text:
non-intervention
Is Trump's Unorthodoxy Becoming Orthodox?
Trump foreign policy
Victor Davis Hanson, Townhall
For all Trump's tough talk, his ace in the hole is American soft power -- based on a globally dominant economy, its global lead in the production of gas and oil, and an omnipresent cultural juggernaut. For Trump the ex-television star, wars translate into bad ratings and worse optics. As a businessman, he believes needless conflicts get in the way of money-making and win-win deals. The result of the new orthodoxy is that the U.S. has become no better friend to an increasing number of allies and neutrals, and no worse an adversary to a shrinking group of enemies. And yet Trump's paradox is that America's successful new foreign policy is as praised privately as it is caricatured publicly -- at least for now.
The Trump Doctrine
foreign entanglements
isolationism
Policy of Principled Realism
President Trump's remarks at the UN were noteworthy, not so much for their radical departure from the interventionist policies of the two Bush presidents, and their rejection of the weakness and globalism of Obama, but for their return to the principles of George Washington.
Is War With Iran Or North Korea Inevitable?
active deterrence
Dr. Colin S. Gray
Kim Jung-un
no first use declaration
preemptive war
George Rasley, CHQ Editor | 10/19/17
Certainly, a nuclear-armed ICBM-equipped North Korea or Iran is intolerable to our interests and to the future of western civilization. The question for President Trump is at what point do the other options available to stop the threat be judged failures?
Mr. Outside and Mr. Inside at the Department of State?
anti-establishment
Know the building
Trans Pacific Partnership
Trump cabinet
The nomination of "Mr. Outside," Rex Tillerson, as Secretary of State would mark the fulfillment of another important campaign promise by President-elect Trump. However, to fulfill his promise to drain the swamp at the State Department Donald Trump needs a "Mr. Inside." Although it may be a difficult pill for some of our fellow non-interventionists to swallow, we can think of no one more qualified for that role than Ambassador John Bolton.
U.S. Should Choose Allies Which Benefit America
U.S. allies
Doug Bandow, Senior Fellow, Cato Institute [@Doug_Bandow] | 4/6/2015
Instead of relentlessly collecting more international dependents, Washington policymakers should drop Allies In Name Only (AINOs). More important, America faces no hegemonic threat or peer competitor and is allied with every major industrialized state other than China and Russia.
Obama and McCain Heading Us Toward War in Syria
air strikes
Bob Corker
By CHQ Staff | 8/26/13
McCain, Graham and Corker would like Americans to believe that a "very surgical and responsible" intervention won't involve American troops or "boots on the ground." We doubt that fits the reality of what it would take to secure one of the largest chemical weapons stockpiles in the world. If we intervene, then someone is going to have to follow-up on the ground to make sure the chemical weapons are secured -- and that someone is logically the American military.


The St. Johns County School District's (SJCSD) bus routes for the 2012-2013 school year were approved by the School Board at its meeting on May 15. Five new bus routes are being added to accommodate growth in the Durbin Crossing and Nocatee areas as well as an increase in the number of special needs students.
The routes are available online at http://www.stjohns.k12.fl.us/depts/transp/routes. Parents without access to computers may visit any of the county public library locations, and staff will assist them in locating the website.
"By providing this information prior to the end of school, parents are better able to plan and prepare," said SJCSD Director of Transportation Joe Purvis.
In early August, postcards will be sent home to the parents of all potential bus riders giving them the bus stop, times and bus number for their students.
The Transportation Department will be transporting approximately 18,800 children twice a day when school starts on Monday, August 20.


text:
ATTRACTIONS TO INCLUDE IN SRI LANKA HOLIDAY PACKAGES
Attractions Around Hambantota
Hambantota is the historical important port city situated in the heart of deep South Sri Lanka. Hambantota is most popular for the fishing industry. Apart from the fishing industry Hambantota is popular for salt manufacturing and for tourism too. Today Hambantota attract a large number of tourist stream of Sri Lanka due to its large expnace of untouched sandy beaches, historical monuments and natural resources such as Yala national park. The number of tourists, who choose Hambantota as their beach holiday destination has been considerably increased in the recent past. Today Hambantota is included in most Sri Lanka tours and excursions due to the number of tourist attractions such as Yala, Bundala national parks and beach resorts such as Hambantota, Tangalle.
The town is known as a centre of fishing and trade since centuries past. Hambantota bay, which harbours a large number of catamarans is being expanded to accommodate larger commercial ships such as tank carriers. Even though the city is provided with the protection of the natural wall, made of centuries-old sand dunes, it was the most severely affected city in Deep South from Tsunami in 2004. Hambantota is a leading salt producer in the country and posses many numbers of saltpans within its borders.
The life of the native people in this remote town had been battered by many hardships due to Malaria and poverty which resulted in the colonial rule. All are well explained in the book The village in the Jungle that was written by one-time Assistant Government agent Leonard Wolf. According to the book, Hambantota was the capital of the district which bears the same name.
On the direction of the east, few kilometres from Hambantota is the famed city if Tissamaharama. It had been the capital of ancient Ruhunu Kingdom, which had originated in the third century BC. Several pieces of evidence that show most its grandeur in the past are Santagiri Dagob and Yalata Dagoba built by King Yatalatissa and Menik Vihara. The city is important for the Buddhist in the island and attracts thousands of pilgrims every year.
Even though Hambantota is dry which mostly own thorn bush vegetations, Tissamaharama is densely grown by the thick jungle because of the Tissa tank. Tissa tank still provides water to irrigate the surrounding rice fields. It is the lifeblood of Tissa, attracts much wildlife and adds beauty to the small town. Tissa tank is the major water source for the area and is used for bathing, washing even for drinking same times it is a good source of fish. One can taste the deep fried fish of the tank that is being sold on its bank.
Today with increasing number of holidaymakers, it has become a city with great importance for the country's economy. Being the nearest city to Yala national park and Bundala it is being visited by a large number of tourists. It plays an important role as a service provider for its visitors and tourism had become the main source of income for the people in Tissamaharama.
Yala is the second largest National park in Sri Lanka with the ground surface around 126,000 hectares. It is being recognized as one of the best places for observing Leopards due to the density of leopards. Other than the leopard; elephants, bears, deer, jackal, crocodile and a great many other animals and birds also inhabit the park.
Bundala
A popular destination for bird watching in Sri Lanka is much smaller than Yala national park and spread over 6,216 hectares. It is recognized as a wetland of international importance by Ramsar. The shallow lakes of bundala harbour brackish water due to its proximity to the sea, the park accommodates a large number of immigrant birds from September to April, during the harsh European winter. Kalametiya and Weerawila are the other two popular places for bird watching in southern Sri Lanka, near Bundala national park. Lunugamvehera unpopular national park for safari is being inhabited by a large number of Elephants providing ample chances for observing elephants.
Kalametiya sanctuary
There are a large number of lakes, lagoons and reservoirs in the Hambantota district and Kalametiya Lake are recognized as one of the most important in the region, due to the abundance of living habitats of birds. Kalametiya sanctuary is situated in the district of Hambantota towards the southern end of Sri Lanka. The sanctuary is about 20 miles from Udawalawe national park. This sanctuary is popular for its abundance of bird species and most visited by bird lovers. The sanctuary occupies over 1760 acres of land and water surface in the southern dry zone. Kalametiya sanctuary used to be a popular hunting ground in the past. But due to the untiring effort of nature lovers, it was declared as a protected area under a special gazette notification of 303/7 on 06/28/1984. Both Kalametiya and Lunama lakes were simultaneously becoming protected areas under the notification.
Kalametiya had been a sanctuary in the past but later the rules were changed to allow the hunters to engage in hunting. Kalametiya is the final destination of migrating birds that arrive in southern Sri Lanka. Most of them anchored in Kalametiya from October to April during the winter season in the northern hemisphere. Apart from the migrating birds, Kalametiya is one of the best places to see the resident birds. Kalametiya attracts mainly birds due to the habitats that loved by birds. There is a well-developed mangrove forest in the sanctuary and occupied some portions of Kalametiya and Lunama lakes. There are many rare and endemic species of birds among the birds residing here. Especially after the North-East monsoon, the park is filled with hundreds of thousands of birds.
The sanctuary can be conveniently reached by a vehicle. One needs to take the turn to Kalametiya at the 135thmile post on the Colombo-Hambantota main road.
Borders of Kalametiya
Borders of the northern end of the sanctuary if formed by the portion of the road, between 133 and 135 mileposts of Tangalla-Hambantota main road. Lunama Lake and Hiwalgala footpath make the borders of the park on the other directions.
Painted stork (Mycteria leucocephala), White Ibis (Eudocimus albus), Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus), Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea), Purple Heron (Ardea purpurea), Spoon Bill (Plateinae), Purple coot (Porphyrio porphyrio), Black Winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus) and host other waders are some of the most common aquatic bird species found here.
Ramba Vihara
Ramba vihara is situated in the Village of Pallerota in Ethbatuwa Wasama of Goiruwa Pattu East in Hambantota, Sri Lanka. It is picturesquely located on the west bank of Walawe river and Mamadala stream (a branch of the Walawe river). The nearest city of the temple is Manavulupura or modern Ambalantota, which is around 13 kilometres from the temple. It had been the capital of medieval capital of Ruhunu kingdom of Sri Lanka.
Nonagama is a major point on the Colombo– Kataragama main road after Tangalle and Ranna. One needs to take the Embilipitiya – Nonagama main road with a left turn in Nonagama. Ramba vihara is situated to the left side of the road after about 10 kilometres from Nonagama. It spreads over a plot of flat land, which is 200 acres in extent.
Places to go in Sri Lanka
Is it worth visiting Sri Lanka?
Hinda Gala Cave Temple
Sigiriya frescoes paintings

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Tyler Boyd shares gnarly details of finger injury
Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tyler Boyd suffered a finger injury early in last week's win over the Cleveland Browns, and it is one that he says left him "in shock." Boyd told reporters on Thursday that he dislocated his finger, causing the bone to come through the skin. He said the gruesome nature of the…
The post Tyler Boyd shares gnarly details of finger injury appeared first on Larry Brown Sports.
Oct 31, 2022; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tyler Boyd (83) adjusts his gloves before the game against the Cleveland Browns at FirstEnergy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Dermer-USA TODAY Sports
Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tyler Boyd suffered a finger injury early in last week's win over the Cleveland Browns, and it is one that he says left him "in shock."
Boyd told reporters on Thursday that he dislocated his finger, causing the bone to come through the skin. He said the gruesome nature of the injury took him by surprise.
"I kind of went in shock," Boyd recalled, via ESPN's Ben Baby. "I never really had any major injuries, thank god, let alone being able to see a bone. So, it kind of threw me off. "But at the same time, my adrenaline was pumping. So, it wasn't really hurting or fazing me. The only thing I was worried about was getting back out there to help my guys."
As gnarly as that sounds, Boyd said he is feeling "great" heading into Sunday's game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He did not suffer any torn ligaments and had the injury flushed out to prevent infection. The Bengals have listed Boyd as day-to-day, but it sounds like he is planning to play.
As we have seen in the past, finger injuries can be pretty nasty. It sounds like Boyd's was as ugly as it gets, though it is positive news that he thinks he can play through it.


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text:
Q: Cakephp 2.2.4 does not save Auth User Info after using a alternative authenication I am trying to create an authentication for facebook users. Right now I check to see if a fb user id exist in my database, if it does then it authenicates, if not, then it data mines the users facebook info and creates a user and then authenicates. It works successfully, the problem is, if I use something like $this->Auth->user('id'); the values return back null. I am curious on what I maybe doing wrong. below is my code
public function fb_authenticate($data) {
    $this->Auth->fields = array('username' => 'fbid', 'password' => 'fbpassword');
    $this->loadModel('User');
    $user_record = $this->User->find('first', array(
            'conditions' => array('fbid' => $data['user_id'])
    ));
    if(empty($user_record)) {
        $fbu = $this->Facebook->getUserInfo($data['user_id']);
        $user_record = array(
            'User'=>array(
                'username'=>$fbu->username,
                'fbid'=>$data['user_id'],
                'oauth_token'=>$data['oauth_token'],
                'access_token'=>$data['access_token'],
                'firstname'=>$fbu->first_name,
                'lastname'=>$fbu->last_name,
                'fbpassword'=>$this->Auth->password($data['user_id']),
                'role'=>'user'
        ));
        $this->User->create();
        $this->User->save($user_record,null);
    }
    if (!$this->Auth->login($user_record)) {
       $this->Session->setFlash(__('Invalid username or password, try again'));
    }
}

It authenicates and lets the user in, but it does not store the users info in the Auth component session. what could be the problem ??
if I debug debug($this->Auth->user()) I can see the data but if I pull a field individually debug($this->Auth->user('id')); it returns null.

A: Change $this->Auth->login($user_record)
to $this->Auth->login($user_record['User']).

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Q: Multiple leaf methods problem in composite pattern At work, we are developing an PHP application that would be later re-programmed into Java. With some basic knowledge of Java, we are trying to design everything to be easily re-written, without any headaches. Interesting problem came out when we tried to implement composite pattern with huge number of methods in leafs.
What are we trying to achieve (not using interfaces, it's just a quick example):
class Composite {
    ...
}

class LeafOne {
    public function Foo( );

    public function Moo( );
}

class LeafTwo {
    public function Bar( );

    public function Baz( );
}

$c = new Composite( Array( new LeafOne( ), new LeafTwo( ) ) );

// will call method Foo in all classes in composite that contain this method
$c->Foo( );

// same with Bar
$c->Bar( );

It seems like pretty much classic Composite pattern, but problem is that we will have quite many leaf classes and each of them might have ~5 methods (of which few might be different than others). One of our solutions, which seems to be the best one so far and might actually work, is using __call magic method to call methods in leafs.
Unfortunately, we don't know if there is an equivalent of it in Java.
So the actual question is: Is there a better solution for this, using code that would be eventually easily re-coded into Java? Or do you recommend any other solution? Perhaps there's some different, better pattern I could use here.
In case there's something unclear, just ask and I'll edit this post.
Edit:
Actual problem is that not every leaf class contains, for example, method Baz. If we used simple foreach to call Baz in every class, it'd give use bunch of errors, as there are certain classes that don't contain this method. Classic solution would be to have every single method from every single leaf class implemented into Composite class, each with different implementation. But this would make our composite class huge and messy with amount of methods we use.
So usual solution would look like this (Composite class):
class Composite implements Fooable, Bazable {
    ...

    public function Foo( ) {
        foreach( $this->classes as $class ) {
            $class->Foo( );
        }
    }

    public function Baz( ) {
        ...
    }
}

To prevent our code to become real mess, we were thinking about something like:
class Composite {
    ...

    public function __call( ) {
        // implementation
    }
}

But we aren't really sure if it's a good solution and if there's something similar also in Java (as asked already before edit).

A: Within Java you could consider using the visitor pattern whereby you pass a visitor object to each node in the tree and the node makes a callback to the visitor class to determine which behaviour should be performed.
This avoids any casting or explicitly checking the type of each node.
/**
 * Visitor capable of visiting each node within a document.
 * The visitor contains a callback method for each node type
 * within the document.
 */
public interface DocumentNodeVisitor {
  void visitWord(Word word);
  void visitImage(Image img);
}

/**
 * Base interface for each node in a document.
 */
public interface DocumentNode {
  void applyVisitor(DocumentVisitor v);
}

/**
 * Conrete node implementation representing a word.
 */
public class Word implements DocumentNode {
  private final String s;

  public Word(String s) { this.s = s; }

  public String getValue() { return this.s; }

  public void applyVisitor(DocumentVisitor v) {
    // Make appropriate callback to visitor.
    v.visitWord(this);
  }
}

/**
 * Conrete node implementation representing an image.
 */
public class Image implements DocumentNode {
  public void applyVisitor(DocumentVisitor v) {
    // Make appropriate callback to visitor.
    v.visitImage(this);
  }
}

public class Paragraph implements DocumentNode {
  private final List<DocumentNode> children;

  public Paragraph() {
    this.children = new LinkedList<DocumentNode>();
  }

  public void addChild(DocumentNode child) {
    // Technically a Paragraph should not contain other Paragraphs but
    // we allow it for this simple example.
    this.children.add(child);
  }

  // Unlike leaf nodes a Paragraph doesn't callback to
  // the visitor but rather passes the visitor to each
  // child node.
  public void applyVisitor(DocumentVisitor v) {
    for (DocumentNode child : children) {
      child.applyVisitor(v);
    }
  }
}

/**
 * Concrete DocumentVisitor responsible for spell-checking.
 */
public class SpellChecker implements DocumentVisitor
  public void visitImage(Image i) {
    // Do nothing, as obviously we can't spellcheck an image.
  }

  public void visitWord(Word word) {
    if (!dictionary.contains(word.getValue()) {
      // TODO: Raise warning.
    }
  }
}

A: Visitor design pattern is a quite good solution. But you have to consider possible changes in the structure, e.g. new Leaf class will make you implement applyVisitor and add visit* method to every other Visitor you have created. So Visitor really helpts you to add behaviour to structured objects at price of that structure not changing too often. If the structure changes often and the algorithms not so much, you might consider having different composites for objects with same interfaces. If you want to do it the dirty way as you currently do in PHP, look at Java reflection API. Nice solution would be imho dynamic calls (as in Ruby or Python). You can simulate those, but that would be much work... So my answer is use the Visitor with care or consider different Composites for objects with different behaviour.


text:
SMB Demand Drives UPS Q3 Revenue Jump
October 29, 2020 48 views0
With the rising demand from small businesses during the pandemic, UPS has reported a third quarter revenue of $21.2 billion, an increase of 15.9 percent from a year prior, according to a press release.
"Our performance highlights the agility of our global integrated network amid the ongoing challenges of the pandemic," said Carol Tomé, UPS CEO, in the release. "Our results were fueled by continued strong outbound demand from Asia and growth from small- and medium-sized businesses. UPSers are everyday heroes who are keeping the world's supply chains moving. I want to thank our team for their ongoing commitment to our customers and the communities we serve."
In addition, the consolidated average daily volume increased by 13.5 percent year over year, while net income was $2 billion for the quarter, an increase of 11.8 percent from the same time in 2019, according to the release. Operating profit was $2.4 billion, an increase of 11 percent from the previous year.
Diluted earnings per share was $2.24, and adjusted diluted earnings per share was $2.28, up 10.1 percent from Q3 2019.
UPS Chief Financial Officer Brian Newman said the approach the company took was a "better, not bigger" one in light of the pandemic's challenges, which "had a positive impact on our performance in the quarter, specifically through the revenue-quality actions we've taken. Additionally, we recently launched new initiatives to further reduce our costs. Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, we are collaborating with our customers and using our proven tools to control volume and ensure the resiliency of our network. We are focused on delivering a successful peak and generating cash returns."
To help with the increased demand of the pandemic, in which people were using delivery services much more often as opposed to buying things in person, UPS added a peak surcharge, putting an extra 30 cents on some packages in a similar way to how it's done around the holiday season.
Online Ordering Startup Lunchbox Notches $20M
Deluxe CEO: B2B Payments Will See Resurgence In Paper Checks
The artificial intelligence (AI)-powered logistics platform 7bridges has raised $17 million to help transform supply ...


text:
Home>Collection & Louvre Palace>Curatorial Departments>Fertility idol
Bookmark>
Previous work Female figurine from the Halaf period
Work Fertility idol
Department of Near Eastern Antiquities: Levant
Next work Figurine of a god, known as the "god with the golden hand"
Figurine of a seated woman pressing her breasts,
© 2010 Musée du Louvre / Michel Urtado
Conditions for Use of Images
Figurine of a seated woman pressing her breasts
Go to the artwork description
Near Eastern Antiquities
Caubet Annie
This statuette represents a woman holding her breasts as if to express milk into the large basin she holds between her legs. Typical of the Chalcolithic Period in Cyprus, this is a fertility symbol often associated with the bull, symbol of virility. The beliefs with which they were associated survived on the island until the advent of Christianity.
A woman squeezing her breasts
This statuette shows a naked woman, seated, whose outstretched legs hold a large circular basin. With her hands she squeezes her breasts as if to express the milk to be collected in the vessel beneath. The head, slightly thrown back, has a thick disc of clay applied to the crown to represent the hair, which falls down on either side to frame the forehead. The face is triangular, the eyes represented by the impress of a fingernail, giving them a half-closed look; the nose, small and pinched, has small holes for the nostrils, the tiny mouth is incised. The body is thickset, with a cylindrical trunk; the arms are made with rolls of clay tapering towards the hands. The triangular breasts stand out from the body and are covered with incised scratches that are perhaps intended to represent tattoos or scarifications. The legs are short and cylindrical, the toes indicated by incised marks. When compared with other statuettes from the Maroni region, details such as the tattooed breasts and the rendering of the eyes allow the figurine to be dated to the Chalcolithic period.
A fertility symbol
The Chalcolithic period is characterized in Cyprus by an architecture of circular houses, the development of painted pottery, and the appearance of the first "fertility symbols" succeeding the asexual figures of the earlier Neolithic period. The western part of the island in particular has yielded several types of statuette in stone or modeled clay. The stone statuettes represent a naked woman, standing, with triangular breasts; cruciform figurines in steatite combine an anthropomorphic body with a phallic head; clay figurines come in a variety of forms. Deserving of particular mention is an extraordinary group showing a woman giving birth accompanied by a relatively primitive male image in stone, both found inside a vessel in the form of a circular house: these would appear to be associated with practices related to sexuality, birth, and lactation.
The goddess and the bull
Classical tradition identifies the island of Cyprus as the birthplace of Aphrodite/Venus. The power of female fertility had been venerated there for centuries, generally associated with the forces of virility embodied in images of bulls, stags, or rams. It was only in the late 2nd millennium - no doubt under the influence of new arrivals from Greece - that the worship of new gods, later identified as Zeus and Apollo, was introduced alongside the cult of the old pair of goddess and bull, which remained generally predominant until the advent of Christianity. This primordial couple is not exclusive to Cyprus but there takes on a specific form at the hands of local artists. From the Balkans to the Indus, from Spain to Mesopotamia, from the Mediterranean to Central Asia, the people of the earliest village communities acknowledged these male and female powers, giving them expression in modest forms of stone or clay.
Chalcolithic period (4th millennium BC)
Region of Alaminos
Incised, red terracotta
H. 12 cm; W. 6.10 cm; D. 8.60 cm
Couchoud expedition, 1903	, 1903
Sully wing
Display case 1: The Chalcolithic period
In line with the measures taken by the government to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the Musée du Louvre and Musée National Eugène Delacroix are closed until further notice.
All those who have purchased a ticket for this period will automatically receive a refund—no action is required.
The Tuileries and Carrousel gardens remain open.


text:
Q: Переработать код в стиле ООП Нужно переработать код в стиле ООП, с ООП знаком очень мало и трудно дается. Как можно переработать код чтобы он был в стиле ООП?
Исходный код:
print("УДИВИТЕЛЬНО, ЕСЛИ ПРАВИЛЬНО ОТВЕЧАТЬ, БУДЕТ БОЛЬШЕ БАЛОВ!!!")
w=0
def qr(ot):
    global w
    if ot==answer:
        print("yes")
        w+=1
        print('Вы набрали: ',w)
    else:
        print("no")
        print('Вы набрали: ',w)

print("Почему в 1998 году фирменный знак компании  Nestle - птица и три птенца в гнезде - лишился одного птенца ?")
print("a) Оказалось, что такой же логотип пренадлежит другой компании")
print("b) В среднестатистической семье в западных странах стало два ребенка вместо трёх")
print("c) Один из акционеров продал свою долю")

answer = input ("Ответ: ")
qr("b")

print("Почему во время первой мировой войны в окопах держали кошек?")
print("a) В окопах было много мышей")
print("b) Они предупреждали о газовой атаке")
print("c) Они напоминали о доме")

answer = input ("Ответ: ")
qr("b")

print("Почему в Московском метро в одних случаях станции объявляются мужским голосом, а в других - женским?")
print("a) Для удобства ориентирования глухих пасажиров")
print("b) Для удобства ориентирования слепых пасажиров")
print("c) Для удобства ориентирования немых пасажиров")

answer = input ("Ответ: ")
qr("b")

print("Почему немецкий город Баден-Баден имеет двойное название?")
print("a) Он стоит у подножия одноименной горы с двумя вершинами")
print("b) Чтобы не путали с Австрийским и швейцарским Баденом")
print("c) Его основали братья Баден")

answer = input ("Ответ: ")
qr("b")

print("Почему 4-го июня 1888 года Конгресс штата Нью-Йорк отменил казнь через повешение ?")
print("a) Ее сменила казнь на электрическом стуле")
print("b) Прервалась династия профессиональных палачей")
print("c) Из-за низкой эффективности")

answer = input ("Ответ: ")
qr("a")
print("Отличная игра!")

Написал класс:
class Question:
    def __init__(self, answer, correct):
        self.answer = answer
        self.correct = correct

Но как все это привести к нормальному виду, не понимаю

A: Немного переделал код, сохранив логику.
Пример:
class Question:
    def __init__(self, text: str, correct: str, variants: list):
        self.text = text
        self.correct = correct
        self.variants = variants

    def ask(self) -> bool:
        print(self.text)
        for x in self.variants:
            print('  ' + x)

        answer = input("Ответ: ")
        return answer == self.correct

question_list = [
    Question(
        "Почему в 1998 году фирменный знак компании  Nestle - птица и три птенца в гнезде - лишился одного птенца?",
        correct='b',
        variants=[
            "a) Оказалось, что такой же логотип принадлежит другой компании",
            "b) В среднестатистической семье в западных странах стало два ребенка вместо трёх",
            "c) Один из акционеров продал свою долю",
        ]
    ),
    Question(
        "Почему во время первой мировой войны в окопах держали кошек?",
        correct='b',
        variants=[
            "a) В окопах было много мышей",
            "b) Они предупреждали о газовой атаке",
            "c) Они напоминали о доме",
        ]
    ),
    Question(
        "Почему в Московском метро в одних случаях станции объявляются мужским голосом, а в других - женским?",
        correct='b',
        variants=[
            "a) Для удобства ориентирования глухих пассажиров",
            "b) Для удобства ориентирования слепых пассажиров",
            "c) Для удобства ориентирования немых пассажиров",
        ]
    ),
]

print("УДИВИТЕЛЬНО, ЕСЛИ ПРАВИЛЬНО ОТВЕЧАТЬ, БУДЕТ БОЛЬШЕ БАЛЛОВ!!!")
w = 0

for question in question_list:
    if question.ask():
        print("yes")
        w += 1
    else:
        print("no")

    print('Вы набрали:', w)
    print()

print("Отличная игра!")


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text:
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Basics of Evolution
This is an excerpt from the book series Philosophy for Heroes: Continuum. You can get a copy here.
What are the three major properties a system needs to have in order to evolve?
Still, it needs to be said that the light of evolution is just that—a means of seeing better. It is not a description of all things human, nor is it a clear prediction of what will happen next.
—Melvin Konner, The Tangled Wing [Konner, 2003, p. xviii]
The purpose of the theory of evolution is to explain the wide array of life forms on Earth. Knowledge about the origin of species allows us to better understand why a particular organism has certain properties. While this is often obvious by looking at the environment of an organism, for example by looking at the teeth and the food, or the leaves and the precipitation and angle of sun rays, more complex behavior seems baffling, especially that of humans. Why and how did humans develop? Why do we have such a big brain? What is the reason for our behavior? All these subjects can be better understood when we understand our past—how life, and humans in particular, developed on Earth.
He who does not understand the uniqueness of individuals is unable to understand the working of natural selection.
—Ernst Mayr, The Growth of Biological Thought [Mayr, 1985, p. 47]
Despite its very basic mechanics, evolution is a complex concept, requiring that we approach it in several steps. We will start where the first book left off: entities, properties, systems, aggregates, etc. This provides the philosophical foundation of the theory of evolution. In later sections of this chapter, we will take a look at chemical evolution, artificial life created by computer and ultimately the origin of life on Earth, evolution in our immune system, and evolution in our head.
Selection of Systems
Before we discuss evolution in detail, it is important to note that parts of the evolutionary process can be applied not just to living organisms, but also to any system—for example to chemical systems, simulated life forms in a computer simulation, or thought patterns in the brain. One of these parts is the selection process. To understand selection, let us revisit some of the definitions from the first book and add some new ones:
AGGREGATE · An aggregate is a number of entities that have a reciprocal effect on one another, so that they can be considered collectively as their own entity (e.g., a cup full of water—all water molecules interact with each other).
STRUCTURE · A structure is a description of required properties, dependencies, and arrangement of a number of entities (e.g., cube-shaped).
SYSTEM · A system is an aggregate with a definite structure (e.g., an ice cube is a system of frozen water molecules).
PROCESS · A process describes the mechanism of a cause working to an effect (e.g., if you put an ice cube into a glass of water, the cooling of the water is the process).
TIME · Time is a measurement tool to put the speed of processes in relation to each other.
PROCREATION · Procreation is a process by which a system creates (on its own or with the help of the environment) a new entity with a similar or (preferably) the same structure as itself.
GENERATION · A generation is a set of systems during one cycle of procreation.
GENOTYPE · The genotype is a system that is the blueprint for the phenotype.
PHENOTYPE · The phenotype is the actual body of a life form. Changes in the phenotype generally do not have effects on the genotype. Generally only the phenotype interacts directly with the environment.
MUTATION · A mutation is a change of the genotype of a life form. This change can, but does not necessarily, have consequences for the phenotype.
Mutations, as our common knowledge suggests, are generally bad. No matter their effect for the overall population, for the individual life form, mutations are unwanted accidents. They happen, but they are not intended. An individual life form which is adapted to its environment does not want change. If the parent generation already has well adapted genes, the last thing they want is their offspring to have random changes. The only situation where (more) mutations are welcomed is when the life form is in a tight evolutionary race like a virus with its host—we will talk in Section 4.5, "The Red Queen Hypothesis," about this situation and how life copes with it. But usually, the environment changes slowly enough that mutation is not a limiting factor.
Sometimes, multiple repair and protection mechanisms are bypassed by a mutation while it also is mutated in a way that it does not stop reproducing: that is cancer. To understand cancer, you have to understand multicellular organisms. For a single-celled life form, there is no such thing as cancer. Cancer is simply an unlimited self-replication of a cell. While this is exactly what you want for a single-celled life form, it possibly destroys the structure within a multicellular organism. If all of our cells divided uncontrollably, we would not survive. Our life depends on a highly organized and controlled process of cellular growth and death. Cancer for us occurs when those processes fail for a single cell.
When making a copy of themselves, most of our cells lose a few genetic base pairs at their ends. Once they have lost a certain amount of code, they stop duplicating themselves. Any damage of a defective cell would then be limited by its remaining duplication cycles. Any form of cancer cells would need to have undergone a mutation that fixes the ends of its genetic code after each duplication [Shay and Wright, 2011]. In a similar fashion, there are other protection mechanisms in the cell that a cancer cell has to overcome. For example, scientists have found that there is a single gene regulating multi-cellularity in organisms. It acts like a brake to stop multiplication at the right times. If that gene is defective in a cell, it might end up multiplying indefinitely and cause cancer [Hanschen et al., 2016].
FITNESS LANDSCAPE · The fitness landscape is the sum of all environmental influences on an entity. For example, if you are sifting sand, a riddle screen lets small particles of sand fall through while larger stones are retained. In this case, the riddle screen and the shaking of the riddle screen would be the "fitness landscape." In nature, the fitness landscape would simply be the environment over time, including all other life forms, the climate, etc.
SELECTION (EVOLUTION) · Selection is a process where some (or all) of a set of systems of similar structure are retained while the rest are discarded or destroyed. Which ones are retained and which ones are discarded depends on the relationship between the structure of the individual systems and the fitness landscape. In the example of the riddle screen, the screen lets small sand fall through while it "selects" larger stones.
Selection is a central element of evolution. It connects systems with environmental factors. When the environment changes, different systems are selected. In order for selection to work—or to make any difference or sense—there needs to be variation. As such, the mutation rate of a population is caught between two conflicting forces: the tendency to replicate what works and fix any copying errors, and the need for some variety in the population in order for a population to evolve.
Nature's solution for the conflict between variety and preventing errors was to keep mutations as low as possible, while using sexual recombination at the same time. Like mutations, sexual recombination keeps up the variety within a population. But it also kept individual genes intact, reducing the probability for destructive changes: it simply recombined working copies, resulting in a varied, but very likely functioning organism. It is hard to compare it to any everyday concept because it is a very unique solution. The closest analogy might be editing a movie where you cut and rearrange parts instead of trying to change individual pixels.
A population needs to have variations in order to evolve.
Imagine trying to sift identical stones with a fine riddle screen: nothing goes through. Or imagine trying to sift sand with a riddle screen: everything goes through. Likewise in nature, without change in the population, a population cannot move in any direction. If you use a finer riddle screen, more sand is retained. This changes the ratios between the different types of systems in the environment (for example the ratio between large stones and fine sand). Such changes could be caused by either selecting more (and discarding fewer), selecting fewer (and discarding more), or by selecting other (and discarding other) systems.
Imagine stones in a stream. The stones with the highest flow resistance experience the highest degree of erosion. They are "discarded" while rounder stones with lower flow resistance remain the same. Obviously, the "discarded" stones are not actually discarded but transformed into stones with lower flow resistance simply because erosion slowly removes the edges of those stones until they, too, become round.
The significant point is that selection applies to all things in the universe. It is simply a process describing the change of systems over time due to external influences by other entities. A system with lower "durability" will by definition not endure as long as a system with higher "durability," so after a while, you will see the ratio of systems with higher durability increase. For this principle, we do not even have to look much at nature, as it is very much a logical process based on the properties of the involved entities.
But for evolution to happen, another component is necessary. The system needs to be able to "clone" itself and replace the systems that were discarded during the selection process. Looking again at our example with the stones in the stream, you can imagine that over time, the stones get smaller and smaller until only sand remains that gets easily pushed down the stream. With no new stones being added to the stream, all stones eventually will have turned into sand and washed away—even the ones that were least resistant to the flow. To clarify, sand and stones in a riddle screen do not "procreate" in any form, so while they undergo a process of selection, they do not undergo a process of evolution. You could argue that the stones in a stream adapt to their environment by replacing themselves with a rounder version, but this is a borderline case as erosion is very much a one-way street.
In order for evolution to occur, the life form has to be able to increase the number of copies of itself in its environment.
Selfish Genes
As stated previously, for evolution to work, selection needs to be—as the term suggests—selective. This means that selection needs to be based on an individual life form's properties and not on a whole population of life forms. It is not enough that a change improves the ability for a life form to survive. It needs to improve the life form's likelihood of survival relative to other life forms.
For example, if a life form has a mutation that produces chemicals that speed up the process of procreation but distributes these chemicals among all other life forms, every life form nearby profits, no matter whether they had the beneficial mutation or not. This is similar to the situation in an economy. Money, status, or reputation is given preferably to those people and companies that have methods more adapted to the environment (the market). A well-run restaurant with better service will attract more customers than a poorly run restaurant. If, at the end of the day, the better restaurant had to share its earnings with all other restaurants, it might have a harder time "evolving" and expanding its business.
An exception to the rule of having to work for one's advantage are beehives. They consist of infertile worker bees and a single fertile queen. In this case, in terms of evolution, they can be seen as one large organism where individual worker bees have no problem sacrificing themselves for the greater good of the hive—if its queen survives, the worker bee's genetic material survives. This idea is best explained in Richard Dawkins' The Selfish Gene where he stresses how organisms tend to act primarily in favor of the survival of their genes, not necessarily of their own bodies.
With that, we arrive at a basic definition of evolution:
EVOLUTION · Evolution is the combination of the process of selection together with a system of cloning or procreation.
In order for evolution to occur, the life form has to be able to increase the number of copies of itself in its environment. In addition, the resulting population of life forms needs to have variation, and each life form has to be able to operate for its own advantage.
There are many slopes leading up a mountain, but there are but a few mountain tops.
If it is all about variety, why do we still intuitively think that mutations are the driver of change and evolution?
It is easy to mistake mutations for somehow being the drivers of evolution. I cannot blame people who might do that. Sure, this misrepresents the theory of evolution, but it is ultimately the job of the proponents of the theory of evolution to make the right points. Similarly, it is easy to make the mistake of explaining evolution as if one type of organism mutated into another. But that explanation is like the many worlds interpretation, where our universe's past has but a single deterministic history, but at each step, it looks like it could branch off into an infinite number of possibilities. Likewise, when looking back at your own ancestry, you see a long, unbroken string of ancestors who all successfully survived and procreated.
So, how do we approach this issue? Yes, mutation is part of the evolutionary process. And if we look back, we see ourselves as the product of a string of mutations. The problem with this approach is that it is a very anthropocentric view. What we need is a different perspective; we need to look at it not from the position of the "survivor," but that of an outside observer.
From the outside, we see a population of individual organisms, with mutations causing diversity within the population. Over generations, the gene pool of the population slowly moves in a direction in which the organisms are better adapted to their environment. From this perspective, the driving force clearly is the environment. For example, let us say that within a population, there is one individual with a resistance to a certain disease. Over generations, his descendants will be more successful than other members of the population, so the gene with the resistance slowly spreads within the population until the majority has it. From there, another mutation might occur and spread in the same manner. Looking back, it seems that a single line of ancestors did all the "work" to find the advantageous mutation.
Evolution can be very predictable. For example, in nature, the problem of how to design a body or wings with low air resistance is solved again and again similarly because the underlying physics are always the same. There might even be only one (or very few) possible optimal solutions or paths to a problem so that you can even see identical genes in non-related species.
Imagine you have a mailing list with 10,000 addresses. You create two groups, sending half of them a message that you have a special ability to predict next week's stock market and that a certain share will go up. Likewise, you send the other half a similar message, but tell them the share will go down. After a week, the stock will go up or down and either way, you discard half your list. To the remaining 5,000—the people whom you told correctly whether the share would go up or down—you will send another message, reminding them about your correct prediction. And you divide them again in two groups, telling one that a certain share will go up, and the other that it will go down. After a few iterations, the remaining group of maybe 100 to 500 people will think you are some kind of genius always making the right prediction. Similarly, when looking only at the results in nature, we might think that some kind of a genius has designed life on Earth. But it only looks this way because we ignore the number of times nature has produced results that did not survive to procreate.
Another factor in the preference for believing in mutations as opposed to adaption to the environment is that it leaves the door open for random events. But even if it is agreed that the environment is the driving factor of evolution, someone could argue that changes in the environment are random. But as we have discussed in the first book, Philosophy for Heroes: Knowledge: if (supposedly) "random" events were frequent enough, we always have found a pattern in the form of a natural law. In terms of evolution, one could argue that, yes, "random" events drive evolution through mutation, but these events are not frequent enough (yet) to be discovered by science and made into a natural law. Likewise, a changing climate because of a volcanic eruption is a "random event"—but only "random" insofar as we do not have the necessary data and do not yet understand the processes that led to such an eruption.
It appears that mutations are the drivers of change and evolution, because we are looking at our evolutionary history as survivors. Only if we ignore all the attempts of nature that did not lead to a successful organism, life looks as if it is driven by nothing but a series of miracles.
Evolution as Waves
Imagine sending 100 rats into a maze and then wondering if the one that finds the way out is some kind of maze-genius. But now (after all rats have left the maze) fill it up with water, and then cause some waves at the entrance of the maze until the waves have traversed through the whole maze to the exit. Would you think that those water waves are some kind of intelligent water molecules that found the right way through the maze? Obviously not, water waves simply expand into all directions and create the illusion that they are somehow intelligent. Likewise, populations in nature should be looked at as waves, with different members of the population being at different positions of the wave. Through their genetic diversity, they also expand like a wave, checking every direction for the "exit"—a genetic code that is better adapted to their environment.
This can be seen for example in a study made with E. Coli bacteria(see https://hms.harvard.edu/news/bugs-screen). The bacteria were spread on the left and right side of a large, rectangle shape petri dish. The petri dish was divided into different sections with no antibiotics, some antibiotics, and toward the middle 10x, 100x, and 1000x the amount of antibiotics. Over the course of 11 days, the bacteria evolved to gain more and more resistance until they hit the center. Mutated bacteria with significantly higher antibiotic resistance are able to enter a new sector. They are then the origin of a new wave of copies that are able to spread throughout the sector until hitting the next higher antibiotics barrier.
So, again, mutations (or recombinations and any process which affects the genotype or the process of phenotypical development) only create a variety of solutions, which then are selected by the environment. If mutations were the driving factor and not just the provider of variety, evolutionary development would work without selection by the environment: life forms would develop independent of their surrounding nature. If from this random evolution life forms developed that were as adapted as we see in nature, this, in fact, would be like magic and the idea of a supernatural, driving force behind evolution would sound more rational.
The only time when mutations actually drive evolution is when the environment changes in a way that a certain trait is no longer needed by the life form. If it no longer matters if a life form does or does not have a certain gene, any mutated version of the gene has the same probability to be selected or not. Over time, more and more mutations accumulate until the original gene has become more and more rare and ultimately disappears. An example of a purely mutation-driven evolution is an atavism. For example, sometimes, children are born with tails because the combination of the parents' genetic remnants of a tail lead to a half-working copy of the genetic information of this limb of our distant ancestors.
"Macro-evolution"
Are larger mutations ("macro-evolution") that suddenly give an organism a significant advantage an argument against the idea that variety is the driver of evolution?
While there is certainly enough literature on that idea in the fiction department, there is little evidence for the idea of "macro-evolution" in the real world but a whole number of arguments against it. First, there is no need for macro-mutations: all our organs can be explained by small evolutionary steps instead of large leaps. Second, any larger change to the organism affects all the parts of the organism which then have to be optimized again.
Imagine replacing the engines of an airplane with new, much larger ones. Sure, they are "better," but now the wings have to be changed and the whole model of the airplane has to be redesigned, too. Not to mention the changed fuel consumption, or the change of the maintenance procedures. That "better" plane would probably not take off from the ground. Sure, after some iterations of optimization it might, but nature does not have the luxury to wait for a few generations until an organism is "tested" in the environment. Every single iteration has to be good, as evolution cannot back-track.
Turning the question about macro-mutations around, how did we acquire abilities that were only possible with multiple changes to the whole organism? For example, for spoken language, we need a specialized brain, a specialized throat and mouth, the ability to control our breathing, and language itself. If just one thing were missing, any of these changes would be worthless. Or would they?
One argument against evolution is that for such (and many other) functions, we needed large jumps to accomplish them. Basically, they look as if a designer knew what he or she was doing and created individual parts that fit perfectly together. With this "designer," organs could evolve in anticipation of a newly desired trait in a later generation.
To argue against this point, it is necessary to understand how new traits can be added to an organism. The process of evolution at no point has the capability to "prepare" anything for some later generation, it needs to work now. In reality, it works the opposite way: evolution moves toward the point normally until all the conditions are right, and then a number of mutations combine the different existing abilities into a new one. Each step on the way contributes to a better organism, and each new generation afterward optimizes the newly found ability.
The point is that traits can develop even when there is neither a supernatural driver "directing" evolution, nor a specific requirement by the environment that puts a population under evolutionary pressure (like a predator). For example, spoken language certainly helped our ancestors, but it only started to actually develop once all the requirements were available. In biology, this is also called exaptation.
EXAPTATION · Exaptation is the use of a certain trait for a problem or environment other than what it was originally "intended" for. An example would be feathers that started out as heat insulation, and only later were used to improve jumping, and finally for flight.
In technology, this can also be seen with 3D graphic cards: 20 years ago, when the first 3D accelerator cards came to market, nobody thought about using them for complex problems of astrophysics, biochemistry [of California, 2012], cryptography, or the "mining" of virtual currencies. These functions piggybacked on the success of 3D gaming until the cards were so advanced that they could be used for other applications.
When examining the details, life looks anything but "designed." There are too many strange design decisions, for example that the nerves of our eyes sit above our retina instead below it. This leads to us having a blind spot where the nerves lead back toward our brain. A designer would have done it the other way around, like it is in octopus' eyes.
Likewise, nobody started out designing a 3D graphics card with the purpose of mining virtual currencies. Twenty years ago, that idea alone seemed ludicrous on multiple levels. But looking only at the present, the different technologies fit very well together, as if someone had planned out the whole thing from the beginning. In reality, the "planning," for example in product development, usually leads to a product that looks very much "unplanned" and clunky. Hence, there is currently a transition going on away from classical planning from start to finish, and toward a more "agile" management method with many iterations. The reason this can be better is that during the development process, a company learns a lot of new things about a product, and the market and general environment change, too.
Looking at it from a different perspective, if we gave a truly good designer the task of creating plants that would still exist in 500 million years, the designer would rely on the theory of evolution. The designer would have no way to predict how the world would change over the course of 500 million years, so any form of "planning" would be fruitless. Instead of actually designing the biology of the plant, the only chance is to give it the ability to adapt to its environment.
Mutations that led to larger evolutionary jumps were always the result of many smaller changes. For example, the most recent mutation that enabled human language was prepared for by many other genetic changes (conscious breathing, descended larynx, etc.) with their own individual advantages.
In that regard, it is important to note that life on Earth is far from stable. We know of several extinction events in the last 500 million years that caused massive reductions (50 – 95%) in biodiversity within a relatively short time. Each event allowed species previously living in small ecological niches to become the most dominant species. For example, as a result of the Triassic-Jurassic event 200 million years ago that was probably caused by massive volcanic eruptions, all archosaurs but crocodiles and the bird-like avemetatarsalia from which stem all of the dinosaurs we know of became extinct.
Likewise, 65 million years ago, a massive asteroid impact near today's Mexico caused the Cretaceous-Tertiary event which caused the extinction of the dinosaurs and gave rise to mammals. Other possible causes of massive extinction events are climate change, gamma radiation bursts of nearby supernovae, or life forms like the bacteria who first produced then-toxic oxygen, or terraforming humans today.
While we see massive changes of the ecology on Earth during these events, our previous discussion still holds. The changes are shifts not mutations within the populations. Suddenly, a single rare gene might have been the crucial factor that determined survival, so whatever other genes that individual organism had would spread as well.
It is not so much that evolution made a "jump." It is simply that the environment and the factors influencing the evolutionary selection suddenly changed. This led to species on the fringes of the ecology suddenly becoming the most adapted species within their environment. These massive extinction events underscore that even under such circumstances, evolution still moves in relatively small steps.
By Clemens Lode|2019-07-16T11:37:07+00:00April 1st, 2019|PFH2|0 Comments
About the Author: Clemens Lode
Clemens Lode is a management consultant with focus on agile project management methods (check out https://www.lode-consulting.com). He likes to summarize his insights into books, check out his philosophy series "Philosophy for Heroes" here: https://www.philosophy-for-heroes.com. His core approach to philosophy and management is that people need to be more aware of their limits and ultimately their identity and their vulnerabilities.
Evolution in the Head
The Red Queen Hypothesis
Challenge the traditional idea of "the hero" and discover your own story.
The book is available on Amazon.com (or Amazon.de), and the Kindle ebook is available at Amazon.com, too.
The German edition is available for preorder here.
Discover the universe and find out how life emerged from "nothingness."
The German edition is coming soon.
This book introduces you to the most current topics in the fields of neurobiology, consciousness, and free will.
You can preorder this book on Leanpub.com.
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Takeaway: In order to compensate for plant CO2 consumption inside the greenhouse and to boost the levels to beyond outdoor ambient to create higher yield, a lot of study has gone into the benefits and risks of adding this gas to greenhouse crops. Most growers already have interest in providing more CO2 for their crops but may not quite understand what's going on inside the plant. Knowing this can make a world of difference in how successful a response you get from doing this.
To pursue an investigation into options for CO2 enhancement, a bit of background on just how CO2 gets into the plant would be useful.
Primarily, carbon dioxide enters a plant through the specialized cells that make up the stomata. These are located on the underside of the leaves for most plants.
The greater uptake of carbon dioxide by the plant the better its photosynthesis process will be and from this, plant vigor improves. So, with more CO2 we have greater yield, but to get this vital nutrient into our crop it must both be available and the plant must have active or open stomata.
Factors that influence the stomata are: ambient air and leaf temperatures; light levels; humidity; water stress; and carbon dioxide concentration inside the plant. Stomata close during darkness and in periods of drought stress. The 'guard' cells actually do the work of opening and closing the stomata.
There is no value in raising the ambient CO2 level in the greenhouse or tent when it is dark. The same is true when a plant is in drought stress because the plant is trying to conserve water. The stomata are closed in order to reduce moisture loss. Save your time and resources in either of these cases.
When CO2 is finally absorbed into a plant it must be diffused into the spongy mesophyll cells. The distance that any gas must diffuse into even a large plant is not far, as every living cell is located close to the surface. Interior cells (used for structure) are no longer living cells.
Gas exchange happens in the spongy mesophyll tissue of the leaf. These cells are covered with moisture and loosely packed, making gaseous movement easier. These aspects help make carbon dioxide diffuse into the spongy mesophyll cells while allowing oxygen to transfer out. Stomata openings are typically less then 20x10 microns.
So, getting the crop to grow more vigorously by adding CO2 requires that we do this in such a way and time that the stomata are open. High photosynthesis is often occurring during heat and so the plant may be in a drought condition.
In this event, though photosynthesis is very active the stomata are closed or mostly closed and added CO2 is not benefiting them. Early in the light cycle would seem to be an optimum time for added CO2. The plant's photosynthesis is completely active and its tissues are still filled with water moisture. Later in the light cycle this moisture aspect may no longer be true.
How does CO2 help produce vigor?
Biological chemistry! The oxygen from CO2 gets incorporated into the carbohydrates created by the plant. Most plants produce phosphoglyceric acid (with three atoms–C3), others produce aspartic acid (with four atoms–C4) from the photosynthesis process.
C4 category plants developed as early as 12 million years ago and tolerate heat better and so dominate the tropical regions, while C3 plants developed as long as 3.5 billion years ago and are mostly temperate. Each of these two categories responds to CO2 differently.
About 95% of all plants are type C3, while C4 make up less than 2%. So, it is likely that the crop being grown by the reader is C3 and will likely experience a 41% increase in growth with a 100% increase in available CO2. The benefits would seem to be insurmountably obvious.
Again, a major influence and aspect of how much added growth is going to be related to the amount of time during daylight that the stomata are open. Drought tolerant plants (C4) are prone to reduced periods of open stomata and this is why they handle drought better, but would be less affected by increased CO2.
Enhanced CO2 also has the effect of narrowing the stomata and so will help (due to a narrow aperture) reduce the pollutants that can get into the plant. Another benefit! Though photosynthesis is vital to utilizing the CO2 diffused into the plant, the presence of enhanced CO2 for plants grown in lower light levels is greater than for plants grown in higher light levels.
This is because the CO2 itself will assist in boosting photosynthesis. The evidence to winning this debate is found in that many greenhouse growers increase the level of CO2 to three times what is found in the atmosphere.
The benefits from enhanced CO2 are many and mostly without much debate within the industry. Most every grower wants to provide more of this vital molecule to their crop and are looking for ways to do this; safely and economically.
Now let's consider a practice that also fascinates me – foliar feeding with added CO2. With this technique the grower is applying both nutrient and CO2 (truly a form of nutrient) directly to the leaf tissue. The response can be very fast and dramatic. How to infuse the nutrient with CO2 has a couple options that are being practiced.
Carbonated liquid nutrient is one way to provide nutrient and CO2 at the same time. Carbonation is simply CO2 added and diffused into the liquid. As this carbonated liquid is opened to ambient air, bubbles will be seen coming off from the liquid. This is the release of CO2 into the air.
Within the liquid nutrient there are millions of tiny bubbles of CO2 gas, and when exposed to low atmospheric pressure, these tiny bubbles group together, float to the surface and reunite with the atmosphere.
For this reason, the grower using this type of carbonated nutrient will want to keep the lid on the nutrient container or bottle as much as possible in order to keep the level of carbon dioxide as high as is possible for as long as possible.
When a carbonated liquid nutrient (containing carbon dioxide) is applied to living plant tissue both the liquid nutrient and the dissolved CO2 gas are taken into the plant and then diffuse into the various cells. With a single function performed by the grower, both the CO2 and nutrient needs of the plant have been satisfied. Two birds, one stone!
The complication with trying to use a pump sprayer pressurized by CO2 (taking the place of an air hand pump) is that the gas sits atop of the liquid and is not diffused with the nutrient spray when released from the sprayer. The gas needs to be mixed, either in the chamber of the sprayer or through aspiration at the outlet.
Hose end sprayers do aspirate the nutrient but use water force not gas to propel the mixture out of the sprayer and onto the plant. A sprayer that aspirates with gas pressure would work, but I do not know where to obtain these.
Nonetheless, it is a very convenient technique to combine the function of foliar nutrient with CO2 application however one may accomplish this. Remember; photosynthesis makes the diffusion process possible, so make the application at the right time.
Because photosynthesis itself is boosted through the enhanced availability of CO2, this in effect will reduce the requirement of light energy to gain the same amount of growth. Obviously, this can be very cost effective. Not only is maximum yield our goal, but optimum economy to go along with this added yield. So, added CO2 can help save on your energy bill.
Using gaseous CO2 has its risks if you are not careful in what you are doing. In an enclosed area, when the CO2 level exceeds 5,000 parts per million it can cause dizziness and loss of coordination in humans and levels higher than this can cause death for humans and plant tissue necrosis for some plant species.
Consider that 5,000 ppm is only 0.5%. If one adds 4 cubic feet of CO2 gas to a room the size of 8x10x10 ft. the total CO2 concentration would be increased by 4%. That is not that much gas yet our CO2 level is now borderline dangerous.
Obviously, you will want to use a good quality CO2 regulator if you intend to provide this vital boost to your crop. Regulators will assure that the gas is applied at the right rate. They generally have built-in timers so that you can avoid feeding CO2 beyond the quantity desired.
Another important piece of equipment is going to be a good monitor with built-in alarm. The monitor senses the concentration of CO2 fed at any time. The best monitor/controllers will turn on and shut off when programmed levels are reached as well as shut off when programmed.
You will definitely want this monitor to audibly and visually let you know if the levels have exceeded safety or exceeded the levels that you want. As far as the expense of a regulator and monitor, I would ask you to consider how much your personal health and crop is worth as well as the size of your electric bill for your grow.
As CO2 can add 40% or more to growth, it can just as well cut your energy costs considerably. Adding carbon dioxide is an investment much more than an expense.


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Catedral de Frankfurt (), oficialmente Catedral Imperial de São Bartolomeu () é uma igreja gótica católica romana localizada no centro de Frankfurt am Main, na Alemanha. É dedicada a São Bartolomeu.

É o maior edifício religioso da cidade e uma antiga igreja colegiada. Apesar do seu nome comum, nunca foi uma verdadeira catedral (visão episcopal), mas é chamada de Kaiserdom (uma "grande igreja imperial" ou "catedral imperial") ou simplesmente o Dom devido à sua importância como igreja de coroação da Sacro Império Romano-Germânico. Como um dos principais edifícios da história do Império, foi um símbolo de unidade nacional, especialmente no século XIX.

O prédio da igreja atual é a terceira igreja no mesmo local. Desde o final do século XIX, as escavações revelaram edifícios que remontam ao século VII. A história está intimamente ligada à história geral de Frankfurt e da cidade velha porque a catedral teve um papel associado como homólogo religioso do Palácio Real de Frankfurt.

Ver também
Religião na Alemanha

Ligações externas

Frankfurt
Igrejas de Frankfurt

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text: This is my portfolio/blog website project using Jekyll and GitHub Pages.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


The perfect summer salad bursting with delicious sweet and savory flavors from apples and grapes, crunchy pecans and shredded chicken all smothered in creamy pesto mayo combo!
Anyway, we're back in business and I have a delicious salad for you all. The other day we went to Stew Leonard's to buy some groceries as both our fridge and pantry were looking sad and empty. Hubby also wanted to get his favorite yucca bread from there which we found out upon arrival that they no longer sell as they weren't in high demand. I have a feeling we were the only ones who bought the bread!! LOL. Seriously, it was sad that we lost our supplier of yucca bread!
It was almost lunch time when we arrived there so we had a quick lunch and it was there where I spotted this delicious looking Pesto Chicken Salad!! I told myself, I would recreate it as I loved the flavor and the touch of green looked quite different from the usual pale white salad and it also looked very summery! So last weekend I set-off to re-create their yummy salad. This is not exactly the same as theirs because the store's version was more savory while I decided to add here some touch of fruity goodness since we love adding fruits to our salad in the Philippines. I love the sweet and savory flavors that this salad brings to your tastebuds!! Can you see all that fruity deliciousness?
Well, this salad didn't disappoint – it was at once creamy, savory but with a touch of fruity sweetness from the apples and grapes and not to mention the extra crunch from pecans!! Hope you try this!
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The perfect summer salad bursting with delicious sweet and savory flavors from apples and grapes, crunchy pecans and shredded chicken all smothered in creamy pesto mayo!!
Place shredded chicken in a large bowl. Add the mayo, pesto, celery, pecans, apples and grapes. Mix everything.
Taste and season with salt and pepper, as needed. Refrigerate for several hours to allow flavors to blend. Just before serving squeeze some lemon juice to give it that fresh tang! Enjoy!
I love this! It is almost similar as the Chicken Salad I get in Costco. Touring Europe is one of my bucket list next to RV'ing the entire USA. Hope you enjoyed your Europe trip.
Thanks Shobee! Yes, we had a lovely time!


Spring has most definitelty sprung and what better way to give your kitchen a much needed zing of colour than with this mini bread bin from Wesco.
Wesco are renowned for their quality, heavy duty storage with a 50s style twist. The mini bread bin, made of powder-coated steel, will be the perfect finishing touch for any retro kitchen. Available in yellow, red or almond.
Wesco mini bread bin is £75 from Pedlars website.
Two classics for the price of one with the John Lewis Mezzo Chair in Sanderson Dandelion Clocks fabric.
First, you get the chair, with a solid wood frame and CMHR 100% Reflex foam cushion on elasticated webbing for support, combining to offer up those stylish midcentury curves. The you get the covering, Sanderson's classic Dandelion Clocks 1950s archive print that really brings the design (and your living room) to life. A matching scatter cushion and hardwood beech feet finish things off.


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08 Dec Jacksonville native Amelia Lewis eager for LPGA Tour try
Posted at 01:00h in NEWS by Team Amelia Lewis
Bolles graduate Amelia Lewis is attempting to qualify for the LPGA Tour at its national qualifying tournament in Daytona Beach – BRUCE LIPSKY/The Times-Union
Bolles graduate, 19, gets her game in shape for a shot at LPGA card By Garry Smits
Her putting stroke improved, and her confidence high, Amelia Lewis will attempt to make history beginning today in the first round of the LPGA National Qualifying Tournament in Daytona Beach.
Lewis, 19, is trying to become the first Jacksonville native to be fully exempt on the LPGA since Colleen Walker in 1982.
The difference is that Walker's family moved to West Palm Beach before she played in high school. Lewis, a Bolles graduate and a three-time Times-Union high school player of the year, is Jacksonville-born and bred and played golf at every level on the First Coast – junior golf, high school and amateur events.
"It's exciting to have this chance," she said. "I feel like I'm ready."
Lewis will have to make a 36-hole and 72-hole cut at the LPGA International, then finish among the top 20, plus ties, to get her LPGA card for the 2011 season.
The next 20 players will have conditional status.
Players who survive all five rounds will play two rounds on the Legends Course and two on the Champions Course, before playing the final round on the Champions Course Dec. 12.
"I'm going to be comfortable on those courses," Lewis said. "They're typical Florida courses, and there will be some wind, but that's what I've been playing my whole life."
Because she finished 19th on the Duramed Futures Tour last season, Lewis was exempt from first- and second-stage qualifying.
She's been practicing or playing six days a week and working with Sea Island Club instructors Todd Anderson on her full swing and Mike Shannon on her putting.
"We've made some nice progress over the last few months, and I'm optimistic about her chances," Anderson said.
Lewis said she's made the most strides with her putting. In the past, she said her main fault was leaving putts short, then being over-aggressive. The cycle would repeat itself too many times.
"Everyone knows that putting is the most important thing in golf, but you never truly realize it until you've got money on the line, where you can win thousands or lose thousands if you make or miss a putt," she said.
"Then, if you miss too many, it adds up. I'm swinging the clubs pretty well. The difference is going to be putting."
Lewis recently ditched her Rife putter for a Yes putter.
"I don't know that it's any better, but it was something different, and sometimes that's all it takes," she said.
Because Lewis has always been longer than average off the tee and a good iron player, Anderson said he has focused more on wedge play, the short game and course management.
"One of Amelia's strengths is that she is able to manage her game very well and find ways to score," Anderson said. "For her age, she's very mature in that regard."
Lewis has also spent much of her time building her website (www.amelialewis.com) and is a contributing writer to an online junior golf magazine on how social networking can help young golfers.
Like many professional golfers, Lewis has decided to focus on a charitable cause, and hers is leukemia. The disease recently claimed the life of the 12-year-old son of one of her favorite teachers at Bolles, Steve Soud.
Lewis remains deeply affected by the death of Jonathan Soud and said she wants to do more to raise money and awareness of leukemia in foreign countries.
Becoming an LPGA member would give her more of a voice and financial opportunities, she said.
"Our cure rate in the U.S. for children can be as high as 85 percent," she said. "It's more like 50 percent in other countries, and there are some where the treatment and facilities are so rare that very few children survive leukemia."
garry.smits@jacksonville.com,
Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/sports/golf/2010-12-08/story/jacksonville-native-amelia-lewis-eager-lpga-tour-try#ixzz2PbywTbmQZA


The New Jersey Assembly on Monday barred Gov. Chris Christie from using a house at Island Beach State Park during government shutdowns.
The Legislature voted 63-2 with two abstentions to prevent Christie — or any future New Jersey governor — from using the Island Beach State Park beach mansion during a government shutdown, officials said.
Assemblyman John Wisniewski of Middlesex County proposed the measure July 13 after Christie earned statewide ire when he was photographed sunning himself July 2 with his family on the beach after he shut down state beaches during a budget standoff.
A rep for Christie declined comment.
"As always, we have a long-standing policy of not discussing pending or proposed legislation until a final bill reaches our offices and we have had ample time to review it," his spokesman Brian Murray said in an email.


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Q: How to color a 3D object with slide/tap (dynamically) in Swift 2.1 I have to build a Swift app that can color a 3D object with various gestures. I have a Collada file that I imported as a SceneKit object. I can't find a way to color it with tap. I tried to convert Obj-C from the WWDC example but it's not working for me.
I tried to apply a SpriteKit as texture on the 3D object but that's the result:
As the user taps the screen, the app should take the coordinates of the texture of the 3D object and then add in that point a SpriteKit node.
Before:

After:

I don't know why the texture explode in that way.
Thank you!

A: The SpriteKit scene coordinate system doesn't map to texture coordinates in the same way an image does. Pixel coordinates in an image have the y-axis increasing downward; in a SpriteKit scene, the y-axis goes up.
This is a lot more apparent if you just map that SpriteKit scene onto an SCNPlane that's the only thing in a SceneKit scene — you'll see that the image is flipped.
Left: Image as loaded from bundle, Right: Image filling an SKScene mapped to a plane (with annotations)

To fix this, you'll need a two-step coordinate transformation:

*

*Translate the origin y-coordinate up by the height of the SKScene

*Scale y-coordinates by -1 so that increasing coordinates go down, not up

You can do this either within the SKScene, or in the SCNMaterialProperty that texture-maps the SpriteKit content onto a SceneKit object. I favor the SCNMaterialProperty approach — just set the appropriate matrix for its contentsTransform property:
let translate = SCNMatrix4MakeTranslation(0, 1, 0)
let yFlippedTranslate = SCNMatrix4Scale(translate, 1, -1, 1)
material.diffuse.contentsTransform = yFlippedTranslate

Note that if you're also trying to map touch/click events into the SpriteKit scene using the material's texture coordinates (via SCNHitTestResult), you'll need to perform a similar transformation there:
let texcoord = result.textureCoordinatesWithMappingChannel(0)
sprite.position.x = texcoord.x * skScene.size.width
sprite.position.y = (1 - texcoord.y) * skScene.size.height


In Seriena, we strive to bring the best value to our customers and guarantee your satisfaction. If for any reason, you are not satisfied with your purchase, we will gladly accept your return request within 15 days of receiving your item(s). The return shipping is the responsibility of the customer. A $50 restocking fee will be applicable to items being returned.
Since our warehouse is located outside of Seattle, Seattle customers can choose to return the items directly to the warehouse. The same amount of $50 restocking fee and other rules in the standard return policy will apply.
In the rare case that your item(s) unfortunately arrive damaged or defective, replacements are usually offered at no charge. Simply note any damage upon delivery on the delivery document and contact us immediately. Should you choose not to pursue replacements, the damaged or defective products can be returned for credit as outlined in our Standard Return Policy.
We cannot take cancellation once the order has been placed. A refusal of the item at delivery will be considered a Return and credit will be issued back to your original payment method minus restocking fees* and round-trip shipping charges.
You will have 5 business days to respond to the carrier or contact us to reschedule delivery (some fees may apply). After this timeframe has elapsed and no delivery has been scheduled the order will be returned. Due to the high cost of shipping and size of the items, If your order that was offered with free shipping, the original outbound shipping costs will be deducted from your refund and the return shipping is the responsibility of the customer. In addition, a $50 restocking fee will be applicable to items being returned.
If you see that your order has shipped with a Truck Freight or White Glove Carrier please be sure to inspect both the packaging and product upon delivery. If the packaging or product is damaged in any way please be sure to note the damage on the delivery documents. Due to the shipping company policy, we will not be able to compensate any damage or defective report if the damage or defective is not noted on the delivery documents.


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