated in the 3,200-meter event during the 2017 season, and broke the league record.
To see his video, visit this link: Pope

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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HomeCanadaLittle Team on the Prairie: The Winnipeg Whomping Willows
Little Team on the Prairie: The Winnipeg Whomping Willows
October 18, 2016 QP Canada, Features, Sections 0
By Jasmin Winter and Andrew Ajisebutu
The Winnipeg Whomping Willows, Manitoba's only quidditch team, came to be through the work of a group of very passionate people. The team was founded in 2014 by Willow Rosenberg and a group of their friends. Rosenberg had invested in initial equipment and brought interested players together to build hoops and brooms and to pick a first practice time, all organized in their apartment.
The Winnipeg Whomping Willows, circa 2014 | Photo Credit: Alana Altman
Practices for the first year were held at the gorgeous Assiniboine Park, as the team battled mosquitoes during the summer and snow during the winter. The resiliency and drive of the young team pushed them to compete that same year at the North Star Cup in Minneapolis, the 2015 Western Canadian Regional Championship, and the 2015 Canadian National Championship.
Starting a team is certainly a difficult endeavor. The cost and headache of building equipment, finding practice space, and recruiting players can often feel like thankless work, but Rosenberg, who has "done a lot of random things on a whim over the years," feels that "the Willows is the one I'm most proud of." To then take a team of fresh new players to the United States and halfway across the country is all the more admirable, and a testament to the hardworking legacy of all the early Willows players.
The tradition of snow quidditch lives on | Photo Credit: Jasmin Winter
Jasmin Winter and Andrew Ajisebutu, former McGill Quidditch players, joined the team in September 2015 and used their experience from Montreal to help build on the Willows' success of the previous year. The Willows' player base began to shift as Rosenberg and some of the original players moved on (and out of the country). Winter, and her sister Asia Winter, as students of the University of Winnipeg, established a partnership with the university's student association, which has helped facilitate recruitment, advertising, and fundraising initiatives. The Willows are considered an affiliated group, which means that the group consists of both students and community members and can receive funding externally. The team's butterbeer sales have become a staple on campus, and they even hosted a kidditch camp for neighbourhood youth over spring break. By integrating themselves within the university, the Willows have been able to find firm footing even as older players left.
Indoor practice at the University of Winnipeg RecPlex | Photo Credit: Jasmin Winter
As difficult as building a team is, maintaining one can be just as challenging. The Willows began striving for weekly practices with tried-and-true drills and scrimmages, with the ultimate goal of creating a team ready for Canadian competition (even with uncertainty as to from where that competition would actually arise). As a result, the Willows grew steadily from five players to about 15 over the course of 2015. This allowed the team to be able to travel to Moose Jaw and play in the Moose Madness tournament against teams from Alberta. The new players got a taste for competition, and five went on to travel 15 hours for the Solsnitch tournament in Edmonton that summer, with one player attending the Vancouver Fantasy tournament.
A group photograph at Moose Madness | Photo Credit: Julian Wotherspoon
Going into their third year, the Willows are eager for more competition. However, this is no easy task, as the Willows are currently isolated from the core quidditch centres of both eastern and western Canada. The closest Ontario teams are those in Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area, and Regina Quidditch Club, of the neighbouring province Saskatchewan, has been met with the very same challenges as Winnipeg. This is, however, not simply a Canadian issue; the Midwest region by the border of Montana and North Dakota is also a barren quidditch landscape. Perhaps the low population density, the lack of international and out of province students looking to try something new, the longer winters, or a mix of these factors contribute to quidditch start-ups being a tougher sell in the Prairies.
That being said, the Willows are committed to at least attempting to bridge the Canadian divide. This was demonstrated this summer with the incredible amount of effort put into a bid for the 2017 Quidditch Canada National Championship. Unfortunately, facility costs proved to be the ultimate barrier to realizing the potential of a truly central Canadian national tournament.
The Willows competing at the 2015 Quidditch Canada National Championship | Photo Credit: Danny Ly
Still, the determination and optimism of the Willows persists, which is important given the big decisions that need to be made this year. Looking ahead, with the 2016 Western Regional Championship and 2017 Quidditch Canada National Championship both taking place in British Columbia, the Willows' decision on whether or not to join Quidditch Canada is a tough one. Although access to these competitions – as well as a seat on the newly-instituted Team Council – would absolutely be beneficial, the financial cost and limited capacity to meet regulatory expectations may be too great.
The Willows are seriously considering planning out another unofficial tournament with the Albertan teams, a potential trip to Ontario, or even going ahead with a tournament in Winnipeg that would include official games for other teams. The pros and cons for these options are fairly extreme, but the Willows are set on finding a way to compete and showcase their hard work. While it cannot yet be said that Prairie quidditch is established in Canada, the drive, passion, and love for the sport that has fostered other teams has certainly been built in the area. In other words, the Winnipeg Whomping Willows have taken firm root and are more than ready to branch out.
Editor's Note: Although facility costs were a factor, the deciding factor to eliminate Winnipeg as the choice to host the 2017 Canadian National Championship was the fact that the gameplay would have to be split between two fields that were a 30 minute drive apart.
Quidditch Academy in Darmstadt, Germany | Quidditch Akademie in Darmstadt, Deutschland
International Weekend Wrap-Up – October 15-16
A First Look At QCON and Its Implications
By Misha Whittingham After months of speculation and rumors, it has been confirmed that there will be a new organisation in North American quidditch: the Quidditch Conference of the Northwest (QCON). The brainchild of Serena […]
Quidditch on an Island
August 26, 2016 QP 1
By Misha Whittingham Vancouver Island: a hunk of rock, trees, and marmots off the coast of British Columbia roughly the size (and shape if you really squint) of the Netherlands. With a population of around […]
The Wild West: Western Canada Regional Championship Preview
November 3, 2016 QP 0
By Nathan Ross The Quidditch Canada Western Regional Championship will happen on November 12 and 13 in Surrey, British Columbia, with six teams from BC and Alberta vying to capture the third annual regional championship. […]


A touch of upscale elegance on the Riviera Maya, the typically modern Asian architecture of the Banyan Tree chain stands out on this pristine coast. The villas are tastefully decorated with a Mayan influence, each enclosed in its own private garden. The signature spa is one of the plushest in the area. With the call to arms of embracing the environment and empowering the people, Banyan Tree seek to continue being an agent of social and economic development through responsible tourism.
Their triple bottom line (economy, society and environment) help direct their sustainable development by inspiring associates, guests, and partners to take a wider consideration encompassing a long term view when making business decisions.


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desperately to save his mind from the hold that this man's historical events had on him. After a fight with depression he busts out the window in his room and tries to jump. Luckily his parents are able to save him, but he just wanted to bleed for Charlie. Maybe the blood would make him worthy of being in the family. He is older now, recovered and has his mind back but he will never forget those eight months that he gave his mind to Helter- skelter.
Male- My Best Friend Charlie
I have always been a man who loved music any kind of music. I can listen to rock 'n roll or dance myself to sleep with the slowest most amazing jazz ballots ever. There isn't too much in the music world that I won't to listen. All music has a different kind of rhythm to it, a beat, that thing that we connect to. (He begins to beat on his chest and snap his fingers to his own beat.) It's what makes us purchase an eight track for my oldies but goodies, perfectly place that needle on the vinyl record, push in a tape if you were born in the 80s, or buy a CD for the children in the 90s or download music for the techies now. This something that moves us, something that makes us close our eyes and memorize the lyrics and listen to the same song over and over again because it changes us, it affects our lives. (Beat) I remember when I was young my mother would never let me listen to this particular song by the Beatles. It never quite made sense to me because the Beatles where everybody's favorite band. I would've thought that she would be excited that her teenage son wants nothing more than to listen to the Beatles. It was 1986 when I finally was able to sneak my mothers Beatles tape into my room and I put on my headphones and I listen to the song. I still didn't understand. What was the big deal? Everyone is singing the music is playing the lyrics are great. Such a simple song. What's the big deal it's just music? They're just lyrics in the song. It's not like there anything more. Helter Skelter.
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With excellent artisanship and a fresh exciting look this ring is from the designer Marco Bicego's "Confetti" collection. Made with hand engraved 18k white gold, adorned with brilliant pave set diamonds (0.87cts.) all being VS in clarity and G color.


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Piotrowice ist eine Ortschaft mit einem Schulzenamt der Gemeinde Przeciszów im Powiat Oświęcimski der Woiwodschaft Kleinpolen in Polen.

Geographie
Der Ort liegt am Bach Bachórz. Die Nachbarorte sind Przeciszów im Norden, Łowiczki im Osten, Gierałtowiczki im Süden, Głębowice im Südwesten, sowie Polanka Wielka im Westen.

Geschichte
Im Jahr 1569 bestätigte der König Sigismund II. August die Privilegien der Stadt Zator, darunter einen aus dem Jahr 1292, wo das Dorf Piotrowice als Peterwaldi erwähnt wurde. Es ist jedoch nicht sicher, ob es im Original genau in dieser Form bestand, weil das originale Dokument verloren ist. Dieser deutschstämmige Name tauchte außerdem nur einmal auf: Petirswalde props Zathor im Jahr 1440. Die Pfarrei Petrovicze wurde erstmals urkundlich im Peterspfennigregister des Jahres 1325/1326 im Dekanat Zator des Bistums Krakau erwähnt. Später wurde der patronymische Ortsname (der Suffix -(ow)ice) auch als Potrovicz, Petrovicz (1346–1358) oder Pyotrowycze villa (1470–1480) erwähnt.

Politisch gehörte das Dorf ursprünglich zum Herzogtum Auschwitz, dies bestand ab 1315 in der Zeit des polnischen Partikularismus. Seit 1327 bestand die Lehnsherrschaft des Königreichs Böhmen. Seit 1445 gehörte es zum Herzogtum Zator, dieses wurde im Jahr 1494 an den polnischen König verkauft. 1564 wurde Piotrowice als Teil des neuen Kreises Schlesien der Woiwodschaft Krakau an das Königreich Polen, ab 1569 die polnisch-litauische Adelsrepublik, völlig inkorporiert.

Bei der Ersten Teilung Polens kam Piotrowice 1772 zum neuen Königreich Galizien und Lodomerien des habsburgischen Kaiserreichs (ab 1804). Ab 1782 gehörte es dem Myslenicer Kreis (1819 mit dem Sitz in Wadowice). Nach der Aufhebung der Patrimonialherrschaften bildete es nach 1850 eine Gemeinde im Bezirk Wadowice, später im Bezirk Oświęcim.

1918, nach dem Ende des Ersten Weltkriegs und dem Zusammenbruch der k.u.k. Monarchie, kam Piotrowice zu Polen und an die Woiwodschaft Krakau. Unterbrochen wurde dies nur durch die Besetzung Polens durch die Wehrmacht im Zweiten Weltkrieg. Es gehörte dann zum Landkreis Bielitz im Regierungsbezirk Kattowitz in der Provinz Schlesien (seit 1941 Provinz Oberschlesien).

Von 1975 bis 1998 gehörte Piotrowice zur Woiwodschaft Bielsko-Biała.

Einzelnachweise

Ort der Woiwodschaft Kleinpolen
Gmina Przeciszów

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Willem II van Weimar, de Grote, (ca. 945 - 24 december 1003) was de leidende edelman in Thüringen.

Willem was graaf van Weimar (963), de Altgau (967), de Helmegau (968) en de Viesichgau (974). Hij had bovendien grote persoonlijke bezittingen in de regio. Na de dood van keizer Otto II steunde hij de aanspraken van Hendrik II van Beieren (hertog), een oom van Otto II. Willem werd daarom in 984 door de aanhangers van Otto III belegerd in Weimar maar dat beleg werd afgebroken toen Hendrik naderde om hem te ontzetten. In 1002 steunde Willem Hendriks zoon, de latere keizer Hendrik II. Hij werd toen weer belegerd maar wist dat te doorstaan. Nadat Hendrik II keizer was geworden trad Willem op namens de landstreek Thüringen. In bronnen wordt hij zelfs hertog genoemd maar dat is praktisch onmogelijk omdat Thüringen geen hertogdom was. Willem wist de plicht van Thüringen om ieder jaar 500 varkens aan de koning te leveren te laten afschaffen, deze belasting had bestaan sinds het onafhankelijke koninkrijk Thüringen in 531 door de Franken was onderworpen. Willem ontving de koning nog op zijn kasteel en overleed korte tijd daarna. Hij is begraven in Naumburg (Saale).

Willem was zoon van Willem I (ca. 910 - 16 april 963). Die was graaf in het zuiden van Thüringen en koos in 953 de kant van de opstandige hertogen Liudolf van Zwaben en Koenraad de Rode. Willem I verloor daardoor zijn functies en werd verbannen naar Beieren maar in 956 werd hij in zijn ambten en bezittingen hersteld en verwierf nog meer functies.

Willem II trouwde met een onbekende vrouw en werd vader van:
 Willem III van Weimar
 Poppo I van Weimar
Agnes, gehuwd met Frederik van Goseck, paltsgraaf van Saksen

Graaf van Weimar
Huis Weimar
Persoon in de 10e eeuw


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Teardown: Inside Ikea's smart LED bulb
February 24, 2017 By Lee Teschler 1 Comment
Press a button on the wall and a wireless connection tells this LED bulb what to do.
Leland Teschler
A NEW LED BULB from the furniture maker Ikea of Sweden is called the TRÅDFI. Now available in Europe, it's expected to hit the U.S. soon. It comes with its own remote controller which mounts to the wall and uses a wireless connection to switch the bulb on and off, adjust bulb color temperature and dimming level.
As smart LED bulbs go, this one is pretty simple. It doesn't incorporate any sort of smartphone app and can't be controlled over the Internet, like some other smart bulbs we've seen.
The remote which controls the LED bulb has what seems like an elegant way of mounting to the wall. A base for the remote attaches to the wall either with screws or adhesive. Then the remote itself fits into the base, held on with a magnet. This scheme lets the user remove the remote to change its battery when the need arises and gives the wall-mounted remote a sleek look. The battery is a CR 2032, a widely available 4.3-V lithium coin cell.
The Ikea TRÅDFI LED bulb can be dimmed and color-controlled from a remote switch that communicates with the bulb wirelessly. The remote switch is magnetically attracted to a base (far left) that mounts on a wall. The magnetic attraction lets the switch be pulled down for replacement of its coin-cell battery.
The Ikea bulb talks to the remote in a way resembling that used by many other smart bulbs: The designers put the wireless chip on a separate circuit board that solders to the main board holding the driver electronics. In the case of the Ikea bulb, the wireless board mounts perpendicular to the main LED driver board with solder connections between the two on the edge of the wireless board.
Block diagram for the wireless chip (EFR32MG1) from Silicon Labs in Austin, Tex.
The identical wireless board also resides in the wall switch. In both the LED bulb and the wall remote, the wireless chip (EFR32MG1) is from Silicon Labs in Texas. This chip handles several wireless protocols that include BLE, ZigBee and Thread. Unfortunately, we have no way to identify which of these the LED bulb uses. The chip is a system-on-a-chip device that includes a 32-bit ARM controller, a radio transceiver, I/O ports and serial interfaces, as well as numerous other peripheral functions. In fact, the chip integration is such that the only other items on the wireless board are a few passive components and a printed circuit antenna, which pokes out through a hole in the LED plate.
Not much to see. The bottom images show the back of the remote control's PCB containing the switches and the plastic wall switch containing the conductive rubber contacts. We removed one of the switch plates (top) to show the conductive elastomer contact point.
The wall switch disassembled.
Though the wireless board mounts on edge in the LED bulb, it sits flat against the main circuit board inside the wall-mounted bulb controller. The control's main circuit board primarily holds the wireless board and the battery holder and serves as a substrate for the switch pad. The switch pad itself is a straightforward design where pressing a switch pushes down on a conductive rubber contact that, in turn, touches the circuit board to signal a button push.
Bulb architecture
A point to note about the wireless board in the bulb is that there are only six soldered connections between it and the LED driver board. Assuming power and ground account for two of them, that means there are perhaps just four leads available to control the LEDs. In addition, there is no way to tell whether the wireless board on the remote is identical to that on the bulb; system-on-chip devices can be made with a variety of different options.
Cutting off the acrylic bulb reveals the LED board. Visible here is the slot through which the wireless board antenna pokes through. Also evident are the two connectors used to mate the LED board with the bulb electronics – unusual in that most bulbs just use soldered connections. Removing the LED board reveals the thermal grease used between the plate and the heat sink and the connector pins to the LED plate, coming from the epoxied electronics in the bulb base.
The bulb has a physical layout that's widely used for LED bulbs. It employs a 2.4-oz. heatsink that surrounds a circuit board potted in flexible epoxy-like material. The epoxy also provides some structural rigidity to the base of the bulb and the electrical contacts. The main circuit board and all the epoxy potting material fits inside a plastic sleeve that, in turn, slides inside the heat sink.
Visible here is the slot through which the wireless board antenna pokes through. Also evident are the two connectors used to mate the LED board with the bulb electronics – unusual in that most bulbs just use soldered connections. Also note LEDs that are light amber and dark amber. Dark and light LEDs are in separate strings, likely done as a way to implement color temperature changes and dimming.
The 28 LEDs on the bulb reside on a single metal plate that helps conduct heat and sits on the 2.4-oz. heat sink. Thermal grease sits at the interface between the LED plate and heat sink.
Interestingly, this is the first LED bulb we've torn down that uses mechanical connectors, rather than just two soldered wires, for a connection from the circuit board to the LED plate. In fact, the Ikea bulb uses dual connectors which each take the form of two pins extending from the main circuit board that mate with a simple contact on the LED board.
Bulb electronics all fit in a plastic sleeve (left) that slides into the heat sink (right).
We surmise the reason the bulb uses two connectors, rather than just one, is because the LEDs on the bulb are wired as two separate strings, one on each connector. That's different than on most bulbs – most just wire all their LEDs in series in one long string.
The rationale for two strings becomes clear from a close examination of the LEDs: There seem to be two different kinds. One style has a slightly darker amber color than the other. So the two strings evidently are wired so they can be operated independently. And that's probably how the LED bulb manages dimming and changing its color temperature. It judiciously lowers or raises the current to either of the two strings to modulate both the amount of light output and probably the color temperature as well.
However, the use of two LED strings presents a problem from the standpoint of driver design. Because most LED bulbs only use one string, most LED driver chips for use in LED bulbs can drive just one LED string. A bulb carrying two LED strings can't easily use a driver chip designed to handle just one.
Though there are numerous chips available for driving multiple strings of LEDs, the applications most of these chips address are in LCD backlighting or related display-type uses. They really aren't set up for light bulbs. So they really aren't appropriate for what Ikea is doing with this light bulb.
The bulb PCB doesn't contain a standard LED driver chip, but components found on the board seem to indicate the use of separate buck converters for each of the two LED strings, and for use of active power-factor correction. The wireless chip had metal shielding which has been removed in the top image.
And that reality probably explains why the Ikea bulb doesn't seem to contain a standard controller chip. There's an unmarked eight-pin chip that seems to be handling LED control. Our guess is that it's based on an LED driver design that was modified to handle two LED strings, but its source can't be discerned from its markings.
To analyze the LED drive, we can look at the other components on the circuit board and make educated guesses about the driver topology. Starting with the primary side of the circuit, we find five large capacitors near the diode bridge and a power transistor, but no inductors. One possibility is that the transistor is there for purposes of power factor correction (PFC). And most LED bulbs these days do incorporate PFC, though we couldn't find any power factor specs for the Ikea bulb.
Components found on the bulb PCB seem to indicate the bulb uses active rather than passive PFC.
The fact that there are no big 60-Hz inductors in the primary side of the circuit tends to eliminate the possibility that PFC takes place passively. Most passive PFC circuits use bulky inductors, and it could be problematic to squeeze them into the base of an LED bulb along with everything else that must fit there. That's why most LED bulbs go with active PFC if they do it at all.
Moving past the circuitry near the base of the bulb, a large transformer resides on the circuit board that is likely part of the driver circuit itself. We might surmise from this setup that the transformer is there basically to isolate the secondary side of the circuit and to divide the input power into the two portions used by each of the LED strings.
To determine the topology, we note that the circuit on the other side of the transformer consists of identical pairs of components, as when there are two channels of LEDs. The fact that we find dual sets of these components tends to affirm the idea that the two LED strings are independently driven and controlled. The circuitry for each channel includes a power FET, an inductor, two sizeable capacitors, two beefy diodes, and a six-pin chip too small to be identified by its markings.
Components on the bulb PCB might indicate that the LED driver topology is that of dual buck converters, one for each of the LED strings, driven through an isolation transformer.
The question becomes, what kind of a converter could employ these particular components? The most obvious answer would seem to be a buck converter. This topology steps down voltage while stepping up current. And it typically contains at least a diode and a transistor and at least one energy storage element such as an inductor. To reduce voltage ripple, it might incorporate a filter comprised of capacitors. So the buck converter would be our guess as to what we're dealing with here.
All in all, Ikea has put out an LED bulb that seems to work pretty well for those who only need something that responds to a nearby light switch. It's not a candidate for those who want to dim or otherwise control a bulb over the cloud for some reason.
Silicon Labs EFR32MG1 Mighty Gecko SoC
Filed Under: LED Lighting Tagged With: buck converter, Ikea, LEDs, PFC, Silicon Labs
Top power electronics stories of 2017 - Power Electronic Tips says:
[…] Teardown: Inside Ikea's smart LED bulb As smart LED bulbs go, this one is pretty simple. It doesn't incorporate any sort of smartphone app and can't be controlled over the Internet, like some other smart bulbs we've seen. […]


Dimona's Mean Judeans beat the Galil "Golan Plastic Products" Twisters 16-6 and Penticon downed Ziontours 19-4 in the Israel Softball Association playoffs.
The Dimona Mean Judeans defeated the Galil "Golan Plastic Products" Twisters 16-6 and Penticon downed Ziontours 19-4 in six innings in the first round of the Israel Softball Association playoffs on Sunday night. The first game at Baptist Village near Petah Tikva featured Dimona, the top A Division team, against the Twisters, the winners of the B Division who defeated the A Division's Tigers for a spot in the playoffs. Dimona jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the first off pitcher Yosi Ajzenwaser, taking advantage of three walks, two errors and Yigahl Ben Israel's key three-run homer. The Twisters settled down and started hitting Dimona pitcher Yaron Ben-Israel, banging out 14, three each by Moshe Hyde and Eitan Milgram, who tripled, but Yaron got the big outs when he needed them, stranding 10 Twisters on base and never allowing the Galileans to get closer than five runs. For Dimona, Shlomo Ben-Israel was 4-for-4 with three runs, Yigal had three hits and Elyaheed Ben-Israel and Benkie Ben-Israel each tripled. The second game of each best-of-three series are scheduled for 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Tuesday at Baptist Village.


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Knight Transportation Opens Regional Operations Service Center In Plainfield, Indiana
Building a Sustainable Supply Chain
Critical Site Selection Factor #1: Highway Access Affects the Bottom Line
Improving the Commute - and Economic Development - With BRT
Infrastructure Innovations Will Drive Manufacturing
Logistics Industry Continues to Evolve
Knight Transportation, a truckload transportation and logistics service company, opened the company's new Regional Operations Service Center in Plainfield, Indiana. The company will create up to 426 new jobs by 2021.
The company invested $4.62 million into the 25-acre former Indy Park Ride & Fly campus at 3875 Plainfield Road in Plainfield. Knight Transportation renovated the site to serve as an operations center for its customers throughout the Indianapolis and Chicago markets, as well as a regional recruiting and training center.
Knight Transportation will train drivers based throughout the Eastern U.S. Upgrades at the facility include doubling the size of the office on its campus. In addition, the company will build a 20,000-square-foot truck maintenance shop, construct a truck wash and fueling station, and upgrade all exterior and building lighting to energy-efficient LED lights. The company's new facilities now cover 34,000 square feet; The site more than triples the acreage of its former facility on Indianapolis' southwest side.
"When Knight Transportation selected this site for our new office after almost 20 years in Indianapolis, we needed a location that could support our growth and was part of a larger development plan that would put us closer to our valued customers and employees," said Dave Jackson, President/CEO of Knight Transportation.
"Our location in Plainfield puts us in close proximity to many of our customers and easy access to the interstate system and the city of Indianapolis. Our state-of-the-art service center and maintenance facility is located in the heart of Plainfield's warehousing and logistics sector, which is quickly becoming the place to be in the Indianapolis metro area for both our customers and transportation providers. We are excited to be part of this area, where high quality business both large and small are locating to take advantage of the growth opportunities in the area and the state," he added.
With its larger facility, Knight Transportation now has space for future growth of its divisions and business lines, with plans to eventually manage more than 500 trucks at its Plainfield facility.
As an incentive, Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered Knight Transportation Inc. up to $3,627,000 in conditional tax credits based on the company's job creation plans. These tax credits are performance-based, meaning until Hoosiers are hired, the company is not eligible to claim incentives. In addition, the town of Plainfield approved additional incentives at the request of the Hendricks County Economic Development Partnership.
"As the Crossroads of America, Indiana is the crucial link connecting millions of Americans across the nation to the goods they need," said Governor Mike Pence. "Indiana is home to thousands of highway miles, award-winning airports and a state line that's more than half water. We continue to make unprecedented investments in state and local infrastructure to support businesses like Knight Transportation, which in turn are driving Indiana's economy and creating quality jobs for Hoosiers."


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Delivery Delays
Australia Post have advised that operations will be impacted in ACT, NSW, VIC and WA due to the current bushfires.
For more information about affected areas, please click here.
'This is not my world. Something is wrong, askew. . . I am Ellie Falkner, thirty-four years old and married to Greg Manning. Although two police officers have just come to my door and told me he is dead . . . '
It's devastating to hear that your husband has died in a horrific car accident. But to learn that he died with a mystery woman as his passenger is torment. Was Greg having an affair?
Drowning in grief, Ellie clings to Greg's innocence, and her determination to prove it to the world at large means she must find out who Milena Livingstone was and what she was doing in Greg's car. But in the process those around her begin to question her sanity and motive. And the louder she shouts that Greg must have been murdered, the more suspicion falls on Ellie herself.
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Other Titles by Nicci French
Sometimes it's safer to keep silent when someone dies.
Suspicion, paranoia and gut-wrenching deception are at the heart of Nicci French's gripping new thriller.


The city of Dearborn, Michigan, has a population of nearly 100,000 residents from 82 different ethnic groups. Among the city's population is a strong artist community, but one where 52 percent of artists reported annual household incomes that fall at or below 60 percent of the area median income, according to an extensive artist market survey by Dearborn Community Fund in 2011.
The City of Dearborn and Dearborn Community Fund will use their Our Town grant to support pre-development activities for the creation of affordable live-work space for artists in the city. Funded activities will include the selection of an underutilized building in an emerging and viable mixed-use area of downtown Dearborn, and conceptual and schematic design by an architectural consultant. The artist market survey indicated the existence of a market sufficient to support at least 40 live-work units. The project will engage community outreach and business partners, and work with a variety of local partners.


Many disinfectants are used alone or in combinations (e.g., hydrogen peroxide and peracetic acid) in the health-care setting. These include alcohols, chlorine and chlorine compounds, formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde, ortho-phthalaldehyde, hydrogen peroxide, iodophors, peracetic acid, phenolics, and quaternary ammonium compounds. Commercial formulations based on these chemicals are considered unique products and must be registered with EPA or cleared by FDA. In most instances, a given product is designed for a specific purpose and is to be used in a certain manner. Therefore, users should read labels carefully to ensure the correct product is selected for the intended use and applied efficiently.
Disinfectants are not interchangeable, and incorrect concentrations and inappropriate disinfectants can result in excessive costs. Because occupational diseases among cleaning personnel have been associated with use of several disinfectants (e.g., formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde, and chlorine), precautions (e.g., gloves and proper ventilation) should be used to minimize exposure 318, 480, 481. Asthma and reactive airway disease can occur in sensitized persons exposed to any airborne chemical, including germicides. Clinically important asthma can occur at levels below ceiling levels regulated by OSHA or recommended by NIOSH. The preferred method of control is elimination of the chemical (through engineering controls or substitution) or relocation of the worker.
The following overview of the performance characteristics of each provides users with sufficient information to select an appropriate disinfectant for any item and use it in the most efficient way.
Overview. In the healthcare setting, "alcohol" refers to two water-soluble chemical compounds—ethyl alcohol and isopropyl alcohol—that have generally underrated germicidal characteristics 482. FDA has not cleared any liquid chemical sterilant or high-level disinfectant with alcohol as the main active ingredient. These alcohols are rapidly bactericidal rather than bacteriostatic against vegetative forms of bacteria; they also are tuberculocidal, fungicidal, and virucidal but do not destroy bacterial spores. Their cidal activity drops sharply when diluted below 50% concentration, and the optimum bactericidal concentration is 60%–90% solutions in water (volume/volume) 483, 484.
Mode of Action. The most feasible explanation for the antimicrobial action of alcohol is denaturation of proteins. This mechanism is supported by the observation that absolute ethyl alcohol, a dehydrating agent, is less bactericidal than mixtures of alcohol and water because proteins are denatured more quickly in the presence of water 484, 485. Protein denaturation also is consistent with observations that alcohol destroys the dehydrogenases ofEscherichia coli486, and that ethyl alcohol increases the lag phase ofEnterobacter aerogenes487 and that the lag phase effect could be reversed by adding certain amino acids. The bacteriostatic action was believed caused by inhibition of the production of metabolites essential for rapid cell division.
Microbicidal Activity. Methyl alcohol (methanol) has the weakest bactericidal action of the alcohols and thus seldom is used in healthcare 488. The bactericidal activity of various concentrations of ethyl alcohol (ethanol) was examined against a variety of microorganisms in exposure periods ranging from 10 seconds to 1 hour 483. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was killed in 10 seconds by all concentrations of ethanol from 30% to 100% (v/v), and Serratia marcescens, E, coli and Salmonella typhosa were killed in 10 seconds by all concentrations of ethanol from 40% to 100%. The gram-positive organisms Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcuspyogenes were slightly more resistant, being killed in 10 seconds by ethyl alcohol concentrations of 60%–95%. Isopropyl alcohol (isopropanol) was slightly more bactericidal than ethyl alcohol for E. coli and S. aureus 489.
Ethyl alcohol, at concentrations of 60%–80%, is a potent virucidal agent inactivating all of the lipophilic viruses (e.g., herpes, vaccinia, and influenza virus) and many hydrophilic viruses (e.g., adenovirus, enterovirus, rhinovirus, and rotaviruses but not hepatitis A virus (HAV) 58 or poliovirus) 49. Isopropyl alcohol is not active against the nonlipid enteroviruses but is fully active against the lipid viruses 72. Studies also have demonstrated the ability of ethyl and isopropyl alcohol to inactivate the hepatitis B virus(HBV) 224, 225 and the herpes virus, 490 and ethyl alcohol to inactivate human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) 227, rotavirus, echovirus, and astrovirus 491.
In tests of the effect of ethyl alcohol against M. tuberculosis, 95% ethanol killed the tubercle bacilli in sputum or water suspension within 15 seconds 492. In 1964, Spaulding stated that alcohols were the germicide of choice for tuberculocidal activity, and they should be the standard by which all other tuberculocides are compared. For example, he compared the tuberculocidal activity of iodophor (450 ppm), a substituted phenol (3%), and isopropanol (70%/volume) using the mucin-loop test (106 M. tuberculosis per loop) and determined the contact times needed for complete destruction were 120–180 minutes, 45–60 minutes, and 5 minutes, respectively. The mucin-loop test is a severe test developed to produce long survival times. Thus, these figures should not be extrapolated to the exposure times needed when these germicides are used on medical or surgical material 482.
Ethyl alcohol (70%) was the most effective concentration for killing the tissue phase of Cryptococcus neoformans, Blastomyces dermatitidis, Coccidioides immitis, and Histoplasma capsulatum and the culture phases of the latter three organisms aerosolized onto various surfaces. The culture phase was more resistant to the action of ethyl alcohol and required about 20 minutes to disinfect the contaminated surface, compared with <1 minute for the tissue phase 493, 494.
Isopropyl alcohol (20%) is effective in killing the cysts ofAcanthamoeba culbertsoni (560) as are chlorhexidine, hydrogen peroxide, and thimerosal 496.
Uses. Alcohols are not recommended for sterilizing medical and surgical materials principally because they lack sporicidal action and they cannot penetrate protein-rich materials. Fatal postoperative wound infections with Clostridium have occurred when alcohols were used to sterilize surgical instruments contaminated with bacterial spores 497. Alcohols have been used effectively to disinfect oral and rectal thermometers 498, 499, hospital pagers 500, scissors 501, and stethoscopes 502. Alcohols have been used to disinfect fiberoptic endoscopes 503, 504 but failure of this disinfectant have lead to infection 280, 505. Alcohol towelettes have been used for years to disinfect small surfaces such as rubber stoppers of multiple-dose medication vials or vaccine bottles. Furthermore, alcohol occasionally is used to disinfect external surfaces of equipment (e.g., stethoscopes, ventilators, manual ventilation bags) 506, CPR manikins 507, ultrasound instruments 508 or medication preparation areas. Two studies demonstrated the effectiveness of 70% isopropyl alcohol to disinfect reusable transducer heads in a controlled environment 509, 510. In contrast, three bloodstream infection outbreaks have been described when alcohol was used to disinfect transducer heads in an intensive-care setting 511.
The documented shortcomings of alcohols on equipment are that they damage the shellac mountings of lensed instruments, tend to swell and harden rubber and certain plastic tubing after prolonged and repeated use, bleach rubber and plastic tiles 482 and damage tonometer tips (by deterioration of the glue) after the equivalent of 1 working year of routine use 512. Tonometer biprisms soaked in alcohol for 4 days developed rough front surfaces that potentially could cause corneal damage; this appeared to be caused by weakening of the cementing substances used to fabricate the biprisms 513. Corneal opacification has been reported when tonometer tips were swabbed with alcohol immediately before measurement of intraocular pressure 514. Alcohols are flammable and consequently must be stored in a cool, well-ventilated area. They also evaporate rapidly, making extended exposure time difficult to achieve unless the items are immersed.
Overview. Hypochlorites, the most widely used of the chlorine disinfectants, are available as liquid (e.g., sodium hypochlorite) or solid (e.g., calcium hypochlorite). The most prevalent chlorine products in the United States are aqueous solutions of 5.25%–6.15% sodium hypochlorite (see glossary), usually called household bleach. They have a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity, do not leave toxic residues, are unaffected by water hardness, are inexpensive and fast acting 328, remove dried or fixed organisms and biofilms from surfaces 465, and have a low incidence of serious toxicity 515-517. Sodium hypochlorite at the concentration used in household bleach (5.25-6.15%) can produce ocular irritation or oropharyngeal, esophageal, and gastric burns 318, 518-522. Other disadvantages of hypochlorites include corrosiveness to metals in high concentrations (>500 ppm), inactivation by organic matter, discoloring or "bleaching" of fabrics, release of toxic chlorine gas when mixed with ammonia or acid (e.g., household cleaning agents) 523-525, and relative stability 327. The microbicidal activity of chlorine is attributed largely to undissociated hypochlorous acid (HOCl). The dissociation of HOCI to the less microbicidal form (hypochlorite ion OCl¯) depends on pH. The disinfecting efficacy of chlorine decreases with an increase in pH that parallels the conversion of undissociated HOCI to OCl¯ 329, 526. A potential hazard is production of the carcinogen bis(chloromethyl) ether when hypochlorite solutions contact formaldehyde 527and the production of the animal carcinogen trihalomethane when hot water is hyperchlorinated 528. After reviewing environmental fate and ecologic data, EPA has determined the currently registered uses of hypochlorites will not result in unreasonable adverse effects to the environment529.
Alternative compounds that release chlorine and are used in the health-care setting include demand-release chlorine dioxide, sodium dichloroisocyanurate, and chloramine-T. The advantage of these compounds over the hypochlorites is that they retain chlorine longer and so exert a more prolonged bactericidal effect. Sodium dichloroisocyanurate tablets are stable, and for two reasons, the microbicidal activity of solutions prepared from sodium dichloroisocyanurate tablets might be greater than that of sodium hypochlorite solutions containing the same total available chlorine. First, with sodium dichloroisocyanurate, only 50% of the total available chlorine is free (HOCl and OCl¯), whereas the remainder is combined (monochloroisocyanurate or dichloroisocyanurate), and as free available chlorine is used up, the latter is released to restore the equilibrium. Second, solutions of sodium dichloroisocyanurate are acidic, whereas sodium hypochlorite solutions are alkaline, and the more microbicidal type of chlorine (HOCl) is believed to predominate 530-533. Chlorine dioxide-based disinfectants are prepared fresh as required by mixing the two components (base solution [citric acid with preservatives and corrosion inhibitors] and the activator solution [sodium chlorite]). In vitro suspension tests showed that solutions containing about 140 ppm chlorine dioxide achieved a reduction factor exceeding 106 of S. aureus in 1 minute and of Bacillus atrophaeus spores in 2.5 minutes in the presence of 3 g/L bovine albumin. The potential for damaging equipment requires consideration because long-term use can damage the outer plastic coat of the insertion tube 534. In another study, chlorine dioxide solutions at either 600 ppm or 30 ppm killed Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare within 60 seconds after contact but contamination by organic material significantly affected the microbicidal properties535.
The microbicidal activity of a new disinfectant, "superoxidized water," has been examined The concept of electrolyzing saline to create a disinfectant or antiseptics is appealing because the basic materials of saline and electricity are inexpensive and the end product (i.e., water) does not damage the environment. The main products of this water are hypochlorous acid (e.g., at a concentration of about 144 mg/L) and chlorine. As with any germicide, the antimicrobial activity of superoxidized water is strongly affected by the concentration of the active ingredient (available free chlorine) 536. One manufacturer generates the disinfectant at the point of use by passing a saline solution over coated titanium electrodes at 9 amps. The product generated has a pH of 5.0–6.5 and an oxidation-reduction potential (redox) of >950 mV. Although superoxidized water is intended to be generated fresh at the point of use, when tested under clean conditions the disinfectant was effective within 5 minutes when 48 hours old 537. Unfortunately, the equipment required to produce the product can be expensive because parameters such as pH, current, and redox potential must be closely monitored. The solution is nontoxic to biologic tissues. Although the United Kingdom manufacturer claims the solution is noncorrosive and nondamaging to endoscopes and processing equipment, one flexible endoscope manufacturer (Olympus Key-Med, United Kingdom) has voided the warranty on the endoscopes if superoxidized water is used to disinfect them 538. As with any germicide formulation, the user should check with the device manufacturer for compatibility with the germicide. Additional studies are needed to determine whether this solution could be used as an alternative to other disinfectants or antiseptics for hand washing, skin antisepsis, room cleaning, or equipment disinfection (e.g., endoscopes, dialyzers) 400, 539, 540. In October 2002, the FDA cleared superoxidized water as a high-level disinfectant (FDA, personal communication, September 18, 2002).
Mode of Action. The exact mechanism by which free chlorine destroys microorganisms has not been elucidated. Inactivation by chlorine can result from a number of factors: oxidation of sulfhydryl enzymes and amino acids; ring chlorination of amino acids; loss of intracellular contents; decreased uptake of nutrients; inhibition of protein synthesis; decreased oxygen uptake; oxidation of respiratory components; decreased adenosine triphosphate production; breaks in DNA; and depressed DNA synthesis 329, 347. The actual microbicidal mechanism of chlorine might involve a combination of these factors or the effect of chlorine on critical sites 347.
Microbicidal Activity. Low concentrations of free available chlorine (e.g., HOCl, OCl-, and elemental chlorine-Cl2) have a biocidal effect on mycoplasma (25 ppm) and vegetative bacteria (<5 ppm) in seconds in the absence of an organic load 329, 418. Higher concentrations (1,000 ppm) of chlorine are required to kill M. tuberculosis using the Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC) tuberculocidal test 73. A concentration of 100 ppm will kill ≥99.9% of B. atrophaeus spores within 5 minutes 541, 542 and destroy mycotic agents in <1 hour 329. Acidified bleach and regular bleach (5,000 ppm chlorine) can inactivate 106 Clostridium difficile spores in <10 minutes 262. One study reported that 25 different viruses were inactivated in 10 minutes with 200 ppm available chlorine 72. Several studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of diluted sodium hypochlorite and other disinfectants to inactivate HIV 61. Chlorine (500 ppm) showed inhibition of Candida after 30 seconds of exposure 54. In experiments using the AOAC Use-Dilution Method, 100 ppm of free chlorine killed 106–107 S. aureus, Salmonella choleraesuis, and P. aeruginosa in <10 minutes 327. Because household bleach contains 5.25%–6.15% sodium hypochlorite, or 52,500–61,500 ppm available chlorine, a 1:1,000 dilution provides about 53–62 ppm available chlorine, and a 1:10 dilution of household bleach provides about 5250–6150 ppm.
Data are available for chlorine dioxide that support manufacturers' bactericidal, fungicidal, sporicidal, tuberculocidal, and virucidal label claims 543-546. A chlorine dioxide generator has been shown effective for decontaminating flexible endoscopes 534 but it is not currently FDA-cleared for use as a high-level disinfectant 85. Chlorine dioxide can be produced by mixing solutions, such as a solution of chlorine with a solution of sodium chlorite 329. In 1986, a chlorine dioxide product was voluntarily removed from the market when its use caused leakage of cellulose-based dialyzer membranes, which allowed bacteria to migrate from the dialysis fluid side of the dialyzer to the blood side 547.
Sodium dichloroisocyanurate at 2,500 ppm available chlorine is effective against bacteria in the presence of up to 20% plasma, compared with 10% plasma for sodium hypochlorite at 2,500 ppm 548. "Superoxidized water" has been tested against bacteria, mycobacteria, viruses, fungi, and spores 537, 539, 549. Freshly generated superoxidized water is rapidly effective (<2 minutes) in achieving a 5-log10 reduction of pathogenic microorganisms (i.e., M. tuberculosis, M. chelonae, poliovirus, HIV, multidrug-resistant S. aureus, E. coli, Candida albicans, Enterococcus faecalis, P. aeruginosa) in the absence of organic loading. However, the biocidal activity of this disinfectant decreased substantially in the presence of organic material (e.g., 5% horse serum) 537, 549, 550. No bacteria or viruses were detected on artificially contaminated endoscopes after a 5-minute exposure to superoxidized water 551 and HBV-DNA was not detected from any endoscope experimentally contaminated with HBV-positive mixed sera after a disinfectant exposure time of 7 minutes552.
Uses. Hypochlorites are widely used in healthcare facilities in a variety of settings. 328 Inorganic chlorine solution is used for disinfecting tonometer heads 188 and for spot-disinfection of countertops and floors. A 1:10–1:100 dilution of 5.25%–6.15% sodium hypochlorite (i.e., household bleach) 22, 228, 553, 554 or an EPA-registered tuberculocidal disinfectant 17has been recommended for decontaminating blood spills. For small spills of blood (i.e., drops of blood) on noncritical surfaces, the area can be disinfected with a 1:100 dilution of 5.25%-6.15% sodium hypochlorite or an EPA-registered tuberculocidal disinfectant. Because hypochlorites and other germicides are substantially inactivated in the presence of blood 63, 548, 555, 556, large spills of blood require that the surface be cleaned before an EPA-registered disinfectant or a 1:10 (final concentration) solution of household bleach is applied 557. If a sharps injury is possible, the surface initially should be decontaminated 69, 318, then cleaned and disinfected (1:10 final concentration) 63. Extreme care always should be taken to prevent percutaneous injury. At least 500 ppm available chlorine for 10 minutes is recommended for decontaminating CPR training manikins 558. Full-strength bleach has been recommended for self-disinfection of needles and syringes used for illicit-drug injection when needle-exchange programs are not available. The difference in the recommended concentrations of bleach reflects the difficulty of cleaning the interior of needles and syringes and the use of needles and syringes for parenteral injection 559. Clinicians should not alter their use of chlorine on environmental surfaces on the basis of testing methodologies that do not simulate actual disinfection practices 560, 561. Other uses in healthcare include as an irrigating agent in endodontic treatment 562 and as a disinfectant for manikins, laundry, dental appliances, hydrotherapy tanks 23, 41, regulated medical waste before disposal 328, and the water distribution system in hemodialysis centers and hemodialysis machines 563.
Chlorine long has been used as the disinfectant in water treatment. Hyperchlorination of a Legionella-contaminated hospital water system 23 resulted in a dramatic decrease (from 30% to 1.5%) in the isolation of L. pneumophila from water outlets and a cessation of healthcare-associated Legionnaires' disease in an affected unit 528, 564. Water disinfection with monochloramine by municipal water-treatment plants substantially reduced the risk for healthcare–associated Legionnaires disease 565, 566. Chlorine dioxide also has been used to control Legionella in a hospital water supply. 567 Chloramine T 568 and hypochlorites 41 have been used to disinfect hydrotherapy equipment.
Hypochlorite solutions in tap water at a pH >8 stored at room temperature (23ºC) in closed, opaque plastic containers can lose up to 40%–50% of their free available chlorine level over 1 month. Thus, if a user wished to have a solution containing 500 ppm of available chlorine at day 30, he or she should prepare a solution containing 1,000 ppm of chlorine at time 0. Sodium hypochlorite solution does not decompose after 30 days when stored in a closed brown bottle 327.
The use of powders, composed of a mixture of a chlorine-releasing agent with highly absorbent resin, for disinfecting spills of body fluids has been evaluated by laboratory tests and hospital ward trials. The inclusion of acrylic resin particles in formulations markedly increases the volume of fluid that can be soaked up because the resin can absorb 200–300 times its own weight of fluid, depending on the fluid consistency. When experimental formulations containing 1%, 5%, and 10% available chlorine were evaluated by a standardized surface test, those containing 10% demonstrated bactericidal activity. One problem with chlorine-releasing granules is that they can generate chlorine fumes when applied to urine 569.