text stringlengths 59 1.12k |
|---|
also gave them a lighter workload. of 1866: Frontier Battles the units are infantry brigades, cavalry regiments and artillery batteries, but players maneuver their units by corps. The corps are activated by the army command, or through the initiative of the corps commander. The Prussians generally activate in a much mo... |
Viewed against a dangerous and costly backdrop, clear team communication is obviously essential to create a safe, productive and effective work environment on the ramp. Tractor operators and wing walkers need to warn each other of impending dangers. The tractor |
operator needs to keep the flight deck informed of ground movement. And all ground personnel should at least be able to hear the flight deck and each other during a pushback. Ramp workers can do much more without the wire, |
the shouting or the hand signals. A typical wireless pushback and towing configuration uses a portable transceiver for continuous two-way communication among one or more wing walkers and the tractor operator during aircraft movement. The tractor operator is free to |
concentrate on correct maneuvering, and all crew members can warn others instantly of impending dangers. To optimize the flow of communication and minimize chatter, the system is configured so that all team members can hear the pilot, but only the |
tractor operator can talk directly to the flight deck. Because wireless communication increases coordination and enables real-time verbal warnings, it decreases the risk of accidents, shortens turn-around times, and increases the likelihood of hitting flight slots. In addition to pushbacks |
and towing, wireless team communication systems can also be used to improve safety and efficiency during deicing, cargo and maintenance operations. In a deicing configuration, a wireless system connects the driver and the basket, and the system itself can be |
connected to two-way radios enabling communication with remote users. Communication between the driver and the basket takes place on open microphone over a 1.9GHz (1.8GHz in the EU) encrypted frequency while also allowing radio monitoring and transmitting with a push |
to-talk button on the headsets. Systems can be configured to enable multiple deicing crews to communicate while working on the same aircraft - further improving efficiency. Additional configurations are available for maintenance teams and are scalable to almost any size. |
Choosing a Wireless Communication System Wireless headset systems are available in a wide variety of configurations and price ranges. To ensure a system meets the diverse needs of ground support, consider the following factors carefully: Is the system truly wireless? |
A number of so-called “wireless” systems actually require a wire from the headset to a radio or belt pack. While these systems allow freedom of movement, a belt pack or radio wire creates many of the same problems inherent in |
hardwire systems, particularly tangled cords. Moreover, belt packs generally have less than half the transmission range of self-contained systems worn on the head. Does the system use DECT or Bluetooth technology? Transmission technology can dramatically affect how well wireless systems |
perform in the field. Systems that employ Bluetooth technology generally have a limited range and are subject to radio frequency interference from nearby devices. Look for systems that use Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications technology. DECT units generally offer up to |
30 times more coverage and are less subject to interference than Bluetooth. DECT transmissions also have multipath capability, meaning the signal will bounce up, over and around objects in order to establish the best possible connection. DECT signals are also |
digitally encoded to ensure privacy. Is the system full-duplex or half-duplex? Half-duplex systems allow communication in both directions, but only one direction at a time. That’s a walkie-talkie. On the other hand, full-duplex systems allow communication in both directions simultaneously. |
Full-duplex capabilities are an important safety consideration because they allow the parties to speak and hear others at the same time. Is the system radio-compatible? Communication during pushback and towing is generally confined to the flight deck, wing walkers and |
Issued from the woods of the Loess Hills a few miles east of NATCHEZ, MISSISSIPPI, USA April 29, 2012 |CATTLE EGRETS AMONG CATTLE As in Mexico, around here if you pass by a pasture you're likely to see Cattle Egrets |
and chests. Nonbreeding Cattle Egrets can be all white, and then their relatively thick, yellow beaks and thicker, shorter necks separate them from similar-sized, white herons and egrets found here, such as Snowy Egrets and juvenile Little Blue Herons. I |
remember the first time Cattle Egrets were spotted in the rural part of western Kentucky where I grew up, possibly in 1963. Their appearance was so unusual that a farmer not particularly interested in Nature called my parents and said |
that a whole flock of big white birds had appeared in his pasture, and we went up to take a look. I was in college before I learned that they were Cattle Egrets, BUBULCUS IBIS. My ornithology teacher told how |
the birds were undergoing one of the fastest and most widely ranging expansions of distribution ever seen among birds. Originally Cattle Egrets were native to southern Spain and Portugal, tropical and subtropical Africa and humid tropical and subtropical Asia. In |
the late 1800s they began expanding their range into southern Africa, and were first sighted in the Americas, on the boundary of Guiana and Suriname, in 1877, apparently having flown across the Atlantic Ocean. They didn't get permanently established there |
until the 1930s, though, but then they began expanding into much of the rest of the Americas, reaching western Kentucky around the early 60s. The species appears still to be expanding northward in western North America, but in the Northeast |
it seems to be in decline. Though they can turn up as far north as southern Canada, coast to coast, mostly they breed in the US Southeast. The Wikipedia expert says that Cattle Egrets eat ticks and flies from cattle. |
They do that, but anyone who watches our birds awhile sees that mainly as the cattle move around they stir up creatures in the grass, which the egrets prey on. The cows' fresh manure also attracts flies for them. MATING |
BOX TURTLES It's interesting to see how turtles manage it, but for many readers familiar with box turtles in other parts of North America the picture may raise the question of why those in our picture bear different colors and |
patterns than theirs. What's happening is that Box Turtles are represented by six intergrading subspecies. Hillary's Gulf Coast location is supposed to be home to the Gulf Coast subspecies, Terrapene carolina ssp. major. However, that subspecies is described as having |
a brownish top shell, or carapace, sometimes with a few dull spots or rays, but nothing like these bright, yellow lines. I can't say what's going on. Apparently Box Turtle taxonomy is a bit tricky. RESTING CRANE FLY That looks |
like a mosquito but you can see from how much of the leaf he covers that he's far too large to be any mosquito species found here. Also, he lacks the hypodermic-like proboscis mosquitoes use to suck blood. No conspicuous |
mouthparts are visible on our crane fly because adult crane flies generally hardly eat at all, only occasionally lapping up a bit of pollen or sugar-rich flower nectar. Their maggot-like larvae feed on plant roots. Some species can damage crops. |
why when I shipped the picture to volunteer identifier Bea in Ontario it took more time than usual for her verdict to come in, and she was comfortable only with calling it the genus TIPULA. Whatever our species, it's a |
their purpose isn't known with certainty, it's assumed that they help control flight, enabling flies to make sudden mid-air changes in direction. From the evolutionary perspective, halteres are modified back wings. Most insects have two pairs, or four, wings, but |
not the Diptera, as the name implies -- di-ptera, as they say "two-wings" in classical Greek. ADMIRING THE WHITE OAK In that picture I'm holding a leaf so you can see its underside, much paler than other leaves' topsides. The |
a stream bank growing among Sycamores. In fact, White Oaks are fairly rare around here, completely absent in many upland forests where I'd expect them to be. Years ago I mentioned this in a Newsletter and a local reader responded |
that in this region White Oaks were wiped out many years ago by people cutting them as lumber and, more importantly, using them in the whisky distilling business. The online Flora of North America says that "In the past Quercus |
alba was considered to be the source of the finest and most durable oak lumber in America for furniture and shipbuilding." There beside the stream, last year's crop of our White Oak's acorns had been washed away, but this season's |
used for gargling, and the old herbals describe the extract as tonic, stimulating and antiseptic. Other listed uses include for "putrid sore throat," diphtheria, hemorrhages, spongy or bleeding gums, and hemorrhoids. Many applications suggest adding a bit of capsicum, or |
hot pepper, to the extract. Basically the notion seems to be that the bark's tannin -- the puckery element -- does the main medicinal service. Other oaks actually have more tannin than White Oak, but medicines made with them can |
be too harsh. White Oak extracts seem to have just the right amount. The same tannin situation exists with regard to the edibility of acorns. The acorns of other oaks contain more tannin so they require more time and effort |
to make them edible. White Oak acorns have much less tannin, but even still there's enough to make them too bitter for humans to eat without treatment, which traditionally has been leaching acorn pulp in running water. By the way, |
male or female trees (they're dioecious), and you can tell from the flowers in the upper, left of the above picture that here we have a male tree. A close-up of a male flower with its four out-thrusting stamens is |
assumed that they're northern trees. In fact, American Holly is mainly native to the US Southeast, though along the Coastal Plain it reaches as far north as southern Connecticut. Around here it's strictly an understory tree. The fruits are mildly |
toxic but you must eat a lot of them to get sick. Birds, deer, squirrels and other animals eat the fruits, which are drupes bearing several hard "stones." No critter seems to relish them, though, saving them mostly to serve |
as "emergency food" when other foods run out. That might explain why we see hollies holding their red fruits deep into the winter. "BEGGAR'S LICE" ON MY SOCKS Several kinds of plants produce stickery little fruits like that and they |
divided into four more-or-less distinct parts. Each of those parts is called a nutlet, and that's what you're seeing. But other plant families beside the Mint produce nutlets. Our beggar's-louse-producing plant is MYOSOTIS DISCOLOR, a member of the Borage Family, |
the Boraginaceae, which on the phylogenetic Tree of Life is adjacent to the Mint Family. Myosotis discolor is an invasive from Europe that so far has set up residence here and there in eastern and western North America, but so |
far seems to be absent in the center. The English name is often given as Changing Forget-me-not, because Myosotis is the Forget-me-not genus, and in Latin dis-color says "two-colored," apparently referring to the fact that the flowers can be white |
or blue, though all I've seen here are white. But, this rangy little plant you never notice until its calyxes stick to you seems to have nothing to do with Forget-me-nots, unless you look at technical features. I think some |
florets. Glumes are analogous to a regular flower's calyx, so in that last picture of a spikelet, the glumes are the two large, green-and-white striped items at the left in the photograph. The vast majority of grass spikelets bear glumes |
spikelets of most Oat plants don't bear needlelike awns. You're likely to see both awned and awnless kinds growing as weeds in our area. When I first saw the awns I thought this might be one of the "Wild Oat" |
species, for several species reside in the Oat genus Avena, and one of those grows wild in the US Southeast. However, florets of the other species bear long, brownish hairs, and you can see that ours are hairless, or "glabrous." |
The other species' awns also are twisted, but regular Oat awns, when present, are rigid and straight. Both Oat species are native to Eurasia. How did that Oat plant make its way to the side of our isolated Mississippi backroad? |
Near where the grass grew there was a large game farm where exotic animals are kept so hunters can pay high fees to kill them. I'm betting that the animals are fed oats. Our plant was in an often-flooded spot |
downstream from the farm, so maybe an oat grain had washed there. That's a roadcut through a special kind of very fine-grained clay called loess. The word loess derives from the German Löß. A deep mantel of loess was deposited |
here at the end of the last Ice Age about 10,000 years ago. Deep loess deposits occur in a narrow band of upland immediately east of the Mississippi River over most of its entire course. The loess region sometimes is |
called the Loess Hills. Loess profoundly affects the area's ecology. For one thing, the farther east you go from the Mississippi River, the thinner the loess is, the poorer and more acidic the soil becomes, and the more pines you |
an effort to recognize the Loess Hills as a very interesting, scenic and biologically important, distinct region with ecotourism potential, but nothing ever came from it. At that site you can learn how "loess" can be pronounced, how it came |
to exist here, what's special about it, and much more. One thing special about loess is that it erodes into vertical-sided roadcuts as in the picture. People such as road engineers who try to create gentle slopes are doomed to |
failure. I wish my farming Maya friends in the Yucatan, who must deal with very thin, rocky soil, could see the thick mantel of rich loess we have here. NO MORE EMAILED NEWSLETTERS From now on, to read the Newsletters |
you're on Facebook you can find the Facebook Newsletter page by searching for "Jim Conrad's Naturalist Newsletter." The weekly message left there will link to individual pages with images embedded in text. In today's message, for instance, you can click |
on "Cattle Egrets" and see a regular web page with text and a photo. I've configured my Facebook page to have a subscribe tab but so far one hasn't appeared. My impression is that if you "like" the Newsletter page, |
each week you'll receive a message with its link. Maybe not. I'm still figuring it out. So, this is the end of eleven years of weekly delivered emails. At first I was upset and annoyed, and thought of writing the |
see their pictures, or at least their avatars. There were all kinds of folks, old and young, skinny and fat, white and brown, serious and joking, one fellow on a boat in Maine, a lady in India with a dot, |
or Bindi, in the middle of her forehead, someone's baby picture... What an amazing thing that all these people were interested in what I'd written! So, in a way, FatCow.com's treatment has been a gift. It's resensitized me to my |
readership. Also, it's nudged me into a mental space where now I'm mentally prepared for the whole BackyardNature.net site to be removed permanently, for whatever reason they come up with. That extra sense of independence means a lot to me. |
Now if need be I'm ready to write Newsletters and just keep them in my computer, or write them in a notebook hidden in my trailer, or write them on leaves that I let float down the Mississippi River. I've |
already learned how to make ink from oak galls. So, we're evolving here. I'm yielding when it's clear that the forces against us control critical resources, but I'm ready to experiment with new possibilities as they appear, and I continue |
to think, feel and write about the world around us, and share when I'm allowed to. Good luck in your own evolutions. And thanks for these years of weekly inviting me into your lives. Best wishes to all Newsletter readers, |
The town´s history Although written differently, Tölz was mentioned for the first time in the records of 1180. In 1331, it was granted extensive "Marktrechte", e.g. the right to hold a market. In the 13th and 14th century many workshops (e.g. limeburners and raftsmen) settled in this area. A great |
fire destroyed large parts of the town in 1453, but with generous noble support reconstruction soon began. Thanks to the location at the river Isar, the rafting and also brewery trade the town soon flourished. 22 breweries could be counted in 1721. Tölz became also famous for arts and crafts |
with the beautiful coloured chests, cases and beds. In 1845, iodine was found close to Tölz. Therefore, market town Markt Tölz became Bad (= the German word for spa resorts) in 1899. In 1906, it was recognized as town and in 1969 it got the rating "Heilklimatischer Kurort", which means |
that its climate is beneficial to health. What is more, in 2005, it also got the title "Moorheilbad", that means it is acknowledged as mineral and medicinal mud-bath spa. The town´s coat of arms The town´s coat of arms. The town´s flag with the colours black and gold. |
Yarrow: A Tough Groundcover Option Image by Flickr / entheos The white flower heads of the yarrow plant Get acquainted with this hardy and handy groundcover People are always looking to cover open rough spots in the lawn and around the property. Our hardy native yarrow (Achillea millefolium) establishes quickly and bin... |
Western Canada, white flat-topped flower heads rise to 75 cm (30 in.) tall from a mass of ferny leaves. Buy yarrow plants from a local garden centre or grow them from rooted stem fragments planted in fall or early spring. Many colour varieties are easy to raise from seed, and you can mow the spreading yarrow patch alon... |
Next: Radiative heat flux Up: Loading Previous: Distributed heat flux Contents Convective heat flux is a flux depending on the temperature difference between the body and the adjacent fluid (liquid or gas) and is triggered by the *FILM card. It takes the form where is the a flux normal to the surface, is the film coeff... |
and is the environment fluid temperature (also called sink temperature). Generally, the sink temperature is known. If it is not, it is an unknown in the system. Physically, the convection along the surface can be forced or free. Forced convection means that the mass flow rate of the adjacent fluid (gas or liquid) is kn... |
result of heat exchange between body and fluid. This case can be simulated by CalculiX by defining network elements and using the *BOUNDARY card for the first degree of freedom in the midside node of the element. Free convection, for which the mass flow rate is a n unknown too and a result of temperature differences, c... |
Guest Author - Heather Thomas In most wild species, birds display dominance within the flock to determine their place or roll within that flock. Males display and vocalize to win their choice of female. The term “pecking order” comes from natural bird behavior. Dominant behavior is natural and expected in the wild. We ... |
right and wrong onto our feathered companions. Similar to birds that still live in the wild, your bird may be only a few generations removed from the wild and will display natural behavior tendencies. Understanding these basic characteristics helps you understand how to interact with your bird and creates a happier flo... |
to label “bad” behavior as dominant behavior. Lunging and biting are most often caused by fear. Changing a bird’s environment too drastically such as cage placement, a new cage, rearranging the furniture in a room or even something as simple as changing the drapery on the window next to their cage can cause even a frie... |
to consider environmental changes before labeling your bird’s behavior as dominant. Typical dominant behavior that manifests itself as biting or lunging would be a bird that loves to sit only on your shoulder and bites you when you attempt to remove them. Protecting a favorite person or place in your home by lunging or... |
also be correctly labeled as dominant behavior. The Bully Bird You may have a situation where you keep more than one bird in a cage. If you have a flock that works well together you will be able to tell who the dominant male is but it will not adversely affect your flock. If you have a dominant male that is a bully, yo... |
may observe him forcing other birds off of their perch or guarding a food dish and not letting anyone else eat from it. In worst-case scenarios, your bully will single out a victim and force that bird to dwell at the bottom of the cage or even injure and possibly kill this weaker bird. If you have a dominant bully, it ... |
remove him from the cage and keep him in a cage by himself or with his mate. The Anti-Social Bird As much as you try your bird has no interest in becoming your friend. This bird often flutters around its cage to avoid your hand or takes to flight to escape your reach. I find this behavior often typical of a bird with u... |
wings. There are people who keep birds that believe it is cruel to clip a bird’s wings. I will cover this topic in depth at a later time but here will touch on effects not clipping your bird’s wings has on dominance. By the very act of keeping a bird as a pet, you are choosing to take this wonderful winged creature and... |
it into your friend or companion. If you take this action, it changes the purpose of the animal. If you allow your bird to retain the ability of flight, you are permitting your bird to escape your reach and do whatever it wants. This may be fine, if you want a wild bird as a pet. However, if you want a friendly bird, y... |
want a bird dependent on you, a bird that does not fly away just because it wants to. For a well-mannered bird, keep the flock mentality where you are the dominant bird. If you want a bird that respects you, you must maintain dominance. This is not achieved by cruel discipline. Observe your bird and be consistent with ... |
(BPT) - Everyone, including moms and doctors, can agree that a good night of sleep is necessary for good health, high energy, and an individual’s overall well-being. Not getting enough |
good sleep – or rapid eye movement sleep – can affect the mind and body’s ability to react appropriately to outside factors, the National Sleep Foundation reports. Creating the perfect |
sleep environment is the first step toward ensuring a good night of sleep. March, the first month of spring, is also National Sleep Awareness Month, and it aims to remind |
everyone why a good night of zzz’s is so important. One in four adults in the United States experience occasional sleepiness, difficulty falling asleep, or waking up feeling un-refreshed at |
least a few times per week, according to the National Sleep Foundation. Fortunately, you can implement these tips this spring, and create a comfortable sleeping environment in your home for |
both you and your family. * Eliminate distractions – Electronics. Noises. Lights. Many items, such as laptops, TVs and cellphones, commonly found in bedrooms can cause distractions and prevent a |
person from entering REM sleep. Remove these items from the room. Also, consider running a fan or white noise machine to create a soft sound barrier, which will help muffle |
unexpected sounds like a person flushing the toilet or an engine rumbling loudly on the street outside. * Establish comfort – Creating a sleep-conducive environment is an important factor in |
making the most out of every minute you sleep. Cuddle up each night with soft linens and create a calming atmosphere in the bedroom. To do this, try adding Downy |
Infusions Lavender Serenity liquid fabric softener when washing your sheets and sleepwear this season, to make your linens and sleepwear silky, soft and soothing. It will help lull you right |
into bed. With Downy you can wake up to a great scent and start the day off on the right side of the bed. * Be routine – The human |
body reacts favorably to familiar and repeated movements. So consider following a routine every night, whether it’s taking a warm bath, reading a chapter in a book or journaling. The |
National Sleep Foundation advises against watching TV or using electronics as part of this routine because electronics can hinder quality sleep. * Stay active – Sleep is needed to give |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.