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The further tax cuts Bush proposed last week will only deepen that hole. Because the operating side of the federal budget is already deeply in deficit, every penny of Bush's new tax cut would have to come from taxes raised for Social Security or by increasing the national debt. The Democratic staff on the Senate Budget Committee has estimated that if the new Bush tax cut plan passes, as well as the prescription drug plan for senior citizens he has endorsed, the national debt will balloon to $4.8 trillion in 2008.
More debt means higher interest costs for the government, which means higher taxes on future generations. It all amounts to Americans voting themselves a tax cut and letting their children pay for defending the country through a larger national debt. Surely Woodrow Wilson better captured the nation's spirit when he said, as the bullets flew in World War I, that Americans "know ... the war must be paid for and that it is they who must pay for it, and if the burden is justly distributed ... they will carry it cheerfully and with a sort of solemn pride."
Ronald Brownstein's column appears every Monday. See current and past Brownstein columns on The Times' Web site at: www.latimes.com/brownstein. | <urn:uuid:410447bf-7eaa-44d0-ba11-ea4dba3b8a9e> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://articles.latimes.com/2003/jan/13/nation/na-outlook13/2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560283008.19/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095123-00086-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956874 | 249 | 1.773438 | 2 |
Researchers at the University of Minnesota have created a molecular image of a system that moves electrons between proteins in cells. The achievement is a breakthrough for biology and could provide insights to minimize energy loss in other systems, from nanoscale devices to moving electricity around the country.
The research, led by Carrie Wilmot, an associate professor in the College of Biological Sciences, is published in the March 12 issue of Science.
"Evolution has been fine-tuning electricity in organisms for a lot longer than humans have been using it," Wilmot says. "We can learn a lot from nature about how to use it more efficiently. This new glimpse at how the body uses electricity could lead to nanotechnology to shrink electronic circuitry even further or a more efficient grid to provide power to homes and businesses."
Energy generated by intracellular movement of electrons is the fundamental power source that enables humans to exist. As electrons move within cells, energy is channeled to create complex molecules, such as protein and DNA. These are the building materials that enable organisms to grow, maintain themselves, and store energy. Wilmot's images, obtained using x-ray crystallography, will advance the effort to understand this process better.
"Obtaining a crystal structure of a complex cellular electron transfer system is like being behind stage at a magic show," says Vernon Anderson, who oversees biochemistry grants at the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of General Medical Sciences. "We have always known there was a trick, but now the Wilmot group has provided a unique view of how this extraordinary chemical feat is accomplished."
Wilmot, an associate professor in the College of Biological Sciences, is known in the scientific community for pioneering a technique to freeze biological catalysts (enzymes) as they accelerate and orchestrate chemical reactions. This produces snapshots at different points during the reaction that can be viewed as frames in a movie that defines the molecular and structural changes that occur as the chemistry unfolds.
|Contact: Jeff Falk|
University of Minnesota | <urn:uuid:b64b6f45-8ca5-4d61-9474-92a95cc2dffa> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.bio-medicine.org/biology-news-1/U-of-Minnesota-researcher-discovers-how-electricity-moves-through-cells-12290-1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280835.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00044-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948141 | 405 | 3.75 | 4 |
Regulation is a collection of policies or regulations enforceable by governmental and social establishments. While its specific definition is disputed, it has been called an art of justice or a scientific research. Nonetheless, whatever the precise definition of Law, it is an important part of an operating society. Listed below are some instances of Legislation. If you want discovering more about it, please kept reading! Right here are some of the most common laws and their interpretations.
The meaning of law may differ from country to nation. In general, a regulation is a rule requiring a specific habits. A regulation can be either a specific set of laws or the entire lawful system of a country. As an example, the term “murder is against the regulation” indicates that an individual is not allowed to commit a particular criminal activity within a certain geographical area. Its objectives are numerous as well as varied. Some legal systems offer these functions far better than others. As an example, tyrannical federal governments have a tendency to reduce political opposition and also minority teams. Likewise, realms constructed by European countries such as Britain, France, Germany, and Spain typically enforced tranquility.
One meaning of law is based upon the web content of religious texts. Christian canon law still endures in some church neighborhoods. Both of these kinds of regulations depend upon religious precepts. Making use of religious beliefs for law suggests the unchangeability of God’s word, yet in-depth lawful systems require human elaboration. In Islam, as an example, the Quran has some legislation, which serves as a source for additional regulations with interpretation, example, Qiyas, and consensus.
Hart stresses the significance of the social truth in regulation. According to Hart, regulation is a system of social control. It serves the usual excellent, yet it likewise has forceful powers. Hart’s theory draws from the challenges dealt with by society, such as the demand to adapt key guidelines to the modifications in society, increased intricacy, and heterogeneity. This meaning of legislation is much more complicated than it appears, and also the debate over it will just proceed.
The exact interpretation of legislation is a topic for a publication or write-up. Some articles on law explain the general history of the area, along with its application to social relationships and also the guideline of law. Others explain the relationship of legislation to religion, political system, and also ideology. They also take a look at the relevance of regulation in social concerns and clarify the relationship in between regulation and also various other self-controls, such as business economics and sociology. In the USA, regulation is created by state legislatures, judges, and local governments.
Regardless of what legal system you pick to study, you’ll need to comprehend the various sorts of regulation. Common law, for instance, depends on the decisions of courts. The caselaw that stems from these choices is known as caselaw. Civil law, on the other hand, depends on codes to develop guidelines for judges. It additionally counts on rules, instead of private analysis. There are various sorts of law: procedural law and also substantive law.
Hart claimed that the validity of law relies on social convention. Lewis defined convention as “the uniformity of actions that is presumed by all various other people”.
Common law makes use of previous court decisions and is a collection of legal precedents developed by courts. It brings into play previous judicial choices as well as institutionalized opinions and interpretations, and also it can influence regulation. The teaching of criterion, likewise called stare decisis, is a history of judicial choices that develop the structure of judicial choices as well as guide courts in comparable cases. The technique of legislation typically shows common sense and also consistency. So, the common law often regulates civil matters.
Civil law is the body of regulation that pertains to individuals and also points and also leaves out criminal law. Most civil law countries order their laws. Instances of influential civil laws are the French Code civil and German BGB. These civil codes are extensive, and usually mirror a rational taxonomy. Its basic stipulations make it much easier to change, adjust, and also comply with changes. So, when we check out the background of civil law, we can value that the principles of the system are important to our culture.
In general, civil law is the body of regulation that governs civil society. Its branches differ in their application as well as analysis. Some territories apply civil law in various methods, while others do not. Civil law has been around for ages as well as is commonly made use of today. Nonetheless, modern-day scholars argue that the difference between civil and common law has become significantly useless. In the USA, for example, the civil law system applies to judicial decisions associating with private property and also contracts.
A social scientific research account of regulation requires to abstract from contemporary nation-state organizations. Furthermore, it needs to be able to relate to the different scenarios in which people behave in a different way, and that call for a social scientific research account of the legislation. To put it simply, regulation can change human practices to achieve normative goals. It can be related to assist us avoid or get over certain social issues, as well as it can be made use of to resolve conflicts. It is important to have a clear understanding of how laws operate in our culture.
Common law describes opinions derived from judicial choices. Common law is based on previous situations and is made use of to guide courts in resolving similar disputes. The principles of common law are referred to as criterion. Courts usually follow precedent. Nonetheless, occasionally it is justified to damage from precedent, if situations or perspectives modification. This uniformity and predictability are essential factors in preserving the order of a society. The benefits of a great lawful system are significant, so don’t ignore this essential facet of regulation!
Another vital subject is treaties. Treaties are contracts between sovereign nations, which cover a wide range of subjects. The head of state can participate in treaties, however only with the permission of the two-thirds majority in the U.S. Us senate. Although a lot of treaties involve public servant, some apply to civilians. You should comprehend exactly how treaties work before you accept one. The USA has a diverse system of regulations, so it is essential to comprehend just how the regulation functions. www.visaimmigration.ca/immigration-lawyer-toronto/
The purpose of legislation is to advertise social harmony. As such, it has the capability to bring people together in a group. Thus, it is an useful establishment that serves as a prime focus for selecting balance. This way, law can serve as a driver for social harmony as well as equal rights. And, it is based on reason and also consonance with individuals. If you intend to find out more regarding legislation, take a look at the list below resources. | <urn:uuid:9933e3bc-c4f0-462d-a915-ba40188f0354> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.fasterinternetpro.com/2022/07/08/new-thoughts-concerning-regulation-that-will-certainly-transform-your-globe-upside-down/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573533.87/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818215509-20220819005509-00266.warc.gz | en | 0.962848 | 1,401 | 3.375 | 3 |
Since the third century b.c.e ., interpreters of the Daodejing have taken the two qi 其 graphs (conventionally translated as "its") in the first chapter as anaphoric, that is, as denoting an entity previously mentioned in the discourse/text. Almost unanimously, commentators have assumed that this anaphor refers to Dao 道, the most salient discourse entity to that point. Referential expressions (such as this, it, its, 之, 此, and 其), however, do not function solely as anaphors. They can also function as cataphors, in which case the entity they denote follows rather than precedes the referential expression. Cataphoric expressions are often used to highlight the entity they refer to. We suggest that the two instances of qi in the first chapter of the Daodejing were meant also to be cataphoric, and that they refer to the "gateway of all marvels" (眾眇之門). We further suggest that this "gateway" is a metaphor not only for the Dao but also for inviting the reader to enter the book and to penetrate the mystery of the Dao by reading it. In sum, we argue that the author/redactor of the first chapter of the Daodejing composed it as an introduction to the entire text, where he points out the problems inherent in writing and reading a text such as the Daodejing—which he perceived to be an image of the Dao itself. The text is the message. | <urn:uuid:44904aab-b802-4d7c-849e-e756c1190ac2> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://muse.jhu.edu/article/387605 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988720737.84/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183840-00220-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966105 | 327 | 2.078125 | 2 |
Durham Life Insurance Company
The Durham Life Insurance Company was founded in Durham in December 1906 as Durham Mutual Protective Association with A. M. Moise as president. The name became Durham Mutual Life Insurance Company in March 1912. Having acquired both Durham Mutual Life and Catawba Mutual Insurance Company, Durham Life was incorporated in December 1913, with Moise serving as president until 1916. He was succeeded by Silas B. Coley that September. Following other acquisitions beginning in 1914, corporate headquarters were moved to Raleigh in June 1920.
Originally, Durham Life wrote industrial insurance to provide low-income people with limited protection in the event of sickness, accident, or death. As the company name suggests, the firm also sold industrial life insurance with somewhat larger premiums than for accident and health policies, including credit and group insurance. As the company grew, it added a wide range of life and accident and health policies.
In 1927 Durham Life purchased radio station WPTF, originally owned by Will A. Wayne. Its call letters stood for "We Protect the Family," which the company had adopted as a slogan in 1914. In 1929 the company established a policy-still in effect-to have WPTF broadcast a live church service every Sunday. Beginning in 1933 the station operated as WPTF Radio Company (later Durham Life Broadcasting, a Durham Life subsidiary). In 1972 the broadcasting company changed the call letters of its FM station to WQDR-FM, and in 1977 that company acquired WRDU-TV and renamed it WPTF-TV.
Corporate changes would eventually take Durham Life out of broadcasting. In 1979 Durham Corporation, a holding company based in Raleigh, was incorporated, and effective 31 December of that year Durham Life became its wholly owned subsidiary. In July 1991 FSF Acquisition Corporation became the new owners of WPTF-TV and the call letters became WRDC (in 1995 they were again changed to WNCN). Durham Corporation merged into Capital Holding Corporation (Raleigh) in 1991. In 1996 Providian Corporation, formerly Capital Holding, sold its Durham insurance operations to the major Dutch firm Aegon.
"Durham Corporation: It's a New Holding Company for Mature and Honored Firms," We the People of North Carolina 39 (November 1981).
Carl Goerch, Durham Life, 1906-1963 (1963).
Views of the Durham Life Insurance Building at NCSU Libraries' Digital Collections: Rare and Unique Materials.
"Insurance Building, Raleigh, N.C. Also Home of Radio State WPTF, 50,000 Watts" in the Durwood Barbour Collection of North Carolina Postcards (P077), North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives, Wilson Library, UNC-Chapel Hill.
Inquiries about Durham Life Insurance policies may be directed to:
Policy Owner Services
Monumental Life Insurance Company
4333 Edgewood Rd. NE
Cedar Rapids IA 52499
1 January 2006 | Williams, Wiley J. | <urn:uuid:7e2e668d-3d4f-49db-bc69-79114930a59f> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.ncpedia.org/durham-life-insurance-company | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280292.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00340-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961955 | 604 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Institutions Need to Get With It on Moving Digital Files
The Station feels for the Massachusetts hospital that recently lost 800,000 highly sensitive patient and employee records, but in this new age of easily transportable data storage, this should never happen.
South Shore Hospital in South Weymouth, Mass., reported last week that it is investigating the loss of 800,000 backup files containing personal, health and financial information of patients, physicians and other individuals connected with the medical facility.
The files were sent to a data-management company to be destroyed on Feb. 26, but the hospital was informed almost four months later [on June 17] that only a portion of the backup records actually had been received and destroyed. It is unknown when during the four-month period that the files disappeared.
"We engaged a professional data-management company to arrange for the destruction and shipping and it was within this shipping process that these files were lost," Sarah Darcy, spokesperson for the hospital, told eWEEK's Brian Horowitz. "It was not something that happened on our campus."
No matter. The hospital is solely responsible for its record-keeping. Now what will happen if even a few of those records get into the wrong hands? Having been the victim of identify theft eight years ago, The Station shudders to think.
From time to time we still get stories of digital tapes falling out of trucks on the way to the archive storage facility, or disks getting stolen from laptops. This old-school approach eventually has to phase itself out. The sooner, the better, IMO.
The solution? There are several, but keeping data in house, encrypting it, and moving it electronically from place to place is soon going to be the only way to go. Keeping everything in the cloud is another much simpler way to do it.
Tapes certainly have their advantages, but moving them from one location to another is always going to involve the human element. That will always be the Achilles' heel for physical data storage. | <urn:uuid:b59e222f-34bf-4431-bf65-a778d51c756a> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.eweek.com/storage-station/institutions-need-to-get-with-it-on-moving-digital-files.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280221.47/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00235-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970525 | 411 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Hard drives are the component of your computer that stores your files as well as what your operating system is installed on. Without a hard drive you can’t store any information on a computer. Most computers use either IDE, SCSI or SATA hard drives to store data and the operating system. These drives have spinning platters inside them that are read by a head that hovers over the tops of the platters. They rotate at different speeds depending on the type of drive you have. Since they have moving parts they are prone to failure.
Flash hard drives, also know as Solid State Drive (SSD) is the latest technology for storing data on your computer and running your operating system. Flash memory offers fast access times, low weight and low power consumption. Plus the lack of moving parts makes it ideal for mobile environments such as laptops.
Solid state drives use NAND flash memory. This type of memory is typically used today in USB memory sticks, MP3 players and digital cameras. NAND flash drives are much more expensive than disk based drives for similar sizes. Eventually NAND may replace hard drives entirely in some notebooks because of the increasing amount of data the chips can hold.
Traditional hard drives store data on spinning platters that are accessed by a drive head that moves back and forth across the platter’s surface reading the data. By getting rid of the platters that a regular hard drive uses, you take the mechanical part of the drive away which takes away a point of failure while enabling lower disk access latencies and quieter operation. If data needs to be read from or written to a particular address, you don’t have to wait for the drive head and platter to move into position and the data can be accessed instantly.
By doing away with a traditional hard drive’s mechanical internals and platters and replacing them with memory chips allows a significant weight savings in the drive. Because it has no moving parts, a flash drive is considerably more shock resistant than traditional drives.
One of the major downfalls of solid state drives is that they are close to impossible to recover lost data from which is unacceptable for many users, especially those that don’t back up regularly. This is a real negative aspect for large companies as well.
As for the speed of flash drives it claimed that they are fast enough to load operating systems and can do so in about 2/3 of the time it would take with a regular hard drive. Flash drive manufacturer SanDisk says its flash drive can boot up Windows Vista in 35 seconds which is 28 seconds faster than the boot up time of a conventional drive. | <urn:uuid:3e14ae5d-8eb4-4019-adfb-d9f6b8451b79> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://onlinecomputertips.com/support-categories/hardware/473-ssd-hard-drives/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571758.42/warc/CC-MAIN-20220812200804-20220812230804-00674.warc.gz | en | 0.952445 | 532 | 3.609375 | 4 |
On Thursday 28 June 2012 a landslide occurred on the western slopes of Stob Coire Sgriodain by Loch Treig, in the Scottish Highlands approximately 6 km south–south-west of Tulloch Station.
At 20.00 hours that evening this landslide caused the derailment of a goods train on the Crianlarich to Fort William line, causing the engine to fall down the embankment towards the loch.
Earlier remedial work, immediately north of the landslide, took place in 2010 when rock armour was placed above the track to stabilise a retaining wall. This was not related to any landslide event.
The BGS has no record of earlier slope failure on the eastern shore of Loch Treig. Since the railway opened in 1894 there is no record of disruption and historic Ordnance Survey maps do not show any evidence for slope failure.
The landslide was reported to the BGS on Monday 2 July and a visit was arranged by Network Rail for BGS landslide specialists to examine the event on Monday 9 July. By this time, while the failure scarp and pathway could be examined, the landslide debris had been cleared from the trackway and the track sleepers and rails were being relaid. The line reopened on Wednesday 11 July.
The landslide was initiated by a shallow planar movement that developed into a debris flow. The landslide event is recorded as National Landslide Database ID NLD 18683/1.
BGS mapping shows superficial deposits comprising till (boulder clay) and morainic deposits on the loch side rising to a height of 350 m above OD on the hillside. These superficial deposits overlie the Loch Treig Schist and quartzite bedrock, metamorphic rocks of Neoproterozoic age. There is little evidence for the presence of till in the vicinity of the backscarp, however, and the failure appears to have occurred in saturated soil and head containing cobbles and large (>1 m diameter) boulders.
A landslide backscarp was examined on the western slope of Stob Coire Sgriodain. The backscarp is at an elevation of 325 m above OD and is roughly 15 m in width. Bedrock is not exposed within the scarp but is estimated to be within 1 m of the surface; detachment of material, therefore, is likely to have taken place close to the bedrock surface. The slide has excavated material to a length of roughly 20 m and forms a concave-upwards depression on the hillside.
A smaller scarp 18 m to the north of the failure was also examined (marked 'spring' on top photograph). This feature comprised a 3 m-wide scar below which a narrow gully containing cobbles and boulders extended downslope for 20 m. The scarp was associated with running water, and it appears that this feature is not the result of slope failure but rather a small spring, below which the fine-grained material had been washed away.
Below the backscarp, the debris flow track is roughly 20 m in width and extends down slope to the railway line. This pathway is marked by downslope-smoothed grass and scrub over which the debris has passed. The pathway contains fragments of bedrock (metasedimentary schist and quartzite) including boulders and is covered by a thin layer of reddened soil and head. The lower parts of the pathway forming the railway cutting have been stabilised, fenced and netted. Tilt meters have been installed around the slide to detect any further movement and new drains have been installed.
The majority of the debris from the landslide accumulated on the level ground forming the railway track some time before the evening of 28 June. It is understood from Network Rail that the derailment was caused by the train impacting a boulder, not from the quantity of debris on the track.
A small number of boulders were observed in the trees 10 m below the level ground but it is uncertain whether they were transported by the landslide event or removed during remedial work to restore the railway. | <urn:uuid:078f3ef4-faa7-432f-b40a-35a2e896a3f9> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://www.bgs.ac.uk/landslides/tulloch.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988719646.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183839-00127-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96858 | 830 | 2.71875 | 3 |
If You Read One Article About , Read This One
Factors to Consider in Becoming Rich
In case you might be thinking of looking for a way in which you might end up being rich, there are a couple of some essential things that you will need to look into. It is the dream of every person to get rich. Nowadays you will locate that numerous individuals will do anything inside their influence to get rich. In making the total of this possible you ought to compose a methodology that you can put into consideration. In like manner, you should know obviously that you will never get wealthy if you most likely will do anything helping yourself. Through examining this article you will have the choice to discover more principal factors that you may put into thought in case you might be thinking about getting rich as you can view here.
The primary thing that you should place into thought is that you should quit procrastinating. These days you will get to know that many youths believe that there is always time for everything that they might be thinking of doing. Most of the young people will believe that when it comes to retirement or building your wealth there is always enough time for everything.
The second thing that you should know is that there is no enchantment in getting rich. This is something that the majority of the individuals wind up considering. Before turning out to be rich now you should realize that you should move in the direction of what you may be well at. Likewise, you should realize that in what you are doing you have to think of different procedures of getting more cash and abstaining from spending more than what you are making.
The third thing that you should do is put resources into yourself. You ought to understand that you are the best resource and you can have the choice to total more wealth. In the event that you probably won’t have a thought wherein you can be putting resources into yourself then it will be perfect in the event that you would consider paying attention to your instruction, likewise, you should seriously think about gathering up with new individuals who will be prepared to help you in getting new thoughts that will lead you in accomplishing your objectives.
The other thing that you will be required to take a gander at is making a money related breaking point. This is also another essential thing that you will need to look into. always you will need to come up with a plan on how you will be budgeting for that money that you will be making. With this, you will have the alternative to swear off overspending or manhandling what you have. | <urn:uuid:a9a0a100-7ba3-47ec-b61b-4211badbae85> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | http://cylaw.info/if-you-read-one-article-about-read-this-one-9/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571950.76/warc/CC-MAIN-20220813111851-20220813141851-00666.warc.gz | en | 0.971166 | 516 | 1.703125 | 2 |
According to reports, Mercom Capital says that Indian policymakers have been unable to navigate rapid changes in the global solar market and that protectionist policies have “all but paralyzed the sector”, in its latest quarterly report on India’s solar market.
Mercom notes that only 73 MW of solar capacity has been installed in India in the last three months. The company blames a number of factors, including a weak national currency, an estimated 10% increase in PV module prices, and state bidding practices which drive down prices to unsustainable levels.
“With the government desperately looking to attract foreign direct investments due to deteriorating economic conditions, India is sending the wrong message to investors with the anti-dumping case and domestic content rules,” states Mercom CEO Raj Prabhu. “Instead, they should provide long-term policy visibility and a growth roadmap.”
Mercom reports that most of the solar photovoltaic (PV) projects authorized under Phase 1 Batch 1 and Phase 1 Batch 2 of the nation’s National Solar Mission (NSM) have been commissioned, for a total of 130 MW completed in Phase 1 Batch 1 and 300 MW in Phase 1 Batch 2.
Additionally, 48 MW of PV has been commissioned under the Migration Scheme, and 91.8 MW under the Rooftop PV and Small Solar Power Generation Program (RPSSGP).
However, to date only one 50 MW concentrating solar power (CSP) project of the 470 MW authorized under the NSM has been built. Other project developers have been given a 10-month extension to March 2014.
Rollout of the second phase of the NSM has been delayed and is awaiting final approval. Guidelines for the new phase include a controversial and complex funding mechanism called viability gap funding.
State solar policies have been much more effective on the ground, with state and other policies resulting in 1.21 GW of development – more than double the NSM. This is led by Gujarat, which has commissioned 857 MW of PV plants to date under its policy.
However, Mercom warns that the L1 bidding method which has been adopted by a number of states is making for very slim margins. Prabhu warns that banks are beginning to question project viability due to the low tariff levels, and calls the L1 policy the biggest problem in project financing through state policies.
Mercom also notes that Maharashtra has issued an order of enforcement for renewable purchase obligations (RPOs), including a threat of fines to non-complying entities, and says that this could lead to similar actions in other states. | <urn:uuid:94ed3180-ca78-4b9e-a863-3e42a60651fc> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://panchabuta.com/2013/08/25/mercom-macroeconomic-policy-factors-at-play-in-indian-solar-slump-in-q2-2013/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281450.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00172-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955987 | 537 | 1.671875 | 2 |
The whole idea of mentorship includes the notion that one is learning from a more knowledgeable other, so there is definitely teaching involved in being a mentor. But I think mentorship goes much deeper than just imparting knowledge. A mentor forges a relationship with the one they are teaching – a relationship that includes learning, a sharing of ideas, and the subtle challenges that will help the student continue to grow. I’ve had many mentors in my life, beginning with my parents from whom I learned, mostly by example, how to live my life. But perhaps the most diverse group of mentors have been those from my professional life. These have included teachers, friends, authors, and other professionals whose work I have read and admired and whose understandings have helped me form my own beliefs about reading, writing, and learning. Some of these mentors I have never met, yet I feel a connection with them. I have felt them working with me as I continue to grow professionally.
In order for teachers to also be mentors, they must know their students well and be able to model skills or impart knowledge at just the right time. What this means is that as teachers, we need to work right alongside our students, engaging in many of the same struggles as they do, sharing our thinking, our frustrations, our successes. We need to connect with them in very tangible ways so that the relationship will grow.
Being a mentor carries a huge responsibility. Being a teacher does, too. By bringing the two together we can maximize the learning that takes place in the classroom and take all of our students to a new level of success. | <urn:uuid:2e13b93f-6c00-45e5-afbb-aab08eca46b3> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.mentortextswithlynneandrose.com/blogging-with-rose/teachers-and-mentors | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573104.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817183340-20220817213340-00479.warc.gz | en | 0.982752 | 327 | 2.640625 | 3 |
Everest teams begin summit push as storm approaches
As a major storm forms over the Bay of Bengal, climbers at Mount Everest Base Camp begin their attempts to reach the summit in a short window of good weather that could close at any moment.
Currently the skies above the world’s highest peak are clear, but India’s Meteorological Department predicts that by Sunday coastal communities will be hammered by the first major cyclone of the season, aptly named ‘Asani’. The name means “anger” in the Sinhalese language, which is local to Sri Lanka, where the storm is likely to make landfall. In the following days, the storm could make its way further inland and eventually reach the Himalayas.
This storm is putting considerable pressure on the climbing community, many of whom have spent the past few weeks setting up ropes on the mountain and acclimating to higher camps. Around midnight Friday, several expeditions left base camp to cross the Khumbu Icefall and ascend to Camp II at 21,000 feet just below the face of Lhotse.
A rope repair team led by Everest legend Kami Rita Sherpa, 52, reached the summit at 6.55pm on Saturday, after completing the South Col lines, above the stage Hillary, and at the top, just a few days before commercial expeditions. Kami Rita Sherpa has now summited Everest 26 times, the most in history.
“The world is watching [the rope fixing team]said Jiban Ghimire, expedition outfitter and executive member of the Nepal Expedition Operators Association, a trade group tasked with setting the route over Camp II. “They have a lot of pressure.”
This team was not the first group to reach the summit this season – that honor goes to a team of 13 Chinese climbers who reached the summit on April 30 from the Tibetan side of the mountain.
Of the expeditions leaving the Nepalese camp, the first teams are expected to reach the summit on Tuesday, May 10, with the others to follow in the following days. Climbers don’t know when the storm is expected to reach the summit.
Everest is known for its dangerous crowding in the “death zone”, as hundreds of climbers claiming the summit all share a single fixed rope. Ghimire is confident that crowding of this extreme nature will not be a problem this year. “It’s the tallest mountain in the world, and of course everyone wants to get to the top as soon as possible,” he said. Outside. “But the guides also know that this is not their only chance in the season.” Ghimire also said that the total number of climbers is lower than in years past – a result of multiple global dynamics – and that guide teams are installing two sets of ropes on the summit stretch this year: one for the ascent and another for the descent.
At least ten teams have made the decision to climb this week, while others chose to remain at base camp or returned to Kathmandu to rest and prepare for the next window of favorable weather.
Team Full Circle Everest, led by veteran mountaineer Phil Henderson, chose to push for the summit. The team hopes to become the first all-black expedition to summit Everest. In a message written on sponsor The North Face’s Instagram page, the team said they hope to “change the future of mountaineering, bringing representation to the highest place on Earth and to the global outdoor community. air”.
Another climber hoping to reach the summit this week is 18-year-old American Lucy Westlake. Reaching the summit would make her the youngest American woman to summit Everest and bring her one step closer to completing the “Explorers’ Grand Slam” of climbing the highest point of all seven continents and reaching the North Poles and South. The only Ukrainian on the mountain, Antonina Samoilova also climbs.
Other climbers choose to wait out the storm: Nepalese mountaineering celebrities Nirmal “Nims” Purja and Mingma David Sherpa are staying at lower elevations.
The accelerated schedule on Mount Everest comes as dozens of climbers have already completed ascents of Annapurna, Dhaluagiri and Kanchenjunga. The first peaks on the 27,766ft Makalu are also expected on Sunday or Monday evening. Three mountaineers have died in the Himalayas so far this year: Greek mountaineer Antonios Sykaris died in Dhaluagiri in early April; Nepalese high altitude guide Ngimi Tenji Sherpa died April 15 on Everest; and Indian mountaineer Narayanan Iyer, 52. Iyer died May 6 at nearly 27,000 feet on Annapurna after apparently ignoring his guide’s repeated pleas to turn back.
This week, expedition leaders will watch the progress of the climbing teams and watch the looming cyclone with equal interest. Despite the imminent dangers posed by the storm, most are happy to operate in a somewhat normal atmosphere after two tumultuous years resulting from the pandemic.
“What I’m happiest about,” says Ghimire, “is that we’re not locked down because of COVID.” | <urn:uuid:dbe26d31-5fbc-4236-8f1a-4e38f6fcae58> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://kotisivurobotti.net/everest-teams-begin-summit-push-as-storm-approaches/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571502.25/warc/CC-MAIN-20220811194507-20220811224507-00076.warc.gz | en | 0.950871 | 1,109 | 1.804688 | 2 |
- What is Voice of Customer (VOC)?
- VOC data and customer experience (CX)
- How to collect and use VOC data (with examples)
What do you typically use customer feedback for?
Perhaps it helps you improve your product or service.
Or deliver a much better customer experience?
But, what if you could use it to also increase your revenue?
Gartner research recently discovered that collecting customer feedback can increase upselling and cross-selling success rates by 15% to 20%.
The same report found that customer feedback can also help decrease the cost of retaining those buyers – as companies that actively engage in a voice of customer programs, spend 25% less on customer retention than those that don’t.
Another study, by The Aberdeen Group, called "The Business Value of Building a Best-in-Class VoC Program" discovered that companies that invest in customer feedback programs experience a much higher client retention, employee engagement and spend less on customer service.
And best of all, the research also discovered that companies who implement a voice of customer (VOC) strategy generate a 10x greater year-over-year increase in annual company revenue.
Incredible, isn’t it?
However, to achieve similar results, you first need to understand what Voice of Customer is and then, how you can collect and use the feedback to grow your business.
What is Voice of Customer (VOC) Data?
Voice of customer data is a research strategy aimed to help you discover what your customers think of your business, product or service.
The term itself was first used by Abbie Griffin and John R. Hauser in a 1993 MIT Marketing Science paper, titled “The Voice of Customer” who described VOC this way:
[VOC] provides a detailed understanding of the customer’s requirements, a common language for the team going forward in the product development process, key input for the setting of appropriate design specifications for the new product or service, and a highly useful springboard for product innovation.
Two things stand out in this definition:
- “Detailed understanding of the customer’s requirements” - revealing that VOC provides an unparalleled insight into what your customers really want from your business, product, etc. (Unparalleled as it comes directly from the people you want to buy from you.)
- “Common language for going forward in product development, etc.” - As a result of that insight, the voice of customer data becomes a platform for making highly-informed business development decisions.
Before we get into the methods of collecting feedback, let’s review the process that you need to employ in a voice of a customer program, which encompass three stages:
- Collection - Using methods like surveys, etc. to gather information from your customers
- Analysis - Examining responses to uncover commonalities and customer expectations
- Implementation - Acting on the insight to improve relevant areas of the business.
And it works.
After all, why would some of the biggest companies in the world like Amazon, Apple and Zappos be investing so heavily into VOC programs if they didn't?
Just consider this:
Apple CEO, Tim Cook, responds to up to 100 customer service emails every single day.
And Jeff Bezos, a VOC data advocate, has been known to forward emails from unhappy customers to members of his team demanding issues to be fixed immediately.
It’s no surprise that both Apple and Amazon top the Forbes’ list of the most admired companies.
And there’s the same amount of praise being heaped on Zappos customer service as well.
But, VOC isn’t just about improving customer service.
You can use it to improve customer loyalty, satisfaction rates and tangible outcomes as well through increased sales, referrals, and retention.
In other words, it proves the correlation between using customer feedback and achieving higher business growth.
By tying VOC data to customer experience (CX).
The Link Between VOC Data and Customer Experience (CX)
The secret to retaining customers isn’t a price or product.
It’s the customer experience (CX) that your company offers.
That’s why 86% of customers are willing to pay more for a better customer experience!
The reason for this is simple:
Customer experience encompasses the entire buyer’s journey and beyond.
Moreover, customer experience is based entirely on your buyer’s expectations.
It’s what they wanted, and how you’ve delivered on it that forms a customer’s perception of a good or bad experience.
Now enter Voice of Customer data.
So, with that in mind, let’s take a look at different ways to collect customer feedback.
How to Collect VOC Data
Collecting feedback (providing you and your marketing team comply with GDPR) is as simple as asking your customers questions to uncover their expectations. And there are many different methods you can use to do this. To help you get started, here are five of the most common ways to collect customer feedback.
Surveys offer the most scalable way to gather structured customer feedback.
Depending on your goals you can target any stage in the buying cycle from the first contact to a purchase.
You can use surveys for:
- When people are browsing on your website, you can ask them quick questions in context with the page they’re on.
- You can follow up with new buyers or leads using email as a way of delivering a more in-depth survey. You may wish to incentivize people to answer with a price discount or entry into a prize draw.
- And finally, you can interact and ask customers questions in real time, via phone surveys, for instance.
Before you start writing questions in your survey, think about the end-goal and what you are trying to achieve with the survey results.
2. Social listening
Social media is a great resource for collecting VOC data online.
Your customer’s posts describing positive interactions or sharing complaints with your company provide a great insight into their expectations, and how you’re currently delivering on those.
Social listening is more than Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. You can also collect feedback from online forums, blog comments, and product review sites - anywhere your customers can express themselves online.
3. Customer interviews
Speaking with customers can be intimidating, difficult, and certainly, time-consuming.
But at the same time, interacting directly with someone may help you uncover their particular experience, and not only hear about it but also assess it through other communication, like body language.
Twelve months ago, we interviewed our ideal customers to find out more about their purchase process. Among many other things, we found that our ideal customer profile preferred to sign up to a live demo rather than a free trial.
The problem? The demo sign up form was hidden.
Since the research, we've made several improvements to the website (copy, web forms, etc) and made sure the demo form is easy to find (it's now visible at the top of each page).
The results? A 71% increase in demo sign ups.
4. Focus Groups
Unlike one-to-one interviews, focus groups involve gathering a small group of people with a moderator to discuss a specific issue, product feature or a topic.
As Steven Telio, product manager at Build on Purpose points out:
Focus groups are used to understand who your ideal prospect is, what features to prioritize when you develop your products, who the competition is and to understand narrative and positioning into how to communicate with potential customers.
5. Net Promoter Score (NPS)
Net Promoter Score focuses on uncovering customer loyalty by asking only one, simple question:
“On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague?”
Each time a customer responds to this question, the answer is then segmented based on predefined criteria:
- Promoters (9-10): These people are in love with your product or service and are likely to refer you to potential buyers. The customers who rate you a 9 or 10 are repeat customers and will have a high customer lifetime value.
- Passives (7-8): These people who rate you a 7 or 8 are content with being a customer of your business, but are the most likely to switch to a competitor should they find a new or better product.
- Detractors (0-6): These people are not happy with your product or service and are likely to damage your brand reputation by sharing their negative experience with their friends, family and connections.
What’s important about the NPS survey is that it focuses the customer on their entire experience with your product or service, not just the most recent encounter, giving great insight into the customer service you deliver.
How to use Voice of Customer (VOC) data
To begin with, you need to analyze VOC data and then, categorize the feedback to create an accurate picture of common customer problems, pain points, and improvement suggestions.
In practical terms, this means looking for patterns in the feedback.
For example, these could be common phrases your customers have used to describe why they use your product or challenges they face with it.
Next, you need to prioritize which of those you’re going to act on first.
Of course, those priorities will be different for each company. But, overall, there are three key areas you can apply your findings to; product development, marketing copy and customer experience.
1. Product development
By asking the right questions during your VOC data collection process and analyzing the results, you're going to uncover a wide range of opportunities, such as:
- Improvements that could boost your product’s usability
- Features that could help differentiate your product from the competition
- And suggestions for complementary products or services
By not listening to your customers, you could be missing out on a golden opportunity to improve your product line - or introduce new and complimentary products that could take your business in a new and more profitable direction.
In fact, using VOC data is what led to the development of a new feature. Based on direct customer feedback, we built and launched SuperOffice Chat, the only chat software on the market that is fully integrated with SuperOffice CRM.
Our customers were quick to adopt chat and have used it to respond to more than 140,000 chat sessions with their own customers - helping them provide a better service to their customers.
2. Marketing copy
Surprisingly, only 42% of B2B marketers collect feedback from customers as part of their audience research.
VOC data could help you uncover phrases and terms your customers use to describe what you sell. Needless to say, using your customers own words in your marketing copy could make your offer more relevant to the target market.
When analyzing your VOC data, try to look for phrases your customers have used to describe the reasons why they use your product, the benefits it offers them and the outcomes they have achieved with it.
If you take the time to do this, you’ll be able to use VOC data to write great website copy that helps you to:
- Showcase what makes your brand different
- Clearly explain who you are and what you and your product does
- Convert more visitors from browsers into buyers and boost product sales
We ask our potential customers what they want to achieve with CRM. Their feedback is the reason why we changed the key message on our home page to "Increase sales, improve customer loyalty" instead of "CRM software to build better customer relationships".
Since making the change on our website, free trial requests have increased by more than 60%.
3. Customer experience
The more customers that have a positive experience with your brand, the faster you will grow.
But, if you're not delivering a good customer experience, then you can be sure that your customers will be sharing their thoughts about your brand online.
The Internet gives your customers a 24/7 outlet for venting their frustrations, which means they could be sharing their experience about a rude customer service employee or a poor experience they had with your website.
With VOC data, you can uncover areas that you need to focus on the most helping you boost customer satisfaction and also, reduce the number of complaints, both online and offline.
Having recently rolled out NPS, we will be using customer feedback to improve product, marketing and the entire customer experience at SuperOffice. Listening to customer challenges and identifying solutions is key to keeping customer for the long-term.
NPS is a company-wide initiative and while it's still too early to see the impact, it's something we're working on and we will continue to improve every single time we receive feedback from a customer.
Voice of customer data is critical to the growth of your business.
Collecting customer feedback through surveys, interviews, focus groups and social listening can help you uncover areas where your company fails to deliver on customers’ expectations. You can then use this feedback to make your product better, create more compelling marketing copy and deliver an improved customer experience.
By tapping in to VOC data you will find opportunities that will improve the overall experience for both current and future customers – making it easier to increase retention rates and annual year-over-year revenue.
How have you used voice of customer programs in your company?
And has VOC data helped you increase revenue?
Let me know in the comments below.
P.S. If you enjoyed reading this post, you can share it with your colleagues here. | <urn:uuid:c492a8eb-cf16-4738-a531-e9af93120049> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.superoffice.com/blog/voice-of-customer/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571538.36/warc/CC-MAIN-20220812014923-20220812044923-00471.warc.gz | en | 0.94162 | 2,866 | 2.09375 | 2 |
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
The Bard and women behind bars: Jean Trounstine talks about Shakespeare Behind Bars: The Power of Drama in a Women's Prison
Jean Troustine is a professor of humanities at Middlesex Community College and is the co-founder of the women's branch of Changing Lives Through Literature, an educational alternative to prison. She's been featured everywhere from The Today Show to The Connection
She published a book of poetry, Almost Home Free, and co-edited the New England best-seller, Why I’m Still Married: Women Write Their Hearts Out On Love, Loss, Sex, and Who Does the Dishes. Jean is on the steering committee of the Coalition for Effective Public Safety in Massachusetts and is currently working on a new book about the tragedy of sentencing juveniles to adult prisons.
Shakespeare Behind Bars: The Power of Drama in a Women's Prison, focuses on six women's lives at Framingham Prison and how they were changed by art. I'm honored to host Jean here.
What made you decide to teach at Framingham Women’s Prison? Were you frightened?
I decided to teach in prison because I was offered the job to teach a college class behind bars. Being an adventurer I thought it would be different, a step up (I taught high school at the time), and I was happy to make the extra $$$. I was never frightened, not of the women. There were a few COs who scared me from time to time.
What surprised you the most about your prison experience? (i.e. how does TV and movies get it so wrong?)
My classes at Framingham often felt more like just women hanging out together with the added plus of academics. The women were regular people who had made bad choices or had bad luck or got caught up with the wrong guy. I think what I wrote in the book was probably more clearly said, but the idea is that they were Shakespearean as well in their dramas and tragic flaws. But movies and TV either diminish women's issues, turn human beings into caricatures, comedy acts, or monsters--I have yet to see a movie or TV show that accurately portrays a female behind bars.
You and I have talked about how women’s prison is so very different than men’s. Can you talk about it here for our readers?
The easiest way to think about this is like so: women bring their whole selves behind bars as do men. What issues we see in men on the outside (don't cry/be tough/loyalty is all/don't snitch) we see on the inside in many cases--but not all of course. Women --80% are mothers--do time "more emotionally" than men. A man might stab you but a woman might pee in your perfume bottle. Women want companionship, connection, community. Both men and women are lonely and most people do want to change--many more than the public thinks. In my opinion, many people absolutely do not need prison; we sentence people for way too long; punitive sentencing doesn't rehabilitate. Treatment and programs do.
Art and education can give hope and can offer redemption. So why are some prisons so loathe to put this into practice?
Education and expression are the opposite of conformity, containment, and repression. The goal of prison is to incapacitate not to allow freedom. But stats show the more education one has, the less likely they are to return to crime. So go figure.
Why was Shakespeare especially the right choice for these women?
If you can understand and embody a Shakespearean character, you can do anything :). Seriously-- I feel challenge is the key to growing and becoming all that we can be. And, as I said above, their lives often seemed Shakespearean to me.
What’s obsessing you now and why?
Mass incarceration and how to stop it. Our punishment system is out of control and unfair to poor people and people of color. I'm writing a book about a former prisoner due in 2015 which will show the injustice of how we treat juveniles as adults in terms of sentencing. I also blog at Justice with Jean: jeantrounstine.com. Speaking of obsession, I tweet too about it @justicewithjean.
What question didn’t I ask that I should have?
How can you help? Begin by seeing that most people do not want to be drug addicts, commit crime, or leave their families to do time behind bars. There is always a story behind a person who has been incarcerated. Look for the humanity and how we can fix this system. Paraphrasing Angela Davis from a talk I heard last year: prisons are incubators for outdated ideologies. The prison itself creates much of the problem, but the people need your compassion. | <urn:uuid:26c4cf42-f820-4e9c-aa01-092ac0ed1591> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://carolineleavittville.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-bard-and-women-behind-bars-jean.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560279368.44/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095119-00329-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975331 | 995 | 1.914063 | 2 |
Copyright © 2021 ISEIS. All rights reserved
Spatiotemporal Classification Analysis of Long-Term Environmental Monitoring Data in the Northern Part of Lake Taihu, China by Using a Self-Organizing Map
Characterizing the spatiotemporal patterns of water bodies is an important environmental issue in the management and protection of water resources. The primary objective of this study was to assess the spatiotemporal characteristics of environmental monitoring data from Lake Taihu to improve water pollution control practices. A methodologically systematic application of a self-organizing map (SOM) was utilized for data mining in the northern part of Lake Taihu, China. The monitoring data set contained 14 variables from eight monitoring stations during the period 2000-2006. The SOM classified the data set into 10 clusters displaying a markedly different pattern. We determined the spatiotemporal distribution of water quality based on the data frequency at each station monitored monthly in the study area. Based on the SOM analysis results, we suggest that the government should increase the number of monitoring points in the region. Given the relatively poor water quality in the region, unnecessary points should be decreased and different control measures should be implemented during different seasons. The results of this study could assist lake managers in developing suitable strategies and determining priorities for water pollution control and effective water resource management.
Keywords: spatiotemporal classification, self-organizing map, water quality
- There are currently no refbacks. | <urn:uuid:01a1b782-2b4a-4854-b264-c0aaa51f49ae> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | http://www.jeionline.org/index.php?journal=mys&page=article&op=view&path%5B%5D=201500297 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573699.52/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819131019-20220819161019-00275.warc.gz | en | 0.891901 | 329 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Scholz, a lifelong Social Democrat, was born in Osnabrück in the northwestern German state of Lower Saxony and raised in the wealthy city-state of Hamburg on Germany’s northern coast, where he also served as mayor. Alternating between state and national politics, he has served in the parliament, or Bundestag, and as minister of labour and social affairs in Merkel’s first cabinet.
His political career has been buffeted by scandals. While mayor of Hamburg, he faced criticism for his handling of the G20 summit in 2017, as the event descended into widespread violence between protesters and police.
A parliamentary inquiry by opposition lawmakers earlier this year called him out for a lack of oversight after the financial technology company Wirecard unravelled on his watch in Germany’s biggest postwar fraud scandal. He has rebuffed accusations that he bears any political responsibility.
Scholz has also been questioned in an inquiry into whether he acted to influence tax authorities on behalf of a Hamburg bank at the centre of the “cum-ex” fraud scandal, which deprived the German state of billions of euros in revenue. He has denied any wrongdoing, and no concrete evidence has emerged against him.
In the latest twist, Scholz was forced to return to Berlin from the campaign trail last week to answer questions in the parliamentary finance committee. The inquiry was called after the public prosecutor ordered searches of the Finance Ministry as part of an investigation into allegations of obstruction of justice at its anti-money laundering unit. SPD lawmakers implied that the timing was suspect, as Scholz’s party had taken a lead in the polls.
But he has emerged relatively unscathed. “It has not had a major impact,” said Peter Matuschek, an analyst with polling agency Forsa.
What really boosted Scholz and the SPD has been the stumbling campaigns of his rivals.
To the right of his party, Scholz may have been able to win over those who had previously opted for the more conservative CDU because of Merkel. The SPD’s campaign issues included raising the minimum wage and taxes on the rich.
Unlike the Green Party, which wants to phase out coal by 2030, the SPD wants to stick to the existing target date of 2038. The SPD’s traditional support base had included many of Germany’s miners and blue-collar workers before much of that electorate fell away to other parties.
Scholz has consistently performed well in surveys that ask Germans the theoretical question of who they would vote for if they could directly elect the chancellor. As the elections neared, that transferred to a bump for his party.
The soft-spoken finance minister had expressed a quiet confidence that he would succeed, even in the early days of his campaign, when he was all but counted out. “I want to win,” Scholz told reporters as he announced his candidacy.
The Washington Post | <urn:uuid:ac499bee-0d21-45e9-8e32-8cddd5d6d63a> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.newsline.com.au/2021/09/28/who-is-robotic-olaf-scholz-merkels-likely-successor/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882570871.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20220808183040-20220808213040-00269.warc.gz | en | 0.986707 | 611 | 1.664063 | 2 |
©6-26-2010 by Donna Cunningham, MSW
Because Mercury was only in Gemini, the sign it rules, for 15 days this year, I challenged myself to make the most of its short stay by posting something new about Mercury, Gemini, and the 3rd house nearly every day.
We started with a test to measure how important Mercury is in your chart, then opened up a forum for readers to ask any questions they wanted to about Mercury, Gemini, and the 3rd house. Then, as we explored Mercury’s aspects and discovered there were 4 different kinds of smart, readers gave details about how Mercury worked in their charts on a variety of levels. For students, here’s a list of links to 22 articles about Mercury on this blog:
- How Strong is your Mercury? Here’s the Score!
- Four Kinds of Smart–Which One Are You?
- Readers Ask: Q & A about Mercury, Gemini, and the 3rd House
- The Best of Readers’ Q & A about Mercury and the 3rd House
- Things You May Not Know about the 3rd and 12th Houses
- Viewing the 3rd House through Neptune’s Lens
- Understanding Mercury Aspects to the Moon
- Understanding Mercury-Saturn Combinations
- Understanding Mercury-Uranus Combinations—It’s DIY Time!
- Understanding Mercury-Pluto Combinations
- Cosmic Piñata #5—Mercurial Morsels
- English for Astrologers–No Astrobabble Please
- Writer’s Block–or Waiting for the Right Astrological Window?
- Can U Blog? What to Look for in the Birth Chart
- Enough with the Mercury Retrograde Hysteria!
- Why Mercury Retrograde is a Good Thing–Its Helpful Uses
- Funny Quotes and Cartoons about Uranus, Venus, & Mercury
- Puzzle Lover? I’ll Bet your Mercury is Strong!
- A New Look at the Astrology of Twins
Posts about Negative Thinking and Thought Forms:
- Thought Forms and the Brain
- Seriously Stuck? Blast Those Thought Forms!
- The Ultraviolet Jackhammer-A Tool for Demolishing Negative Beliefs
- Thought Forms–How They Add to Money Blocks
- Legacy Thought Forms-Shake (off) what your Mama Gave You
- Positive Thought Forms–Can They Limit Us, too?
- “Conventional Wisdom”–Is the Advice of our Mentors an Asset or a Thought Form that Holds Us Back?
- Nothing to Fear but Fear Itself
- 10 Strategies for Killing Negative Thoughts
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If you’re already a subscriber and want a copy, forward the most recent email post to me at email@example.com. To sign up for a subscription, go to the top right hand corner of the blog and click on “Subscribe.” Then send me an email with your subscription confirmation or an email post with a request for the booklet in the subject line. | <urn:uuid:87edf60e-5038-4d26-8057-cd96413f0bef> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://skywriter.wordpress.com/2010/06/26/22-posts-about-mercury-and-the-3rd-house-on-skywriter/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560279189.36/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095119-00054-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.890731 | 703 | 1.804688 | 2 |
The so-called mainstream media is well represented in the blogosphere, with most newspapers’ representatives in evidence, plus the BBC, ITN and C4. So it is no surprise to see commentators from Sky News there too, despite Rupe’s news channel managing a paltry 0.5% share of average viewing figures. Their blog takes its name – Boulton & Co – from that of news editor Adam Boulton.
And last Friday he posted a slice of ungrammatical incoherence that should not have been let out the door. I commend a leisurely and careful inspection of the text to any aspiring blogger, as an example of how to get your adversaries quaking, not through fear, but by the effects of hysterical and involuntary laughter.
The punctuation, for starters, is appallingly deficient: fifteen missing commas, one full stop that should have been a comma, two missing apostrophes and a spurious one. But a scan of the content reveals more obvious – and elementary – howlers. Let’s take it from the top, shall we?
The title gives the first suggestion of confusion: Boulton can’t decide whether it’s “Deadtree” or “Dead Tree”, although, by happy coincidence, neither of the papers whose commentators he lambasts is a part of Rupe’s empire. And by the third paragraph he starts to lose it, as we get “a political TV debate which mostly go painstakingly into ... " which, with a mere tense selection error, is only a taster for paragraph four, with “the 2 or 3 leaders how aspire to lead the country”.
The fifth paragraph brings two slips: inside the brackets there is “before Wing aired I believed”, suggesting that Adam either no longer believes, or has suffered yet another tense selection error, and later we find that folks “have bee trying”. Paragraph six brings some respite, with the sole howler the inability to realise that “Question Time” is two words, not one. Boulton brings one last flourish of incoherence in the final paragraph, where he tells that “Many constituencies now have debates between candidates – for selection or for parliament, on tv, on radio, on line, and just in the village hall”.
That’s an awfully busy village hall, Adam.
Boulton has, we are told, a masters degree from Oxford University. This suggests that he is not stupid. But the standard of this post – or the lack of it – gives the impression of abysmal quality control (if it is present at all), and an accompanying lack of respect for the target audience. Organisations like the BBC and Guardian set their standards rather higher: after all, if it’s worth saying, it’s worth saying properly.
But perhaps there is a philanthropic message at the heart of this story: if you can’t cut the mustard with a real media outlet, you can always get Rupe to look after you. | <urn:uuid:da474aa0-3688-4531-bf83-8648d2f47b31> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://zelo-street.blogspot.com/2009/08/dont-reach-for-sky.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560284405.58/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095124-00044-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938278 | 643 | 1.5 | 2 |
In practice, like the right racket, the right footwear can make the difference. Large manufacturers of badminton equipment such as YONEX, VICTOR, LI NING, FORZA and BABOLAT have specialized in meeting the high demands of badminton shoes. When buying shoes, make sure you have a light, non-slip indoor shoe with good lateral support for optimal manoeuvrability. The damping should not be neglected, because the quick stops, turns and changes in direction put a lot of strain on the joints, ligaments and tendons.
02. December 2019
THE LIGHTNESS OF THE SPEEDS Football professionals and Formula 1 racing drivers enthusiastically play badminton “on the side” to improve their physical and mental responsiveness.
02. December 2019
1. Badminton is challenging and simple at the same time. Even with beginners there are rallies - but it is a long way to go to badminton at a high level. Nevertheless, it is fun at every level.
2. After running, badminton is the most effective form of training for the cardiovascular system. Half an hour to a full hour twice a week is enough to increase your fitness level a lot.
3. Badminton as an internal combustion engine. You are constantly on the move and the body burns many calories, almost without even realizing it. Lose weight and have fun doing it - where else can you find that?
4. You can play badminton from 7 to 70 years - and even women and men together! There is hardly any other sport. By the way, a Bundesliga team also consists of women and men.
5. You can play badminton almost anywhere. Many cities have one or even several clubs and often also a badminton center. In summer you can even go to the park or garden.
02. November 2019
Due to differences in material, construction and covering, the racket concepts are based on the different types of players: aggressive, defensive, strong on the net or more with smash. The differences can be seen in weight, hardness or flexibility and head or handle heaviness.
02. October 2019
Games & Rules
IN KOOPERATION MIT BADZINE.DE | <urn:uuid:63fd8977-c4fd-4e93-bf39-74e10004af79> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://badlab.de/badminton-en.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572198.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20220815175725-20220815205725-00273.warc.gz | en | 0.934309 | 498 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Under the NOX SIP Call rule of 1998, the EPA capped emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOX ). Nox is one of the precursors of ozone pollution. As part of this program, the EPA also set up a market for facilities to trade emission credits.
This program ended at the end of 2008 when the EPA replaced it with emission credit trading programs under the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR).
On October 27, 1998, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a final rule titled, "Finding of Significant Contribution and Rulemaking for Certain States in the Ozone Transport Assessment Group Region for Purposes of Reducing Regional Transport of Ozone."This rule, also known as the NOX SIP Call, required South Carolina and certain other states to limit the summertime NOX emissions, one of the precursors of ozone pollution. EPA has stated in the rule that sources in these states emit NOX in amounts that significantly contribute to nonattainment of the 1-hour National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for ozone in one or more down-wind states. The NOX SIP Call required reductions of summertime emissions of NOX in South Carolina and requires the Department to submit a revision to the South Carolina State Implementation Plan (SIP) that identifies measures necessary to achieve these reductions. The Department submitted a SIP revision to comply with the requirements of the NOX SIP Call on May 28, 2002. EPA published a final rule in the Federal Register approving this revision on June 28, 2002 (67 FR 43546). | <urn:uuid:1493eb7a-f145-4a0e-8d0b-c0a28e3d8507> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.scdhec.gov/HomeAndEnvironment/Air/MostCommonPollutants/CrossStateRulings/NOXSIPCall/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560283689.98/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095123-00345-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.911232 | 324 | 2.53125 | 3 |
|Section 3|| Instructor:
|T Th 10:40 - 12:00|| Office Hours:
and by appointment
|243 Lockett|| Office:
Text: Fundamentals of Probability, Third Edition, by Saeed Ghahramani. We will probably cover portions of the first ten chapters.
Prerequisites: MATH 2057 (Calculus III).
Description: In this course, we will examine both the practical and theoretical aspects of probability. Probability is a tool of fundamental importance to scientists, engineers, and indeed to anyone who uses statistics. Although probability has a strong grounding in common sense, we will see that intuition can often lead us astray if we are not careful. We will develop rigorous methods for analyzing probability, which we will use to solve problems, and we will also endeavor to gain an understanding of why these methods work.
Catalog Description: Introduction to probability, emphasizing concrete problems and applications; random variables, expectation, conditional probability, law of large numbers, central limit theorem, stochastic processes.
This course serves as preparation for the actuarial exam focusing on probability.
This section of
Probability will use the computer package WeBWorK for the
assigning and grading of homework.
The WeBWorK log-in page for this course is
Your username is your PAWS email name, and your initial password is your 89 ID number (with no spaces or hyphens). You may change your password if you wish. WeBWorK also stores your PAWS email address. If you prefer another email address, you may change this as well.
WeBWorK assignments will be given throughout the semester. The first assignment is available now. You should make sure you can successfully log in, and begin working on it immediately. In total, WeBWorK homework will be worth 100 points.
I will assign other homework problems from the text (to be done by hand for practice) essentially every class. These homework assignments will be announced in class and posted
Homework, both from WeBWorK and the text, will occassionally be discussed in class as necessary.
Exams: There will be two in-class exams, each worth 100 points. The exams will tentatively take place in the weeks of February 22 and March 29. Exact exam dates will be announced in class. No make-up exams, except in extreme cases. If you must miss an exam, I will expect you to notify me before the exam takes place.
Final: There will be a comprehensive final exam worth 150 points. The final exam is scheduled for Thursday, May 13, 12:30 - 2:30 pm.
Grade: Your course grade will be out of the 450 possible points outlined above. I may curve course grades. In any case, 90-100% is assured an A, 80-89% a B, and so on.
Important Dates: January 26 is the last day to drop; January 28 is the last day to add; Mardi Gras is February 14-16; April 1 is the last day to withdraw; Spring Break is April 2-11.
Bear in mind that you are taking this course under the guidelines of the Code of Student Conduct. | <urn:uuid:903a6cdc-ce31-4241-be11-bbda19907556> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.math.lsu.edu/~cohen/courses/PastSemesters/SPRING10/M3355/M3355.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280128.70/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00392-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920322 | 666 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Introduction to Residential Layout is ideal for students and practitioners of urban design, planning, engineering, architecture and landscape seeking a comprehensive guide to the theory and practice of designing and laying out residential areas.
Mike Biddulph provides a clear and coherent framework from which he offers comprehensive practical advice for designers of housing developments. Referring to a wealth of international examples, this is a richly illustrated, accessible resource covering the whole range of issues that should be considered by
anyone engaging in the planning and design of a new residential scheme.
A successful residential development must work on many levels – financial, social and environmental. This book includes analysis of commercial viability, the importance of place making, environmental sustainability and designing accessibility. Mike Biddulph details successful approaches to designing out crime and maximising permeability as part of an integrated approach to urban design.
Highly illustrated throughout, this work will show you how to turn design aspirations and principles into practical design solutions. Written without preconceptions, Introduction to Residential Design
highlights the strengths and weaknesses of particular design solutions to encourage both depth of thought and creativity.
Mike Biddulph is Senior Lecturer in Urban Design at Cardiff University
About Mike Biddulph
See more books from this Author
Published March 30, 2007
Crafts, Hobbies & Home, Arts & Photography, Professional & Technical. | <urn:uuid:9ef9d5ea-cef6-4b20-b374-368fe91c20ac> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://idreambooks.com/Introduction-to-Residential-Layout-by-Mike-Biddulph/reviews/183512 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560285001.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095125-00300-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.903259 | 276 | 2.984375 | 3 |
The Kurdish Experience
Numbering over 22 million, the Kurds are one of the largest non-state nations in the world. Their homeland, Kurdistan, has been forcibly divided and lies mostly within the present-day borders of Turkey, Iraq and Iran, with smaller parts in Syria, Armenia and Azerbaijan. The greatest number of Kurds today still live in Kurdistan, though a large Kurdish diaspora has developed in this century, especially in the main cities of Turkey and Iran and more recently in Europe as well. Between 10 and 12 million Kurds live in Turkey, where they comprise about 20 percent of the population. Between 5 and 6 million live in Iran, accounting for close to 10 percent of the population. Kurds in Iraq number more than 4 million, and comprise about 23 percent of the population.
In the modern era, the Kurdish nation, with its distinctive society and culture, has had to confront in all of the “host” states centralizing, ethnically-based nationalist regimes -- Turkish, Arab and Persian -- with little or no tolerance for expressions of national autonomy within their borders. While the modes and scale of oppression have varied in time and by place, the conditions of Kurds share some important features. First, the Kurdish areas overlap nation-state borders: They thus acquire significance for “national security” and are vulnerable to interference and manipulation by regional and international powers. Second, the Kurdish regions of these countries are usually the poorest, least developed areas, systematically marginalized by the centers of economic power. Third, the dynamics of assimilation, repression and Kurdish resistance in each country have affected the direction and outcome of the Kurdish struggles in the neighboring countries. A fourth shared feature, and the focus of this essay, is that these Kurdish societies are themselves internally complex, and fraught with differences of politics and ideology, social class, dialect and, still in a few places, clan.
In spite of a long history of struggle, Kurdish nationalism has not succeeded in achieving its goal of independence or even enduring autonomy. Do recent events require us to change this assessment? In 1992, a Regional Government of Iraqi Kurdistan was established, but it is economically besieged and functions very much at the sufferance of a Western military umbrella. In Turkey, a ten-year-old armed struggle has effectively defied the unrestrained efforts of the Turkish state to impose a military solution, but a political solution acceptable to the Kurds does not appear imminent. The Kurdish movement, in contrast to many other national liberation movements, has experienced a persistent contradiction between its traditional leadership and the relatively developed society it seeks to liberate. Only to the extent that this may be changing does the future hold some promise for Kurdish aspirations. Today, about half the population lives in urban centers, and feudal relations of production in rural areas have almost disappeared. Yet the politics and ideology of much of the leadership can hardly be distinguished from the worldview of landed notables of the past.
One reason for this may be that Kurdish nationalism emerged as an ideology long before the formation of the Kurds as a nation, not in a middle-class milieu but in a largely agrarian society with a powerful tribal component. From the sixteenth century to the mid-nineteenth century, much of Kurdistan was under the rule of independent and autonomous Kurdish principalities that produced a flourishing rural and urban life in the seventeenth century.
Kurdish destinies changed radically around this time, when the Ottoman and Persian empires divided Kurdistan into spheres of influence, agreeing on a border in 1639. In order to protect their sovereignty, the principalities supported one or the other power, and for most of the next three centuries a prevailing war economy destroyed the agrarian system, devastated villages and towns, precipitated massacres and led to forcible migrations of Kurds and the settlement of Turkish tribes in parts of Kurdistan. All of this inhibited further growth of urban areas and settled agrarian production relations, reinforcing tribal ways of life.
Although the war economy retarded the consolidation of the Kurds as a nation, the destruction and suffering stimulated apolitical consciousness that was unprecedented in the region. This emerged first in the realms of language and literature when, in the sixteenth century, Kurdish ulama broke the monopoly of Arabic and Persian languages over literary production. In 1597, Sharaf Khan, prince of the powerful Bidlis principality, compiled the first history of Kurdistan, Sharafnameh. Although written in Persian, this text presents historical data on the degree of independence enjoyed by different Kurdish states. Thus, the first chapter is about the dynasties that enjoyed the privilege of royalty; the second deals with rulers who did not claim royalty but sometimes struck coin and had khutba (Friday prayer sermons) recited in their names, and so forth.
The most important literary manifestation of political awareness was Ahmad-e Khani (1651-1706), who in 1694-1695 rewrote the Kurdish popular ballad “Mem u Zin” in the form of a poetic narrative romance. “Why have the Kurds been deprived, why have they all been subjugated?” he asked. He rejected the view that it was because they were “ignorant” or “without perfection.” They were subordinated, rather, because they were “orphans,” i.e., without a king who would unite the discordant principalities and form an independent kingdom. Although they excelled in qualities of munificence and bravery, the princes refused to unite under the suzerainty of a Kurdish king. Khani is explicitly modern in his conceptualization of the Kurds as a nation. He referred to Kurds, Arabs, Persians and Turks as milal (plural of milla) not in the then-prevailing meaning of “religious community” but rather in an ethnic sense.
The second apostle of Kurdish nationalism, Haji Qadiri Koyi (1817?-1897), was also a mullah and poet, but even more secular. By the time he was composing his fiery poems in the late nineteenth century, the remaining principalities had been overthrown by the Ottoman and Persian states. Koyi attacked the sheikhs and mullahs who did not care for the Kurdish language and the notables who ignored the destinies of their people. Living his last years in cosmopolitan Istanbul, he was familiar with the nationalist struggles and the material advancement of modern nations. He constantly advocated use of the Kurdish language. Although his own medium was poetry, he urged the Kurds to publish magazines and newspapers.
Khani and Koyi’s propositions amount to a political manifesto: The Kurds are a distinct people with a distinct language, homeland and way of life. The road to emancipation is the formation of an independent and unified Kurdish state. Ideologically, however, Khani spoke for the ruling princes and sought liberation in unification under a powerful king. By contrast, Koyi’s ideas reflected budding modern social forces within Kurdish society. He advocated both national liberation and transformation of Kurdish society.
Although these modernist ideas were constantly repeated in poetry and journalism, social forces capable of translating them into political parties and platforms did not enter the scene until the 1940s. How can we account for this lag? For one thing, the fall of the principalities had not been due to the rise of new social forces, and did not by any means put an end to feudal relations and tribalism. Rather, the system of Kurdish principalities was overthrown and replaced by two centralizing although loosely integrated imperial regimes in Istanbul and Tehran. The vacant leadership of the princes was filled by the sheikhs, notables and remnants of princely families who retained property and influence.
These are the elements that continued to shape the nationalist struggle until the mid-twentieth century. In spite of the diversity of revolts in the first part of the century, their struggle was for a purely nationalist agenda aiming to replace foreign rule by a native rule that would keep traditional structures intact. Democratic rule, the demands of the peasantry for land and water, the hopes of urban masses for a decent life and the freedom of women were ignored. Militarily, the village and the mountains were the main sites of armed resistance, and the leadership tended to rely on outside powers rather than on a strategy of social transformation of their own societies. When opportunistic outside support withdrew, they gave up the struggle.
The first organizational break with feudal and tribal politics occurred in 1942, with the formation of the Society for the Revival of Kurdistan (known as Komalay J. K. or Komala, the Kurdish word for society or league) in Mahabad, Iran. Its leadership and membership were largely drawn from the urban bourgeoisie, large and small, educated youth, and nationalist-minded members of the clergy and landed aristocracy.
Komala became the Kurdistan Democratic Party in 1945 in order to establish an autonomous republic in part of the area then in the Soviet sphere of influence. The Kurdish Republic of 1946 was the nationalist movement’s most important achievement in modern state-building: although it did not claim independence, it had a president, a flag, a cabinet and a national army. Kurdish was the official language. It was ruled by a party whose leaders were drawn mostly from the ranks of the urban petty bourgeoisie, and which showed respect for the rights of minorities and certain rights of women. Although formed within the borders of the Iranian state, hundreds of Iraqi Kurds took an active part in the military and civil administration, including Mustafa Barzani, who became a prominent military leader. The national anthem was a poem composed by a Kurd from Iraq.
The US and Britain viewed the Kurdish and Azerbaijan republics as extensions of Soviet influence, and supported the Shah’s military campaign against them. Soviet troops withdrew from Iran in May 1946, and seven months later Iranian forces forcibly suppressed both autonomous republics. Kurds throughout the world still celebrate duy rebendan (January 22), the foundation date of the republic; its anthem has been adopted as the national anthem; portraits of Qazi Mohammad, the head of the republic, today decorate public and private spaces in areas controlled by the Regional Government of Kurdistan in Iraq.
Following the fall of the Kurdish republic, Kurdish Democratic Parties formed in Iraq and later in Syria and Turkey. The majority of leaders and activists were from the modern intelligentsia, but included anyone who was committed to nationalist aspirations. Each party aimed at achieving autonomy for its respective part of Kurdistan and democracy for the country of which they were part. This was due both to political expediency and to the influence of communist parties in the opposition movements of Iran, Iraq and Syria.
The 1950s were years of major political upheaval in the Middle East. In Kurdistan, feudal relations of production suffered major setbacks, largely due to peasant uprisings and later to land reforms initiated by the central governments. A visible change in Kurdish society in this period was the rise of the urban population due to the land reforms and the wars in the countryside. Newly freed peasants moved into Kurdish cities, where the lack of industrial enterprises seriously hindered their transformation into wage laborers. While some rural migrants engaged in seasonal or temporary construction work (contractual or wage labor), others ended up in street vending activities. Some migrants maintained their village ties by working in towns while continuing to farm for family consumption.
The differentiation and specialization in urban economies introduced new social strata. A small Kurdish working class formed in the oil industry, construction and a few factories. Small workshops required auto mechanics, electricians, printers, mechanics, plumbers and painters, while services and transport employed many others. A modern bourgeoisie emerged, comprising mainly professionals rather than entrepreneurs -- doctors, nurses, engineers, teachers, bank managers, lawyers and journalists. Migrant labor -- male and female -- traveled as far as Ankara, Baghdad, Istanbul, Tehran, Isfahan and Europe. The traditional intelligentsia, mainly ulama and educated landed notables, was displaced by a growing modern intelligentsia. Another feature of changing social relations was the increasing access of urban women to education, and their participation in social, economic, political and cultural life outside their homes.
These transformations left their impact on the nationalist movement, expanding its social bases and increasing political, ideological and organizational tension. The urban intelligentsia eventually made their presence felt in the countryside, the traditional domain of the landed aristocracy -- this time not as nationalists who sought protection but rather as political and military leaders. This marked the beginning of a bitter struggle within the autonomist movement.
Conflict between old and new broke out in early 1964 in the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iraq. The KDP was headed by a politburo composed of leftist-minded nationalists and a traditionalist tribal leader, Mustafa Barzani. He had a reputation for courageous struggle against the Iraqi state, had been a military leader in the 1946 Kurdish Republic, and spent 11 years of exile in the Soviet Union. Factions of the landed notables, threatened by Baghdad’s land reform and other radical measures, supported the autonomist movement, but were apprehensive about the radical politics of the politburo. They supported Barzani, who cared little for party organization or peasants’ unions.
The conflict erupted when Barzani, without the knowledge of the politburo, signed what members considered to be a humiliating deal with a weak Iraqi government. The conflict was not over tactics only, but rather over the question of democracy, the role of party organization, and the social component of the movement. But while modernists maneuvered to contest Barzani’s abuse of power, he quickly mobilized peshmerga (guerrilla) forces and replaced the modernists with a loyal politburo. Unprepared for what they called a coup d’etat, the modernists lost the initiative and took refuge in Iran.
Between 1964 and 1975, the reformists failed to achieve hegemony in the movement, in spite of considerable support especially in urban areas. In 1966, they entered an alliance with Baghdad against Barzani. Following the 1968 Baath takeover, Baghdad and Barzani agreed in 1970 on an autonomy plan to be implemented within four years. The modernists again joined the Barzani camp, although a group who described themselves as Marxist-Leninist came together with urban intelligentsia to form an underground organization that later took the name of the Kurdistan Toilers’ League (KTL, or Komala).
Baghdad stalled on implementing autonomy, making Barzani increasingly receptive to US, Israeli and Iranian offers of support should the KDP take up arms again. In 1974, Baghdad unilaterally decreed a Kurdish autonomous region on its terms and launched a military offensive. When Tehran and Washington abruptly terminated support for the KDP in March 1975, following an agreement between Baghdad and Tehran, Barzani announced the collapse of the armed struggle. In the absence of any plans for retreat, thousands of peshmerga surrendered to Iraqi forces, while 100,000 to 200,000 peshmerga and their families and supporters fled, mostly into Iran.
The KTL and other leftists had long maintained that the KDP, with its traditional structure and social base and autocratic leadership, could not successfully lead a campaign for Kurdish self-determination. Together with Jalal Talabani, a leading Barzani critic within the KDP politburo, they formed the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in June 1975 and resumed armed struggle inside Iraqi Kurdistan. Their success motivated Iran and Turkey to encourage the remnants of the Barzani leadership to resume guerrilla activities in Iraq as well. The KDP had its main strength in the Dohuk governorate (Badinan region), while the PUK had the upper hand in the governorates of Erbil, Kirkuk and Suleimaniya, which covers more than 75 percent of the Iraqi Kurdish population. (Kurds in this latter region speak a dialect called Sorani, which is also spoken by most Kurds in Iran; Kurds in Badinan speak Kurmanji, which is also spoken by most Kurds in Turkey.)
The period after 1975 was one of heavy repression. Iraqi forces destroyed hundreds of villages in order to create a “security belt” along the borders with Iran, Turkey and Syria, and resettled the inhabitants in camps in southern and less mountainous areas. Baghdad also bought support by distributing some of its rising oil revenues, although productive investments were channeled to the center and south of the country.
With the outbreak of the Iraq-Iran war in September 1980, both regimes tried to use the Kurds against each other. Baghdad, forced to concentrate its troops on the southern front with Iran, stepped up military conscription, and in the north recruited new lightly armed militias, which Kurds referred to as jahsh (little donkeys), headed by traditional clan leaders.
Differences of ideology and political practice as well as tactics produced periods of heavy clashes between the PUK and the KDP. The two came together, at Tehran’s urging, as the Kurdistan Front in July 1987, just prior to Baghdad’s genocidal Anfal offensive.
By 1987, as Iraq began to gain militarily in its long war with Iran, it moved to impose a “final solution” in the Kurdish region. ‘Ali Hasan al-Majid, a cousin of Saddam Hussein, took over as head of the Baath Party’s Northern Bureau, with full authority over state and party resources in that region. Baghdad progressively transferred infantry and armored units from the southern front to the north where, together with tens of thousands of jahsh militiamen, they carried out the Anfal campaign in eight stages from February to September 1988.
In early March 1991, following Iraq’s defeat by the US-led coalition, popular uprisings erupted first in the south of Iraq and then in the Kurdish cities, towns and complexes. The PUK and KDP quickly moved to take control. They declared a general amnesty, inviting the jahsh commanders to join, and in less than three weeks took over virtually all of Kurdistan. In the weeks that followed, though, Iraqi forces retook much of this territory. After millions of Kurds fled to the mountains bordering Turkey and Iran, Western forces intervened to set up a small “safe haven” zone around Dohuk and Zakho, in the Badinan region dominated by the KDP, and, subsequently, a “no-fly zone” above the thirty-sixth parallel.
The KTL, despite its formative role in the PUK, was overshadowed by the personality and influence of Talabani. After the fall of the Soviet Union, and then the formation of the Regional Government of Iraqi Kurdistan in 1992, the KTL dissolved itself into the PUK. Today the KDP and PUK run the government jointly, with small radical and communist groups and newer Islamist groups on the margins.
The Movement in Iran
The 1961-1975 struggle in Iraq overshadowed the Kurdish movements in Iran and Turkey. Although the armed resistance in Iraq initially contributed to the revival of the KDP in Iran (KDPI), Barzani argued that Kurds in Iran should delay their struggle until the KDP had achieved meaningful autonomy in Iraq. In exchange for limited support by Tehran, he ordered those Kurdish activists from Iran who had escaped into Iraqi Kurdistan to stop anti-Iranian activism. One faction followed Barzani, but a group of activists split to form the KDPI/Revolutionary Committee. The Iranian army was able to crush their resistance, helped when Barzani closed the borders. The rest of the KDPI leadership remained in Baghdad and Europe until the Pahlavi monarchy was on the verge of collapse in late 1978.
During their absence, Kurdish society and politics had changed. In 1969, a group of radical intellectuals came together as the Revolutionary Organization of Toilers of Kurdistan, better known as Komala, similar to and helped by the KTL in Iraq. Komala, opposing both pro-Soviet tendencies and the urban guerrilla emphasis of some Iranian revolutionary groups, worked to form peasant unions after the Islamist revolution and acquired much popular support among Kurdish peasants and youth.
As in Iraq, organizational conflict reflected the emergence of new social forces and radical perspectives in the nationalist movement. The KDPI denounced Komala’s activities to organize the peasantry and recruit women, arguing that issues of class struggle should await the achievement of autonomy. The KDPI began armed assaults on the leftist groups as early as 1980, and in 1984 launched a confrontation against Komala that continued for several years and took a heavy toll on both sides. The KDPI has since split, weakened by the assassination of two general secretaries.
Unlike Iraq, where the KTL eventually dissolved into the modernist front, Komala has maintained itself as an alternative to KDPI with its call for a socialist Iran in which Kurdish rights to self-determination will be honored. However, much like KTL, Komala has not been able to liberate itself from the burden of traditionalism, or to turn the nationalist movement into a social revolution or a people’s war. Since 1984, the leadership and much of the organization of both parties has been based in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Although both Komala and KDPI formally demand autonomy within Iran, an increasing number of Kurds in Iran and Iraq are arguing more openly in favor of independence, pointing to the failure of negotiations, and numerous deals between the Kurds and various central governments, government associations of Kurdish leaders, and changing international relations.
The Movement in Turkey
Turkey’s Kemalist regime was intent on building a Western-type secular nation-state based on Turkish national, linguistic and cultural identity. The Kurdish response was a series of revolts throughout the 1920s and 1930s led by a combination of landlords, tribal chiefs, sheikhs and urban-based intellectuals. By 1939, the last of these was brutally repressed, leading many to believe that the Kurdish “problem” had been solved. Hundreds of thousands of Kurds were forcibly deported to western Turkey.
By the early 1960s, however, nationalist struggle resumed, encouraged by the upsurge of Kurdish nationalism in Iraq and led by younger Kurdish intelligentsia both in Kurdistan and in Istanbul, Ankara and other Turkish cities, which by then had sizable Kurdish, populations. The political spectrum and agendas, while diverse, were influenced, as in Iraq and Iran, by leftist and communist formations.
The period between the military coups of 1960 and 1980 is characterized by recurrent crises within the Turkish state, cycles of repression, and continuing proliferation of Kurdish political and cultural groups in Kurdistan, in Turkish cities, and among Kurdish workers in Germany. Unlike Iraqi Kurdistan, in Turkey most Kurdish organizations in the 1970s espoused socialism. The military regime following the 1980 coup was able to suppress most of these organizations.
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party, better known by its Kurdish initials, PKK, survived the repression following the 1980 coup, and launched its first attacks against Turkish military targets in 1984. The PKK is distinguished from other Kurdish political parties by its social base, which includes a sizable portion of workers and peasants. It advocates both socialism and independence for greater Kurdistan, and puts a priority on armed struggle. In the past, it has avoided cooperation with other Kurdish political organizations. The PKK has been open to women’s participation, and now claims to have thousands of women in its ranks. Although it has benefited from some Syrian aid, it has effectively relied on the organized support of the Kurds in Kurdistan and in the diaspora in Turkey and abroad. While the PKK is not the only Kurdish political organization in Turkey, its ability to sustain a campaign of armed struggle against the well-armed Turkish army has won it a leading position and popular support in both urban and rural Kurdish areas, as well as in the Kurdish diaspora.
It is difficult to reach a firm assessment concerning the prospects for the Kurdish movement. The present circumstances -- the survival of the PKK-led movement in Turkey against extraordinary Turkish state repression, and the existence in Iraq of a Western-protected Regional Government -- are unprecedented. Yet the obstacles confronting a political resolution of the “Kurdish problem” are no less daunting than before. In Turkey, the state has launched the most recent of its “final offensives” designed to crush the PKK. The scale of repression and devastation has been awesome. Turkish human rights organizations report that many hundreds of villages -- some estimates go as high as 900 or so -- have been “depopulated” and many razed to the ground since the beginning of 1993. Scores of journalists and human rights activists have been abducted and tortured, killed or “disappeared.” The ability of the PKK to survive to this point, and to sustain itself largely on the support of Turkey’s Kurds rather than outside powers, indicates that its claim to represent a new kind of leadership may be well-founded.
Unlike in Iran and Iraq, where the movement is led by rival parties, the independence movement in Turkey is led by a single organization, one that can boast leading the longest uninterrupted armed resistance in modern Kurdish history. Also, while the Kurdish parties of Iran and Iraq have not been able to undermine the oil-based financial and economic power of those states, the PKK has been able to strike at Turkey’s economy, particularly the vulnerable tourist industry. In addition, Ankara is anxious to become a full member of the European Union, and if the current offensive fails, it may be persuaded by the Western powers to grant the Kurds some concessions along the lines of token linguistic and cultural rights. But any policy that falls short of genuine autonomous rule is likely to fail. Although the PKK has indicated it is willing to negotiate on the basis of autonomy, Ankara remains determined to crush it.
In Iraq, many Kurds view the Regional Government of Kurdistan, with its elected parliament and authority over law enforcement units, as an edifice of genuine autonomy. The experience of the Regional Government is important; elections and the relative freedom of political expression and association have been politically invigorating. Many Kurds insist that they prefer the excruciating economic deprivations they must endure now to any return to rule under Saddam Hussein.
This state-building experiment, though, is threatened not only by external foes -- including Tehran, Ankara, Baghdad and Damascus -- but also by internal conflict. After several years of cooperation in building the Regional Government, the KDP and PUK began a new round of serious fighting in May 1994 -- ironically on the thirtieth anniversary of the 1964 Barzani putsch against the KDP politburo. As of the end of May, interventions by Kurdish government officials and by the Iraqi National Congress (the Iraqi opposition front of which the two Kurdish parties are the largest and militarily most significant part) had been unable to halt the killing. Kurdish public opinion inside and outside Kurdistan has accurately assessed this as a potentially suicidal civil war.
It must be emphasized, as this essay has tried to do, that this conflict, much like that in South Africa between the African National Congress and Inkatha, is rooted in the persistence of traditional regionally based power in the face of a rapidly changing sociopolitical map. In Kurdistan, while the Regional Government confronts economic blockade and political boycott by neighboring states, the two major parties have themselves weakened it by dividing government offices into their respective spheres of influence. Popular outrage has escalated in Kurdish cities as the two sides have continued to fight. In late May, women marched from Suleimaniya to Erbil, the seat of the Regional Government, demanding that the killing stop. Like other, earlier mass actions including the uprising of March 1991 in Iraq, this illustrates the growing readiness of urban masses to challenge traditional authoritarian leaderships and to demand accountability from the self-centered political parties.
In Iran, the regime has won the military contest against the autonomist movement, although Komala and the two KDPI factions continue guerrilla operations even in the cities. The Islamist groups organized by Tehran are seen by most Kurds as collaborators. While there are no prospects for autonomous rule under the Islamic Republic, any serious crack in the state structure in Tehran will bring Kurdistan under the control of the Kurdish parties once again.
Kurdish demands for self-rule constitute a democratic pursuit that is incompatible with the despotism and ethnic-based nationalism of the Middle Eastern states. As for many of the democratic and revolutionary movements in the region, Kurdish rights to self-determination continue to be their blind spot. In circumstances of uneven political and economic development, Kurdistan has offered valuable opportunities as a base for liberation that goes beyond Kurdistan. That these opportunities have not been seized demonstrates the weaknesses of these movements as well as the problems of Kurdish nationalism.
Towns and cities have been a permanent feature of Kurdish life. In the mid-seventeenth century, Bidlis had a population of about 26,000 with some 1,200 shops and workshops, five madrasas and 70 maktabs, and a sizable group of ulama. Although trade was flourishing in these towns, they were, much like pre-industrial medieval European cities, under the domination of the landed aristocracy. Ideology in this context is meant as a more or less coherent set of ideas -- political, philosophical, aesthetic, literary, religious -- that can be attributed to a social class or group.
Although sources ignore the role of lower classes in history, we know, from the earliest recordings of popular ballads in late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, that the peasantry was conscious of the question of state power. See Amir Hassanpour, Nationalism and Language in Kurdistan, 1918-1985 (San Francisco: Mellen Research University Press, 1992), p. 56.
See articles “Milla” and “Millet” in The Encyclopedia of Islam, vol. 7 (1990), pp. 61-64.
For references to the works of Khani and Koyi, see Hassanpour, pp. 66-99.
“Modernist” refers here to a political agenda calling for an end to feudalist and tribal relations, modern education, economic development and political freedoms. This trend, first recorded in Koyi’s poetry in the late nineteenth century, was radicalized in the 1940s and 1950s under the influence of the Communist movement.
Later formations in Iran and Iraq also had the word for “league” in their names and also became known as Komala. They have no organizational link with the Komalay J. K.
Britain and the Soviet Union entered a tripartite agreement in 1941 with Iran by which their forces occupied the southern and northern parts of Iran respectively for the duration of World War II. The primary objective of Soviet support for the Kurdish and Azerbaijan republics of 1946 was the security of its southern borders, and Moscow chose to accommodate Tehran rather than encourage Kurdish autonomy or independence. For a brief survey of the Kurdish Republic, see Amir Hassanpour, “The Nationalist Movements in Azerbaijan and Kurdistan, 1941-46,” in John Foran, ed., A Century of Revolution: Perspectives on Social Movements in Iran (University of Minnesota Press, forthcoming).
According to Hanna Batatu, the 1948 revolt in ‘Arbat village was “the first uprising of its kind in the Iraqi countryside -- an uprising against the landed sheikh instead of under his leadership -- and in this sense set the tone for the fervid, if intermittent, agrarian unrest of the 1950s. The Old Social Classes and the Revolutionary Movements in Iraq (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1982), p. 614.
The scope of capitalist development in Kurdistan has been debated among communist organizations in Iran and Turkey but, interestingly, not in Iraq.
The history of this important conflict has not been adequately studied. According to a contemporary account, Barzani represented “historically and objectively the last traces of tribal and patriarchal mentality in the very bosom of the Kurdish nationalist movement.” Serge Gantner, “Le mouvement national kurde,” Orient 32/33 (1964/1965), p. 101. The same issue includes the KDP politburo’s critique of the deal.
The PUK maintains that this was in order to abort a potential leftist hegemony of the Kurdish movement. See the KTL organ Komele 6 (Fall 1979), pp. 21-22.
At the KDP’s Eleventh Congress in 1993, some groups and individuals who had split after its collapse in 1975 rejoined the party, which renamed itself KDP United.
A Party for Independence of Kurdistan (Parti Serbexoyi Kurdistan) was formed in 1990 in the diaspora. | <urn:uuid:a18209fc-12c9-4b17-9a8d-740a6861725e> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.merip.org/mer/mer189/kurdish-experience | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280483.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00291-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961754 | 6,739 | 2.984375 | 3 |
- Case report
- Open Access
Intracardiac metastasis from known cervical cancer: a case report and literature review
World Journal of Surgical Oncology volume 11, Article number: 107 (2013)
Cardiac metastasis from known cervical cancer is rare. Even through a routine check-up, this type of metastasis can present as pulmonary emboli. Suspicion of this diagnosis in an oncology patient with complicating pulmonary emboli but no evidence of deep vein thrombosis is important, especially in cervical cancer patients with extensive pelvic lymph node metastasis and vascular invasion of a primary tumor. Early recognition may aid in improving the prognosis. We present a case of intracardiac metastasis arising from a squamous carcinoma of the cervix in a patient with pulmonary tumor emboli and review other cases from the literature.
Metastatic disease of the heart is rare. The incidence quoted in the current literature, based on autopsy, is approximately 1.23% . The low incidence of cardiac metastasis is classically attributed to a combination of factors: continuous myocardial contraction, metabolic particularities of striated cardiac muscle, rapid flow of blood through the heart and lymph flow away from the heart .
Classically, there are four pathways of cardiac involvement: (1) retrograde lymphatic spread, (2) direct extension from the adjacent viscera, (3) hematogenous spread, and (4) transvenous extension through the vena cava into the right side chambers.
Myocardial involvement is much less common. It is usually the result of hematogenous spread, and is associated with widespread disseminated disease. Intracavitary, endocardial, or valvular metastatic deposits, such as the one described in our case, occur in less than 6% of cases . Of particular interest, approximately 80% of this type of metastasis occurs in the right chambers and only rarely in the left chambers. This is attributed to the filtering role of the pulmonary circulation and the slower flow in the right chambers . Clinical diagnosis of cardiac metastases is difficult and may go unrecognized until autopsy.
We report a rare case of human papillomavirus (HPV)-detected metastatic intracardiac mass from known cervical cancer. The clinical, radiological and histological features are described. Simultaneously, the literature for all reports of these rare intracardiac metastases is reviewed.
A 32-year-old woman diagnosed in 2009 with International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage IIA2 cervical cancer(squamous cell carcinoma), presented to our hospital emergency room with exertional dyspnea lasting four days. The patient had previously received multimodality treatment from a multidisciplinary oncology group, which, because the patient was young and wanted to preserve ovarian function, included the following treatment: radical hysterectomy along with ovarian transposition and pelvic and para-aortic lymph node dissection and concurrent chemoradiation with six cycles of weekly cisplatin, including tomotherapy in pelvic and para-aortic lymph node area.
Thirteen months after completion of adjuvant treatment, 18-fludeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography (18-FDG PET-CT) revealed no evidence of recurrence. However, just two months later, she was examined on admission with chest CT (Figure 1A), which reported a finding of thromboemboli in several segmental branches of the right middle and lower lobe pulmonary arteries and in left lower lobe posterior basal segment arteries. Therefore, she was anticoagulated with warfarin and enoxaparin, a low-molecular-weight heparin. However, unfortunately, the patient still showed clinical deterioration with increasing shortness of breath and developed signs of rightheart strain, suggestive of further episodes of pulmonary embolism.
For evaluation of the embolic source, we performed echocardiography and deep vein thrombosis three-dimensional CT (DVT 3D CT) angiography. The examinations revealed cardiac masses occupying the right ventricle and right atrium and no evidence of deep vein thrombus (Figure 1B).
In view of the threatened outflow obstruction caused by the right ventricular mass, the patient underwent an open excision of the intracardiac mass (Figure 2A). At the opening of the right atrium, whitish fungating, friable masses were seen arising from the free wall of the right atrium, extending through the tricuspid valve into the right ventricle. The masses were also seen arising from the free wall of the right ventricle through the opened tricuspid valve and occupied 90% of the right ventricular lumen, nearly resulting in right ventricle outflow tract obstruction. The masses were partially sucked out through suction tubes. The remnants of the masses were excised and collected. They were originally torn to pieces because the cardiac mass was so friable. Therefore, we fitted them together into one (Figure 2B).
The histopathology of the surgical specimen revealed this to be a cardiac metastasis from known cervical squamous cell carcinoma (Figure 3A). Additional HPV DNA genotyping of the metastatic lesion revealed HPV-16 consistent with the primary lesion. Cardiac metastasis should be the cause of the pulmonary embolic events and right heart failure that she had suffered.
After the patient’s condition was stable, she was transferred to a medical oncologist for recurrence management. She underwent carboplatin with paclitaxel chemotherapy for palliative treatment at the medical oncology department. On a follow-up chest CT and echocardiogram after three cycles of the chemotherapy, cardiac mass and pulmonary thromboemboli were no longer seen. The patient was supposed to undergo six more cycles of the chemotherapy. She tolerated the chemotherapy well, but during the last month of her life, the recurrent cancer mass surrounding the celiac axis caused extensive hepatobiliary obstruction. The cancer mass in her heart was still regressed. She died of cachexia one year and four weeks from diagnosis of cardiac metastasis.
The clinical presentation may include nonspecific symptoms, such as chest pain, weight loss, malaise, or more characteristic symptoms, such as congestive cardiac failure secondary to intracardiac obstructions, valvular involvement, or pericardial effusions, arrhythmias due to involvement of the conduction system, or, as in our case, embolic events. Thus, metastases should be suspected in oncology patients if they develop inexplicable heart failure, neurological deficits, or recurrent pulmonary emboli, particularly when no peripheral source for the emboli can be identified.
Vascular invasion of primary cervical cancer is associated with hematogenous spread of cervical cancer (Figure 3B).
In our study, pathologic findings of primary cervical cancer showed vein and lymphatic invasion of squamous cell carcinoma with moderate differentiation. The authors suggest that the carcinoma of the cervix metastasized along the inferior vena cava to the heart, where it settled as an intracardiac obstructive mass. Pulmonary tumor emboli might decrease the right cardiac blood flow, resulting in a more hospitable environment for tumor cell adherence to the endocardial wall .
We searched PubMed between 1997 and 2011 and found nine articles, including the current case, which presented a clinical course and treatment of cardiac metastasis from known cervical cancer (Table 1) [6–12]. The average age of patients in these cases was 49.3 years old, the current case had the youngest patient who was 32 years old. While other cases didnot show any information about pathologic findings, our case showed identification of HPV DNA type 16 consistent with the primary tumor at the metastatic site. Yong Seok et al. suggested HPV status in the sentinel lymph node might be a prognostic factor in cervical cancer . Yutaka et al. suggested that tumor-free, HPV DNA-positive metastatic sites should be monitored as being at high risk of relapse .
The role of HPV infection with a distant metastatic lesion is controversial. In a recent study, molecular analysis for HPV detection was performed in both uterine cervical cancer and right atrial cancer tissues. Both squamous cell carcinomas showed positivity for HPV, especially type 16. Based on this result, the tumor in the right atrium favors a metastatic tumor from the uterine cervix.
To our knowledge and based on our literature search, an HPV-detected intracardiac mass has never been reported to be associated with recurrence of known cervical cancer.
Cardiac metastasis from cervical cancer is very rare and difficult to diagnosis. It causes acute severe heart failure,a life-threatening condition for which there is currently no standard treatment. After our review of the clinical courses of cardiac metastasis from cervical cancer, we suggest that patients with a high risk of recurrence must be carefully evaluated using echocardiography for cardiac metastasis, even if there are no symptoms.
Further studies may reveal the risk and aggravating factors for cardiac metastasis from cervical cancer, and may provide additional evidence to support our suggestion.
Written informed consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this case report and any accompanying images. A copy of the written consent is available for review by the Editor-in-Chief of this journal.
Grigsby PW: The prognostic value of PET and PET/CT in cervical cancer. Cancer Imaging. 2008, 8: 146-155. 10.1102/1470-7330.2008.0022.
Jann H, Wertenbruch T, Pape U, Ozcelik C, Denecke T, Mehl S, Wiedenmann B, Pavel M: A matter of the heart: myocardial metastases in neuroendocrine tumors. Horm Metab Res. 2010, 42: 967-976. 10.1055/s-0030-1267204.
Mukai K, Shinkai T, Tominaga K, Shimosato Y: The incidence of secondary tumors of the heart and pericardium: a 10-year study. Jpn J Clin Oncol. 1988, 18: 195-201.
Lam KY, Dickens P, Chan AC: Tumors of the heart. A 20-year experience with a review of 12,485 consecutive autopsies. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 1993, 117: 1027-1031.
Sergi C, Magener A, Ehemann V, De Villiers EM, Sinn HP: Stage IIa cervix carcinoma with metastasis to the heart: report of a case with immunohistochemistry, flow cytometry, and virology findings. Gynecol Oncol. 2000, 76: 133-138. 10.1006/gyno.1999.5650.
Ando K, Kashihara K, Harada M, Kasem I, Nishitani H, Sano N, Ohtani T: Carcinoma of the uterine cervix with myocardial metastasis. Gynecol Oncol. 1997, 65: 169-172. 10.1006/gyno.1996.4591.
Lemus JF, Abdulhay G, Sobolewski C, Risch VR: Cardiac metastasis from carcinoma of the cervix: report of two cases. Gynecol Oncol. 1998, 69: 264-268. 10.1006/gyno.1998.5009.
Inamura K, Hayashida A, Kaji Y, Ito H, Hirakawa T, Kobayashi H, Masuda M, Nishida T, Harada M: Recurrence of cervical carcinoma manifesting as cardiac metastasis three years after curative resection. Am J Med Sci. 2004, 328: 167-169. 10.1097/00000441-200409000-00006.
Nakao Y, Yokoyama M, Yasunaga M, Hara K, Nakahashi H, Iwasaka T: Metastatic tumor extending through the inferior vena cava into the right atrium: a case report of carcinoma of the uterine cervix with para-aortic lymph node metastases. Int J Gynecol Cancer. 2006, 16: 914-916. 10.1111/j.1525-1438.2006.00230.x.
Borsaru AD, Lau KK, Solin P: Cardiac metastasis: a cause of recurrent pulmonary emboli. Br J Radiol. 2007, 80: e50-e53. 10.1259/bjr/94870835.
Kim HS, Park N-H, Kang S-B: Rare metastases of recurrent cervical cancer to the pericardium and abdominal muscle. Arch Gynecol Obstet. 2008, 278: 479-482. 10.1007/s00404-008-0602-y.
Miller ES, Hoekstra AV, Hurteau JA, Rodriguez GC: Cardiac metastasis from poorly differentiated carcinoma of the cervix: a case report. J Reprod Med. 2010, 55: 78-80.
Lee YS, Rhim CC, Lee KH, Park JS, Namkoong SE: HPV status in sentinel nodes might be a prognostic factor in cervical cancer. Gynecol Oncol. 2007, 105 (2): 351-357. 10.1016/j.ygyno.2006.12.016.
Nagai Y, Maehama T, Asato T, Kanazawa K: Detection of human papillomavirus DNA in primary and metastatic lesions of carcinoma of the cervix in women from Okinawa, Japan. Am J Clin Oncol. 2001, 24 (2): 160-166. 10.1097/00000421-200104000-00013.
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
SWB contributed mainly to the design, literature review and the writing of the work. JSP, the corresponding author who provided the case, planned and approved the written work. STP and EYK helped correct the manuscript. HS performed the cardiac surgery and described the operative finding. SHH performed the palliative chemotherapy on the patient and edited the discussion. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Byun, S.W., Park, S.T., Ki, E.Y. et al. Intracardiac metastasis from known cervical cancer: a case report and literature review. World J Surg Onc 11, 107 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1186/1477-7819-11-107
- Cardiac carcinoma
- Cervical cancer
- Human papilloma virus
- Pulmonary embolism | <urn:uuid:46e5b99e-8cc6-43bb-abd6-07cf20fc99be> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://wjso.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1477-7819-11-107 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572304.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20220816120802-20220816150802-00479.warc.gz | en | 0.888577 | 3,251 | 1.632813 | 2 |
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Costly updates to your energy bill this April are no joke
12th March 2018
In April there will be some major changes coming into play in the energy industry. Whether you’re affected by all or just one, your business could see a significant cost impact.
New energy efficiency requirements in force
As of 1 April 2018 new Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards, better known as MEES, will come into force. Aiming to improve the energy efficiency of buildings, MEES will make it illegal to grant new leases to properties with an F or G rated Energy Performance Certificate (EPC). There are strict penalties in place for non-compliance, and fines could reach up to £150,000. The impact of fines will be compounded by loss of earnings while non-compliant properties cannot be rented.
Utilitywise are able to assess your current EPC level and help you with energy efficiency projects to increase your rating to a MEES-compliant E or above.
Why is your energy bill increasing?
Your energy bill is set to rise again, as changes to distribution charges will take effect in April.
The introduction of DCP161 and a regulatory change, DCP228, will bring price increases to businesses:
- DCP161 has been introduced by Ofgem. Its purpose is to ensure that businesses with half hourly (HH) supplies that exceed their assigned available capacity, pay more.
- DCP228 will revise how DUoS (Distribution Use of System) charges are calculated, so they accurately reflect the costs incurred by network operators during peak and non-peak periods.
These two charges are set to further increase the already spiralling non-commodity cost (NCC) element of your energy bill, which is a mix of transmission, distribution, and other regulated charges you pay on top of the wholesale cost of energy.
In less than three years’ time, these extra charges will account for the largest portion of your energy bill at 66%.
Chamber Energy Solutions can help you control your costs. It’s critical that you take control of these soaring costs, and we recently hosted a webinar – The Rise of NCC’s – to show you how. To catch up on our webinar, click here to listen or call 0333 000 0132 or email firstname.lastname@example.org. | <urn:uuid:e8689565-fb25-4cc4-a66b-48e6d84be48c> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://melcc.org.uk/chamber-news/costly-updates-to-your-energy-bill-this-april-are-no-joke/242/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573760.75/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819191655-20220819221655-00667.warc.gz | en | 0.939613 | 505 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Institutes offer certifications for those who have successfully finished a course in IT Management. The certificates given are recognized globally and sometimes worldwide. Certification given is open for all levels specifically in the management of IT projects. The certificate awarded is used as a public credential to recognize the competency and the credibility of the person in the management field; it also validates the standard of the knowledge and the skill acquired by an individual, which eventually sets apart the person from his colleagues. The given certificate indicates the achievement of the individual and his commitment to his chosen profession. It can be used as a career placement, advance to another level of certification, and recognition coming from distinguished professionals.
Certificates are given after taking management exams. The exams are given by the institute where the person took the course and it is scheduled depending on the desired date of testing. Taking programs are perfect choices for certifying managers upon completion of their training. Managers that are already certified are responsible for the promotion of their own certification. A kit is sometimes provided to them by the institute to help them obtain the most of what they can get from the certification. Certified professionals require to be recertified at a certain period to keep or upgrade the status of their current certification.
Make sure to choose the right institute to award the person with the certificate. It must be sponsored by educational institutes and agencies that are recognized globally or worldwide. | <urn:uuid:4964bece-175b-42bb-91ca-7d0e77fd1944> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://theartofservice.com/certification-of-projects-in-it-management.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281746.82/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00285-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97276 | 282 | 2.078125 | 2 |
While a lot of people ignore those little pimples that come up, some of them turn out to be more than expected. Skin cancer is a very real issue and some of the smallest issues can end up being deadly.
Jess Pasco, an Australian woman in her 30s had a pimple come up and instead of ignoring it she went with her gut and had it checked out. This harmless pimple turned out to be a form of cancer known as Basel Cell Carcinoma. As someone who had faced this kind of thing before she knew that getting small things like this checked out was very important.
“A year earlier, I wouldn’t have known what you’re meant to look for.”
“Like most people, I thought skin cancer was just a black mole. If I wasn’t conscious like I am now, I wouldn’t have thought anything of it and would’ve ignored it.”
“When you have a skin cancer on your face, cutting out isn’t really preferable.”
“It can leave a pretty big scar. So I was given this cream for eight weeks that basically gets your immune system to attack the cancer.“
“I had a severe reaction. It was a massive sore – much bigger than the cancer itself. It was really red, painful and pus-filled. I had it for probably four months.”
You see, not too long ago (within a year) Pasco had went to her normal doctor for a check-up and mentioned a freckle to him that had not been there before. That freckle had grown while she was still in Uni and literally changed colors all on its own. The spot on her leg turned out to be cancerous and so when the spot on her face came up she knew that she should not ignore it.
She was fortunate both times to catch things before they got to the point where they were going to spread but not everyone ends up as lucky. Skin cancer is most often spotted by the presence of abnormal growths on the skin. There are three major types of skin cancer those three being basal cell carcinoma, melanoma, and squamous cell carcinoma.
When it comes to preventing these kinds of things you need to reduce your risks by reducing your exposure to UV radiation and checking your skin frequently. The sooner you notice abnormal growths and have them checked out the better your chances are of avoiding a serious situation. Even the most inconspicuous things are worth looking into.
The more aware you are the better. When it comes to your health no stones need to go unturned.
(Image Via: Jess Pasco/NEWS.AU) | <urn:uuid:1f90010d-c625-4b2a-a617-fbe26786b382> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://awarenessact.com/womans-stark-warning-after-finding-out-that-the-innocent-pimple-was-deadly-cancer/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572192.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20220815145459-20220815175459-00076.warc.gz | en | 0.986164 | 562 | 2.234375 | 2 |
1st Grade Makes Olive Oil
As part of our study and celebration of Hanukkah, our first graders participated in an olive oil-making demonstration. Students donned the costumes of Matthathias (the High Priest from the Temple) and those of a Syrian/Greek soldier. Together, the story of Hanukkah was reviewed. As they worked to operate an olive press, the first graders discovered that it takes many many olives (and alot of effort) to produce a tiny bit of oil. No wonder it should have taken the Maccabees eight long days to gather enough oil to light the giant menorah in the Temple! “Nes gadol haya sham!” (A great miracle happened there!) and the little bit of oil burned for eight days. Here at Krieger Schechter, we had a “Nes katan” (a small miracle), as the olive oil produced by our first graders, burned for just a moment. | <urn:uuid:c2460c58-bd0e-4ec0-a7f0-c282fb9b5aaf> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.ksds.edu/news/1st-grade-makes-olive-oil/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882570879.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20220809003642-20220809033642-00667.warc.gz | en | 0.962641 | 206 | 3.21875 | 3 |
Cold shock response of Salmonella enterica serovar typhimurium; the involvement of the CspA paralogues
Woodall, Katy Anna
MetadataShow full item record
Salmonella enterica sv. typhimurium is a major food-borne pathogen, in part because of its ability to persist and multiply at low temperatures. Adaptation to refrigerated temperatures involves induction of a multigenic cold shock response (CSR); where gene expression is co-ordinately modified, to express cold shock proteins (CSPs). Characterisation of CspA, the major cold shock protein, instigated the identification of other CspA paralogues; which are highly conserved and widespread across species. Six CspA paralogues have previously been identified in S. typhimurium and a csp null strain, lacking all CspA paralogues made. This strain is unable to grow following cold shock, demonstrating that the CspA paralogues play an essential role during low temperature adaptation. The individual CspA paralogues exhibit distinct expression profiles; including expression of CspC and CspE at optimal temperature and CspA and CspB following cold shock. This work investigates the transcriptional changes of S. typhimurium during cold shock and the role of the CspA paralogues under both optimal and cold shock conditions. Using a bacteriophage Mu transposon library (Francis and Gallagher, 1993) this study identifies 7 novel cold induced targets and analyses their native expression levels in SL1344 and the csp null strain during cold shock. This revealed that the regulation of 5 discrete loci including tRNApro2, cpxP and 3 uncharacterised ORFS are mediated by CspA paralogues. In addition, the transcriptional profiles of a highly conserved and essential set of genes encoding known cold shock proteins, NusA, IF2, RbfA, PNPase and CsdA have been characterised. Comparative Northern analysis of SL1344 and the csp null strain has identified a role for CspA paralogues in mediating low temperature induction of three of these genes, through transcription anti-termination. Taken together these results demonstrate that during adaptation to low temperature CspA paralogues regulate expression of genes involved in the translational machinery and metabolic biosynthetic pathways: possibly through a number of transcriptional and post transcriptional processing events. Furthermore this study provides in vivo evidence of the RNA binding activity of the S. typhimurium CspA paralogues. Using fusion proteins, the RNA targets of CspE at 37°C and CspA at 10°C were isolated and analysed. This work identifies 17 direct binding targets for CspE and these indicate that CspE performs a role at optimal growth temperature in regulating components of metabolic (coaA and plsX), translational (EF-Tu, EF-G and IF3) and virulence associated (hha) pathways. Functional redundancy between CspE and CspA was suggested as both paralogues bound 16s rRNA. In light of these findings, the functions of CspA & CspE at optimal and low temperature are discussed. Overall this study has revealed novel information about low temperature adaptation of S. typhimurium, expanding our knowledge of the complexity and importance of the CSR in bacterial pathogens. In addition this work enhances our comprehension of the roles of the CspA paralogues at both optimal and low temperature. | <urn:uuid:3ecc89a2-c5be-4d6b-967d-b859864d19eb> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.era.lib.ed.ac.uk/handle/1842/5652 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560285001.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095125-00299-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.893027 | 733 | 2.265625 | 2 |
Brussels, 15 June 2010
Car type-approvals and electrical vehicle safety
The European Commission proposed today to ensure that electric cars placed on the European market are safe and that consumers are protected against direct contacts with parts of the car under voltage. These measures will speed up the introduction of safe electric cars on European roads which have strong potential for reducing CO2 emissions. The Commission also proposed today to drastically reduce European legislation on car type approval by ending the duality between EC Directives and UNECE Regulations.
Vice-President Antonio Tajani, responsible for Industry and Entrepreneurship said: "Electrical vehicles are one of the most promising technologies for greener transport. Knowing that these will be generally available to consumers in the very near future we need to ensure that they are safe to use. These proposals aim at doing just that. Meanwhile I am pleased that we are reducing red-tape by eliminating what in reality is a double-burden for industry when it comes to car type approval.”
Making electric cars safe
Electric power trains operate at high voltage levels (500 Volts). The aim of the European Commission’s proposal published today is to ensure that all electric vehicles marketed in Europe are constructed according to a common safety standard and thereby protecting vehicle users from getting into contact with high voltage parts of the vehicle.
This proposal incorporates into European law Regulation No. 100 of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe ((UNECE)) on the approval of battery electric vehicles and their construction and safety requirements. The proposal will now be transmitted to the Member States.
Harmonised test requirements on electric safety will simplify the approval of electric vehicles as it will replace divergent approval practices of some EU Member States and hence, result in reducing the administrative burden for manufacturers.
The proposal will also help European car manufacturer to sell their electric cars in third countries, which are contracting parties to the UNECE Agreement of 1958 (such as Ja pan).
Proposal to cut double legislation on the automotive sector
The European Commission proposal to drastically simplify and reduce European legislation will incorporate directly into European law 61 different Regulations of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) for the type-approval of vehicles. It will end the duality between EC Directives and UNECE Regulations. The proposal will now be transmitted to the Member States for approval.
Hence, type-approval issued under the UNECE Regulations will be considered as EC type-approval. Duplication not only in technical requirements but also in certification and administrative procedures will be avoided to the benefit of both industry and national authorities.
In addition, this proposal will also improve market access for European car manufacturers in those third countries which are contracting parties to the UNECE Agreement of 1958 and thus boost the competitiveness of European industry.
Under the EC whole vehicle type-approval system, cars manufacturers can obtain approval for a vehicle type in one Member State if it meets the EU technical requirements and then market it EU-wide with no need for further tests.
More information on the Commissions’ automotive policy | <urn:uuid:ea119d4d-0a44-4d34-90b6-b6c1e508d20d> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-10-732_nl.htm?locale=nl | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281574.78/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00017-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934166 | 630 | 2.390625 | 2 |
Message from the Universe: The power of kindness
“To touch someone with kindness is to change someone forever.
Heavy, huh? That’s nothing.
Because for everyone you touch, you also reach everyone they will ever know. And everyone they will ever know. And everyone they will ever know. And so, for the rest of all time, your kindness will be felt, in waves that will spread, long after you move on.
The Universe”©Mike Dooley, http://tut.com
Paying it forward. Many videos have demonstrated the technique on how to pay it forward when someone has done something good to you. It is always better to pay it forward with gratitude vs revenge, so focus on doing more of the good than the bad. When you help someone in need, that same person will want to replicate your kindness, and start looking for people to needs help. It won’t be to just wait around for someone coming to you and requesting help, but taking initiative to go out there and offer your help to someone in need. Paying it forward helps the person in need but it also helps your soul. It is a great feeling to know you’ve changed someone’s life forever, and that person will go out there and do the same for others. With the proper momentum, it will act as the domino effect where more and more people will randomly provide act of kindness to others, without expecting anything in return. Without you realizing, your simple act will change the life of million of people.
It is important to focus your effort of kindness to people who are really in need versus the ones who are there to just take advantage of you. You can spot them everywhere. The key is not to get fooled by their techniques to make you feel like they are the victims and need your help. It may take some trial and error to decipher the psychology behind the ones who just want to take advantage but once you do, it will get easier to track them down. For the rest of the honest humans who genuinely need your help, go out there and help as many people as you can, bring some joy into people’s heart and give kindness to all the ones who needs it the most. Pay it forward everyday of your life as the Universe will pay it back 10 fold.
Dr. Dan Amzallag, PhD | <urn:uuid:7ff89e72-a7d5-4cd7-a5fa-3fe9b2a73e20> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.mymcmedia.org/message-from-the-universe-the-power-of-kindness/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281226.52/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00380-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965604 | 487 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Magical Saint Patrick’s Day: History, Myths, Traditions and FactsCherilyn Ashley
There is mischief in the air! Saint Patrick’s Day soon will be upon us. It doesn’t matter if one is straight-off-the boat or just Irish for the day, here are some fun facts about this day.
History of Day
St. Patrick is known as the patron saint of Ireland, but he was not born there. He was born in Britain in the 4th-century and didn’t arrive in Ireland until he was 16 years old. After he arrived in Ireland, Patrick became interested in Christianity and started sharing his newfound faith with others. St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated on the day Patrick supposedly died.
Myth: Saint Patrick was not a real person. This is false. St. Patrick was a real person, but some of the traditions associated with the holiday are myths.
Myth: Four-leaf clovers were used and promoted by St. Patrick. This is false because according to legend, Saint Patrick used a three-leaf clover when he was teaching about Christianity. A four-leaf clover today is a symbol of good luck.
Myth: St. Patrick chased all the snakes out of Ireland. Snakes are not found in Ireland. The ocean keeps snakes away and many of the animals that are found in Europe and North America are not found in Ireland.
Myth: Green has always been the color associated with St. Patrick’s Day. The color people originally associated with St. Patrick’s Day was blue. Green was not introduced until the 18th-century, when the shamrock became the national symbol. Green is also the color that mythical fairies called leprechauns like to dress in. Fairies, though, before wearing green wore red.
Myth: Corned beef and cabbage is the traditional food served on this day. This is a complete falsehood. Corned beef and cabbage are as Irish as a McDonald’s Shamrock Shake. In Ireland, people would celebrate the feast day with a meal of Irish stew and soda bread, or maybe a meal of pork and potatoes. All these meals would have been inexpensive.
If one does not wear green on St. Patrick’s Day, one gets pinched. This tradition originated with the myth and folklore of the Leprechauns, who like to pinch anyone they can see. Wearing green makes one invisible to the Leprechauns. People today wear green on this day to bring good luck and honor to their Irish ancestry.
St. Patrick’s Day Fun Facts
- There are 450 churches in the United States named after St. Patrick.
- Every year in Chicago they turn the Chicago River green for St. Patrick’s Day, which takes 40 pounds of green dye.
- According to the U.S. Census, 650,000 babies are name Patrick in a year.
- According to WalletHub.com, the value of a Leprechaun’s pot of gold is $1.22 million. This is a pot of gold that has 1,000 gold coins that weigh 1 ounce each.
- 7 million U.S. residents claim to be of Irish descent.
- There are 16 places in the United States named Dublin.
- A crystal bowl of shamrocks is given by the President of Ireland to the President of the United States each St. Patrick’s Day.
Sources: History.com; Wiki How; Quora; National Geographic; Time and date.com | <urn:uuid:b87f379a-b6e8-405b-a557-138c066c7798> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.tutoringexcellence.com/2019/02/27/magical-saint-patricks-day-history-myths-traditions-and-facts/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573533.87/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818215509-20220819005509-00274.warc.gz | en | 0.969806 | 756 | 2.828125 | 3 |
Accession Number : ADA329658
Title : Final Report on High Power Microwave Generator.
Descriptive Note : Final rept. 15 May 93-14 May 97,
Corporate Author : TEXAS TECH UNIV LUBBOCK PULSED POWER LAB
Personal Author(s) : Kristiansen, M. ; Hatfield, L. L. ; Woolverton, Kevin
PDF Url : ADA329658
Report Date : JUL 1997
Pagination or Media Count : 33
Abstract : The purpose of this contract was to build, test and study the coaxial vircator. This work is the continuation of AFOSR Grant No. F49620-93-10203. A study of the efficiency of a coaxial virtual cathode oscillator is presented. The coaxial geometry has many physical parameters that can be changed to alter performance. These parameters include tile placement of an annulus cut in the anode base, the polarity of the system, and the variation of tile applied voltage. The annulus creates a decelerating field for the electrons and tends to keep them in tile right phased region of the virtual cathode. The annulus is varied in width and in position from the center line with the results normalized to the no annulus geometry. The results for a positively and negatively pulsed system, and the results of changing the applied voltage are also given. Comparisons of frequency, efficiency, and particle dynamics of the positively and negatively pulsed systems are given. MAGIC, a 2 l/2 dimensional particle-in-cell code, and SOS a 3 dimensional particle-in cell code, are used to simulate the different geometrics.
Descriptors : *RADAR TRANSMITTERS, *RADIOFREQUENCY GENERATORS, *MICROWAVE OSCILLATORS, HIGH POWER, PHYSICAL PROPERTIES, ELECTRONS, COAXIAL CONFIGURATIONS, RADAR PULSES, DIODES(ELECTRON TUBES).
Subject Categories : Radiofrequency Wave Propagation
Distribution Statement : APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE | <urn:uuid:71e61045-2a1c-47a9-8311-ed8514ea4f6d> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA329658 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280761.39/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00094-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.787033 | 450 | 1.664063 | 2 |
The Italian mystery deepens. Now it seems we're using Enron style special purpose vehicles to move debt off balance sheet to meet EU stability pact requirements:
Italy and the European Union Commission clashed Thursday over controversial accounting practices, another sign of increasing tensions over Europe's strict budget rules.
Like other European countries, Italy has promised to balance its budget by 2003 and has been leveraging state-owned assets to help it reach its goal. Wednesday, the Commission's statistics arm, Eurostat, outlawed this practice, ruling that borrowings secured on future government revenues can no longer be pushed off the national balance sheet.Under the Italian financing program, Rome parked state assets such as real estate and lottery revenues in special-purpose vehicles, which then issued debt. Since the government didn't issue the bonds itself, the debt didn't end up in the national accounts and inflate the deficit.
Source: Yahoo News
Now if Italy had a nicely balanced population structure, then probably none of this would matter. But this isn't the case, so one day this debt is going to make itself felt on balance-sheet, and then this particular bubble is going to burst. Don't say you haven't been warned.
Incidentally, following the story I blogged earlier this week, Italy's Interior Minister has now resigned following his comments that the assasinated government economic adviser was a pain in the neck. I don't really know what the definition of a 'banana republic' really is, but if there was such a thing would the current Italian administration fit the description? | <urn:uuid:452b4705-e6b5-460e-9957-8192115a2954> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://italyeconomicinfo.blogspot.com/2002/11/italys-national-accounting-italian.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281419.3/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00482-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96626 | 315 | 1.53125 | 2 |
An excerpt from a catalogue for the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, 1835.
- Citation Information
- Lyon, Mary, excerpt from “Mount Holyoke Female Seminary,” Digital Public Library of America, http://dp.la/item/0f3e456bb903605792e9e819b5ba3369.
Courtesy of University of Illinois via HathiTrust.
Tips for Students
For this source, consider:
- the author's point of view
- the author's purpose
- historical context | <urn:uuid:6d7a7150-04da-4747-9460-d5ed7d342420> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/women-of-the-antebellum-reform-movement/sources/1076?utf8=%E2%9C%93&tags=colonization-and-settlement-1585-1763 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572021.17/warc/CC-MAIN-20220814083156-20220814113156-00069.warc.gz | en | 0.691388 | 119 | 1.773438 | 2 |
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
What Is It?
MRI uses a powerful magnet, low intensity radio frequency pulses and computer technology to create detailed images of the soft tissues, muscles, nerves and bones in your body. In many instances, it replaces the need for X-rays, hospitalization and exploratory surgery. There are no known side effects of MRI, and it uses no radiation.
The MRI causes your body’s hydrogen atoms to align themselves in such a way as to receive radio signals from the magnetic resonance system. When your body receives these signals, it reacts by sending its own radio signals back to the machine. It is this radio frequency transmitted by your body that is computer-processed and turned into highly detailed images.
There are two types of MRI scanners, high-field and open configuration and Providence is proud to provide both high-field short bore and the area’s only High Field Open technologies. With a high-field MRI, the short bore in which you lie is cylindrical, and the body part to be examined is placed in the center of the magnet. Open configuration MRI systems have no sides to accommodate larger and claustrophobic patients.
In general, there are no special preparations to follow before your exam. Because MRI uses a strong magnetic field, metal objects may interfere with the scan. We ask that you leave your valuables at home. If needed for your convenience, we provide a secure location to store your keys, jewelry and other valuables during the exam. We ask that you wear comfortable, loose-fitting clothing, free of zippers, snaps, etc. You may be asked to change into a hospital gown for image quality and safety reasons.
Please check the following list carefully. All metallic/surgical implants must be assessed for safety before undergoing any MRI procedure. Common implants that may not be safe for MRI procedures include certain makes and models of the following:
- Aneurysm clips in the brain
- Inner ear (cochlear) implants
- Implanted spinal cord stimulator
- Metallic implants
- Metal fragments in one or both eyes
Also, please alert our staff if you:
- Have had anything artificial implanted in your body.
- Have removable dental devices
- Wear a hearing aid(s)
- Have ever been a metal worker
- Are pregnant or think you might be
- Are breastfeeding
- Are diabetic
- Are on dialysis
- Have a kidney disorder
- Have anemia or any diseases that affect red blood cells
If you have any questions about your eligibility to have an MRI scan, consult with your physician. You may also call MRI. MRI staff will be happy to answer your questions & ease your mind regarding concerns you may have.
Certain types of MRI scans require the use of a safe contrast media. This contrast media, which is given during the exam, enhances blood vessels and highlights certain body parts.
During the Exam
While the MRI test is being conducted, you will lie on a table with the body part of interest placed in the center of the magnet. If you are having a high-field MRI, the inside of the magnet bore is cylindrical and is much shorter than traditional MRI scanners.
If you are having an open MRI, the magnet opening is larger and rectangular shaped without sides. Often times, a family member or friend may accompany you during the exam.
You will be able to communicate with your technologist through a patient intercom system during the entire exam. You should remain relaxed and as still as possible. You will hear a knocking sound from the MRI system that ranges from barely audible to quite noticeable. Hearing protection or headphones will be provided when necessary. You will have an option of listening to music of your choice during most of the exams. MRI exams take 30-to-40 minutes to complete, and you may resume normal activities afterward.
A radiologist will interpret your exam, and the results will be sent to your physician as soon as possible.
MRI – Magnetic Resonance Imaging | <urn:uuid:c91dfae2-ff2a-436c-9862-6d487f6d9981> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | https://www.providencehospital.org/patient-information/radiology-and-diagnostic-imaging/magnetic-resonance-imaging-mri/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988720153.61/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183840-00324-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932591 | 828 | 3.0625 | 3 |
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the newest on the block when it comes to powerful technological improvements. Most brands and businesses are using it as part of their process. It offers several advantages over manual methods.
Let’s look at a few places where AI can deliver much better results in digital marketing compared to people.
Identifying the right trends when it comes to marketing is critical to success. Till today, we have been working on predicting marketing trends for businesses. But as time moves on, this becomes difficult.
There are too many variables in play today, and it can be taxing for people to do this. One such variable is a microtrend. Microtrends are small variations in the market that are difficult to notice. This is where AI can help deliver results for the business much better than humans.
For any brand, business intelligence is a vital part of its operations. Any business that can predict the market wins it at the end of the day. Businesses and markets have become too complex for people to predict patterns on their own.
AI-assisted tools can help bridge this gap. They are capable of processing complex data and a large number of market patterns. This can help identify different factors and create an accurate prediction of the market. When it comes to predictive analysis, AI is much more accurate than humans.
Automation has always been an area where humans have excelled. Marketing automation has gotten better over the years, and it all started from simple scripts way back then.
But now, complex AI subroutines are the order of the day. AI can run automation functions in place of humans. And because they are getting smarter, it is typically indistinguishable from a human when run. It can also handle a lot more automation tasks and is cheaper.
Something that computers have done better than us throughout history is managing large amounts of data. AI takes the advantage one step further. AI can help businesses sift through large and complex marketing data quickly and effectively.
As we have advanced, the capacity for processing data has gotten bigger. Now, AI can use different functions and other operators to enable solving difficult queries. And a side effect of handling a large amount of data is that people can make errors. But that just does not happen with AI.
Businesses are becoming more complex over time, and this has necessitated real-time data analysis. Considering the amount of data that needs to be processed instantaneously, this is impossible for us.
On the other hand, AI-assisted tools can deliver real-time metrics. The reason is that it can constantly monitor thousands of signals. These can be interpreted and sent to the user requesting them. All this happens in a flash.
Content drives marketing today, and the more of it a brand can push out, the better. This is an issue because scaling content is difficult as it requires hiring a lot of personnel. It is also expensive and can considerably diminish ROI.
AI-assisted writing tools have begun filtering into the mainstream market. These allow businesses to scale content easily and without any fuss. And the best part is that they are getting better all the time. A day will come when they will completely replace writers.
Customer behavior analysis is a complex task for people. At the same time, it was a lot simpler earlier because there were very few signals to consider. Today, marketing is a lot bigger and more inclusive.
AI enables tracking customer behavior at a granular level. You can add any number of signals, and it can also work with a huge number of people. AI has been a far more flexible and effective solution when it comes to analyzing user behavior.
Advertising is an aspect of marketing that has been around for a long time now. The problem here is that as the number of brands continues to grow, the space becomes smaller. Brands are trying to get noticed, and this creates more pressure on their marketing team.
One solution is to rely on AI to come up with fresh new ideas for businesses. AI can also help when it comes to A/B testing and other PPC campaigns. Advertising is all about getting the right signals out to the user. And this is something that AI does really well.
While a lot of people might have written email marketing off, it is still alive and well. As a business grows, there are a lot more potential customers in the market. For us, it can be difficult to keep track of profiles and behavior when sending emails.
Here is where an AI-assisted tool can help you get the most out of your email campaign. It can help you categorize users and optimize your email marketing funnel. This is invaluable, especially in this day and age.
Today’s marketing is a hypercompetitive space where every little bit matters. What this means is that you need every advantage to survive against the competition. Pricing is a critical aspect of any business.
When the market is sensitive, like what we have, prices need to be adjusted quickly. Businesses are using AI to monitor prices on a global scale effectively. It can respond to market parameters and enable dynamic pricing for different niches. | <urn:uuid:1d28ca56-851e-4f7f-8874-7c6a38e337a1> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://bldigitalenterprises.com/marketing/will-ai-change-the-scope-of-digital-marketing/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571150.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20220810070501-20220810100501-00669.warc.gz | en | 0.96594 | 1,044 | 2.140625 | 2 |
is easy: put any random number, just kidding.
always answer 1. But, change the meaning
of that 1. Express your estimates in
hours, days, weeks, months, seasons or quarters, years, decades, lifetime.
great at these kinds of estimates, and everyone can grasp the “order of
magnitude” of such estimates.
will it take to implement feature x?
1 day has a
completely different implication than 1 year.
1 day (even
if it takes 2 or even 3 days). It means
that technology is there, that the dev team knows what to do and how to do
it. Also, it means that a 100% slip in
schedule equals 1 day, not one year.
1 year says
a lot: you need to cut the feature in smaller chunks, you need a team, there
will holidays, vacations, sick leaves, short leaves, pregnancy, the technology
might not be there yet, there will probably research and development, proof of
concepts, many changes in requirements as the project evolves and the client
plays with the software, etc. etc. In a year, a 1% slip is equivalent to 1 week!
estimate using 1 and an “order of magnitude”. | <urn:uuid:1813ebc4-1904-4831-80d0-d6f9bde255b5> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://geekswithblogs.net/Patware/archive/2012/12/12/151513.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280364.67/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00035-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.912148 | 267 | 2.1875 | 2 |
3h 10min · Adventure, Biography, Drama · 6 April 1997
The tribes of Israel need to defeat the superior might of the Philistines: "Now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have." (I Samuel, 8:5). And so the prophet Samuel gives the Hebrews their first king, Saul, a simple farmer, who with God's help becomes a brave and mighty warlord who leads the united tribes of Israel against their enemies. Saul, however, has incessant doubts about his mission. Not trustful enough of divine wisdom, he acts of his own accord and thus sins against the Lord. The influential prophet Samuel turns away from Saul in order to select a new king according to God's will: David. He is still a young boy, tending sheep in the fields, when, secretly Samuel oints him as the next king of the Israelites. When David - as courageous as he is intelligent - emerges victorious from his encounter with Goliath, the Philistines' most powerful warrior, he becomes a hero. His fame arouses the jealousy of King Saul, who senses that David is going to dispute his right to be king - and tries to kill him. David flees from Saul, and finds many supporters and loyal companions who believe that he is destined to be king. In exile, David waits for his time to come, since he does not want to take the place of Saul by violence. He is young and in the prime of his strength, while King Saul is a broken man. When Saul falls upon his sword after losing a battle, David's hour is at hand. The new King David conquers Jerusalem. The magnificent city is to become the royal residence for the glorious hero, who now plans to leave the business of war to others in future and to become a King of Peace. However, this temperamental man, with so many years of battle behind him and still in the bloom of youth, is not predestined for a quiet, orderly life at all. Very soon he plunges into an illicit love affair with Bathsheba, a married woman - an affair that threatens to become the king's undoing when it turns out that she is expecting his child. To conceal his adulterous fatherhood, the king sends Bathsheba's husband Uriah - one of his best and most loyal soldiers - to his death, and then marries her. The prophet and royal adviser Nathan announces to David that his act will result in divine punishment: the Lord will not countenance such an outrage. Violence and evil will continue in David's own family and bring disaster upon the heads of the numerous sons born to David from his wives and concubines. Then the child of David and Bathsheba dies. She gives him another son, Solomon, but very soon David suffers another sharp blow of fate: his grown-up son Absalom kills one of his brothers for the latter's rape of his sister. David is far too mild in response to this: not only does he fail to bring the incestuous seducer to justice, he also leaves the fratricide unpunished. The king does not realise that he is gradually losing control over his family, and that his hold on the people is also growing weaker. For David is obsessed with his plan of building the finest and largest temple in the world in Jerusalem. He demands immense sums from the populace for this project, even though God has commanded him to leave the completion of the building to his successors. David's ambitious son Absalom thus finds it very easy to drum up support for a conspiracy against his father. After a fierce battle, culminating in Absalom's death, David makes it back to Jerusalem.
- Written by
Director(s): Robert MarkowitzCast: Nathaniel Parker, Jonathan Pryce, Leonard Nimoy | <urn:uuid:edfbf91a-de87-488b-ae36-d4eeaad91b0d> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://nachostime.net/so7at4-david | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988719646.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183839-00127-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976734 | 782 | 2.109375 | 2 |
Recovery Toolbox for SQL Server is an intelligent tool for the recovery of damaged databases in mdf format. If you get a great number of support tickets with regard to the Microsoft SQL Server of your company, take a closer look at this application, maybe something goes wrong and the access to corporate databases is recently blocked. Since the maintenance of Microsoft SQL Server should be performed by qualified engineers, Recovery Toolbox for SQL Server was designed for system administrators. No need to think that the program is too difficult, the recovery of affected data can be performed by any user in your company. However, the access to database servers is usually limited for other users, the maintenance of database servers is not their job.
Recovery Toolbox for SQL Server is compatible with all supported versions of Microsoft SQL Server, you may get the latest version of installer from our website. Feel free looking through other file servers, but in this case it is not guaranteed that you get the needed file. Now you may double click the setup file of Recovery Toolbox for SQL Server and install the service of database recovery in Microsoft SQL Server format. No need to get additional certificates from the software developer like you do it with Microsoft SQL Server. We believe that your competence is already proved by Microsoft and you can work with Recovery Toolbox for SQL Server as soon as the utility is installed.
Moreover, you can skip instructions and proceed with the recovery as soon as Recovery Toolbox for SQL Server is ready to work. Open the utility by clicking its shortcut in Start-Programs and select the source file of mdf format. If the input folder of Microsoft SQL Server also contains ndf files, these documents should be also selected by Recovery Toolbox for SQL Server. Press Next when ready and look at the status bar of program.
Changelog for this release:
Improved with accordance of users feedbacks. Support a recovering MS SQL 2008 files.
Windows 98 and above
Can not save recoverd data. | <urn:uuid:9b75c998-8e55-4cf8-a880-cf83739ab493> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.rosoftdownload.com/download/windows/recovery-toolbox-for-sql-server/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280825.87/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00207-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92536 | 397 | 1.53125 | 2 |
“The whole EU system of regulation is so remote and opaque that the super-rich are able to use it to their advantage, to maintain their oligarchic position.”
### telegraph.co.uk 15 May 2016 • 9:20pm
Of course our City fat cats love the EU – it’s why they earn so much
By Boris Johnson
At last year’s Tory Party conference I drew attention to a worrying statistic about the way our society is changing. It is the number of times the salary of the average FTSE100 top executive exceeds that of the average – the average – employee in that company. This multiple appears to be taking off, at an extraordinary, inexplicable and frankly nostril-wrinkling rate.
Plato said no one should earn more than five times anyone else. Well, Plato would have been amazed by the growth in corporate inequality today. In 1980 the multiple was 25. By 1998 it had risen to 47. After 10 years of Tony Blair and Peter Mandelson – and their “intensely relaxed” attitude to getting “filthy rich” – the top executives of big UK firms were earning 120 times the average pay of the shop floor. Last year it was 130 times.
This year – cue a fusillade of champagne corks – the fat cats have broken through the magic 150 barrier. The average FTSE100 CEO is taking home 150 times as much as his or her average employee – and in some cases far more. Let us make no bones about it: these people have so much more money than other people in the same company that they are flying in private jets and building subterranean swimming pools, while many of their employees cannot afford to buy any kind of home at all.
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (b. 19 Jun 1964) is an English politician, popular historian, and journalist who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Uxbridge and South Ruislip since 2015. Johnson previously served as the MP for Henley from 2001 until 2008, and as Mayor of London from 2008 to 2016. A member of the Conservative Party, Johnson considers himself a One Nation Conservative and has been described as a libertarian due to his association with both economically liberal and socially liberal policies. Born in New York City to upper-class English parents, Johnson was educated at the European School of Brussels, Ashdown House School, and Eton College. He studied Classics at Balliol College, Oxford, where he was elected President of the Oxford Union in 1986. Beginning his career in journalism at The Times, he later became The Daily Telegraph’s Brussels correspondent, with his articles exerting a strong influence on growing Eurosceptic sentiment among the British right-wing.
— Sharon Murdoch (@domesticanimal) May 14, 2016
— Sharon Murdoch (@domesticanimal) May 15, 2016
### Stuff.co.nz Last updated 11:22, May 16 2016
Labour leader Andrew Little: PM ‘out of touch’ with families in hardship
By Rosanna Price
Prime Minister John Key has advised families living in garages or in cars to go and see Work and Income. But Labour leader Andrew Little has called that advice “impractical”, saying Key is “out of touch” with these New Zealanders in hardship. Key’s comments come after social housing groups and community workers have called on the government to increase their supply of affordable housing. There have been reports families in Auckland have been forced to rent garages and shipping containers, with the Salvation Army estimating one in ten Auckland garages is used as a home. Social agencies say the number of families living out of their cars has increased.
Posted by Elizabeth Kerr
*Image: theguardian.com – Boris Johnson | <urn:uuid:b3a702ee-7b2e-4b97-ae1a-501f163e3d1e> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://dunedinstadium.wordpress.com/tag/containers/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571234.82/warc/CC-MAIN-20220811042804-20220811072804-00067.warc.gz | en | 0.971568 | 794 | 1.648438 | 2 |
dysfunction is a valid word in this word list. For a definition, see the external dictionary links below.
The word "dysfunction" uses 11 letters: C D F I N N O S T U Y.
No direct anagrams for dysfunction found in this word list.
Words formed by adding one letter before or after dysfunction (in bold), or to cdfinnostuy in any order:
s - dysfunctions
Try a search for dysfunction in these online resources (some words may not be found):
Wiktionary - OneLook Dictionaries - Merriam-Webster - Google Search
Each search will normally open in a new window.
All words formed from dysfunction by changing one letter
Browse words starting with dysfunction by next letter | <urn:uuid:476d4b9c-9a2a-42c4-9048-79f0d85a7f71> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.morewords.com/word/dysfunction/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560279915.8/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095119-00278-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.797883 | 162 | 2.125 | 2 |
Lessons from the Gulf
Lessons from the Gulf - by Stephen Lendman
On April 22, AP reported the news - an initial April 20 explosion, then a larger one igniting Deepwater Horizon's oil drilling platform that burned for more than a day before sinking and releasing thousands of barrels of oil daily into surrounding waters, enough potentially to cause the greatest ever environmental disaster if not sealed in time to prevent.
Transocean Ltd. owned and operated the Deepwater Horizon platform under contract to BP Exploration and Production Inc., a division of BP - 4th on Fortune Global 500 with $239 billion in 2009 operating revenue and $14 billion in profits. It ranked fourth behind Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil and Wal-Mart. Of the world's 10 largest companies, six are oil giants. Transocean, an offshore drilling contractor, owns operates about 140 drilling rigs. More on its culpability below.
On April 29, the Institute for Southern Studies published "Facts and Figures" about the Gulf explosion and emerging disaster saying:
-- the rig operated 41 miles off Louisiana's coast;
-- the explosion and fire occurred on April 20;
-- 126 crew members operated the platform, 11 remain missing and are presumed dead;
-- since 2001, 69 deaths and 1,349 injuries have occurred from Gulf drilling operations as a result of 858 fires and explosions on 90 big rigs and 3,500 production platforms;
-- the US Minerals Management Service (MMS) issued 150 reports "documenting non-compliant offshore drilling operations;"
-- 172 Gulf spills exceeding 2,100 gallons have occurred in the past decade;
-- as of late April, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) estimated about 5,000 barrels a day being leaked; new information places it much higher; more on than below;
-- at first, BP officials lied in reporting leakage of 1,000 barrels a day; they're still lying about the problem's severity; so is the complicit Obama administration and major media to cover up the magnitude of the crisis;
-- investigative journalist Wayne Madsen calls it a potential "mega-disaster....volcanic-level in size (that if) not stopped within 90 days (will cause) irreversible damage to the marine eco-systems (in the Gulf), north Atlantic Ocean, and beyond (and, according to) some Corps of Engineers experts....it could take two years to cement (the) gaping chasm;"
-- the Gulf threatened area is top ranked "with the largest total seafood landings in the lower 48 states;" it produces 50% of the nation's wild shrimp and contains over 400 species, now threatened;
-- in total, the Gulf accounts for about 20% of America's commercial fishing; the growing slick threatens to devastate it and the regional economies; continuing to spread, NOAA reported that it threatens the coastal areas of Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and potentially Texas, Florida's east and west coasts, its Keys, and beyond.
Obama Administration Complicity
On May 11, 2009, Interior Secretary, Ken Salazar (rancher, former Colorado senator, and notorious pro-business flack with a dismal environmental record), filed a legal brief in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to overturn or amend an earlier ruling blocking new drilling in the Gulf's outer continental shelf, including the Deepwater Horizon site. In July, it was partly approved provided an environmental impact study assessed the risks and found them acceptable. It's not been completed and perhaps never seriously undertaken.
Like its predecessors since at least the 1980s, the Obama administration has close industry ties across the board, including Big Oil. It thus bears equal responsibility for the consequences as a willing co-conspirator. In fact, it actively intervened to exempt BP from preparing an environment assessment on the Deepwater Horizon site, and after the incident continues to grant "categorical exemptions" for deep water drilling - 27 in all, according to the Center for Biological Diversity.
In March, Obama exceeded the oil-run Bush administration in proposing offshore exploration from Delaware to Florida as well as the latter state's Gulf coast. Those plans are on hold but remain in place unless state officials can stop them. Avoidable accidents happen because of decades of regulatory laxity and oversight, at least since the Carter administration, in deference to powerful industry interests, including Big Oil.
BP's History of Violations
On May 5, Public Citizen's Tyson Slocum reported that BP has "the worst safety and environmental record of any oil company operating in America." In recent years alone, it pled guilty to two crimes (among many), paying over $730 million in fines and settlements to the federal and state governments and civil lawsuits for "environmental crimes, willful neglect of worker safety rules, and penalties for manipulating energy markets."
It paid the largest fine in OSHA history ($87 million) for willful negligence, causing the deaths of 15 workers and 170 injured from its March 2005 Texas City Refinery explosion. In September 2005, OSHA cited BP for 296 "Egregious Willful Violations" and others related to the explosion, fining the company another $21 million.
In August 2006, spills caused by pipeline corrosion shut its Prudhoe Bay, Alaska operation. In March 2006, National Geographic News reported the spillage of 267,000 gallons (about one million liters) in the North Slope's tundra, "raising a new round of questions from environmental groups about proposed plans to open more land" to drilling.
In September 2001, OSHA fined BP $141,000 after an explosion killed three workers at its Clanton Road facility. OSHA levied additional fines in September 2005 for 301 violations, and in April 2006 for two "willful violations" over its shutdown procedures.
In 2009, OSHA found BP in non-compliance of 270 "notifications of failure to abate" and 439 new "willful violations," resulting in the $87 million fine.
In 2007, a US Chemical Safety & Hazard Investigation Board concluded that: "The Texas City disaster was caused by organizational and safety deficiencies at all levels of the BP Corporation." Warning signs were there, but company management ignored them. In 2004, OSHA fined BP $63,000 for violations at the same facility. In December 2009, a Texas jury awarded workers $100 million for their injuries at Texas City.
At the time, Bloomberg.com reported that victims accused BP of having "a long 'rap sheet' and a disturbing pattern of violations and unfulfilled promises to correct them," saying that "Meaningful change will occur only if forced by strict oversight through the court system." Unfortunately, the courts, especially federal ones, are stacked with pro-business justices so getting their help rarely happens and almost never enough to matter.
In April 2010, OSHA fined BP $3 million for "willful safety violations" at one of its Ohio refineries. In April 2006, it paid a $2.4 million fine for similar safety and health violations at the same facility.
In 1999, the EPA cited BP Exploration & Oil for chemical violations at 24 of its Ohio facilities, assessing over $295,000 in fines. It also issued a 926 count administrative complaint against the company.
In March 2003, California sued BP for $319 million over thousands of clean air violations at its Carson refinery. The south Coast Air Quality Management District accused the company of repeatedly breaking rules on its storage tanks over an eight year period.
In 2004, Alaska state regulators accused BP of safety violations, proposing to fine the company for the second time. The other was for earlier August 2002 violations causing a well explosion that seriously injured a worker.
Minerals Management Service (MMS) fined BP numerous times:
-- in February 2001, $20,000 for workplace violations causing a serious injury;
-- in January 2002, $20,000 for workplace violations causing another one;
-- in May 2002, $23,000 for a workplace safety violation causing a worker injury;
-- in September 2002, $39,000 for missing 13 monthly tests of an "oil low level sensor;"
-- in January 2003, $70,000 for a faulty fire water system; in the same month, another $80,000 for bypassing "Relays for the Pressure Safety High/Low for four producing wells;"
-- in November 2003, $25,000 for a subsurface safety valve "blocked out of service;"
-- in February 2004, $25,000 because "The Rig's Gas Detection System was bypassed with ongoing drilling operations being conducted;"
-- in July 2004, $190,000 for safety violations related to a fire;
-- in October 2006, $25,000 for unsafe operations; another fine in October 2007 for various safety violations; and
-- in the same month, $41,000 for similar safety violations.
BP's Deepwater Horizon site didn't have a remote-control shut-off switch, an acoustic device some other oil producing countries require (including Brazil and Norway) to protect against underwater spills. When they occur, they work automatically to prevent small problems from becoming greater.
BP has also been charged with numerous environmental violations, felonies and at least one criminal misdemeanor, paying out about $153 million in fines, penalties and settlements. It was fined another $363 million for "price-gouging consumers and taxpayers." Nonetheless, it legally avoided paying $172.5 million in taxpayer royalties on its Gulf operated leases.
BP is a serial scofflaw, earning billions while assessed pocket change in fines, penalties and settlements for a company its size. Despite its history of repeated violations, it's allowed to conduct business as usual because effective crackdowns aren't imposed in an environment of regulatory laxity. And, of course, it's as true across the board in deference to all predatory giants in all sectors, preying on the public and environment for profit with complicit government help.
BP Whistleblower Warns of More to Come
In his April 30 Truthout article, Jason Leopold cited a whistleblower (unnamed for his protection), saying to expect more Gulf catastrophes based on BP's history of breaking federal laws and its own internal procedures.
He "first raised concerns about safety issues related to BP Atlantis, the world's largest and deepest semi-submersible oil and natural gas platform, located about 200 miles south of New Orleans, in November 2008."
He "was hired to oversee the company's databases," containing Atlantis project documents. On the job, he learned "that the drilling platform had been operating without a majority of the engineer-approved documents it needed to run safely, leaving the platform vulnerable to a catastrophic disaster," as bad or potentially worse than the current spill.
BP knew of the problem, yet did nothing to address it, showing its reckless disregard for public and environmental safety and its own employees. Once a violator, always one, short of regulatory crackdowns and criminal prosecutions, telling all violators what to expect. Not in America, a scofflaw's paradise.
Transocean's Troubled History
On May 10, Wall Street Journal writer Ben Casselman headlined, "Rig Owner Had Rising Tally of Accidents," saying:
"Nearly three of every four incidents that triggered federal investigations into safety and other problems on (Gulf) deepwater drilling rigs....since 2008 have been on rigs" the company operates, according to federal data.
Its oil company clients also saw a drop in its safety performance. From 2005 - 2007, "a Transocean rig was involved in 13 of the 39 deep-water drilling incidents investigated by MMS...." After merging with rival GlobalSantaFe, MMS found that it "accounted for 24 of the 33 incidents."
It raises troubling questions of company negligence related to the current spill. So far, no cause has been determined, but at least two areas will be investigated - a cement seal in place to keep oil and gas from escaping, and the blowout preventer, ocean floor valves meant to close off the well in an emergency. MMS records show Transocean's troubled history with both, including in 2006 when regulators found a blowout preventer failed, partly from poor maintenance. In 2005, a failed cement seal caused drilling fluid to leak.
Until now, company violations have been minor, but small problems warn of potentially greater ones, the current incident a prime example.
Transocean "specializes in a new frontier, drilling from huge floating rigs that are either anchored to the sea floor or kept in place with satellite-controlled thrusters." BP is its biggest Gulf client. Although its overall safety record, measured by injuries per hour worked, surpasses the industry average, it's especially worse than competitors on deep water projects.
In recent years, this type drilling has increased rapidly, forcing operators to compete for a limited number of skilled workers. As a result, less experienced ones are used, suggesting a greater potential for accidents, including serious ones like on April 20.
After its 2007 GlobalSantaFe merger, Transocean's rankings were close to the bottom in many categories of customer satisfaction. In 2008 and 2009, it ranked last among deep water drillers for "job quality" and second last in "overall satisfaction." Pre-merger, it was near top ranked on both measures - more evidence of the destructiveness of monopoly or oligopoly size and the best reason to break up giants in all sectors to prevent it.
The Halliburton Connection
Besides its war-profiteering history, Halliburton's notoriously shoddy on-the-job performance was suggested in Russell Gold and Ben Casselman's April 30 article titled, "Drilling Process Attracts Scrutiny in Rig Explosion," saying with regard to the Gulf incident:
Halliburton's role in a cementing procedure "is coming under scrutiny as a possible cause of the explosion (resulting in) one of the biggest oil spills in US history, drilling expert said Thursday (April 29)."
Cementing is done to prevent oil and gas leakages by filling gaps between "the outside of the well pipe and the inside of the hole bored into the ocean floor." Cement is also used to plug wells once drilling is completed.
For Deepwater Horizon, cementing was finished and the required areas temporarily plugged, but it's not known if the entire process was done before the explosion. Regulators found cementing problems the cause of other well blowouts, "in which oil and natural gas surge out of a well with explosive force." When cementing is improperly done and cracks develop, it happens, and because gas is highly combustible, it's "prone to ignite."
Halliburton is the largest company in the global cementing business. It was contracted for the Deepwater Horizon rig. Transocean said the process was completed. According to Robert MacKenzie, FBR Capital Markets Managing Director of energy and natural resources:
"The likely cause of gas coming to the surface had something to do with the cement."
Other drilling experts agree, saying a faulty bottom of well cement plug may be to blame. In 2007, a Minerals Management Service (MMS) study found that faulty cementing was a factor in 18 of 39 Gulf blowouts over a 14 year period. Halliburton was involved before - one instance being a major 2009 Timor Sea explosion, causing fire and tens of thousands of barrels leaked for over 10 weeks. MMS' recently retired regulatory affairs head, Elmer Danenberger, believes poor Halliburton cementing caused the Timor problem.
It's shoddy work may be a factor in the Gulf, but Transocean and BP share culpability, based on their disturbing histories, besides regulatory and oversight laxity allowing it.
A Much Greater Disaster than Reported
According to Ian MacDonald, Florida State University biological oceanographer, about one million gallons of oil are leaking daily, based on NASA data he studied. If so, the incident already exceeds the 1989 Exxon Valdez catastrophe (topping 11 million gallons) from which affected areas haven't recovered and won't for decades, perhaps longer, from any spill that large. Already, said MacDonald, as of May 7, around 6,200 square miles are affected, a figure growing daily as long as leakage continues.
Other scientists agree, suggesting an estimated 25,000 daily barrels spilled, or over one million gallons. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reports a worse potential if a so-called bent "riser pipe" deteriorates further. If so, daily leakage could more than double to over two million barrels.
Already, vast parts of the Gulf are at risk as well as marshes, other type wetlands, estuaries, beaches, fishing, wildlife, the mouth of the Mississippi River, East Coast, Florida Keys and Everglades, parts of the Atlantic up to the Grand Banks off Newfoundland and beyond if Gulf Stream currents are affected, as well as inland cities, towns, rivers, and lakes if Gulf hurricanes spread oil-contaminated rain - a vast ecosystem threatened by corporate criminal negligence and government complicity, the usual combination behind virtually all destructive acts.
Public health is also affected from contaminated fish, water, rain, and air from oil smoke and vapors - problems that won't abate for years because oil is a toxic brew and enough contaminating the environment causes an array of health problems, including potential chemical poisoning (hydrocarbon pneumonia).
According to Columbus, Ohio Nationwide Children's Hospital Pharmacology and Toxicology head, Dr. Marcel Casavant:
"Smoke from burning oil contains many chemicals; some are potentially lethal poisons and some are nuisance irritants, but even these....can trigger breathing problems in people with asthma or emphysema or other lung disease(s)."
Why is because burning oil smoke contains carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, volatile organics, and other toxins - all harmful to human health. Once ingested, serious problems can result affecting the heart, lungs, gastrointestinal tract, liver, pregnancy, other bodily functions, and the potential for cancer and other diseases. It'll be years before the full impact is known, but it's already clear what happens when government and business share the same bed. The public always suffers - this time, like others, disastrously.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.org. Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening. | <urn:uuid:f4527d02-3f8a-4f0b-86e8-8d97694554fd> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2010/05/lessons-from-gulf.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560279650.31/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095119-00437-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947463 | 3,858 | 2.0625 | 2 |
By Brittany Jones Cooper for Yahoo! Travel
Those who travel can often make their adventures look effortless. But while crisscrossing the world, meeting with locals, and sampling international cuisine looks easy, the journey can get bumpy. You might get lost, an airline ruins your reservation, or a language barrier leaves you frustrated and confused. It’s the handling of these moments that separates successful travelers from people who simply take trips.
The explorer Sir Richard Burton once said, “The gladdest moment in human life, methinks, is a departure into unknown lands.” And this couldn’t be more true. Traveling can breathe a newness and awareness into your life that other experiences fail to achieve. The key is finding a way to truly connect to the experience, and by mastering these seven skills, you’ll be on your way to traveling like a pro.
Successful travelers know where they’re going and what they’re doing once they get there. (Photo: Getty Images)
All seasoned travelers have at least a blueprint of how they want their trip to go. They’ve researched transportation systems, they know the distance to and from surrounding cities, and they’ve reached out to friends of friends of friends to get the inside scoop on the best places to eat, sleep, and play. There is no rigidity in their planning, no strict itinerary for their trip, just a confident knowledge of where they’re headed.
Want the inside scoop on where to go and what to do? Then be sure to mix and mingle with the locals. (Photo: iStock)
There are so many wonderful things about a city or country that you simply can’t find in a guidebook. And no one knows that better than the successful traveler. These people know that in order to get to the heart of a destination, you have to dig a little deeper. They’ll connect with people over social media, make friends with the locals, and strike up conversations with strangers on a train platform. If there is a hidden gem in a city, they’ll find it way before the average traveler.
Sometimes you just need to jump in the car and go! (Photo: Getty Images)
While they’re on a trip, highly successful travelers also embrace the uncertainty that comes with trying new foods and experiences. YOLO isn’t just a saying to them, it’s a practice.
Writing things down
You might think you can remember every amazing detail of a trip, but as time goes on, memories start to fade. Highly successful travelers always keep a notebook and pen nearby. They know that in addition to documenting their adventures, writing down experiences often makes you think about the bigger picture. Writing is the only thing that really gives you the opportunity to reflect on the world and your place in it.
Surrendering to the experience
It’s no surprise that people do things differently in other parts of the world. Yet it’s amazing how often tourists will complain about an unfamiliar experience or custom they witnessed in a foreign land. Successful travelers know that these mishaps and misunderstandings are necessary to fully immerse yourself in another country. They practice patience and accept the fact that some situations are out of their control. When they look at the bigger picture, they realize that life’s teachable moments are often buried among trials and tribulations.
Packing with precision
Keep your extra shoes and “just in case” outfit to yourself — highly successful travelers don’t have the time or patience to carry an unnecessary load. First of all, checking a bag is almost always out of the question, so the pros have painstakingly selected the perfect carry-on that’s small but fits a week’s worth of clothes. And finally, the inside of their suitcase is perfectly packed with flexible outfits and two pairs of versatile shoes. They take a strange comfort in knowing that everything they need fits in just one bag.
We see it all the time. A tourist walks up to the Taj Mahal, spends 15 minutes snapping photos of the mausoleum from every angle imaginable, and then heads off to lunch. A successful traveler would have sat down, observed the beautiful intricacies of the building, and taken a moment to appreciate the surroundings. Snapping a photo is fine, but real travelers know that it’s no fun to experience the world through the lens of a camera. Sometimes it’s better to live the moment instead of capturing it. | <urn:uuid:051c3106-3f99-408f-9abb-3cdeba87c668> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://blog.shermanstravel.com/2015/7-traits-of-highly-successful-travelers/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281649.59/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00441-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94256 | 946 | 1.640625 | 2 |
A Peacock once placed a petition before Juno desiring to have the voice of a nightingale in addition to his other attractions; but Juno refused his request. When he persisted, and pointed out that he was her favorite bird, she said: “Be content with your lot; one cannot be first in everything.”
When first the Fox saw the Lion he was terribly frightened, and ran away and hid himself in the wood. Next time however he came near the King of Beasts he stopped at a safe distance and watched him pass by. The third time they came near one another the Fox went straight up to the Lion and passed the time of day with him, asking him how his family were, and when he should have the pleasure of seeing him again; then turning his tail, he parted from the Lion without much ceremony.
Familiarity breeds contempt.
A Man and a Lion were discussing the relative strength of men and lions in general. The Man contended that he and his fellows were stronger than lions by reason of their greater intelligence. “Come now with me,” he cried, “and I will soon prove that I am right.” So he took him into the public gardens and showed him a statue of Hercules overcoming the Lion and tearing his mouth in two.
“That is all very well,” said the Lion, “but proves nothing, for it was a man who made the statue.”
We can easily represent things as we wish them to be.
In a field one summer’s day a Grasshopper was hopping about, chirping and singing to its heart’s content. An Ant passed by, bearing along with great toil an ear of corn he was taking to the nest.
“Why not come and chat with me,” said the Grasshopper, “instead of toiling and moiling in that way?”
“I am helping to lay up food for the winter,” said the Ant, “and recommend you to do the same.”
“Why bother about winter?” said the Grasshopper; we have got plenty of food at present. ” But the Ant went on its way and continued its toil. When the winter came the Grasshopper had no food and found itself dying of hunger, while it saw the ants distributing every day corn and grain from the stores they had collected in the summer. Then the Grasshopper knew:
It is best to prepare for the days of necessity.
“Well, little one,” said a Tree to a Reed that was growing at its foot, “why do you not plant your feet deeply in the ground, and raise your head boldly in the air as I do?”
“I am contented with my lot,” said the Reed. “I may not be so grand, but I think I am safer.”
“Safe!” sneered the Tree. “Who shall pluck me up by the roots or bow my head to the ground?” But it soon had to repent of its boasting, for a hurricane arose which tore it up from its roots, and cast it a useless log on the ground, while the little Reed, bending to the force of the wind, soon stood upright again when the storm had passed over. | <urn:uuid:c70750c9-2055-4051-86b5-d46813561044> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://namoon1987.wordpress.com/tag/%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%97%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%B5%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%9B%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%B1%E0%B9%89%E0%B8%99%E0%B9%86/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560279410.32/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095119-00169-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985511 | 704 | 2.3125 | 2 |
History On Display
National Heritage Museum showcases the American past
The Fourth of July may be over, but it’s never too late to explore Americana, and what better place to do so than Lexington, Mass.—the town in which the shot heard ’round the world was fired? The National Heritage Museum exhibits an array of historic and pop culture items.
Out of sheer parochialism, we’d suggest Made in Massachusetts, a collection of household items made in the Bay State over the past three centuries, including old clocks, a sewing machine made by the Florence Sewing Machine Company, board games and toys made by Milton Bradley and Parker Brothers, even computers manufactured locally. If you’re a Kerouac-wanderlust type, Night Road: Photographs of Diners showcases examples of the classic American eatery from Maine to New Jersey. Then again, why not go with an expert and peruse the Curator’s Choice, featuring almost 150 staff favorites from the various collections.
Opened in 1975, the museum also has Masonic and fraternal artifacts, befitting its sponsors, the Scottish Rite Masons of the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction.
The National Heritage Museum, 33 Marrett Rd., is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Its Van Gorden-Williams Library is open those days from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Admission and parking are free. By public transit, take the MBTA Red Line to Alewife Station and then the #62 or #76 bus to the museum. For directions, click here.
Rich Barlow can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.org.+ Comments | <urn:uuid:01b1390c-588a-44be-87b7-ad30202d705d> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.bu.edu/today/2011/history-on-display/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281424.85/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00337-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.924412 | 354 | 1.851563 | 2 |
On December 27, 2010, President Obama signed Executive Order (E.O.) 13562 establishing the Internship Program and the Recent Graduates Program and revising and reinvigorating the Presidential Management Fellows (PMF) Program. These two new programs, along with the PMF Program, collectively form what the President called the Pathways Programs. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued the final rule for the Pathways Programs on May 11, 2012 (77 FR 28194) and it was made effective July 10, 2012. The Pathways Program requirements are found in part 362 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). The appointing authorities for the Pathways Programs are found in 5 CFR 213.3402(a), (b), and (c).
Learn more about the BLM's Pathways programs through the links below.
Recent Graduates Program
Presidential Management Fellows Program
Contact a BLM Pathways Coordinator about employment opportunities in our states and centers.
For more information on the new Pathways programs, visit the following websites: | <urn:uuid:45063e8d-0efa-4e76-b40b-6b8fd6cffdaf> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/res/blm_jobs/students_and_recent.print.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280718.7/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00406-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.899833 | 223 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Book Contents Navigation
About This Guide
The Game Development Process
The Art of Serious Game Design Methodology
The Art of Serious Game Design Conceptual Framework
Workshop Flow and Group Composition
Brainstorming and Prototyping During the Workshop
Facilitating a Participatory Workshop for Serious Game Design
Resource 1: Glossary
Resource 2: Workshop Resources
Resource 3: Technological Considerations
Resource 4: Companion Mobile Device App
Resource 5: Brainstorming Demonstration Video
Video: The Art of Serious Game Design
© G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education, Ryerson University.
Released under the terms of a Standard YouTube License. All rights reserved.
The Art of Serious Game Design by Digital Education Strategies, The Chang School of Continuing Education, Ryerson University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted. | <urn:uuid:46a34236-3fae-4e98-9457-969d3c545aac> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca/guide/chapter/5-promotional-video/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882570871.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20220808183040-20220808213040-00274.warc.gz | en | 0.70103 | 202 | 3.125 | 3 |
Learn About Some of the Reasons Why Fuel Prices Change on a Regular Basis
You may drive past your local petrol filling station on a regular basis on your commute to work and notice their prices are generally the same from day to day with small changes from week to week most of the time.
So when you come to call up your local oil company to request a quote, you may wonder why the prices can change so often, not just on a weekly basis, but sometimes even on an hourly basis. So we’re going to try and help explain the reasoning behind this.
Yo-Yo-ing fuel prices going up and down
As the old saying goes; “the only thing constant is change” and that’s very much the case with fuel prices. It’s understandable that it could be frustrating for people who buy oils and fuels on a regular basis, never knowing how much they will be paying month to month.
But there are of course many reasons for the changes in prices and a lot of factors that can affect fuel prices which are incredibly complicated and wide-ranging.
Back in May 2018 for instance, we saw the largest petrol and diesel prices in the last 18 years and prices continued to skyrocket, with prices having hit a 4 year high. Drivers were being warned that it could cost at least £8 more to fill the tank up compared to the previous year.
So, in order to help you get to grips with the reasons behind the increase, here’s our attempt to demystify the strange and tumultuous world of fuel prices and the main influencers on the all-important prices of the fuels and oils we all rely on so much.
Crude oil supply and prices
It all starts with crude oil. You may have seen on the news mentions of the crude oil price when talking about global fuel prices and all for good reason.
The majority of the fuels and oils we use in our motor vehicles, heating boilers, electricity generators and more all rely on a ready supply of what ultimately starts off as crude oil. Without it, we wouldn’t have fuels such as petrol, diesel, kerosene, lubricants – just to name but a few.
It’s for this reason that most experts agree that 66% of the price of fuel is dictated by the availability and price of crude oil. As the price increases on crude oil and the availability of it become more difficult due to lower production and availability. Those price increases are unfortunately passed on through the supply chain.
An increasing demand for fuel and oil places immense pressure on available supplies. If something disrupts crude oil supplies, this has a domino effect on fuel.
The location of petrol stations
It’s all about “Location Location Location” and we’re not even talking about Kirstie and Phil’s popular property TV show!
Have you ever noticed as you drive through the countryside, just how much more expensive fuel is compared to a drive through the city? It’s especially noticeable if you compare the prices in the countryside after visiting larger supermarkets that have their own petrol filling stations nearby.
The main driver of fuel prices is how much competition’s around, including that of the supermarket petrol stations. But even the supermarkets are guilty of adjusting prices, not just around the country, but even within the same city prices can be vastly different.
The reason they vary prices around the country is because they do not need to apply national pricing as they do on the groceries they sell. If there are only two petrol stations in a ten-mile radius, they’re under less pressure to stay competitive.
For retailers in remote locations, they will often charge set their fuel prices higher to cover their overheads. In fact, many of the UK’s most expensive petrol stations are in remote areas like the Scottish Highlands.
Similarly, deliveries tend to be more expensive in areas that are sought after more. Back in 2017, one of the highest recorded prices at the pump was at Holland Road station in Kensington, West London which charged a whopping £1.74 per litre on average for unleaded fuel.
Geopolitics in oil-producing countries
The middle east uproar has had a huge effect on oil prices considering its importance on worldwide supplies. Saudi Arabia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates are all top contenders for producing oil.
The recent event of the US President Trump leaving the Iran nuclear deal has resulted in prices increasing globally.
But it’s not just Iran and Venezuela playing a part in the link between geopolitical instability and an increase in oil prices.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group said: “The ongoing escalation of tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran, continuing conflicts in Iraq, Libya, Syria and Yemen have significantly taken their toll on the region.”
While a direct military conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia is seen as doubtful, any intensification of proxy conflicts in the region would undermine stability, the Japanese financial services group said.
The IEA warned that recent geopolitical events have caused more uncertainty over future global oil supplies.
Exchange rates and its effect on the £
The poor pound to dollar exchange rates affects the dollar-based wholesale oil trade for UK consumers because fuel is traded in dollars.
RAC fuel spokesman, Simon Williams said:
“Unfortunately, the higher oil price has come at a time when the pound has weakened considerably against the dollar,” continued Williams. “This causes pain at the pumps due to the fact that similar to oil, fuel is traded in dollars so the lower the exchange rate, the worse the price gets for UK motorists.”
Diesel fuel prices often vary during the year.
During the winter, the demand for heating oil affects diesel fuel prices. As heating oil and diesel fuel are produced at the same time, seasonal increases in heating oil demand can also increase pressure on the diesel fuel market.
In some areas, seasonal swings in farmers’ demand for diesel fuel can also impact diesel fuel prices.
Keep prices low
Fuel is a significant cost to not just drivers but to businesses too, which in turn, increases the burden for customers due to more expensive products and services.
The Director of the RAC Foundation has pointed out that “white rising oil prices and a weaker pound are contributing to what happens at the pumps it’s worth remembering that, despite the fuel duty freeze, more than 60 percent of what drivers pay still goes to the Treasury.”
To avoid rocketing fuel prices we recommend you:
- Buy in bulk – the more you buy, the cheaper it will be
- Purchase ahead of winter – when demand increases, prices increase
- Protect your tank – fuel contamination can result in unnecessary costs
- Buy fuel from Nationwide Fuels – we buy in bulk and pass on the savings to our customers
If you’re looking for a reliable nationwide supplier of fuels and oils, along with competitive pricing, call our knowledgeable team of fuel experts today on 0330 678 0880 to get the latest and most competitive prices on red diesel, HVO fuel, DERV, kerosene, industrial heating oil and more. | <urn:uuid:001e3379-5e4c-4cfc-9050-6b7fe4bf9592> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.nationwidefuels.co.uk/news/why-do-fuel-prices-seem-to-change-so-often-throughout-the-year/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572192.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20220815145459-20220815175459-00066.warc.gz | en | 0.959293 | 1,481 | 2.25 | 2 |
RF modules are widely used for wireless data transfers and remote control applications. These days, cost of RF modules are very low and are compact in size. Most of these RF modules are operating around 433MHz. Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK) or Frequency Shift Keying (FSK) are mainly used for wireless data transfers.
Technical parameters of the transmitter head
Receiver module parameters:-
here a circuit example for interfacing RF module using HT12E/D encoder decoder pair. The circuit attached here can be used to transfer data using the RF module. As I have explained earlier RF module mentioned here is having a single channel. So we can use only serial data transfers. This example uses HT12E/D encoder-decoder pair for converting the parallel data to serial and back.
If you are looking into wireless communication between two Arduino modules, this project might be helpful. It uses low costs RF transmitter and receiver from Electronics-DIY.com to establish radio link between two Arduino boards up to 500 ft. Data can be transferred serially at the maximum rate of 2400 bps. The schematic shows how receiver and transmitter is hooked up to two different Arduino boards. When wiring the receiver / transmitter you only need to give them power / ground and then a pin for the TX (serial transmit) or RX (serial receive) pin. I also wired a button to the Arduino doing the transmitting, and used the LED on pin 13 that is built into my Arduino boards on the receiver so I could test this setup. The test app just flashes LED on the receiving board when a button is pressed on the transmitting board. | <urn:uuid:3acda674-4d1c-4597-90d1-1957b3187898> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://mikroelectron.com/Product/RF-Wireless-Tx-Rx-Module-433Mhz/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560285001.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095125-00302-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.90473 | 333 | 2.734375 | 3 |
FMRI, Antipsychotics and Schizophrenia. Influence of Different Antipsychotics on BOLD-Signal
Christian H. Roder,
Janna Marie Hoogendam,
Frederik M. van der Veen.
In the last decade, functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (FMRI) has been increasingly used to investigate the neurobiology of schizophrenia. This technique relies on changes in the blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) – signal, which changes in response to neural activity. Many FMRI studies on schizophrenia have examined medicated patients, but little is known about the effects of antipsychotic medication on the BOLD – signal. In this review we investigated to what extent studies in patients with schizophrenia (SC), who were treated with different antipsychotics, could give insight in the effects of antipsychotics on the BOLD-signal. A PubMed search was performed using the search items “schizophrenia”, “FMRI”, “antipsychotics” and “schizophrenia”, “BOLD”, “antipsychotics”. Only articles in which there were at least two groups of patients with different treatments or in which patients were scanned twice with different treatments were selected. 18 articles, published between 1999 and 2009, fulfilled these criteria. Paradigms and results of these studies were compared regarding differences induced by the administered antipsychotics. This analysis showed no general effect of antipsychotics on the BOLD-signal. However, there is some evidence that the extent of blockade of the dopamine (DA) D2 receptor does influence the BOLD-signal. Higher affinity to the dopamine D2 receptor, as expressed by a higher/lower inhibition constant (Ki) seems to cause a decrease in BOLD-signal.
Keywords: Schizophrenia, FMRI, antipsychotics, BOLD, review, dopamine receptor
Rights & PermissionsPrintExport | <urn:uuid:034eae3d-12af-4857-9662-353dc658e0d8> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.eurekaselect.com/71712/article | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280483.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00292-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926047 | 412 | 1.6875 | 2 |
This is nothing we didn’t already suspect but many news outlets still think this works.
Liberals viewing MSNBC or reading left-of-center blogs may well end up embracing liberal talking points even more firmly; conservative fans of Fox News may well react in similar fashion on the right.
The result can be a situation in which beliefs do not merely harden but migrate toward the extreme ends of the political spectrum. As current events in the Middle East demonstrate, discussions among like-minded people can ultimately produce violence.
The remedy for easing such polarization, here and abroad, may seem straightforward: provide balanced information to people of all sides. Surely, we might speculate, such information will correct falsehoods and promote mutual understanding
Unfortunately, evidence suggests that balanced presentations — in which competing arguments or positions are laid out side by side — may not help. At least when people begin with firmly held convictions, such an approach is likely to increase polarization rather than reduce it.
What explains this? The answer is called “biased assimilation,” which means that people assimilate new information in a selective fashion. When people get information that supports what they initially thought, they give it considerable weight. When they get information that undermines their initial beliefs, they tend to dismiss it.
Tip: DJ Grothe
Ugh. Not good news. How to convince people that their ideas are mistaken or introduce the concept of another view? Not easy and it may only take time, persistence and repetition.
Give this a look, the Debunking Handbook, for some good ideas about how to frame your message to counteract misinformation. | <urn:uuid:4902d202-1479-432a-ba8d-0c2988e77aa9> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://doubtfulnews.com/2012/09/side-by-side-arguments-do-not-persuade-but-entrench-those-with-firm-positions/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281069.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00267-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946663 | 328 | 2.390625 | 2 |
On ageing, health and poverty in rural India
In this paper, the trend and determinants of health and poverty among the elderly in rural India is analysed. Two rounds of National Sample Survey (NSS) data for the year 1995-96 and 2004 are employed. The analysis has been done with independent and pooled datasets. Our analysis shows that levels of consumption poverty have declined marginally between 1995-96 and 2004 while increased proportion of elderly with poor health status is continued. Results suggest that poverty is one of the key determinants of health among elderly in rural India.
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Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
- Angus S. Deaton & Christina Paxson, 1998.
"Measuring Poverty among the Elderly,"
in: Inquiries in the Economics of Aging, pages 169-204
National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- Gerdtham, Ulf-G & Johannesson, Magnus, 1997.
"New Estimates of the Demand for Health: Results Based on a Categorical Health Measure and Swedish Micro Data,"
SSE/EFI Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance
205, Stockholm School of Economics.
- Gerdtham, Ulf-G. & Johannesson, Magnus, 1999. "New estimates of the demand for health: results based on a categorical health measure and Swedish micro data," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 49(10), pages 1325-1332, November.
- Anne Case & Angus Deaton, 2004.
"Broken down by work and sex: how our health declines,"
257, Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Health and Wellbeing..
- Anne Case & Angus S. Deaton, 2005. "Broken Down by Work and Sex: How Our Health Declines," NBER Chapters, in: Analyses in the Economics of Aging, pages 185-212 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- Anne C. Case & Angus Deaton, 2003. "Broken Down by Work and Sex: How Our Health Declines," NBER Working Papers 9821, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- Sarmistha Pal & Robert Palacios, 2011.
"Understanding Poverty among the Elderly in India: Implications for Social Pension Policy,"
Journal of Development Studies,
Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(7), pages 1017-1037.
- Pal, Sarmistha & Palacios, Robert, 2008. "Understanding Poverty among the Elderly in India: Implications for Social Pension Policy," IZA Discussion Papers 3431, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
- Imai, Katsushi & Raghav Gaiha, 2003.
"Vulnerability, Shocks and Persistence of Poverty - Estimates for Semi-Arid Rural South India,"
Royal Economic Society Annual Conference 2003
111, Royal Economic Society.
- Raghav Gaiha & Katsushi Imai, 2004. "Vulnerability, shocks and persistence of poverty: estimates for semi-arid rural South India," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(2), pages 261-281.
- Katsushi Imai & Raghav Gaiha, 2002. "Vulnerability, Shocks and Persistence of Poverty - Estimates for Semi-Arid Rural South India," Economics Series Working Papers 128, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
- Grossman, Michael, 1972. "On the Concept of Health Capital and the Demand for Health," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 80(2), pages 223-255, March-Apr.
- Ettner, Susan L., 1996. "New evidence on the relationship between income and health," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 67-85, February.
- Gerdtham, U. -G. & Johannesson, M. & Lundberg, L. & Isacson, D., 1999. "The demand for health: results from new measures of health capital," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 15(3), pages 501-521, September.
- James P. Smith, 1999. "Healthy Bodies and Thick Wallets: The Dual Relation between Health and Economic Status," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 13(2), pages 145-166, Spring.
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If references are entirely missing, you can add them using this form. | <urn:uuid:e59f3fc6-9f23-4b32-9799-f0f743dbe960> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://ideas.repec.org/p/pra/mprapa/15932.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560285001.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095125-00298-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.781963 | 1,116 | 2.03125 | 2 |
by Anton Shilov
06/03/2008 | 04:17 PM
In a bid to avoid situation when compatibility issues plague its new operating system, Microsoft Corp. strongly demands that independent hardware vendors (IHVs) tested beta version of its next-generation Windows 7 operating system (OS) alongside Windows Vista once that beta emerges. But while the process will allow keep away from problems with Windows 7, it will require additional efforts from IHVs.
“Beginning with the first beta of Windows 7 all Windows Vista submissions must include a complete CPK (compressed package) with test logs from Windows 7. The test logs generated are note required to pass,” a statement in the most recent list of requirements for IHVs who want to get Windows Vista logo.
Independent hardware vendors begin to develop drivers for next-generation operating systems long before those OSes become available to general public. However, in the current case, when there are a lot of users still use different versions of Windows XP and a lot of users already utilize Vista, development and polishing off the drivers for Windows 7 will either require additional resources for IHV driver teams, or may lead to re-allocation of workforce from XP and Vista development to Windows 7 driver creation.
“The tests should be run after performing an upgrade from Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 to the beta OS. Testing on the new beta OS must be done with drivers that are intended to install on the beta OS,” the world’s largest software maker explained.
Even though development and improvement of drivers for Windows 7 operating system will cost hardware developers a lot of efforts, considering the fact that the next-generation operating system from Microsoft is due in late 2009 or early 2010, it does make sense to start all the works as soon as possible. Moreover, the experience that IHVs gain by creating and testing drivers for Windows 7 may be valuable even for further development of Windows Vista drivers since both OSes have a similar driver model. | <urn:uuid:88fcd52b-dbe0-4b4a-bdd3-72b212538ef2> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/other/print/20080603161757_Microsoft_Wants_System_Makers_to_Ensure_Windows_7_Compatibility_As_Soon_As_Possible.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280730.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00252-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916224 | 409 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Actinopteri (ray-finned fishes) > Ophidiiformes
(Cusk eels) > Ophidiidae
(Cusk-eels) > Ophidiinae
Etymology: Ophidion: Diminutive of Greek, ophis = serpent (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Linnaeus.
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Marine; demersal; depth range 51 - 1456 m (Ref. 104125). Subtropical; 53°N - 15°N
Eastern Atlantic: southern England to Senegal and the northern Mediterranean.
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 25.4 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 59104)
Uncommon species (Ref. 34024). Oviparous, with oval pelagic eggs floating in a gelatinous mass (Ref. 205). Minimum depth from Ref. 122785.
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Nielsen, J.G., D.M. Cohen, D.F. Markle and C.R. Robins, 1999. Ophidiiform fishes of the world (Order Ophidiiformes). An annotated and illustrated catalogue of pearlfishes, cusk-eels, brotulas and other ophidiiform fishes known to date. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(18):178p. Rome: FAO. (Ref. 34024)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 125652)
Threat to humans
Fisheries: of no interest
ReferencesAquacultureAquaculture profileStrainsGeneticsAllele frequenciesHeritabilityDiseasesProcessingNutrientsMass conversion
Estimates based on models
Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969
): 11 - 14.5, mean 13.8 °C (based on 179 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805
= 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00275 (0.00158 - 0.00480), b=3.17 (3.01 - 3.33), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for species & Subfamily-BS (Ref. 93245
Trophic level (Ref. 69278
): 3.6 ±0.0 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179
): High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153
): Low vulnerability (15 of 100) .
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649
): (0 of 100) . | <urn:uuid:022d07d2-d114-417b-8c6c-0d88d67ac4a4> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.fishbase.de/summary/Ophidion-barbatum.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572286.44/warc/CC-MAIN-20220816090541-20220816120541-00273.warc.gz | en | 0.683482 | 653 | 3.015625 | 3 |
OCIP Indigenous Skills and Employment Training (ISET) Program.
What we do
The Ontario Coalition of Indigenous Peoples (OCIP) provides assistance and funding for training and skills development for Indigenous Peoples living off-reserve. Through the Indigenous Skills and Employment Training (ISET) program, the program is designed to help Indigenous Peoples prepare for, and find high-demand jobs that will help address Canada’s labour market challenges. Funded through Employment and Social Development Canada, OCIP’s employment programs and services provide Indigenous Peoples the opportunity to gain the skills required to find employment and fill job gaps in sectors experiencing skills and labour shortages. The ISET program is targeted to Indigenous Peoples living in urban, rural and remote areas throughout Canada. Those eligible to apply include Indigenous youth, women, single parents, mature workers, persons with disabilities and those experiencing career change or transition.
What we provide for clients
Employment Counseling – assists and guides individuals with career planning, training, labour market information, resume preparation, job searches, interview techniques, etc.
Skills Training – assists individuals with skills development by providing funding for training.
Wage Subsidies – provides work experience by providing wage subsidies to employers.
Self-Employment Assistance – provides financial assistance, business training and professional support that enable clients to develop a business plan or start a business.
Individual client funding
OCIP’s ISET program has funding available, and would like to sponsor off-reserve Indigenous students currently enrolled in or starting skills training programs. We can provide tuition, textbooks, supplies and material costs for students in certificate programs, diploma programs (up to 2 years) or in their final year of an undergraduate degree program. OCIP can also provide a living allowance (based on financial need) to the student. We can sponsor Indigenous students who are:
- Metis (including those who are unable to apply to the Metis Nation of Ontario for funding)
- Inuk (Southern Inuit)
- Status who are living off-reserve and not able to apply to their band for funding | <urn:uuid:851dd347-0ac8-4872-96aa-bd1c0eac5d18> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://o-cip.org/?page_id=336 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571758.42/warc/CC-MAIN-20220812200804-20220812230804-00674.warc.gz | en | 0.925741 | 432 | 2.015625 | 2 |
KeywordMilitary training camps -- Ontario
Niagara Camp (Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont.)--History
Niagara-on-the-Lake -- History
Niagara-on-the-Lake (Ont.) -- History
MetadataShow full item record
AbstractA postcard showing troops reviewing artillery practices at Niagara Camp. There are several troops on horseback and others are sitting on canons. This postcard is one of eleven attached together.
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
In the matter of the Niagara Falls park arbitration on the Sutherland Macklem case : evidence and arguementGoul, Jen (2007)Black softcover booklet, 33.5cm x 20cm, good condition, inscribed on cover "In the Matter of the Niagara Falls Park Arbitration on the Sutherland Macklem Case Evidnce and Argument" | <urn:uuid:7730999a-6d47-4572-b763-0fbc899943e0> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://dr.library.brocku.ca/handle/10464/15509 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882570871.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20220808183040-20220808213040-00267.warc.gz | en | 0.797209 | 190 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Date of this Version
GROUND WATER, Vol. 49, No. 2, March-April 2011 (pages 250–269); doi: 10.1111/j.1745-6584.2010.00676.x
Hydrogeophysical methods are presented that support the siting and monitoring of aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) systems. These methods are presented as numerical simulations in the context of a proposed ASR experiment in Kuwait, although the techniques are applicable to numerous ASR projects. Bulk geophysical properties are calculated directly from ASR flow and solute transport simulations using standard petrophysical relationships and are used to simulate the dynamic geophysical response to ASR. This strategy provides a quantitative framework for determining site-specific geophysical methods and data acquisition geometries that can provide the most useful information about the ASR implementation. An axisymmetric, coupled fluid flow and solute transport model simulates injection, storage, and withdrawal of fresh water (salinity ∼500 ppm) into the Dammam aquifer, a tertiary carbonate formation with native salinity approximately 6000 ppm. Sensitivity of the flow simulations to the correlation length of aquifer heterogeneity, aquifer dispersivity, and hydraulic permeability of the confining layer are investigated. The geophysical response using electrical resistivity, time-domain electromagnetic (TEM), and seismic methods is computed at regular intervals during the ASR simulation to investigate the sensitivity of these different techniques to changes in subsurface properties. For the electrical and electromagnetic methods, fluid electric conductivity is derived from the modeled salinity and is combined with an assumed porosity model to compute a bulk electrical resistivity structure. The seismic response is computed from the porosity model and changes in effective stress due to fluid pressure variations during injection/recovery, while changes in fluid properties are introduced through Gassmann fluid substitution. | <urn:uuid:0a931fb4-17c2-4c90-bc84-9d0ffdcb0a0c> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/516/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571538.36/warc/CC-MAIN-20220812014923-20220812044923-00475.warc.gz | en | 0.889923 | 389 | 2.1875 | 2 |
Do you have to wedge your thumb in the carabiner when you circle a thermal? For some it is obvious, for others, it is heresy so much the grass seems greener elsewhere. What is clear, when looking at the tracklogs, is that each pilot favours a certain pace while climbing and goes back to it quickly if he moves astray. During a cross-country, the GPS records the pilot’s time and geographical position roughly once every second. From there, the pilot’s course can be rendered, both in distance and altitude. In the mountains, it is first of all the terrain that structures the air mass. In the flatlands, the air mass where the pilot is evolving moves with the wind. The tracklog his GPS is recording is a way to get to know it better.
First, we will try to recalculate the tracklog no longer in geographical coordinates but in coordinates linked to the air mass. First, we find that the tracklog makes it possible to measure the horizontal velocity of the air mass through the lifts. In fact, very often, the pilot describes almost perfect circles while climbing. All you have to do is find a wind correction that makes thos circles overlay perfectly to get the speed and direction of the local wind. From these measurements, an average wind speed is calculated, based on time over the entire flight. It is then necessary to assume that the average wind is the same during the glides. Adjusted to the wind, the tracklog gives another picture of the pilot’s course. In particular, the circles in the lifts are superimposed and the tracklog in the thermals is seen as vertically aligned.
Each of the measured horizontal velocities differs significantly from the mean. Their dispersion gives an idea of the horizontal turbulence. The measurements extend, with respect to altitude, from the lows of the flight, usually at 500 meters AGL, to the maximum altitude of the flight, between 1000 and 1500 meters AGL. It is therefore possible, by selecting altitude ranges, to get an idea of the variations in the average wind. Also thanks to the vario indications, one can have access to the activity of the lifting areas and to the vertical turbulences. The air mass thus appears to be paved with lifts whose distribution can be assessed, and to a certain extent, so does its range. If, in on given day, several pilots have made distance flights from the same take-off, we will obtain a better vision of the air mass that day.
Knowing, thanks to the vario and the sink rate of the glider, the climbing of the air, assuming (which is a rather strong approximation) that it is constant from the ground, one can access the trigger area of the bubble and its characteristics (vegetation, slope, orientation). With the distribution of the lifts, their width and climbing rate, it is possible to build an activity index of the air mass. If we have many tracklogs, we can compare the various indices, while being aware that the disparities observed can come from both the skills of the pilots and the air mass itself.
The "vertically processed" tracklog is used to calculate a progression speed rate in the air mass, independent of the wind and the distance travelled there, both of which reveal the pilot’s ability to take advantage of the weather. Of course, the examination of the tracklogs does not allow a clear distinction between what is the pilot’s decision and what is the hazard of the boundary layer. The results obtained are therefore indicative only.
They must be compared with the day’s forecast and the pilots' feelings. Additional observations along the circuit would be very useful:
- From the ground: soil temperature and humidity, rainfall the day before, photos of the sky, satellite images, solar radiation, and local soundings.
- During the flight: simultaneous recording of the GPS position, temperature and humidity, cloudbase, timestamp when reaching condensation’s level, and declaration of a cloud street.
Each chapter of this presentation focuses on a particular feature of the boundary layer and the methodology used to obtain it. It is illustrated by the analysis of one or more tracklogs of long and recent flights, sometimes extraordinary. The small number of flights analysed, and in an home-made way, probably does not make it possible to draw formal conclusions on the reliability of this method. But, hopefully, thanks to modern data analysis techniques, it will be possible to gather and compare the information obtained from the weather forecasts and those obtained from the paragliding pilots' flights on a daily basis.
The pilot who looks at his track on the FFVL website sees it a succession of straight lines for glides and cicloids in lifts, or even simple broken lines if the wind is strong. In thermals, the pilot makes circles in the air mass and the wind causes these circles to deform. A typical image of such a sequence is shown below.
The IGC file recorded by the GPS provides the chart of this flight’s sequence from the start of the glide. After entering the thermal in a straight line for nearly 500 meters, the pilot shifts his trajectory to the south and then successively circles 10 times and goes on eastward in a straight line, climbing sharply, to finally turn to the southeast to exit the thermal.
The deformation in the circles is due to the wind. Adjusting the tracklog with the day’s wind, we must be able to find the pilot’s path in the air mass. The wind for that day was 15 km/h westerly. Applying this correction, the track is as follows:
The circles are tighter, but we feel that we can do better. Groping along, we arrive at the following figure:
The circles are almost perfectly superimposed. The distance covered in the sequence, which was about 5 kilometers, is now only about 3 kilometers. The pilot travelled 3 kilometers on his own, and the wind helped him for 2 kilometers. The wind that allowed this near-optimum adjustment is at 279°, for 15.7 km/h. It is a bit different from the wind forecast. We can now zoom in on the circles.
Some loops are not properly centered. To see more clearly, one can observe the circles obliquely.
On this view, we see that there are in fact three zones. A first one with three circles, a second one with four, and the last, only two. To explain these three areas, there are two hypothesis: either the pilot deliberately altered his trajectory, or the local wind changed. Since the circles look very similar, the first hypothesis is unlikely. On the other hand, the turbulence, still present, could explain these variations. Here, it is necessary to decide how to segment all those circles. If you segment too much, you can lose some relevance. In the end, two segments have been chosen: the first three circles, and the last six. The best alignment of the last six leads to the following figure:
whose characteristics are as follows:
- Number: 6
- Mean diameter: 52.8 meters
- Pilot's speed: 10.3 meters per second
- Wind direction: 279°
- Wind speed: 15.7 km/h
And if you take 280° and 15.7 km/h, the image is also less balanced.
This method therefore allows to measure the local wind with a 1° margin in direction, and better than 1km/h in speed. It should be noted that the local wind for the first three circles was 14.2 km/h in speed and 262° in direction. We can also note the time per turn here is at 16 seconds, which is very tight and characteristic of Martin Morlet’s style. The mean vario of this segment is equal to +2.3 m/s. We can deduce the climb rate of the air if we know the sink rate of the glider. Even if an Enzo 3 has a sink rate in the vicinity of -0.9 m/s in a straight line, its sink in a 16 seconds circle should be around 1.4 m/s, so it could be deduced that the climb rate of the air is about +3.7 m/s. Unfortunately, there are no tables available for the sink rate of gliders while circling, and few pilots have conducted tests in calm air to get a clear idea.
Thanks to the « vertical processing » of tracklogs, a 3D local sounding of the air mass can be achieved. With the entire tracklog, we can accurately calculate a mean wind and the variations around the mean wind. The distance traveled and the speed in the boundary layer can be estimated, indicating the pilot’s true ability to take advantage of the day’s buoyancy. | <urn:uuid:fc050c72-a44b-4847-ada5-b0e2d9102c17> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://xcanalytics.fr/en/xc-lab-uk/item/29-alain-angle-1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573760.75/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819191655-20220819221655-00670.warc.gz | en | 0.944706 | 1,846 | 2.640625 | 3 |
The time has come when the 3D Printers are finally getting their fair share of attention and are turning mainstream. In fact, we at TechPP have featured many such innovative 3D printers which sell at an affordable price point and can be a good bet for the personal use. However, it is not so convenient to turn a real life object into a 3-D model manually, but we do have Autodesk’s 123D Catch which is one of the contenders for Scandy but loses out on the resolution front. Also, check out the Eora 3D scanner that works in same fashion as the Scandy.
Scandy is launching a beta program to make it easy for users to scan objects in 3D from any Android devices. Scandy has sourced the 3D sensors from pmd in order to achieve 0.3mm precision and greater resolution. The 3D scanner can be simply snapped to your smartphone and you are ready to go, much like the WalabotDIY we featured last week.
The makers of Scandy have also made the Scandy Core SDK available for the developers and hopefully many will integrate the technology to extend the utility of the scanner. The software is capable of capturing 3 frames per second in 3D and will also be rendering the scan on the companion app. Microsoft is also rumoured to having a similar product in its pipeline but as of now Scandy is expected to take a lead once it is commercially released by the end of this year.
It is very important for the 3D scanning market to take the cues from the 3D printer market and goes hand in hand. Also, this will help developers take things a notch up when it comes to VR and AR technologies. In case you are interested in trying out Scandy you can do so by heading over to android3Dscanning and registering yourself for the $500 beta program. | <urn:uuid:8e759f2c-265c-4693-975a-857e46a082b5> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://techpp.com/2016/08/23/scandy-3d-scanner-android-phone/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280483.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00297-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958584 | 382 | 1.648438 | 2 |
The Kansas City Public Schools Athletic Department believes that athletics and student activities not only offers students the opportunity to take part in activities they enjoy, but also provide students many lifelong benefits such as character development, goal setting, and friendships. Athletics also teach participants lessons un teamwork, discipline. leadership and overcoming adversity. The district offers an array of programs for high school and middle school students to take part. The athletic department and coaching staffs are proud of the life lessons that can be taught through participation in KCPS athletic teams and activities.
The District Athletic Department oversees all of the district's athletic programs and student activities. Our mission is to inspire, support, develop and promote students in their pursuit of academics and athletic excellence.
The vision of the Athletic Department is to provide student-athletes a safe and healthy environment that promotes and supports academic, athletic, and personal achievement. Athletic programs will encourage and empower student-athletes to become better students, athletes, leaders and citizens; to prepare for the transition to the next level or participation.
MSHSAA Pre-Participation Form
Every student-athlete must have a pre-participation physical documented and submitted prior to participating in any athletics programs under the purview of the Kansas City Public Schools Athletic Department. Participation Physical Evaluation PDF
Head injuries may occur in any of the athletic programs in the Kansas City Public Schools. As such, parents and student-athletes are required to understand the signs and symptoms of concussions and what to do in the case there is one. The MSHSAA Education Series "Know Your Concussion ABC's" packet informs students and parents of the dangers of concussions and the necessary precautions to reduce head injuries. As part of the participation requirements, a written acknowledgment of the education is required prior to a student being allowed participation in any KCPS Athletic Department program. 10-206 MSHAA Concussion Packet PDF
We are allowing spectators to bring lawn chairs, blankets, etc to accommodate the limited seating space at the following locations:
New! Employees of the KCPS wearing an ID badge can now enter Interscholastic League (IL) sponsored events free of charge. We ask all employees to sign in at the gate. However, away games, non-IL tournaments, MSHSAA-sanctioned events (tournaments, Districts, Finals, etc.), and other private events at Interscholastic League facilities require a cover charge that cannot be waived. | <urn:uuid:6c67bd77-e78a-41b0-952f-07c99679cf5c> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://kcpublicschools.org/site/Default.aspx?PageID=164 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280266.9/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00494-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935845 | 496 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Rubino C. Master Thesis
by: Rubino Cosimo
LUTETIA 21 ASTEROID RECONSTRUCTION BY STRUCTURE FROM MOTION AND PHOTOMETRIC TECHNIQUES
The goal of my experimental work of thesis is the reconstruction of the northern hemisphere surface of the asteroid 21 Lutetia, which is one of the two objectives of the International Rosetta mission, whose images were acquired during the spacecraft fly-by on July 10, 2010.
By analizing image sequence captured by the optical imaging system mounted on the probe, it has been possible to generate the sparse surface by using some geometric properties.
The reconstruction process started with a sparse reconstruction, developed by Luca Baglivo et al.; by using the SURF feature detection based procedure on each of the 9 images selected, they obtained a set of trajectories. The affine Stucture from Motion algorithm generated the 3D location of 1245 features.
|Detected features without filtering||SfM reconstruction|
With this unregistered and unscaled structure of features, it is possible to recover the position of the reconstructed part in a Lutetia-fixed based frame by using the geometric data provided by SPICE. SPICE is a ancillary information system developed by NASA, wich can give distances and orientation between bodies associated with many space mission.
The previous reconstruction has been merged with KOALA shape, a 300 point sparse reconstruction of the entire asteroid made Carry et al. by ground-based images of Lutetia.
|KOALA and SfM merging||
KOALA reconstruction with SfM 3D features
The main purpose of the master thesis work was to generate a dense reconstruction of the asteroid, and this target was reached by using the Shape from Shading technique.
This metod, based on the main ipothesis of a Lambertian surface ( with an isotropic surface luminance ) may generate with a single image and the light direction a dense 3D reconstruction; the lackness of this method is a bad low spatial frequency recognition.
The final solution was to combine, with a appropriate cutoff frequency, the low frequency of the Structure from Motion reconstruction with the Shape from Shading relieves.
|Dense reconstruction by high and low spacial frequence union||Final surface shape|
This method generated a dense surface reconstruction with a good shape refinement.
The next goal will be an improvement of this method, separating the inhomogeneity on surface reflectance caused by space wethering effect. | <urn:uuid:44ce082e-9ba0-4d56-8d4d-1dbfe9ba2bd6> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.miro.ing.unitn.it/rubino-c-master-thesis/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573197.34/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818124424-20220818154424-00670.warc.gz | en | 0.916272 | 538 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Microalgae lipid fuel production
The use of photosynthetic microorganisms as sources of renewable energy has recently been the subject of much research and debate. Notably, microalgae lipid production has been considered as a potential source of biofuels that would not compete with food products. Other advantages include the atmospheric capture CO2 by algae, which might help neutralize the effects of later hydrocarbon combustion. Algae biofuel is also non-toxic and biodegradable and renewable.
Research Problem and Goals
There are many limitations to producing and extracting oil from algae, such as optimizing algae growth in bioreactors; lipid production and characteristics; extraction efficiency; and economic sustainability. We would like to improve the efficiency of algae energy production. Specifically, we will focus on the up-regulation of lipid biosynthesis, leading to increased fuel yield. High yields might help dispel initial cost worries. By using available genome sequence information from a variety of algae, as discoveries from other microorganism systems, we could select a point in the micro-algae lipid synthesis pathway to modify. Some options would be to increase expression of anabolic enzymes, or decrease inhibitory regulation mechanisms. Another possibility could be to add transform algae strains so as to extend the biosynthetic pathway of lipids in such a way that the biomass produced contains lipids that are closer to those that are used for combustion.
Overexpressing the YEAST G3P dehydrogenase in microalgae: Since modifications of the TAG assembly pathway have given some of the best increases in lipid production in terrestial photosynthetic organisms, we wish to transform Chlamydomonas reinhardtii via over-expression of the yeast G3PDH gene.
Project details and methods
Model system: Chlamydonomas reinhardtii
-eukaryotic, single celled greed microalgae. -extensively studied and characterized (Gene bank data); most microalgae research has been constructed in this strain - can be used as a model platform to design modifications transferrable to other strains, OR could be engineered into a biofuel super source.
- Targeting the fatty acid production pathway in the chloroplast/plastid had thus far been unsuccessful. However, Vigeolas et. al. were able to increase TAG production by 40% by upregulating the TAG assembly pathway in the cytosol. **
- Transforming oil-seed rape by overexpression of yeast gpd1 gene under napin promoter
-This results in increased expression of glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (Gly3PDH). > This enzyme catalyzes the conversion of the glycolytic intermediate dihydroxyacetone phosphate (DHAP) into glycerol-3-phosphate, which along with fatty acids, is one of the co-limiting substrates for tryacylglycerol (TAG) assembly. -This study showed some important findings: a. b. c. d.
As of April 2010, this method has not yet been tried in photosynthetic algae. We wish to transfer this kno
- Microalgae transformation methods.
1. Grow an arg- Chlamydomonas reinhardtii strain at 25°C under constant illumination. 2. Transform using electroporation in presence of the gpd1, Arg7, Kan+ containing plasmid.
- Bioreactor necessary?
- How to test for efficient transformation: markers
- How to measure change in lipid production?
If everyting works well:
If nothing works:
In between case:
- By increasing lipid yield per liter of microalgae, we could make algae biofuels a more economically feasible source of biofuels
- Alternative to other biofuels sources that compete with food consumption
- Alternative to petroleum and other fossil fuels, whose drawbacks include unstable costs and foreign sources
Radakovits R, Jinkerson RE, Darzins A, Posewitz1 MC. Eukar Cell 2010 (9,4):486–501.
This review collects the current research regarding algae biofuels and summarizes the challenges that need to be addressed in order to make algae a viable source of biofuels. Some of the approaches proposed in this paper include: upgrading the direct biosynthesis of lipids, altering lipid characteristics so as to make them a more relevant fuel source, optimizing the conversion of carbohydrates to lipids, and improving photosynthetic efficiency. From this paper, which was just published this month, we gathered that there is great interest in developing algae biofuels as an energy source. As a consequence of this, there is ample opportunity for innovation and genetic optimization. This paper also contains numerous references that can serve as starting points for research ideas and tools
- Eichler-Stahlberg A, Weisheit W, Ruecker O, Heitzer M. Strategies to facilitate transgene expression in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Planta 229: 873-883.
-This paper describes the manipulation of foreign genes and the plasmid methods necessary for transforming our desired microalgal strain.
Necessary steps include:
1. Taking the yeast gene gpd1 (S. cerviciae GenBank Z24454, Larsson et.al. 1993), and optimizing for C. reinhardtii codon usage. Amplify.
1a. Artificiallu divide the gene into two exons using recombinant PCR and restriction enzyme methods.
2.Inserting endogenous introns 1,2,3 (in order) from the C. reinhardtii gene RCBS2 : these introns facilitate nuclear transformation and cytosolic expression of our enzyme.
3. Fusing into plasmid expression vectors : transferring into pHsp70A/RbscS2-Chlamy, then fusion with the pUC-Arg7-lox-B plasmid via Cre/lox mediated site-specific recombination.
-This paper also describes the growth and transformation of the algae:
- Vigeolas H, Waldeck P, Zank T, Geigenberger P. Increasing seed oil content in oil-seed rape (Brassica napus L.) by over-expression of yeast glycerlo-3-phosphate dehydrogenase under the control of a seed-specific promoter. Plant biotechnol. J. 5: 431-441.
- This article decribes a successful increase of TAG production in oil-seed rape. We want to reproduce the results in algae. -Describes that gas chromatography was used to measure TAG content.
- Heitzer M, Zschoernig B (2007) Construction of modular tandem expression vectors for the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii using the Cre/lox-system. Biotechniques 43:324, 326, 328
-This article describes the expression vector we will use to transform our C. reinhardtii.
- Leon-Banares R, Gonzalez-Ballester D, Galvan A, Fernandez E. Transgenic microalgae as green cell-factories. Trends Biotechnol. 2004; 22: 45-52.
-Useful markers, summary of transformation methods, drawback.
- Larsson K, Ansell R, Eriksson P, Adler L. A gene encoding sn-glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (NAD+) complements a osmosensitive mutant of Saccharomyces cervisiae. Mol. Microbiol. 1993; 10: 1101-1111.
-Here is the article about the yeast gpd1 gene we will be using.
- Some interesting presentations:
- Useful webpages:
- Potentially useful articles:
-Hu, Q., M. Sommerfeld, E. Jarvis, M. Ghirardi, M. Posewitz, M. Seibert, and A. Darzins. 2008. Microalgal triacylglycerols as feedstocks for biofuel production: perspectives and advances. Plant J. 54:621–639. | <urn:uuid:d56fe07b-ad1c-46bc-bd01-d90de3f77d0e> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.openwetware.org/wiki/Microalgae_lipid_fuel_production | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560283008.19/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095123-00081-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.887814 | 1,705 | 3.0625 | 3 |
Japan is the home country of Godzilla, Hachiko, Maria Ozawa, Doraemon, and Son Goku. It's also a great gastronomic destination. No wonder why Japan is one of the most sought after destinations among Asians, particularly Filipinos. Apparently, there's one thing that keeps us from visiting this country. Unlike our neighbors in Southeast Asia who only require a valid Philippine passport, Japan requires Filipinos to have a valid visa before entering their territory.
Here are the steps and a few reminders on how to successfully obtain a Japanese tourist visa.
Just a little background about me: I was born and raised here in the Philippines. I am single and currently working as an Air Traffic Controller (I work for the government) in Tacloban City. I applied for a tourist visa through my travel agent and they processed my visa application in Manila. The visa processing took around 7 days.
Here are the basic requirements that you need to comply:
- Philippine passport. Must have at least two blank pages. Don't forget to sign your passport!
- Two 2x2 (4.5cm x 4.5cm) ID picture. White background and show your neutral face. No exaggerated facial expressions, please!
- A duly accomplished application form. Don't leave blanks. Write n/a if not applicable. You can download the application form here.
- Birth Certificate from NSO. The Japanese embassy is very particular on this. If you applied for a tourist visa this year, then your birth certificate must be also issued from NSO the same year. They will deny your visa if you obtained your birth certificate from NSO last year.
- Marriage Certificate from NSO. If you're single like me, disregard this item.
Here are some documents that you need to submit to support your application:
- If you're applying for a tourist visa (like me), you should also provide an itinerary of your trip. You can download the form here. Your itinerary shouldn't be really detailed however, you have to indicate the places that you're going to visit during your stay.
- Income Tax Return (ITR Form 2316). Form 2307 can also suffice.
- Bank Certificate with Statement of Account for the past six months. Japan doesn't indicate a minimum show money however your bank account should be a bit fatter (but realistic) if you're planning to stay longer in Japan. I'm staying in Tokyo for only four days and three nights and I didn't encounter any problem with my visa application. But in case you're wondering, my bank account is over a hundred thousand grand. That's actually more than enough if you ask me. If you're a credit card holder, you can also submit the last three months of your credit card bill just to prove that you're able to finance your trip.
- Provide a printout of your airline ticket and your hotel accommodation. These two aren't required but it doesn't hurt if you send these to them.
- Letter of Authorization. This is to inform the embassy that you authorize a representative to submit the required documents and claim your passport with Japanese visa on their behalf.
If you have insufficient funds or if you're unable to provide an ITR, you can still declare that you're going to visit a distance relative or a friend.
Here are the requirements:
- Invitation from your guarantor. This shall include reasons why you are visiting them and must be issued within three months prior your trip. The letter must have a signature of the guarantor. You can download the template here.
- Guarantee letter (you). The letter must be issued within three months before your trip. Download the template here.
- If your guarantor's a Japanese citizen, you must obtain their residence certificate or a foreign registration certificate if they're foreigners working in Japan. These documents must be issued within three months.
- Bank Certificate, Income Tax Return, and/or Income Certificate of your guarantor. It would be better if they can provide all three of them.
Take note that if they're not going to sponsor your trip, you have to provide your OWN bank certificate.
The processing fee costs Php 1500, shipping fee to and from Manila included. Obviously, it's cheaper if you're applying in Manila. It took them seven working days to process my application. Two weeks before my trip I received my passport from the Japan embassy with an approved single entry visa valid for 15 days.
Some tips to increase the chances of your approval:
- If you have stamps from your previous trips, you'll get a higher chance of getting your visa approved. It doesn't only show that you're able to finance your own trips, but your stamps indicate that you had returned back to the country after your travels. Don't fret if you don't have stamps. You'll need prayers and a few ounce of luck.
- Same story goes if you have visas from other countries.
- Just because you have a fat bank account doesn't mean they'll automatically grant you a visa. Remember that your bank certificate shows your monthly average balance, so putting an immediate hefty amount to your bank account is a terrible idea. Be realistic with your bank account. The embassy will be suspicious if you have over half a million in your bank account yet you are only a regular employee of a company.
There you go! I do hope this blog post helped.
Big thanks to Leyte Gulf Travel and Tours for the fast and hassle-free transaction. | <urn:uuid:f05e97e8-ed75-41b8-8d88-8cc4916c4d77> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.thetravelingnomad.com/2016/09/how-to-apply-for-japan-tourist-visa-in.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280825.87/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00204-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953001 | 1,130 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Business analytics focuses on the development and use of varying methodologies in data-driven business decisions. The area spans Statistical Modeling, Pricing, Retail, and Text Analytics, Operational Research, Trend Analytics, Opinion Mining, and Data Visualization.
Below is a list of selected faculty members who conduct research relevant to this area:
Retail, Supply Chain, Stochastic Processes.
Machine Learning Models for Social Analytics, including opinion mining, sentiment analysis.
Electronic Government, Cognitive Analytics, Operational Research, Strategic Performance Measurement and Management.
Imad Bou Hamad
Applied Statistical Modeling, Predictive Analytics, Consumer Behaviour Analytics
Stochastic Modeling; Revenue Management; Inventory & Supply Chain; Data Analytics.
Data visualization and manipulation to assist organizations in meeting their objectives in various contexts (e.g., governance, strategy and education).
Social Media Trends Analytics, Gender bias.
variance reduction methods.
Applied probability - Monte Carlo simulation - dynamic experimentation - supply chain and pricing analytics.
Detection and mitigation of gender bias in AI/NLP.
Building resources and models to enhance Arabic Natural Language processing and understanding.
Text Analytics, Retail Analytics, Open Data. | <urn:uuid:2821b2ae-e527-45e5-a9f6-44f3467c9eb8> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.aub.edu.lb/hub/Pages/businessanalytics.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571234.82/warc/CC-MAIN-20220811042804-20220811072804-00065.warc.gz | en | 0.788232 | 344 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Gaming the Numbers
Many of the statistics policy makers use today are set in concrete but made of quicksand.
Last summer, the University of Maryland came out with a report about the number of enrollees in Maryland's Medicaid program. You wouldn't think that this would be something that would require a major university study. But it turns out that there are enormous discrepancies in the figures used by the state and those derived by the federal government.
The U.S. Census Bureau's Current Population Survey indicates that 410,000 individuals in Maryland are covered by Medicaid. But if you ask the people in Maryland government, they'll tell you there are more than 700,000 beneficiaries. According to the UMd study, the state numbers are more accurate. People contacted for the census survey may not acknowledge they're on Medicaid for a variety of reasons, including the potential stigma attached.
The ramifications of this large difference--which is likely replicated in other states--go far beyond the program involved. This huge error brings up significant policy questions. The number of Medicaid enrollees also is used to calculate the number of uninsured. So, although virtually every major report about the uninsured in America claims about 45 million people fall into that group, the number is almost certainly far lower.
If this kind of misstated statistic was limited to the uninsured, that would be bad enough. But the foundations of many statistics used by officials to create and manage state programs are made of similar quicksand.
Take the poverty rate. It's used in a variety of ways by the states, including as a financial guideline for child support enforcement, determination of legal indigence for court purposes, eligibility for Medicaid, and inclusion in Head Start programs. Perhaps most important, it's the mainstay of reports issued by a whole array of advocacy groups. But pretty much everyone who has studied the formula for determining the poverty rate knows that it's flat-out wrong.
For one thing, it doesn't count the value of food stamps or Medicaid or earned income tax credits. What's more, there's only one national poverty rate, which suggests the obviously foolish notion that it costs the same to maintain a decent quality of life in Ripley, Mississippi, as it does in New York City.
If the flaws in the poverty rate are so widely known, then why hasn't it been adjusted? The problem is that "it's not clear whether there would be more or less poor," says Susan E. Mayer, dean of the Harris School of Public Policy Studies at the University of Chicago. As a result, states that pay for means-tested programs fear that their costs could go up if more people were defined as poor. On the flip side, other states could lose money in programs with federal matching dollars if fewer people were defined as poor. And advocacy groups worry that some of the people they represent might wind up losing benefits if, under a new calculus, they were no longer considered to be poor.
But Mayer maintains, sensibly enough, that advocacy groups are playing a dangerous game by trying to maintain a fictional poverty line in order to keep funding up for the time being. "It can backfire," she says. "Everyone wants to think the sky is falling, because that way maybe we'll prop up the sky. But if all the propping up doesn't seem to be working, and the sky continues to seem to be falling, in the end we'll just give up."
Unemployment figures--one of the most commonly used measures of the fiscal health of states and cities--are also problematic and critics believe they are misleading for the following reason: the longer a recession lasts, the greater the number of men and women who give up on looking for work altogether. And the most commonly used unemployment rates are based only on those people who are actively in the job market. As a result, when a state's economy remains in the doldrums, the unemployment rate is artificially constrained. The reverse is true as well. When the economy comes back, and more people think they have a chance at finding work, the improvement can be underreported.
Interestingly, the general public seems to have a high tolerance for flawed statistics. Back in the mid-1980s, Americans were consumed with fear that their children were likely to be kidnapped by a stranger at any moment. According to newspapers, politicians and milk cartons, about 1.5 million children were allegedly disappearing each year--some 50,000 of them kidnapped by strangers. These statistics held sway until the Denver Post did a Pulitzer Prize-winning story, debunking this number.
But think about this for a moment: How could anyone have ever believed those figures in the first place? Actual newspaper accounts of kidnapped children drew a huge amount of attention. But they were relatively rare. Why were reporters ignoring tens of thousands of kidnapped kids? Obviously, because they didn't exist.
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Dirt Roads Help Some Cities, Counties Drive Down Costs1 day ago | <urn:uuid:407dd829-fffa-4167-82fa-7504020ccb85> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.governing.com/columns/smart-mgmt/Gaming-Numbers.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281331.15/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00222-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971309 | 1,122 | 2.34375 | 2 |
What causes epilepsy?
Epilepsy is caused by abnormal electric impulses in groups of nerve cells (neurons) found in the brain.
For diagnostic purposes, epilepsy is divided into two main groups.
Idiopathic epilepsy (primary epilepsy)
Idiopathic comes from the Greek words idios – which means self, own and personal
In cases of this type, the cause is unknown.
However, it is believed that attacks are caused by the lack of a particular group of chemical substances (the neurotransmitters) used to regulate the electric impulses in the brain.
- There may be an hereditary (genetic) background, since epilepsy of the same type is often seen among relatives. Moreover, EEG irregularities similar to those of the patient are often seen among family members, even if they do not suffer from epilepsy – a kind of genetic mark. New research has shown that certain cases of idiopathic epilepsy are clearly hereditary, caused by chromosomal abnormality.
- The patient has no other signs of neurological illness or mental defects. CT and MRI scans are normal.
Symptomatic epilepsy (secondary epilepsy)
There is a known cause for the epilepsy in these patients.
Numerous illnesses or types of brain damage can cause epilepsy. The following are the most common.
Damage occurring to the brain as it develops during the first three months of pregnancy.
This can be revealed by modern MRI scans and causes many of the difficult-to-control cases in children.
Trauma to the skull
Unlike ordinary concussion, trauma or accidental injury can be so serious that the patient is admitted to a neuro-surgical ward.
The possibility of epilepsy following trauma varies from 5 to 50 per cent, with the highest risk following a depressed skull fracture where the brain tissue has been partly damaged or a gunshot wound to the head.
Blood clots (infarcts) and haemorrhages in the brain
About 10 per cent of all brain infarcts cause epilepsy. It can also follow on as after cranial surgery.
Metabolic medical disorders
These include such problems as hyponatraemia or hypercalcaemia.
Problems at birth
Epilepsy can result die to the baby suffering from lack of oxygen to the brain during delivery, such as the umbilical cord getting pressed on or being twisted.
Especially slow-growing superficial tumours. Since these can be surgically removed, it is important to check for these if a patient develops epilepsy, especially if the attacks start in a limited part of the brain (focal attacks – consult the article on the types of attacks).
The most important techniques are CT scans and MRI scans.
Prolonged seizures and fever convulsions could induce brain damage.
Epilepsy can result due to alcohol or drug withdrawal or due to chronic abuse of either substance.
Other people also read:
Epilepsy: the prospects for people with epilepsy.
Treating epilepsy: different ways to treat epilepsy.
Epileptic attacks: what are epilepsy syndromes?
Fainting: what triggers fainting? | <urn:uuid:7dcbe2e0-e6e1-4d98-a361-7caacb2e8d2f> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/conditions/brain-and-nervous-system/a345/epilepsy-8211-what-are-the-causes/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988720026.81/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183840-00456-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930158 | 640 | 3.84375 | 4 |
Brief Biography of Edmond Rostand
Edmond Rostand was born in Marseille to a middle-class family of intellectuals. His parents encouraged him to study philosophy, literature, and history, and as a teenager Rostand enrolled in the prestigious Collège Stanslas in Paris. He published poetry during his twenties, and succeeded in putting on many plays even before he turned 25. In 1894, he saw the premier of one of his most popular works, Les Romanesques, the play that would form the basis for The Fantasticks, one of the longest running Broadway musicals of all time. His next play, Cyrano de Bergerac, was hugely popular when it premiered in 1897, and as a result Rostand became one of the most famous writers in Europe. His later efforts included plays about the Napoleonic Wars and Metternich, none of which measured up to the success of his earlier works. He died in 1918, one of the millions of victims of the global flu pandemic.
Historical Context of Cyrano De Bergerac
It’s important to understand some French history when reading Cyrano. The majority of the play is set in 1640, when Louis XIII was King of France. Louis was widely regarded as a weak and ineffectual king, more interested in decadent parties than nation building. His most trusted advisor—and, supposedly, the “Grey eminence” of the French court—was Cardinal Richelieu, whose name is synonymous with power and prestige in Cyrano. During the reign of Louis XIII, France clashed with its neighbor, Spain, in a series of battles throughout the 1630s and 40s. At times, France invaded Spanish territory in an effort to expand its borders. In 1640, France attempted to invade the Spanish province of Arras, and for more than a year, French soldiers tried to starve out Spanish troops in their fortresses. The siege was largely a failure—indeed, it wasn’t until 1654 (around the time when the final act of Cyrano is set) that France succeeded in conquering Arras. Finally, it’s important to keep in mind that Cyrano takes place at a time when France was still building its identity as a modern nation-state. For centuries, the provinces of France had been only loosely connected, and it wasn’t until the 1600s that these provinces began to be grouped together into a strong, stable state. Even in the 1640s, many Parisians—the dominant cultural group of France—regarded people from other parts of France with suspicion and amusement. People from the Gascon region of France—bordering Spain—were considered uncouth, similar to the stereotypes associated with American Southerners. It’s easy to see this dynamic in Cyrano, as the wealthy and powerful characters regard the cadets of Gascon as foolish and crude.
Other Books Related to Cyrano De Bergerac
Cyrano de Bergerac alludes to many famous European books. During the Siege of Arras, Cyrano reads from a book by the great French philosopher René Descartes—presumably the book is the Principles of Philosophy. Descartes was instrumental in the rise of the Enlightenment, and in books like Principles of Philosophy, he popularized the philosophical method known as systematic doubt, positing that the only entity that one can be sure exists is the mind—this sounds something like Cyrano’s rugged, independent worldview. The play also alludes to various genres and styles of European literature. The love verses that Cyrano delivers to Roxane throughout the play imitate the convention of the Petrarchan sonnet. During the 1600s, new translations of the classical poet Petrarch resulted in a “boom” in love sonnets. In a love sonnet, the speaker usually professes his sincere, immortal love for a beautiful woman. Evidently, Cyrano has read some of these works, and riffs on them freely when speaking to Roxane. Finally, Cyrano’s character resembles that of a Romantic hero-poet, such as Lord Byron. Byron—often praised for his “panache”—was famously free with his money, and wrote hundreds of romantic poems to the women he loved, including “She Walks In Beauty” and “When We Two Parted.” It’s entirely possible that Rostand, writing at the end of the 19th century, was thinking of the famous Lord Byron when he devised the character of Cyrano—a dashing, flamboyant, warrior-poet.
Key Facts about Cyrano De Bergerac
Full Title: Cyrano de Bergerac
Where Written: Paris, France
When Published: Premiered in February of 1897
Literary Period: Late Romanticism
Setting: Paris and Arras, mid-17th century
Climax: The death of Christian in Act 4
Antagonist: For most of the play, the Count de Guiche
Extra Credit for Cyrano De Bergerac | <urn:uuid:53c2279f-6d6d-4557-b5e2-457c70ff0331> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.litcharts.com/lit/cyrano-de-bergerac | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280891.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00164-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959912 | 1,046 | 3.265625 | 3 |
You may find this hard to believe, but bingo is alive and well and doing better than ever in the UK.
In fact, according to a recent article published in the Mirror Online, bingo is now more popular than tennis, one of Britain’s favourite sports.
There are around 3.5 million active bingo players in Britain, with more joining their ranks very day. When one considers online gaming, video games, slots, lotto, and other forms of modern gaming, especially online, it seems quite incredible that bingo has stood the test of time and is still a favourite game of Brits all over the UK.
But why is that? What is it about this game that makes it so irresistible? Who is playing this game the most and are they playing it in the real world or online? Let’s find out more.
Britain’s Love Affair with Bingo
While the origins of the game of bingo have been lost in the mists of time, the game as we know it today can be traced back to 16th century Italy although the modern version has gone through several changes (and countries) during that time. Interestingly, the name ‘bingo’ is believed to come from the British Customs office, a proclamation of a successful search.
The slang term was then adopted by an entrepreneur named Hugh J. Ward to market the modern game at local carnivals during the 1920’s. The name stuck to this day and anyone who has ever won a game knows just how invigorating it is to shout “Bingo!” upon completing a card.
The popularity of bingo really took off during the sixties, when it became a legalised form of gambling. The number of bingo players all over Britain sky rocketed to around 14 million and continued to grow up until the eighties, with over 1600 bingo halls scattered throughout the country.
However, the nineties saw a dramatic decline in the number of physical players thanks to the rise of the internet and direct competition from the National Lottery. Bingo halls started to close down as online slots grabbed much of the limelight with UK gamblers.
The game was still played of course, but on a much smaller scale, creating the perception that bingo was just entertainment for little old ladies once a week at their local church or community center.
Bingo Bounces Back Big Time!
The 2000’s saw a dramatic resurgence in the popularity of bingo in Britain, as more and more slot sites UK and standalone digital bingo sites began launching great online bingo game, tailor made for UK bingo fans. The online versions had all the features of traditional bingo games, with familiar looking bingo cards, bingo chat rooms, and quick and easy prizes.
In fact, online bingo’s biggest fans were traditional bingo players, adapting to the new technology and finding their beloved game was now new and improved. Interestingly, according to recent statistics, of the 3.5 million bingo players in the UK, 4 out of 5 are stay at home moms.
A staggering 62 per cent of them are under the age of 45 and around 20% of these are between the ages of 18 to 24 years. Hardly a little old ladies game, is it? | <urn:uuid:5d803c4b-0f78-42cc-9387-bb84abd281ed> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://bmmagazine.co.uk/business/why-is-bingo-so-popular-in-britain/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573163.7/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818033705-20220818063705-00074.warc.gz | en | 0.978017 | 681 | 1.6875 | 2 |
CockroachDB: A Scalable, Geo-Replicated, Transactional Datastore
The team behind CockroachDB, an open source datastore project, has recently announced its initial alpha version. Inspired by Google’s Spanner project, CockroachDB aims to address the current lack of an open source, scalable, geo-replicated, ACID compliant database.
Traditionally, NoSQL datastores have supported multi datacenter configurations through the use of asynchronous replication between datacenters. This is the recommended approach in MongoDB and it is the only approach available in Riak, Cassandra and HBase. However, asynchronous replication prevents consistency guarantees between datacenters. Moreover, most of the first generation NoSQL datastores failed to support arbitrary cross key transactions. Recently, new systems such as FoundationDB and HyperDex have been designed with cross key transaction support. However, these systems caution against multi datacenter configurations.
Against that backdrop Google announced their Spanner system in 2012 which broke new ground supporting both transactions and multi datacenter consistency. While the Spanner paper inspired many, it wasn’t until the CockroachDB team began on their implementation that an open source project tried to replicate Spanner’s challenging mix of features.
ACID transactional semantics and versioned values as first-class features. The primary design goal is global consistency and survivability, hence the name. … Cockroach implements a single, monolithic sorted map from key to value where both keys and values are byte strings.
CockroachDB’s transactional features are provided in two ways. Kimball explains that
If all keys affected by a logical mutation fall within the same range, atomicity and consistency are guaranteed by Raft; this is the fast commit path. Otherwise, a non-locking distributed commit protocol is employed between affected ranges. Cockroach provides snapshot isolation (SI) and serializable snapshot isolation (SSI) semantics … SSI is the default isolation; clients must consciously decide to trade correctness for performance.
The non-locking distributed commit protocol is still a work in progress but Kimball references papers from The University of Sidney, Yale, and draws special attention to a paper from Yahoo! as potential options for implementing SSI semantics.
The current alpha version provides a very minimal subset of the desired functionality. Cluster initialization and joining, gossip network, and a basic key-value REST API are currently supported but there is no raft consensus, range splitting or transactions. The project is written in Go and they are currently looking for contributors.
Re: Atomic clocks
One example of this can be seen in how the two systems deal with out of band communication (e.g. communicating via a message queue). Take the situation in which one client writes a value, then sends a message to another client which in turn updates the same value. In Spanner there is no way for the second write to occur before the first write because the atomic clocks allow for a system wide real time ordering. CockroachDB does not provide this strong guarantee and instead passes a wait time value back to the client so that it can wait an appropriate amount of time if it will be communicating out of band.
More can be read about this in the CockroachDB spec. | <urn:uuid:f89ae002-77d9-4def-ab34-7b39ed1ed504> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | https://www.infoq.com/news/2014/08/CockroachDB | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988719465.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183839-00096-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.899676 | 672 | 1.820313 | 2 |
|Press||to activate English subtitles|
Moscow’s Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts opened a new exhibition – “1000 years of gold of the Incas’. It features over 80 unique gold and silver objects originating from the Inca Empire.
Only a small number of the gold treasures survived as many were melted by conquistadors in the 16th century. Specialists say that only the gold items that were buried in various sepulchers survived to this day.
The exhibition is run with the cooperation of the Gold Museum of Peru. It will be open till May, 26th. | <urn:uuid:1f58bbc9-9d10-4f74-8ea8-02d2b359473f> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://rbth.com/multimedia/video/2013/05/03/legendary_inca_gold_on_display_in_moscow_25609 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988719215.16/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183839-00199-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962098 | 124 | 2.34375 | 2 |
In partnership with the Sustainability Institute and MIT, Ventana Systems has developed “C-ROADS” (formerly called “Pangaea”), a decision-maker-oriented international climate simulator. C-ROADS helps users understand the long term climate impacts of various futures for fossil fuel emissions, other emissions, sequestration, and various uncertainties.C-ROADS stands for “Climate Rapid Overview and Decision-support Simulator.” As opposed to most climate models, which take days or weeks to run and are designed for scientists, this simulator will be posted in its 3-region form as freeware on the internet, can be used by non-modelers, and runs in less than .1 second on a laptop. The simulator operates at three levels of regional disaggregation — 3, 7, or 14 global negotiating blocs, helping to answer questions such as “what if all countries follow their current commitments?” IE, what if the EU really reduces emissions 80% below 1990 by 2050, the US follows something like the Warner-Lieberman Act, Mexico drops 10% below 2004 by 2014, and China continues decreasing its emissions intensity and so on? In practice negotiations and in strategy conversations, C-ROADS has helped both technical and non-technical people quickly understand the long term implications (CO2 concentration, temperature, sea level rise) of climate agreements while considering per capita, cumulative, future, and current emissions as well as GDP, populations, and emissions intensity. In recent some uses,
- Schlumberger’s science education program, SEED, created an animated simulation using C-ROADS, andPer Andersson of Ericsson in Sweden used the Schlumberger animated simulation in dozens of presentations in his company.
- Morgan Stanley’s Office of Sustainability created a video for its employee education program on climate change issues.
- Bill Moomaw of Tufts University used a slide deck created from the C-ROADS simulator in a presentation to an IPCC committee.
- MIT’s Center for Collective Intelligence is creating an “argumentation and deliberation” program that will call upon C-ROADS, to help users debate climate solutions.
Potential uses range from private strategic planning sessions to “mock-U.N.” negotiations (at MIT, for European business leaders in Greenland, and for national security strategists in Washington DC with the Center for a New American Security) to posting the simulator globally in multiple languages to help global citizens understand and influence mitigation approaches. For full information about C-ROADS please see the official C-ROADS website (from which this information is excerpted), or download the two-page informational flyer below. Work on C-ROADS is part of Ventana’s broader efforts on energy, economy and climate policy interactions. More information on Ventana’s climate and energy policy work is also available for download below.
- Two-page, non-technical flyer on C-ROADS | c-roads-flier-v5.pdf | <urn:uuid:281541b4-74c3-423f-8f57-e2ae440be9dd> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://ventity.biz/examples/c-roads-climate-simulation-decision-makers/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882570879.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20220809003642-20220809033642-00676.warc.gz | en | 0.915961 | 636 | 3.03125 | 3 |
Beliefs do play a strong role in the actions we take and therefore the outcomes. Beliefs at times tend to become contagious too. If somebody believes in a particular thing, slowly that belief spreads in the society, and suddenly everybody seems to have the same belief. Going beyond belief in such circumstances is therefore more of a mental challenge than what the belief itself is about.
The “4 minute mile” was one such belief that was widely believed for a long time only to be proven wrong.
Going beyond belief – The “4 minute mile” barrier
For may years it was considered beyond belief to run a mile (1609 meters) under 4 minutes. People believed that it could cause physical damage to the runners health if he were to attempt this. Running a mile in four minutes translates to a speed of 15 miles per hour (24.14 km/hr or 14.91 secs per 100 meters). This supposedly difficult equation convinced everybody, it is beyond belief to run a mile under 4 minutes. It was considered a human impossibility. This was the “4 minute mile” belief.
It indeed was a physical challenge. The equation clearly represents that. But as we said to go beyond belief, its not an act of physical configuration as much as it is a mental challenge.
On 6 May 1954, Roger Bannister went “beyond belief” for the first time when he conquered the mile under 4 minutes. He crossed the finishing line with a timing of 3 mins and 59.4 secs. Going beyond belief and breaking the 4 minute barrier was so significant at that time that Forbes named it the greatest athletic achievements.
If beliefs are contagious, so is the magic of going beyond belief. Suddenly, people saw a way to go beyond belief. 56 days later, John Landy, a great runner of that time, too conquered the mile clocking 3 mins and 57.9 secs. One more man went “beyond belief” within 2 months.
What was equally notable was that in three years time, 16 more runners were able to run a mile under 4 minutes. Everyone was going beyond belief now. Or so it seemed. At least they saw a possibility of going beyond belief.
So what happened to the fact that it was considered a human impossibility because of the physical challenge it imposed? If Roger Bannister had perceived it to be a physical barrier, he probably never would have gone beyond belief. He actually thought it to be more of a psychological barrier. That made the difference in his approach. And when the world witnessed one man going beyond belief, they too realized it was not so much a physical barrier as much as it was a psychological one. The other runners too were successful in going beyond belief. And slowly the old belief was replaced by a new one that a mile can be run under 4 minutes.
What we believe influences our actions in a great way. It influences what we choose to do or not to do. It slowly results in the formation of our own attitude or our approach towards how we react to situations in life. And this determines, whether we are capable of going beyond belief or will we be stuck with a belief that “it is not possible”.
Is there any “4 minute mile” belief holding you back? Do you now think and feel it is possible to go beyond belief? | <urn:uuid:b3c1fca9-021d-4cf3-9461-9beabd8ca9e2> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://99reallifestories.com/going-beyond-belief-the-4-minute-mile/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573699.52/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819131019-20220819161019-00266.warc.gz | en | 0.972069 | 695 | 2.375 | 2 |
Game Rules Index
2 decks. Average. No redeal.
Caprice Solitaire uses 104 cards (2 decks). You have 12 tableau piles with one card per pile and 8 foundations.
At the start of the game an Ace and King of each suit is dealt on the foundations.
The object of the game
To build the foundation ases up in suit to kings, to build the foundation kings down in suit to aces.
The top cards of tableau piles are available for play on foundations. You can build tableau piles up or down by suit. Only one card at a time can be moved from pile to pile.
Spaces are filled automatically from the waste pile.
When you have made all the moves initially available, click on the stock to deal one card on each tableau pile.
When the stock pile is empty the spaces may be filled with the top cards of tableaus.
There is no redeal. | <urn:uuid:c0617864-598d-4da4-9895-0a61f1c89cbd> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.bvssolitaire.com/rules/caprice.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280310.48/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00183-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.848291 | 194 | 1.570313 | 2 |
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Students explore the mathematics behind opinion polls, as well as provides a framework for interpreting trends in opinion poll graphics.
34 Views 127 Downloads | <urn:uuid:6da29d3f-5774-43ed-b82c-1080a964840f> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.lessonplanet.com/teachers/opinion-poll-arities | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280835.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00053-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.862822 | 86 | 2.65625 | 3 |
Maximum Strength for Natural Balance
Saffron, also known as Crocus Sativa, is a perennial flowering plant from the Iris (Iridacae) family. It is a popular spice widely used in Mediterranean diets, and has had many medicinal uses throughout history.
- Craving Control: Cutting back doesn't have to feel like missing out. The simple, effective Saffron Extract benefits may help you keep you in control of your cravings.
- Traditionally Used: With medicinal uses throughout history Saffron is thought to help with weight management by curbing appetite and cutting cravings.
- Vegan and Plant Based: The Saffron Extract formula is plant-based and vegan friendly, making it suitable for anyone wanting to take control of their appetite and cravings regardless of dietary needs. | <urn:uuid:9d2b7507-f4dc-4d79-b178-2ab33b192ef3> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://naturalbalance.com/products/saffron-extract-appetite-control | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572215.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20220815235954-20220816025954-00674.warc.gz | en | 0.966591 | 163 | 1.703125 | 2 |
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Observed: 1st June 2013 By: heatherh
Added: 1st June 2013
Small beetle found in the garden. Shines an irridescent green/blue colour in the sun - apologies, photos don't show this! It also appears to have lines/ridges running down the length of its body. About 13mm long. Legs are brown/reddish rather than black. Some sort of ground beetle perhaps? | <urn:uuid:dcfbba0e-dfd4-419f-ab5d-1e882cc3888f> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.ispotnature.org/node/333645 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280065.57/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00550-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956297 | 92 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Smith, Edward (1818?-1874) (DNB00)
SMITH, EDWARD (1818?–1874), physician and medical writer, born at Heanor, Derbyshire, about 1818, was educated at Queen's College, Birmingham, and graduated at London University, M.B. in 1841, M.D. in 1843, and B.A. and LL.B. in 1848. Next year he visited north-east Texas, to examine its capacity as a place of settlement for emigrants, and published an account of the journey and a report with charts of temperature and the new constitution of the state (London, 1849, 12mo). In 1851 he passed the examination for the diploma of fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England; in 1854 he became a member of the Royal College of Physicians, London, and in 1863 was elected a fellow of the college.
Physiological chemistry occupied much of his attention. In 1856 he read his first paper before the Royal Society (cf. Proceedings, vol. viii.) ‘On Inquiries into the Quantity of Air inspired through the Day and Night, and under the Influence of Exercise, Food, Medicine, and Temperature.’ This he followed up with kindred contributions—‘Inquiries into the Phenomena of Respiration;’ ‘Experiments on the Action of Food upon the Respiration’ (ib. vol. ix.); ‘Experimental Inquiries into the Chemical and other Phenomena of Respiration, and their Modifications by various Physical Agencies’ (publ. 1859, with two plates); and ‘On the Action of Foods upon the Respiration during the Primary Processes of Digestion’ (publ. 1859, two plates). In 1859 he also invented an instrument to measure the inspired air, and to collect the carbonic acid in the expired air. These researches on respiration won for him the fellowship of the Royal Society on 7 June 1860. Later on he read a paper before the society ‘On the Elimination of Urea and Urinary Water, in relation to the period of the Day, Season, Exertion, Food, Prison Discipline, Weight of Body, and other influences acting in the Cycle of the Year’ (Phil. Trans., with five plates, 1861). The last paper which he read before the society was entitled ‘Remarks upon the most correct Methods of Inquiry in reference to Pulsation, Respiration, Urinary Products, Weight of the Body, and Food’ (Proc. vol. xi. 1860–2).
Meanwhile Smith, in 1853, held the office of lecturer and demonstrator of anatomy at the Charing Cross Hospital school of medicine, and was appointed in 1861 assistant physician to the Brompton Hospital for Consumption. In 1862 he published ‘Consumption: its Early and Remediable Stages;’ he had previously published several papers on the pulse and the use of certain remedies in phthisis.
Dietetics formed the subject of most of his subsequent literary work. In the appendix to (Sir) John Simon's ‘Sixth Report’ he published ‘A Report to the Privy Council on the Food of the lowest-fed Classes in the Kingdom’ (1862). As a consequence he was consulted by the government on poor-law and prison dietaries, and was appointed medical officer of the poor-law board. In his official capacity he placed poor-law dietaries on a scientific practical basis. He also did much work in reforming, hygienically, the structural arrangements of workhouses and workhouse infirmaries. In its regulations on the subject of cubic space the poor-law board mainly adopted Smith's opinions, although they differed from those generally accepted by the medical profession. In 1871, when the poor-law board was merged in the newly created local government board, Smith was transferred to the medical department, with the title of assistant medical officer for poor-law purposes. His official reports, which were published as parliamentary papers, dealt, among other subjects, with ‘Metropolitan Workhouse Infirmaries and Sick-wards,’ 1866, and ‘The Care and Treatment of the Sick Poor in Provincial Workhouses,’ 1867. He resided in London, first at No. 6 Queen Anne Street, but afterwards at 140 Harley Street. He died of double pneumonia on 16 Nov. 1874. Smith possessed a rare faculty of systematising his knowledge and great facility as a writer. His chief publications, in addition to those already mentioned and to his contributions to periodicals, were: 1. ‘Structural and Systematic Botany,’ 1854; with new title-page, 1855. 2. ‘Natural History of the Inanimate Creation,’ 1856, 8vo (with D. I. Ansted and others). 3. ‘Practical Dietary for Families, Schools, and the Working Classes,’ 1864, 8vo; 3rd and 4th editions, 1865, 8vo. 4. ‘Health and Disease, as influenced by the Daily, Seasonal, and other Cyclical Changes in the Human System,’ 1861, 8vo. 5. ‘Reports to Privy Council on the Dietary of Lancashire Operatives, and of other Low-fed Populations,’ &c., 1862–3. 6. ‘How to get Fat,’ 1865, 8vo. 7. ‘Foods,’ in ‘International Scientific Series,’ 1872. 8. ‘A Manual for Medical Officers of Health,’ 1873; 2nd edit. 1874. 9. ‘A Handbook for Inspectors of Nuisances,’ 1873, 8vo. 10. ‘Health: a Handbook for Households and Schools,’ 1874, 8vo.[Lancet, 1874; Medical Times and Gazette, 1874; Churchill's Medical Directory; Brit. Mus. Cat.; Royal Society's Cat. of Scientific Papers; Records of the Royal Society and University of London.] | <urn:uuid:84b5b241-5aaa-40c7-a0e9-491f42a31d93> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Smith,_Edward_(1818%3F-1874)_(DNB00) | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560283301.73/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095123-00504-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958071 | 1,287 | 2.34375 | 2 |
✓ ADA Compliant
Meets National Standards for:✓ ASTM F1487-11 ✓ CPSC Guidelines #325
The Boise play structure is designed to provide a bit of a challenge for children as they play. A vertical ladder leads up to an overhead swinging rung ladder. These two elements work on the development and coordination of the upper body. The overhead swinging rung ladder leads to one of the main decks of the unit where a double slide can be found. Stairs then lead up to the highest deck where kids can choose from two wave slides to slide down. The highest deck can also be reached by a vertical climbing wall. A leaf roof shades the tallest deck, providing protection from the sun. A single drum and a ship’s wheel are found post-mounted at the ground level for imaginative play. The Boise play system also features a transfer station. This is an ADA compliant structure that is intended for children in the 5 to 12 year age range. | <urn:uuid:f4117708-4629-422b-8da4-d5c5809ca9c5> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.playgroundequipment.com/boise/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560282935.68/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095122-00236-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927888 | 199 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Marrakech, Monaco (PressExposure) January 09, 2012 -- Today the small pots, powders and purees vegetables, meats, fruits are a must. Safe, easy to prepare, they seem to be the ideal solution for feeding the baby! Halal baby food is the first global specialist in the manufacture of halal baby food with a range of more than 50 references.
Vitameal, a new halal feeding products for babies
The upcoming of halal food products specially made for babies has been welcomed with great enthusiasm.
Halal is an arabe term used to designate food seen as "permissible" according to the islamic religion. To be considered as halal, the animal from where the meat is coming has to be slaughter in the name of Allah and according to the islamic law. In France, the food industry and distributors have adapted their products and started providing halal products. Still new, the baby food jars, have been introduced to the market to meet the high demand of young Muslims parents. Why feeding your baby halal products?
Red meat and poultry are rich with iron and protein, essential for the health and growth of your baby. Young Muslim parents that cannot find halal products have the tendency to base their babies' food habit on vegetables and fish. This kid of feeding presents a lack in iron and protein causing some deficiency for your baby during his or her growing process.
It is as important for small children to eat fruit every day as it is for adults.
VITAMEAL BABY & PHARMAMEAL BABY offer a range of small pots of fruit with no added sugar.
Start with meats that are light and easily digested: Chicken or Turkey, Steak or Beef, Veal scallops
Meat, at the heart of the baby's meal, will supply him or her with iron, zinc and Group B vitamins.
Fish, at the heart of the baby's meal, will supply him or her with selenium, iodine, fluoride and omega 3. Start with white fish that do not have too strong flavour (lemon sole, sole, hake, cod) according to baby's taste. You can also try salmon.
The proteins contained in the meat and fish are vital for a balanced diet and a baby's well growth. | <urn:uuid:8807cec7-cb87-4136-b6f9-96ff8f32d5f0> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://pressexposure.com/Halal_Baby_Food-428629.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988725470.56/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183845-00075-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963077 | 477 | 1.90625 | 2 |
Preparing for World War III, Targeting Iran
Part I: Global Warfare
by Michel Chossudovsky
August 1, 2010
Humanity is at a dangerous crossroads. War preparations to attack Iran are in “an advanced state of readiness”. Hi tech weapons systems including nuclear warheads are fully deployed.
This military adventure has been on the Pentagon’s drawing board since the mid-1990s. First Iraq, then Iran according to a declassified 1995 US Central Command document.
Escalation is part of the military agenda. While Iran, is the next target together with Syria and Lebanon, this strategic military deployment also threatens North Korea, China and Russia.
Since 2005, the US and its allies, including America’s NATO partners and Israel, have been involved in the extensive deployment and stockpiling of advanced weapons systems. The air defense systems of the US, NATO member countries and Israel are fully integrated.
This a coordinated endeavor of the Pentagon, NATO, Israel’s Defense Force (IDF), with the active military involvement of several non-NATO partner countries including the frontline Arab states (members of NATO’s Mediterranean Dialogue and the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative), Saudi Arabia, Japan, South Korea, India, Indonesia, Singapore, Australia, among others. (NATO consists of 28 NATO member states Another 21 countries are members of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC), The Mediterranean Dialogue and the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative include ten Arab countries together with Israel.) | <urn:uuid:0fb2566b-08e0-407e-850d-1e3c4bd665e7> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://revolutionradio.org/?p=3853 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560282926.64/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095122-00399-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.910898 | 307 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Olive Cochran Minor (Mrs. C. S. Minor)
Anderson, S. C.
It is hardly without the pale of the present generation’s memory since the roar and thunder of Jackson’s gun had ceased to echo through our happy Southland. The dying embers of Lee’s camp-fires marked the places where recently stood watch the chivalrous flower of Southern manhood. Sherman had begun his march to the sea, and in his wake there was left naught but devastation and sorrow. Thanks to the fates that old Anderson was spared a visit from this fire fiend.
It was May 1, 1865, that a courier, said to have been a member of Wheeler’s Cavalry, came dashing down Main street, giving the alarm, “The Yankees are coming.” In a short while the news had spread like wildfire, creating terror and consternation throughout the village. One of the leading citizens met the raiders in front of the courthouse with a flag of truce, improvised by tying a handkerchief on the end of his cane. He claimed that the war was over, and demanded of the officer in command protection for the citizens and their property. He also informed the officers that they might make his house headquarters if they so desired. Protection was promised, but the Benson House was chosen as headquarters.
On this eventful day, there was a picnic party at Silver Brook, the pretty little stream that winds its way through the “Silent City” near our homes. Just as the merry crowd were ready to enjoy the feast spread before them, they were rudely interrupted by the raiders. All of the teams were captured, but the picnic party was given the privilege of returning to their homes in the wagons. And as the Federal soldiers rode on each side of them through the public square, it is safe to say that they never guarded fairer prisoners than those Southern girls.
The object of the raid was to capture ex-President Jefferson Davis. By some means, the Federals had ascertained that he had been in Abbeville. It was also reported to them that a large amount of Confederate gold and silver was on the road, having left that place. The raiders were commanded by General Palmer, a Kentuckian, who was candidate for Vice-President during the last campaign, on the goldbug Democratic ticket. Palmer’s command was sent in every direction, and especially to all towns and to the bridges over the Tugaloo, Seneca, and Savannah rivers, hoping to learn of Davis’ crossing place, and whether any gold or silver had been sent across those rivers.
Many were the laughable scenes as this family or that rushed hither and thither, seeking a hiding place for their valuables or necessaries. One member of the family watched the front door while another hid the jewels. Garret and cellar were searched for hiding places, and floors and ceilings were ripped from their places to find storage for a handful of sugar or a cup of salt, worth anywhere from $10 to $100 per pound.
No doubt there are old wells hereabouts still holding their treasures, and many family relics bear the mark of hasty concealment. A lady who still resides in Anderson owned a very handsome watch, and when she received the intelligence that the raiders had come she was sorely distressed. In great haste, she secured a tin cup and, placing the watch therein, concealed it in the bosom of old mother earth, beneath a tree in an immense orchard, and, covering the place with grass, she felt that her watch was securely hidden. After the raiders had left town, she returned to reclaim her treasure, but, to her disappointment, she was unable to locate the tree, and finally called out the slaves to assist in the search.
It may be interesting to mention that located at Johnson University, now Patrick Military Institute, was the Confederate Treasury, or a branch of it. Our government had eighty foreign expert artists employed, who were turning out millions of dollars of cheap Confederate money. One hundred and twenty-five dollars in Confederate money was worth about one dollar in gold the day before the raid. There was a small amount of coin in the treasury. It was paid out pro rata to the employees, from officers and clerks down to the laborers in the printing department. Most of the books and papers were stored in the building now occupied by the Hill-Orr Drug Company. This building contained money, books, safes, and many valuables that belonged to citizens all over the South, some having been shipped from Richmond when the Treasury Department was removed from there.
At the time of the raid, the dining room of the Benson House was connected by a door with the storage room of the Treasury Department. When it was rumored that the stores were being broken open, some of the citizens, with the assistance of the slaves, set about to remove the trunks and boxes into the dining-room. There, under a double row of tables, were placed the trunks and boxes. The tablecloths were arranged so as to nearly reach the floor. The Federal officers who had headquarters at the Benson House ate their meals over those boxes of silver, diamonds, gold, and other valuables.
Many old slaves would go to the rooms of the refugees, get their jewels and hide them, and not once did they betray either native or refugee.
In some instances, most brutal and cruel methods were used by the raiders. Mr. Silcox, a wealthy refugee from Charleston, on refusing to reveal the hiding place of his wealth, was immediately hung by the thumbs and treated in a most uncivilized manner.
Standing on the corner, where formerly was Crayton’s store, but now the Bank of Anderson, was a crowd of boys conversing. Suddenly eight or ten Federals rode up and shouted, “To what command do you belong, and what are you doing here?” Before anyone could reply, several shots were fired, and one of the boys, a Mr. Parker, was instantly killed.
A Negro man, commonly known as “Happy Dick” Wilson, whose broad smile, fiddle and bow made lasting impressions on many of our older citizens, was shot down near the First Methodist Church, while running to his master.
Murder and robbery appear to have been the program. There was a man captured near Harrison’s spring who had $700 in gold in a belt upon his person. The raiders were very much elated at that, and near the same place they captured another man and found a large amount of gold in the hollow portion of his wooden leg. The raiders searched every man they met, and not only robbed him of money but took anything of value. The stores were all looted, safes broken open, and Confederate bonds and private papers scattered. Many old iron safes could be seen around the public square for a long while after the raid, being monuments of robbery perpetrated upon defenseless people.
Hundreds of bottles of wine, said to have been a century old, were taken from one of the storerooms. Many Federals drank freely, and had planned to burn the Confederate cotton which was in front of Mr. Tolly’s store. The matter was reported to an officer who had retired; he immediately hurried out, secured a squad, and put the leaders of the movement under arrest, and placed a guard around the cotton till sunrise next morning. These events occurred in May, though the surrender had occurred the 9th of April.
After the raiders had left town, a gentleman found a valise under a trap door in the hotel, and just as he was bringing it up an old darkey rushed up and said, “What you doing there, boss? That’s my valise,” and on being asked where he got it, he replied, “I was up all night, waiting on those Yanks., and they never gave me a thing, so for my reward I captured this valise, and I think it is full of gold”; but it was found to contain papers only.
The Kentuckians in that command, and many Northern troops, conducted themselves as soldiers and gentlemen, while others did not; but none were so vicious and mean as those who claimed to be Tennesseans.
Our townsman, Mr. John Catlett, who had been recognized as a Union man, and originally a Tennessean, had been roughly treated by the post guard. Be it said to his credit that in his quiet way he exerted his influence and did all in his power to restrain the Federals from their misdoings.
The people of Pendleton, on hearing of the outrages committed here, hastily organized a company of patriots and came to assist in protecting our people. So long as time lasts, Andersonians should bear the most brotherly feeling towards the Pendleton people. Mr. John Hopkins, a Union man of this place, and a relative of one of the Federal officers, used his influence and did a great deal of good for the people.
Well, I cannot enumerate all who endeavored to punish men disgracing the uniforms they wore, yet this sketch would be incomplete without mentioning the famous Manse Jolly. It is not known how many men he caught, but it is said that he captured three men at one time, near Providence Church. Seven men wearing Federal uniforms were killed and buried near Townville not on account of the uniforms they wore, nor for being in the Federal army, nor for being Yankees, but for being with a command that robbed and pillaged old and young, white and black, and for committing crimes after the war was over that would make a Comanche Indian hang his head in shame.
The raiders fired at every man they met, but the fire was seldom returned. A United States soldier, who belonged to an Ohio regiment, was shot in the back of the neck from ambush.
While bushwhacking should be condemned, if there ever was a time when it was justifiable it was when Federal soldiers robbed and murdered a people who, without arms and ammunition, had surrendered. I can even draw a veil of charity over the acts of men who made war the science of barbarism; I cannot excuse or palliate the acts of robbery, vandalism, murder and, yea, worse than murder, committed in Anderson County after the war was over. Not even age or sex was respected, and children and old gray-haired men and women were shamefully and brutally mistreated.
I have heard that all of the outrages were not committed by United States soldiers, but a great many perpetrated by ruffians known as “jayhawkers.”
I love the Union and the flag of my country. But I will say that I respect and honor all who from honest convictions and sincere motives fought for or against the Union. | <urn:uuid:5a78d538-74f7-4f0b-ad5e-bc4f933bda5e> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.accessgenealogy.com/south-carolina/incidents-of-the-anderson-raid.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280587.1/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00560-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.988674 | 2,259 | 2.25 | 2 |
More patients died after surgery at hospitals with high COVID burdens
Hospitals with more COVID patients during the first pandemic wave in 2020 saw more patients who underwent surgery die afterward, a Journal of the American Medical Association study found.
The big picture: Researchers think patients seeking care too late due to fear of COVID-19 and the disruption in care at hospitals caused by the pandemic both were factors.
By the numbers: Researchers analyzed more than 2.9 million surgeries at 677 hospitals, using the CDC National Health Care Safety Network data.
- The odds of dying at hospitals with a very high COVID-19 burden from March to May 2020 were 38% higher than at facilities with low COVID-19 burden.
- Insurance status didn't play a factor in surgery outcomes for patients in hospitals with a high number of COVID cases.
But, but, but: Patients with Medicaid or no health insurance still had higher odds of dying or having poorer outcomes than patients with private coverage, the study found.
- The authors said the findings point to health care challenges that low-income patients face before and after they leave the hospital. | <urn:uuid:bb8fdded-53d6-4fac-b78b-fc588d0725cd> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.axios.com/2022/07/19/more-patients-died-after-surgery-at-hospitals-with-high-covid-burdens | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882570651.49/warc/CC-MAIN-20220807150925-20220807180925-00467.warc.gz | en | 0.952379 | 235 | 2.3125 | 2 |
If I Have Bad Credit And Limited Funds, How Should I Prioritize My Bills?
If you’re looking to rebuild your credit, the two most important things to keep in mind are prioritizing and paying on time. Paying a bill that is 60 days past due can turn a credit score from good to bad…even bad to worse. For instance, a very late payment could shave off as much as 100 points from your credit score. You’re better off paying the minimum amount due on time than paying more than the minimum due late. Here are some other important tips:
Know Your Priorities
First, prioritizing means satisfying needs instead of wants. That means paying your electric bill before purchasing that new television! Ranking which bills are the most and least important is the next step.
- Your first priority should be to pay your rent or mortgage. Missing home payments may result in the loss of your home. Late payments on your mortgage can also significantly hurt your credit score and your chances to refinance or buy a new home in the future.
- Food expenses come second, especially if you have a family to support. Car payments should be marked just below food if you rely on your car to get to work.
- Credit cards should be next on your list … if only to pay the minimum amount due … on time! Credit card companies report to the 3 major credit bureaus, so they can improve or hurt your credit score. So if you have limited funds, simply pay the minimum – but pay it on time – until you have more funds available to pay down your debt.
- Utilities are important and should be paid, but they do not impact your credit score unless they become collection accounts. It is important to work out payment plans if you are unable to meet your due dates so that you maintain your utilities … but paying them modestly late will not impact your credit score.
The Importance of Secured Cards
A secured credit card is one that requires you to deposit a certain amount of funds in order to have a line of credit extended to you. The credit line varies from bank to bank, but account holders are generally required to deposit anywhere from $300 to $500 to receive a similar credit line. Secured cards are a good way to rebuild credit because credit card companies report secured credit cards to the 3 major credit bureaus, unlike prepaid cards which do not report to any credit bureaus. Your goal is to have your good payment history reported to the 3 major credit bureaus to boost your credit score.
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Identifying and relating biological concepts in the Catalogue of Life
© Jones et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2011
Received: 31 January 2011
Accepted: 17 October 2011
Published: 17 October 2011
In this paper we describe our experience of adding globally unique identifiers to the Species 2000 and ITIS Catalogue of Life, an on-line index of organisms which is intended, ultimately, to cover all the world's known species. The scientific species names held in the Catalogue are names that already play an extensive role as terms in the organisation of information about living organisms in bioinformatics and other domains, but the effectiveness of their use is hindered by variation in individuals' opinions and understanding of these terms; indeed, in some cases more than one name will have been used to refer to the same organism. This means that it is desirable to be able to give unique labels to each of these differing concepts within the catalogue and to be able to determine which concepts are being used in other systems, in order that they can be associated with the concepts in the catalogue. Not only is this needed, but it is also necessary to know the relationships between alternative concepts that scientists might have employed, as these determine what can be inferred when data associated with related concepts is being processed. A further complication is that the catalogue itself is evolving as scientific opinion changes due to an increasing understanding of life.
We describe how we are using Life Science Identifiers (LSIDs) as globally unique identifiers in the Catalogue of Life, explaining how the mapping to species concepts is performed, how concepts are associated with specific editions of the catalogue, and how the Taxon Concept Schema has been adopted in order to express information about concepts and their relationships. We explore the implications of using globally unique identifiers in order to refer to abstract concepts such as species, which incorporate at least a measure of subjectivity in their definition, in contrast with the more traditional use of such identifiers to refer to more tangible entities, events, documents, observations, etc.
A major reason for adopting identifiers such as LSIDs is to facilitate data integration. We have demonstrated the incorporation of LSIDs into the Catalogue of Life, in a manner consistent with the biodiversity informatics community's conventions for LSID use. The Catalogue of Life is therefore available as a taxonomy of organisms for use within various disciplines, including biomedical research, by software written with an awareness of these conventions.
As in many areas of scientific research, there is an ever-increasing need to be able to access species-related information reliably, and to be sure that various researchers are either referring to the same entity or that they know they are not. This is particularly important to the biodiversity informatics community where they are frequently using terms and scientific names which have to be understood within the context where they appear. It is not necessarily always appreciated that this issue extends beyond biodiversity informatics to other areas in which species names are used, such as bioinformatics, biomedical informatics and ecoinformatics. The use of Globally Unique Identifiers (GUIDs) can help address this problem electronically. In this paper we explain how GUIDs - and, in particular, Life Science Identifiers (LSIDs) - are being used in biodiversity informatics systems. One of the most challenging problems is to manage species names effectively, due to the variability of the concepts to which they are applied, and the majority of this paper concerns the approach we have taken to solving some of these problems in recent editions of the Species 2000 Catalogue of Life system, and strategies for addressing the remaining issues. A key requirement for the Catalogue to be used to its full potential is interoperability across application domains. For example, use of species names in biomedical literature, with the associated problems of synonymy, is an important issue . Indexing of biological material and data organised by species is important [3, 4], not least as a means of providing users and electronic systems with alternative search terms for species, and the Catalogue of Life is a key resource in achieving this in an effective manner. We shall see that there are some inconvenient external constraints that have been imposed on our current approach, but they do not preclude the Catalogue's use for such purposes. More generally, the basic problem addressed in this paper is one that is inevitably encountered whenever there are differences of expert opinion about the categories that should be used for classifying entities, especially when opinions develop and change over time.
The Species 2000 and ITIS Catalogue of Life project
The Catalogue of Life (CoL) is seeking to build a catalogue of all known species. It uses a distributed architecture , which is important in order to provide suppliers of component databases with the autonomy and control they require. Users of scientific names are faced with the problem that disagreement amongst the taxonomists who publish and organise these names will lead to different scientific names being used to refer to the same organism, and to variation in the range of organisms that a given name might refer to. In order to provide a complete "synonymic index" of all the world's species, the Species 2000 programme was set up. It is creating a catalogue of known species, with their accepted names, ambiguous and unambiguous synonyms, misapplied names, vernacular names, and some other basic data, by dynamically linking available checklist databases for different higher taxa (nodes higher than species in the taxanomic hierarchy), with the ultimate aim of complete coverage of the taxonomic hierarchy and hence all known species. In partnership with the North American ITIS organisation, it has been delivering the Catalogue of Life (CoL) in two main forms: the Dynamic Checklist, updated on the Web as the component federated databases are updated, and the Annual Checklist, a snapshot of the CoL released on CD and on the Web every year. The distinction between the Annual Checklist and the Dynamic Checklist is becoming less explicit, as the main updates at present are quarterly updates to the Annual Checklist on the Web. The uniqueness of the CoL lies in its target of creating a complete catalogue, organised by concepts (the species), comprising a single classification assembled from peer-reviewed checklist databases. It complements other initiatives such as uBio , which gathers information from a variety of resources such as published literature and web documents into its Name Bank, and provides means to organise these names.
Role of the Catalogue of Life in a semantically-linked Web
In essence the Catalogue of Life is an electronic taxonomic checklist. Researchers can use the Dynamic or Annual Checklist in order to find the status of a scientific name of their choice and - if it is not an accepted name in the catalogue - to find the corresponding accepted name. However, this checklist is also accessible via Web Services and the complete checklist can be downloaded in various forms if desired . Other major providers of species information such as the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) and the Encyclopedia of Life use the Catalogue of Life in order to enhance users' searches. For example, if a user searches the Encyclopedia of Life for Drosera aldrovanda, one of the results (s)he will obtain is for Aldrovanda vesiculosa, because the Catalogue of Life holds information that Drosera aldrovanda is a synonym of this latter scientific name:
Accepted scientific name:
Aldrovanda vesiculosa L.
Aldrovanda verticillata Roxb.
Drosera aldrovanda F. Muell.
The combination of accepted name and synonyms can be regarded as the Catalogue of Life's definition of a single species. If in future editions of the catalogue the list of synonyms changes, this may be due to a change of opinion about the circumscription of the species and hence a change of opinion about which synonyms are applicable.
The circumscription (range of variation) associated with each of these names may be different.
The differences between the 2008 and 2009 Droseraceae classifications relate to the species level and below, but there is also some evidence of historical difference of opinion regarding higher levels of the classification, in particular the genus Drosera. As noted earlier, the species Aldrovanda vesiculosa has a synonym Drosera aldrovanda. This indicates that at least part of it has been considered to belong within the genus Drosera by some authors at some point.
In the above example we have illustrated how scientific names can be unstable as a means of referring to specific taxonomic concepts. It is desirable, therefore, to have a more reliable, unambiguous way of referring to a specific species concept so that it can be known whether records relating to a given species (such as maps of occurrence records, descriptions, chemical and medicinal properties, etc.) do in fact relate to precisely the same concept of the species. It is further desirable for information about the relationships between different, but related concepts to be known, in order that appropriate inference can be performed. For example, if species concept A is contained within species concept B then any occurrence records relating to A will apply also to B. We shall return to this point later.
The SPICE-TIP project
At the time when the SPICE-TIP (Species 2000 Interoperability Co-ordination Environment - TDWG Infrastructure Project) project was funded (2007) the biodiversity informatics community - and particularly the Biodiversity Informatics Standards (also known as Taxonomic Databases Working Group (TDWG)) Community - was starting to adopt Life Science Identifiers (LSIDs) in order to label objects persistently and uniquely. However in most cases these objects were easily identifiable and immutable, such as species names, or observation events. This is similar to the originally-envisaged uses for LSIDs to (for example) label a molecular sequence [12, 13]. The authors of the present paper were asked to investigate how LSIDs could be incorporated into the Catalogue of Life, which raised various issues that had not been addressed in these other projects, relating to labelling of concepts and tracking change. Another then-current development was the Taxon Concept Schema (TCS) (also referred to as the Taxonomic Concept Transfer Schema), and the SPICE-TIP project was taken as an opportunity to explore the effectiveness of the TCS for representing the concepts inherent in the Catalogue of Life. The TCS had been developed on the premise that scientific names are not satisfactory as identifiers for species concepts (as we have ourselves explained above), and that a way of solving this problem is to define the concepts in relation to other concepts and their context (such as publication information) . Although this does not completely solve the problem of determining which concept a scientist may have actually used (see later in the present paper), the TCS does provide a means of expressing relationships between the concepts in different taxonomies and so is suited to our purpose. Similarly, it cannot necessarily be assumed that two sources of species-related data using the same species LSID will hold information about precisely the same species, and not different concepts, but if responsible use of the LSIDs is made, then such an assumption is reasonable.
There are various alternative options for persistent unique identifiers and metadata (as we shall discuss later), but due to the context of the project the authors were constrained to the investigation of the suitability of specific technologies rather than to identify the best technologies for the task at that stage.
As described earlier, the research reported in this paper depends on the use of Life Science Identifiers (LSIDs) and the Taxon Concept Schema (TCS). In this section we describe LSIDs and TCS in more detail; how they were introduced into the Catalogue of Life will be described later, in the Results section. We also discuss the requirements for an effective GUID system for the Catalogue of Life, which we sought to satisfy in our design and implementation, as far as was possible within the constraints we were given.
Life Science Identifiers
The Object Management Group (OMG) defines LSIDs as:
"persistent, location-independent, resource identifiers for uniquely naming biologically significant resources" .
The nature of the LSID resolution process (described fully in reference ) means that specific software must be implemented that uses the LSID resolution protocol, such as these clients. Also, to make LSIDs resolvable, the authority domain part of the LSID shown in Figure 4 requires the existence of an SRV record on the Domain Name Server (DNS). This record must refer to the actual end point (the IP address of the server and the TCP/IP port number) for the resolution service. The implementation of such a service is independent of how a client accesses it and thus, as long as it makes provisions for the standard data and metadata requests, the programming language used to develop the resolver is left up to the authority. Typical actions of a client include looking up the SRV record, calling the endpoint and parsing the RDF response when it is returned. The namespace and object identifier parts of the LSID are used by the resolver to locate or build the corresponding data or metadata from local resources such as a database. LSIDs are intended to be semantically opaque , so no assumptions can be made about the individual objects referred to based on the identifiers used, other than the class of the object. If this were not the case, this may lead to unwarranted assumptions and predictions being made by external clients about the internal representation of the data or dynamic formation of the authority's other LSIDs. In some cases, nevertheless, individual implementers have created a syntactical relationship between their LSIDs and the underlying data (for example, between LSIDs and a specially-constructed export schema ), but such relationships appear to have been adopted specifically for implementational convenience.
The end part of the LSID is the optional version field which many authorities omit altogether for the main reason that the persistent requirement of LSIDs means that change is signified by the assignment of a new identifier rather than versioning of an existing one. However, this LSID component plays an important role in the CoL implementation as we shall explain later.
The Taxon Concept Schema
TDWG provides an ontology built on top of TCS (Taxon Concept Schema) elements to assist and standardise the RDF metadata returned by LSID resolvers . Among the concepts provided by the TDWG ontology are TaxonName and TaxonConcept. This makes it possible to distinguish between the concepts which individual researchers might hold in their minds regarding a particular group of organisms which together form a taxon on the one hand, and the name(s) which might have been used for this concept on the other. The relationship between the two notions can sometimes be many-to-many. Other relation types provided include IsParentTaxonOf and IsChildTaxonOf, which make it possible to capture the hierarchical relationships within a taxonomic classification tree, and publishedInCitation, which makes it possible to cite supporting literature.
The TCS can be used to represent a fully organised set of taxonomic concepts, such as is the basis of the Catalogue of Life. It has also been used in other contexts, e.g. to support the process of taxonomy where the concepts and names are fluid and under debate while an attempt is being made to study and classify some group of organisms .
The combination of LSIDs for taxon identifiers and TCS for the information retrieved by resolving these identifiers was therefore a suitable candidate for implementing a system that uniquely labels the Catalogue of Life concepts and allows these concepts to be retrieved.
Requirements for an effective CoL GUID system
In this section we shall discuss the requirements for an effective GUID system for the Catalogue of Life. We will later observe that the choice of GUID system (LSID) which we were asked to make meant that some of these requirements could not be met. Nevertheless, where possible we tailored our use of LSIDs with these requirements in mind.
The identifier should ideally identify a specific object which at any given time exists in a single, unique location, supported by a mechanism that ensures any copies of this object are up-to-date.
The way identifiers are used should be interoperable across disciplines. (Currently the use in biodiversity informatics is to some extent standardised, in that LSIDs are typically used and there are recommendations for the format of LSID metadata , but this does not automatically provide interoperability with LSID use in other domains and hence tools have to be implemented that are aware of the way these identifiers are used in the various domains.)
The identifier should preferably not require special tools to be installed on a user's computer in order for him or her to be able to access the objects referred to.
Clients should be implemented that fully support navigation via the identifiers, in a way analogous to the service provided by crossref.org (http://www.crossref.org/).
Where possible, a "human-friendly" option for composing LSIDs for important objects should be available, hence enabling users to have at least an initial entry point into a network of related objects. For example, in the Catalogue of Life, an identifier for each scientific name having some obvious form such as "...catalogueoflife.org:species:Drosera-filiformis" could be supported, and the object that this resolved to would contain metadata supporting navigation to the current species corresponding to this name, etc. Of course, this would be in opposition to "best practices" that have been advocated in the past . An argument for identifiers not being "human-friendly" is that they are for linking data in a way that should be transparent to human users. On the other hand, it is not unreasonable for authors to want to cite globally unique identifiers in traditionally-published papers, e.g. in order to refer unambiguously to a species, and in such cases it would be convenient if the identifier could readily be typed in by the reader of such a document.
- 6.A means should be provided of discovering:
GUIDs which either refer to the same object or to distinct objects that represent the same real-world entity, such as a concept
GUIDs for related objects and concepts (including, for example, taxa which replace the current one in a checklist), and metadata about the nature of these relationships
usage of GUIDs (electronic documents, etc, which refer to GUIDs). This last point implies that either every time a GUID is used, a reference to this usage gets recorded in a registry, or, perhaps more realistically, that an LSID crawler service of some description needs to be implemented.
The above requirements form the background to the approach taken to the implementation of Globally Unique Identifiers in the Catalogue of Life, which we shall now describe.
In order to introduce LSIDs into the Catalogue of Life, some modification of the existing Catalogue of Life software and database schemas was necessary, but in addition to this, an LSID resolver had to be set up, able to provide taxon data in response to LSID metadata requests. We shall describe these two aspects first, and then explain how relationships with concepts from other sources of taxonomic information are expressed. Finally in this section we discuss the issue of managing change - identifying when new LSIDs need to be issued.
Modifying the CoL
SPICE-TIP (SPICE TDWG Infrastructure Project) added LSID support to both the Annual Checklist (AC) and, as an experiment, to the Dynamic Checklist (DC). As a result of this project, annual checklists from 2008 onwards contain LSIDs, and LSIDs from the 2008 AC will generally be used as examples in this paper. The CoL partners decided to use Universally Unique Identifiers (UUIDs) [23, 24] as the object identifiers within CoL LSIDs, because they can be generated by a simple algorithmic process which virtually guarantees that no two UUIDs will ever be the same. This has the advantage that not only will all CoL LSIDs be globally unique (as a combination of the domain name and identifiers unique within the CoL), but the UUID is unique in its own right. It can therefore be used in contexts unrelated to LSIDs, including being used in other systems of resolvable identifiers, such as Linked Data URIs . They also decided that the LSID version field should be used. Using the version field allows the reuse of an object identifier between different AC years (e.g. :ac2008, :ac2009) and between the AC and the DC (e.g. :dc) in cases where they refer to the same taxon. That is, if the underlying concept has not changed, the associated LSID does not change (other than the version). This allows the possibility for software or humans simply to compare the object identification parts of two LSIDs to determine whether they refer to the same taxon, and to determine which CoL edition the LSID came from, without the need to call the resolution service. The implications for taxon matching are discussed later in this paper.
In the AC, a new field was added to an existing table, containing all taxa, to hold the LSID. In the DC, the data retrieved from the contributing databases is held in a cache database. However, to incorporate LSIDs a separate database was created which would hold the data in a more suitable format than this cache. In both cases, the MySQL UUID() function was used to generate the object identifier LSID part. (This does not fulfil our suggested requirement for a "human-friendly" LSID composition option, but ensures the more fundamental requirement of GUID uniqueness.) In the AC, LSIDs were assigned by running the appropriate MySQL query to add them to the species (and also the higher taxa, such as genus, family, etc.) prior to being released. In the DC, code was introduced into the SPICE CAS (Common Access System) to assign LSIDs to new taxa as they enter the system. Additions were made to both the AC and DC interfaces to display LSIDs and the SPICE Web Service was modified in order to communicate them to clients including the DC interface. The modified systems also allow data providers the option to supply their own GUIDs for their species and other taxa, and also GUIDs for the names themselves (accepted names and synonyms). In contrast, within the Catalogue of Life, we have assigned LSIDs to the concepts it contains, not to the various names (accepted names and synonyms) which might be associated with each concept. The provider GUIDs are not made visible in the user interfaces, and are accessed via the CoL LSID resolver.
Supporting infrastructure: resolver and metadata
The resolver for AC and DC LSIDs is written in Java using the LSID Java Toolkit available from the LSID resolution project site . The resolver has access to both the AC database and the SPICE cache database in order to form the response for a metadata request. (All the CoL information associated with an LSID is held in the metadata of the object referred to by the LSID, not its data.) It also has access to what we will refer to as the "LSID Repository", which is a database that contains both a table to hold DC LSIDs and a table to hold relationships between LSIDs. The latter is consulted during every resolution process to enrich the current LSID with relationships to others (and also with relationships to other taxa in the same checklist). These may be relationships between the AC and the DC or between either the AC or DC and a provider-assigned LSID. Modification of SPICE means that this table can be populated with external LSIDs (if they are given by the provider) during the caching process.
As described earlier, the TDWG Taxon Concept Schema and TWDG ontology were used in order to represent the data that is returned by the resolver. It should be noted that the Catalogue of Life is not stored internally as a complete TCS document. A TCS document is generated in response to individual LSID resolution requests, and provides information about the taxon concerned, and about which other taxa it is related to. The most fundamental concepts used are TaxonName and TaxonConcept. As the Catalogue is a provider of a complete taxonomy using the names contained in its databases, it was decided that the core element (the one which has the about = X attribute where X is the current LSID) returned by the CoL's resolver for each LSID should be of type TaxonConcept, i.e. it is one of the agreed concepts which together comprise a consistent Catalogue of Life; each concept has a single accepted name. This could also be described as the "idea" in a person's mind when using a certain name to describe a taxon. The ontology also provides a means to relate the core TaxonConcept to others to better give it context by using the hasRelationship object property and the Relationship class. The HasVernacular and HasSynonym relationship types (or categories) are used to relate the current concept to its common name and synonym counterparts.
Relationships between CoL LSIDs and LSIDs from other providers
Most of the discussion in this paper has focussed on the assignment of LSIDs in the 2008 edition of the CoL Annual Checklist. Since the Catalogue does not only grow (by new species being introduced) but change (reflecting changing expert opinion), not all these LSIDs will be applicable to concepts in subsequent editions of the Catalogue.
Prior to the introduction of LSIDs, the CoL was criticized for using identifiers which changed from year to year . The internal identifiers have never been intended to be used in other systems linking to the CoL, of course, but this criticism draws attention to the demand for persistent identifiers that are designed for use by other systems. The CoL still does not guarantee to maintain the same internal identifiers, because there appears to be no need to insist on this as a requirement, but it does now provide persistent globally unique, publicly available identifiers. The fact that some LSIDs will become deprecated through time may lead to the misunderstanding that the issue of stability still has not been addressed. It needs to be understood that in relation to concepts the Catalogue is intentionally not stable, so if a client is wishing to link to a name, not a concept, the client should use any LSID available for the name (or just the name itself), not a CoL-supplied taxon LSID. It should also be noted that it is intended that deprecated concepts will be accessible via their LSIDs in perpetuity, and the metadata retrieved will include information about the concepts' relationships to relevant current concepts (such as inclusion, etc.).
Due to the fact that not all suppliers of data to the CoL also provide any kind of GUID, any system to handle change must both:
use information coming from the supplier database, where available, which indicates by a new GUID that change has occurred, and
analyse the checklist to detect changes.
The first of these options is the more straightforward to implement, although it requires an understanding of each supplier's policy in order to ensure that LSIDs are changing if and only if the associated concepts are.
The second option is something that would be infeasible to undertake entirely by hand for approximately 1.5 million species. We have implemented a "Taxon Matcher" program which performs basic comparisons of species in different checklists . This program is currently what is used by the CoL when issuing LSIDs for a new edition of the Catalogue. To determine whether to retain the same UUID as used for some taxon in the previous edition, or to create a new UUID, the program has to discover whether a taxon in the new edition matches one in the previous edition. Because no tracking of changing taxon concepts is currently carried out by the providers of individual checklists ("GSDs") to the CoL, it is necessary for Taxon Matcher to compare each taxon in the new edition with every taxon in the previous edition to find matching taxa.
In future work it is intended to refine the procedure substantially, to allow editors to identify taxa with minor changes as being in fact identical, and implementing heuristics such as:
If a new synonym has been added to a taxon, and the synonym did not previously occur elsewhere in the checklist, the concept is probably unchanged.
In this paper we have explained how we enhanced the Catalogue of Life with Life Science Identifiers, and extended the Catalogue software to be able to respond to requests for data about individual taxa with documents in Taxon Concept Schema form, expressed as RDF. We now discuss four important issues raised by our work: the extent to which the use of LSIDs has made interoperability of the Catalogue of Life with other systems possible (especially systems for other application domains); the extent to which the precision afforded by LSIDs (or other GUIDs) might imply accuracy; the extent to which CoL LSIDs have been adopted - and the ways in which alternative GUID schemes could be supported; and the applicability of our approach to other domains.
There has been a fragmentary, disjointed approach to globally unique identifiers across disciplines. Although some GUID schemes have been deployed for specific applications (e.g. DOIs for publications, LSIDs for data objects in Life Science domains), and hence have had differing requirements to meet, the lack of a generally-accepted resolvable GUID specification means that the possibility of creating general-purpose software that can use GUIDs to access objects from multiple application domains is limited. One very widely used type of GUID is the UUID . However, UUIDs are not in themselves resolvable, although (as we have seen in this paper) there is good reason to make them part of a resolvable identifier such as an LSID. This does in turn at least mean that we have a basis for producing more than one kind of resolvable identifier for the same object if identifier schemas that can embed UUIDs are used. This then means that such objects can be used in a wider range of application domains.
It is not the purpose of this paper to compare the various kinds of GUID that are available (Laibe & Le Novère and Altman & King include useful overviews in their papers), but even given the requirement that LSIDs be used, there are still decisions to be made which potentially limit interoperability:
The TDWG community decided to use the metadata component for holding all information relating to the objects referred to by LSIDs; the data field is not used. This is in contrast with typical use of LSIDs, and means that (for example) bioinformatics software will not necessarily be able to interpret them.
Use of TCS to describe the taxon concepts presents at least two problems. The first of these is that development of the associated TDWG ontology has been intermittent, and it is not clear whether extending some other ontology (such as the SEEK Ecoinformatics Ontology ) might be a more sustainable approach. The other problem is that the TCS provides its own specialised terminology for expressing taxonomic concepts and their relationship to each other. While some terminology is inevitably specialised, some (such as IsCongruentTo and Overlaps) are much more generally applicable and it would be desirable to standardise across domains so that reasoning with such relationships can be performed in a more general context.
In future work we plan to explore alternative persistent identifier schemes and to investigate how the Catalogue can be made available as Linked Data in order to make the knowledge contained in the Catalogue more readily associated with other Web-accessible information.
Precision and accuracy
Unfortunately, although the Catalogue of Life is being assembled with attention being given to the appropriate selection of species concepts for inclusion, one cannot necessarily be sure that, even if a scientist has used the Catalogue to look up a name, (s)he is using the name as the creators of the relevant part of the Catalogue had intended.
This means that although the use of LSIDs ensures that one can refer to a specific concept, present at a specific time in the Catalogue, with precision, this does not solve the problem of ensuring that scientists recording information associated with a given species concept have correctly identified the concept to use. We are currently investigating ways of detecting this problem in practice, but it seems inevitable that no complete solution will be found, because of the subjective nature of species definition. Clearly a development that would be beneficial in future is to make it easier for users to determine whether their species concepts coincide with those in the Catalogue. One current relevant development is the Encyclopedia of Life, referred to earlier, which includes descriptive species pages; another possibility would be the creation of "identification keys" linked explicitly to the Catalogue of Life classification. This would be an enormous undertaking, however, when one considers that merely enumerating the known species is a task which the Catalogue of Life has been performing for over a decade, and which it will never be able definitively to complete due to the regular discovery of new species.
Adoption of CoL LSIDs; other GUID schemes
The adoption of CoL LSIDs has not yet been as widespread as originally anticipated, although examples of their use can be found in:
There are perhaps a number of reasons for this somewhat limited adoption, which are not specific to the CoL. The end user unfamiliar with LSIDs may be disappointed to find that they cannot be resolved by simply pasting them into a web browser, although we noted earlier that browser plug-ins and web proxies exist to allow Web browsers to be used. Another reason for the relatively low rate of adoption of LSIDs may be the high profile accorded to the Semantic Web and the use of Linked Data URIs as alternative means to provide metadata about objects and concepts, especially as these are based on existing Web technology which provides less of a barrier to users unfamiliar with them.
However, because the CoL has based its identifiers on the use of UUIDs which do not necessarily require the existence of the LSID system in order to be resolved, the CoL has the option to deploy its taxon concept identifiers in other ways. For example, the CoL UUIDs can be incorporated in HTTP URIs. If this is done, the edition of the CoL from which the identifier was obtained could be omitted, and the resolution mechanism should still be able to provide metadata about which editions this taxon concept was included in and what changes, if any, occurred between them. Such changes would not relate to changes of concept, but (for example) to additional data being included. If it is important to be able to specify the edition from which the concept was obtained, then the edition code from the revision element of the LSID could simply be concatenated with the UUID part. There is no reason why the CoL cannot deploy its identifiers in multiple ways simultaneously, and so the approach we have taken allows us to accomodate changing external requirements on the provision of globally unique identifiers.
Applicability to other domains
We have focussed in this paper upon the enhancement of a Catalogue of Life by adding LSIDs to the concepts defined in the Catalogue and incorporating information about relationships between these concepts in the LSID metadata. Yet concepts and variation of professional opinion are not phenomena unique to the domain of taxonomy, and not dissimilar benefits might be expected where globally unique identifiers are used in a comparable way in other domains, for example in the Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) , which defines the notion of a Concept Unique Identifier (CUI), and in which concepts from various biomedical taxonomies need to be related to each other.
As we have seen, some of the metadata used for taxonomic concepts is domain-specific and may not be applicable to other domains; we anticipate that the reverse would also be true. In other words, although we have been advocating the desirability of a cross-disciplinary approach to the problem of adopting GUIDs, domain-specific extensions to capture some of the nuances associated with concepts, in particular, are needed. Appropriate ontologies underpinning these extensions are also needed, if software that is not application domain-specific is to be able to make any sense of these extra details.
In this paper we have demonstrated the feasibility of enhancing the Catalogue of Life with globally unique identifiers and suitable explicit metadata relating the Catalogue's concepts to each other. We have also explained how the Catalogue of Life may be regarded as a specialised ontology, providing knowledge that is needed to support semantic interoperability in biomedical and other disciplines when dealing with species-related data. Using identifiers such as LSIDs to refer to species concepts instead of using species names (which might be subject to various interpretations) can help in data integration. This is because it can be assumed (with the caveats expressed earlier in this paper) that two sources of species-related data using the same species LSID will hold information about precisely the same species, not different concepts. The provision of unique identifiers is a key aspect of the recently-commenced i4Life project : i4Life aims to cross-map between taxonomies supplied by various organisations, including the NCBI taxonomy, IUCN Red List, etc., using the Catalogue of Life as a source both of names and of concepts (assemblages of names into species and other taxa) to support the cross-mapping process.
In future, there are a number of areas that would benefit from further development, including some areas in which the requirements for an effective CoL GUID system listed earlier in this paper are not yet satisfied. We have mentioned these in the previous sections but, to summarise, we are planning:
enhanced tracking of concept changes;
tracking LSID usage (see requirement (6));
suitable default behaviour in cases where a CoL LSID without a version field is submitted to the resolver, perhaps from systems that cannot accommodate the version field. At present, the resolver fails; our intention is to change this behaviour so that the resolver will return metadata associated with the current version of the LSID.
exploration of alternative GUID schemes and options for expressing concept metadata;
investigation of appropriate ways to provide a "human-friendly" option for composing LSIDs for important objects (see requirement (5));
making the Catalogue of Life available as Linked Data, and
experimenting to determine ways of automatically identifying where users are erroneously referring to the same concept.
Availability of supporting data
The Catalogue of Life is accessible via its Web interface at: http://www.catalogueoflife.org/
LSIDs used in the Catalogue of Life are of the form: urn:lsid:catalogueoflife.org:... and these LSIDs may be used to retrieve a TCS representation of the relevant part of the Catalogue.
The software described in this paper - enhanced Catalogue of Life (SPICE) software, software for resolving Catalogue of Life LSIDs as TCS documents, and the Taxon Matcher program - is available at: http://biodiversity.cs.cf.ac.uk/
The initial stages of the work reported in this paper were supported by a GBIF/TDWG TWDG Infrastructure Project grant. Indexing for Life (i4Life) is a European e-Infrastructure project, co-funded by the European Commission's Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development, in which ACJ and RJW are participants. The current user interface to the Catalogue of Life system was developed by ETI Bioinformatics (Leiden), and the Catalogue content is maintained by Species 2000. An earlier version of some parts of this paper was presented at the BNCOD 2008 workshop "Biodiversity Informatics: challenges in modelling and managing biodiversity knowledge", and can be downloaded from the Workshop Web Site .
A project of the kind reported in this paper inevitably involves discussion with a wide range of colleagues, but we would particularly like to express our appreciation to Prof. Frank Bisby, Dr. Alan Paton, Dr. Guy Cochrane and members of the GBIF LSID-GUID task group for discussions that have helped in forming some of the ideas expressed here, and to Prof. Alun Preece for agreeing to read and comment on a draft of this paper.
We would also like to thank the anonymous reviewers of an earlier version of our paper for their constructive comments and the relevant information that they have provided. The idea of improving the resolver's response in cases where no version is provided was suggested by one of the reviewers.
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This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. | <urn:uuid:3dd5449a-d386-43cf-a8ae-63167fc2173e> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://jbiomedsem.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/2041-1480-2-7 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988719468.5/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183839-00528-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.91904 | 10,425 | 2.296875 | 2 |
But that is the logic behind a copyright infringement lawsuit Paramount has filed against Chris Moukarbel, 28, who graduated from Yale University last month.
He made the movie with student actors using a bootleg version of Stone's script for World Trade Center, which tells the story of two port authority police officers who were trapped but then escaped from the rubble of the twin towers.
The lawsuit alleges that it is "virtually identical" to the original in its "dialogue, plot, setting, characters and theme".
It is a "poor quality copy", Paramount acknowledges - yet "large numbers of people will see the Moukarbel film first for free and determine ... that they do not want to pay to see the remainder of the WTC film at a theatre when it is released".
Amateur film projects based on Hollywood releases are widely available online, though usually they escape legal problems because the movie in question has already been shown in cinemas. World Trade Center is not due to be released until August,
By yesterday Mr Moukarbel had removed his film, Points of Departure, from his website. "This artwork was created as a commentary on the memorialisation of a particularly historic moment," he said, adding he had "never intended to profit from this artwork, and never have profited from it". Paramount's suit did not specify a figure for monetary damages, but said it wanted a permanent injunction preventing Mr Moukarbel from distributing the film. | <urn:uuid:ae9f5ec7-a839-498b-82c6-23b8689abb80> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/jun/23/film.internationaleducationnews?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280242.65/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00076-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974293 | 295 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Funny Quotations from Driving Miss Daisy
Driving Miss Daisy is a comedy drama about an old Jewish woman and her black chauffeur in the South. Over time, the two become great friends. However, at first the relationship wasn't so friendly. The woman was reluctant to have someone drive her around, but after some time, the driver wins her over with his charm. The movie covers over twenty years of the couple's life together. Directed by Bruce Beresford. Starring Morgan Freeman, Jessica Tandy, and Dan Aykroyd.
Driving Miss Daisy is a fantastic movie that won four Oscar awards, including Best Picture. Read some quotes from the film below.
Daisy Werthan: Did you have the air-conditioning checked? I told you to have the air-conditioning checked.
Hoke Colburn: I had the air-conditioning checked. I don't know what for. You never allow me to turn it on.
Daisy Werthan: Hush up!
Boolie Werthan: You're a doodle, Mama.
Daisy Werthan: Hoke?
Hoke Colburn: Yes'm.
Daisy Werthan: You're my best friend.
Hoke Colburn: No, go on Miss Daisy.
Daisy Werthan: No, really, you are...
[Takes Hoke's hand]
Daisy Werthan: You are.
Hoke Colburn: Yes'm.
[after Florene storms out when Katie Bell makes a mistake]
Boolie Werthan: Don't worry Katie Bell, it's not quite the end of the world.
Idella: I'm goin', Miss Daisy.
Daisy Werthan: [from upstairs] Alright Idella, see you tomorrow.
Hoke Colburn: I'm goin' too, Miss Daisy.
Daisy Werthan: Good!
Daisy Werthan: You should have let me keep my old LaSalle. It never would've behaved this way and you know it.
Boolie Werthan: Mama, cars don't behave. They are behaved upon. Fact is, you demolished that Chrysler all by yourself.
Daisy Werthan: Say what you want, I know the truth.
Boolie Werthan: The truth is, you just cost the insurance company $2,700. You're a terrible risk. Nobody's gonna want to issue you a policy after this.
Daisy Werthan: You're just saying that to be hateful!
Boolie Werthan: OK. I am. I'm makin' it all up. Look out there in the driveway! Every insurance company in America is out there, waving their fountain pen, trying to get you to sign up!
[Hoke and Boolie are walking thru Daisy's vacated home discussing how Hoke and Daisy have been since Daisy had to be put in the nursing home]
Boolie Werthan: I suppose you don't get out to see her very much.
Hoke Colburn: No, sir... it's hard not drivin'. Every now and then I takes a taxi cab, but don't too many taxis go out yonder.
Boolie Werthan: I'm sure she appreciates it.
Hoke Colburn: Yes, sir.
Hoke Colburn: Some days, she better than others... but then, who ain't?
[Hoke and Boolie both laugh]
Hoke Colburn: Hey, there, Oscar, Junior... how you boys doin' this morning?
Oscar: How the old lady treatin' you, Hoke?
Hoke Colburn: Lord, I tell you one thing... she sho' do know how to throw a fit!
[Hoke, Oscar, and Junior break out in laughter]
Daisy Werthan: What's so funny?
Hoke Colburn: Nothin', Miss Daisy. We jus' carryin' on.
Hoke Colburn: [Hoke walks in, Boolie and Daisy are there to confront him about a missing can of salmon] Mornin', Miss Daisy. I think it's gettin' ready to clear up out there! Oh, 'scuse me, Mr. Werthan!
Boolie Werthan: Hoke, I think we're gonna have to have a little talk.
Hoke Colburn: All right, sir. Just let me get outta my coat.
[pauses, then turns to Daisy]
Hoke Colburn: Oh, Miss Daisy, yesterday, while you was out visitin', I went and ate a can of your salmon. Now, I know you said eat the left-over pork chops, but they was kinda stiff. So, I stopped at the Piggly Wiggly and got you another can. You want me just to go on and put it in the cupboard?
Daisy Werthan: [embarrassed] Yes, that'll be fine... thank you, Hoke. Well, I guess I'd better get dressed now!
Hoke Colburn: [Hoke and Idella are walking to Daisy's house and notice Boolie's car in the driveway] Now what do you suppose he's doin' here this early in the mornin'?
Idella: Dunno... can't be good, I promise you that!
Next: E.T. The Extra-Terrestiral
More 1980s movie quotes
More 1980s Oscar Winners | <urn:uuid:02745598-2aff-4a66-aa0c-5cf5e9f3a656> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.poemofquotes.com/quotes/movies/driving-miss-daisy.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280929.91/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00420-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943676 | 1,164 | 1.507813 | 2 |
According to FDA Import Refusal data and Import Alerts, the following, among other substances, have been found in imported fish from Vietnam and China:
• Malachite green: This is, according to Wikipedia, “a toxic chemical primarily used as a dye. When diluted, it can be used as a topical antiseptic or to treat parasites, fungal infections, and bacterial infections in fish and fish eggs. It is also used as a bacteriological stain.
“However, in 1992 in Canada, it was determined that there is a significant health risk to humans who eat fish contaminated with malachite green. The chemical was classified a Class II Health Hazard because it was found to be toxic to human cells and might cause liver tumor formation. However, due to its ease and low cost to manufacture, it is still used in certain countries with less restrictive laws for non-aquaculture purposes.”
• Crystal violet, or gentian violet: This is a bactericide and an antifungal agent used by hospitals for the treatment of serious heat burns and other injuries to the skin and gums.
According to Wikipedia, “one study has linked long term exposure to large amounts of Gentian violet with cancer. The FDA has determined that gentian violet has not been shown by adequate scientific data to be safe for use in animal feed. Use of gentian violet in animal feed causes the feed to be adulterated and is a violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. On June 28, 2007, the FDA issued an ‘import alert’ on farm-raised seafood from China because unapproved antimicrobials, including gentian violet, had been consistently found in the products.”
• Chloramphenicol: a bacteriostatic antimicrobial. The drug is considered a prototypical broad-spectrum antibiotic, alongside the tetracyclines. It can cause a leukemia called aplastic anemia.
• Fluoroquinolone antibiotics: A family of synthetic broad-spectrum antibiotics, “the first generation (of fluoroquinolones) was derived from an attempt to create a synthetic form of chloroquine, which was used to treat malaria during World War II,” according to Wikipedia. “Resistance to quinolones can evolve rapidly, even during a course of treatment. Numerous pathogens … now exhibit resistance worldwide. Though considered to be a very important and necessary drugs required to treat severe and life threatening bacterial infections, the associated antibiotic misuse remains unchecked, which has contributed to the problem of bacterial resistance. The overuse of antibiotics … has given rise to a breed of super bacteria which are resistant to antibiotics entirely.” | <urn:uuid:4737b815-d6c5-4b93-ab5d-805008194916> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.deltafarmpress.com/livestock/found-asian-seafood-imports | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560283301.73/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095123-00508-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95263 | 557 | 3.078125 | 3 |
- Leslie is downgraded to a tropical storm
- But forecasters say it will likely return to hurricane strength
- Forecasters warn of life-threatening rip currents on U.S. beaches from Leslie
Hurricane Leslie lost power as it idled over the ocean Friday, weakening into a tropical storm that appeared likely to miss Bermuda.
Forecasters warned that large waves and dangerous rip currents would still pose a threat to coastal areas, and near-tropical-storm-force winds would lash the island Sunday.
The storm also was likely to regain hurricane strength as it moves off the pool of cool ocean water it created for itself while idling for hours more than 400 miles away from Bermuda, the National Hurricane Center said.
However, forecast models indicated it would likely remain a Category 1 storm, rather than the more powerful Category 2 storm previously forecast.
A tropical storm watch remained in effect Friday in Bermuda, where schools were closed and government offices were preparing to close early to give residents more time to prepare.
Government officials are planning to close the damage-prone causeway linking the main portion of the country with St. David's Island, where its international airport is located, on Saturday, the Emergency Measures Organization said. Sea ferry service will be suspended Friday night, the agency said.
Wayne Perinchief, Bermuda's national security minister, said Thursday that officials were planning a "well-coordinated" response to any problems caused by the storm.
For days, the storm has been dishing out heavy swells and dangerous currents in coastal areas of Bermuda, the Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and the U.S. East Coast from Florida to New York, the National Weather Service said.
Forecasters warned of potentially deadly rip currents that can pull even the strongest swimmers out to sea quickly. The agency warned beachgoers to stay out of the surf until the danger passes.
Another hurricane, Michael, formed late Wednesday in the eastern Atlantic. The first major hurricane of the season, it remained a Category 2 storm, with winds of near 105 mph.
Michael is the seventh hurricane of the 2012 season, but posed no immediate threat to land and is expected to weaken in the coming days, the hurricane center said. | <urn:uuid:d6a93a78-95dc-4a93-ba49-ad51a49a6406> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/07/world/americas/bermuda-hurricane-leslie/index.html?npt=NP1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280835.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00050-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960738 | 458 | 1.765625 | 2 |
“Non in dialectica placuit Deo salvum facere populum suum” (“It is not by arguing that God chose to save His people”). -St. Ambrose “Fortunately, there have always been pastors who have understood more about theology than most professors.” -Karl Barth
A recent article in Crisis magazine by James Kalb reminded me of two homilies I recently heard, and of the lesson I should have learned from these. The homilies were given by two different priests, both foreign-born: Fr. X, Vietnamese, one of the boat people who escaped the Communists at an early age; Fr. Y, Nigerian, a Dominican. (Aren’t we fortunate, as a missioned nation that bread cast upon the waters has returned?)
The Crisis magazine article is about the futility of argumentation on the internet, a conclusion with which I heartily concur. As the quote and the title of this article suggest, argumentation is not the way to evangelize.
This was the lesson of the two homilies. It’s been a while since I heard them, so forgive me, Fr. X and Fr. Y, if I don’t recast them exactly as you spoke.
Fr. Y was discoursing on the Gospel, Matthew 10, in which Jesus sends the apostles out and tells them “And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.” (Matt 10:14) In his homily, Fr. Y said that one should not contest with those–family members, friends, etc.–who dispute your faith. You should state what you believe and show, by the example of your life, what your faith means to you.
Fr. X’s homily took off from the moving paean on the great gift of love, in First Corinthians, “…If I have not love…” Fr X said we have to love our enemies and those who contest with us, otherwise we are not Christians. We cannot disparage them or wish ill for them.
All this guidance I should try to achieve (but often fail) in my responses to those contending on the internet. If a Geocentrist, or a believer in the Young Earth, refuses to debate honestly the scientific premises of their beliefs, I can do no more than point out where they might seek other opinions.
If an atheist refuses to read the books refuting Dawkins that I recommend–I cannot, as with giving my dog medicine, coat the pill with peanut butter and slip it into his mouth. (One of our dogs was very adept at licking off the peanut butter and spitting out the pill.)
So, the only thing to do is to love these people (even if I don’t like them) and pray for them. Perhaps the Holy Spirit will imbue them with grace, as it did one fervent atheist, Anthony Flew, who came to believe There is a God. And this is all I can hope and pray for.
©2014. Bob Kurland. All rights reserved.
Photography: See our Photographers page. | <urn:uuid:b8079ccd-9b90-4139-9473-f408ee14714b> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.catholicstand.com/lesson-homilies-dont-argue-internet/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280825.87/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00204-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962708 | 670 | 1.8125 | 2 |
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The idiomatic expression “in the clear” means a couple of different but related things. People can be said to be “in the clear” when there is nothing stopping them from proceeding unhindered. The phrase is also very common when talking about being blame free.
The first usage is a little more literal. Someone who is no longer encumbered by physical, emotional, or psychological entrapments might use the expression. A worried patient who has undergone a battery of medical tests hopes the doctor will sweep into the room wearing a broad smile and announce, “Don’t worry, you’re in the clear!” Someone less fortunate who has suffered a massive heart attack but recovered due to quick medical intervention is also in the clear, or outside of harm’s reach.
A divorcee who went through months of anguish but is beginning to see how much better off she is can likewise be described using this idiom. In the same way, a graduate student who has passed oral and written exams will feel clear relief because only the thesis or dissertation remains to be done. With everything else out of the way, it’s easier to tackle.
A basketball player who dodges around a forest of waving arms and leaping bodies will spring into the clear to make a winning shot. An opportunity to use the idiom in a very literal way could arise for a mountain climber who has broken free of the tree line and is within eyesight of the mountain’s peak. That climber has almost reached the goal.
The second usage carries the memory of ethical, moral, or even legal fault. When an office employee is accused of wrongful behavior, that person will utter a sigh of relief only when supervisors determine he or she wasn’t at fault and is now in the clear. Individuals who know they have done nothing wrong might tell anyone who listens that the time will come when they are cleared of wrongdoing. Even something as simple as paying a traffic ticket or as painful as paying back taxes will bring the relief of clearing up old accounts.
The expression “in the clear” is often used by news reporters discussing behavior that may have crossed the line from wrong to illegal. A company accused of fraud must be investigated to determine if it is in the clear or up the creek without a paddle. A politician accused of selling his vote will only be cleared by close scrutiny.
I wonder if this idiom was inspired by nature. I'm thinking it may have something to do with walking through a thick forest and then finding yourself in a clearing. All of the hazards and obstacles have disappeared, so you would be "clear" of danger at that point. The article really didn't say where the expression came from, so I'm just speculating here.
I've also heard this expression used when it comes to finances. A person could pay down enough debt to be clear of all financial obligations. I've heard people refer to an unencumbered car title as being "free and clear", meaning there are no liens against it.
I've often heard this expression used when one or two people caught up in a legal matter are later released from prosecution. One person might be "in the clear" because his or her alibi checks out, while another might be in the clear because he or she clearly didn't do anything illegal. The secretary to a suspicious boss might be in the clear because she didn't have prior knowledge of his bad acts.
One of our editors will review your suggestion and make changes if warranted. Note that depending on the number of suggestions we receive, this can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days. Thank you for helping to improve wiseGEEK! | <urn:uuid:28a6bfe9-cb2f-40e5-a538-45d2d01e5310> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.wisegeek.com/what-does-in-the-clear-mean.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280730.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00247-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969144 | 771 | 3 | 3 |
Tips from Other Journals
Phyto-estrogens in the Etiology of Breast Cancer
Am Fam Physician. 1998 May 15;57(10):2539-2540.
Strong epidemiologic evidence implicates diet as a factor in the development of breast cancer. Recent theories have focused on the phyto-estrogens (isoflavonoids and lignans) that are found in many edible plants. When consumed, phyto-estrogens are metabolized by bowel microflora, and the resulting compounds have antiangiogenic, estrogenic and antiestrogenic properties, as well as the ability to inhibit several enzymes. In cell culture and animal experiments, these compounds have also been shown to inhibit tumor development. Further evidence of a possible protective effect comes from the observation that populations consuming large quantities of phyto-estrogens from soy-rich diets have lower rates of breast and other cancers. Ingram and colleagues studied the association of dietary phyto-estrogen and breast cancer in Australian women.
A total of 144 women with breast cancer were matched with control subjects selected according to age and area of residence. Women in both the study group and the control group were interviewed using a standardized questionnaire to elicit detailed information regarding demographic, reproductive and lifestyle characteristics. Participants also provided three consecutive 24-hour urine specimens and a blood sample. The urine samples were analyzed for lignans and isoflavonoid phyto-estrogens, and for urea and ammonia so that a measure of total nitrogen excretion could be obtained as an index of total food intake.
Initial analyses showed a substantial reduction in the risk of developing breast cancer in women with increasing excretion of phyto-estrogen metabolites, particularly equol (an isoflavin). This substantial effect persisted for equol and enterolactone (a lignan) after adjusting for age at menarche, parity and nutritional variables such as alcohol intake and total fat intake. For equol, the risk of developing breast cancer for women in the highest quartile of excretion (after adjusting for confounding variables) was one quarter that of women in the lowest quartile of excretion. For enterolactone, the comparable reduction in risk was one third. Other phyto-estrogens were associated with reductions in risk that did not reach significance.
The authors conclude that their findings support earlier studies that show increased excretion of phyto-estrogens is associated with a substantial reduction in the risk of developing breast cancer. This theory also has biological plausibility as these compounds inhibit the growth and development of hormone-dependent cells. Because the compounds are weakly estrogenic, it is suggested that they reduce the amount of circulating estrogen. However, the exact mechanisms of the suggested anticarcinogenic effect are not understood. In the absence of other primary prevention for breast cancer, the cultural movement toward increased consumption of foods containing phyto-estrogens appears to be potentially beneficial.
Ingram D, et al. Case-control study of phyto-oestrogens and breast cancer. Lancet. 1997 October 4;350:990–4.
Copyright © 1998 by the American Academy of Family Physicians.
This content is owned by the AAFP. A person viewing it online may make one printout of the material and may use that printout only for his or her personal, non-commercial reference. This material may not otherwise be downloaded, copied, printed, stored, transmitted or reproduced in any medium, whether now known or later invented, except as authorized in writing by the AAFP. Contact firstname.lastname@example.org for copyright questions and/or permission requests.
Want to use this article elsewhere? Get Permissions | <urn:uuid:42536b9a-084a-49f8-9e00-7584173c7ad0> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.aafp.org/afp/1998/0515/p2539a.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281069.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00270-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943062 | 764 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Plagiarizing the work of others is one of the most important tips for writers of term papers. It is important to keep in mind that plagiarism can occur in the form of copying quotes from a blog post, newspaper column or any other piece of work. Plagiarism doesn’t just happen in written work, but it can also occur with images and videos as well.
There are many skilled writers who do a very excellent job in creating term papers for college students. But, there are numerous others who are incapable of being plagiarists. To be a good writer, you must do your homework. Find out what other academic writers are doing. This can help you understand the type of academic papers they’re creating.
For those who aren’t interested in researching the topic, the author of term papers usually does all the research themselves. He will have to spend a lot of time researching the topic he is writing about. He will make use of the internet to locate the information he requires. These include journals, books, encyclopedias, and other printed materials. The majority of creative writers spend a lot of time finding the data they require, then putting them in a piece of writing that is intended to submit to the contest for a term paper.
The majority of term paper writers understand that they must write different kinds of papers to be successful. However, some do not consider this fact. This is particularly the case for writers who are just beginning their journey into this kind of job. They usually just copy the work of someone else, and submit the paper without making any changes.
The internet has made this job easier for term paper authors. Writers today have a broad selection of resources available. They only have to spend a few minutes looking up the information and put it all together in a unique way. If the writer is nimble enough, he may even develop a unique variation on an essay that has already been written.
A term paper writer is one who adapts writing of an author to suit his needs. In order to write about the history of a subject, the writer must research the writings about the topic. Once he has all the relevant information, he may choose to write an entirely unique piece of writing about the background of the subject.
Term papers must be sent to universities as well as higher education institutions. These institutions usually host term papers competitions. It is a good idea to work on writing before submitting term papers to specific institutions. Writing term papers takes lots of research and planning. Higher authorities may refuse term papers that haven’t been evaluated. A competent writing sites free writer of term papers should be aware of the various strategies used in academic writing contests in order to determine which papers for term papers should or should not be considered for acceptance.
In conclusion term paper writers must be aware of the various strategies employed by academic writing authorities to decide which papers should be published and which should not. They should also be aware of the various ways they are able to make their papers distinctive. Writers should continue to practice writing as often as they can to improve their writing abilities.
It is true that not everybody who composes term papers is an expert in this area. However, this doesn’t mean that writers cannot be a professional because there are various techniques which can be learned through years of experience. Professional term paper writers are available online and can help writers become proficient.
There are many websites on the internet where you can purchase term papers. Many of these websites allow writers to purchase their paper and have it edited professionally. The term paper can then be mailed to the desired address listed on the website. These websites allow writers to be paid by simply purchasing a custom term paper and paying for editing services.
A writer of a term paper must ensure that their work has been approved and read by at least two professors before they are able to be able to approve the paper. Writers must also make sure that they use correct grammar and spelling. It isn’t possible to compose term papers by yourself. A thorough understanding of the subject is essential. Anyone can become an assistant for term papers and earn extra cash through the internet. | <urn:uuid:c4514f41-c38e-4678-87c3-ea429a47d113> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://tunatower.net/how-do-you-become-a-paper-writer/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573667.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819100644-20220819130644-00065.warc.gz | en | 0.972977 | 843 | 2.25 | 2 |
solar double cropping
A project that has been two years in the planning, is now demonstrating local food AND renewable energy in one big experiment! We are proud to offer tours of this forward thinking idea.
Miraverse Power and Light of Manifold Recording , Piedmont Biofuels, Southern Energy Management, and Piedmont Biofarm are pleased to announce the ground breaking of their “Solar Double Cropping” project in Pittsboro, North Carolina.
The endeavor consists of an elevated 92.16 kilowatt solar array that will generate electricity above the north field of Piedmont Biofarm, while sustainable produce is harvested at the ground level. The nine-foot clearance of the solar photovoltaic system is designed specifically to encourage growing crops that thrive in partial shade.
“Double Cropping is a term we borrowed from the wind industry,” said Lyle Estill, co-founder of Piedmont Biofuels, and originator of the project. “We intend to demonstrate the ability to make electricity and grow food in the same space at the same time.”
Estill noted that in some jurisdictions, solar installations are being banned on prime farmland. “We need clean energy. And we need sustainable food,” Estill said. “This installation will enable both.”
Financing for the project has been provided by Michael and Amy Tiemann, who recently opened Manifold Recording, a world-class recording and production facility in Chatham County. “The vision for this facility has always been based around sustainability. When we began calculating the energy required to run this facility, we simultaneously envisioned how we could fit that into an overall sustainability plan. Of all the options we considered, solar double-cropping was far and away the simplest, fastest, and best approach to meeting our energy needs without diminishing the rich agricultural potential of Chatham County. What good is sustainable energy without sustainable agriculture?” said Tiemann.
Michael Tiemann also sits of the Board of Advisors for the Center for Environmental Farming Systems and has a keen interest in both renewable energy and local food. He created Miraverse Power and Light as an entity for this endeavor.
Doug Jones, the owner of Piedmont Biofarm, has been experimenting with partial shade crops for the past two growing seasons and will be farming beneath the array. “As our agricultural zone changes, there are some vegetables that will benefit from some protection from the sun,” Jones said.
The 288-panel system is being installed by Southern Energy Management (SEM), a Morrisville-based company well known for utility scale solar arrays. “We love this project because it challenges us to think about land use, climate change and where our food comes from, all at the same time,” said SEM co-founder Maria Kingery. “This is the kind of project that made us want to get into the solar business in the first place and we hope to see many more projects like this in the future.”
This Solar Double Cropping project represents two years of planning, design, and engineering which resulted in a formal docket assignment by the North Carolina Utilities Commission. | <urn:uuid:030f79bb-a059-4a1b-ac07-85f23991b4b0> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www2.abundancefoundation.org/solar-double-cropping | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281746.82/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00287-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948784 | 664 | 2.3125 | 2 |
Let the Games begin? Why Kim Jong Un might be interested
With little time to spare, North and South Korea are preparing to hash out Kim Jong Un's offer to send a delegation to next month's Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
Skeptics are calling the offer, floated by Kim during his annual televised New Year's address, a cynical tactic to drive a wedge between Washington and Seoul, while optimists see it as a sign of hope that Kim has decided to dial back his defiance and come in from the cold.
The answer probably lies somewhere in between.
But why, after a year marked by the test of his country's most powerful nuclear bomb to date and a record number of missile launches, is Kim starting off 2018 by proposing talks across the Demilitarized Zone?
WHAT'S ON THE TABLE
Kim stressed in his speech that 2018 will be an important year for the Korean nation.
The North will be marking the 70th anniversary of its Sept. 9 founding and the South's hosting of the games, Kim said, "will serve as a good occasion for demonstrating our nation's prestige" and "we earnestly wish the Olympic Games a success."
To that end, he suggested Pyongyang send a delegation and "adopt other necessary measures." He presented all of it in a familiar framing — saying the Korean people must work together on their own toward reunification to "frustrate the schemes by anti-reunification forces within and without."
In North Korea-speak, that means anti-Pyongyang hardliners in the South and the United States and its allies.
Kim did not say what kind of a delegation he has in mind. But North Korea quickly restored a hotline with the South that had been cut off for two years to allow communications to resume. South Korean President Moon Jae-in applauded the gesture and the two sides are set to meet on Tuesday at the border village of Panmunjom for the time since December 2015.
TAKING SEOUL'S TEMPERATURE
Just about the time the Olympics will be wrapping up and the Paralympics getting underway, tens of thousands of U.S. and South Korean troops would normally be staging the world's biggest annual war games.
This year, however, Moon convinced President Donald Trump to postpone them until everything is over.
The exercises feature the United States' most advanced weaponry and in recent years have included training for "decapitation" strikes on Kim himself. In his New Year's address, Kim pointedly referred to that, claiming the U.S. can't launch an attack "on me or our country" now that North Korea has a viable nuclear deterrent.
Kim would love to see the war games called off for good. Or at least scaled down.
With their postponement, he might believe Moon may be willing to go further down that path. And if Moon isn't, Kim can say he tried and use that as a justification for launching more missiles or space-bound rockets and maybe even trying another nuclear test later this year.
The bottom line: it never hurts to take Seoul's temperature every now and then.
Engaging directly with Seoul does, in fact, tend to complicate things for Washington. Sanctions, meanwhile, are taking their toll. Easing tensions would give Kim breathing room to boost the domestic economy.
One of his key projects — also mentioned in the New Year's speech — is developing tourism in the Wonsan-Kumgang area on North Korea's east coast. Kim already built a luxury ski resort there and doesn't want to see it go to waste. With Trump's North Korea travel ban now in effect, Pyongyang might be thinking of wooing tourists from the South.
Kim's father, Kim Jong Il, had some success with that idea from the late 1990s until 2008, when a South Korean housewife was shot dead for wandering into a restricted zone.
UNUSUAL, BUT NOT UNPRECEDENTED
For sure, North and South Olympic rivalry runs deep.
The North boycotted the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul and instead hosted the World Festival of Youth and Students, a sort of socialist equivalent, the following year. The Koreas tried marching together under a "unification flag" in three Olympics, but that didn't stick. The blue-and-white flag last flew at the 2006 Winter Games in Turin, Italy.
North Korea isn't a big Winter Olympics country to begin with. It has only sent teams to eight and won only two medals: a silver in 1964 and a bronze in 1992. Both were won by women, in speed skating and short track skating.
Still, it's not unprecedented for the North to send athletes to major competitions in the South.
Kim sent a full team to the Asian Games in Incheon in 2014 and dispatched three of his top lieutenants to attend the closing ceremony and meet with the South's unification minister. Whatever progress was made in those talks seems to have dissipated soon after the trio went home, however.
ANY CHANCES OF GOLD?
Well, not really.
It isn't entirely clear if Kim intends to send athletes to Pyeongchang or just officials.
There might still be some wiggle room, but only two athletes, pair skaters Ryom Tae Ok and Kim Ju Sik, are qualified to go. Skating to the Beatles' song "A Day in the Life" for their short program, the two won North Korea's first medal — a bronze — at the Asian Winter Games in Sapporo, Japan in February last year.
Nevertheless, Kim Jong Un likes sports.
Following the example of former Soviet bloc countries like East Germany, Kim has elevated the role of sports to a new level for North Korea, lavishing praise and rewards on medal-winning athletes while the official media catalogues each win in international competition as proof of the nation's ideological superiority and physical grit.
"Upon receiving the New Year Address made by respected Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un, sportspersons in the DPRK are filled with firm determination to achieve fresh victory," its state-run news agency reported Tuesday, using the acronym for the North's official name.
The report went on: "It is the determination and will of all sports officials, players and coaches to produce more excellent results in international games this year."
Talmadge is the AP's Pyongyang bureau chief. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter: @erictalmadge.
Add Interests Customize your news feed by choosing the topics that interest you.
To save your interests across all devices Log In or Sign Up »Source – abcnews.go.com | <urn:uuid:0b08117c-3751-4749-9388-2ecff4a06231> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://icetruck.tv/2018/01/05/let-the-games-begin-why-kim-jong-un-might-be-interested/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573760.75/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819191655-20220819221655-00667.warc.gz | en | 0.964878 | 1,375 | 2.1875 | 2 |
Crews were back on scene Tuesday at the sinkhole on Botetourt Street, which is closed between Pembroke and Fairfax Avenues as a result.
Harry Kenyon, a spokesman for Norfolk Public Utilities, says crews are trying to figure out what caused the sinkhole.
"We won’t know until we excavate the pipe. Obviously we have a break in the pipe somewhere because we are seeing waste water come up out of that pipe," he told NewsChannel 3's Todd Corillo.
Before crews could begin any excavation work, their primary focus Tuesday was on pumping out the sewer line.
"No one is out of service, there’s been no overflows, so we are just excavating the pipe, collecting our water and taking it somewhere else to make sure it is taken care of," Kenyon commented.
This is the second sinkhole crews have dealt with in the month of May.
On May 2, a sinkhole opened up on Colley Avenue near Southampton Avenue.
"It was a similar situation. It was a sanitary sewer main, it had a crack in it," Kenyon explained. "When you have a crack in the pipe, the soil will seep into the pipe and cause the earth above it to give way and create a sinkhole."
Norfolk is currently working to replace the sanitary sewer system in the section of Ghent where the sinkhole opened up Monday afternoon.
"The City of Norfolk has a lot of old infrastructure. We are in the process of rebuilding a lot of that. We’ve got a multi-phased project we’ve been doing through part of The Hague, replacing old sewer system, putting in new sewer system," Kenyon commented.
Stay with NewsChannel 3 for updates as they become available. | <urn:uuid:f0724004-f85b-4529-a4f7-6de03317b099> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://wtkr.com/2014/05/19/portion-of-norfolk-street-closed-off-due-to-sinkhole/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560282935.68/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095122-00238-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97583 | 373 | 1.679688 | 2 |
As used in this chapter:
(1) "Act" means
the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly referred to as the Clean
Water Act) 33 U.S.C. sections 1251 to 1387.
(2) "Administrator" means the administrator of
the United States environmental protection agency.
means any person who files for an Ohio individual indirect discharge
(4) "Application" means the Ohio environmental
protection agency form used to apply for an Ohio individual indirect discharge
(5) "Approved POTW
pretreatment program" or "POTW pretreatment program" or
"pretreatment program" means a program administered by a POTW that
meets the criteria established in 40 C.F.R. 403 and section 6111.032 of the
Revised Code and that has been approved by the director in accordance with 40
C.F.R. 403 and section 6111.03 of the Revised Code.
(B) "Best management practices"
or "BMPs" means schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices,
maintenance procedures, and other management practices to implement the
prohibitions listed in rule 3745-36-04 of the Administrative Code. BMPs also
include, but are not limited to, treatment requirements, operating procedures,
and practices to control plant site runoff, spillage or leaks, sludge or waste
disposal, or drainage from raw materials storage.
industrial user" means an industrial user subject to categorical
pretreatment standard" means any national pretreatment standard specifying
quantities or concentrations of pollutants or pollutant properties which may be
discharged to a POTW by existing or new industrial users in specific industrial
subcategories, promulgated by the administrator in accordance with section 307
of the act and established under 40 C.F.R. chapter I, subchapter
(D) "Director" means the
director of the Ohio environmental protection agency or the director's
duly authorized representative.
(H) "Historical data" means
data that are more than five years old.
discharge" means the introduction of pollutants into a POTW from any
nondomestic source including, but not limited to, those regulated under section
307(b), (c), or (d) of the act.
indirect discharge permit" means an authorization to discharge issued by
the director to a significant industrial user or non-significant categorical
industrial user specifying the terms and conditions of discharge. These terms
and conditions may include, but are not limited to, effluent limits, monitoring
requirements, pretreatment requirements, and requirements for BMPs, pollution
prevention plans and any other elements as deemed necessary by the
user" or "user" means a source of indirect
(4) "Interference" means a discharge that, alone
or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources, results in
either of the following:
(a) Inhibits or disrupts the POTW, the POTW's
treatment processes or operations, or the POTW's sludge processes, use, or
(b) Causes a violation of any requirement of the
POTW's NPDES permit (including an increase in the magnitude or duration of
a violation), or of the prevention of sewage sludge use or disposal in
compliance with all of the following statutory provisions and regulations or
permits issued thereunder (or more stringent state or local
(i) Section 405 of the
(ii) The Solid Waste
Disposal Act (SWDA) 42 U.S.C. sections 6901 to 6992 (including Title II, more
commonly referred to as the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), and
including state regulations contained in any state sludge management plan
prepared pursuant to Subtitle D of the SWDA).
(iii) The standards for
the use and disposal of sewage sludge (40 C.F.R. 503, and Chapter 3745-40 of
the Administrative Code).
(iv) The Clean Air Act
(CAA) 42 U.S.C. sections 7401 to 7671.
(v) The Toxic Substances
Control Act (TSCA) 15 U.S.C. sections 2601 to 2692.
(L) "Local limits" means limits
on industrial users, developed by a POTW, that are technically based on
site-specific factors to protect the POTW's operations from interference
and pass through and to ensure that the POTW's dischargers comply with
state and federal requirements. Local limits may be expressed as numerical
values, narrative statements or best management practices, or a combination of
(M) "Mid-tier categorical industrial
user" is a significant industrial user subject to categorical pretreatment
standards under 40 C.F.R. 403.6 and 40 C.F.R. chapter I, subchapter N, that the
director may determine is subject to a reduction in the user's reporting
requirement, upon satisfaction of all of the following conditions:
(1) The industrial
user's total categorical wastewater flow does not exceed 0.01 per cent of
any of the following:
(a) The design dry weather hydraulic capacity of the POTW,
or five thousand gallons per day (gpd), whichever is smaller, as measured by a
continuous effluent flow monitoring device unless the industrial user
discharges in batches.
(b) The design dry weather organic treatment capacity of
(c) The maximum allowable headworks loading for any
pollutant regulated by the applicable categorical pretreatment standards for
which approved local limits were developed by a POTW and approved by Ohio
(2) The industrial user
has not been in significant noncompliance, as defined in this rule, for any
amount of time in the past two years.
(3) The industrial user
does not have daily flow rates, production levels, or pollutant levels that
vary so significantly that decreasing the reporting requirement would result in
data that are not representative of conditions occurring during the reporting
period pursuant to paragraph (B) of rule 3745-36-08 of the Administrative
(4) The industrial user
is not located upstream of a combined sewer overflow or sanitary sewer
overflow, unless the procedures for the categorization of such a user as a
mid-tier categorical industrial user and issues related to combined sewer
overflows or sanitary sewer overflows are specifically addressed in one of the
(a) The POTW's or Ohio EPA's approved long term
(b) The POTW's or Ohio EPA's approved combined
sewer system operation plan implementing the nine minimum
pretreatment standard" means any regulation of the U.S. EPA, containing
pollutant discharge limits promulgated by the administrator in accordance with
sections 307(b) and (c) of the act, that applies to industrial users. The term
includes prohibitive discharge limits established pursuant to 40 C.F.R.
source" means any of the following:
(a) Any building, structure, facility or installation from
which there is or may be a discharge of pollutants, the construction of which
commenced after the publication of proposed pretreatment standards under
section 307(c) of the act that will be applicable to such source if such
standards are thereafter promulgated in accordance with that section provided
that one of the following applies:
(i) The building,
structure, facility, or installation is constructed at a site at which no other
source is located.
(ii) The building,
structure, facility, or installation totally replaces the process or production
equipment that causes the discharge of pollutants at an existing
(iii) The production or
wastewater generating processes of the building, structure, facility, or
installation are substantially independent of an existing source at the same
site. In determining whether these are substantially independent, factors such
as the extent to which the new facility is integrated with the existing plant,
and the extent to which the new facility is engaged in the same general type of
activity as the existing source should be considered.
(b) Construction on a site at which an existing source is
located results in a modification rather than a new source if the construction
does not create a new building, structure, facility, or installation meeting
the criteria of paragraph (N)(2)(a)(ii) or (N)(2)(a)(iii) of this rule, but
otherwise alters, replaces, or adds to existing process or production
(c) Construction of a new source as defined under this
paragraph has commenced if the owner or operator has done any of the
(i) Begun, or caused to
begin as part of a continuous onsite construction program, in either of the
(a) Any placement, assembly, or installation of facilities
(b) Significant site preparation work including clearing,
excavation, or removal of existing buildings, structures, or facilities that is
necessary for the placement, assembly, or installation of new source facilities
(ii) Entered into a
binding contractual obligation for the purchase of facilities or equipment that
are intended to be used in the operation within a reasonable time. Options to
purchase, or contracts that can be terminated or modified without substantial
loss, and contracts for feasibility, engineering, and design studies do not
constitute a contractual obligation under this paragraph.
cooling water" means the water used to reduce temperature that does not
come into contact with any raw material, intermediate product, waste product
(other than heat), or finished product. Noncontact cooling water does not
include any process waters or other types of wastewaters, nor is the water
exposed to anything but the inside of the pipe. Noncontact cooling water should
be reasonably free from contaminants like metals, ammonia, organics, and total
dissolved solids so that discharge of noncontact cooling water to the POTW does
not result in any of the following:
(a) An exceedance of Ohio's waters quality standards
in Chapter 3745-1 of the Administrative Code.
(b) Interference with the operation of the
(c) Pass through of the POTW.
categorical industrial user" is an industrial user subject to 40 C.F.R.
chapter I, subchapter N, that the director may determine is a non-significant
categorical industrial user, rather than a significant industrial user, on a
finding that the industrial user does not discharge more than one hundred
gallons per day (gpd) of total categorical wastewater (excluding sanitary,
noncontact cooling, and boiler blowdown wastewater, unless specifically
included in the categorical pretreatment standard) and all of the following
conditions are met:
(a) The industrial user, prior to the director's
finding, has consistently complied with all applicable categorical pretreatment
standards and requirements.
(b) The industrial user annually submits the certification
statement required in paragraph (F)(3) of rule 3745-36-10 of the Administrative
Code together with any additional information necessary to support the
(c) The industrial user never discharges any untreated
(d) The industrial user's discharge does not result in
pass through or interference of the POTW.
(e) The industrial user is not located upstream of a
combined sewer overflow or a sanitary sewer overflow, unless the industrial
user does not discharge wastewater regulated by categorical pretreatment
standards at any time, or the following conditions are met:
(i) The industrial user has not been in significant
noncompliance for any time in the past two years.
(ii) The procedures for the categorization of such a user as
a non-significant categorical industrial user and issues related to combined
sewer overflows or sanitary sewer overflows are specifically addressed in one
of the following:
(a) The POTW's or Ohio EPA's approved long term
(b) The POTW's or Ohio EPA's approved combined
sewer system operation plan implementing the nine minimum
permit" means a national pollutant discharge elimination system permit
issued by the director under the requirements of section 402 of the act,
Chapter 6111. of the Revised Code, and Chapter 3745-33 of the Administrative
(O) "Ohio EPA" means the Ohio environmental
through" means a discharge that exits the POTW into waters of the state in
quantities or concentrations that, alone or in conjunction with a discharge or
discharges from other sources, is a cause of a violation of any requirement of
the POTW's NPDES permit (including an increase in the magnitude or
duration of a violation).
(2) "Person" means person as
defined in section 6111.01 of the Revised Code.
(3) "pH" means
the logarithm (to the base 10) of the reciprocal of the hydrogen ion
concentration of a solution expressed in gram atoms per liter of
(4) "Pollutant" means sewage,
industrial waste, or other waste as defined by divisions (B) to (D) of section
6111.01 of the Revised Code.
(5) "Pollution prevention"
means the use of source reduction techniques in order to reduce risk to public
health, safety, and welfare, and the environment and, as a second preference,
the use of environmentally sound recycling to achieve these same goals.
Pollution prevention avoids cross-media transfers of waste or pollutants and is
multi-media in scope. Pollution prevention addresses all types of waste and
environmental releases to the air, water, and land.
(6) "POTW treatment
plant" means that portion of the POTW that is designed to provide
treatment (including recycling and reclamation) of municipal sewage and
(7) "Pretreatment" means the
reduction of the amount of pollutants, the elimination of pollutants, or the
alteration of the nature of pollutant properties in wastewater prior to or in
lieu of discharging, or otherwise introducing such pollutants into a POTW. The
reduction or alteration may be obtained by physical, chemical, or biological
treatment processes, by BMPs, by pollution prevention alternatives including
process changes, material substitutions, improved operating practices and
recycling, or by other means, except as prohibited by paragraph (F) of rule
3745-36-09 of the Administrative Code.
(8) "Pretreatment requirement"
means any substantive or procedural requirement related to pretreatment, other
than a pretreatment standard, imposed on an industrial user.
(9) "Pretreatment standard"
means a discharge limit related to pretreatment that is imposed on an
industrial user through regulations promulgated by U.S. EPA in accordance with
section 307(b) and (c) of the act, by this chapter, by local ordinance, or
individual indirect discharge permit. This term includes all of the
(a) Categorical pretreatment standards.
(b) Prohibited discharges established pursuant to rule
3745-36-04 of the Administrative Code.
(c) Local limits developed by the POTW and approved by the
(d) Any enforceable schedule designed to achieve compliance
with limits in paragraphs (P)(9)(a) to (P)(9)(c) of this rule.
wastewater" means any water that, during manufacturing or processing,
comes into contact with, or results from the production or use of any raw
material, intermediate product, finished product, byproduct, or waste
wastewater pollutants" means pollutants present in process
means categorical pretreatment standards for existing sources.
means categorical pretreatment standards for new sources.
authority" means a municipal corporation, the governing board of a county,
a sanitary district established pursuant to Chapter 6115. of the Revised Code,
a sewer district established pursuant to Chapter 6117. of the Revised Code, a
conservancy district under Chapter 6101. of the Revised Code, or any other
special district owning or operating a POTW in accordance with section 6111.032
of the Revised Code.
(15) "Publicly owned
treatment works " or "POTW" means a treatment works that is
owned or operated by a public authority. This definition includes any devices
and systems used in the storage, treatment, recycling and reclamation of
municipal sewage or industrial wastes of a liquid nature. It also includes
sewers, pipes and other conveyances only if they convey wastewater to a POTW
treatment plant. The term also means the public authority that owns or operates
the POTW and that has jurisdiction over the indirect discharges to and the
discharges from such a treatment works.
industrial user" means either of the following, except as provided in
paragraph (S)(1)(c) of this rule:
(a) Any industrial user subject to categorical pretreatment
standards, except industrial users considered non-significant categorical
industrial users, as defined in paragraph (N) of this rule.
(b) Any other industrial user that meets one of the
(i) Discharges an average
of twenty-five thousand gallons per day or more of process wastewater to the
POTW (process wastewater excludes sanitary, non-contact cooling and boiler
(ii) Contributes a
process wastestream that makes up five per cent or more of the average dry
weather hydraulic or organic capacity of the POTW treatment plant.
(iii) Is designated as
such by the director on the basis that the industrial user has a reasonable
potential for adversely affecting the POTW's operation or for violating
any pretreatment standard or requirement.
(c) Upon finding that an industrial user designated as a
significant industrial user for meeting the criteria in paragraph
(S)(1)(b)(iii) of this rule has no reasonable potential for adversely affecting
the POTW's operation or for violating any pretreatment standard or
requirement, the director may at any time, on the director's own
initiative or in response to a petition received from an industrial user or
POTW, determine that such industrial user is not a significant industrial
noncompliance" for a non-significant industrial user means a violation
meets any of the criteria in paragraph (S)(2)(c), (S)(2)(d), or (S)(2)(h) of
this rule. Significant noncompliance for a significant industrial user means a
violation of any of the following criteria:
(a) Chronic violations of wastewater discharge limits,
defined here as those in which sixty-six per cent or more of all the
measurements taken for the same pollutant parameter at any permitted monitoring
point during a six-month period exceed (by any magnitude) a numeric
pretreatment standard or requirement, including instantaneous
(b) Technical review criteria (TRC) violations, defined
here as those in which thirty-three per cent or more of all of the measurements
taken for the same pollutant parameter at any permitted monitoring point during
a six-month period equal or exceed the product of the numeric pretreatment
standard or requirement including instantaneous limits, multiplied by the
applicable TRC (TRC = 1.4 for BOD, TSS, fats, oil and grease, and 1.2 for all
other pollutants, except pH).
(c) Any other violation of a pretreatment standard or
requirement as defined in this rule (daily maximum or longer-term average,
instantaneous limit, or narrative standard) that the director determines has
caused, alone or in combination with other discharges, interference or pass
through (including endangering the health of POTW personnel or the general
(d) Any discharge of a pollutant that has caused imminent
endangerment to human health, welfare, or the environment, or has resulted in
the director's exercise of emergency authority to halt or prevent such a
(e) Failure to meet, within ninety days after the schedule
date, a compliance schedule milestone contained in the individual indirect
discharge permit or enforcement order for starting construction, completing
construction, or attaining final compliance.
(f) Failure to provide, within forty-five days after the
due date, required reports such as baseline monitoring reports, ninety-day
compliance reports, periodic self-monitoring reports, reports on compliance
with compliance schedules, or any other reports required by the
(g) Failure to accurately report
(h) Any other violation or group of violations, including a
violation of BMPs, that the director determines adversely affects the operation
of the POTW.
discharge" or "slug load" means any discharge of a non-routine,
episodic nature, including but not limited to an accidental spill or a
non-customary batch discharge that has a reasonable potential to cause
interference or pass through, or in any other way violate the POTW's
regulations, local limits, or permit conditions.
(T) "Treatment works" means any
plant, disposal field, lagoon, dam, pumping station, building sewer connected
directly to treatment works, incinerator, or other works used for the purpose
of treating, stabilizing, blending, composting, or holding sewage, sludge,
sludge materials, industrial waste, or other wastes, except as otherwise
(U) "U.S. EPA" means the United
States environmental protection agency.
(1) "Water quality
standards" means the regulations in Chapter 3745-1 of the Administrative
(2) "Waters of the
state" means the waters of the state as defined in section 6111.01 of the
(AA) Incorporation by
reference. The text of the incorporated materials is not included in the rules
contained in this chapter. The materials are hereby made a part of this
chapter. For materials subject to change, only the version specified in this
rule is incorporated. Any amendment or revision to a referenced document is not
incorporated unless and until this rule has been amended to specify the new
(1) Availability. The
materials incorporated by reference are available as follows:
(a) Code of federal regulations (C.F.R.). Information and
copies may be obtained by writing to: "U.S. Government Publishing Office
Bookstore, 710 North Capitol Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20403." The
full text of the C.F.R. is also available in electronic format at
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cfr/. The C.F.R. compilations are also available for
inspection and copying at most public libraries and "The State Library of
(b) Federal statutes. The full text is available in
electronic format at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys. These laws are also available
for inspection and copying at most public libraries and "The State Library
(a) Appropriate "Federal Statutes." The statutes
listed in this rule are those versions of the laws amended through July 1,
2017, including the following:
(i) Solid Waste Disposal
Act (SWDA), 42 U.S.C. sections 6901 to 6992.
(ii) Clean Air Act (CAA),
42 U.S.C. sections 7401 to 7671.
(iii) Toxic Substances
Control Act (TSCA) 15 U.S.C. sections 2601 to 2692.
(iv) Federal Water
Pollution Control Act (commonly referred to as the Clean Water Act), 33 U.S.C.
sections 1251 to 1387.
(v) Resource Conservation
and Recovery Act (RCRA), 42 U.S.C. 6901 to 6992.
"Code of Federal Regulations." As used in this chapter "40
C.F.R." means Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations as amended
through July 1, 2017. | <urn:uuid:46d2c9ad-8522-4d83-a29c-3a7e8d6660b8> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-administrative-code/chapter-3745-36 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571284.54/warc/CC-MAIN-20220811103305-20220811133305-00466.warc.gz | en | 0.88536 | 5,621 | 1.945313 | 2 |
A big part of moving to a new place is being a tourist in your own home and not knowing who any of the local dignitaries were through the years. I was at Wildlife Week (yeah, we have that here) looking through old archives when I discovered the log cabin where Sam Houston taught. I had no idea who he was. All I knew was that I had found a tiny little mountain school house picture and was intrigued. I was about to find out just how extraordinary this man was… The Historic Sam Houston Schoolhouse is a one-room log building that sits between Knoxville and Maryville. It was built in 1794 and is named for Sam Houston, a man with a colorful life.
Sam Houston was born in Virginia but after his father’s death the family moved to Tennessee. It is here that Sam ran away from home and went to live with some Cherokee Indians. for about 3 years. Not wanting to work on the family farm or in the family store, he took to living in the woods with the Cherokees. One of the tribal chiefs adopted Sam, giving him the name of Co-lon-neh (the Raven). He lived with the Cherokees until he was 18 years old.
In 1813, the year after teaching school, Sam took a dollar from the drum head at the town well on Maryville’s main street – he had enlisted in the Army. He served in the 39th Infantry from July, 1813, until May 1818, when he resigned. While fighting along side of General Andrew Jackson, at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, he was wounded. It was during this time that he and General Andrew Jackson met, becoming close friends.
Sam Houston had very little formal education, something not too uncommon in the time or the region. However, he studied law in Nashville, passed the Bar and became a Lawyer in six months. His military career pair with his new legal title set the foundation for his political career and in 1820, Sam ran for the office of District Attorney. He was elected District Attorney of Davidson District in Tennessee. He is the only person ever to serve as governor of two state of the United States and a major city (Houston, TX) bear his name. His accolades include:
- U.S Represnetative (TN)
- Seventh Governor of Tennessee
- General of the Army, Republic of Texas
- U.S. Senator (TX)
- Governor of Texas
Historic School House
As a way to pay off $100 in debt he owed at the general store Sam taught school in 1812 at the local school house.
I experienced a higher feeling of dignity and self-satisfaction from teaching in that little one room school house in Maryville, Tennessee than I did from any other office or honor I have ever held. – Sam Houston
He was 18 when he took the job as teacher. The school ran a term that began after corn planting in the spring, around May, and lasted until harvest and cold weather in the fall. Tuition at that time was $8.00 a term, payable 1/3 in corn, 1/3 in calico and 1/3 in cash.
The schoolhouse was constructed on Revolutionary War veteran Andrew Kennedy’s land by Kennedy, Henry McCulloch, the school’s first teacher, and neighbors in 1794. It is the oldest school in Tennessee, built two years before Tennessee became a State. It stands on the original site on which it was built, located in Maryville, Tennessee. The structure contains many of the original logs. It is built of hand-hewn poplar logs, typical of rural field schools in the 1700′s.
In the one hundred fifty-one years before its purchase by the state in 1945, the schoolhouse had a varied life. It served as school, church, and tenant house. The structure is now a Tennessee Historic Site and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The care of the schoolhouse is entrusted to an eighteen-member board of directors, The Sam Houston Memorial Association.
There is so much to do in the Smokies, make sure you check our some of the dinner shows and attractions! You can get tickets to almost anything in town and find great hotels via VacationsMadeEasy.com | <urn:uuid:7b864d7a-ed2a-4539-ae86-8dc35bfe7c1b> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.circawanderlust.com/sam-houston-school-house/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571993.68/warc/CC-MAIN-20220814022847-20220814052847-00665.warc.gz | en | 0.986607 | 893 | 3.0625 | 3 |
Characterization of the Far Infrared Properties and Radiative Forcing of Antarctic Ice and Water Clouds Exploiting the Spectrometer-LiDAR Synergy
Authors: Di Natale G., Bianchini G., Del Guasta M., Ridolfi M., Maestri T., Cossich W., Magurno D., Palchetti L.
Autors Affiliation: CNR, Natl Inst Opt, I-50019 Florence, Italy; Univ Bologna, Dept Phys & Astron, I-40126 Bologna, Italy
Abstract: Optical and microphysical cloud properties are retrieved from measurements acquired in 2013 and 2014 at the Concordia base station in the Antarctic Plateau. Two sensors are used synergistically: a Fourier transform spectroradiometer named REFIR-PAD (Radiation Explorer in Far Infrared-Prototype for Applications and Developments) and a backscattering-depolarization LiDAR. First, in order to identify the cloudy scenes and assess the cloud thermodynamic phase, the REFIR-PAD spectral radiances are ingested by a machine learning algorithm called Cloud Identification and Classification (CIC). For each of the identified cloudy scenes, the nearest (in time) LiDAR backscattering profile is processed by the Polar Threshold (PT) algorithm that allows derivation of the cloud top and bottom heights. Subsequently, using the CIC and PT results as external constraints, the Simultaneous Atmospheric and Clouds Retrieval (SACR) code is applied to the REFIR-PAD spectral radiances. SACR simultaneously retrieves cloud optical depth and effective dimensions and atmospheric vertical profiles of water vapor and temperature. The analysis determines an average effective diameter of 28 mu m with an optical depth of 0.76 for the ice clouds. Water clouds are only detected during the austral Summer, and the retrieved properties provide an average droplet diameter of 9 mu m and average optical depth equal to four. The estimated retrieval error is about 1% for the ice crystal/droplet size and 2% for the cloud optical depth. The sensitivity of the retrieved parameters to the assumed crystal shape is also assessed. New parametrizations of the optical depth and the longwave downwelling forcing for Antarctic ice and water clouds, as a function of the ice/liquid water path, are presented. The longwave downwelling flux, computed from the top of the atmosphere to the surface, ranges between 70 and 220 W/m(2). The estimated cloud longwave forcing at the surface is (31 +/- 7) W/m(2) and (29 +/- 6) W/m(2) for ice clouds and (64 +/- 12) and (62 +/- 11) W/m(2) for water clouds, in 2013 and 2014, respectively. The total average cloud forcing for the two years investigated is (46 +/- 9) W/m(2).
Journal/Review: REMOTE SENSING
Volume: 12 (21) Pages from: 3574-1 to: 3574-22
KeyWords: cirrus clouds; remote sensing; far-infrared; Antarctic clouds; REFIR-PADDOI: 10.3390/rs12213574Citations: 7data from “WEB OF SCIENCE” (of Thomson Reuters) are update at: 2022-08-14References taken from IsiWeb of Knowledge: (subscribers only)Connecting to view paper tab on IsiWeb: Click hereConnecting to view citations from IsiWeb: Click here | <urn:uuid:cfad3b21-ab1c-42de-8887-5c269baba50f> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://fed.ino.it/?page_id=3403&p=a11250 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573104.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817183340-20220817213340-00465.warc.gz | en | 0.832405 | 740 | 2 | 2 |
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