question stringlengths 14 1.69M | answer stringlengths 1 40.5k | meat_tokens int64 1 8.18k |
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Live events centre Production Park collected a trio of awards in just one week.
The South Kirkby park, which is made up of a group of creative industry organisations, was named Collaboration Business of the Year at the Yorkshire Business Insider Made in Yorkshire Awards.
The success came just days after<|fim_middle|>More of the park's companies - LS Live and Cato Music - were also shortlisted at the TPIs in the Best Rehearsal Facility category. | a double win for one of the site's businesses Brilliant Stages.
It achieved Favourite Set Construction Company at the Total Production Industry (TPI) awards for a five-tier design created for German singer Helen Fischer, which saw the artist levitate into the audience.
And it also won the Best use of Technoloy at the Event by Event Production Awards.
Production Park director, Ben Brookes said: "The creative businesses thrive at Production Park because of the collaborative hothouse we have created.
"Different businesses can share and challenge each other while helping one another through mutually beneficial introductions.
| 119 |
Hearts of Iron IV Cheats, Codes, Hints and Walkthroughs for PC Games.
Press ~ the console window should show up.
ale [amount] - Adds latest equipment of desired number.
ae [amount] [name] - Adds specific equipment of desired number.
debug_nuking - Allows nuking any province without specific conditions.
adiplo - Allows usage of all diplomatic actions.
instant<|fim_middle|>00% warscore.
adiplo - Allow usage of all diplomatic actions.
allowdiploadiplo - Allow usage of all diplomatic actions.
ae [amount] [name] - Add specific equipment.
pp - 999 politcal power.
xp - 999 military experience.
research all - All research complete.
ai_accept - AI accepts everthing you send them.
tag [country tag] - Change playable nation.
civilwar - Starts a civil war in desired country.
whitepeace - White peace between specific countries. | construction. - Buildings finish in all day. Affects AI players too.
event [event id] - Executes an event.
help - Shows list of all commands.
manpower - 10 million manpower.
research_on_icon_click - Click on a technology to research.
instantconstruction - Instant construction (also affects AI players).
ic - Instant construction (also affects AI players).
fow - Remove fog of war.
winwars - Give 1 | 98 |
Home » Things to Do » Dogs » Dog Parks in Sydney
10 Best Off Leash Dog Parks in Sydney
Dogs need to exercise to stay healthy and well-behaved, and luckily in Sydney, we can still find lots of great parks where dogs can hang out.
While dogs must be on a lead in some of these parks, there are also quite a few dog-friendly parks where dogs are permitted off lead, either during set hours or at all times.
We have shortlisted 10 of the best off-leash dog parks in Sydney, where your furry friend is more than welcome to run around, play fetch, and socialise with other dogs.
Top 10 Sydney Dog Parks
With each dog park below, we have included the off-leash times, the map location, and a link to the council website for more information.
Most of the dog-friendly parks listed are off-leash at all times, but it's always best to check the latest council regulations before visiting. Also note that playgrounds and sports grounds are typically prohibited for dogs.
1. Bicentennial Park Glebe
Bicentennial Park in Glebe
A hugely popular dog park in Sydney is Bicentennial Park in Glebe, facing Rozelle Bay and the Anzac Bridge. Dogs love this park as it offers large, open grass areas, and also an access point to the water.
Dogs are permitted to run around off-leash in Bicentennial Park, but only west of the canal. To the east of the canal, they need to be on a leash at all times.
Nearby Federal Park and Blackwattle Bay Park are also great locations to go for a wander with your best mate.
Off leash: All times (west of the canal)
Map location: Federal Road in Glebe
More info: Bicentennial Park Glebe
2. Joynton Park
Joynton Park in Zetland is a big hit with the local four-legged residents, featuring a large grassy area in the centre of the park, complemented by a water fountain, picnic facilities, and a community garden.
There is also a shopping centre next door where delicious treats and other goodies can be purchased at the pet shop.
Dogs can go off-leash at all times in Joynton Park.
Off leash: All times
Map location: Gadigal Avenue in Zetland
More info: Joynton Park
3. Sydney Park
Sydney Park
Sydney Park in Sydney's inner west is another large park where dogs are permitted to go off-leash, enjoying the many hills, large open areas, and various walking paths.
However, please note that dogs are not permitted to enter the wetlands, the oval, the playground, or the barbecue areas.
But that's not a major problem at all, because there is plenty of space left for dogs to have a fantastic time in Sydney Park.
Map location: Sydney Park Road in Alexandria
More info: Sydney Park
4. Wentworth Park
Located just south of Blackwattle Bay near the inner west suburbs of Ultimo and Glebe, Wentworth Park is a large green space with sports facilities, playgrounds, and picnic areas.
Dogs can go off-leash at all times in Wentworth Park but are not permitted on the sports fields during games, in the barbecue areas, or in the playgrounds.
Map location: Wentworth Park Road in Ultimo
More info: Wentworth Park
5. Centennial Parklands
One of the largest and most dog-friendly parks in Sydney is the Centennial Parklands area, with more than 150 hectares of open space within the parklands being designated as off-leash.
You will find both on- and off-lead dog walking areas in Centennial Parklands, with more than enough wide-open areas available for your friend to go off-leash and run around until they are completely worn out for the day.
Sandstone Ridge and Federation Valley between Carrington Drive and Grand Drive in the northern section of Centennial Park are popular off-leash sections<|fim_middle|> George Park
King George Park is a large foreshore park in Rozelle, located southwest of the Iron Cove Bridge, facing the Parramatta River.
The park is home to excellent sporting facilities suitable for athletics, soccer, rugby, and general fitness training. Dogs are permitted to enjoy the park off-leash but must be on a lead during games.
Note that the Bay Run passes King George Park, and dogs are more than welcome to do that popular walking trail, but they must be on a lead.
Off leash: All times (on a leash during games and events)
Map location: Manning Street in Rozelle
More info: King George Park
8. Shale Hills Dog Park
Shale Hills Dog Park is a large and modern off-leash dog area in Western Sydney Parklands, home to not only open areas for dogs to play but also dog agility and self-guided training facilities.
If dogs could vote what their favourite dog park in Sydney would be, Shale Hills Dog Park in the suburb of West Hoxton could well be the winner.
Of course, dogs can go off-leash throughout the park, which is open from 6 am to 8 pm daily. They might not want to leave, though!
Off leash: All times (opening hours 6 am – 8 pm)
Map location: Second Avenue in West Hoxton
More info: Shale Hills Dog Park
9. Lighthouse Reserve
Lighthouse Reserve in Vaucluse
Lighthouse Reserve in Vaucluse, just south of Watsons Bay, is a large open park area named after the historic Macquarie Lighthouse.
Your beloved dog might not care too much, but the ocean views from the reserve are fantastic. Dogs are permitted off-leash at all times at Lighthouse Reserve, with plenty of space for them to release their energy.
Nearby Christison Park is also worth visiting, which has set hours for dogs to go off-leash.
Map location: Old South Head Road in Vaucluse
More info: Lighthouse Reserve
10. Hawthorne Canal Dog Park
Hawthorne Canal Reserve is a park area built around the Hawthorne Canal that forms a border between the suburbs of Leichhardt and Haberfield.
To local dog owners, the reserve is better known as the Hawthorne Canal Dog Park, a fantastic off-leash and exercise area for dogs that also includes a dog-friendly cafe offering coffee, bites, and treats.
Map location: Darley Road in Leichhardt
More info: Hawthorne Canal Reserve
Best dog friendly walks in Sydney.
Best dog friendly beaches in Sydney.
Categories Dogs | in the parklands.
Off leash: All times (in designated areas)
Map location: Grand Drive in Centennial Park
More info: Centennial Parklands
6. Warrigal Dog Run
Warrigal Dog Run in Bungarribee Park in the suburb of Arndell Park is one of Sydney's largest fenced dog parks. It's a relatively new dog park with fantastic facilities for both dogs and their owners.
Dogs can go off-leash at Warrigal Dog Run, and run on the green fields, drink water from the fountains, find some shelter in the covered areas, and socialise with other dogs.
Outside the dog park, there are various walking trails in Bungariboo that your furry friend might also enjoy exploring, but on a lead.
Map location: Doonside Road in Arndell Park
More info: Warrigal Dog Run
7. King George Park
King | 194 |
Hearing Health Foundation (HHF) has created a new short film, "Hearing Hope," to expand awareness of hearing health through the voices of those who benefit from and those who carry out the foundation's<|fim_middle|>. Robert Dobie.
Through "Hearing Hope," HHF would like to share its mission and message of hope to as many individuals as possible and reassure those with hearing loss and their loved ones they are not alone. As an organization that channels all efforts into research and education, HHF would greatly appreciate any assistance or suggestions to increase visibility of the film.
Watch the full film at www.hhf.org/video. Closed captioning is available. | life-changing work.
"It took me longer to talk than most kids. Because I couldn't understand what they were saying so I couldn't copy it," explains Emmy, 7.
When she received her hearing loss diagnosis at 17, NASA engineer Renee never thought she'd be living her dream.
For the past 60 years, HHF has funded promising hearing science and in 2011 established the Hearing Restoration Project (HRP), an international consortium dedicated to finding biological cures for hearing loss using fish, bird, and mouse models to replicate the phenomenon of hearing loss reversal in humans.
"If [the HRP] can achieve that goal of hearing restoration...that would be a marvelous thing for hearing loss," reiterates Dr | 151 |
Home > Football Predictions > Premier League Predictions > Brighton & Hove Albion – Manchester United
Brighton & Hove Albion vs Manchester United PREDICTION & BETTING TIPS - 19/08/2018
Brighton & Hove Albion vs Manchester United Prediction was posted on: August 13, 2018
Manchester United will be aiming to build on a hard-fought 2-1 win over Leicester City when they take on Brighton at the American Express Community Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The Red Devils did defeat the Foxes in their opener, but their performance was anything but impressive. Romelu Lukaku is likely to return to the starting line-up and he should help the last season's runners-up improve offensively. Alexis Sanchez will be yet another man to watch in the away team and El Nino Maravilloso is likely to pose a big threat for the opposition defenders. The Seagulls failed to impress in a 2-0 loss to Watford at the weekend and we do not believe that they are going to claim a major scalp on day 2 of the new Premier League campaign. In their last meeting in the English top flight Brighton defeated Man Utd, meaning that Jose Mourinho's men<|fim_middle|>FBPredictions 1 hour ago Follow | are hungry for revenge.
Brighton & Hove Albion vs Manchester United H2H
Brighton & Hove Albion vs Manchester United H2H Last Matches
Highlighted Player (Alireza Jahanbakhsh):
Born in Jirandeh, Iran on August 11 1990, Alireza Jahanbakhsh is a footballer who plays for AZ Alkmaar in Holland. Before AZ, Jahanbakhsh played for NEC in the Eredivisie, but he began his youth career at Payam Alborz Qazvin. Speaking of his senior debut, he made it with Damash Tehran in the 2010/2011 season.
In 2011 he moved to fellow Iranian club Damash Gilan and it has to be noted that he scored 10 goals in 44 appearances in the league for the club. The AZ Alkmaar winger, who is used as an attacking midfielder as well, scored 21 goals in 33 appearances in the Eredivisie in the 2017/2018 season. Speaking of his international career, Alireza JahanBakhsh scored two goals for Iran on the road to Russia and he will represent his homeland at the 2018 FIFA world cup finals.
Due to his style of play, Jahanbakhsh has always been compared to legendary Iranian footballer Mehdi Mahdavikia.
@ | 311 |
Mackeral is cheap, sustainable and good for you! Lemon, rosemary and baby beetroot make perfect companions in this easy fish dish.
Pre-heat oven to 180 celsius.
Take the garlic and beets, drizzle with olive oil and wrap in tin foil. Bake in the oven at 180 celsius for 15 minutes until just softened. Next take the turnips and peel with a peeler and blanch in boiling, salted water for 6-8 minutes until just soft. When the beetroot is cooled, remove the skin and set aside.
Take the chopped shallot and sauté for 1 minute gently, add the beets and cook for a further 2 minutes then add the turnips, parsley and seasoning, set aside and keep warm. Next, mix the zest and juice with the chopped rosemary and mix in with the soft butter, take a mackerel fillet, season on both sides and cook skin side down a non-stick frying pan for 2 minutes. Turn over and add the flavoured butter and cook for a further 2 minutes. To serve, pile the hash on a plate, stack<|fim_middle|> mackerel fillets and spoon the pan juices over and around. | the | 1 |
The Astrophysics group at the University of Melbourne uses telescopes across the electromagnetic spectrum, from radio waves to X-rays (now even including gravitational waves!), to investigate a diverse set of open questions facing astronomy today. For example, "What happened during inflation in the first instant of the Universe?", "How did the first stars and galaxies form and reionise the Universe?", and "What is happening to the degenerate matter inside neutron stars?" We also study cultural and historical aspects of astronomy, especially with regard to the Knowledge Systems of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people by working closely with elders and Indigenous communities.
Find out more about our research areas and potential research projects below. Projects can be observational, computational, theoretical or a mixture of these. We encourage you to contact potential supervisors directly to discuss possible projects.
Cultural Astronomy
Neutron Stars and Black holes
Below: A false color image of Cassiopeia A(Cas A), a supernova remnant located in our Galaxy about 11,000 light years away, using observations from Hubble and Spitzer telescopes and Chandra X-ray Observatory. Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech
Welcome to the Astrophysics Group!
Upcoming Events and News
Using Asteroseismology to Measure an Integrated Mass Loss for Evolved Stars in Globular Clusters
<|fim_middle|>atures of Outflows Through 3-D Simulations
Orbital structures of SAMI passive galaxies from orbit-superposition Schwarzschild models.
Wednesday 31 Aug 2022 @ 12:00 p.m., Laby Theatre(+Zoom)[...]
On Modelling Complex Systems in Astronomy
Hydroxyl as a Probe of the Interstellar Medium
Wednesday 10 Aug 2022 @ 12:00 p.m., Zoom Dr Anita Petzl[...]
How do galaxies regulate their own star formation?
Leaks and bursts
Wednesday 27 Jul 2022 @ 12:00 p.m., Laby Theatre(+Zoom)[...] | Wednesday 14 Sep 2022 @ 12:00 p.m., Level 6 Geoff Opat([...]
Understanding X-Ray Sign | 32 |
This Saturday, teens from around the city will end a journey that began seven months ago when they meet at the Harriet Tubman Theater<|fim_middle|> Lacy "Asylum" Robinson, 17, is the first of the WordUp students to arrive and he keeps to himself at first and finds a quiet seat to review his poem until other students arrive.
9:46 a.m. – The audience is welcomed by McMicken College of Arts & Sciences Dean Ken Petren.
Tony Styxx, a spoken word artist from Indianapolis, serves as the semi-finals emcee.
9:51 am – Emcee Tony Styxx, a spoken word artist from Indianapolis, takes the stage to a modest applause.
9:56 a.m. – Tony Styxx explains to the audience that the slam will consist of two team bouts with each bout containing four rounds. Four teams will compete in each bout and send up one poet for each round. After each bout, the scores from each of the rounds will be added and the top two teams will advance to the final. Styxx also has the time-keeper raise her hand who will be keeping time and signal the poets if they go over three minutes.
"Now remember, don't rush. Live, breathe that piece, but keep it within three minutes," Styxx said.
After both bouts, there will be an individual competition where poets will compete head-to-head and the top eight poets will advance to the finals.
Audience erupts again into loud applause and yells of excitement as the first round of the first bout begins.
10:04 a.m. – Styxx calls up the first poet from the WordUp team and Tayshona Holliday is the first on stage and free-styled her poem because she forgot the piece she had been working on and got a great response from the audience.
"Love is the plant of the most tender kind," he starts.
10:34 a.m. – Ending round three is Roman Mayambi representing the WordUp team.
10:43 a.m. – The first poet for the fourth round finished a poem about the racial violence our nation has recently witnessed and the audience was moved.
10:48 a.m. – Robinson is the last poet for the WordUp team. He performed a poem about a girl he loves and the trials of dealing with a mental disorder. Robinson is a natural performer who doesn't like to think too much about what he's going to say before he gets up on stage. He writes the basic idea of what he wants to say and then goes up on stage and says whatever comes out. If he's nervous, it doesn't show as he begins.
Robinson has a powerful presence on stage and a unique perspective and flow that cause people to stop and take notice. The audience explodes into applause when he finishes.
11:24 a.m. – Tony Styxx takes to the stage and announces that the second bout is about to start.
11:33 a.m. – Aiken Senior Casey Roberts is the first poet from the Aiken team to compete in round one of the second bout.
11:44 a.m. – A student from the Seven Hills team performs his piece about a Jew verses and Arab and a misunderstanding they have.
11:58 a.m. – Another student from the Seven Hills team performs her piece on OCD.
"What?!" Tony Styxx said from the audience.
"You guys are so dope. Inspiring. Remember, if what you do or what you participate in doesn't inspire you to be ten times greater, then what you're doing is pretty much a waste of time." Styxx said.
Lacey Robinson gives some words of encouragement to Ronnie Adams who will be performing her poem during the individual bout.
Our documentary crew interviews Jordan Kindell during the lunch break.
12:20 p.m. – Everyone breaks for a pizza lunch. Students from different teams take the time to talk with each other and to talk about their poetry.
Robinson will be competing in the individual bout and needs to choose whether to perform the same piece he already performed or to perform a completely new poem for the individual bout so he takes a moment to speak with WordUp tutor Zohair Hussain. After getting some words of encouragement, Robinson sits near the stage and writes a new poem he will later perform as his individual piece.
Lacey Robinson takes a quiet moment during the break to write a new poem for the individual bout.
1:18 p.m. – Tony Styxx announces the winners of the team bouts and Hughes/SCPA, Voices at Work, Walnut Hills and Seven Hills teams will compete in the finals on April 18th.
Ronnie Adams performs her poem, "Cinderella," during the individual bout.
1:21 p.m. – Aiken Sophomore Ronnie Adams, 15, starts off the individual slam from WordUp to perform her piece called, "Cinderella," which discusses how fairy tales don't represent how everyone feels about love.
Ronnie loses her place and you can tell the nerves are starting to get to her. She covers her face with her rainbow gloves as if she were about to cry. Members of the audience begin to snap to show her support.
Shouts of, "You got this!" and other cries of support can be heard from the audience until she continues her piece.
After finishing her piece, Adams runs off stage and beings to cry. Her coach and mentor, Elese Daniels and Wordplay co-founder Libby Hunter go out to give her support and after a few moments, she returns to the auditorium.
1:58 p.m. – Lacy "Asylum" Robinson is waiting to perform next and high fives the poet who is on deck after him.
Lacy "Asylum" Robinson performs his new poem for the individual bout and is awarded a spot in the finals.
Robinson performs the poem he had just written during the break.
3:00 p.m. – Tony Styxx announces the winners of the individual bout and the top eight scores will compete at the finals on April 18. Lacey "Asylum" Robinson is last name called and wins a spot in the finals. He falls to the ground on his knees and sheds both tears and shouts of both relief and joy before taking his place with the other finalists on stage. It is learned after that Robinson had scored the highest individual score of the night.
Tyrese Adams is named an alternate for the individual bout and if one of the finalists can't participate for any reason, she will compete. | for the final bouts of the Cincinnati Louder Than A Bomb poetry slam.
A team of communication students from Northern Kentucky University has been documenting the students from Aiken New Tech High School who make up the WordUp and Aiken teams, and who represent two of the eight teams competing in the LTAB semi-finals.
This is a diary of the events from the semi-finals on March 14.
9:13 a.m.- Students, teachers, coaches, parents and children fill the seats in the small, dark DAAP auditorium on University of Cincinnati's campus. With its modest stage and seating, room 5401 is about to become the battleground where students from across the city and backgrounds will compete for a spot at the finals.
The booth where the DJ's sit glows in the dark. Designed by UC students using LED lights, the four acrylic panels emanate messages throughout the slam to reveal the LTAB logo and song lyrics designed to look like a sound wave which conveys that sound is just as important as words.
In the center of the stage, a sign with the LTAB logo shows a microphone rising from the words and a fist clenching a pen, conveying the power of the written and spoken word.
Aiken New Tech High School senior | 257 |
The Yoast SEO plugin helps you<|fim_middle|>optimization and thus angry Pandas. This was one of the reasons to lower our "required" keyword density to 0.5%. We are actually working on some new functionality now, allowing you to treat synonyms and multiple keywords differently in our Content SEO analysis. As that has multiple implications that'll take a while to get right.
Your SEO strategy should never focus on one single keyword. You really do need a proper keyword strategy. Sometimes it's useful to try to make a single post or page rank for multiple (related) keywords. Perhaps you have a shop in ballet accessories and are writing a post about ballet shoes. But, you'd also like this post to rank for [dance shoes], as [dance shoes] is a more general (and common) search term. Our multiple keywords functionality is actually really well fitted to help you optimize for more than one keyword like this. It also allows you to focus on multiple angles and words, reducing the risk that you over-optimize your texts.
Until the end of the year, Yoast SEO Premium, which has this multiple keywords functionality, costs only $69 per year for support, upgrades and updates. | to optimize your text for the keyword you want to be found for. In Yoast SEO 3.0 we made some big changes in our content analysis. In this post we'll discuss the adaption of our Yoast SEO keyword density check and the possibility to optimize for multiple keywords in Yoast SEO Premium.
Keyword stuffing is not a great SEO strategy. You'll be hit by Google Panda (or another update) in no time. Optimizing your text for specific keywords however, is something you definitely can do! This is the reason we have our focus keyword functionality in Yoast SEO. If you go to far though, over-optimization is around the corner. Over-optimization can be seriously dangerous, which is why our Yoast SEO plugin has some safeguards (in the form of red bullets) of doing so.
If you want to check your old posts and make sure their keyword densities are within our new guideline, you can do so. When you upgrade you'll see (or have seen) a notice about recalculating SEO scores. This is one of the things we recalculate at that point. This does mean that a post that was green before can now suddenly turn red… If you can't find that notice, you can find the tool under SEO → Tools.
In Yoast SEO premium we have a new feature which enables you to optimize for more than one focus keyword. You could use this in optimizing for two related keywords, allowing you to rank in Google on different keywords. You could also use this to optimize for two synonyms. Optimizing a post for two or three synonyms simultaneously while still requiring a 1% keyword density as a minimum, would lead to over- | 341 |
HomeNewsSam selected by NDP to run for Nechako Lakes riding
Sam selected by NDP to run for Nechako Lakes riding
By Shannon Waters
Thursday Mar. 30th, 2017
The BC NDP has chosen a candidate for the Nechako Lakes riding.
Ann Marie Sam was acclaimed by the party at a meeting on March 28. She will face incumbent Liberal MLA John Rustad and Libertarian Party candidate John Rempel.
"Anne Marie Sam has devoted herself to building resilient, strong northern communities," says John Horgan, leader of the BC NDP. "She has what it takes to defeat Christy Clark and will be a strong voice for the people of Nechako Lakes."
Sam is a councilor for the Nak'asdli Whut'en and was a school trustee for SD 51 from 2011-14. She has some concerns about the state of her riding.
"Good jobs are disappearing and small northern communities are feeling the pressure," said Sam. "Christy Clark has neglected our forest industries and people here are struggling. What will keep people in northern towns like Fort St. James?" she said. "When there are fewer opportunities for the younger generation the whole community suffers."
Sam says her motivation for getting into the race is simple. "I want to see my children to be able to have the same opportunities that I did here: to be able to live in Fort St. James<|fim_middle|> focus."
Rustad has held the riding since 2005, when it was known as Prince George-Omineca. | , working in Fort St. James, and to raise a family here that's my | 17 |
Q: Simple bashscript for checking open port I quite this script in bash:
probe='nc -zv localhost 19997'
output=' grep -c 'succeeded' $probe'
if [ $output == '<|fim_middle|> do wrong?
A: You can test on the results of the command directly like so:
if ( nc -zv localhost 19997 2>&1 >/dev/null ); then
echo 'Online'
else
echo 'Offline'
fi
the subshell ( ... ) is not necessary but I like using them when testing like this for cleanliness.
For more reading on exit codes and testing see:
*
*Exit and Exit Status
*Test Constructs
| 0' ]
then
echo 'Client online'
else
echo 'Offline'
fi
The purpose of the script is to check via netcat if a client connected via reverse ssh to my server on port 19997 and print a positive message if this was detectet. nc would print
Connection to localhost 19997 port [tcp/*] succeeded!
if it detects the client and I would like to grep only the 'succeeded' as a keyword for the established connection and trigger the if-statement via the exit code of grep.
But when i run this script I get:
test.sh: line 3: [: too many arguments
Where did I | 141 |
Some Very Early Texans?
I'm still cruising through two histories of Texas – One by the historian Theodore Fehrenbach, the other by fiction writer Stephen Harrigan. (Harrigan has written non-fiction, too, but I know him for his beautiful novel). More later about their very different approaches. Right now – Malakoff Man!
In Fehrenbach's big book I stumbled across a comment about three stone heads that were unearthed along the Trinity River. High up on the river bank, near Malakoff, Texas, gravel workers in 1929 unearthed a primitive stone head deeply buried in the gravel. Workers thought it was a hoax – they put a hat on it and left it on the boss's doorstep. Malakoff Man.
A geologist agreed. The terrace that yielded the stone head also had bones of mammoths, extinct camels, extinct sloths. A few years later two more stone heads were unearthed. This was before carbon-14 dating methods were developed. One anthropologist said the heads could have been carved "by a teenager with a screwdriver."
Now it's not so certain. Paleo-Americans are now believed to have thrived at the end of the last Ice Age; people who looked different from the Indians of Columbus's time. Think Clovis culture, and pre-Clovis.
So how about Malakoff Man? Real? A fraud? Unrecognized primitive art? Ritual? The jury is still out. The heads are among the archeological collections at the University of Texas.
"Malakoff," by the way, is one of four towns in Texas named for a Russian city.
Dac Crossley
"Old age is like a plane flying through a storm. Once you are aboard there is nothing you can do." – Golda Meir.
Texas History in the 21st Century
I found it on my doorstep (thank you Amazon), "Big Wonderful Thing. A History of Texas." By Stephen Harrigan. Nine-hundred twenty-five pages. Copyright 2019. Lots of illustrations.
Stephen Harrigan I know from his novel, "The Gates of the Alamo," published about 25 years ago. That novel is a delight, the best Alamo story you'll find. Historically accurate, too, South Texas as it was in the 1830's. It opens in San Antonio with the War of the Flowers parade, which my father had witnessed as a child. Dad was enchanted!
So how is Harrigan as a historian? He took the title from a Georgia O'Keefe quote: "I couldn't believe Texas was real ... the same big wonderful thing that oceans and the highest mountains are." Will Harrigan bring us a new perspective? The imagination of the novelist? This is not a book you will hold in your lap, not at 975 large pages. I'm not ready to report to you, not yet.
I will reveal that his opening thrust took me to the Alibates Flint Quarries in the Texas Panhandle. That did surprise me. I'd been there to see where Clovis Points got their start. A hot, hot summer day didn't show me much except little holes in the ground. I took refuge in the little air-conditioned trailer that passed as a visitor center. The Park Ranger I recognized. I'd seen him the year before at Everglades National Park. "Wesley," I asked him, "What did you do to get yourself transferred out here?"
Wesley wasn't smiling. "I wish I knew."
The twentieth-century Texas historian was T. R. Fehrenbach, whose little history was published in 1968. He was born in San Benito and raised in San Antonio, a true South Texas boy. When he revised his history book in 1999 it had morphed into a 765-page monster. I'm ashamed to say I just thought "Right!" and shelved the book. Now I've dug it out again to compare it with Harrigan's big book.
I am going to have fun comparing those two opuses. Stay tuned for more about the Alibates Flint Quarries.
By the way, they told me in the Panhandle that the quarry is on a ranch once owned by one Allie Bates. Alibates? I'd like to confirm that….
January 6, 2020. Happy birthday, Larry C.!
"As gravity bends light, so power bends time." – Historian Christopher Clark.
December. The Direst Month
I told my daughter – nothing ever happens in December. Projects aren't completed, manuscripts aren't reviewed, you can write off any professional accomplishments. Not in December. Not gonna happen.
Of course some people are born in December. Others die. Presidents get impeached. It's just not a month for getting things done. Or a month for writers, either. Too many distractions. Maybe it's the short days and long nights. My Neanderthal genes say "Hibernate. Let's make fat." Nothing I can do about that! We push back at the darkness with strings of lights. Downtown Athens, Georgia glitters among trees and lampposts. My neighborhood could be<|fim_middle|> leg.
Ranger Captain Rogers too a squad in to the barrio in search of a cache of ammunition. At the house of one Agapito Herrera resistance came to a head. Herrera tried talking with Captain Rogers. Then a boy appeared in the doorway and shouted, "Ya." Gunfire broke out. Herrera wounded Rogers in the shoulder. Other Rangers immediately shot Herrera. One Ranger walked across to where Herrera lay and fired two bullets into his head. The gunfire erupted into a riot. The Rangers retreated to Market Square and called on a nearby US Cavalry Squad to help.
The epidemic raged for the next two months with many children dying, but then slowed. By May 1 the quarantine was lifted.
Texas suffered from other tropical diseases during that century. Yellow Fever along coastal areas, cases of dengue, and malaria declined by the 1930s. More recent diseases such as influenza, polio, and St. Louis Encephalitis took their places.
I'm indebted to the Handbook of Texas Online for bringing the smallpox epidemic to my attention.
It's autumn now but you wouldn't know it. The shadows are longer now, but temperatures hang into the nineties, off into the foreseeable future. Same up in Tennessee, in San Antonio and in Alice, Texas. I read the forecasts on my phone. Hello, is anyone there?
Time Magazine pulls it all together. Global climate change, continent by continent. North and South America, Europe, Greenland, Arctic and Antarctic. Not just little isolated stories. It's happening everyplace at once. Worldwide. No, it's not a plot by a bunch of self-serving American scientists. Hello?
I watched on TV as a little girl lectured our Senators. Are they listening? Why don't they act? Because they serve a different master, corporate America. Corporate America is making money and that's all that matters. I remember the squeals when science told them that smoking cigarettes caused lung cancer. Deny, deny! Lead in gasoline, gotta have it, no help for it. All that yellow smog over our cities? Can't help it, too expensive. And I remember that all-pervasive, final argument – "needs more study." No, it doesn't. Sit up and look around. Hello?
Yes, I'm frustrated. Angry. Hello, Senators. Is anyone there?
We are a nation that watched a madman burst into a schoolhouse and kill our children. Yet we cannot take his guns away. Our Constitution says he has the right to do that. Blame it on video games, mental illness. Corporate America is the face of money poured into pockets of those who make our laws. Now why would I think they would save us from ourselves?
Hello, hello, is anyone there?
"We have met the enemy and he is us." – Walt Kelly.
South Texas has had its share of devastating hurricanes. Maybe not so often as other parts of the Gulf of Mexico. Beulah of a few years back comes to mind. Galveston. And then there was Indianola…
The city of Indianola just north of today's Corpus Christi became a major port in the nineteenth century. Carl, Prince of Solms Braunfels, selected Indian Point (later Indianola) as the landing place for a company of German Immigrants. Once they landed, those souls celebrated their freedom. They didn't want to leave the coast. Some stayed.
During the Mexican war (1845) troops landed at Indianola. An army depot in Indianola later served forts on the western frontier.
Stagecoach service extended to San Antonio. Charles Morgan designated Indianola as the Matagorda Bay terminus for his eastern steamship line. Indianola grew. In 1856 a notable shipload of camels landed at Indianola, part of an experiment by Secretary of War Jefferson Davis.
Indianola grew in importance in south Texas. The first shipment of refrigerated beef left Indianola on Morgan's Steamship Line.
Then came the hurricane of 1875. The storm surge flooded Indianola's streets. Only a few buildings were left standing. Indianola struggled to rebuild. Then came another destructive hurricane in 1886 that spelled the end to the town. Fire obliterated what was left of it.
Today there's a historic marker on the beach. Nothing else to remind us that a major, important city once sat there.
We aren't really in charge, are we?
"If men were angels, no government would be necessary." – Oscar Wilde.
Where Have All the Gears Gone?
Way back in the 1950s I had access to the most modern piece of computing equipment – A Friden calculator. In essence it was an adding machine driven by an electric motor. In graduate school at Kansas I became an expert on the Friden, along with Monroes and Smith-Coronas.
On one occasion I took the case off of the Friden. I saw a mass of gears and levers and wheels all interconnected. My computer today, my MacBook, is too thin for gears and of course it doesn't need them. It's a mess of transistors. And I began to wonder – where have all the gears gone?
Remember the old-fashioned wind-up alarm clock? We kids would take them apart. There was another set of gears and levers. You could tinker with them and make the clock's hands move a lot faster. Your alarm clock today is a printed circuit. No gears needed.
Our balloon-tired bicycles had coaster brakes, another set of gears, and we found it was wise not to mess around with those gears. Other parts of the bicycle were fair game. Today's bikes with those hard little tires – bet they wouldn't go far in the sandy streets of South Texas. And their gears are right out there for you to see.
Will transistors replace all our gears? I'll bet that, if you brought a 1960's automobile mechanic here to 2019, he'd recognize the gears in your modern car. Sure, there was lots of space under the hood in my 1956 Chevvy, and he might be puzzled by all that stuff crammed in under the modern car's hood. But he'd recognize the pieces. The starter motor and alternator, the water pump and spark plugs. And the air filter, although it's not on top of a carburetor exactly.
So here's my question. Have our automobiles failed to keep pace with our modern society? Cars use electronics, sure, but the drive train is the same. The motor is still connected to the wheels in the same manner as always.
Is our system of "personal transportation" ready for a significant upgrade?
"The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science." – Albert Einstein. | Disney World.
We listen to music of Christmas from the Middle Ages, thanks to a harpist at Hendershots. Irish strings serenade us at the Globe Bar. At my table sit scientists, writers, artists of many talents. We salute our missing Padre, our sculptor, others who have gone before. No politics or religion intrude on us, not on Sunday afternoons at the Globe.
Sing. Push back at the darkness. The shortest day of the year approaches. The worst of the autumn season is over. Winter, the nastiest of times, will be short. By the end of January I'll find crocus blooms outside my door.
The cat sleeps in the window, absorbing the sun. Cats know, don't they? I wish I did.
December 16, 2019. Bon voyage, Liz F.
"I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals." – Winston Churchill.
Merry Christmas, Mom!
It's your Sonny, writing to thank you for all those childhood Christmases back in Kingsville, Texas. Your joy still rings in my memory – all those Carols that you sang with such enthusiasm, little Walter and I following along. I remember your sudden tears at the beauty of some passages; today I weep along with you. A precious lesson: You taught me it was okay to cry at music, and I still do.
Do churches still hold little pageants? Mary and Joseph and an angel or two? And the Magi making their way down the aisles. I liked the Christmas hymns better when you sang them yourself. Our Presbyterian Church in Kingsville included Santa Claus – bet that doesn't happen today.
Santa Claus wasn't gonna come down out chimney – it was just a stove-pipe connected to that potbellied stove. I remember the sweet smell of mesquite burning there. Santa would have to come in the front door. And you locked that door! I was alarmed.
There wasn't a conifer growing anyplace in Kingsville. Christmas trees showed up in a parking lot, remember? We all helped hang baubles once the lights were strung. Throwing icicles onto the tree evolved into an art, now long lost. I'd never seen a real icicle anyway.
Christmas morning, with all those presents for Walter and me. How did you do it, Depression's hand heavy across the land? Then off to Grandfather Baird's house. Not over the river and through the woods; we didn't have those. Down the calieche road, that's how we went, remember? The Bairds remembered the Plantation Christmas, gathered around the huge claw-foot table, your presents under the tablecloth at your seat. Grandfather Baird at the head of the table with a huge pile under the cloth – he'd augmented it with bricks.
And Christmas evening at Grandmother Crossley's, whose traditions were more Presbyterian and western. Gifts of salted pecans. T-bone steaks for dinner. Her carefully-crafted tree, where you needed coordination between lights and ornaments, no color clashes, please. Then Lionel Barrymore on the radio, WOAI in San Antonio, reading "A Christmas Carol."
Mom, thanks for teaching me a cheerful Christmas season. I know now that you worried about your parents who had no income, your brother Mitchell and his drinking, those dubious prospects during the Great Depression. Thanks for giving me and my brother a childhood of love, free from cares. A joyful Christmas.
Missing you,
Your Sonny.
It's attributed to Philip of Macedonia. Julius Caesar said it. Machiavelli included it in "The Prince." Divide and Conquer.
That appears to be the strategy of Vladimir Putin. The Western Alliance is coming apart and Putin is helping it to collapse. Split off a weak member (Britain). Encourage nationalism in France, in Germany. Bring down democracy. In North America wage a smear campaign against Hillary Clinton; support a divisive candidate.
And it's working. Divide the Western Alliance. Soon Putin will have no opposition when he incorporates the Balkan countries into his empire, once again.
My friends, we need to fight against our divisiveness. It's not us versus them. We are them.
Down in the Sundown Lounge, I buy a pitcher of beer and everybody's my friend. I hear the troubles of those friends. They work hard but it doesn't seem to get them anyplace. President Trump tells them it's not their fault. The government is holding them back; too any regulations. Too many foreigners driving wages down. He's gonna fix it.
At the Globe Bar on Sunday afternoon I meet with friends who despair at the government's easing of hard-fought environmental regulations. Evidence of global warming is everyplace; our President's regime rejects it. Big corporations have seized power. What next? President Trump is unpopular.
We simply gotta get over this rift. We are all Americans and the problems belong to all of us. Yes, our country has income inequality and sooner or later it will bite us all. Yes, or federal government is leading us in the wrong direction, the fox in the henhouse and that, too, will bite us.
I plead with my congressman. Reach across the aisle.
I plead with you, my friends. You, too, must reach across the divide.
"If Donald Trump isn't on Putin's payroll he ought to be. Trump had done more to divide this country than Putin ever did." -- Stephen King, in a "Time Magazine" interview.
November 11, Veterans Day
When I was a little boy it was called "Armistice Day."
Mom the historian told me that Americans began to pray for "The War, WWI" to come to an end. Prayers were offered each and every day at eleven am. And Armistice was signed at eleven in the morning, on the eleventh day of the eleventh month. See the power of prayer? I think that was Mom's Methodism speaking.
As a lad I remember buying a "Buddy Poppy" on Armistice Day. "In Flanders Field the poppies grow, between the crosses, row by row…" Veterans of Foreign Wars sold them. Armistice day was different from Memorial Day, which was set aside in May to honor those who gave their lives in Military Service. Armistice Day honored all those who served. And I read that in 1954 the name was officially changed to Veterans Day.
I guess there are no more veterans of WWI, no one to remind us of the trenches, no one to sing, "If the Camels don't getcha the Fatimas must." We look back at that War and ask ourselves, "Why?" Will my grandchildren ask that same question about WWII? Will there be anyone left to ask about WWIII?
TIME magazine tells a story of the British Ambassador who wrote of a danger in the American Constitution. The possibility that the mob might raise one of their own into the Presidency, an ignoramus loved by them, who had the power to send our country into another civil war or worse. God forbid!
"As gravity bends light, so power bends time." – Christopher Clark.
Big Trouble in Laredo.
In October of 1898, physicians in Laredo, Texas began treating what they thought to be an outbreak of chicken pox. With the death of a child they realized that the disease was smallpox. Three months later more than 100 cases of smallpox were recorded in Laredo.
The State Health Officer recommended house-to-house vaccination, fumigation or destruction of personal effects and establishment of a quarantine house.
A poorer section of town was targeted, but the residents began resisting the vaccination and fumigation efforts. At last a detachment of Texas Rangers arrived in Laredo to ensure that regulations were followed. Not a good choice, as it turned out. Latin Americans on the Border hated Texas Rangers, who broke down doors and forced vaccinations, fumigations, and removal of persons to the quarantine house. One police officer was hit by a stone; another got a shotgun blast to his | 1,686 |
system of calendars used in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica
Maya Calendar by Matthew Bisanz
The Maya calendar is a system of calendars and almanacs used in the Maya civilization of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, and in some modern Maya communities in highland Guatemala.
It shares many aspects with calendars employed by other earlier Mesoamerican civilizations, such as the Zapotec and Olmec, and contemporary or later ones such as the Mixtec and Aztec calendars. Although the Mesoamerican calendar did not originate with the Maya, their subsequent extensions and refinements of it were the most sophisticated. Along with those of the Aztecs, the Maya calendars are the best-documented and most completely understood.
2 December 21, 2012
TypesEdit
There are three main Maya calendars: the 260 day ritual calendar called Tzolk'in, the 365 day Haab', and the Long Count. Approximately 52 years pass before the Haab and Tzolkin calendars converge and are back in the same alignment. This is called the Calendar round. The Tzolk'in is still in use today by the Ixil, Kek'chi and Quiche peoples of the Guatemalan highlands.
Here is an example of a Maya calendar date:<|fim_middle|> humans of mud and then wood, but these also failed to please and were wiped out. The "zero date" 13.0.0.0.0 on the Long Count was when, according to the Maya, the third world ended and the fourth one, the current world, began. Another 13.0.0.0.0 would occur on December 21, 2012. There is no evidence that the Long Count would end on 13.0.0.0.0 or that the Maya believed that this would be the date of the apocalypse. Still, a variety of popular books and movies have contributed to the publicity surrounding the Maya calendar's supposed prediction of the end of the world in 2012. Some believers[who?]have taken advantage of this publicity to sell guides to surviving the apocalypse.
↑ Michael Douma, Sally Smith. "The Mayan Calendar | Calendars". Retrieved 2019-05-14.
Other websitesEdit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Maya calendar.
Maya Cycles of Time at Convergence
Maya Calendar and Links on diagnosis2012.co.uk
Interactive Maya Calendars
Day Symbols of the Maya Year at Project Gutenberg 1897 text by Cyrus Thomas
Maya Calendar, Date conversions, contemporary year version, Tzolkin and Haab day in Calendar Rounds
Daily Aztec Calendar Also does Maya long count dates.
Mayan Calendar interactively (uses the bogus Thompson (584285) correlation)
Retrieved from "https://simple.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Maya_calendar&oldid=6537342" | 12.18.16.2.6, 3 Cimi 4 Zotz. The "12.18.16.2.6" is the Long Count. Going from right to left, the units are: kin (1 day), uinal (20 kin = 20 days), tun (18 uinal = 360 days), katun (20 tun = approximately 20 years), baktun (20 katun =394 years). The Long Count was used to track periods of time longer than the 52 years of the Calendar Round. The mythical starting date of the current creation was August 11, 3114 BCE (Gregorian). "3 Cimi" is the Tzolkin date. The Tzolkin date is a combination of thirteen days numbered one-thirteen and twenty day-names. "4 Zotz" is the Haab' date. The Haab' year contains 18 months (each named) with 20 days each. The number before the word is the day of that month. The Maya then added five days to the calendar after the last month, Cumku, ends, in order to make the year 365 days long. Those five days, called "Uayeb," were considered to be unlucky.[1]
December 21, 2012Edit
A common myth about the Maya calendar was that it predicted that the world would end on December 21, 2012. This belief was mistaken. According to the Maya, there were three previous worlds. The first began with "the creation of the Earth, and it had upon it vegetation and living beings. Unfortunately, because they lacked speech, the birds and animals were unable to pay homage to the gods and were destroyed. In the second and third Ages the gods created | 394 |
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Rend Al-Mondhiry is Senior Counsel at Amin Talati Upadhye LLP in Washington, DC. She advises clients in the dietary supplement, food, and cosmetic industries on a broad range of FDA and FTC compliance matters, with a focus on helping companies navigate the rapidly evolving regulatory landscape for hemp and CBD products at both the federal and state level. She is committed to helping her clients responsibly develop and market products, drawing on her years of experience advising the nation's leading dietary supplement and food companies on complex labeling, advertising, and ingredient issues. In her previous role as Associate General Counsel at the Council for Responsible Nutrition, Rend advocated on the industry's behalf numerous times before FDA, FTC, Congress, and state attorneys general. She has assisted companies with FDA import alerts and detentions, International Trade Commission matters, and Proposition 65 compliance, and has substantial experience initiating and defending challenges before the Council of Better Business Bureau's National Advertising Division.
Simon T. Bailey is a Breakthrough Strategist whose life's purpose is to teach 1 billion+ people how to be fearless and create their future.
He equips companies with the tools necessary to effect cultural transformation resulting in higher employee engagement and platinum customer service experiences. He challenges individuals to dig deep to find and release their inner brilliance and become Chief Breakthrough Officers- personally and professionally.
Simon has been named one of the top 25 people who will help you reach your business and life goals by SUCCESS magazine, joining a list that includes Brene Brown, Tony Robbins, and Oprah Winfrey. He is the author of ten books including his most recent release, Be the Spark: Five Platinum Service Principles for Creating Customers for Life. His Building Business Relationships course on Lynda.com on Linkedin has been viewed by more than 864,000 people worldwide. His Goalcast video, released Father's Day 2018, has over 70 million views.
Make sure you're in the audience for this custom presentation that is going to propel you and your company to knew levels of success!
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Mark Bain, President, upper 90 consulting
With disruption rapidly transforming business and communications, Mark Bain founded upper 90 consulting in 2012 to help teams adapt, grow and deliver greater business value.
Mark works mostly with communications, marketing, government affairs and/or investor relations teams in corporations, professional service firms and universities. Engagements vary, but frequently involve functional assessments, operating model and organizational design work, strategic planning and culture-driven performance programs.
In partnership with respected universities, upper 90 consulting conducts research to gain actionable insights into talent management, professional development and high-performance in communications teams.
Previously, Mark headed global communications at Baker McKenzie, the world's largest law firm, and Amway, the world's largest direct selling company. While at Amway, Mark chaired the WFDSA's Advocacy Committee. For his work to help protect and grow the direct selling industry's reputation worldwide, he received the WFDSA's Distinguished Service Award in 2005.
Mark began his career with Burson-Marsteller (now Burson Cohn & Wolfe), serving in the New York, Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Tokyo offices of this leading public relations/public affairs firm.
speakerJennifer Dunleavey April 2, 2019 bain, A-H
Michel Bayan, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, DirecTech Labs
Michel Bayan is the Co-Founder and CEO of DirecTech Labs. He has been partnering with direct sellers using data to drive more valuable field and customer lifecycles since 2010. Directech Labs product, Distro uses A.I create personalized alerts to corporate and field reps in 85 countries and is proven to extend rep and customer lifespans and lifetime value by as much as 10X. He's an advisor to various startups in and out of direct selling, as well as to various global direct sellers. Clients have include Advocare, Plexus, PM International, Kyani, Modere and others. A previous startup he founded sold to E-Bay in 2015. Michel is also the host of the The DirecTech Podcast where he talks to direct selling executives and other notable guests about innovation, technology and the future of the channel. He has been a guest speaker and contributor to various publications from<|fim_middle|> them protect their reputations and brand online.
Before founding the firm, Jonathan was Co-Founder & Chief Marketing Officer of a successful direct seller of nutritional products. Prior to that he served for nearly 7 years in the national fraud detection practice at Deloitte and helped launch the global consultancy's flagship anti-fraud product, DTect. He also worked as a National Marketing Strategy Partner for OneAccord Partners, served as EVP for Strategy & Markets for security and authentication software company IDMetric, and was Co-Founder and CEO at Hush Communications Corporation, creators of HushMail and a leading Internet security and encryption software company.
Jonathan is a regular speaker and presenter at industry conferences including the Direct Selling Association and is Founder of the Direct Selling Legal & Compliance Summit. He has appeared in numerous international radio and television broadcasts, articles and conferences including the New York Times, Wired Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, PC Week, National Public Radio, and multiple appearances on TechTV's "Silicon Spin" with John Dvorak, among others.
speakerJennifer Dunleavey April 2, 2019 gilliam, A-H\
Dr. Caroline Glackin, Assistant Professor, Department of Management, Marketing and Entrepreneurship, Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship, Fayetteville State University
Caroline Glackin, PhD, an Entrepreneurship faculty member at the University of North Carolina - Fayetteville State University, is a "pracademic" who has successfully worked as a microenterprise and small business owner and manager, as an executive director of a community development financial institution, and as an academic in areas of community development finance, entrepreneurship, and management. She has been assisting entrepreneurs in achieving their dreams for over 25 years.
Glackin earned a doctorate from the University of Delaware, where her research emphasis was on microfinance. She received an M.B.A. from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and an A.B. from Bryn Mawr College. Her professional career began with the DuPont Company, American Bell, Bell Atlantic, and American Management Systems. She has consulted for businesses and not-for-profit agencies in turnaround and high-growth scenarios. After exiting a family business, she became the executive director of a community development financial institution serving businesses and not-for-profits.
Dr. Glackin has succeeded in leading change in the practical fields of her research, and has received numerous honors and awards. These include the first Gloeckner Business Plan Award at the Wharton School, the Minority Business Advocate of the Year for Delaware from the U.S. Small Business Administration, and the She Knows Where She's Going Award, from Girls Inc. Dr. Glackin co-chaired the Delaware Governor's Task Force for Financial Independence and has participated in the Cornell University Emerging Markets Think Tank Series.
speakerJennifer Dunleavey April 2, 2019 glackin, A-H
Kevin Guest, Chief Executive Officer, USANA Health Sciences, Inc.
As the chief executive officer of USANA, Kevin leads worldwide field development and sales and works with the Board of Directors and Management Team to develop short-term and long-term goals for the future of the company. He has worked closely with Dr. Myron Wentz—founder of USANA—for more than 23 years, and makes it his main job to maintain Dr. Wentz' overall vision and direction for USANA.
speaker, ceo panelistJennifer Dunleavey April 2, 2019 guest, A-H
Gordon Hester, Global Consultant and Strategist, The Juice Plus+ Company, LLC
Gordon Hester is an entrepreneur and business strategist. For 25 years, Gordon was the CEO for Roberti Enterprises. Although Roberti Enterprises was a conglomerate of various companies, it was best known for building one of the largest global distributorships in the history of the Direct Selling Industry with sales in excess of $8 billion and a sales organization exceeding 100,000 distributors in over 25 countries. During this period, he coached and trained thousands of entrepreneurs in North America, 15 European Member countries, Israel and Australia. Today, Gordon does consulting for various direct selling companies although his primary focus is the Juice Plus Company. He is also a member of the DSA Research Committee and speaks for the DSEF.
After retiring in April 2016, Gordon started his own global business consulting practice. The focus of his consulting practice was B2B, primarily with startups and mid-sized global companies. The scope of his consulting is very broad but always focused on problem solving, both in operations and sales. In addition, Gordon works with young entrepreneurs in all areas of their business from ideation, through customer discovery and validation to building scalable businesses. Much of that work is on business strategies and the development of systems and process necessary to advance momentum in their businesses.
In 2018, Gordon launched a global technology business called Shapetech Solutions, LLC. Shapetech Solutions is a boutique tech design and full-stack development firm with offices in both Sarasota, Florida and Nis, Serbia. Shapetech has an international team of business consultants, developers, and designers who are able to use both the global nature of the business and the wide range of experience and backgrounds to create affordable solutions for all clients. Shapetech is in the business of providing transformative solutions, and view technology as a tool that is used to shape the future of any company. The Shapetech Team has over 40+ years of business experience and over 100+ years of tech experience.
For the last four years, Gordon has been on the Advisory Council for the Entrepreneur Program at Wake Forest University. He works closely with the director of this program, Dan Cohen. Dan joined Wake Forest in 2015 after he founded and directed eLab–Cornell's entrepreneurship accelerator program, which is hailed by Forbes Magazine as a major driver of Cornell's ascent to a #4 national ranking in entrepreneurship. Gordon works as a mentor for young entrepreneurs in this program. In addition, he recently took a role to help expand the mentorship in this program.
Gordon lives in Sarasota Florida with his wife Jackie. Their son Connor is a senior at Wake Forest University where he is studying Business Enterprise Management. Their daughter Callie is a sophomore at Florida Southern and pursing a degree in Elementary Education.
speakerJennifer Dunleavey April 2, 2019 hester, A-H | the Agency Post to Salesforce, Business Rockstars, Direct Selling News, Social Selling News and many others.
speakerJennifer Dunleavey April 2, 2019 bayan, A-H
Brian Bennett, Vice President, Government Affairs and Policy, Direct Selling Association
In this role, Brian directs and coordinates the government relations and legal teams in DSA's federal and state lobbying efforts. He determines legislative priorities, and has lead operational responsibility for state and federal government affairs activities and overall operation of the Government Relations department. In this capacity, Brian also coordinates with the communications, ethics, and legal teams in support of DSA's advocacy efforts.
Prior to joining DSA, Mr. Bennett held a variety of roles working in the federal government and at a national party with primary focus on electing state candidates.
Mr. Bennett received his J.D. from The Catholic University of America: Columbus School of Law and his B.A. from James Madison University. He lives in Maryland with his wife, son, and dog.
speakerJennifer Dunleavey April 2, 2019 bennett, A-H
Charlotte Blank, Chief Behavioral Officer, Maritz Travel
Charlotte Blank is Executive Director of The Maritz Institute, a behavioral science think tank exploring the human psyche in the modern marketplace. A central R&D division of Maritz, LLC, The Maritz Institute enhances the visibility and design of the company's motivation, event, and customer experience solutions, through expert applications of neuroscience, social psychology, and behavioral economic theory. Charlotte has led programs in neuromarketing, social media, and global branding during her ten years in the media and automotive industries, in which she worked in Innovation for Turner Broadcasting, and various marketing roles for General Motors. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology from Emory University, and a Master's in Business Administration from Harvard Business School. Charlotte's passion is exploring the truths about human nature and discovering what "makes us tick."
speakerJennifer Dunleavey April 2, 2019 blank, A-H
Joan Hartel Cabral, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Vantel Pearls
Joan's story begins over 30 years ago, on a trip to Hawaii where she first experienced an oyster opening. She said, "It took my breath away. I was so awed by the pure magic of it!!!"
She brought the business idea back to Massachusetts and opened a small seaside store in Martha's Vineyard. Looking for flexibility to raise a family while running a business, Joan transitioned Vantel Pearls to direct sales, opening the way for thousands of Consultants to join her in the magic of oyster openings, genuine pearls, beautiful jewelry, and meaningful entrepreneurship.
From simple beginnings to a $40 million-plus direct selling company, Vantel Pearls was an early adopter of social media pearl parties. For 3 decades, Vantel Pearls has brought people together to share in the fun of opening real oysters to reveal a genuine pearl (or two!) in each and every oyster. Imagine the thrill of finding a white, cream, pink, blue or even a black pearl for a piece of jewelry you or someone special will treasure for a lifetime.
At the core of Vantel Pearls are eight guiding principles. Joan composed these "Treasured Gems" in the early years of Vantel Pearls to ensure that Vantel Pearls remained true to its values. They have been a key factor in the amazing success of the company. For the Consultants, the Home Office Team, the vendors and organizations that Vantel Pearls chooses to align with…all are guided by these values.
Vantel Pearls thrives on giving back to numerous charitable organizations that help improve our communities and individuals' lives. Central causes include eradicating domestic violence, breast cancer research, awareness for autism and developmental disabilities.
Joan feels when we focus on positivity and gratitude, we attract miracles. She is an inspiration to women (and few great men!) across the nation. She has helped thousands with personal development and financial independence. Her warm energy fills a room and helps everyone believe in limitless possibilities!
hartel, speakerJennifer Dunleavey April 2, 2019 general session, A-H
Dan Chard, Chief Executive Officer, Medifast/OPTAVIA
With more than 25 years of direct selling, marketing and consumer products experience, Daniel R. Chard serves as Chief Executive Officer of Medifast, Inc. and as a member of Medifast's Board of Directors. Chard joined Medifast in October of 2016.
Before joining Medifast, Chard served as President and Chief Operating Officer of PartyLite, an affiliate of a portfolio company of The Carlyle Group, which specializes in home fragrance products sold by more than 40,000 independent consultants across 23 countries.
Prior to his position at PartyLite, Chard experienced success in numerous leadership roles during his 17-year tenure at Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc. ("Nu Skin"), including President of Global Sales & Operations from 2006 to 2015. In this position, Chard was responsible for managing more than $3 billion in revenue across 53 countries as well as overseeing all functions of sales operations for the company including global marketing, market operations, market services, and business technology. From 2004 to 2006, Chard held the position of President of Nu Skin Europe. Additionally, Chard served as Vice President of Marketing and Product Management from 2002 to 2004 where he developed strategy for a new global business-technology platform, while overseeing all marketing and product management operations for his division.
Chard has held various marketing leadership roles at Ventro and Broadlane, Pur Recovery Engineering and the Pillsbury Company. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Brigham Young University and his Masters of Business Administration from the University of Minnesota.
speakerJennifer Dunleavey April 2, 2019 chard, A-H
Angela Loehr Chrysler, President and Chief Executive Officer, Team National, and DSEF Chairman of the Board
Angela earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Florida Atlantic University and today as CEO, oversees the operations and all Team National related entities.
Angela's background is in sales and marketing. She spent five years in medical sales, before joining the family-owned business in 2000 as a vice president. She worked closely with her father, Dick Loehr, founder of Team National to learn all aspects of Team National's ever-growing business. In 2002, Angela became Executive Vice President of Team National. She continued learning and growing in her role and responsibilities. In October 2005, Angela was promoted to President. Angela worked closely with the sales field committees, overseeing operations with Dick mentoring her. Two years later, in 2007, Dick stepped back from managing the company; passing the torch to Angela and making her CEO. Dick went to be with the Lord on May 13, 2008, after a 10-year battle with cancer. Angela continues to lead the company with the same dedication, philosophies, and commitment as her father and mentor.
Angela serves on the Direct Selling Education Foundation Board of Directors and Executive Committee. She also volunteers her time, serving on many direct selling committees. In 2013, Angela was named one of The Most Influential Women in Direct Selling, a merited award she continues to hold today. She has also been recognized as one of the 100 Outstanding Women of Broward County for nine consecutive years; 2010-2018 (the final year this recognition was awarded was 2018.)
Angela lives by servant leadership. She is involved with and supports several charities, both local and national. In April 2017, she and her husband, Phil, along with her mom, MaryLou, founded Team National Hope Foundation, a private foundation dedicated to improving lives by providing hope to individuals and families.
Angela lives in South Florida with her husband, Phil, and their daughters Sydney and Siena.
speakerJennifer Dunleavey April 2, 2019 chrysler, A-H
Whitney Coble, Manager, Global Social Marketing, Mary Kay Inc.
speakerJennifer Dunleavey April 2, 2019 Coble, A-H
Dr. Anne Coughlan, Polk Brothers Chair in Retailing and Professor of Marketing, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University
Dr. Coughlan joined the faculty in 1985. Dr. Coughlan's main research interests are in the areas of distribution channels, sales force management and compensation, and pricing. Current research projects include optimal management of multi-level marketing distribution channels; sales force diversification and optimal group incentive payments; drivers and management of sales force turnover; measuring compliance, monitoring, and enforcement of MAP policies; and wardrobing and optimal open-box retail sales. Her work on "Direct Selling Distributors: Why Do They Stay or Leave?" won the best doctoral-student paper award at the 2017 Global Sales Science Institute conference; it is joint research with Prof. Manfred Krafft of University of Muenster and Julian Allendorf, a Ph.D. student at University of Muenster.
Dr. Coughlan is a co-author of the book, A Field Guide to Channel Strategy: Building Routes to Market (with Sandy Jap), and was the lead author of Marketing Channels (a Prentice-Hall textbook) through its seventh edition. She serves on the Senior Advisory Board of the Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, and is Editor in Chief of the SSRN Marketing Research Network and of its Quantitative Marketing e-Journal and the Marketing Science e-Journal. She is a Research Fellow of the Direct Selling Educational Foundation and an Institute of Marketing Research Fellow of the University of Muenster, Germany. She has served as an Associate Editor and editorial board member of the journal Marketing Science, and on the editorial boards of Journal of Marketing and Journal of Retailing.
For her excellence in teaching, Dr. Coughlan was the recipient of the school's Executive Master's Program Teacher of the Year Award for the best elective course in 1996 and again in 2003, as well as receiving the Sidney J. Levy Teaching Award in 2000-01. She teaches classes on distribution channel strategies at the MBA and executive MBA levels, and on quantitative models in marketing at the doctoral level.
Coughlan received her Ph.D. in Economics at Stanford University. Prior to her appointment at Kellogg, she was a professor at the business school of the University of Rochester; she was a Visiting Professor of Marketing at INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France in 1997-98.
speakerJennifer Dunleavey April 2, 2019 coughlan, A-H
Dr. Victoria Crittenden, Professor of Marketing, Babson Research Scholar, Babson College
Victoria Crittenden is Professor of Marketing and Chair of the Marketing Division at Babson College (USA). Additionally, she has served as Visiting Global Scholar in the D.B.A. program at the Coles College of Business at Kennesaw State University (USA), Visiting Ph.D. Faculty at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm (Sweden), Visiting Ph.D. Faculty at Luleå University (Sweden), a core faculty member at the WU Executive Academy (Austria) and as visiting faculty at the University of Ulster in Belfast (N. Ireland), The American College of Greece MBA Program in Athens (Greece), and University Robert Schuman, IECS in Strasbourg (France). Prior to her tenure at Babson College, Vicky spent 25 years in the marketing department at Boston College where she served as department chair for nine years and chair of the MBA core faculty for three years.
She is an author of over 100 published vignettes and cases. Mrs. Crittenden also co-authored Strategic Marketing Management Cases published by McGraw-Hill/Irwin Publishing. She served as founding co-editor of the AMS Review, is currently an Associate Editor of the Journal of Marketing Education, and serves currently on the editorial review boards of: Business Horizons, Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal for Advancement of Marketing Education, Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing, Journal of Marketing Education, Journal of Strategic Marketing, Marketing Education Review, Marketing Management Journal, Organizations and Markets in Emerging Economies, and Psychology & Marketing. Additionally, she currently serves as Collections Editor for Digital and Social Media Marketing and Advertising with Business Expert Press and is co-editor of Evolving Entrepreneurial Education: Innovation in the Babson Classroom published by Emerald Group Publishing in 2015. Vicky has presented her teaching and scholarly research in venues worldwide.
Vicky is Past President of the Academy of Marketing Science (AMS), where she has served as VP for Development, VP for Membership N. America, and Secretary. She also served as program chair for AMS conferences in the USA, Australia, and Norway. Additionally, Vicky was honored as an AMS Distinguished Fellow in 2008, and she received the Lamb, Hair, McDaniel Outstanding Marketing Teacher Award in AMS in 2005. In addition to serving in various capacities in AMS, she served four years as the chair of the American Marketing Association (AMA) Teaching & Learning Special Interest Group, and she received AMA's Pearson Prentice Hall's Solomon-Marshall-Stuart Award for Innovative Excellence in Marketing Education in 2013. Vicky is a Fellow at the IC2 Institute at the University of Texas-Austin and a member of the Academic Advisory Board for CUTCO/Vector Marketing Corporation and the Academic Advisory Council of the Direct Selling Education Foundation. She previously served
speakerJennifer Dunleavey April 2, 2019 Crittenden, dsef, A-H
Cindy Droog, Director, Executive and Internal Communications, Amway
As Amway North America's head of marketing, Cindy Droog, APR, is responsible for the strategy, development and implementation of marketing plans in the United States, Canada and Dominican Republic. Her leadership spans the nutrition, beauty and home care categories for product launches; design and delivery of distributor and customer experiences; managing major sponsorships and reputation; and integrated communications. She joined Amway in 2006 and has since held roles in a variety of areas, including media relations, crisis and issues management, digital marketing and product brand management.
Prior to Amway, Droog served as vice president of client relations for Michigan-based North Star Public Relations; marketing manager for Valspar Corporation; and director of public relations for the Peoria Rivermen Minor League Hockey Club. She has also held roles at American Red Cross, Weber Shandwick, and as a featured columnist for a number of Midwest weekly newspapers.
Droog is current chairwoman of the Communications Committee of the United States Direct Selling Association, and has also served as Social Media Taskforce lead within the Advocacy Committee of the World Federation of Direct Selling Associations. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, and enjoys volunteering, running, yoga, creative and humor writing, and most of all, numerous outdoor activities with her husband Tom and two sons, AJ and Alec.
speakerJennifer Dunleavey April 2, 2019 droog, A-H
Dr. Linda Ferrell, Chair, Marketing Department Professor of Marketing, Auburn University
Dr. Linda Ferrell is Professor and Chair of the Marketing Department at Auburn University. She served on the faculty at Belmont University, University of New Mexico, University of Wyoming, University of Northern Colorado, Colorado State University, and University of Tampa. She co-managed two, $1.25 million grant for business ethics education through the Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative at the University of New Mexico with her husband, Dr. O.C. Ferrell. She was also jointly responsible for securing over $5 million for the first Bill Daniels Distinguished Professor Chair of Business Ethics at the University of Wyoming.
Dr. Ferrell earned a Ph.D. from the University of Memphis. She holds an M.B.A. and a B.S. in Fashion Merchandising from Illinois State University. Her research interests include marketing ethics, ethics training and effectiveness, the legalization of business ethics as well as corporate social responsibility and sustainability. She has published in Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, AMS Review, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, Journal of Business Research, as well as others. She has co- authored numerous books including Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making and Cases (12th edition), Business and Society (4th edition), Management (3rd), and Introduction to Business (12th edition).
Professionally, Dr. Ferrell served as an account executive in advertising with McDonalds and Pizza Huts advertising agencies in Houston, Indianapolis and Philadelphia. She was recently honored as the Innovative Marketer of the Year for the Marketing Management Association. Dr. Ferrell is on the Board of Directors of Mannatech, Inc. a NASDAQ listed, health and wellness company. She serves on the Board of the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy-Center for the Public Trust. She serves on the Executive Committee, Board, and Academic Advisory Committee of the Direct Selling Education Foundation. She is on the Cutco/Vector College Advisory Board. She is immediate Past President of the Academy of Marketing Science and Past President of the Marketing Management Association. Dr. Ferrell also serves as an expert witness in ethics and legal disputes.
speakerJennifer Dunleavey April 2, 2019 ferrell, dsef, A-H
Theresa Flores, Senior Manager, Public Affairs, Mary Kay Inc.
Theresa A. Flores has enjoyed a 20-year career in public affairs, legislative advocacy and policy issues management. Currently she is the manager of public affairs for Mary Kay Inc., where she develops and recommends strategies that protect the Company's interests, and provides guidance to the company in its engagement with legislators, governments and NGOs. She also serves as the liaison for the Company's Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina and Uruguay regional markets.
She is especially proud to be a part of the Company's efforts in leveraging its reputation to raise awareness with lawmakers about the importance of crucial funding for domestic violence prevention and intervention services.
Her areas of expertise include federal and state legislative affairs, lobbying, and grassroots advocacy. She has successively lobbied for several grassroots campaigns resulting in the defeat of legislation harmful to the Company. Theresa's expertise is often sought out and she has shared her insight at conferences for the Public Affairs Council, State Government Affairs Council, The Public Leadership Education Network (PLEN) and The Southwest Chapter of the Society of Cosmetic Chemist (SWSCC), among others.
Previously she served as director of government affairs for Time Warner Cable and managed local, state and federal regulatory and legislative initiatives; she was also responsible for administrating the Texas Friends of Time Warner Cable PAC and the employee grassroots advocacy network.
Theresa began her career in Washington, DC first as an IT analyst than as a public affairs manager for Fannie Mae. She later moved to the company's Dallas regional office where she worked with stakeholders interested in strengthening housing and community development policy.
Theresa is a member of the Hispanic 100, the State Government Affairs Council, The Dallas Women's Foundation and Leadership Dallas. She is active in education reform; focusing on public school education in Dallas and holds leadership positions in EducateDallas and the Dallas Education Foundation. In 2012 she was selected to serve in the inaugural class of the Leadership DISD (Dallas Independent School District) program.
In 2009, Theresa was recognized by the Dallas Business Journal as a Minority Business Leader award recipient and featured in the April/May "Women's Issue" of Latino Leaders magazine. In 2010 she was voted as Dallas "Thought Leader" by Latino Leaders magazine. Theresa is proud to have returned to the Girl Scouts as a volunteer, alumna and board member of The Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas. Most recently Theresa was appointed by Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings to serve as a Commissioner of the Dallas Housing Authority.
A San Antonio native and first generation American and college graduate, Theresa, received her B.A. from Cornell University. She is the North Texas chair of the Cornell Alumni Admissions Ambassador Network, where she works to recruit top undergraduate applicants. She is a life-time member of the Cornell University Council and serves on The President's Council of Cornell Women.
She likes to spend her free time with family and friends and currently resides in Dallas with her canine companions, Buster and Stella.
speakerJennifer Dunleavey April 2, 2019 flores, A-H
Jonathan Gilliam, Chief Executive Officer, Momentum Factor
Jonathan Gilliam is known for developing innovative solutions to vexing digital challenges. His firm, Momentum Factor, is a leading provider of global online reputation management, compliance risk monitoring, and digital risk mitigation strategies for mid-market and global companies.In 2016 Jonathan was named by the Austin Business Journal as one of Austin's Best CEOs. The firm was awarded the 2017 DSA Partnership Award by the Direct Selling Association, and was featured in 2018 Best Places to Work and the 2018 Fast 50 Award in the Austin Business Journal. The firm also appeared on the Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Private Companies List in 2017 and 2018.
A published author, accomplished entrepreneur, technologist and sought-after speaker on topics of digital impact, Jonathan's first book, Social Selling: How Direct Selling Companies Can Harness the Power of Connectivity—and Change the World helped shape the direct selling industry conversation about new media and delivered a vision of social media's promise for direct selling companies. More recently, he authored Blastoff! Creating Growth in Direct Selling Companies, featuring lessons of growth from CEOs and influencers from throughout the channel.
A thought-leader on issues of online privacy, security and regulatory risk, he was also named to the Board of Advisors for the Online Reputation & Brand Protection Coalition, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing businesses with education, solutions, and advocacy to help | 4,644 |
Super-adsorbent polyacrylate under swelling in water for passive solar control of building envelope
R. Di Maggio ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-5729-49091,
S. Dirè2,
E. Callone2,
L. Bergamonti3,
P. P. Lottici4,
R. Albatici1,
R. Rigon1 &
N. Ataollahi1
SN Applied Sciences volume 2, Article number: 45 (2019) Cite this article
Super-adsorbent polymers have the capacity to immobilize huge quantities of water in the form of hydrogel, thanks to their configuration. A commercial sodium polyacrylate (PA) was analysed as such and at different water uptakes, indicated through the weight ratios PA:H2O. The hydrogels were prepared using different type of water (tap, distilled and deuterated) and characterized by Infrared and Raman spectroscopic analyses, nuclear magnetic resonance experiments, CHN elemental analysis, measurements of thermal conductivity and diffusivity. All the measurements were done in order to assess applications of PA:H2O gels as Thermal Energy Storage systems for improving thermal performances of building envelope through passive solar walls. It has been observed that the behaviour of the hydrogels depends both on temperature and water content. In certain conditions such as low weight ratios, a spontaneous and quick cooling of the hydrogel could be observed. The curves of heat flow and average specific heat (cp) were determined as a function of temperature in order to investigate the states of water in PA hydrogels. When a few water molecules are present, they are mainly and strongly bonded with carboxylate groups. Increasing the amount of water, greater shells of solvation around ionic groups form and water molecules can even interact with neighbouring non-polar hydrocarbon groups. At very high amount of water molecules, they are much more involved into H-bonds among themselves, rather than with PA, so that water pools form into the links of polymeric network. Bulk-like water can freeze and melt. Whatever the amount of water in the hydrogel, its thermal capacity is higher than dry polymer, because the heat can be absorbed by the continuous desorption of water from polymer to bulk-like water (watergel → waterliquid), which can evaporate as temperature approaches 100 °C (watergel → waterliquid → watervapour).
New laws and regulations have been recently introduced worldwide towards Nearly Zero energy building (NZeb) standard to decrease global energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, while maintaining a comfortable and healthy indoor environment [1]. Passive solutions are more and more considered, preventing the use of energy and the need to inform the users on the proper utilization of increasingly complex equipment, being their behaviour often responsible for the discrepancies between actual and theoretical energy consumption [2]. In this regards, passive thermal energy storage systems (TES) are often proposed because they help to maintain comfort conditions, minimizing the use of mechanical systems and exploiting natural heat energy sources [3], achieving a possible space conditioning energy saving potential of about 10–15% [4]. Among TES, due to the introduction of new materials, new control technologies and new computational and numerical simulation tools, there has been a renaissance of traditional building elements such as passive solar walls [5,6,7,8] and of proposals of different typologies of phase change materials (PCMs), often combined with passive solutions. PCMs are mainly paraffin and binary organic acids as well as inorganic or eutectics, used into building walls, roofs and floors [9,10,11]; they can also be used in passive solar collector-storage wall systems for improving their performance over the whole year [12] or mixed with other materials, mainly mortar [13] and cement [14] to enhance their performance. Furthermore, they can be encapsulated into special containers (tools of different shapes, shells or tubes) [15, 16] and integrated to building devices in order to reduce temperature fluctuations, to keep stable indoor conditions also improving the thermal comfort of occupants [11]. PCMs are considered latent heat storage devices (LH) because they transfer thermal energy while changing from solid to liquid, or liquid to solid, absorbing and releasing heat at a nearly constant temperature [15].
In recent years, there has been a considerable interest in water-swellable "super-adsorbent" polymers able of adsorbing and holding large amounts of water or other fluids, as well as releasing them. These polymers have previously found extensive commercial application as sorbents in personal care products [17, 18], materials for agricultural mulches [19] and matrices for controlled release devices [20].
Adsorbent polymers are most commonly formed by crosslinking polymerizations of hydrophilic acrylate or methacrylate monomers with small quantities of crosslinking agents containing two or more polymerizable double bonds [21]. Some of the commercially available polymers are terpolymers grafted with starch or polyvinyl alcohol [18]. The techniques described in the literature for preparing super-adsorbent polyacrylates (PA) are all aimed at adjusting their properties through the control of the network structure. Primarily, the elastic modulus of swollen gel increases and swelling capacity decreases with increasing cross-link density, which could be very low (about 0.03 mol of cross-linker per litre of dry polymer for diapers) in commercial super-adsorbent polymers. Conventional spectroscopic experiments, such as Fourier Transform InfraRed (FTIR) and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, can help in characterizing the cross-link density and especially in collecting relevant information on the interactions between polymer and water molecules.
More recently, the use of highly adsorbing materials was investigated to dampen indoor RH% variations in museums or historical houses and in new evaporative cooling techniques [22, 23]. In particular, PA exhibits an excellent moisture buffer performance, but also a hysteretic behaviour that may cause it get useless, losing its sorption properties [22, 23]. Sodium polyacrylates can be more promising as adsorbing wet insulation layer in hybrid walls or roof, combining ventilated chambers and water evaporative cavities. Water evaporative systems are considered in direct and indirect cooling systems, because direct evaporation of water into an air stream causes its cooling.
In this regard, the hysteretic behaviour of commercial super-adsorbing PA must be understood in depth. In this paper, the results of a systematic evaluation of the thermal properties of PA-water systems are presented together with spectroscopic (NMR, Raman and FTIR) analyses in order to deeply investigate their physical and chemical interactions. The gels formed between PA and different types of water (tap, distilled and deuterated) were evaluated. This could help in both increasing the comprehension of mechanisms of super-adsorption of sodium polyacrylates and developing new latent or sensitive heat thermal energy storage units for building<|fim_middle|> does not occur at all. In fact, at the beginning water adsorption causes a prompt expansion of the polymer, a tough hydrogel forms and prevents the underlying material to adsorb further water in the absence of any mixing. The properties of the solutions depend on the way molecules arrange themselves and the nature/strength of the forces operating between them [34]. Non-polar parts of PA interact with polar (p) and non-polar (n) groups exclusively by London forces. The fugacity of small non-polar groups in water is greater, because the attractive forces between unlike groups are smaller than those corresponding to an ideal solution. As a consequence, the mixing of PA and water is endothermic and the final volume of the gel exceeds that of the unmixed components. PA is already known as water-lock agent due to its expansion in pipes or concrete.
Increasing the water content, stronger interactions become predominant, such as hydrogen bond, giving association or solvation according if it occurs among identical or unlike molecules, respectively. A regular solution is that when a solute is mixed in a completely random manner with solvent (e.g. ionic salts and water), but this is not the case of PA:H2O systems, in which polymeric molecules are much larger than those of water. Similarly to what Dashnau et al. discussed for water-glycerol mixture [35], when little water is present each strand of PA macromolecule may exist in many different configurations. Solvation is due to intermolecular forces among large dipole moments (pp = polar–polar) or to hydrogen bonding (Hb) existing in solid–solid (ss) or solid–water (sw) interactions. Association phenomena are also due to nonpolar–nonpolar (nn) or nonpolar–polar (np) interactions, either solid–solid (intermolecular (ss) and intramolecular (ssi)) either solid-water (sw). PA macromolecules, surrounded by an increasing number of water molecules, can attain many more np/sw and pp/sw configurations than nn/ss or ssi ones. The presence of even a small number of impurities reduces adsorption because water is engaged in solvation of common ions present in tap water, as well as the attractive forces ssMn+ and wMn+ prevent water from interacting massively and exclusively with PA macromolecules. As a consequence, the entropy excess (in excess of that which would prevail if the solution were ideal) reaches its maximum at lower amount of tap water, whereas the configurational freedom of PA macromolecules can benefit of much more amount of distilled water. Finally, when the water content approaches the PA adsorption limit, the water–water (ww) interactions (pp and Hb) prevail.
In order to confirm the polymer changes upon water adsorption, FTIR experiments were performed on PA swollen in increasing amount of D2O, which was used in place of H2O to reduce peak overlapping in the carbonyl region (Fig. 2). With increasing the amount of D2O, the bands due to humidity decrease and modify in shape, whereas both the strong band assigned to O–D stretching at 2470 cm−1 and O–D bending vibrations at 1205 cm−1 increase in intensity [36]. The reduction in intensity of the water scissoring vibration allows to appreciate the carbonyl stretching band, which is detected at 1696 cm−1 in PA:D2O = 1:1 and at 1710 cm−1 in PA:D2O = 1:6. (Fig. 2, Inset) [25]. Both asymmetric and symmetric stretching vibrations of the carboxylate group show a blue shift, from 1554 to 1568 cm−1 and from 1404 to 1413 cm−1, respectively. Interestingly, the CH2 bending vibration of the polymer backbone appears also modified in the D2O-rich environment.
FTIR spectra of PA powder, and hydrogels with PA:D2O ratio 1:1 and 1:6, respectively. The inset shows the magnification of the 1800–1000 cm−1 region (the spectra are normalised respect to the carboxylate asymmetric stretching band to highlight the C=O stretching vibration)
The effects on the Raman spectrum of the addition of tap water to PA have been investigated (Fig. 3a, b). As expected, main changes are observed for the features related to vibrations of the groups involved in H-bonds (–COO−, –COOH). The features corresponding to the deformation vibrations at 864 cm−1 due to the stretching of C–C bond in C–COO− disappear just for the lowest H2O content, whereas that at 903 cm−1 involving C–COOH increases slightly. It is likely that part of –COO− groups is protonated into the corresponding carboxylic group. Accordingly, also the peak at 1335 cm−1 reduces, becoming the shoulder of a growing peak at 1324 cm−1, attributable to CH close to –COOH groups. Moreover, the intensity of the band at 1416 cm−1 of CH2 groups increases due to np/sw interactions with close water molecules [37]. It is worth noting that this peak increases in a limited way, differently from what occurs with other pp/sw interactions. In fact, with increasing H2O content, the antisymmetric stretching vibration of the carboxylate anion shifts to lower wavenumbers, from 1605 to about 1560 cm−1 because of the formation of hydrogen bonds. The peak associated to the carbonyl stretching at 1701 cm−1 is hidden by the broad and intense band due to the bending water vibrations. It is worth noting that at low PA:H2O ratios it is visible the narrow peak of O2 (due to air trapped in gels and marked by asterisk in Fig. 3a). As it can be observed in Fig. 3b, no significant changes are found in CH2 and CH stretching vibrations of the backbone visible in 2800–3000 cm−1 range. The intensity of the OH stretching bands increases with water content: the peaks at 3231 and 3440 cm−1 shift at lower wavenumber, already after the air moisture adsorption, whereas new peaks appear at about 3550 and 3600 cm−1.
Evolution of Raman spectra of PA with increasing tap water amounts in the range a 200–2000 cm−1 and b 2800–4000 cm−1, respectively
The local environment affects the wavenumber of the OH stretching modes, because water can form with neighbouring molecules mainly H bonds both as proton donor (D) and as proton acceptor (A). According to the model proposed by Sun [38, 39], the OH stretching bands of water in the range 3000–3800 cm−1 of the Raman spectra are the result of the convolution of five sub-bands (e.g. DDAA, DDA, DAA, DA and free-OH), as shown in Fig. 4a. The two sub-bands DDAA and DA are the most intense contributions to the whole band in water solutions [40]. Minor configurations are, in order of importance, DDA, DAA and free-water (free-OH). Therefore, the deconvolution of the spectra in the 2600–3900 cm−1 region into Gaussian peaks, also accounting for the stretching CH2 modes of the PA backbone, let to identify the contribution in the OH region of all the types of water molecules. As an example, a deconvolution is presented in Fig. 4b, normalized with respect to the intensity of CH2 stretching peak of PA powder, whose content is kept constant in the measurements.
a Different contributions to the OH band by deconvolution of the Raman spectrum measured on liquid water; b result of the deconvolution of the Raman spectrum for the ratio PA:H2O = 1:1
This study showed that the positions of each peak follow a regular trend with increasing water content in the gels. In Fig. 5a the Raman shifts of free water, DA and DDAA contributions are shown. It is worth noting that for all the shifts the slope change occurs in the range 1:10–1:20 of PA:H2O weight ratios. Moreover, increasing water content the contribution of the sub-bands DDAA and DA increases relatively to that of free-OH up to PA:H2O = 1:10 (Fig. 5b). On the other hand, in the range from PA:H2O = 1:1 to PA:H2O = 1:5, the wavenumbers of the two sub-bands (DDAA and DA) decrease of more than 30 cm−1, confirming the formation of stronger hydrogen bonds. At higher water content the ratios between bound water and free-OH are nearly constant. It is even more interesting that also the DDAA/DA ratio increases with the same trend and reaches almost 0.9 at PA:H2O = 1:10 and remains nearly constant at higher water content. Hence, it can be concluded that free-OH signals correspond to water molecules not involved in hydrogen bonds, but in interactions with the non-polar parts of PA backbone, whereas DA and DDAA peaks are peculiarities of bound water and bulk-like water, respectively. In the initial PA absorption process, water molecules first disrupt the intermolecular and intramolecular hydrogen bonds, then solvate its polar sites. These water molecules show a restricted mobility, because are strongly bound, uniformly throughout the polymer. Increasing water molecules, they preferentially form secondary or tertiary hydration shells, improving the number of hydrogen bonds, and also interact with non-polar part of the PA macromolecules (nn/sw), even if these can be easily desorbed. As the water further increases and approaches the equilibrium uptake amount, bulk-like water portion becomes more and more predominant.
a Raman shifts of free-OH, DA and DDAA sub-bands and b ratios of the sub-bands intensities (calculated by the areas from the deconvolution of Raman spectra) as a function of water content
Comparing the 13C NMR spectrum of PA powder (Fig. 6a) with that of PA:H2O = 1:0.2 in d8-toluene (Fig. 6b), it can be noted that in the latter three weak and broad new signals appear, shifted downfield by 2 ppm due to the addition of water, which modifies the surroundings of the same functional groups. Moreover, two even broader peaks can be distinguished at 184 and 45.8 ppm. The former corresponds to a carboxylate functional group, and the latter to the neighbouring methine carbon. Accordingly, these two peaks represent the functional groups belonging to the polymer fraction that directly interacts with water. When the polymer is swollen in a very low amount of heavy water (PA:D2O = 1:0.1, Fig. 6c), taking special care in mixing the two phases, the 13C NMR spectrum shows the peaks due to the hydrated fraction of the acrylate and a further increase of D2O (PA:D2O = 1:1, Fig. 6d) just reduces their broadening. As already observed for FTIR spectra (Fig. 2), the polymer-liquid interactions appear different using H2O and D2O, probably due to the different strength of both van der Waals forces and H-bonding.
13C NMR spectra of: a PA powder; b PA:H2O = 1:0.2; c PA:D2O = 1:0.1; d PA:D2O = 1:1. Peaks marked with * are due to the solvent, d8-toluene
Moreover, sample PA:H2O = 1:0.2 has been also studied with 13C solid state NMR (Fig. 7). At the solid-state, PA is characterized by the O–C=O asymmetric peak at 183 ppm and a complex resonance in the range 55–24 ppm resulting from the convolution of the peaks due to CH and CH2 carbon atoms of the polymer backbone. By comparison with the liquid spectrum (Fig. 1c), the peaks at 45.0 and 38.8 ppm are assigned to CH and CH2 of the chain, whereas the left shoulder at 50.6 ppm is due to branched quaternary sites (Cq). The peaks at 34.7 ppm can be attributed to the CH2 group adjacent to the methine carbon (CH2v). The results of the aliphatic region profile fitting analysis are summarized in Table 2.
13C CPMAS of PA powder and PA:H2O = 1:0.2
Table 2 Profile fitting results of the aliphatic region: line widths (LW) and relative amounts (A%) calculated form the 13C CPMAS spectra
According to the above assignments the degree of branching, calculated as DB% = ACq*100/(ACq + \({\text{A}_{{\text{CH}_2}}}),\) is about 12%, meaning the crosslinking degree is quite high [41].
Mixing PA with water produces a marked change in the spectrum, increasing both the intensity and the sharpening of –CH and –COO− peaks with respect to the others. The comparison of the linewidths in Table 1 confirms that the CH peak experiences the highest sharpening upon water addition, due to the effect on the nearest neighbour carboxylate group. As a consequence, also the peaks of methylene groups linked to the methine carbons (CH2v) result sharper.
Focusing on the carboxylic region (Fig. 7), it can be noticed that the peak is not symmetric, but it clearly results from the overlapping of a sharp peak at 184 ppm, attributable to the carboxylate, and a shoulder at 180 ppm, due to the –COOH, which are in ratio 72:28 according to the quantitative MAS experiment (not shown) [42]. The effect of the water addition is also pointed out by both the 1-ppm upfield shift and the intensity increase of the main component of the C=O resonance at 184 ppm.
The CPMAS experiment is very sensitive to the proton environment that surrounds a specific carbon, as already noticed. Thus, a substitution of Na+ with water molecules in the proximity of an acrylate function will result in a significant increase of the related carbon resonance. As a matter of facts, according to the profile fitting of the C=O resonance, the ratio COO−:COOH equal to 2:1 reaches the value 3:1 upon water addition. The reported signal changes suggest that the environment experienced by carboxylate and carboxylic groups is different because different is the strength of the interactions with water. The interaction of water with carboxylate anions via ion–dipole or more effective Hb results in a close proximity of H2O molecules and favours the cross polarization from water hydrogen to the closer carbon, leading to the marked intensity increase of the carboxylate component of the peak. This explains also the appearance of the carboxylate peak detected in PA liquid NMR spectrum in d8-toluene upon water addition (Fig. 6b).
The effect of the PA-water interaction can be better evaluated by studying the water proton NMR spin–spin relaxation times (t2), which are usually measured to describe the water molecule dynamics in a specific environment [43]. To this aim, the sample PA in d-8 toluene with PA:H2O = 1:0.2 was considered, since its proton spectrum (not shown) shows a H2O peak well separated from the other resonances. The spin–spin relaxation curve of the water peak can be excellently fitted with two exponential decay components, resulting in two t2 values of 39 ± 2 ms accounting for about 68% and 113 ± 7 ms accounting for the 32% of water molecules. In a very appreciable work, Traore et al. [43] found "three fractions" of waters in hydrated collagen characterized by different relaxation times that are related to the strength of the interaction with collagen chains. Following their discussion, in the present case it is possible to tentatively attribute the short t2 to water molecules strongly bound to polar site on polymer and the long one to more mobile bound and bulk-like water, which is the minority in the case of low water content.
The existence of the different populations of water molecules with different interaction strength can be discussed also through thermal analysis. The calorimetric and the specific heat (cp) curves of the hydrogels are shown in Fig. 8a, b as a function of temperature and water content. As discussed above, water molecules are predominately as bulk-like decreasing the PA:H2O ratio, so that two endothermic peaks of melting and evaporation of water are visible in heat flow curves. DSC curves exhibit a melting peak with a shoulder at low temperature, as a consequence of the crystallization of different types (bound and bulk-like) of water. Bulk-like water can freeze and melt. However, only the evaporation peak is visible in DSC curve of sample PA:H2O = 1:0.5, suggesting that the little water present is strongly linked to the polar groups of polymer. In general, the peaks shape and position are dependent on the amount of hydrogel used for the measurements, which was high, about 50 mg, for all of them. The freezing peaks are at temperature from 5 to 15 °C lower than that of pure water, whereas the samples with the lowest amount of water do not show freezing peak at all, but a glass transition. The calorimetric curves of gels prepared with D2O and distilled water are almost overlapping to those of the corresponding gels with tap water.
a Calorimetric curves and b cp of dry PA and gels obtained mixing PA and increasing amount of tap water
Table 3 reports the mass losses and the heats calculated for each of the two peaks. First of all, at low water content the whole mass loss is greater than the added water, thus also organic volatile species are supposed to be released, in agreement with what already discussed. Moreover, it is worth noting the fusion heat is low with respect pure water. This confirms the existence of differently bound water molecules and just a part of them (bulk-like) can crystallize. Finally, the melting and evaporation heats increase with water content, but reach an equilibrium value (Table 3), much faster with tap water, more slowly with deuterated water and even more with distilled water. Finally, the samples prepared with tap water absorb the greatest heat for melting and the lowest for evaporation.
Table 3 Mass losses and enthalpy values measured during DSC runs for hydrogel with increasing water content
Analogously, in cp curves (Fig. 8b), the peaks of heat absorption corresponding to melting and evaporation of water are observed: they broaden and shift varying the water content. It is worth noting that the maximum value of thermal capacity occurs for PA:H2O = 1:10 at about 12 °C. However, above 0 °C the thermal capacity of the gels is always greater than the dry PA powder. The heat can be absorbed and transferred in different ways: mainly vibrational in a gel (organic glass having very low viscosity), also rotational and translational in a liquid. When the thermal energy input into the gel lets all the vibrational states to maximum amplitude, each additional heat supplied must be accommodated differently. Rotational and translational degrees of freedom become available by releasing water. Thus, a desorption phenomenon (water from gel state to liquid state, watergel → waterliquid) occurs. At low amount of water, very few molecules are available for desorption, given that the most are mainly and strongly bonded with ionic (carboxylate) groups. Increasing the amount of water in the gels, greater shells of solvation around ionic groups form and water molecules can even interact with neighbouring methine. These molecules could be easily desorbed. However, when gels approach the adsorption limit, water molecules are much more involved into H-bonds among themselves, rather than with PA, so that water pools (bulk-like water) form into the links of polymeric network. Further increasing the temperature, the heat input is so high that can be absorbed only by a continuous water desorption from the polymer to bulk-like water (watergel → waterliquid), which can evaporate as the temperature approaches 100 °C (watergel → waterliquid → watervapour). Basically, the measured specific thermal capacity would be a function of the enthalpies of the liquid water and the gel phase and of their relative abundance with respect to the total mass, including the polyacrylate which would have a semi-passive role. In fact, although apparently it does nothing, actually it contributes to establishing what is the specific reference enthalpy of the gel phase. When a system consists of a substrate (PA) and two interacting phases, f (water) and g (gel) which exchange matter conserving total enthalpy, its temperature is affected according to the following equation:
$$c_{p} \left( {} \right) = - \left( {h^{f} \left( {} \right) - h^{g} \left( {} \right)} \right)^{{\frac{{d\theta^{f} }}{dT}}}$$
where h() is the enthalpy of each phase f and g, θ is the mass fraction. The equation needs to be improved taking into account the existence of different types of water within the gels and validated by experimental data.
In a closed vessel in order to avoid evaporation, cyclic DSC tests were performed on gel samples with a heating rate of 5 °C/min, cooled and heated again in a fixed temperature range. As an example, the curve of heat flow versus time, during the test with PA:H2O = 1:1 between 24 and 34 °C, is shown in Fig. 9. This suggests that, if the water remains confined, the material is able to absorb and release heat, again and again. Accordingly, a heat storage device, consisting of a closed circuit containing a certain amount of gel, can be designed and work cyclically in passive solar walls, for reducing energy consumption without reducing the comfort of buildings.
Heat flow and Temperature versus time during a cyclic DSC test performed on PA:H2O = 1:1 (heating rate = 5 °C/min)
A material has to show a good balance between thermal capacity, conductivity and diffusivity, in order to be suitable as heat-storing element for passive solar-heating walls or as thermal energy storage unit. The two cases are more or less the same, although in the first one constraints, such as a thermal diffusion time = 12 h and wall thickness, need to be considered in calculating sizes and costs. At this regard, a high capacity is useless without a good heat transfer during charge/discharge cycle. Moreover, \(\left( {\kappa C_{p} \rho } \right)^{{ - \frac{1}{2}}} \quad {\text{or}}\quad \frac{\kappa }{\sqrt a }\) must be maximized, where κ = thermal conductivity, Cp = specific heat, a = thermal diffusivity and ρ = density [44]. Some values of conductivity and diffusivity were obtained at 22 °C through the so-called Transient Plane Source (Hot Disk) measurement and are shown in Table 4. Actually, several tests on different gel states have been performed, showing that the data are critically dependent on the measurement conditions beside on the water content. As a matter of facts, the conductivity of the tablet is higher than that of powder and lower than that of the gel. It is worth noting that the values of \(\left( {\kappa C_{p} \rho } \right)^{{ - \frac{1}{2}}} \quad {\text{or}}\quad \frac{\kappa }{\sqrt a }\) depend on water content and sample compactness.
Table 4 Thermal conductivity and diffusivity of three samples PA:H2O
In order to design passive solar-heating walls, a calculation program is needed, performing the energy balance of a panel according to the solar radiation received and the actual weather conditions. The program should consider the phase transitions that occur and the material peculiarities. A model of the relation between the heat exchange among the involved phases and temperature has to be developed and able to fit the experimental data.
A commercial sodium polyacrylate (PA), usually used as super-adsorbent polymer, was analysed at different PA:H2O weight ratios and prepared using different types of water (tap, distilled and deuterated). A spontaneous cooling can be observed in the hydrogel due to endothermal mixing of water molecules with non-polar parts of polymer. For each gel, the curves of heat flow and specific heat (cp) have been determined as a function of temperature and water content. The structural analysis based on NMR, FTIR and Raman results has been related to the different interactions that water molecules establish with polar and non-polar groups on PA. All the results underline that the behaviour of the polymer is strongly dependent on both temperature and water content. At low amount of water, molecules are mainly and strongly bonded with carboxylate groups. Increasing the water amount, greater shells of solvation around ionic groups form and water molecules can even interact with neighbouring non-polar hydrocarbon groups. Further increasing of water, molecules are much more involved into H-bonds among themselves, rather than with PA, so that bulk-like water pools form into the links of polymeric network. Bulk-like water can freeze and melt. However, a continuous desorption phenomenon (watergel → waterliquid) occurs and, increasing temperature, the heat input is so high that water evaporates (watergel → waterliquid → watervapour). Thus, one of the most important results is that PA hydrogels can be considered in passive solar cooling of buildings both at low and high temperature, exploiting desorption and evaporation, respectively. It has been observed that heat absorption/desorption could occur cyclically in a hydrogel with a low content of water is in a sealed vessel, in a range of temperature of interest for designing appropriately passive solar walls.
Further development is the proper design of the capsule/vessel system where gels will be stored, the characteristics and shape of the material for a capsule/vessel able to guarantee the gel behaviour with water over time. Soon after, laboratory analysis of in-scale products as well as of full-scale building elements in climatic chamber first, and on test cell in real boundary conditions afterwards, are necessary in order to define operational limits and the best position in the building envelope to fully exploit their behaviour (outside, inside, in the middle of walls and/or roofs). Finally, simple and effective instructions should be provided to designers along with a tool to properly size the PA-PCM system depending on the local climate, on the building use and on the construction technology and materials.
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Arch. P. Marcon and Mrs. W. Vaona are acknowledged for their suggestions.
Funding was provided by Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Università e della Ricerca.
Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, University of Trento, Via Mesiano 77, 38123, Trento, Italy
R. Di Maggio
, R. Albatici
, R. Rigon
& N. Ataollahi
"Klaus Müller" Magnetic Resonance Lab, Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Trento, Via Sommarive 9, 38123, Trento, Italy
S. Dirè
& E. Callone
Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 17/A, 43124, Parma, Italy
L. Bergamonti
Department of Mathematical, Physical and Computer Sciences, University of Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 7/A, 43124, Parma, Italy
P. P. Lottici
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Correspondence to R. Di Maggio.
On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.
Di Maggio, R., Dirè, S., Callone, E. et al. Super-adsorbent polyacrylate under swelling in water for passive solar control of building envelope. SN Appl. Sci. 2, 45 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42452-019-1814-4
Super-adsorbent polymers
Water-polymer interactions
Hydrogels thermal properties
Passive solar walls
1. Chemistry (general) | envelope.
Experimental part
A single batch of a commercial sodium polyacrylate (PA) has been used for all the experiments. The elemental content analysis was carried out by using an elementary analyzer CHN/S LECO. The elemental analysis of C, H and, by difference, O of the dry powder is compatible with the polyacrylic nature of the material. The apparent density (tap density) of the PA powder is 0.73 ± 0.02 g/ml. This was assessed using precision graded containers, filling and compacting the powder until no more slump of powder was observed. Except when specified, the polymer has not been dried, as its hygroscopicity would have led to the absorption of a quantity of water that could not be calculated in advance.
The hydrogels were obtained by mixing the PA powder with different types of water (tap water, distilled or deuterated) and labeled according to the weight ratio (PA:H2O(tap), PA:H2O(distilled) and PA:D2O), which varies between 1:0 and 1:100. The average specific heat (cp) and calorimetric curves of both the powder as such and the gels were determined as a function of the temperature by using a DSC 92 SETARAM instrument (accuracy 0.1 mW).
The conductivity and the thermal diffusivity (TPS 2500S HotDisk) were measured on three PA forms: powder, tablet (obtained by pressing 1.3 g of the powder in a mold of 0.9 cm in diameter up to 4 tons) and gel PA:H2O(tap) = 1:10 at 22 °C.
Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectra were collected in Attenuated Total Reflection (ATR) mode with a Varian Excalibur 4100 (Varian Inc, Palo Alto, CA, USA) in the range 4000–550 cm−1 (32 scans, 2 cm−1 resolution).
Raman spectra were recorded in backscattering geometry with a Horiba–Jobin–Yvon LabRam micro-spectrometer (300 mm focal length, 1800 grooves/mm holographic grating, thermoelectrically cooled 1024 × 256 CCD) equipped with an Olympus BX40 microscope, with excitation at 473.1 nm of a doubled Nd:YAG solid state laser. Rayleigh radiation was blocked by an edge filter. The spectral resolution was about 1.5 cm−1. Spectra were collected using an ultra-long working distance × 50 microscope objective. Typical exposures were 10–60 s, with 5–9 repetitions. The data analysis was performed by LabSpec® software. Data processing was carried out by normalizing spectra to the integrated intensity of CH stretching bands.
NMR analyses were carried out with a Bruker 400WB spectrometer (Bruker Biospin, Billerica, MA, USA) operating at a proton frequency of 400.13 MHz. Solid state NMR spectra were acquired with CP pulse sequences under the following conditions: 13C frequency: 100.48 MHz, π/2 pulse 4.4 μs, decoupling length 5.9 µs, recycle delay: 4 s, 512 scans, contact time 0.5 ms. The contact time has been optimized in order to better evaluate the effect of PA interaction with water and to reduce the spin diffusion. The hydrogels were prepared by adding small amounts of water, for instrumental safety reasons. Samples were packed in 4 mm zirconia rotor and spun at 9 kHz under air flow. Adamantane was used as external secondary reference. The hydrated PA samples were analysed also with proton decoupled 13C liquid NMR (Bruker 400 Avance WB) equipped with BBO 5 mm probe, with the following conditions: π/4 7.2 μs, recycle delay 9 s, 2 k scans. Moreover, 1H CPMG (Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill) pulse sequence [24] was used for t2 measurements (i.e. spin–spin relaxation times) with π/2 pulse 5.4 μs, a 10 ms inter-pulse delay and 8 scans for 16 points. The hydrogels were prepared with selected PA:D2O ratios and in some cases were diluted in d8-toluene and H2O and analysed in 5 mm glass tubes.
PA powder
The FT-IR spectrum of the PA powder (Fig. 1a) shows a strong band around 3371 cm−1 due to the stretching vibration of the hydroxyl groups from adsorbed water. The broad intense band centred at 1660 cm−1 is dominated by the H2O scissoring vibration, which hides the C=O stretching band of the carboxylic group. The two bands at 1554 and 1404 cm−1 correspond, respectively, to the asymmetrical and symmetrical stretching vibrations of the carboxylate anion (–COO−) [25,26,27]. The bands at 2945, 1448 and 1325 cm−1 are due to the aliphatic backbones (CH2 and CH stretching and bending vibrations). The broad band centred at 2486 cm−1 could be attributed to impurities of the commercial polyacrylate, since it disappears from the spectrum after washing the sample with toluene.
FT-IR (a), Raman (b), and proton decoupled 13C NMR (c) spectra of PA powder. In the FT-IR spectrum the peaks at 2945, 1660, 1554, 1448 and 1404 cm−1 are indicated by grey lines. The NMR spectrum is recorded in d8-toluene and peaks marked with stars (*) are due to the solvent
The Raman spectrum of dried PA powder (Fig. 1b) shows at 3231 and 3440 cm−1 the bands due to the OH stretching modes involved in strong and weak H-bonds, respectively. In the range 2800 - 3000 cm−1, very strong peaks are present, due to CH2 and CH stretching vibrations of PA backbone. The characteristic feature of the carbonyl stretching belonging to the carboxylic group is found at 1701 cm−1, whereas stretching vibrations of the carboxylate group (–COO−) are at 1605 cm−1. The peak due to CH2 deformations is at 1463 cm−1. The deformation of CH2 groups of the polyacrylate backbone shows a peak at 1416 cm−1, whereas that of CH groups bound to a carbonyl is at 1335 cm−1 [28]. The peaks at 903 and 864 cm−1 are attributable to the C–COOH (with a contribution of the OH out of plane bending) and C–COO− stretching, respectively [29].
PA was also characterised by liquid NMR, although it is rather insoluble in common deuterated solvents: upon solvent adding a suspension was formed and poured into an NMR tube. Thus, the 13C NMR spectrum recorded in d8-toluene and shown in Fig. 1c is due only to the soluble fraction [30]. Notwithstanding, the high-field resonances in PA spectrum, assigned to methylene (30.7 ppm) and methine (35.4 ppm) carbons, respectively and the peak at 162 ppm, assigned to C=O functions [31] confirm the polyacrylate structure, in agreement with FT-IR and Raman data.
Three glass transitions are observed in the DSC curve of PA powder up 600 °C (here not shown): a first minor at about 30 °C; the most relevant between 80 and 100 °C and a third at about 220 °C. The two minor glass transitions are due to lateral chain or minor movements. A pronounced height of step indicates that the main chains are involved in glass transition, while the width of the step deals with homogeneity of the material, the larger the less homogeneous. This characterization appears useful in order to identify any material changes in PA supplies. In fact, polyacrylates synthesized upon same condition should show the same DSC pattern. It should be noted for a complete information that, at the end of each DSC test up to increasing maximum temperatures, a loss of mass was detected and shown in Table 1. That attributable to the evaporation of previously adsorbed humidity and to a small extent of volatile organic impurities, as suggested by FT-IR results, accounts for about 7%. At temperatures above 200 °C, polyacrylate is supposed to depolymerise through a pyrolytic mechanism, analogously to what is already known in the literature [32, 33].
Table 1 PA mass losses measured after DSC tests at different maximum temperature with heating rate of 10 °C/min under a nitrogen atmosphere
PA hydrogels
PA adsorbs distilled and tap water about 1000 and 300 times its weight, respectively, to form a quasi-liquid hydrogel at 21 °C and R.H. 30%. In both the cases, the adsorption was not homogeneous in the absence of mechanical mixing. During the step-by-step adsorption measurement, it has been observed a spontaneous cooling of the gel from 21 to 9 °C, but increasing both mixing speed and water, the phenomenon is progressively reduced, until it | 2,158 |
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You should organize and optimize your list for online marketing. The best way to do this is to invest in a service like Aweber. Aweber is an email software company in the cloud that you can use to organize your list and send your marketing material to your people. I'll explain more later.
The most widely used and successful online marketing system used today goes like this: first you have to have a website which will be the hub of your strategy. The most effective websites talk about their prospects needs, wants and problems first and foremost. Talking about yourself, your mission statement<|fim_middle|> you on top of mind and engages readers.
Blogging is a way to brand yourself as an authority and nurture the prospects on your email list. Include a brief self-promotional offer in each blog. Occasionally email a standalone offer advertising your services.
You'll find some readers will unsubscribe when they get your promotion. Don't take this as a loss. It's better not to have them on your list. They would never buy your services in the first place.
You can also promote your freebie in the real world when networking or after giving a speech.
The beautiful thing about the system is it makes you an instant expert. It's an easy and effective way to build long-term relationships. It pre-sells prospects, so closing is easier. It is inexpensive, much less than land mail or advertising in newspapers or magazines. You also have the freedom to market from anywhere you want.
What they can expect from doing a financial review with you.
Follow these steps repeatedly, rinse and repeat. The more often you do it, the more automated it becomes and you can delegate some of the steps.
Have you been doing online marketing to grow your practice? Please share some of your ideas.
And get my special guide "How to Get High Net Worth Clients". https://www.stanmann.com/special-report. | , how good you are, and how you do what you do is on the back burner. You have to show you understand and can help your target market.
The next thing is to have an enticing, valuable resource for prospects. This could be an article, e-book, video or someting else. You give away this valuable information free in exchange for their name and email address. This gives you permission to market to them. How?
Periodically, email them more valuable information along with your promotional offers. For instance, after explaining the best age to apply for Social Security, you might invite them to your webinar, or offer a free second opinion of their portfolio.
The ultimate goal is to have a sales meeting with the prospect.
Usually before a prospect is willing to have such a meeting, you need to nurture him/her. So you email articles packed with useful information that position you as a helpful expert. Your aim is to get people to know, like and trust you.
Therefore, one of the most important items on your website is this free offer I've been talking about. This offer is privately referred to as "the freebie," or "lead magnet." Display your freebie prominently on your website; usually in the upper right-hand corner. Craft an enticing title.
Notice the difference between the first three offers and the second three? The first set offers something of value to the prospect and piques his curiosity. There's nothing enticing about these last three, no enticing reason to get it.
Should You Use a Pop-Up?
A pop-up for your freebie will significantly increase your sign-ups. I used to resist using them, because I find them annoying, but they produce results. Most people are used to them and are forgiving.
You should look for creative places to put your sign-up form. A special navigation tab called "Free Stuff" works well. This tab will open up to a page that explains the value of your freebie in more detail and increases conversions.
The bottom of your blog is another good place for you to put your sign-up form. They read your blog and if they like it, they are inclined to want more.
Speaking of blogging, regular blogs that you post on your website and then send out as an e-zine is an essential part of this system. You need to do this at least monthly, every other week is better, and weekly is best. This keeps | 484 |
Your Logo Speaks Volumes About Your Company
June 2, 2017 Urban Ponder Writing Team
Our business logo is typically something we design and forget. Perhaps we contact a freelancer to do the work for us or get in touch with an outsourcing company. Maybe you've put a little extra work into it because you know how important logo design is, but you aren't a hundred percent sure how colours work or how they<|fim_middle|> It)
Starting With Stocks: How To Prepare Yourself → | can affect the overall image of your brand.
There's a lot of science that goes on behind the scenes of every successful logo we see. Colours are known to stimulate the mind and we feel differently depending on what colours we see. For instance, blue colours are known as calm, caring and strong. Some well-known blue logos are the Facebook logo, Ford and Visa. Red is known as an energetic and passionate colour, such as the Coca-Cola and Red Bull logos.
It's not just about the colours either. The fonts that are used are also indicative of what the brand represents. For example, the infamous FedEx logo has tight spacing which actually reveals an arrow between the E and the x. This subtle message indicates that FedEx has a punctual and speedy delivery service. The Amazon logo also has an arrow underneath it, but not many people realise that it's pointing from A to Z, indicating that Amazon sells essentially everything that you could think of. The arrow is also curved to look like a smile, representing customer satisfaction and happiness.
Logos can be expensive
Well-known logos can be incredibly expensive. It has been estimated that the new Pepsi logo cost around $1 million, while the new BBC logo cost approximately $1.8 million. Some logos, such as the Microsoft one, was designed in-house but has been estimated to cost anywhere from $250-500,000. As expensive as these sound, you probably won't need to pay as much for something if you're a small startup without much of a history.
Logos can be cheaper as well. For example, the iconic Twitter bird was originally bought for $15 from a stock photo Website. If it was bought from a logo design agency, it would've cost around $5000. You can also get cheaper logos by looking at an outsourcing service like Yes Open Logo Design. Quality is always guaranteed and you also don't need to worry so much about giving them guidelines. Professional logo designers will go through the choices with you and also discuss your brand to make you the perfect logo.
A logo is the key to brand recognition
As you can tell, a lot goes into logo design. Sometimes it happens by accident, sometimes it's a stroke of genius design, and other times it's bought with a lot of money. Regardless of how you come across your logo, designing one that speaks volumes about your company is the key to brand recognition. If you neglect your logo, then your business will be just as forgettable as the logo you put no time into. Put your logo a higher priority and give it the love it deserves.
← Why Your Business Is Struggling (And How To Fix | 543 |
Acer Labs unveils Pentium 4 DDR chip set
Ashlee Vance (Computerworld)
Acer Laboratories Inc. (ALi) unveiled a new chipset for Intel Corp.'s Pentium 4 processor Monday that uses DDR SDRAM, a move that should help lower costs for computers using that type of high-speed memory, one industry analyst said.
ALi has begun offering samples of its Aladdin-P4 chip set to manufacturing customers, the company announced. ALi plans to begin volume production of the chip<|fim_middle|> supporting the standard earlier this year. Intel has said that Via needs a license to make the product and has hinted at possible legal action against the Taiwanese firm. | set in October, priced at US$31 each in large quantities, according to a statement.
ALi joins Taiwan's Via technologies Inc. to become the second provider of DDR SDRAM (Double Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory) chipsets for the Pentium 4, a move which should help lower the price of some Pentium 4 PCs for end users, according to Martin Reynolds, a research fellow with analyst firm Gartner Inc.
Until recently, computer makers had no choice but to use Rambus Inc.'s more expensive Rambus DRAM chips in their Pentium 4 PCs, because Intel's latest processor supported nothing else. DDR SDRAM is not only cheaper than Rambus DRAM; it is also faster than the SDRAM memory type used in most mainstream PCs today, offering data throughput speeds of as high as 2.1G bytes per second.
Having two vendors in the market providing DDR chip sets for the Pentium 4 should boost competition and help drive down the cost of components used to build Pentium 4 computers, Reynolds said.
"ALi is a large manufacturer that will help drive costs down," Reynolds said. "The more low cost chip sets there are, the faster the P4 will come to market."
Intel has said it will introduce its own DDR chipset for the Pentium 4 early next year. ALi typically charges manufacturers less for its components than Intel, Reynolds said. "Intel is the premium manufacturer, and they charge a premium price," he said.
Either way, the arrival of additional suppliers of DDR chip sets could further help further reduce prices. Ahead of Intel, the third supplier of DDR is likely to be Silicon Integrated Systems Corp. (SIS), which is also licensed to produce DDR chip sets and has set late August as a launch date for its chip.
Using DDR memory with the Pentium 4 has been a controversial topic, particularly since Via launched its Apollo P4X266 chip set | 402 |
Ancient Baobab trees in Southern Africa are dying. Scientists blame climate change
Driving beyond South Africa's Limpopo province, into the village of Chivadini, people and grassland are scar...
Posted: Dec 31, 2018 11:11 PM
Updated: Dec 31, 2018 11:11 PM
Driving beyond South Africa's Limpopo province, into the village of Chivadini, people and grassland are scarce. But the oldest living organisms in Africa -- baobab trees -- are abundant.
These spectral behemoths blend into the Saharan countryside and have been an icon of the African savannah since millennia.
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Deaths and fatalities
As the oldest seed producing trees in the world, their resilience -- some are more than 2,000 years old -- have earned them many names in myths, legends and folklore.
The baobab has been called the tree of life, the monkey bread tree and the upside down tree -- owing to its fat trunk with roots meandering toward the sky.
But these strange looking giants are dying.
Some of the oldest and biggest baobab trees in southern Africa have died recently, and it may be due to climate change, according to a 2018 study published in the journal Nature Plants.
Some of the trees located in Zimbabwe, Namibia, South Africa, Botswana and Zambia dated back to the times of the ancient Greeks.
Baobabs have endured harsher conditions
Researchers found that nine of the oldest 13 baobab trees and five of the six biggest ones have partially or completely died in the past 12 years.
The baobab tree, can live to be 3,000 years old, and can grow as wide as the length of a bus, according to the website of Kruger National Park in South Africa.
Given their age, the trees have withstood conditions often harsher than what they faced today.
"Over the last 1,000 years in Southern Africa the baobabs have endured way worse droughts than we're enduring, and they've had much wetter periods," said Stephan Woodborne.
In Johannesburg, where he is senior scientist at iThemba labs, Woodborne uses accelerator mass spectrometry, a form of radiocarbon dating, to determine the ages of these trees.
"Of the oldest trees that we've looked at in Southern Africa, the three trees that are older than 2,000 years, in the last 10 years, they've all died. Of the 11 trees that are in that age 1,000 to 2,000 years, six of them have died," he said.
"When you look at the locations where these millennial and very large baobabs have died, they're all located in Southern Africa. It's not baobabs in general. It's only baobabs that are at the southern margin," said Woodborne.
"We suspect that the demise of monumental baobabs may be associated at least in part with significant modifications of climate conditions that affect southern Africa in particular. However, further research is necessary to support or refute this supposition," the authors of the 2018 report wrote.
Thousand-year-old tree comes crashing down
Baobabs often have hollow trunks. In the past humans have used their massive internal cavities as storage houses, prisons -- even drinking dens.
For more than two decades, the Sunland baobab in South Africa was a popular attraction where tourists could order a glass of wine from a bar built inside the tree's more than 1,000-year-old hollow trunk.
That is until last year when the tree split, following earlier breaks in 2016.
"It was 4 o'clock in the morning and we all woke up thinking a jumbo jet had landed in the garden. A few minutes later, 10 minutes later, then the big crash happened," recalled Heather van Heerden, who owned the bar inside Sunland baobab and on whose farm the tree stood.
"When the tree collapsed, I just felt absolutely devastated and so sad, like a part of my soul<|fim_middle|> bed in here when we hollowed out the inside," said Van Heerden.
The Panke tree, which was the oldest of the dying trees, lived for 2,500 years until it died in 2011.
In Limpopo, the Glencoe baobab, was thought to be the largest living baobab. Its gargantuan trunk measured more than 154 feet until it split in 2009.
It's still uncertain what is driving the baobab deaths. But Woodborne believes that climate change is the major culprit.
"When it comes to explaining exactly what is killing the baobabs ... my suspicion is that we're dealing with one of the fastest warming areas on the earth and the combination of drier conditions with hotter conditions is something that the baobabs are not coping with. That's something that we will be testing in the future," he said.
An ideal species to use for climate research
Woodborne started to carbon date baobab trees in 2010. With lifespans stretching over a millennia, he realized that baobabs were an ideal species to use for climate research.
While the age of most fallen trees can be determined by counting the number of rings in the stem, baobabs do not regularly produce tree rings and when they do the rings are too faint to count.
"Sometimes we've seen trees that would lay down six rings in a year and sometimes the trees don't lay down rings for many years, for decades," explained Woodborne.
The trees produce new stems in a ring-shaped pattern that often fuse together over time creating their hollow trunks. Carbon dating has been the only way to accurately determine their age.
Woodborne says that what's interesting about the Sunland tree is that the surviving stem is the oldest part of the tree, about 1,100 years old, while the collapsed stem is 300 years younger.
Botswana's Chapman's Baobab fell to the ground in 2016 and erratic weather conditions are thought to be responsible for its demise. It had long served as a sight of marvel for explorers -- some notable -- including the 19th century British missionary David Livingstone.
Adrian Patrut, one of authors of the 2018 study on the dying baobabs, found that the tree had just 40% water in its stems, compared to between 70% and 80% for healthy baobabs.
The rainy season that usually starts in September 2015 didn't begin until February 2016. And by then it was too late for the tree.
'The baobab guardians'
But today local women are planting new seeds in South Africa to ensure the baobab's survival. Sarah Venter, is an ecologist who embarked on a five-year study of baobabs.
During this time she realized that baobab seedlings had little chance of survival against goats in the area who eat the seeds before they have time to germinate. So she started a program called "the baobab guardians."
There are now guardians in several villages in the Venda region of South Africa since 2014. "I'll take a GPS coordinate of the seedling as we plant it," Venter said.
The goal is to have 50 baobab trees through the project that will live for more than a thousand years.
"When the women protect their seedlings from goats, they're very inventive about what they do. Some have used bricks and some use sticks. Some use knitting and wire," she said.
The baobab tree is revered in Africa, having sustained locals for centuries, so its survival is important to people who live there. Medicinal compounds are extracted from its leaves, while the fruit -- rich in vitamin C -- is used for nourishment and the seeds yield oil.
"A tree in Tshivenda (the language spoken in Southern Africa) has got the prefix that is similar to the prefix of a human being: 'Mutu' the human being, 'muree,' a tree," community worker, Muanalo Dyer explained. "It means it also has got the same value as people."
Read more from Inside Africa
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Ancient tools found in North Africa could 'rewrite human origin story'
Trump: 'I don't believe' climate change report by 300 scientists and experts
The best of ancient Egypt
Donald Trump will blame anything but climate change for the California wildfires | had collapsed too."
Before its partial collapse, the Mooketsi baobab, as it is also known, was thought to be the biggest baobab in Africa.
In 1993, when Van Heerden and her husband cleared out the hollow center of the tree, they removed compost buildup to uncover the floor about a meter below ground level.
In the process they found the remains of early Dutch settlers and evidence of bushmen.
"There was a bushman | 97 |
HomeAbout UsPublic<|fim_middle|>
Categories: Car Show Family Friendly Tags: car show ferrari | ations
Keep up-to-date on patient and donor stories, funding initiatives and upcoming events supporting Connecticut Children's. We are pleased to showcase our quarterly Partners in Caring Newsletter as well as stewardship publications. To stay informed, sign-up to receive email from Connecticut Children's.
Partners in Caring
Read on to learn more about the many programs and services the hospital provides and about our generous friends and donors who help make it happen.
Medical Center Publications
This publication features an in-depth look at the current state of our community, including the impact that poverty, education, parental engagement, and the early detection of developmental concerns can have on a child's overall development.
Upcoming Event w/Image
HuskyTHON Feb 22
Greer Field House
UCONN-Storrs, CT
HuskyTHON
QTHON Mar 21
QTHON
ALL FEATURED EVENTS
February – June 2020 Feb – Jun 2020
ZumbaTHON @ Hugh S. Greer Field House - UConn
Let Zumba Fitness be Your Stress Reliever
ZumbaTHON is the best way to get prepared for HuskyTHON's 18-hour dance marathon! It's a 3-hour Zumba Fitness dance party, and all for a great cause! On February 8th, from 1 pm to 4 pm, your favorite UConn Bodywise instructors will be rockin' the UConn Field House with your favorite dance styles: Salsa, Merengue, Samba, Cumbia, Reggaeton, Hip-hop, Pop, Bollywood, and more!
ZumbaTHON is open to anyone — not just UConn students!
Bring your friends, family, colleagues, classmates, teammates, coworkers… whomever! Stay as long as you'd like — every instructor will be teaching during every hour, so if you have a favorite (or several favorites, as the case may be), you can't miss them. Instructors TBD.
HuskyTHON is an annual fund-raising effort coordinated by the students at the University of Connecticut. Last year alone, HuskyTHON raised more than $1.3 million and since 2000 they have raised nearly $6 million. For more information about HuskyTHON, please visit www.huskython.org
Online registration closes February 7th at 3pm. Walk-up registrants are welcome to pay at the door.
Categories: Children's Miracle Network Hospitals Family Friendly Fitness
HuskyTHON @ Hugh S. Greer Field House - UConn
Feb 22 @ 6:00 pm – Feb 23 @ 12:00 pm
Brighten Tomorrow
HuskyTHON is a year-long fund-raising effort coordinated by students at the University of Connecticut, which culminates in an eighteen-hour dance marathon celebration in February. HuskyTHON is a year-long philanthropic effort at the University of Connecticut to raise funds and awareness for Connecticut Children's, a Children's Miracle Network Hospital. This effort culminates in an 18-hour dance marathon in February, where thousands of UConn students come together to dance for those who can't. HuskyTHON is entirely student-run and their Management Team of 28 undergraduate student leaders work tirelessly to make each HuskyTHON better than the last.
From humble beginnings, HuskyTHON has grown to become the largest event in support of Connecticut Children's. In 2019 they raised an astounding $1,328,402.19, and while UConn students are proud of this accomplishment, they are not stopping there. Their motto is "FTK" (For The Kids), and while their efforts are always evolving, their core purpose remains the same:
"Together with Connecticut Children's, we believe in giving children the care they deserve."
The amount raised in 2019 represents a 30% increase over HuskyTHON 2018.
HuskyTHON is one of the top 10 dance marathons in the country and is the largest Children's Miracle Network Dance Marathon in the Northeast. In the last 20 years, HuskyTHON has raised over $6.2 million for Connecticut Children's, making it the largest fundraiser for the hospital. For more information about HuskyTHON, please visit www.huskython.org
Connecticut Children's is the only hospital in Connecticut dedicated exclusively to the care of children and ranked one of the best children's hospitals in the nation by U.S. News & World Report and Women's Choice. They are one of 170 children's hospitals across the US and Canada that comprise Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. At these hospitals, 62 children are treated by highly trained professionals every minute – that's one child every second. From cancer to a traumatic injury or a genetic disease, Connecticut Children's always has their doors open.
Categories: Children's Miracle Network Hospitals Family Friendly Fundraising
QTHON @ Quinnipiac University
QTHON is a yearlong fundraising enterprise led by Quinnipiac University students, which culminates in a 10-hour dance marathon to raise funds and awareness in support of Connecticut Children's.
In 2019, over 1,700 dancers raised more than $332,000. This brings the students' eight-year cumulative giving total to more than $1 million. QTHON strives to bring together the student body and the local community to raise funds in support of valuable care that patients and their families receive at Connecticut Children's.
In addition to the Quinnipiac students, patient families from Connecticut Children's will attend the event and will dance the night away. They are matched with student groups and are able to dance, play games, participate in arts and crafts, and much more.
For more information about QTHON, please visit QTHON's About Us page.
Categories: Children's Miracle Network Hospitals Fundraising
Concorso Ferrari & Friends @ West Hartford Center
Paint the Town Ferrari Red and Join Us for Concorso Ferrari & Friends.
Concorso Ferrari & Friends was created by a group of owners who wanted to use their exotic automobiles to put smiles on the faces of patients at Connecticut Children's. Now in its 19th year, Concorso Ferrari & Friends is the signature automobile event for Southern New England. It celebrates all makes and models of Italian automobiles—from vintage Alfa Romeos, Fiats and Lamborghinis to the supercars of Ferrari, Pagani and Maserati—while raising awareness and critical funding to support Connecticut Children's.
Instagram: @ConcorsoFerrari Find us on Facebook: Concorso Ferrari & Friends | 1,377 |
'In effect, the demand for infrastructure is a demand for a certain kind of inhabitable ground, and its meaning and force derives precisely from that lack… it seems that the space of appearance is not ever fully separable from questions of infrastructure and architecture.' (Judith Butler, 2014).
Feminist theorist Judith Butler argues that the demand for infrastructure is a basic demand for inhabitable ground, and the political space of appearance is never separable from questions of infrastructure and architecture. Though they tend to recede into the background, architecturally augmented infrastructures are everywhere, supporting the transports and communications of everyday life. Human and non-human modes of inhabitation rely on the material and immaterial infrastructures that sustain them. When infrastructures fail, society falters, and risks falling into disarray. Using a weblog this Critical Studies in Architecture seminar focuses on (architectural) infrastructures by emphasizing intersections between gender and architecture. We are also joined by the Architecture and Gender Further Education participants (AD236V).
1. Attend 80% of the course.
3.<|fim_middle|>andphil.wordpress.com/category/03_projects/Please add the title of your submission, and a brief description when you upload your pdf.
Further instructions: The representational approach to this seminar will place an emphasis on diagrammatic line drawings and instructions-for-use inspired drawings. See for example: Wajiro Kon (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wajiro_Kon) and Atelier Bow-Wow drawing methodology. | Complete a final submission, presented in draft form during the final seminar meeting (Wednesday 28 November), then submitted in final form two weeks after the seminar has concluded. The final submission compiles the 7 tasks in one booklet. This is to be composed as an instruction booklet dedicated to the care and maintenance of an (architectural) infrastructure of your own choosing. To the 7 tasks you are required to add: a title, a contents page, an introduction (500-800 words) a bibliography. The final submission in pdf form is to be uploaded to the seminar blog at: https://arch | 127 |
The fields of dreams
Posted on May 20, 2018 by JB
The town of Elis isn't much to look at now, but for about 1000 years, it was the administrative center of the Olympic Games and one of the largest cities in the Greek world.
Athletes would come here for a month to train and to qualify for the Olympics, so this was a busy and prominent place. There were exercise courts, gymnasia, baths, dorms, dining halls, and judges' quarters.
Today Elis is a very small and sleepy village. Its fields have yet to be completely excavated – and maybe they never will be.
<|fim_middle|> by crusaders. They absolutely had a great view.
A young Greek man named George (of course) drove us around today. He gave us some insights into Greek culture that we would not have otherwise discovered on our own. In the food department, he talked about the sixteen olive trees that his family owns. They harvest the olives and then take their crop to a local processor who crushes the olives to the family's specification based on temperature, with the "cold press" being the least productive method but also the one that produces the highest quality of "cold-press extra virgin olive oil." The family keeps that olive oil for their own use — lasting about two years — until the olive trees recover to produce a new crop.
We got an added instruction in nationalism and a description of why Greek olive oil is the "best in the world." He was particularly dismissive of the method that the Italians use to gather olives: "They put cloths on the ground around trees and catch the olives when they fall off. Then they are too ripe. Greeks pick the olives when green. Makes best olive oil. More work, but better." Who are we to argue?
At the end of our drive he suggested a restaurant a few blocks from the hotel where we are staying. I think that he wanted us to go to someplace that was modern and "chic" and not a traditional taverna.
I knew I was in a "modern" restaurant when I spotted on the menu a kale salad with black lentils, salmon and goat cheese baked in a pecan crust. Although this sounded as cliched in a "modern" sense as those dishes served endlessly in countless traditional tavernas, I ordered it anyway. It was gigantic. But with all that kale, I felt righteous eating it. Later, to balance all this righteousness, we stopped at a bakery and loaded up on various versions of baklava. (Sorry, those goodies got consumed before photos were taken).
At the restaurant, Jo had a risotto dish that featured some trendy beetroot (which made the risotto an odd-looking pink) along with Greek cheese. It too was a very large portion.
We had started by sharing a tarte with a hot custard filling inside a pie crust with asparagus and more Greek cheese on top. Although this was billed as an appetizer, it was so large and rich it could have been enough as a complete meal for the two of us.
I think we'll try to stick with traditional Greek options from now on. We learned that lesson after diving into that heavenly baklava. They really know how to make it!
A note about the Greek yogurt here: It's not like the stuff labeled Greek yogurt at home. Here it is very thick — as thick as the thickest sour cream that we get — and it is never sweetened or flavored. It is eaten at breakfast with honey to sweeten it and dried to fruits to sprinkle on top. Since honey is as pridefully produced in Greece as the olive oil, there are wide varieties. At breakfast today we were offered wildflower, fig and oak honey. I tried the oak — very dark in color and, as you would expect, very earthy.
← Do you know the way to Patra?
We hit bottom (we hope) → | Regardless, the very quiet of this place, which we had almost to ourselves, holds whispers of feet pounding, discuses whizzing through the air, chariots racing and wrestlers grunting. Or, maybe that was just the wind and the grasshoppers.
The entrance to the site is a replica of a Roman house, which signals the role the Romans played in Elis. The remains of the training fields are few, except for the theater, which held 7,000. It and other buildings were reconstructed by the Romans in the 2nd and 3rd centuries.
There is also an archaeological museum in Elis, which is quite new and extraordinarily grand. It far outweighs the number of exhibits there, but we are told it has not yet been fully stocked. Our favorite things were the discus and the Roman strigils, used to scrape off all that athletic perspiration.
Lovely views, though.
We also saw the outside of a nearby medieval Frankish fortress built in the 13th century | 209 |
Russian painter and art theorist Wassily Kandinsky is credited as having painted one of the first recognised purely abstract pieces of art. He turned to abstract work after an extended period of development and intense thought based on his artistic experiences. He was totally devoted to an idea of inner beauty as a central focus of his art. Kandinsky was born in Moscow and grew up in Odessa, where he studied at Grekov Odessa Art school.
It was common for Kandinsky to use musical terms to describe his work. When he painted spontaneously he named them improvisations; the more elaborate and thought-through works he<|fim_middle|>andinsky was known not only as a painter but as a spiritual theorist. Many of his paintings were in fact painted with the purpose of evoking a spiritual resonance in viewer and artist. He wrote books explaining the relationship between spirituality and art and even prophesied future events, mainly focused around an apocalypse.
Later in life he played a part in establishing the Museum of the Culture of Painting. In 1920 Kandinsky moved to Germany and taught at the Bauhaus school of art and architecture until the Nazis closed the establishment in 1933. At this point Kandinsky moved to France. He lived there for the rest of his life, became a French citizen and produced some of his most famous work. Kandinsky is known as an art theorist as well as a painter. | called compositions. K | 4 |
'Chelsea Lately' star Chuy Bravo's cause of death revealed
Raechal Shewfelt
Editor, Yahoo Entertainment
Yahoo TV December 17, 2019
Chuy Bravo died from a heart attack.
"On Saturday, December 14 at approximately 1:30 p.m., Bravo was rushed to the emergency room due to a Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage (GI Bleed)," his rep said in a statement to Yahoo Entertainment. "After complications he suffered an Acute Myocardial Infarction that led to his passing. Bravo's family is devastated as they cope with this sudden loss. They are overwhelmed with the thoughts and prayers they have received and send their appreciation."
The 63-year-old, whose real name was Jesús Melgoza, was best known for his work as comedian Chelsea Handler<|fim_middle|> in a big way, and I took great pleasure in how many people loved him as much as I did and do," Handler wrote in part, using her nickname for Bravo. "@chuybravo gave us so much laughter and I'll never forget the sound of his laughter coming from his office into mine."
She also shared a clip of some of his greatest moments on the show.
Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:
Taylor Swift's 'Cats' song has been shut out of the 2020 Oscars already
Kumail Nanjiani awes with 'incredible' body transformation: 'Wait is this really you?!'
Huey Lewis contemplated taking his own life after hearing loss diagnosis
Want daily pop culture news delivered to your inbox? Sign up here for Yahoo Entertainment & Lifestyle's newsletter. | 's sidekick on her former show, Chelsea Lately.
He was visiting family in Mexico when he went to the hospital with stomach pains.
Page Six reports that a funeral for him was held on Monday and a memorial service is planned for a later date in Los Angeles.
In the wake of the TV personality's death, Handler paid tribute to her co-star from 2007 to 2014, who has remained her friend, on social media.
"I loved this nugget | 99 |
JJ Barrows: Doodle All Day
South • 32m
JJ Barrows was raised in South<|fim_middle|> South
Keith Stubbs: Poundcake
Keith Stubbs is a 'triple threat' in showbiz and entertainment. He's a hilarious stand-up comedian, talented actor, and award-winning radio personality. Keith was twice-voted 'Best Comedian' by City Weekly, the Standard-Examiner named him 'Funniest Comic' and he was a semi-finalist in Comedy Cent...
Maher Matta: Personally Speaking
Comedian Maher Matta has been performing standup comedy for nearly sixteen years. He has appeared on FOX's "Laughs TV", has performed at comedy clubs across the country, hired for private events, and placed in comedy festivals and competitions.
Kim Kerley: Do You Know Her?
Having spent much of her teens homeless, Kim Kerley has seen things in life that many never see. She's chosen to find the funny in those situations. | Carolina as the middle child of a preacher's family. Having always felt a little different, JJ uses humor to navigate through the realities of life, being single through her thirties, and adjusting to life changes brought about by age, a cross country move, and eventually….
JJ Barrows comedian
Aaron Stephenson director
Up Next in | 69 |
Today happens to be the Corporate day for the Science Students from the department of Microbiology of the University of Lagos and we were invited to the symposium they organized to give a talk on Life after School and Tokunbo Fasoro was so excited about it because she is very passionate about young people.
Present there was the former HOD, Prof Adeleye; the present HOD, Prof Aboaba; as well as Dr. Adelowosan and other lecturers of the department who came to support their students and to also talk to them on what to do after school.
She spoke to the students on building their career around their passion and making sure they get it right from the<|fim_middle|> a lot of new things. God bless the team and the speaker. | beginning. She also talked about the importance of setting career goals and ensuring they are SMART. She concluded by discussing the importance of a few success habits such as Integrity, Excellence, self- development and Association.
It was a successful and well- organized event and the entire team of BI Empowerment would like to say a well-done to the Executive committee that put the programme together.
Today with tokunbo fashoro was more than exciting. I was thoroughly informed about my "have to do" and "want to do". It was really a pleasure having her and her team with us today.
The symposium was awesome!!!! Thank you sooo much for empowering us.
It was really amazing having tokunbo fashoro in the house today.
I wanna say a very big 'thank you' to BiSolutions for that impactful lecture. I really learnt | 173 |
Including students in general education settings is a pivotal component of quality special education service delivery. An inclusive educational environment benefits student with and without disabilities through a shared educational experience and requires quality, ongoing training and implementation supports for educators and families. Successful inclusion requires planned, purposeful delivery. This webinar will discuss strategies that assist districts in meeting the expectation of least restrictive environment through educating students with disabilities in general education settings. Through effective inclusive practices outcomes for students with and without disabilities improve. Patricia Wright has spoken at several<|fim_middle|> This means that the genetic change occurs in the sperm or the egg. It isn't a gene that's passed down from the parents.
VIP Speaker, Dr. Peter Gerhardt Bridges to Adulthood: Preparing Individuals with Autism for Adult Lives of Competence, Dignity, and Community Inclusion Day 2: Breakout sessions for parents, educators, and other professionals.
Since 2008, when a group of physicians drew a hypothetical link between Lyme disease and autism, a growing number of patient activists have embraced the belief that the hallmark neuropsychiatric symptoms of autism may spring from the body's immune response to the bite of a deer tick carrying the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi. But a research letter published Tuesday in the Journal of theAmerican Medical Assn. casts doubt on the link. A group of researchers and clinicians from Weill Cornell Medical College and Columbia University Medical Center acquired blood samples and medical records of 120 children -- 70 of them diagnosed with autism and the rest unaffected siblings or healthy controls -- recruited primarily from the northeastern and western United States, where Lyme disease infection is relatively high. They tested that blood for signs of exposure to B burgdorferi. Among the 70 patients with autism, one had positive antibodies to the bacterium, suggesting that child had probably been exposed to the bacterium that causes Lyme disease. The rate of exposure to B burgdorferi was higher among the study's 50 children unaffected by autism: four tested positive for antibodies to the pathogen. Though a seemingly small group, a statistically significant finding in that sample size would give relatively high confidence that, were a relationship to exist, it would have been picked up. The researchers acknowledged that this data did not address whether perhaps Lyme disease "may cause autism-like behavioral deficits in some cases." But they said the findings "effectively rule out" the suggestion that children with autism are themselves disproportionately infected by or exposed to the bacterium that causes Lyme disease. | conferences in Montana and is knowledgeable speaker with practical suggestions.
A Social Autopsy is an innovative strategy wherein an adult assists a child to improve social skills by jointly analyzing social errors that a child makes and designing alternative strategies. Some basic information about social autopsies.
Save the Date: Autism Spectrum Disorders in Children "Connecting Communities with Hope" A Learning Seminar in Bozeman, MT When: Saturday, July 13, 2013 Where: Gran Tree Inn 1325 N 7th Avenue Bozeman, MT 59715 Time: 9:00 am - 4:30 pm Cost: $75: Professionals (includes CEU's)$50: Parents Scholarships may be available View Brief Conference Description ***Registration to open soon*** On July 13, 2013, ChildWise Institute will bring together local experts to Bozeman to present on issues pertaining to Autism Spectrum Disorders in Children. This learning seminar is designed to expand understanding and awareness of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) in children and develop competencies for parents, mental health professionals, teachers and healthcare providers. Participants will be able to better understand and treat children diagnosed with symptoms on the Autism Spectrum. Social, emotional, behavioral and medical factors affecting children with ASD will be discussed. In addition, this learning seminar will identify ways to collaborate and integrate services from multiple agencies. Information from experts will be presented from: Julia Turner, MMSc, RD, LN: Registered Dietitian, Licensed Nutritionist, "Brain Health Nutrition Expert" Shawna Heiser, M.S. BCBA: Professor of Psychology at MSU-Bozeman,"Behavioral/Autism Consultant" Jennifer Leight, PT, PhD, PCS: Clinical Psychologist, Licensed Physical Therapist, "ASD from a Neuropsychological/Developmental Perspective" Special Appearance by Miss Montana, Alexis Wineman Registration will be open soon for this exciting event. Future similar seminars focused on Autism Spectrum Disorders in Children will take place in Helena, Missoula, and Kalispell. If you have any questions, please contact Cathy Huntley, Conference Coordinator, at (406) 457-4816 or e-mail: cathy@childwise.org.
The rates of autism for students of all races is on the increase, but students who are black, Hispanic, or American Indian are less likely to be identified with the disability compared to white and Asian students, according to a study published this month inThe Journal of Special Education. The study, "A Multiyear National Profile of Racial Disparity in Autism Identification," compiled information collected by the federal government from 1998 to 2006 on the race and disability category of students in special education. Using that information, the researchers were able to calculate a "risk index," or the percentage of all enrolled students from a racial group with a specific disability. The overall risk of being categorized as having autism increased for all racial groups over that time period, from 0.09 percent to 0.37 percent. That increase reflects the increase in autism prevalence. However, white students were twice as likely to be identified as having an autism spectrum disorder as students who were Hispanic or American Indian/Alaska Native. For Hispanic and American Indian students, the likelihood of autism diagnosis lagged behind the rate for students overall for every year researchers examined.
Currently, there is insufficient evidence to support instituting a gluten-free diet as a treatment for autism.
On Saturday, May 18, the American Psychiatric Association will release the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM-5). The new edition introduces fundamental changes in the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. Don't worry, we don't expect these changes to impact people already diagnosed. Mark your calendars and join us for a chat with Lisa Goring and Alycia Halladay on Monday, May 20 at 7pm EST to learn much more about this topic and to ask any questions you might have about the changes. You can also click here to read answers to Frequently Asked Questions about the new DSM-5.
This 40 minute recorded webinar will provide information and ideas for using visuals within daily routines. We will discuss how visuals can increase independence, how visual systems can be implemented across routines, and different types of visual systems that can be used.
The June 11-14, 2013 Institute in Glendive will include "New Trends and Strategies for Children with Autism" by Shauna Heiser.
Read 16 more ways here.
f you were good friends and in contact often before the diagnosis, don't change. Your friend may not have as much time to see you in person, but you can stay connected by phone. Perhaps they will need to see you more and need a shoulder to lean on more often. Stay connected by continuing to invite your friends or relatives who have a child with autism. It may not be as easy for them to get out, but invite them to your party. If they can't make it, they'll let you know. If they can, they'll be there. Find out a little bit about autism. Go to a few websites of reputable autism organizations to get some more information of what autism is all about. Listen more than you advise. It is tempting with all the autism news stories in the paper to share everything you hear but resist the urge. Your friend has probably heard it all. Instead, offer him an ear, as well as some practical help.
For the first time ever, researchers believe there may be a link between the effects of epilepsy on the brain and some traits of autism, reports the Daily Mail. Adults with epilepsy demonstrate certain traits of autism and Asperger's syndrome, the paper says. Epileptic seizures disrupt the brain functions dealing with social interaction - including communication with others and repetitive interests - leading to some of the same social behaviors exhibited by people with autism spectrum disorders.
Visual Schedules Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and other developmental delays learn more easily, express more interest, have fewer behavior problems and demonstrate increasing independence within consistent routines.Visual schedules can assist students in understanding these routines, such as the transition routine. Visual schedules can supplement natural environmental cues so that students understand the sequence of events when it is time to transition to a new activity. Schedules can answer important questions such as: Where am I going?, For how long?, What do I do next?. It tells the student "what to do" by focusing the student's attention on the necessary information needed to move through their day. Students should be provided with a visual schedule appropriate to their functioning level and should be expected to use their schedules independently. Learning to follow visual information independently teaches students to access important information for themselves, instead of relying on constant adult directions. This life skill can later translate into skills such as: following a GPS, written directions or a map, and signs at an airport or on the street. Whether beginning with object, photo, drawing or word schedules, visual schedules for transitions are easy to create and use within the school setting and more importantly, they work! Here are a few tips for creating and using visual schedules with students: 1. Use a "check schedule" icon as an easy and effective way to remind the student to check their schedule.
In the latest autism research, the first study compared visual scanning patterns in boys and girls with autism spectrum disorders. Scanning patterns were also collected for typically developing children. "We used eye-tracking technology while the participants in these studies watched videotapes of social scenes that presented naturalistic stimuli," said study co-author Ami Klin, director of the Marcus Autism Center, in Atlanta. The study, which was led by Klin's student, Jennifer Moriuchi, included 116 school-aged children with autism spectrum disorders. Eighty-one were boys and 35 were girls. The children with autism had varying degrees of social disability. The study also included 36 typically developing children. "On a surface level, it appears that boys and girls with autism appear to spend equal time learning from the eyes. They did look less than other children," Klin said. But, when the researchers correlated the youngsters' eye tracking with their level of disability, a much different picture emerged. "In boys, the more they looked at the eyes, the less socially disabled they are. In girls, the more they looked at the eyes, the more disabled they are," said Klin, chief of the division of autism and related disorders at Emory University School of Medicine and Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. "What the study is suggesting is that we should not automatically assume that boys and girls learn about the world in the same way," Klin said, adding, "we have to take gender as a mediating factor." Dawson said "the study found that there are differences in the way girls and boys look at the eyes, so there may be differences in the way autism is manifested in girls than in boys." She noted that an important criterion right now for diagnosing autism is a lack of eye contact and using the eyes for social cues. The second study looked at the genetics involved in autism, and potential differences in boys and girls. Yale University researchers analyzed samples from 2,326 families. Included in those samples were those of 2,017 boys and 309 girls with an autism spectrum disorder. The Yale team found differences between the boys' and girls' genetic samples. "The fact that autism does affect boys so much more frequently has been staring us in the face for decades. There's been a hypothesis that there's something in the extra X chromosome that girls have that may be protective," Dawson explained. "The idea is that if you have this protective mechanism in place you may need more risk factors to overwhelm that protective effect and cause autism, and that's exactly what they found." "To develop autism in a girl requires more genetic mutations," Dawson said. The type of mutations they found are called "de novo" mutations, she added. | 2,059 |
Success and an exceptional career have made<|fim_middle|> culture. | the young researcher and professor, Franziska Völckner, a real role model for all women who are keen to embark on an academic career or just starting out. The "Female Career Award HEC Lausanne (UNIL)", which was awarded for the first time on June 7, highlights the remarkable career of a woman whose research and publications in the field of marketing and brand positioning are now widely recognized in both the practical world and scientific and academic circles.
The launch of the new award is part of HEC Lausanne's Equality Action Plan 2017-2020, which has defined its own objectives and measures to promote equality within the School, as part of UNIL's overall equality program.
How is the award organized?
The various departments at HEC Lausanne identify and then propose individuals to the School's Equal Opportunity Committee. The Committee then selects and appoints the winner based on criteria such as the researcher's level of expertise, productivity and honors in respect of scientific publications. Prof. Franziska Völckner, who has over 3,000 Google Scholar citations and numerous honors, was thus chosen as the winner of the first award.
"Prof. Völckner is one of the top 10% of the most productive and qualitative researchers in the field of business administration and in German-speaking countries." explains Prof. Markus Christen, Marketing department at HEC Lausanne. "By the way, when appointed to the University of Cologne in 2007, she was the youngest professor in economics and business administration in Germany. And since then, despite her professorship, she has maintained her impressive pace of research production. "
During the award ceremony, which took place at UNIL on Thursday, June 7, Professor Völckner gave an overview of her research. In her lecture, entitled "Brand positioning based on brand image-country image fit", she explained the reasons why it is important to adapt a brand's positioning strategy to the image of the target country, by capitalizing on the consumer's local | 422 |
MUMBAI: Lenovo India has appointed Rajesh Thadani as head & executive director – consumer, online and e-commerce. He will report to Rahul Agarwal, Managing Director, Lenovo India. Before this, Thadani was heading Lenovo's Indonesia business.
In his new role in Lenovo India, Thadani will lead the growth strategy to further strengthen Lenovo's growing consumer segment. In addition to this, he will also be responsible for Lenovo's strategy in e-tail and the owned online store.
"India is growing at a phenomenal pace especially with the growth of Ecommerce and the changing dynamics of consumers. I hope to leverage my learnings from the<|fim_middle|>'s business grew three-fold. Before Indonesia, Rajesh was heading the consumer business at Lenovo India. Rajesh has worked in varied capacities with IBM, Ingram Micro India and Godrej Pacific in the past. | Indonesia market and take the consumer business to greater heights," said Thadani in a release.
Thadani, in his earlier role, had been heading Lenovo's Indonesia business for three years. Under his leadership, the company | 45 |
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A modern and well-maintained campsite with a friendly atmosphere. Camping Cavallino is situated on the beautiful Adriatic coast, amidst a large fir tree wood. It's a short walk to the<|fim_middle|> of the Gulf of Venice.
You can also make a trip to the pleasant Lido di Jesolo. Here a thirteen kilometre boulevard full of shops, restaurants and terraces awaits you. Make sure to sample the excellent Italian ice cream. | beach, but you might want to jump into the brand new water paradise first!
You can walk straight onto the beach from the campsite. The sands shelve gently into the sea, so children can play safely.
What a great water park. Several pools, waterslides for the kids, a relax area with sunbeds in the water, separate children's pools - it's all there and looks amazing. Hours and hours of water fun just waiting for you.
There are shady pine trees everywhere. Nice for a break from the Italian sun when you need one. There's is everything you could need: restaurant, play garden, mini golf, shop. Plus two completely renovated sanitary buildings.
If you take your dog along it is sure to be impressed. There's a special beach for dogs with all sorts of facilities, one such being a dog shower.
"Family campsite set in a shady forest. Ideal for a family bike ride. Safe beach, pool and children's pool. Venice and the islands are nearby."
An ideal place for a lovely beach holiday. Here your children can run and play in safety along the beach and in the water. The level landscape here also makes it a great region to explore by bike (bikes can be hired at the campsite).
It's only a short drive to the pretty town of Caorle or to Punta Sabbioni, where you can catch the ferry to Venice. Approaching Venice from the water is a great way to be introduced to this wonderful city and a wealth of sights await you.
From Venice you can make day trips by boat to Istria, the croatian peninsula on the other side | 333 |
Home » Spectrum's Next-Generation of 16-Bit AWGs Smaller, Faster, Better
Industry News Test and Measurement Channel
Spectrum's Next-Generation of 16-Bit AWGs Smaller, Faster, Better
Spectrum Instrumentation has released six new Arbitrary Waveform Generators (AWG) that are optimized for signal quality, size and cost. The new "65" series AWGs offer the latest 16-bit digital-analog converters (DAC), a fast PCIe x4 interface with up to 700 MByte/s streaming speed and a card length of only 168 mm to fit into nearly every PC. With 40 or 125 MSamples/s speed, high onboard memory of 512 MSamples, output levels of up to ±6 V and four additional multi-purpose outputs, these latest cards will be of interest to all the engineers needing signal generators for frequencies between 1 and 60 MHz in the areas of ultrasound, laser, LIDAR, radar, automotive, medical science and big physics experiments. Prices start from $3110.
Users can select from two separate output speed rates of 40 or 125 MS/s and models that have one, two or four channels per card. Each channel features its own DAC and output stage. Multi-channel cards share a common clock and trigger to ensure full synchronization and the output stages incorporate four switchable filter paths to help optimize signal quality. At the same time, they can produce output swings up to ±6 V into a high impedance (1 MOhm) load or ±3 V into 50 Ohms. The flexible output stages combine with the high resolution 16-bit DACs to enable the generation of signals with very low distortion, exceptional dynamic range and a high signal-to-noise ratio.
Oliver Rovini, CTO at Spectrum, said: "These new AWG cards offer outstanding performance at a very reasonable cost and should be of interest to anybody wanting to generate test or simulation signals in the DC to 60 MHz range. The ability to reproduce high quality signals is always valuable to engineers and scientists who need to stimulate a system, or component, with waveforms that are high precision, easily adapted and mimic real operational conditions.
Create a limitless Array of Waveforms
To allow the M2p.65xx series AWGs to generate long and complex waveforms, each card also comes equipped with a generous 512 MSamples of on-board memory. The large memory is complemented by a variety of different output modes. For example, the memory can be segmented and waveforms can be created by looping on, and switching between, different segments. The cards also feature a FIFO streaming capability that enables new<|fim_middle|>20 MS/s and 125 MS/s. The Star-Hub distributes a common clock and trigger signal to each channel ensuring fully synchronous operation. Star-Hub systems are also perfect for situations where multiple test points, or arrays of sensors, need to be stimulated by different test signals at the same time.
Easy AWG control and Signal Generation
Controlling and generating signals with the Spectrum AWGs is also easy and straight forward. The cards are fully programmable and drivers are provided, free of charge, to support the most popular languages (such as C++, VB.NET, C#, J#, Delphi, Java or Python code) as well as third party software tools like LabVIEW and MATLAB. Alternatively, users can simply run Spectrum's own software, SBench 6 Professional.
SBench 6 enables the user to control all the modes and settings of the AWG via a simple, easy-to-use, interface. The software is designed to support multi-channel operation and has a host of built-in features for waveform display, signal generation, data analysis and documentation. Basic signals can be created using the software's EasyGenerator function that produces waveforms like sine waves, triangles or rectangles with programmable frequency, amplitude and phase. More complex signals can be created using mathematical equations or imported from other programs or devices (such as digitizers or oscilloscopes) using Binary, ASCII or Wave formats.
Integrate into any Test System
Once installed in a PC, the AWG cards are easy to integrate with other test and measurement devices. The signal outputs as well as clock and trigger inputs are provided via front-panel SMB connectors. The front-panel also hosts four MMCX connectors (one multi-function output, and three multi-function I/O lines), which can be used for different tasks such as digital output channels, clock, trigger or status output as well as asynchronous I/O lines. This high level of connectivity allows the AWG cards to be easily adapted into most automated test system environments.
Mixed Mode AWG
Switching the multi-purpose I/O lines to digital output adds another four synchronous output channels to the AWG. A single AWG card can then generate four analogue outputs and four digital outputs in parallel with full speed. This is especially helpful when interfacing with external equipment in experiment control or for OEM projects.
The Spectrum M2p.65xx series AWGs are in full production and available for immediate delivery. All cards are shipped factory tested and include a base version of Spectrum's SBench 6 software for first tests. "The M2p series AWG products represent the culmination of nearly 30 years of PC-based instrumentation design and production. As a result, we're proud to give an industry-leading, five-year warranty on our products," stated CEO Gisela Hassler. "Furthermore, software and firmware updates are free of charge for the lifetime of the product. Support is done directly by our skilled in-house team of engineers - normally within a couple of hours after receiving the request."
Spectrum Launches Next Generation of 16-Bit Digitizers
Spectrum's AWGs Tackle Cost Effective Multi-Channel Signal Generation | waveform data to be read over the fast PCIe bus (at rates of up to 700 MB/s) while replaying already transferred information. This flexibility allows users to create ultra-long, single shot waveforms or constantly changing, burst-type signals such as those found in radar, ultrasound, LIDAR or sonar systems. The possibilities are almost limitless.
Stimulus-Response Systems
For applications that require the connection of AWGs and Digitizers, such as stimulus-response or closed-loop applications, Spectrum's Star-Hub piggy-back module synchronizes up to 16 different M2p class products. The new M2p.65xx AWGs match perfectly with the M2p.59xx 16-bit digitizers released in 2018. The M2p.59xx digitizers offer one to eight channels with sampling rates between | 181 |
The church of the Santissima Trinità degli Spagnoli is a religious building in Naples, Italy, found in the piazza of the same name.
The structure was first built in 1573 and was ceded to the Spanish residents of the Quartieri Spagnoli, later it passed to the Order of the Santissima Trinità della Redenzione dei Cattivi, an order dedicated to the redemption of captives held in Muslim lands. This order had been instituted by Pope Innocent III. The church was<|fim_middle|>
16th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy
Roman Catholic churches completed in 1573
Baroque architecture in Naples
1573 establishments in Italy
Quartieri Spagnoli | rebuilt and the interior redecorated by the Trinitarians in 1788. The portico dates from the mid-17th century.
The church and convent were suppressed during the Napoleonic occupation. At the time a seventeenth-century altarpiece of the Santissima Trinità con la Madonna del Rimedio was looted.
Bibliography
Napoli e dintorni, Touring club Italia, Touring Editor, 2001.
Roman Catholic churches in Naples | 105 |
What responses are generated by<|fim_middle|>. | the nervous system when you run on a treadmill? There is another division of the nervous system that describes functional responses. Each nerve is basically a two-way superhighway, containing thousands of axons, both efferent and afferent. Cranial Nerves The 12 pairs of cranial nerves primarily serve the head and the neck. The autonomic nervous system is unique in that it requires a sequential two-neuron efferent pathway; the preganglionic neuron must first synapse onto a postganglionic neuron before innervating the target organ. B: Cerebrum controls brain functions such as language, logic, reasoning, and creativity. This is an image of a parasympathetic ganglion. These are collective in the brain and spinal cord.
Metabolic wastes, such as toxins, urea, proteins, and most drugs are prevented from entering the brain tissue. When looking at peripheral structures, often a microscope is used and the tissue is stained with artificial colors. Gray Matter and White Matter. Autonomic Nervous System:This is also known as the involuntary nervous system. The sensations that lead to autonomic functions can be the same sensations that are part of initiating somatic responses. Secondly, control of the body can be somatic or autonomic—divisions that are largely defined by the structures that are involved in the response. That is a homeostatic mechanism.
See for examples of where these divisions of the nervous system can be found. The smaller dorsal rami serve the skin and muscles of the posterior body trunk. Autonomic functions include , the cardiac control center , activity the , and certain such as , , and. Stimuli that are received by sensory structures are communicated to the nervous system where that information is processed. A pounding heart; rapid, deep breathing; cold, sweaty skin; a prickly scalp, and dilated pupils are sure signs sympathetic nervous system activities. The nervous system can be divided into regions that are responsible for sensation sensory functions and for the response motor functions.
Motor Neurons The neural pathway that results in skeletal muscle contraction can be functionally divided into two main types of neurons — the upper motor neurons in the central nervous system and the lower motor neurons of the somatic nervous system. Basic Functions The nervous system is involved in receiving information about the environment around us sensation and generating responses to that information motor responses. Finally, all the fascicles are bound together by a tough fibrous sheath, the epineurium, to form the cordlike nerve. The includes the brain and spinal cord, while the peripheral nervous system includes all of the nerves that branch out from the brain and spinal cord and extend to other parts of the body including muscles and organs. This is basically the system that helps the body to adjust to the external environment. There are actually more senses than just those, but that list represents the major senses. Specifically, the somatic nervous system is responsible for movement of voluntary muscles and the process known as a reflex arc.
Habitual consumption of caffeine may inhibit physiological short-term effects. The membranes give a protection to the spinal cord and the brain. However, you probably have your fair share of stress. A nerve is composed of a bundle of neurons. The hypothalamus detects changes in body temperature and sends commands to adjust the temperature. This is an example of a reflex arc.
The entire surface of the cerebral hemispheres exhibits elevated ridges of tissue called gyri, separated by shallow grooves called sulci. The preganglionic neuron is located in either the brain or the spinal cord. . The hypothalamus also controls the pituitary. Diencephalon The diencephalon, or interbrain, sits atop the brain stem and is enclosed by the cerebral hemispheres.
The image shows upper motor neurons emerging from the precentral gyrus and traveling along the corticobulbar tract towards the brainstem. The cell body is located in either the brain or spinal cord and projects directly to a skeletal muscle. An obvious response would be the movement of muscles, such as withdrawing a hand from a hot stove, but there are broader uses of the term. Which of these are features of alpha motor neurons? The Blood-Brain Barrier No other body organ is so absolutely dependent on a constant internal environment as is the brain, and so the blood-brain barrier is there to protect it. The afferent neurons are responsible for carrying information from sensory receptors to the central nervous system. D: Tentorium cerebelli is an extension of the dura mater that separates the cerebellum from the inferior portion of the occipital lobes. As you can see in the table above, differentiating between these two parts of the peripheral nervous system is as good as differentiating between chalk and cheese.
The utility of this technique in the nervous system is that fat tissue and water appear as different shades between black and white. White material in the brain has a work of transporting impulses to and from the grey material. The stimuli for taste and smell are both chemical substances molecules, compounds, ions, etc. See for more about brain size. The dorsal horns contain interneurons. Others have only motor neurons, such as those involved with eyeball movement not vision and hearing.
A: Dorsal gray horn is a mass of gray matter found in every segment of the spinal cord and is responsible for the processing system of sensory signals that travel within the spinal cord, C: The spinal cord is a long, thin, tubular bundle of nervous tissue and support cells that extends from the foramen magnum at the base of the skull to the second lumbar vertebrae. Finally, some nerve pairs have both sensory and motor neurons, such as those involved in taste and some aspects of swallowing. During a period of fight or flight, the pupils dilate to allow us to see more clearly and make faster decisions. Which structure predominates in the white matter of the brain? Botulism can affect humans through inhalation or ingestion of the toxin or through ingestion of bacterial spores from contaminated food. The author has done masters in Biochemistry from the University of Karachi and a freelance content writer by profession. D: The cerebellum is involved in balance, maintenance of muscle tone, and coordination of fine motor movement. The third part of the autonomic nervous system is the enteric nervous system | 1,293 |
When it comes to taking care of your Ferrari, you want only the best, most qualified people to do the job. After all, Ferraris are<|fim_middle|> Center in Al Quoz Dubai. | Italian masterpieces of engineering and design. As such, we take the time to guarantee that when you bring your vehicle in, it is handled with the utmost care, ensuring that only the work you authorize is completed on your vehicle. Additionally, there are no financial surprises that happen along the way – thanks to our fair and accurate quotes. This has helped us become the most trusted Ferrari service center in Dubai.
Anytime there is a problem with your vehicle, or if you are bringing it in for routine maintenance, you can count on us to take the time to fully inspect the vehicle and ensure that all the problems are brought to your attention. Once you have been informed about what is going on, we'll let you determine what repairs need to be done, and then we'll handle those for you as quickly as possible. All repairs are completed by professional mechanics that have had training in working with Ferrari's.
As the most trusted name in auto care and servicing locally, Dubai vehicle owners will find that we have the latest diagnostic tools available. We also keep up with the latest technology for repair tools to ensure that the process goes by as quickly as possible, so that you aren't left without a vehicle for long periods of time.
When you need your Ferrari serviced, tuned up, cleaned up, and maintained properly, you'll want to ensure that you visit us at DAS Center. Our team of trained professionals will ensure that your vehicle is handled properly and that all of your questions are addressed in a timely manner. We aim for your vehicle to leave our shop running better than it did before.
Deutsches Auto Service Centre is one of the most well equipped European car specialist located in Dubai, Al Quoz 3, We offer high level servicing & maintenance on all top-end European models, such as Mercedes Benz, Ferrari, Lamborghini , Maserati, Range Rover, BMW, Porsche, Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Mini and VAG-Group.
All Rights Reserved © 2019 Luxury Car Service Dubai | Car Diagnostics | 410 |
See 'Chopped' champion<|fim_middle|>jersey.com/story/news/bergen/glen-rock/2019/01/31/see-chopped-champion-eric-levine-glen-rock-nj-thursday/2726100002/ | Eric LeVine in Glen Rock
Chef Eric LeVine won the Food Network's "Chopped" competition while in treatment for cancer. He will talk about Relay for Life on Thursday in Glen Rock.
See 'Chopped' champion Eric LeVine in Glen Rock Chef Eric LeVine won the Food Network's "Chopped" competition while in treatment for cancer. He will talk about Relay for Life on Thursday in Glen Rock. Check out this story on northjersey.com: https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/bergen/glen-rock/2019/01/31/see-chopped-champion-eric-levine-glen-rock-nj-thursday/2726100002/
North Jersey Record Published 4:15 p.m. ET Jan. 31, 2019 | Updated 10:34 a.m. ET Feb. 1, 2019
Chef Eric LeVine is a "Chopped" champion and the International Chef's Association 2007 Chef of the Year. He is also a five-time cancer survivor.
On Thursday, he will share his story and some hot chili at a "Kickin' Kickoff" for the Relay for Life of Glen Rock and Fair Lawn. Also contributing chili will be Robert Quinones, an award-winning chili maker.
The Relay for Life, held annually in June, benefits the American Cancer Society. At the kickoff at 7 p.m. at Glen Rock High School, LeVine will talk about how to get involved.
LeVine was in treatment for acute leukemia during the taping of the Food Network's "Chopped" in 2011 and took the top prize while dealing with the side effects. Now in remission, he advocates for the American Cancer Society and has been recognized by the group with its Heart and Soul Award.
Chef Eric Levine of Crabby's in Randolph (Photo: Courtesy of Eric Levine)
Last year, LeVine became executive chef of Mr. Crabby's in Randolph, renaming it Mr. Crabby's Craft Kitchen & Bar and retooling the menus.
The snow date for the kickoff is February 6. The event is free but registration is requested. RSVP to Kyra.Miller@cancer.org.
Relay for Life is the world's largest fundraising event dedicated to fighting cancer. The Glen Rock-Fair Lawn event will be held from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., June 1 and 2, at the Glen Rock High School football field, 600 Harristown Road.
More: 5 new North Jersey restaurants you need to try now
More: 5,000 women needed: Study about breast cancer screening seeks New Jersey women
More: Bella was a chatty tomboy. Then doctors found something mysterious in her brain.
Download our apps and get alerts for local news, weather, traffic and more. iPhone app | iPad app | Android app | Sign up for our newsletter | Subscribe| Find us on social media: Twitter | Sports Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Food Instagram
Read or Share this story: https://www.north | 659 |
Activities&Tours, Events in<|fim_middle|> August in Rome | Rome, Features, Hot Topics / News 21 July 2021 <3 August 2021
La Luna Sul Colosseo Returns With An Emphasis On The Subterranean
by Sonja Anderson
Go on a magical guided tour of the Colosseum at night
Starting July 17, La Luna sul Colosseo (The Moon Over the Colosseum) returns, allowing visitors to see parts of the Archaeological Park in a new light, literally. This year's edition of the annual event will feature the Colosseum's ancient lower level and the House of the Vestals for the first time.
Underneath the Colosseum lies the recently restored Hypogeum, a network of tunnels that housed stage sets, gladiators, and wild animals. The Hypogeum was unveiled at the end of June by the director of the Colosseum and its archaeological park, Alfonsina Russo, after a two-year renovation effort.
Starting at 20:10 every Saturday, La Luna sul Colosseo will guide groups of 20 or less through the Colosseum. Tour groups will learn about the land and building materials, explore the Hypogeum on wooden walkways, ascend the Colosseum levels by the glow of the sunset, pass the Wayside Shrine of the Cross, and finish with an expansive view of the arena.
Visit the Casa delle Vestali at Roman Forum
On July 14, 21, and 28, the park is offering evening tours of the Roman Forum, including – for the first time – the Casa delle Vestali by twilight. Beginning at 19:20 each Wednesday, a small, guided group will enter at the Arch of Titus and make their way to the House of the Vestals. Like the Hypogeum, the House of the Vestals has also undergone a restoration, and now allows visitors to explore its rooms, like the chamber in which the priestesses made the mola salsa, a sacred focaccia used in ritual ceremonies.
The Moon Over the Colosseum tours will take place every Saturday until October 30, and the House of the Vestals tours every Wednesday through July 28. Visit parcocolosseo.it for more details. Booking is mandatory.
Colosseum Walking TOUR with Roman Forum & Palatine Hill Skip the Line
Colosseum, Roman Forum & Palatine Hill Skip-The-Ticket-Line TICKET
La Luna Sul Colosseo
Every Saturday until October 30
Visit lasts 1.15 h
€25-22
parcocolosseo.it
coopculture.it
events in Rome, summer in rome
Sonja Anderson
More from Sonja Anderson
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<|fim_middle|> | The Muncie Economic Development Oral Histories, also known as Muncie's Response to Economic Change: An Oral History, includes oral history interviews with local civic and business leaders involved in past and current efforts to address long-term economic change in Muncie and Delaware County, Indiana.
It is a subcollection of the larger Middletown Digital Oral History Collections, which is comprised of over 200 audio and corresponding transcript files embedded together on the same page. Embedding the PDF transcript was easy--that functionality comes standard with the latest version of CONTENTdm. However, we wanted to have the audio and transcript in the same window so that users could listen and read along at the same time.
The resulting interface allows users to just that. Read Budi Wibowo's article on how to embed the audio player here on page 8 of Library Insider Vol. 6 Iss. 12.
The Muncie Civic Theatre Programs Collection includes programs from plays presented by the Muncie Civic Theatre from its inception in 1931 through 1986, with additional programs from 1996 and 2005.
View the collection here: http://libx.bsu.edu/collection.php?CISOROOT=/MunCiv.
The programs were scanned in the Ball State University Libraries Digitization Center. Each was OCR processed, so the documents are fully searchable in the DMR and through Google. They were uploaded to the DMR in PDF format. Metadata records indicate the performance dates of each play.
The BookDrive DIY book scanner is the latest addition to the University Libraries' Digitization Center.
This book digitization solution was purchased as part of an LSTA Digitization Grant awarded to create a Middletown Women's History Digital Collection. The collection contains several bound materials such as scrapbooks and diaries that we couldn't safely capture on a flatbed scanner. Due to the fragility and uniqueness of materials the collection, it was necessary to purchase a scanner that "cradles" the items, rather than stressing the bindings with traditional flatbed scanning. Digitization of bound materials began this week with minutes from the Community Woman's Club Records, ca.1904-1955. We'll continue through the rest of the grant materials and move to other rare and historic bound items from Archives and Special Collections soon.
We've enhanced Zoomify functionality in the DMR to include a "Save and Print" Feature. Sometimes when users view digital maps or other images, they're only interested in a certain section. Perhaps they locate the historical site where their home now sits, or they find a tiny town of particular research interest. In those cases, users might want to save or print just that zoomed portion instead of the entire map. The "Save" button lets users do just that -- by opening a new window that allows right-clicking to save, print, or email the zoomed image.
The Ball State University Libraries are pleased to announce the publication of the French Revolution Pamphlets Collection in the Digital Media Repository. This collection consists of French Revolution pamphlets ranging from 1779 to 1815. Although the French Revolution happened in the decade ranging from 1789 to 1799, this collection of pamphlets documents the time leading up to the revolution through the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815).
Often privately printed due to newspaper censure by the monarchy, the pamphlets were used to disseminate information and ideals concerning nationalism, citizenship, personal freedoms, and social injustice.
The items were scanned, OCR'ed, packaged as PDFS, and uploaded to the Digital Media Repository. This collection is an example of CONTENTdm's embedded PDF interface, which allows quick scrolling, printing, and downloading of digital documents.
Indiana Libraries Volume 27, Number 2 features "Bringing the Voices of Communities Together: The Middletown Digital Oral History Project" by Maren Read and Amanda Hurford. The article addresses the LSTA grant-funded project to digitize oral history collections from African American, Jewish and Catholic communities of Muncie, Indiana and make them available online in the Digital Media Repository.
It explains the steps taken to complete the project, such as planning, training, digitization, transcription, metadata creation, online presentation. Anyone interested in a behind-the-scenes look at the DMR and those thinking about starting a digital oral history project now should find this article interesting.
The latest collection added to the Digital Media Repository is the Joseph Fisher World War II Scrapbook. The collection consists of a scrapbook compiled by Fisher's mother containing letters, mementos, photographs, newspaper clippings, and inserts accompanying military allotment checks.
This collection, like other digital scrapbooks, was a special challenge to present in the DMR. We wanted to show the structure of the book, while at the same time provide searchable information for each item therein. In order to accomplish that, the scrapbook is presented in it's entirety in item number one of the collection, followed by a separate record for each artifact.
Stay tuned for Phase II of this collection, which should include an additional page-turning interface.
The Muncie Sanborn® Fire Insurance Map Collection now has an interactive twist! Using Google Maps, users can now easily visualize the locations shown on these maps from 1883-1911. Clicking on the colored sections of each zoomable map takes you to that digital record in the DMR. Thanks to members of Archives and Special Collections, GRMC, and LITS for making this useful tool available.
Contact Angie Gibson, GIS Specialist, for more information.
Recently added to the new DMR interface are several different ways to browse over 50 unique collections: A-Z, the default, shows thumbnail views from the collection. Subject/Geographic Area, Department, and Format all offer expandable and collapsable lists to organize the collections into logical categories. A cookie lets the DMR remember your preferred sorting method, and will open that view when you return, all making it easier for the you to find what you are looking for!
The collection contains maps of the Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana starting in 1929-2000. These maps are a valuable resource for those interested in the growth of the Ball State University campus over the last century. The maps are from the Geospatial Resources and Map Collection (GRMC) and Archives and Special Collections.
This collection uses Zoomify technology.
Did you know you can easily change the DMR results view?
To quickly switch back and forth between the Thumbnail and the Grid View, use the Change View buttons in the center of the medium blue tool bar.
Thumbnail View, the default, displays a small representative picture and the title for each item. The Thumbnail View is good for simple browsing. Click "Grid View" to view more information about each item, such as subject, description, or date. The Grid View allows you to gather more information and easily assess relevance before viewing the full item record.
The Change View buttons are new customized enhancements to the DMR. You can still change the view option and other settings the old way, by going into "Preferences."
Zoomify (http://www.zoomify.com/default.htm) is a piece of imaging technology new to the DMR. It allows users to view, zoom, and pan detailed images in a more quick and efficient way.
The Muncie and Delaware County Historical Maps and Atlases Collection (http://libx.bsu.edu/collection.php?CISOROOT=/HistMaps), and the Sanborn® Fire Insurance Maps of Muncie, Indiana (http://libx.bsu.edu/collection.php?CISOROOT=/SanbrnMps) both feature this technology.
When in a collection, just click the "Zoomify" button to be directed to the easy-zoom interface. Zoomify will soon be added to more DMR collections. | 1,640 |
We tried to hype you all to Eureka California for SXSW this year, and we're right back on that glorious hype machine screaming for you to turn this track up real loud. Jake opens up this track, singing atop a steadied guitar line; you can feel the tension bend as Marie begins to build the force from the background. Then bang…distortion, smashing cymbals and a crunchy bit of guitar pop come ripping through your speakers; it's the perfect execution of the quietLoudquiet concept. If you haven't gotten into this band yet, well, I'm sorry, but you'll get a chance when the group drop their new Roadrunners LP on May 4th via HHBTM.
When artists have been playing shows for an<|fim_middle|>007, but closer to this version since 2010 viz. Jake Ward – guitar/vocals & Marie A. Uhler – drums. Versusis the duo's third LP.
Straightforward alt-rock songs that recall 90s 'slacker' rock. Every song sounds like a unique entity in its own right, with thought and effort going into the tunes and arrangements. But if attitude is all, then Eureka California trumps most of the hipster poseurs out there. They come across like the real deal i.e. out of the 90s!
"Eureka California's Night In", "Sign My Name with an X", "Sober Sister", "Fear and Loathing in the Classic City".
Dinosaur Jr, Lemonheads, Teenage Fanclub, Gumball, Eugenius.
A glorious revocation of the early 90s when alt-rock suddenly ruled the airwaves. | extended period of time, the desire to evolve as a musician either becomes an obsession that rides roughshod over whatever made them interesting in the first place, or the artist gets caught in the loop of what made them successful in the past. It's been over 10 years for Eureka California creator Jake Ward, yet so far he hasn't succumbed to either extreme, choosing instead to explore every possible angle of chunky, organic rock and roll (please don't sue me Campbell's® Soup), without deviating from his roots as an insightful bedroom songwriter.
"Threads," the first single off the duo's upcoming LP Roadrunners, picks up where the band left off with 2016's Versus, a fiery ode to Athens filled with a depth of insight I hadn't seen from the band before. Ward and drummer Marie Uhler continue to confront the tinnitus hum of dead-end jobs, the mortality of relevance, and in this case, the existential threat of nuclear annihilation, which still takes a backseat to the more mundane headaches of life.
The duo have always had a bombastic charm, often barely able to keep up with their own onslaught. Each riff charges out of Ward's amp with a mind of its own leaving lyrics and rhythm struggling in the wake. This blunt-force energy makes Eureka California tracks impossible to ignore, but "Threads" proves that Ward can tame the beast without losing the fire. The sharpened '90s alternative sound is a tantalizing way forward for the band, who have experimented with everything from lo-fi emo jams to noise rock. Give it a listen below.
One of our favorite duos from Athens, GA just dropped a brand new tune off their forthcoming LP. Like all great track from Eureka California this one drops in at just over 2 minutes, but it packs a ferocious punch. Drummer Mary Uhler is back there furiously pounding her kit, setting a quick pace that forces Jake to push ahead with both vocals and guitars. It's a breakneck speed, indie rock speaking, but the slight vocal inflection in Jake's voice give just the slightest hint at pop sensibility. They're also going to be one of the hot tickets at SXSW, with everyone clamoring to catch them live. Roadrunners will be released by HHBTM on May 4th. Check the song out below, with their SXSW dates included.
What got into to Eureka California? Just last year we were reviewing their sophomore LP, Crunch, and going off about how much we dig their ability to make power pop excellence with a minimalist line up, fierce guitars and gut pounding drums courtesy of Marie Uhler.
It would appear that with their new LP, Versus, they were simply waiting for the leash to be cut, and oh has it ever. Versus is a fast paced, white knuckle ride into pop punk supremacy. The A-side dominates in tempo. The opening track, "Eureka California's Night In" sounds most like their previous work with the energy level threatening to blow out the speakers. Without hitting the breaks, "Sign My Name with an X" opens with so much thrash we fear the needle jumping the groove. Jake Ward's vocals are mixed expertly and somehow do not get drowned out. Ward has that unique quality, being able to find distinction and rise above everything.
One of our favorite tracks is "Realizing Your Actuality." The song sounds like a mid-90's Tripping Daisy cut. The lyrics are short but the guitars absolutely dominate. The outro is a submersion into alt-rock paradise.
Luckily the album also allows you to catch your breath. Tracks like "Everybody Had a Hard Year" and "Fear and Loathing in the Classic City" give us Ward solo with an acoustic. While they certainly bring the energy level out of the stratosphere, they frame the LP sides nicely.
By far our favorite track on this stellar LP is "I Will Write Mine Over Potomac." The lyrics grow deep, the metaphors are more cryptic, and between the soft vocals and guitar sessions everything melds together in full force and there is a moment of pure rock nirvana.
Whatever did happen to Eureka California that made them reach this level, it was an excellent move. Crank it up. Kick the amp. Versus is quite possibly best rock record you will hear all year.
Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records continues their dedication to releasing top notch LP's. Pressed on translucent green wax, the LP includes a full color jacket, download card, and lyric sheet. Pick up a copy from your local independent record store or directly from HHBTM Records.
Over the course of two albums, the Athens, Georgia duo Eureka California staked out a place as breezy, fast-working punk-poppers with a foot in the twee pop world and a healthy obsession with the slacker noise of the early to mid-'90s. Their third album, Versus, is still firmly in that realm, but singer/guitarist Jake Ward and drummer Marie A. Uhler have upgraded in two important ways. Firstly, their songwriting keeps getting better. The first two albums were catchy and fun, occasionally very sticky. This time around, almost all of them sound like half-forgotten gems from the '90s or tracks that would brighten any modern noise pop mixtape. Secondly, the sound of the album is worlds ahead of the first two. It's their first done in a real studio and the production by Hookworms' MJ gives them a huge sound, with Ward's guitar nothing short of immense. It sounds like he dropped his amp down a flight of stairs and shook everything loose in all the right ways. Another guitarist may have taken it into the shop for repairs; Ward cranks it up all the way instead. It's fuzzy, thick, and heavy, and threatens to drown every song in gooey noise. Luckily, Uhler is up to the task of battling Ward's noise and their duel is a thrilling thing to hear. Ward has to up his vocal game too, something that only gives the album more urgency and drama. Songs like "Cobwebs on the Wind" and "Sign My Name with an X" jump out of the speakers, ready to bludgeon everything in sight with frantic abandon. Others have a less energetic approach. "Realizing Your Actuality" and "I Will Write Mine Over Potomac" have some resigned restraint, though the guitar never stops sounding like a deranged and broken beast of some kind. Only the acoustic songs on the second half of the album give the listener a breather. Overall, the album is a giant leap forward for Eureka California, giving the duo's fun songs and peppy outlook a welcome dose of slime and live-wire energy. Versus is a thrilling, skillfully done makeover that took a good band and pushed it in the direction of great.
Click through for the album announcement!
Hailing from Athens, Georgia, Eureka California is a self-described 'catchy garagey rock and roll band'. Eureka California has existed in some form or fashion since 2 | 1,460 |
La rivière Otira () est située dans la partie centrale de l'Ile du Sud de la Nouvelle-Zélande, dans le district de Westland dans la région de la West Coast. C'est un affluent du fleuve Taramakau, cours d'eau en tresses.
Géographie
Elle prend<|fim_middle|>Otira avant de rejoindre le fleuve Taramakau, qui se déverse ensuite dans la Mer de Tasman à au sud de Greymouth.
La vallée de la rivière Otira forme l'approche nord-ouest du col de Arthur's Pass, l'un des trois principaux cols qui permettent de franchir les Alpes du Sud.
Affluents
Hydrologie
Climat de la Nouvelle-Zélande
Aménagements et écologie
Voir aussi
la liste des cours d'eau de la Nouvelle-Zélande
le parc national d'Arthur's Pass
Notes et références
Notes
Références
District de Westland
Cours d'eau de la région de la West Coast en Nouvelle-Zélande
Parc national d'Arthur's Pass
Cours d'eau en Nouvelle-Zélande
1Otira | naissance sur les pentes du Mont Rolleston dans les Alpes du Sud, et s'écoule vers le nord sur , en passant à travers la ville d' | 37 |
Reese<|fim_middle|> wish both Reese and Jim the best of luck! | Witherspoon and Hollywood agent Jim Toth are engaged. The news has been confirmed by Witherspoon's reps to UsMagazine.com.
"They are extremely happy," the rep tells Us.
Witherspoon began dating Toth in January 2010, shortly after her breakup with actor Jake Gyllenhaal. It wasn't until March during a romantic birthday getaway to Ojai, California that Witherspoon and Toth went public with their relationship.
So what do Witherspoon's kids think about Toth? According to insiders who have spoken with US Weekly, Toth has "bonded" with Ava and Deacon (Witherspoon's children from her previous marriage to actor Ryan Phillippe). In fact, during the shooting of Witherspoon's latest film This Means War, Toth stayed with the kids at her home in LA.
"Ava and Deacon are happy with him," the insider added.
Okay. Now I'm convinced there is something in the water. On Monday, we announced news about Hugh Hefner, Natalie Portman, and Ginnifer Goodwin had gotten engaged. Today, we started off announcing that LeAnn Rimes and Eddie Cibrian had also gotten engaged. Now it's Reese Witherspoon. However, despite our concerns over the water in LA, we're very excited to hear this news and we | 278 |
Q: Improving performance while iterating two nested loops I calculate a "Top-5-List" of Birthplaces organized in an array of objects in this form
var myObjArr =[
{
"birth":
{
"year": 2012,
"name": "Manchester, Vermont, USA",
}
} , (and so on)
];
My approach however does not seem to be much performant:
for (var i = 0; i < myObj<|fim_middle|> myObjArr[i]['birth']['name']) { // birthname already in resultData
alreadyListed = j;
break;
}
}
if(alreadyListed != -1 ) { // birthname already in resultData -> raise count
resultData[alreadyListed].count += 1;
}else { // birthname not yet in resultData -> add to resultData
resultData.push({key: myObjArr[i]['birth']['name'], count: 1 });
}
}
}
Neiter javascript's forEach nor angulars angular.forEach seem to improve the performance. Any Suggestions?
A: You can use an object as a dictionary instead of using an array and looking for a key by iterating, this way the second "loop" is done by the Javascript implementation when looking for object keys (also it's probably not a linear scan but an hash table lookup):
var result = {};
myObjArr.forEach(function(obj) {
var key = "!" + obj.birth.name;
result[key] = 1 + (result[key] || 0);
});
I'm always adding a "!" in front of the key when using objects as dictionaries because all Javascript objects do have an inherited constructor property and I don't want to interfer with that.
The (x || 0) trick is to start with a 0 when a name has not seen before (undefined is falsy in Javascript). Adding 1 to undefined instead results in NaN.
If you really need an array as result the code is only slightly more complex:
var result = [];
var index = {};
myObjArr.forEach(function(obj) {
var key = "!" + obj.birth.name;
var ix = index[key];
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Fishermen's News Online
Scientists Bracing for the New Climate Frontier
By Fishermen's News Online on Feb 4, 2020 Comments Off on Scientists Bracing for the New Climate Frontier
Sea surface temperature anomaly maps show temperatures above normal in orange and red. Image-NOAA
Rapid changes in the environment brought on by warming temperatures and increasing ocean acidification are prompting new direction in research, say scientists who addressed the 2020 Alaska Marine Science Symposium in Anchorage, Alaska.
"Everything is new," said Cisco Werner, chief science advisor to NOAA Fisheries, in his presentation to dozens of participants gathered to hear his keynote speech at the Hotel Captain Cook on Jan. 27. "We need to be ready and prepared to deal with surprises, to sample, count and make decisions differently."
Fifteen to 20 years ago scientists were trying to figure out how physical and biological linkages worked, how physics and marine ecosystems come together, he said. Today they are working with new technologies, autonomous unmanned surface vehicles, artificial intelligence and omics, which are novel, comprehensive approaches for analysis of complete genetic or molecular profiles of humans and other organisms. In contrast to genetics, which focus on single genes, genomics focus on all genes (genomes) and their inter-relationships.
"The last comprehensive evaluation of our surveys was the 1998 NOAA Fisheries Data Acquisition Plan," Werner told fellow scientists, students and fishing industry participants in the symposium organized annually by the North Pacific Research Board. "There is a need to revisit this data collection to include ecosystem considerations, partnerships with industry and communities, new technologies and new analytical capabilities," he said.
Average surface ocean pH<|fim_middle|>014 and 2016. "If scientists could accurately forecast the Blob, how would they use this information?" he asked. "We have to manage for variability, not stability, which is key to adaptation."
Fishermen's News Online grants permission to the Alaska Native News to post selected articles. Read More at: Fishermen's News Online.
acidification, Alaska, change, climate, data, fisheries, marine, noaa, ocean, ph, survey, warming
Scientists Bracing for the New Climate Frontier added by Fishermen's News Online on Feb 4, 2020
View all posts by Fishermen's News Online → | has decreased 0.1 units below the pre-industrial average and is expected to further decrease by 0.13 to 0.42 units by 2100, and marine heat waves have become longer, he explained.
Werner, one of four keynote speakers at this year's symposium, is leading National Marine Fisheries Service's (NMFS) efforts to provide the science that will be needed to support sustainable fisheries and ecosystems, end overfishing, rebuild fish populations, save critical species and preserve vital habitats. He supervises the planning, development and management of a multidisciplinary scientific enterprise of basic and applied research. He also oversees NMFS' science centers and Office of Science and Technology.
Werner's talk touched on several topics, from changes in the structure of the food web, including changes in the composition of zooplankton, to the warming Blob, which had an adverse impact on waters of the North Pacific between 2 | 195 |
Regional Outlook : After the 'Lost Decade,' a Strong Latin Spirit : Forecasts for prosperity and stability were surprisingly rosy at a Mexican summit.
Latin American history has been shaped by stubborn and often frustrated idealists.
Simon Bolivar helped liberate the colonies from Spain in the early 1800s but failed to keep them united in independence. Late in the 1980s, Costa Rica's Oscar Arias Sanchez won a Nobel Prize for pushing Nicaragua from war to peace but couldn't persuade any of his neighbors to abolish their armies.
Today the region's utopian spirit is as vital as ever. It was in full bloom here last month as presidents of 19 countries gathered to sketch their vision of the 1990s and, five centuries after the Spanish colonization, to project Bolivar's old dream of a unified Latin America into the next millennium.
For a region struggling to emerge from the "lost decade" of debt crisis--the most punishing economic decline and wildest inflation in its modern history--the presidential assessments sounded surprisingly upbeat. Unity in the coming decade, they declared, will help overcome the continent's chronic poverty and political instability.
"A new Latin American era is dawning," exulted Venezuelan President Carlos Andres Perez, one of the region's elder statesmen. "It will be a continent where the utopia of an authentic democracy of free and equal citizens reigns, the model for a prosperous new society that seeks to join the First World."
Such euphoria might be dismissed as a fleeting emotion of the two-day summit, the region's biggest-ever gathering of so many like-minded democratic leaders. After a generation of nationalist paranoia, dictatorship and protectionist economics, the elected civilians and free-market believers now in power were congratulating themselves simply for being in the same room.
But their optimism stems as well from the results of two common policies and is supported by a hopeful forecast from the Inter-American Development Bank.
First, negotiations over the last two years to tie their economies together through a web of free-trade agreements, among themselves and with the United States, have proceeded faster than expected. By the mid-1990s, they say, these alliances could lay the foundation for a common market of 400 million Latin consumers, twice as many as the European Community.
Also, many Latin leaders are convinced that painful surgery on their national economies in recent years--cutting public spending, withdrawing subsidies for pampered industries--is starting to pay off; at least it is taming hyper-inflation.
"If policies continue down this road and the reforms are intensified, the economic recovery of the region could be a reality in the course of this decade," the Development Bank predicted last month in its forecast for the '90s. "There are solid reasons to face the future with confidence. . . . Latin America again can achieve significant growth rates with moderate amounts of external borrowing."
The road uphill is long. According to the U.N. Economic Commission for Latin America, the region's per capita production stands today at 1977 levels, having slid by 10% during the 1980s under the weight of unpayable foreign debts.
By 1982, when foreign banks virtually stopped lending for new projects, the Latin model of the 1960s--state-driven development--had gone bankrupt, sapped by self-defeating trade barriers and inflationary public deficits. Billions of dollars in flight capital drained from the region.
Human damage is still being assessed. According to the U.N. commission, 47 million Latin Americans plunged below the poverty line during the 1980s, joining 136 million already mired there.
Health, education, water and housing services deteriorated. Despite falling birthrates, unemployment reached record highs. Crime rates soared in overcrowded cities. A quarter of a million poor people in Andean nations, Brazil and Mexico have been stricken this year by Latin America's worst cholera epidemic of the century; more than 2,500 have died.
The collapse of the 1980s was stunning, frustrating to Latin American visionaries long puzzled by why such a huge region with common language and heritage and no serious ethnic or religious conflicts cannot rise to the greatness of well-being.
"We have not been capable of transferring our cultural richness and continuity to a similar economic richness and political continuity," wrote Mexico's Nobel Prize-winning poet and novelist Carlos Fuentes in a recent essay on the lessons of the 1980s.
Latin America's solution for the 1990s, a free-market model with tight-fisted controls on public spending, has produced the initial effect in many countries of making poverty more acute. But the Inter-American Development Bank predicts that prevailing policies will soon inspire enough new domestic savings and foreign investment to reverse the downward slide.
An estimated $10 billion in flight capital will return to the region this decade, reducing the $423-billion foreign debt, the bank predicted. With that money and $220 million in outside investment, loans and aid--a reasonable target, bank officials say--Latin America can achieve healthy growth rates averaging 4.2% a year and nearly 5% by the end of the decade.
The bank's hopeful outlook is not universally shared.
Skeptics note that even the most negative forecasts by international lending agencies for Latin America at the start of the 1980s proved to be embarrassingly optimistic. Much as they were 500 years ago, Latin American economies are based on raw materials; they are vulnerable to unpredictable dips in world prices for petroleum, copper, coffee and sugar. Also, overall growth for the region might conceal wide performance gaps between healthy economies like Chile's and Colombia's and shakier ones like Brazil's and Peru's.
Just as worrisome is the prospect that growth in each country could benefit a rich few without trickling down to the poor majority.
"Even while there are certain reasons for optimism about the future, we cannot be carried away by euphoria and think that all the difficulties are overcome," says Colombian President Cesar Gaviria. "If we want to achieve true peace--the peace born of equality, social justice and prosperity--we still have a lot of ground to cover."
Despite an abundance of such rhetoric at Latin American forums, the leaders are making little concerted effort to correct centuries-old inequities of land and income distribution that have fed social upheaval, military coups and guerrilla wars. These are, after all, presidents committed to "modernizing" the state by reducing it.
"Will the free-market model survive the '90s?" wonders Gabriel Siri, the U.N. Economic Commission's director for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. "On the one hand, the homogeneity of views at the political level seems to make the current policies irreversible. There's a feeling that they're coming out of the crisis.
"But I don't think the political leaders are fully aware of their vulnerabilities," he adds. "Democracy has raised so many expectations among the poor, but the length and depth of the crisis have destroyed the infrastructure the state needs to tend to them. How are you going to solve their problems with social spending that is only 4% of GNP?"
The U.N. Economic Commission is pushing a new approach for the 1990s--one that aspires to make successful business people of millions of poor people already self-employed in the "informal economy." It calls on governments and foreign lenders to redirect part of their paternalistic social spending to help grass-roots organizations in the barrios amass working capital for small-scale enterprise.
Without such schemes to help the poor help themselves, the commission warns, growth in the 1990s will hit a wall. It also urges Latin leaders to spend a greater share of shrinking state budgets to reverse the slide of health and education standards.
A major roadblock to this kind of spending is the lingering power of military establishments that ruled most of the continent a generation ago and, even in the poorest countries, still demand a large share of national budgets. "Armamentism," says Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, "is the principal enemy of the development of our peoples."
Others fear that market-oriented growth is uncontrollable and will ravage Latin America's environment as well as its poor.
"Is it possible to build a future without renouncing our identity, without submitting ourselves to a selfish mercantile dynamic that devastates our human and natural resources?" Argentine writer Osvaldo Soriano asked in a recent essay.
Haunted by the same question, a politically diverse group of 30 prominent Latin American writers, led by Nobel laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez of Colombia, joined last month in pleading for a hemispheric effort to save the vanishing rain forests.
Overriding all debate about what kind of development they want, Latin American leaders share a conviction that only by allying their economies can they take part in, and benefit from, the sudden shifts that have redrawn the world's geopolitical map over the last two years. Even Fidel Castro, cut off from his fallen East European allies and isolated in his one-party socialist convictions, turned up at the summit here, clamoring to get Cuba into the emerging Latin bloc.
With Europe and North America consolidating into powerful economic alliances, five Central American countries and the five Andean Pact nations last year dusted off 1960s blueprints for subregional common markets.
Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, which contain nearly half of Latin America's population, agreed last February to dismantle barriers to trade among themselves by 1995. Mexico, Venezuela and Colombia have since pledged to set up their own free-trade zone by 1994.
Bolivian President Jaime Paz Zamora, whose country belongs to four different subregional alliances, envisions these accords as "streams flowing into one great river of integration."
The potential is great: Latin American nations trade just 4% of their gross national products with each other, according to the Inter-American Development Bank, compared to the 14% traded inside the European Community and the 17% across the Pacific Rim.
Although the Latin embrace of trade liberalization was under way by the end of the 1980s, the announcement of President Bush's Enterprise for the Americas initiative in June, 1990, gave it a sense of urgency and direction.
The initiative calls for free-trade pacts between the United States and Latin American countries that could transform the entire hemisphere, from Alaska to Argentina, into a common megamarket; the creation<|fim_middle|> United States and Canada, will grab most of the benefits of North American trade and distance itself from its Latin neighbors.
"We're always looking north and expecting everything from the north, and we forget that a more intense interchange among ourselves will help us definitively to solve many of our difficulties," says Ecuadorean President Rodrigo Borja.
In that spirit, Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari convoked last month's summit and limited outside invitations to the leaders of Spain and Portugal, Latin America's former colonial rulers, as a way of diluting Washington's influence and reaffirming Mexico's solidarity with the region.
The summit quickly became a soapbox for dreamers. President Perez of Venezuela got up and proposed an elected Latin American parliament by 1995. Argentina's Menem asked why Latin America cannot have a single currency. Fujimori of Peru revived Arias' vision of a continent without armies.
None of these proposals was acted upon, but they'll no doubt be heard again, now that the region's presidents have agreed to meet every year. As the Argentine writer Soriano observed: "A step away from the 21st Century, the utopia of Bolivar . . . is intact in an unfinished America."
* CENTRAL AMERICAN COMMON MARKET: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua. 28 million.
* ANDEAN COMMON MARKET: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela. 92 million.
* SOUTHERN CONE MARKET: Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay. 190 million.
For the Record Los Angeles Times Tuesday August 13, 1991 Home Edition World Report Page 4 Column 4 World Report Desk 1 inches; 22 words Type of Material: Correction Nobel--In an article on Latin America last Tuesday, World Report incorrectly referred to Mexican poet and novelist Carlos Fuentes as a Nobel Prize winner. | of a $1.5-billion fund to help move state-owned industries to private hands, and a reduction in the $12-billion debt that Latin nations owe the U.S. government.
Not since President John F. Kennedy's Alliance for Progress 30 years ago has any U.S. initiative drawn more praise in Latin America. Fifteen nations have signed framework agreements to negotiate free-trade treaties with Washington.
"It is an ambitious business proposition," says Argentine President Carlos Saul Menem. "Latin America is considered this time as a new entity, as a valid player able to talk in terms of mutual interests."
At the same time, leaders of small countries like Ecuador, which is heavily dependent on mining, have criticized the United States for demanding too much privatization in return for benefits of the initiative. Articulating a solitary view among presidents but a lingering phobia among the region's nationalists, Castro branded the initiative a "siren song" that will end in disillusion.
"The policies of the great economic powers and the international financial institutions under their control have not produced development, but have brought poverty to more than 250 million people," Castro warns. "The world is heading in a still worse direction, toward political hegemony by a superpower that has often made excessive use of force."
A more common worry is that Mexico, with a long U.S. border and a head start in negotiating its own agreement with the | 286 |
The 2017 Lannutti Lecture series will be held on November 30th. Mark your calendars and plan to attend one or both of the lectures.
This year's presenter is Dr. Gabriela González, a professor of physics and astronomy at Louisiana State University. LSU is only 30 miles away from the LIGO Livingston Observatory, where she conducts most of her research. The LIGO project, funded by the National Science Foundation, has gravitational wave detectors in two observatories, the one in Livingston and a second in Hanford, Washington.
Dr. González has been a member of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration since 1997, and in 2011 she was elected as its spokesperson. Her research addresses characterization of noise in and calibration of the gravitational wave detectors.
Her second lecture, "Einstein, gravitational waves and black holes," will be given<|fim_middle|> PM at the FSU College of Medicine Auditorium, 1115 West Call Street. | on Thursday, 30 November 2017, at 7:30 | 19 |
New Gorilla Population Estimates in Northern Republic of Congo
Categories: Journal no. 37, Censuses, Other countries, Western Lowland Gorilla, Gorilla Journal
Petunia with her son Asta while visiting Mbeli Bai (© Thomas Breuer)
The survey area (© Angela Meder, Adapted from an original map by WCS)
On 5 August, 2008, at the XXII International Primatological Society Congress in Edinburgh, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) announced the results of a ground-breaking series of western lowland gorilla surveys conducted in the northern Republic of Congo, one of the last remaining strongholds for this species. The results estimate a total population of 125,953 individuals (90,325-161,545) living in 47,444 km² of contiguous lowland and swamp forest. This estimate exceeds the previous global estimate for the species and confirms the Republic of Congo as harbouring arguably the largest remaining populations of western gorillas in Africa.
Surveys in the 1980s indicated that healthy populations of western gorillas existed in many areas remote from human settlements (Harcourt 1996). In spite of legal protection across their geographic range, recent evidence has indicated that western lowland gorillas are declining rapidly, through a combination of commercial hunting, the spread of logging, which alters forest structure and opens up remote forest blocks to facilitate poaching, and Ebola hemorrhagic fever (Tutin et al. 2005). Commercial hunting and Ebola alone are thought to have reduced the western gorilla population by over 50% in the last three decades (Walsh et al. 2003), to the extent where the species was recently upgraded to "Critically Endangered" in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (Walsh et al. 2007). Most of the world's remaining western lowland gorillas are found in the Republic of Congo and Gabon (Harcourt 1996). Low human population densities (< 1/km²) combined with relatively poorly developed infrastructure and access has, until recently, largely protected these forests and their wildlife from human disturbance and depletion.
In the 1980s and 1990s, surveys in the northern Republic of Congo indicated that the region was of great importance for western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) and other endangered large mammals. Since 1991, WCS has worked together with the government of Congo and other partners to establish an effective conservation program in the region. In 2006 and 2007 WCS implemented a series of great ape surveys across northern Republic of Congo (see map). The surveyed area represents one of the most important remaining blocks of habitat for western lowland gorillas, covering 47,444 km² of contiguous lowland forest. The surveys were conducted in three phases, corresponding to three adjacent survey zones.
Ndoki Likouala Landscape (27,970 km²): The Ndoki-Likouala landscape includes two protected areas (the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park and the Lac Télé Community Reserve), and several surrounding logging concessions. In collaboration with the government of Congo, WCS have been working in this landscape for the past 17 years. The primary objective of the surveys across this zone was to assess the population status of great apes in response to conservation interventions. This was the first systematic and standardized survey of the entire zone.
Batanga swamps (1,029 km²): The Batanga swamps represent a largely unexplored area of Raphia swamp forest between the Ndoki-Likouala Landscape to the west, and the Batanga River to the east. Reconnaissance missions conducted in the 1990s indicated these swamps support large populations of gorillas (Blake 1995; Fay & Agnagna 1992; Fay et al. 1989), but these forests have never previously been systematically surveyed. The primary objective of the surveys here was to assess the population status of gorillas and the potential for expansion of conservation activities into this area.
Ngombe-Ntokou-Pikounda Landscape (18,455 km²): The Ntokou-Ngombe-Pikounda landscape includes the Ngombe timber concession, and the remote Ntokou-Pikounda forests to the south and east. The site is covered by very large tracts of Marantaceae forest to the west and north and by swamp forest to the east and south. To the west lies the Odzala-Koukoua National Park. It was the site of the last recorded Ebola outbreak in May 2005, which affected both human and gorilla populations (Caillaud et al. 2006; Devos et al. 2008). Prior recent outbreaks to the south and south west of the park were known to have devastated the previously high density gorilla populations (Bermejo et al. 2006). Reconnaissance missions conducted in the Ntokou-Pikounda forests in 1999 had suggested that it harboured large populations of great apes (Quammen 2001), but these forests have never before been systematically surveyed. The objectives of surveys in this zone were therefore to assess the population status of great apes in order to provide a baseline for effective protected area planning and management, and to identify evidence for Ebola impact on great ape populations in the landscape.
Line transect distance sampling was used to estimate gorilla density from nest counts (Buckland et al. 2001). Production and decay rates for nests were estimated and used to convert nest density into gorilla density (for details of survey design and analysis see Stokes et al. 2008). A total of 265 transects of 2 km in length were placed across the three survey zones.
The surveys were conducted between February 2006 and May 2007. A total of 3,815 great ape nests were counted along 526 km of transects. 2,550 nests were assigned to gorillas. The gorilla population across all three survey zones was estimated at 125,935 individuals (95% CI: 90,325 to 161<|fim_middle|> outbreaks in the gorilla population. Nevertheless, expert opinion and research findings to date all point to this zone for the next predicted epidemic. The recent upgrading of the western gorilla to Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species was primarily due to the rapid rate of decline of the subspecies over the past 20 years in response to increasing threats from poaching and disease. We do not advocate for western lowland gorillas to be down listed. Rather, we support a renewed focus on addressing and mitigating the threats that endanger these last remaining populations and on preventing further population decline of this species.
Emma Stokes, Richard Malonga and Hugo Rainey
Bermejo, M. et al. (2006): Ebola Outbreak Killed 5000 Gorillas. Science 314, 1564
Blake, S. (1995): Swamp gorillas in northern Congo. African J. of Ecology 33, 285-290
Buckland, S. T. et al. (2001): Introduction to Distance Sampling. Oxford (Oxford University Press)
Butynski, T. M. (2001): Africa's Great Apes. Pp. 3-56 in: Beck, B. et al. (eds.): Great Apes and Humans. Washington (Smithsonian Inst. Pr.)
Caillaud, D. et al. (2006): Gorilla susceptibility to Ebola virus: The cost of sociality. Current Biology 16 (13), R489-R491
Devos, C. et al. (2008): Monitoring population decline: can transect surveys detect the impact of the Ebola virus on apes? Oryx 42, 367-374
Fay, J. & Agnagna, M. (1992): Census of gorillas in northern Republic of Congo. American Journal of Primatology 27, 275-284
Fay, J. M. et al. (1989): Gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) in the Likouala swamp forests of North Central Congo. International Journal of Primatology 10, 477-486
Harcourt, A. H. (1996): Is the gorilla a threatened species? How should we judge? Biological Conservation 75, 165-176
Huijbregts, B. et al. (2003): Ebola and the decline of gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) and chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) populations in Minkebe Forest, north-eastern Gabon. Oryx 37, 437-443
Kühl, H. et al. (2008): Best Practice Guidelines for Surveys and Monitoring of Great Ape Populations. Gland (IUCN)
Morgan, D. & Sanz, C. (2007): Best Practice Guidelines for Reducing the Impact of Commercial Logging on Great Apes in Western Equatorial Africa. Gland (IUCN)
Quammen, D. (2001): Extreme Africa: Trekking Through the Green Abyss. National Geographic March 2001, 2-37
Stokes, E. et al. (2008): Western lowland gorilla surveys in northern Republic of Congo. New York (WCS)
Tropical Forest Trust (2007): World's Largest Contiguous Tropical Forest Certified in Congo Basin. www.tropicalforesttrust.com/media/ londonmarch2007
Tutin, C. et al. (2005): Regional Action Plan for the Conservation of Chimpanzees and Gorillas in Western Equatorial Africa. Washington DC
Walsh, P. et al. (2003): Catastrophic ape decline in Western Equatorial Africa. Nature 422, 611-614
Walsh, P. D. et al. (2007): Gorilla gorilla ssp. gorilla IUCN 2007: IUCN Red List of Threatened Species | ,545).
The significance of this finding is two-fold. Firstly, it emphasizes the importance of scientifically rigorous survey methods in assessing and evaluating the conservation status of key species. Prior to these surveys the global estimate of wild western lowland gorillas was approximately 95,000 individuals (Butynski 2001). This estimate was based on range-wide extrapolation of data collected in the 1980s from a number of discrete survey locations in Gabon and the Republic of Congo (Harcourt 1996). However, in the light of both recent advances in survey techniques (Kühl et al. 2008) and, importantly, the recent documented declines in western lowland gorilla populations (Walsh et al. 2003; Devos et al. 2008; Bermejo et al. 2006; Huijgbregts et al. 2003), the validity of this figure is questionable (Walsh et al. 2007). Whilst we are unable to provide a revised global estimate of western lowland gorillas from our surveys, we are able to provide a revised baseline estimate for northern Congo, which represents a significant contribution to our knowledge of the current status of western gorilla populations and which provides a basis for monitoring the impact of future conservation efforts in what is undoubtedly one of the highest priority areas for the future survival of this species.
Secondly, the findings from these surveys highlight a number of key conservation issues and priorities for future conservation action. The majority of western gorilla habitat, and the majority of our surveyed gorilla population, lies outside of protected areas. In 2006, the government of Congo announced the proposed Ntokou-Pikounda Protected Area. We are keen to use our findings to work together with the government to catalyze the process of legally gazetting this protected area and promoting effective on-the-ground protection.
Many of the areas containing high densities of gorillas lie within sites managed in partnership between the government of Congo, WCS and other partners, including the private sector. The partnership with the timber concession holder CIB (Congolaise Industrielle de Bois) has yielded improved wildlife management and protection in over 13,000 km² of production forests surrounding the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park. In June 2006, CIB's Kabo concession was the first timber concession to be awarded Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification in Central Africa. CIB's FSC-certified forests have now been expanded to 7,500 km² (Tropical Forest Trust 2007). These forests support some of the highest recorded densities of western lowland gorillas. Given the rate of expansion of commercial logging and mining operations across northern Republic of Congo, and indeed across much of Central Africa, we support the use of auditable timber certification schemes in production forests and the integration of best practices for reducing the impact of logging on great apes across their geographic range (Morgan & Sanz 2007) to ensure protection of gorilla populations in key habitats that lie outside of protected areas.
These findings are encouraging for the conservation of western lowland gorillas. The results indicate healthy populations in numbers higher than previously thought. The persistence of these populations can be largely attributed to the remote and inaccessible nature of the Ntokou-Pikounda forests and the Batanga swamps, combined with successful conservation investment in the Ndoki-Likouala landscape.
At the same time, however, northern Congo is subjected to similar threats to those faced by western gorillas across their range. Remote and inaccessible forests are fast becoming opened up and commercially exploited for natural resources. The result is escalating hunting pressure to meet the growing demand for bushmeat. Our surveys did not indicate evidence of recent Ebola | 802 |
The upcoming holiday season is projected to be a good one for the retail industry. But much of the sales growth will be a result of additional traffic on retailers' websites rather than in their stores.
Online spending during the upcoming holiday shopping season<|fim_middle|> U.S. consumers shows nearly half (47%) expect to browse in-store for a product they intend to buy online later. That figure jumps to 58% for Millennials.
This year's holiday initiatives by Target and Walmart, among others, show that they understand this new reality, and are investing in ways to make the shopping experience faster and easier for all of their customers, however they choose to shop. | is expected to grow 14.8%, to $124.1 billion, according to Adobe Analytics, the Web analytics division of Adobe Systems Inc. That compares to the 2.7% growth expected for brick-and-mortar stores, highlighting the ongoing switch from stores to Web shopping.
Adobe Analytics, which measures transactions from 80 of the top 100 U.S. retailers and trillions of customer visits to U.S. retail sites, says that this year's online sales will benefit from an extra day between Cyber Monday and Christmas.
Much of the growth of online shopping is being driven by convenience. A recent survey by the technology firm Genesys found that only 37% of Americans plan to brave the Black Friday crowds and actually visit physical stores on what has traditionally been the biggest shopping day of the year. A majority of the 1,000 U.S. adults surveyed said the stores would be far too busy, and 31% said the Black Friday deals on offer would "not be worth the hassle" of buying them in a physical store on that day.
Adobe Analytic's data does suggest that the omnichannel model has the greatest appeal for holiday shoppers.
Retailers with both online and physical footprints are expected to see 28% higher conversion in their online stores when compared with retailers lacking a traditional storefront.
The report also forecasts increased numbers of consumers buying online and picking up items in-store (BOPIS) during the holiday season.
BOPIS has increased 119% since January 2018 across all retailers and over 250% for large retailers, the company's data suggests. And a survey of over 1,000 | 354 |
The trails along the Grand Canyon are some of the most familiar and well-worn paths<|fim_middle|> fully understand despite the closeness to patients that my job allows. Spending time on the dusty Canyon trail in punishing heat, encouraging each other to walk through the adversity we are all bound to experience and supporting my fellow trekkers until we reach the end of the walk.
I imagine the stories that each climber shares along the trail reverberating off the Canyon walls and guiding us through this incredible trek. There is such strength in these stories and I will call upon that power to inspire and lead me through our journey. What I hear and feel from my team will become part of who I am and serve as a constant reminder of the importance of the work we are doing in creating life-changing cancer medicines, and the need to travel even further until we find a cure. | in the world. For decades, millions of people from all over the world have gathered at this iconic and historic U.S. landmark to experience the majesty of the Grand Canyon, but for me the Canyon and what I am about to undergo is brand new.
In my role as Associate Director, Patient Advocacy, for Takeda Pharmaceuticals my days are filled with constant interaction among patients with multiple myeloma and related patient advocacy groups. Phone calls, emails, texts, teleconferences and brief gatherings at annual medical conferences are the normal tools of our communication; and it's within this environment that I have this marvelous privilege to speak and work with people whose lives are impacted by myeloma and committed to making that experience better for patients, family and caregivers. It can't be compared to what I will experience next month; however, as I leave the comfy confines of my office in Cambridge and prepare to join a heroic team of climbers — that will include patients with myeloma — who will walk the trails of this landmark to benefit multiple myeloma research.
There's something eye-opening about sharing a physical challenge with someone that allows you to really get to know that person beyond an occasional phone conversation or text message and see for a brief moment beyond their illness. Maybe a glimpse into their true self and their personal struggles. This climb will give me that chance to experience an incredible challenge together and hopefully become more committed to helping find a cure for multiple myeloma. These events that serve as platforms from which to raise important research dollars and disease awareness for myeloma are necessary, yet complicated. Those of us who participate — especially patients who live daily with the challenges of cancer — do so to acknowledge the lives that are lived in the shadow of this disease as well as honor loved ones currently living with myeloma or those who have lost their battle. Each climber has a story and it's those heartfelt and very personal narratives that I am interested in hearing. Living with multiple myeloma adds a dimension to a person's life that I can never | 413 |
The Rossio Square, officially called Plaza Don Pedro IV, is the nerve center of Lisbon. It is located in La Baixa, at the northern end of Rua Augusta and a short distance from Restauradores Square.
The Rossio Square is the most lively area of the city and the meeting place of Lisbon and visitors. On the sides of the square and in its surrounding streets you will find shops, bars and restaurants of the most famous in the city.
The square and its surroundings is our preferred sleeping area.
In the center of the Rossio Square is the statue of Pedro IV of Portugal, El Rey Soldado. At its base four female figures represent<|fim_middle|> in 1887.
From the Rossio train station, trains leave for Sintra. | the kindness of the king.
Built in 1842 the theater replaced the former Estaus Palace, seat of the Portuguese Inquisition since the mid-16th century. On its façade stands the figure of Gil Vicente, the father of the theater in Portugal.
To the left of the National Theater is this train station with an imposing facade built | 73 |
When and How to Screen for Colorectal Cancer? New Guideline Explains Timing and Approaches.
National Comprehensive Cancer Network's new patient guide covers effective tools for preventing and early detection of colorectal cancer.
December 1, 2021 • By National Comprehensive Cancer Network
The National Comprehensive<|fim_middle|> with patients and caregivers so we find the right screening fit for everyone."
NCCN Guidelines for Patients are based on the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®), which are determined by multidisciplinary teams of experts from across NCCN Member Institutions. NCCN Guidelines® are the recognized standard for clinical direction and policy in cancer care and the most thorough and frequently updated clinical practice guidelines available in any area of medicine. The patient versions are presented in easy-to-read language and format—with charts, images, and a glossary of medical terms—and were found to be among the most trustworthy options for cancer patients seeking information online, according to an independent study.
"For more than 15 years, our organization has worked with smart, relentless patients and caregivers who are looking for reliable information and answers about their treatment plans; many won't stop until they find them," said Anjee Davis, MPPA, President of Fight CRC. "We are proud sponsors of the NCCN Guidelines for Patients: CRC Screening because this is an important tool that empowers patients with the information they need to discuss their care with their doctors. We hope this resource empowers patients to choose the right screening option and get screened!"
Recently updated recommendations
In early 2021, the NCCN Guidelines for Colorectal Screening were updated to recommend screening begin possibly as young as 45-years-old for people at average risk, and includes additional recommendations for those with higher risk. Additionally, some follow-up screenings can safely be delayed for seven to ten years. The research is evolving rapidly and even primary care physicians may not be up-to-date on the latest expert consensus.
Drs. Llor and Ness both stressed that patients at any age who experience symptoms should be evaluated for colorectal cancer. Some of those symptoms include:
rectal bleeding;
changes in bowel habits;
persistent stomach pain;
and unexplained weight loss.
The panel also wanted to honor the significant contributions from longtime NCCN Guidelines Panel Chair, Dawn Provenzale, MD, of Duke Cancer Institute, who passed away earlier this year.
Free digital versions of the NCCN Guidelines for Patients: Colorectal Screening are available at NCCN.org/patientguidelines and via the NCCN Patient Guides for Cancer App, thanks to funding from the NCCN Foundation®. The growing library of NCCN Guidelines for Patients includes nearly 60 frequently-updated books for patients and caregivers covering most major types of cancer, including colon and rectal cancers. There are additional guides covering cancer-related distress, nausea and vomiting, and survivorship (both healthy living & cancer-related late and long-term effects), plus special considerations for adolescents and young adults across all cancer types.
Learn more and help support these and other resources for people with cancer and their caregivers at NCCN.org/patients.
This article was originally published by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network on December 1, 2021. It is republished by permission.
#cancer screening
#colorectal cancer
#National Comprehensive Cancer Network
#Prevention
Gene in Black People Can Result in Needless Bone Marrow Biopsies
Ciara Urges Black Women to Get Screened for Cervical Cancer
HIV Protection With a Vaginal Ring?
Jamie Foxx Encourages At-Risk Minorities to Get Screened for Colorectal Cancer | Cancer Network (NCCN®) today announced the publication of new NCCN Guidelines for Patients®: Colorectal Cancer Screening. Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the fourth most frequently diagnosed cancer in the United States, with an estimated 104,270 new cases of colon cancer and 43,230 new cases of rectal cancer in 2021, and an estimated 52,980 deaths this year.[1] Screening can reduce the rate of death by catching CRC at an earlier, more treatable stage, and can reduce overall cancer incidences by detecting and removing pre-cancerous polyps. This new, free guide for patients and caregivers breaks down the different ways screening can be done and explains the recommended timing according to the latest research.
"I was lucky that my colon cancer was diagnosed early enough to be successfully treated," said Heather Matt, a four-year CRC survivor who was first diagnosed at age 35. "I want everyone to know about the importance of screening and how, when caught early, it may save you from having a very different outcome. A little discomfort today can ensure your tomorrow."
Importance of screening
Accurate information about cancer screening is particularly important in light of the COVID-19 pandemic—which has seen reduced screening numbers projected to result in increased late-stage diagnoses. More on NCCN's message that "Cancer Won't Wait and Neither Should You" can be found at NCCN.org/resume-screening.
"CRC screening has been shown to be one of the most effective prevention tools for a very common cancer that we know of," said Reid M. Ness, MD, MPH, Associate Professor of Medicine, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, and Chair of the NCCN Guidelines Panel for Colorectal Cancer Screening. "Studies show that we've reduced incidence rates by 40% since 1980, when screening was first recommended in the U.S. At the same time, it's important to follow the latest evidence to make sure we're applying screening to the people who can see the most benefit, while not putting anyone at unintended or inappropriate risk from diagnostic procedures and treatment."
"Recommended screening significantly reduces cancer-related deaths; the numbers are astounding," agreed panel Vice-Chair Xavier Llor, MD, PhD, Professor, Yale Cancer Center/Smilow Cancer Hospital. "This new patient guideline from NCCN offers a better understanding of the scientific research for the larger community. It provides a foundation for shared decision-making | 516 |
Cashman Equipment is the largest Caterpillar dealership in Nevada. They provide parts sales, new equipment sales, rental equipment, and service for all Caterpillar engines and drive trains for construction equipment, semi-trucks, buses and generator sets. Cashman Equipment's previous facility in North Las Vegas was becoming too small and inefficient for their growing operations, requiring them to<|fim_middle|> provide new equipment, rental equipment, parts, and repair facilities for all Caterpillar equipment. The site is split into three areas to provide these services. The equipment sales and parts warehouse building is sited prominently along St. Rose Parkway and provides an attractive store front for potential customers. The rest of the site is split between the repair facilities housed in four buildings, separated and designed for their specific repair functions, and a rental equipment building that accommodates rentals and maintains construction equipment.
• 22 large repair bays that have complete coverage by 15-ton bridge cranes to repair any piece of earthmoving equipment.
• 320 geothermal wells to provide consistent heating and cooling for each of the buildings on the campus.
• The sustainable design features of the facility reduce operating energy costs by 40% compared to similar type of facilities. | lease facilities in order to provide service to their customers. The solution was a new, highly sustainable campus in Henderson that would consolidate all operations in one company-owned location.
The new award-winning and LEED certified Gold campus consists of six main buildings that | 49 |
Intel Sets a Dual-Core Xeon Table
Before the month is out, Intel Corp. will make good on its February promise to roll out new Xeon microprocessors and platforms within 90<|fim_middle|> of Internet of Things (IoT), connected edge computing devices and the technology that... | days, according to sources, enhancing...
TigerGraph CEO Yu Xu on the Future of Graph Analytics
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I spoke with Dr. Yu Xu, CEO of TigerGraph, about why graph analytics hasn't been adopted as much as other analytics methods – and...
What is Predictive Analytics?
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Lenovo ISG and Strategic Partners: Sharing Innovations
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Lenovo's Infrastructure Solutions Group (ISG) recently issued announcements that illustrate the value offered by its strategic partners. Let's consider them in more detail. Also see: Digital...
Cisco CSO Liz Centoni's Tech Forecast: Edge, Cryptography, AI
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Zscaler Works to Secure a Connected World
Zeus Kerravala - January 25, 2023 0
The world is more connected than ever thanks to the proliferation | 275 |
My work experience<|fim_middle|> Specialized financial and legal translations from English, German and Italian. | and education to date have been within translation. Excellent organisational skills, effective time management and problem solving abilities. Maximum quality.
- Supporting the staff in any issue, task or doubt regarding the Spanish language.
- Making school materials for the Modern Languages Department.
- Administrative work: data input, organisation of files, answering the telephone.
- Translations for the Corporate Management: Organization and Strategic Planning, Human Resources, Finance and Administration, Stock Exchange Relations, Communication and Corporate Legal Counsel departments (English <> Spanish).
-Taking the clients' orders by telephone or by e-mail.
- Seeking suitable translators for each client and for each translation project.
- Estimating costs of projects and deadlines.
- Revision and delivery of final translations.
- | 145 |
Come check out the Southwest's Biggest, and baddest true street car drag race.
What makes the AOCO so much fun? It's an annual,<|fim_middle|> to face. This portion of the race allows for some strategy to mow through the sometimes 50+ cars in a given class, and of course the trash talk the drivers, and crowd love. There are 5 single elimination classes to keep things fair-ish. Classes range from 14 second ET and slower cars, all the way up to cars in the 8 second ET range. This great field of amazing cars brings out an array of fans. You'll see the age-old rivalries, as well as Import vs. Domestic, Chevy vs. Ford, etc. Not only is there excitement on the track, but there's also the plenty stuff going on in sponsor booth midway that funnels fans to the grandstands. There is always an assortment of food trucks and apparel booths. Fans and racers always enjoy the pits and the call-outs; it's a great way for everyone to watch the excitement and check out the cars.
$15 Tickets at Yearwood Performance Centers $20 online at Hold my Ticket. | grassroots, street car only, call out style drag race event. There is a mandatory drive out to the Albuquerque Dragway to prove your car is an actual street car. Tickets are drawn for racers to "call out" the car and racer they want | 51 |
<|fim_middle|> allow ClearPeople to distribute and provide services for the AuraPortal intelligent BPM software to businesses looking to optimize efficiency and succeed in today's digital era.
ClearPeople work with its clients to create engaging digital workspaces that transform the way people work.
AuraPortal iBPMS provides the Speed, Agility, Accuracy and Automation businesses need to thrive in this digital workspace. The next-generation software empowers companies to digitize every step of all kinds of processes on one easy-to-use BPM Digital Platform which is compatible with existing ERP & CRM applications. The product is flexible, powerful and easy to use – enabling companies to be more agile, flexible and responsive to demands to ensure continual process improvement.
Graphic Designer. Creative and Online/Offline Marketing at AuraPortal. Content Management Professional. Email Marketing Professional. | AuraPortal has announced a new strategic partnership with UK-based digital strategy and technical consultancy firm, ClearPeople.
ClearPeople is a Consultagency™ – a hybrid breed of business offering technical consulting with digital agency services. Specializing in delivering digital transformation, the team of over 60 expert consultagents help to bridge the gap between business, marketing and information technology, bringing these sometimes disparate and traditionally unconnected worlds together.
The partnership will | 86 |
A Prayer for Courts of Justice.
Grant to the judges and other officers thy heavenly benediction. Give them<|fim_middle|>safe to direct, sanctify and govern, both our hearts and bodies in the ways of thy laws, and in the works of thy commandments. Pour down the abundance of thy blessings upon this our favored country. Give wisdom and strength and union to our rulers and magistrates. Bless the people and the government of the United States; and of this state, particularly, in which we live. May our legislature and courts of justice, and all who are appointed to give laws and execute them, be endued with wisdom, and equity, and with the love of their country. Assist them in all the various administrations of justice and right which appertain to the offices respectively committed to their trust. We beseech thee to bless all who are in authority over us, and so rule their hearts and strengthen their hands, that truth and happiness and peace may be established in all our borders; that righteousness and prosperity may increase, and that all thy people may serve thee in virtue and godliness of living. Make us duly thankful for the inestimable blessing of civil liberty, good government and equitable laws; and for the security of our religious rights and privileges. May we so use as never to abuse, nor forget from whom we receive | the spirit of wisdom and understanding; of counsel and of right knowledge; and so enlighten their minds with the just principles of law and of equity, that they may truly and impartially administer justice, restrain wickedness, suppress vice, promote righteousness and maintain peace. May the sword which they are appointed to bear be such a terror to evil works, that it may not be borne in vain. From the equity of their judgments may men learn righteousness; honoring them as the ministers of God for good, and submitting to every ordinance of man, for the Lord's sake.
And grant, O Lord, that they who shall come before this court to obtain justice and maintain their rights, according to the wise and equitable laws of our country, may be in their hearts disposed to do justly, to love mercy, and to render that measure to others which they seek for themselves. Preserve us from all envy, hatred and malice, and from all uncharitableness. May we do to others as we would have them do to us, and endeavor to owe no man any thing, but to love one another; and may we ever remain a happy and united people, having Justice for our guide, and the Lord for our God.
And, O thou righteous Judge of all the earth, may the solemnities of an earthly tribunal awaken in our minds a lively apprehension, and impress upon our hearts a constant remembrance of that day of the Lord, when we must all appear before the bar of thy judgment seat, and receive the doom which is to fix our eternal state. May we consider well and wisely, and in a time accepted, what testimony our passing hours may give, at that time, when all hearts shall be laid open, and no secrets can be hid. Give us grace to cast away the works of darkness and to walk in the light of truth and according to
A Prayer for a Legislative Assembly.
thy righteous laws, that we may receive the approbation of our final Judge, and inherit the kingdom prepared for the righteous from the beginning of the world.
Extend, O Lord, we beseech thee, the blessings of civil freedom and the administration of impartial justice to all the people of the earth. Give peace and harmony to contending nations, and so rule their hearts and enlighten their minds, that they may live in unity and godly love. Give thy blessing to the preaching of the gospel, till the Redeemer's kingdom shall be spread to the utmost bounds of the habitable globe, and all the ends of the world shall see the salvation of our God.
These things, O heavenly Father, and whatever of good thou seest fitting for us, for this court of justice, for our state and country, and for all mankind, we humbly ask in the name, and through the merits of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
And may the Lord bless and keep us, and give us peace, now and evermore. Amen.
O GOD, the King immortal, invisible, who art exalted above all thrones and dominions, King of kings and Lord of lords; whose wise and just providence ordereth all things in heaven and on earth; with all due reverence and adoration, we look unto thee, as the author of our being, and the giver of all good. Without thee, nothing is stable, nothing holy, nothing secure: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh in vain. Without thy blessing, it is but labor lost that we rise early, and are careful and troubled about many things. We look unto thee, as the only hope of all the ends of the earth.
We adore thee as the God in whom our fathers trusted and were delivered. We have heard with our ears what thou didst in their days, and in times of old. They got not this land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them; but thy hand and thy arm achieved for them the victory. We desire, O God, to put our trust in thee; and humbly beseech thee to behold us with thy favor and blessing, to pardon our sins, sanctify our hearts and hear our prayers. We beseech thee, O God, to bestow thy blessing upon our country, and upon all the people of these United States. May thy paternal and holy protecting providence be over them for good: may they ever be thy people, and the Lord be their God: preserve and keep them by thy perpetual mercy. Behold, we beseech thee, with thy favor and blessing, the president of the United States, the governor and council of this state in which we live, and all others who are lawfully set in authority over us; and so replenish them with thy heavenly wisdom, that they may always incline to thy will, and walk in thy ways; grant that they may rule with uprightness, execute justice and maintain truth. And may all the people respect and obey the civil magistrates, as ministers of God, appointed for the public good. Preserve them, we beseech thee, from selfishness and party spirit; may they be influenced by benevolence and the love of their country; and, according to the wisdom given them, promote its prosperity and peace.
And we humbly beseech thee, O gracious God, more especially, to behold with thy favor and blessing the General Court and Legislature of this state, now assembled before thee. Give them wisdom to know and to ordain whatever shall be best for the general good of all thy people. Be pleased, O God, we beseech thee, to direct and prosper all
A Prayer suitable to be used in a Town or Freemen's Meeting. their deliberations and measures to the advancement of thy glory, the promotion of pure and undefiled religion, and to the safety, honor and welfare of thy people. Grant that all things may be so ordered and settled, by their endeavors, upon the best and surest foundations, that peace and happiness, truth and justice, religion and piety may be established among us for all generations; and that the people of this our country, being enlightened by the knowledge of thy word, and secure, through the protection of wise and equal laws, and the administration of impartial justice, may serve thee without fear, in holiness and righteousness, all the days of their life.
And grant, O Lord, that the whole course of this life may be so peaceably ordered by thy governance, that thy people may joyfully serve thee in all godly quietness; that they may walk in the ways of truth and peace, and at last be numbered with thy saints in glory everlasting, through Jesus Christ our Lord. And to thee, the only wise God, our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.
A Prayer suitable to be used in a Town or Freemen's Meeting.
ADORABLE and everliving God, the Creator and Preserver of all mankind, who dost, from thy throne, behold all the dwellers upon the earth, and hast the hearts and the wants of all thy creatures before thee, we implore thy favor and blessing upon thy people here assembled. We adore thee for thy infinite perfections; we praise thy holy name for all thy dispensations of goodness and mercy to us and to all mankind. Our fathers put their trust in thee and were not forsaken. May the remembrance of
A Prayer suitable to be used in a Town or Freemen's Meeting. mercies, which have ever been of old, inspire our hearts with gratitude and praise to thee, who hast graciously blest the people of this our country with prosperity and increase, and given us a great name among the nations of the earth. May a sense of thy goodness ever engage us in thy faith and fear. May we so love that which thou commandest, and desire the things which thou dost promise, that among all the manifold changes and temptations of this mortal life, our hearts may surely there be fixed, where true joys are to be found. Without thee, nothing is strong, nothing holy; increase and multiply upon us thy mercy, and be our ruler and guide. Vouch | 1,680 |
If you have got the latest new server or great equipment installed in your office that is fantastic but has the job been finished off expertly by trained professionals installing your data cabling? If it hasn't then it could all be a waste of time and plenty of your money - and it is possible it could cost you business in the long run. It's crucial that you use exactly the right type of cable that is needed for the job<|fim_middle|> industry standards, all of PME Electrical and data solutions Warrington electricians are fully trained in all aspect of network and data cabling so you can rest assured that the job will be done right and in a timely manner.
No matter what size of project it is that you need installing, because PME Electrical and data solutions Warrington are qualified commercial, domestic, industrial and retail electricians as well as data and network cabling professionals they are able to provide any of their clients with a complete electrical and cabling installation service all planned to the clients requirements. With a number of large and small projects already completed PME Electrical and data solutions Warrington are well known for having the highest of standards that are monitored and maintained regularly so that you as a customer can relax while our team works their magic. | , have it installed correctly and make sure it is neat, tidy and unable to cause or get damaged.
Our data cabling Warrington team PME Electrical and data solutions plan their jobs meticulously from beginning to end ensuring your installed cabling performs problem free for years to come; you can probably find some really cheap quotes for data cabling installation into your office or workplace but this can often be false economy with a whole host of problems just waiting to happen. As Excel Cabling partners PME Electrical and data solutions Warrington has seen the after effects of a job done on the cheap, because the installers were not trained to the highest | 129 |
Em física, fase refere-se a dois conceitos intimamente relacionados.
Quando se fala da fase de um ponto da onda diz-se da característica desse ponto em termos da sua amplitude local e da variação local dos valores da propriedade periódica (campo eléctrico, nas ondas eletromagnéticas ou pressão do ar nas ondas sonoras). Em termos matemáticos, diz-se que a fase é dada pelo valor da função e da sua derivada naquele ponto. A constante de fase (ou ângulo de fase) depende do deslocamento e da velocidade da partícula no instante t = 0.
Equação
A fase de uma onda ou oscilação se refere a uma função senoidal com o seguinte:
onde
(kx + ωt + Φ0) é a fase
k é o número de onda
x é a posição no espaço
ω é a frequência angular
t é o tempo
Φ0 é a constante de fase.
Diferença de fase
Diferença de fase é a diferença, expressa em ângulo ou tempo, entre duas ondas que tenham mesma frequência e em referência ao mesmo ponto no tempo. Duas oscilações que tenham mesma frequência e fases diferentes têm uma diferença de fase, e as oscilações são ditas fora de fase entre si. O quanto esses osciladores estão fora de fase entre si pode ser expresso em graus (de 0° até 360°) ou em radianos (de 0 até 2π).<|fim_middle|> 0°, elas estarão em fase e uma interferência construtiva ocorrerá.
Tempo as vezes é usado (ao invés de ângulo) para expressar a posição dentro de um ciclo de uma oscilação. Uma diferença de fase é análoga a dois atletas correndo em uma pista circular com mesma velocidade e direção mas começando em posições diferentes da pista. Eles passam um ponto em momentos diferentes, mas a diferença dos tempos (diferença de fase) entre eles é constante. Se eles estivessem em velocidades diferentes (frequências diferentes) a diferença de fase seria indefinida e apenas refletiria as posições iniciais. Tecnicamente, diferença de fase entre duas medidas com frequência variável é indefinida e não existe.
Ver também
Onda
Ângulo de fase
Interferência
Problema da fase
Polarização
Referências
Artigo parcialmente traduzido de :en:Phase (waves)
Ondulatória
Mecânica ondulatória | Se a diferença de fase for de 180° (π radianos), as duas oscilações estão completamente fora de fase, e então uma interferência destrutiva vai ocorrer e, se for | 45 |
New Year's Eve with kids is tough. I'm not sure if I can stay up until midnight, and I definitely do not want my kids to be awake that long. So this year, I'm having a Bubbly New Year's party, and we are counting down to noon. Because that's how I roll.
Here are my ideas for some easy decorations and games!
My philosophy is that for a kids' party, you shouldn't spend more time prepping than partying. So if your party is an hour, you should only spend an hour making decorations. Here are some quick and easy ways to decorate for your bubbly New Year's party.
Balloons are great because they are cheap, readily available, and they make a big impact. I think they look the best when you group them, but I hate trying to gather those tiny little ends together. Luckily, I discovered these new Command Party Balloon Bunchers—available only on Amazon.ca. These things are GENIUS.
You know those Command strips that let you stick things to your wall without damaging it? The Balloon Bunchers use those things. The strips are way better than they used to be – they came off of my wall with zero problems. So you stick your balloons in the little circles and then stick the whole thing to the wall. BAM, done.
As you can see, I have some mad dessert-table skills.
For this bubble wall, I used 5 Balloon Bunchers and 5 Command Party Mini Spring Clips, to hold the single balloons to the wall. You can see how they work in the photo below – they just pinch anything and make it stick.
The bubble wall also makes a good backdrop for a photobooth!
This decoration is even easier to make. You just get a bowl and toss some round Christmas ornaments in it. I got these ornaments for 50% off because Christmas is almost here. Bonus: you can save them and use them on your tree next year!
I bought some cheap paper lanterns at the party store and gave them a quick coat of glitter spray paint. Now I want to glitter-spray-paint ALL THE THINGS. If you can't find glitter, some clear glossy spray paint would also make the lanterns look bubbly.
I hung these with Command Party Ceiling Hooks. I was worried about these because I have popcorn ceilings, but they stuck to my ceiling with<|fim_middle|> down New Year's resolutions and they danced to pop music (ha ha).
And of course, I also gave them bubbles and bubble wrap to play with. The bubble wrap alone was good for over half an hour of screaming fun. EASIEST PARTY EVER.
Want to see more of Katie's great party ideas? Check out her blog Best Birthdays!
Such a cute party ideas! I had no idea that Command had half of those products! Now I want to buy the ceiling hooks. Brilliant!
Those balloon bunchers look awesome! | no problems.
This makes me happy because I write about birthday parties, and I currently have 4 cup hooks randomly mounted in my ceiling for hanging projects to photograph. It looks weird, and they are totally coming down now that I have the sticky Command hooks.
This garland is super easy to make. All you need is pipecleaner and fishing line.
To make the smaller "bubbles," take 5 pipecleaners, bend them in half, and twist the bottom to keep them together.
Next, wind each pipecleaner around your finger to make little spirals.
Once they are all spiraled, crunch them up into a ball.
To make the larger "bubbles," use 10 pipecleaners and don't bend them in half. Just twist up the bottoms a bit until it looks like a creepy albino spider. Then follow the same method as above.
To hang the bubble garland, I used the Command Party Banner Anchors. They have a nice big sticky strip, which makes them stronger. And they are shaped like flat knobs, so you can wrap the strings of your garland around them easily. I love that all the pieces and the strips are clear now! You can barely see them in person.
Look at this bubble wall! Isn't it cool? It was so easy, my 4-year-old helped me do it. All you need is those plastic Christmas ornaments from the craft store that break in half (normally you fill them with something and hang them on the tree). I got these for 50% off, too.
I took a bunch of Command Party Clear Mounting Strips and used them to stick the ornament-halves to the wall. I bunched them up at the bottom and spaced them out at the top so that they look like bubbles floating away. This would also make a great backdrop for photos or a dessert table!
You can't have a New Year's party without displaying the date, right? To make this New Year's sign, you just need bubble wrap and some wire. Here is a picture of the gross dirty wire I found in our garage.
If you don't own this stuff, you can buy it at the hardware store. Silver wire would be better because the black showed through the bubble wrap a bit.
To make the sign, shape your wire into the numbers, then wrap them in bubble wrap. I found it was easiest to straighten the numbers out, wrap them in big pieces of bubble wrap, and then re-shape them. I used the purple Scotch tape meant for gifts because it didn't show up on the bubble wrap, and then I used a box of Command Party Refill Strips to attach the numbers to the wall.
I think it ended up looking like soap bubbles! If your decorations are not perfect, don't worry – kids will not notice or care. Still feeling stressed? Pop some of that bubble wrap. You'll feel better, I promise.
I got these insanely cute plastic champagne flutes at the party supply store. We are going to give the kids pop or sparkling juice as their "bubbly" drink.
Every good party needs sugar, so I got a nice bubble-shaped bowl and filled it with bubble gum. I used blue gum because I thought it looked bubbly, but I'm sure the kids will not care if yours is a different colour. They will just be excited about gum.
For loot bags, I found spherical containers at the party store and filled them with bubble gum, bubbles (of course), fizzy candy, star-shaped sunglasses, and a bubble-ish bouncy ball.
I got clear plastic beads at the craft store and had the kids string "bubble" necklaces. The kids also had fun writing | 761 |
\section{Introduction}
In recent years, there has been considerable interest in utilizing graphene as photo-detectors\cite{Xu2009,Gabor2011,Kalugin2011,Sun2012,Yan2012,Vora2012,Yan2012a,Cai2013}. Most of these detectors are based on a hot electron effect, \textit{i.e.} the electronic temperature being substantially higher than the lattice temperature. Two properties of graphene strongly enhance the effect. First, low carrier density gives rise to a very small electron specific heat. Second, weak electron-phonon (e-p) interaction reduces the heat transfer from the electron gas to the lattice. Thus, it is of practical interest to understand the e-p interaction in graphene. Both theoretical and experimental efforts have been devoted to this topic. Earlier work was mainly focused on clean graphene and considered the Dirac spectrum of electrons\cite{Kubakaddi2009,Bistritzer2009,Tse2009,Viljas2010,Betz2012,Baker2012,Baker2013}. As the important role of impurities in electronic transport has been revealed, its effects on the e-p interaction began to draw attention\cite{Vasko2011,Chen2012,Song2012}. For instance, due to the chiral nature of electrons, long range and short range potentials scatter electrons differently in graphene\cite{McCann2006,Nomura2006a,Wu2007}. Recently, a strong enhancement of electronic cooling via e-p interaction in presence of short range disorder has been predicted\cite{Song2012}. This is achieved via a so-called supercollision process. When the carrier density is low, the Bloch-Gr\"uneisen temperature $T_\text{BG}$ can be quite small. Since $T_\text{BG}$ sets the maximum wave vector of phonons that can exchange energy with electrons, when $T_\text{BG} < T $, only a portion of phonons can contribute to the energy relaxation. Interestingly, in presence of short range potentials, the theory has found that a disorder-assisted scattering process can occur, in which all available phonons are able to participate. As a result, the energy relaxation is strongly enhanced. Shortly, two experiments confirmed the supercollision\cite{Betz2013,Graham2013}, although long range potential scattering usually dominates in such samples\cite{Adam2007,Chen2008}. In the case of long range potentials, Chen and Clerk have also predicted an increase of electronic cooling at low temperature for weak screening\cite{Chen2012}. Note that besides the different potential profiles, \textit{e.g.} long range or short range, disorder can be static or dynamic. Despite these studies, in which only static disorder was considered, the dynamics of disorder has not been addressed.
Here, we present an experimental investigation of the effect of vacancy on electronic cooling in both monolayer and bilayer defected graphene. In contrast to typical scattering potentials previously treated in theories or encountered in experiments, which are static, vacancies in our defected graphene are dragged by phonons, hence highly dynamic. By studying the nonlinear electric transport of defected graphene, a strong \textit{suppression} of e-p energy relaxation, instead of an \textit{enhancement} in the case of static potentials, has been observed. The more disordered the graphene film, the stronger the suppression is. Our work provides new experimental insight on the effect of scattering potential on e-p interaction. Moreover, the suppression suggests that the performance of graphene hot electron photo-detectors can be further improved by introducing vacancies.
\section{Experiment}
In this work, we have investigated four exfoliated graphene samples on Si/SiO$_2$ substrates. Thickness of all the monolayer (SM1 and SM2) and bilayer (SB1, SB2) samples were estimated by optical contrast and confirmed by Raman spectroscopy\cite{Ferrari2006}. Graphene flakes were patterned into ribbons, using e-beam lithography. 5 nm Ti/80 nm Au were e-beam deposited, followed by lift-off to form electrodes. Typical sample geometry can be seen in the inset of \rfig{rt}a. In order to introduce vacancies, samples were then loaded into a Femto plasma system and subject to Argon plasma treatment for various periods (from 1 to 5 s)\cite{Chen2013}. Four-probe electrical measurements were carried out in a cryostat using a standard lock-in technique. Room temperature $\pi$-filters were used to avoid heating of electrons by radio frequency noise. Information for four samples are summarized in \rtab{tab:info}.
\begin {table*}[htb]
\caption {\label {tab:info} Sample information of four investigated devices. Different Ar gas flow rates and plasma treatment times have been applied to produce different amount of vacancies. ${V_\text{CNP}}$ is the charge neutrality point (CNP) of samples and $\xi$ is the localization length near the CNP.}
\begin {ruledtabular}
\begin {tabular}{ccccccc}
Devices & Length($\mu$m) & Width($\mu$m) & Ar flow rate(sccm) & Plasma treatment period(s) & ${V_\text{CNP}}\rm(V)$ & $\xi\rm(nm) $ \\
\hline
SM1 & 2 & 3 & 3 & 1 & 14.5 & 156\\
SM2 & 6.7 & 2.7 & 4 & 3 & 30 & 21\\
SB1 & 3 & 2.7 & 4 & 3.5 & 70 & 50\\
SB2 & 6 & 2.7 & 4 & 5 & 57 & 54\\
\end {tabular}
\end {ruledtabular}
\end {table*}
\section{Results and discussion}
Previously, we have already demonstrated a hot electron bolometer based on disordered graphene\cite{Han2013}. It has been shown that the divergence of the resistance at low temperature can be utilized as a sensitive thermometer for electrons. By applying Joule heating, the energy transfer rate between the electron gas and the phonon gas can be obtained. The same method has been employed in this work. As showing in \rfig{rt}a, the resistance of defected graphene exhibits a sharp increase as the temperature decreases. The divergence becomes stronger as one approaches the CNP. The $R-T$ behavior can be well fitted to variable range hopping transport, described as $R \propto \exp[(T_0/T)^{1/3}]$\cite{Mott1968}. Here, the characteristic temperature $T_0=12/[\pi k_\text{B} \nu(E_\text{F}) \xi^2]$, with $k_\text{B}$ the Boltzmann constant, $\nu(E_\text{F})$ the density of states at the Fermi level $E_\text{F}$, and $\xi$ the localization length. By fitting to this formula, the localization length $\xi$ is determined. It is employed as a measure of the degree of disorder. $\xi$ near the CNP for all samples are listed in \rtab{tab:info}.
In the steady state of Joule heating, the electron cooling power equals to the heating power. The corresponding thermal model is sketched in \rfig{rt}c. Two thermal energy transfer pathways are indicated, \textit{i.e.} via electron diffusion into electrodes or e-p interaction into the lattice. In our strongly disordered graphene, the former is significantly suppressed due to a very low carrier diffusivity. It has been found that e-p interaction dominates the energy dissipation in such devices\cite{Han2013}. Then, the electronic temperature can be directly inferred from the resistance. Furthermore, it is estimated that the thermal conductance between the graphene lattice and the substrate is much higher than that due to e-p interaction. Thus, the phonon temperature $T_\text{ph}$ is approximately equal to the substrate temperature $T$\cite{Yan2012,Betz2013,Borzenets2013}. Under these conditions, the energy balance at the steady state of Joule heating can be written as
\begin{equation}
\label{eq1}
P=A(T_\text{e}^\delta-T_\text{ph}^\delta)
\end{equation}
where $P$ is the Joule Heating power, $A$ is the coupling constant and $T_\text{e}$ is the electronic temperature. $\delta$ ranges from 2 to 6, depending on the detail of the e-p scattering process\cite{Viljas2010}.
Upon Joule heating, the electronic temperature is raised, leading to decrease of the resistance, depicted in \rfig{rt}b. Based on the resistance as a function of temperature, we obtain the $P-T_\text{e}$ relation at different carrier densities, plotted in the insets of \rfig{PT}. $P$ is also plotted against $T_\text{e}^3-T_\text{ph}^3$. The linear behavior agrees well with \req{eq1} with $\delta=3$ for both monolayer and bilayer graphene at all carrier densities. It has been theoretically shown that both clean monolayer and bilayer graphene can be described by \req{eq1} with $\delta=4$ at low temperature \cite{Viljas2010,Kubakaddi2009}. In presence of disorder, e-p interaction is enhanced and $\delta$ is reduced to 3\cite{Song2012,Chen2012}. $\delta$ obtained in our result is consistent with these theories, indicating the effect of defects. $T^3$ dependence has also been reported in some other experiments. In the following, we will compare our results in detail with previous theoretical and experimental results.
The e-p interaction is usually considered in two distinct regimes,<|fim_middle|> theories have predicted that disorder would enhance the cooling\cite{Chen2012,Song2012}. Most of earlier experimental results have confirmed the enhancement\cite{Somphonsane2013,Fong2013,Betz2013,Graham2013}. However, there is a key difference between those earlier studies and ours. In the former, disorder is theoretically considered to be static. This is indeed true in other experimental work, in which the dominant disorder is due to charge impurities\cite{Adam2007,Chen2008}. However, in our samples, the dominant disorder is vacancies, which are completely dragged by phonons. The effect of disorder on the e-p interaction has been studied in disordered metals and found to depend on the character of disorder\cite{Schmid1973,Sergeev2000,Lin2002,Zhong2002}. In the case of static disorder, diffusive motion of electrons increases the effective interacting time between an electron and a phonon, leading to an enhancement of interaction. However, dynamic disorder modifies the quantum interference of scattering processes\cite{Sergeev2000}. As a result, the interaction is suppressed, in accordance with the famous Pippard's inefficient condition\cite{Pippard1955}. It is reasonable to believe that the observed suppression results from dynamic disorder, vacancies. Furthermore, since the dynamics of disorder apparently depends on $T_\text{ph}$, the dependence of the coupling constant $A$ on the phonon temperature $T_\text{ph}$ is then conceivable. As described in Schmid's theory\cite{Schmid1973,Sergeev2000}, the e-p scattering is suppressed due to strong disorder. The resultant energy relaxation rate $\tau_\text{e-p}^{-1}$ is of the order of $(q_T l) \tau_0^{-1}$ where $\tau_0^{-1}\propto T^3$ is the relaxation rate in pure material, $q_T$ is the wave vector of a thermal phonon and $l$ is the mean free path. As $q_T \propto T_\text{ph}$, the relaxation rate increases with $T_\text{ph}$, in agreement with our result.
It is also worthy to note that charge impurities are long range potentials that preserve the sublattice symmetry. This is in contrast to vacancies, which are short range potentials and break the sublattice symmetry. The theory for supercollision models disorder as short range potential\cite{Song2012}, while in \rref{Chen2012}, disorder potential is long-ranged. This character of disorder strongly affects scattering of chiral electrons in graphene. Our samples represent a graphene system that is quite different from what was commonly seen, in that dynamic and short-ranged potentials dominate. Therefore, the quantitative understanding of our experimental results, including the power index $\delta$, relies on future theory that takes both the dynamics and the symmetry of disorder into account.
\section{Conclusion}
In conclusion, we have observed significant suppression of electronic cooling in defected graphene. The cooling power of both monolayer and bilayer graphene samples show $T_\text{e}^3$ dependence, consistent with disorder-modified electron-phonon coupling in graphene \cite{Chen2012,Song2012}. However, the magnitude of the cooling power is over an order of magnitude smaller than that of clean graphene predicted by theory\cite{Kubakaddi2009,Viljas2010} and also less than other experiments \cite{Fong2013,Somphonsane2013}. The more disordered a graphene film is, the lower cooling power is observed, confirming the effect of disorder. The suppression of electronic cooling is attributed to the dynamic nature of vacancies, which has not been studied in graphene. This effect can be utilized to further improve the performance of graphene-based bolometer and photo-detector devices.
\begin{acknowledgments}
This work was supported by National Key Basic Research Program of China (No. 2012CB933404, 2013CBA01603) and NSFC (project No. 11074007, 11222436, 11234001).
\end{acknowledgments}
| high temperature and low temperature. In normal metals, Debye temperature $\theta_\text{D}$ demarcates two regimes. Below $\theta_\text{D}$, the phase space of available phonons increases with temperature, while it becomes constant above it(all modes are excited). In graphene, because of its low carrier density, the Bloch-Gr\"uneisen temperature $T_\text{BG}$ becomes the relevant characteristic temperature. It is defined as $2k_\text{B}T_\text{BG}=2hck_\text{F}$. Here $k_\text{B}$ is the Boltzmann constant, $h$ the Plank constant, $c$ the sound velocity of graphene and $k_\text{F}$ the Fermi wave vector. $T_\text{BG}$ stems from the momentum conservation in e-p scattering. Because of it, when $T_\text{ph}>T_\text{BG}$, only a portion of phonons can participate in the process\cite{Fuhrer2010}. Considering the band structure of graphene, we have $ T_\text{BG}=2(c/v_F)E_F/k_B$ in monolayer graphene and $ T_\text{BG}=2(c/v_F)\sqrt{\gamma_1E_F}/k_B$ in bilayer graphene\cite{Viljas2010}. Here $v_F\approx10^6$ m/s is the Fermi velocity, $c\approx2\times10^4$ m/s and $\gamma_1 \approx 0.4$ eV is the interlayer coupling coefficient. Taking into account a residual carrier density $n_0\approx 4\times 10^{11}$ cm$^2$ due to charge puddles\cite{Li2011,Zhang2009}, it can be readily estimated that even at the CNP, $T_\text{BG} > 34$ K. It is much higher than $T_\text{e}=1.5$ K in our experiment. Consequently, we are well in the low temperature regime.
In the low temperature regime, the whole population of phonons can interact with electrons. Thus, the disorder-assisted supercollision is negligible\cite{Song2012}, which rules out it as the origin of the observed $T^3$ dependence. It has been theoretically shown that in the case of weak screening, static charge impurities leads to enhanced e-p cooling power over clean graphene and $\delta=3$\cite{Chen2012}. For comparison, we plot our data, the theoretical cooling power of clean graphene in \rfig{3d}. The theoretical prediction of the cooling power per unit area in clean monolayer graphene is \cite{Viljas2010}
\begin{equation}
P_{\text{clean}}=\frac{\pi^2D^2 E_\text{F} k_B^4}{15\rho \hbar^5 v_\text{F}^3 c^3}(T_\text{e}^4-T_\text{ph}^4)
\end{equation}
where $\rho \approx 0.76\times10^{-6}$ kg/m$^2$ is the mass density of graphene and $D$ is the deformation potential chosen as a common value 18 eV \cite{Chen2008a,Graham2013,Fong2013} (this choice will be discussed later). The theoretical cooling power $P_{\text{clean}}$ as a function of the carrier density and electron temperature is depicted as a transparent surface (with $T_\text{ph}$ =1.5 K) in \rfig{3d}a. It can be clearly seen that the cooling power of our disordered samples SM1 and SM2 (green and blue lines) are well below the surface at all carrier densities. For comparison, we also plot the data from two other experiments in which $T^3$-dependence were observed at low temperatures\cite{Fong2013,Somphonsane2013}. These results (with similar $T_{\text{ph}}$) are either on or above the surface. The suppression of the cooling in \rfig{3d}a is considerable. For instance, at $n=4\times10^{11}$ cm$^2$ and $T_{\text{e}}=20$ K, the theory predicts $P_{\text{clean}}$=4.7 nW/$\mu$m$^2$. In \rref{Somphonsane2013} the cooling power was found to be 27 nW/$\mu$m$^2$. In sharp contrast, our experiment gives a cooling power of 0.33 nW/$\mu$m$^2$ for SM1, over an order of magnitude lower than that in clean graphene. For the more disordered sample, SM2, it is even smaller.
Similar suppression occurs in bilayer graphene samples, too. The cooling power per unit area in clean bilayer graphene is given by \cite{Viljas2010}
\begin{equation}
P_{\text{clean}}=\frac{\pi^2D^2 \gamma_1 k_B^4}{60\rho \hbar^5 v_\text{F}^3 c^3}\sqrt{\frac{\gamma_1}{E_\text{F}}}(T_{\text{e}}^4-T_{\text{ph}}^4)
\label{bilayer}
\end{equation}
\rfig{3d}a shows the plot of \req{bilayer}, the cooling power of the bilayer samples SB1, SB2 and the data from \rref{Somphonsane2013}. Although not as pronounced as monolayer graphene, our data still below the theoretical surface. The weaker suppression may result from the fact that the bottom layer of bilayer graphene has experienced less damage by our low energy plasma than the top one\cite{Chen2013}. Therefore, this less disordered layer provides a channel of substantial cooling.
The e-p coupling strength depends on the deformation potential $D$, which characterizes the band shift upon lattice deformation\cite{Bardeen1950,Herring1956,Suzuura2002}.
For the theoretical cooling power surface in \rfig{3d}, we use $D=18$ eV. Note that $D$ for graphene ranges from 10 to 70 eV in various experiments, but 18 eV is the most common value for graphene\cite{Fong2013}. If the suppression is due to an over-estimated $D$, to account for the small cooling power, one would require $D$ to be only about 5 eV, one-half of the lowest value reported. Therefore, we believe that the suppression cannot be explained by a small $D$.
By linear fits of $P$ versus $T_\text{e}^3-T_\text{ph}^3$, the coupling constant $A$ can be obtained. In \rfig{A}, $A$ is plotted as a function of carrier density $n$. $A$ for all samples decreases when approaching the CNP. This is because fewer carriers at Fermi level could contribute to total cooling power of the sample.
We now take a look at the dependence of the coupling constant on the degree of disorder. As listed in \rtab{tab:info}, the samples have been subject to various periods of plasma treatment. Consequently, the degree of disorder is different, indicated by the localization length $\xi$. For instance, $\xi$ for SM1 and SM2 is 156 nm and 21 nm, respectively. As plotted in \rfig{A}a, the coupling constant $A$ of the less disordered SM1 is only about one-third of the value for the more disordered SM2. The dependence of $A$ on $\xi$ is consistent with the suppression of the e-p scattering by disorder. For the two bilayer samples, SB1 and SB2, the localization lengths are close. The $n$ dependence of $A$ for both samples aligns reasonably well and is consistent with the monolayer samples, see \rfig{A}b.
The Joule heating experiment has also been carried out at different phonon temperatures $T_\text{ph}$. In \rfig{A}c, the coupling constant $A$ is plotted as a function of $T_\text{ph}$. Usually, $A$ is independent of $T_\text{ph}$, which is actually seen at low temperature for SB1. However, as the temperature goes above 7 K, $A$ is enhanced. Later, we will show that the unexpected $T$-dependence is likely related to the dynamic nature of vacancies.
At first glance, the suppression of electronic cooling by vacancies seems surprising, in that previous | 1,934 |
All sites at River Cities RV Park are pull thru, as well as being 32 feet wide by 78 feet long, with the actual pads being 12 feet wide by 78 feet long including with a center concrete section that is 12 feet wide by 50 feet long. Each site has a 8 feet by 10 feet patio. Some of our sites offer a larger patio that measures 8 feet by 20 feet.
We also offer laundry facilities, vending area and men/women showers for our guests.
Note: There is no USPS mail delivery available at the park. However, both UPS and FedEx delivery is available.
Above rates include water, electricity, sewer, WiFi.
The $3.50 online reservation fee will no longer be charged to you.
Any site not mentioned above will<|fim_middle|> Monthly rates remain the same.
Copyright © 2013-2019 River Cities RV Park ~ All Rights Reserved. | remain $40.00 per night.
Sites #1, 15 & 38 will continue to have a maximum length restriction of 40′.
Weekly and | 37 |
What a difference a few hours on a Sunday can do!
The first panel has been completed and it's looking pretty sick!
When we first got there Sunday morning 'Jacob' had been writing his name all over last weeks efforts, we're all hoping that he doesn't do this again this week because the boys were fuming!!
Hopefully as the piece is looking so good, everyone in the community will appreciate how much effort goes<|fim_middle|>ner signs andthe guys recruited on the streets of Beddau and Church Village the artwork is looking mint!! | into decent graffiti and how it can make the place look a bit sunnier on a drab day.
on that note if you can think of a good track to put over the graffiti-ing let me know or comment below this article.
We're all proper excited that we've finally been able to put our money where ourmouth is with this project, because we've had loads of delays thanks tothe great british weather!
If you want to see an outstanding example of graffiti art emerging,why not head on down to Beddau Skate Park. Thanks to Keiron from O | 115 |
Pursuing federal contracts just got easier
Small businesses across the United States reaped a record $154.2 billion in federal contracts in fiscal 2021. That's a lot of moolah for Main Street.
Of that amount, $237,957,568 flowed directly to West Virginia small businesses. Sounds like a hefty sum – and it is – until you consider the Mountain State's share represents a paltry 0.16 percent slice of the federal pie.
West Virginians are leaving a lot of opportunity on the table.
Why government contracting?
Federal contracts can be lucrative. They provide opportunities to diversify, fund capital improvements and expand existing operations. They create jobs. For struggling mom-and-pop operations, particularly in the era of Covid and rising inflation, federal contracts can be a lifeline.
But who has time to scour government websites looking for opportunity in obscure places? Who's going to assess your business operations to determine capabilities then match you directly to contracting opportunities? Who's going to notify you about specific bid postings?
Invaluable resources such as the U.S. Small Business Administration, the West Virginia Small Business Development Center and the Regional Contracting Assistance Center can help with certain aspects of government contracting. They can assist in determining your eligibility, aid in obtaining certifications that give you a leg up when bidding on contracts and assist with the application process.
We at Marshall University's Robert C. Byrd Institute (RCBI) work closely with these partners, which serve thousands of small businesses each year. In addition to the great work these organizations do,<|fim_middle|> good for you. Contact Westbrook to let him know what types of new contracts you're interested in pursuing. Invite him to observe your operations so he can identify ways you might pivot to expand opportunity in the federal contracting arena.
Don't be intimidated if your small business has never pursued federal contracts. Everyone has to start somewhere. Your somewhere is here at RCBI. Begin by reaching out to Westbrook at
or 304.720.7740 to learn about the wide world of federal government contracting opportunities.
Why not pursue your share of that $154.2 billion in government contracts? With RCBI's help, it's now easier than ever. | RCBI now can add our expertise, taking that next step to directly match individual businesses with specific federal contracting opportunities.
Your direct connection
To boost the number and value of federal contracts flowing to West Virginia manufacturers, RCBI has launched an initiative to connect individual small businesses directly to federal contracting opportunities, particularly ones in the Defense sector.
We started by hiring James Westbrook as government contracting specialist. His position was made possible through RCBI's participation in the AIM Higher Consortium, a regional collaborative to boost Defense spending in West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania.
Westbrook's mission is to serve as a one-stop shop for government contracting. He will assess the capabilities and capacities of manufacturers across West Virginia, search through the myriad of contracting opportunities and match the appropriate small businesses to those opportunities. Oh, and he'll help you develop and submit your contract proposals.
That's not just his passion, it's his full-time job.
"Our intentions are not to duplicate the services of other providers but to fill a void," said RCBI Deputy Director Derek Scarbro. "For more than 30 years, RCBI has been connecting manufacturers to contracting opportunities. Now we have someone dedicated to keeping abreast of the latest contracting opportunities, working to understand the particular abilities of individual manufacturers then helping businesses aggressively go after the contracts."
Westbrook, a U.S. Navy veteran, has extensive experience in economic development. He most recently served as business research manager for Advantage Valley and previously worked in business development for the West Virginia Department of Agriculture.
"James's understanding of the federal contracting process and his military experience position him well to lead our efforts to bring more federal contracting dollars to West Virginia," Scarbro said.
If your manufacturing operation already fulfills government contracts, | 345 |
no matter how much I say I love you ~ I always LOVE you more than that . . .
Love comes in many forms, but the love for your child cannot be compared to any other. It's a love you cannot truly understand until you<|fim_middle|> have grandkids, I'll remember your post and offer to make a stocking too. Merry Christmas to you and your family!
Thank you Shelley!! It's such a lovely tradition and I'm sure your someday grandchildren would love one of their own. Merry Christmas to you and yours.
Previous PostPrevious in the quiet of the morning . . . | have a child. I know that love because I felt it when my daughter was born twenty seven years ago and I felt it again when I recently became a Grandma. Somehow this was different, not that I loved her any less, but with this baby, I had all of the joy, without the responsibility of having to raise him.
Babies receive many gifts when they are born, some become treasures, however, this particular gift I gave to him at Christmas time. I cross stitched a Christmas stocking for my daughter when she was approximately two years old and now it was Beau's turn to have his own Christmas Stocking. Her stocking has remained something she has treasured and uses each Christmas.
I chose her stocking pattern, as she was quite small, and she didn't have an inkling about Christmas stockings. So the tradition would continue and she would get to choose the pattern for her first baby. Once she chose the pattern, I began stitching the stocking back in July. Diligently stitching most nights for approximately three hours. The stocking is counted cross, which requires hours of work. Counted cross stitch consists of many tiny x's creating a beautiful picture. It would now be a tradition we would be passing down to her son and I could not have been happier to make his stocking for him.
This is our first Christmas with Beau and I cannot wait to see him rip open paper with delight and excitement. I know he won't truly understand what Christmas is, but we do, and that excitement might be more ours than his. Next year once he is a little bit older, he will truly understand Christmas. I do know he will have this Christmas stocking for many, many years to come.
If you have an heirloom or treasured item I would love to hear all about it.
I wish I could say 'love'! That first picture is absolutely adorable! The styling is just perfect! Great job Debra!
Love the blog this week! Beau will truly treasure his stocking just like I do!
Beau has the best Grandma!!
What a great way to hand down a family tradition to Beau n I'm sure he will treasure it in the yrs to come .
Beautiful stocking, that pattern is sweet – so nice of you to carry on the tradition that your daughter loves. I made our stockings for my daughters, too. They still use them every year. Someday, if it's in the cards and I | 488 |
Over the years we realized many interesting projects for our customers. Our electronics and embedded systems are used in many applications and products, most of the time invisible to the end customer. Since confidentiality is important for our customers we decided to not give a reference list, but<|fim_middle|> software which can easily be internationalized is remarkably easy to use and offers versatile options for customized modifications. Furthermore, the software is completed by an update server which allows the easily installation of new updates of the application and also new data sets, for example when reissued euro bills are introduced. Independent of the development of new systems for cash handling we also take on integrating these systems in the IT infrastructure of bigger retail chains and banks.
Sometimes the challenge doesn't lie in a complex development, but to find a cost-effective and easy solution: A leading German manufacturer of industrial plug connectors requested optimization and production of an existing circuit for rotary field indications. Our customer emphasizes the importance of "Made in Germany": High labor costs are justified by a high standard of quality. The challenge here was to optimize the assembly of components to enable a cost-efficient series production in order to remain competitive. Annually we are manufacturing several thousand assemblies that are sold worldwide by our customer.
Next to cashless systems in the sectors Vending, Ticketing, Banking or Retail cash handling devices are used (for example bill readers, coin validators or coin recyclers) which are controlled by special bus systems. These systems differ in their physical interfaces as well as in their protocols. Examples are ccTalk, MDB, eSSP or EBDS. Implementation of these devices can be difficult since different manufacturers do not use a standardized interface. To solve this problem we developed a software stack which is integrated on a microcontroller and abstracts the different protocols. The software stack offers an easy to implement interface to the application. The microcontroller does the initialization and troubleshooting while the application is in charge of the transactions. It doesn't matter which bus system is used for the payment system. The list of supported payment systems include devices by manufacturers such as Crane, Comestero, Glory, Innovative Technology, JCM, MEI and NRI and is updated whenever new devices enter the market. | to introduce some of our projects to give an overview of our array of products.
To detect hidden nuclear radiators it is often mandatory in sectors such as steel production or waste management to measure radioactivity. Our customer offers bridge measuring machines for trucks or railway wagons, conveyor belt systems or flue gas detectors. Measuring the spectrum of gamma rays takes place with the help of a scintillator in combination with a photomultiplier. The output signals are then interpreted by the electronics we developed. To evaluate the data, two powerful 32bit-microcontrollers are used which prepare the data and send it to a server via Ethernet. The measurement electronics do not only offer the actual measuring function but also substantial additional functions, e. g. dynamic temperature stabilization and an additional channel for a Geiger-Mueller-tube. Power supply can be achieved through either a wide range input or power-over-Ethernet. Since the measurement electronics is being operated under harsh conditions it is designed to work in a wide range of temperature and is non-sensitive to vibrations.
The integration of innovative deposit safes or self-payment-systems in existing IT infrastructure has to be as easy as possible for retailers and banks. Our objective is to integrate our newly developed hardware and software smoothly in current processes not having to alter them. For a deposit safe for banking and retail applications we developed a complete electronics and software solution. The development includes interfaces for controlling and programming bill validators as well as a PC application that is integrated in a browser. All transactions are protocolled by the application and the balance of the safe can be requested manually or automatically. The | 325 |
By Leonard Klie Editor, Speech Technology and CRM magazines
Sensory Releases Truly Handsfree Trigger<|fim_middle|>be it an alarm clock, camera, or recipe database—accessible remotely by voice. The SDK also allows the integration of speech recognition and synthesis technology so developers can add command sets and speech prompts to any applications they create.
"This will usher in a whole new generation of products that are truly hands-free," Mozer says.
The Truly Handsfree Trigger was first brought to market in Bluetooth car kits like the BlueAnt S4 True Handsfree Speakerphone. This month, Vlingo became the first smartphone application provider to incorporate the feature into its Vlingo In-Car application. "We've known for some time that consumers don't want to always have to hit buttons to call up voice search applications," said Dave Grannan, CEO of Vlingo, in a statement. "Now with Sensory's Truly Handsfree voice triggers, it's possible to create a voice user interface that allows users to talk to devices and get back information without relying on touch."
Though Truly Handsfree Trigger is currently only available on selected devices, Mozer expects it to be available with products from about a half-dozen vendors by next year.
The Sensory Truly Handsfree Trigger SDK costs $2,500 and includes five hours of development support. | SDK for iPhone and Android OS
Sensory has released the software development kits associated with its Truly Handsfree Trigger, a voice technology that makes devices and applications come alive with a spoken word or phrase, to developers of applications for Android and iPhone mobile devices. Truly Handsfree Trigger wakes up the device for voice control and voice search functions without requiring the user to push any buttons at all.
Todd Mozer, Sensory's CEO, calls Truly Handsfree Trigger an "important advance" in hands-free technologies. "People have been talking about hands-free for years, but what's out there is not truly hands-free," he says. "Most still start with a button press. We do not."
According to Mozer, the application SDK will allow application developers to implement truly hands-free voice control through a client-server approach that yields faster access to data and higher-accuracy performance. It also offers a whole new approach to keyword and phrase spotting.
The technology, he says, will be particularly useful for in-car scenarios, such as voice-controlled navigation and search, where it is important to keep hands on the wheel and eyes on the road. In the home, Truly Handsfree Triggers make any smartpad application— | 243 |
Insurance is protection against unexpected expenses and insurance policies are<|fim_middle|> current. | available for nearly any scenario you can envision — even your own ransom. But just because an insurance policy is available, that doesn't mean you should buy it.
Some insurance policies give you good bang for the buck. Others are plain wasteful.
In this 3-minute segment from NBC's The Today Show, you'll hear of several common insurance policies and their relative merits to people of Arizona who purchase them.
For example, Americans will spend an estimated $450 million on pet insurance this year. Because of the policies' restrictions and deductibles, though, it's an insurance policy that rarely pays off. This is one reason why financial experts often recommend that you pass on purchasing pet insurance.
There's also discussion about home warranties, and why you should avoid policies that last longer than one year.
Insurance should be an important part of your overall financial plan. However, the key is to have the proper policies in place, with an appropriate amount of coverage. Review your policies annually and keep your coverage | 201 |
A Criminal Mind: What's in store for the Supreme Court?
Overall, the SCC issued just 56 decisions in 2016. From what I can tell, this is the court's second-smallest annual output in the modern era.
More importantly — at least when it comes to my purposes — of those 56 decisions, 23 were in criminal cases. But if we take away the 11 brief oral decisions issued from the bench, that leaves just 12 fully reasoned written judgments. That is a low total.
And, of these, few were particularly memorable.
Granted, R. v. Anthony-Cook provided some long-awaited guidance on joint submissions. And R. v. Villaroman clarified the proper approach to circumstantial evidence. But while providing helpful restatements, neither of these changed much of anything. However, one case did change a lot.
R. v. Jordan, which rewrote the rules for unreasonable delay under s. 11(b) of the Charter, has already had a huge impact on how the criminal courts process cases, and its impact is certain only to deepen in the coming year.
The "transitional period" for pre-Jordan charges still in the system will comprise an ever-smaller proportion of the courts' case flow.
The hard caps set by Jordan will more and more be the reality to which courts, Crowns and defence counsel will have to orient themselves. I expect that the litigation action will be in the judicial definition of what counts as an "exceptional circumstance" in the context of all the scenarios not considered explicitly in Jordan.
With significant cases being stayed for delay — including two murder cases I'm aware of — it won't be long until the courts of appeal will need to sort out what it all means. The Supreme Court will eventually need to weigh in as well. But I expect that won't happen in 2017.
I am hard-pressed to identify many criminal law blockbusters likely to be argued in the year ahead. It's too early to say whether the court's overall criminal law output will exceed 2016's languid pace, but it's clear that the flood of challenges to the Harper tough-on-crime agenda has largely dried up. These accounted for some of the court's most significant criminal law decisions over the past decade.
The Liberal government has introduced legislative change in respect of some provisions that had generated a lot of litigation (the victim fine surcharge comes to mind) and committed to making reforms in respect of others (marijuana chief among them).
<|fim_middle|> what level of privacy people ought to be entitled to insist upon, which may be a very different thing from what people actually expect.
On the extradition front, in the Republic of India v. Surjit Singh Badesha, et al., the court will review the decision of a divided B.C. Court of Appeal refusing to send a person to face trial in India. The majority thought there was too great a risk that the accused would be subject to torture or neglect by Indian authorities.
The fact that the person sought is accused of a particularly notorious "honour killing" only adds to the general interest in the case. On a doctrinal level, it pits the general trend toward a hands-off comity-based approach to extradition against the increasing pressure on the judiciary (since at least the Omar Khadr saga) to be more vigilant about human rights abuses abroad.
In R. v. Peers, the court will consider the limits of the s. 11(f) Charter right to a jury trial. On its face, that provision guarantees a jury trial in any case where the accused is liable to five years imprisonment. But what if the accused faces, say, four years and a $1-million fine? Does the fine somehow get added to the imprisonment to produce a total punishment that is "more severe" than five years in prison? I doubt it, but the court weighing in on a Charter provision that hasn't yet received much judicial scrutiny is always a noteworthy occasion.
These are all significant if not exactly earth-shaking cases. My hope for 2017 is that most of the real action on criminal law policy will be in Parliament — where it really belongs. The federal government has been dragging its feet on some long-promised reforms. While marijuana legalization does appear to be in the offing, the delay in getting rid of Harper-era mandatory minimum sentences is a real concern.
Solving that problem — for instance, by way of a generally applicable "escape hatch clause" — is not impractical. I hope the federal government will resolve to tackle this and other eminently solvable issues in the year to come. | One of the most significant criminal law issues that's going to confront the court early this year implicates society's evolving relationship to technology rather than any particular government policy.
In R. v. Marakah, a divided Ontario Court of Appeal decided that a person who sends a text message to someone else retains no reasonable expectation of privacy in the content of that message. The B.C. Court of Appeal had earlier taken the contrary view, and it was joined by Justice Harry LaForme dissenting in Marakah.
The reality is that it's harder than ever to distinguish between what people want to keep private and what they want to disseminate. Most people probably entertain contradictory feelings and expectations about what they commit to the electronic ether. It falls to the courts to make policy judgments about | 155 |
De Mariakapel of Bevrijdingskapel is een kapel in Schoonbron (bij Schin op Geul<|fim_middle|> van oorlogsmonumenten in Valkenburg aan de Geul
Bouwwerk in Valkenburg aan de Geul
Kapel in Limburg (Nederland) | ) in de Nederlands Zuid-Limburgse gemeente Valkenburg aan de Geul. De kapel staat aan de kruising van de Valkenburgerweg met de Holleweg, de Hoogbeek en de Eikenderweg, in het Geuldal in het midden van het gehucht.
De kapel is gewijd aan Maria.
Geschiedenis
In 1945/1946 werd de kapel gebouwd als teken van dank dat Schoonbron de Tweede Wereldoorlog goed had doorstaan.
In 2001 renoveerde men de kapel.
Bouwwerk
De kapel is een open wegkapel dat opgetrokken is in Kunradersteen en wordt gedekt door een schilddak van leien. De frontgevel heeft twee steunberen elk getopt door een cementstenen pinakel en een topgevel die bekroond wordt met een cementstenen kruis. Op de nok van het dak is een zinken pinakel aangebracht. In de frontgevel bevindt zich de ingang in de vorm van een trapsgewijze spitsboog die afgesloten wordt met een smeedijzeren hek. In de beide zijwanden zijn elk twee spitsboogvensters aangebracht.
Van binnen is de kapel voorzien van een tongewelf dat samen met de wanden wit bepleisterd is. In de spitsboogvormige apsis is een altaar geplaatst. In de achterwand is een spitsboogvormige nis aangebracht waarin het Mariabeeldje geplaatst is. Op de rand rond de spitsboogvormige nis is de tekst ave maria aangebracht.
Voor de kapel staat een grote lindeboom met omgaande zitbank.
Zie ook
Lijst van weg- en veldkapellen in Valkenburg aan de Geul
Lijst | 441 |
<|fim_middle|> | Genre - Landscape Blossom Time :- 21 x 27cm unframed Colourfix pastel. Wistow is near Mount Barker in the Adelaide Hills and spring is such a pretty time.
Genre - Landscape On The Way To Kings Beach :- 47 x 33cm unframed. This scene is just down the road from our house. There is now a path along the coast to Kings Beach which is nestled at the bottom of the hill.
Genre - Landscape Ormiston Gorge :- 33cmx47cm, pastel on Colourfix paper. Ormiston Gorge is a wonderful place to be in the summer. It is hard to do justice to the magnificent range of colours in the rocks.
Genre - Landscape Sparkling Sunlight, Flinders Ranges :- 33cm x47cm Pastel a very coulrful scene in the Flinders Ranges South Australia, the light and the colours were spectacular. I used a mix of yellow ochre, white and terracotta acrylics, applied with a stiff hake brush for the foreground.
Genre - People Dining Under The Vines :- A scene from a local winery at McClaren Vale, Pastel 47cm X 33cm. I couldn.t resist the romantic glow of the scene. The desk on the left was originally a turquoise drinking fountain. | 282 |
Looking for somewhere to stay near MarkAntalya? Here is our<|fim_middle|> take Ownership. | list of options.
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Here are some reviews of MarkAntalya - don't forget to let us know how you got on by using the drop box at the bottom of the page, or joining our community and making a review.
Very busy, but very central shopping centre. Good size. Food court on the top level. It has a cinema and lots of clothing, electronic, cosmetic and service outlets. It also has play areas and activities for kids. Only one grocery store, though.
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You need to be logged in and either work in or at MarkAntalya, or be a member of our community to edit this. If you just passing and want to let us know something then use the drop box at the bottom of the page.
Do you work at MarkAntalya ? Then to become Page Location Owner of this page and add details, photos then simply sign up and verify an Email address from the website above, return to this page and you will be able to | 315 |
We have 2 executive office buildings in Wuppertal in prestigious business locations, available on an easy move-in, move-out basis,<|fim_middle|> find the most suitable private and shared office space. | providing your team with the flexibility and turnkey workspace you need to get up and running in Wuppertal.
Our aim at Webscout is to help your business locate and secure the best workspace, arrange a short term contract that works for you, and get you into your new office space as quickly and with as little delay as possible. There is a wide range of workspace on offer, from conventional leased space to hot desking, from coworking space for teams and individuals to private and shared office suites and everything in between. We will be happy to help you find your way through the options and choose the office that is best for you.
Each office on this site has an individual page, which details many of the features and services available from each business center. Click the link for any of the office and coworking space to find out more info, and if anything you want to know isn't detailed we'd love for you to contact us and ask.
Select from several of the Wuppertal executive suites and office space currently available for rent as displayed above. The executive suites and office space displayed on WebScout is in respected corporate areas, and is currently available for instant rental on easy-in, easy-out rental terms.
WebScout also lists a extensive selection of modern buildings in other respected locations both in Germany and anywhere in the world. Contact us today, and we will be happy to help you | 284 |
August 1, 2019 March 4, 2017 by Fr. Emmanuel Hatzidakis
Let us stand well!
by Fr. Emmanuel Hatzidakis | March 4, 2017
Sunday of Orthodoxy! Today we celebrate the victory of our holy Church against all her enemies, especially the Iconoclasts, that is those who scorned the veneration of icons, denied the right of the Orthodox Christians to honor the holy images of Christ and the Saints, and destroyed them.
Too intellectual for Icons?
For over 150 years the Church waged war against those Christians who considered themselves too spiritual, too enlightened and too intellectual to be involved with burning candles and incense before icons, with making the sign of the cross before them, with kissing them, with praying before them and with being blessed and being sanctified by them.
The iconoclasts (literally meaning "image-smashers"), by denying the veneration of icons, denied the very Incarnation of Christ. The image of Christ is a confession of faith in the historical Incarnation. An historical Christ is necessarily visible and depictable. No wonder the Seventh Ecumenical Council stated plainly and concisely:
"If one does not venerate our Lord Jesus Christ depicted in an icon, according to the human form, let him be anathema".
In order to remember this day the holy Church decreed that on the First Sunday of Lent we celebrate the "Triumph of Orthodoxy" over its enemies, whether open and direct, as is the case with the<|fim_middle|> leaders. Confused, perplexed and disoriented, they turn to sorcerers, mediums, astrologers, psychologists and gurus for answers and solutions, which only the humble Orthodox Church can provide in their fullness. The Orthodox Church alone can lift up modern man from moral degeneration, degradation and spiritual atrophy, giving him hope, courage, energy, purpose. In a world hungering and thirsting for peace, stability, understanding, joy, love and truth, the Orthodox Church alone can fulfill the inner aspirations of people to their fullest.
Against all our enemies that press us from within and from without, open and hidden, direct and devious, we turn to our mother, the holy Orthodox Church, finding refuge and protection in her bosom. As Peter addressed Christ, we too say:
"Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life." (John 6:68)
No, we will not deny You, Lord. No, we will not betray you, holy Orthodoxy.
"Let us stand well!" (Στῶμεν καλῶς!), my dear brothers and sisters, not to be deceived by the glitter of the world. "Let us stand well!" Let us resist the influence of our God-less society, and instead let us become the leaven that will ferment the world, the city on a hill that will shine its light to our darkened world. United in Christ, "with one accord" (Acts 1:14), guarding what has been entrusted in us (cf. 1 Tim. 6:20), let us allow the light of Christ to penetrate us, to transform us and to make us in turn radiate the light of Christ to those around us. Amen!
This article was originally delivered as a sermon on the Sunday of Orthodoxy in 1994. (Edited, 2007)
(See Justin Popovich, Ἄνθρωπος καὶ Θεάνθρωπος, p. 77)
Categories Ecumenism Post navigation
One God? | iconoclasts, or subtle and devious, as are some of its contemporary enemies.
Every other "god" is an idol
We know, however, that the Church never intends to simply call to memory an historical event, therefore as we contemplate the victory of Orthodoxy, we turn to our contemporary scene to wage our own battles for the truth, to reaffirm to our society the truths and teachings safeguarded by the Orthodox Church, the "Pillar and foundation of the truth."
First I will address a word about those who believe, in their naivete, that since Jews and Moslems, not to mention other faiths, believe in one God, and since there is only one God, we all believe in the same God. If that is the case, then let everyone who believes in God worship Christ, depicted here as He appeared on earth, the Son of God, "true God of true God," as we confess in the Creed. In one of the Liturgical prayers recited right after the reading of the holy Gospel at the Matins Service, the faithful declare:
"Having beheld the resurrection of Christ, let us worship the Holy One, Lord Jesus... You are our God, beside You we know of no other [God]" (Σὺ γὰρ εἶ Θεὸς ἡμῶν, ἐκτὸς Σοῦ ἄλλον οὐκ εἴδαμεν).
So, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, don't be deceived. It's not a matter of a name (God, Allah, Jehovah, Buddha, Supreme Being, the Power), so that it doesn't matter what we call Him, as long as we call upon Him. No. Not so! Our "God... became flesh and dwelt among us... and we have beheld His glory" (John 1:1.14) and we depict Him in holy images. So let them worship this Incarnate God, Jesus Christ; let them venerate the image of this God, and then - and only then - we can say that we believe in and worship the same God.
"We know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, to know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols".
This is how St. John the Theologian ends his theological First Letter (1 John 5:20-21). Very clearly and unmistakably the divine Apostle and Evangelist declares: Jesus Christ is the true God.1 Every other "god" is an idol. "There is no salvation in anyone else" (Acts 4:12), but Jesus Christ.
Plague of the Church today: Ecumenism
We will now turn to some other most basic and fundamental truths of the Church that are questioned and repudiated by so-called theologians of various Christian denominations. Liberal, liberational, feminist, modernist, rationalist theologies overtake traditional teachings of the Church, attaching themselves to the Church like leeches to suck her blood.
Most tragically such theologies, ideas and philosophies have infiltrated the Orthodox Church and are propounded by Orthodox theologians and bishops alike. We'll address very briefly one such pernicious current among Orthodox, that of ecumenism, the modern plague of the Church, a gangrene that eats its members away.
Orthodoxy cannot be reconciled with "branch" theories, "broken pot" theories, "proportional ecclesiology" theories and other synchretistic and ecumenistic theories, which in essence say that Truth (Christ) is divided. "Why not seek union with other Christians?" you may ask. We do! We must! Christ prayed that we all be one (cf. John 17:21) - but not to the detriment of the truth! Says St. John Chrysostom:
"If you see the true faith damaged, do not prefer the concord of love (ὁμόνοια, ἀγάπη), but fight bravely to death" (PG 60,609).
We must fight indeed and stand steadfastly, keeping the Tradition of the Truth, because, as St. John Damascene, the champion of Orthodoxy, declares:
"He who does not believe according to the tradition of the Catholic Church... is a heathen" (PG 94,1128).
Most recently the unity of the Church has been attacked from within by high standing hierarchs, admitting "sister-churches" and sharing of God's mysteries with other "churches." The fundamental teaching of the Church is that she is One ("One Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church"); One and Unique. Says St. Cyprian:
"God is one and Christ one and His Church One and the faith one and the people one, joined together by the tie of concord into a solid unity of body. The unity cannot be torn asunder, nor can the one body be separated by a division of its structure" (Ch. 23).
The times, my friends, are difficult, "the days are evil". What blessed Philotheos Zervakos said is regrettably true:
"The majority of the contemporary theologians, save a few and rare exceptions, have become adversaries of Orthodoxy" (p. 39).
But don't lose heart:
"Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom" (Lk. 12:32). "To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside has not been given" (Mt. 4:11, Mt. 3:11).
The Church is God's society, not a club
The Church is attacked by her own members in many other ways as well. Some of these are very familiar to us. Some see her as a worldly organization, a business establishment, a corporation, and want to run it accordingly, expanding their energies toward fund-raising events and minimizing its spiritual values. Others view her as a social club, a cultural center, a place to meet, to talk about the latest and to socialize. Yet others see her as an ethnic organization, the purpose of which is to preserve and transmit their linguistic and cultural identity. That's iconoclasm! We must return to the true Church, as a spiritual center, as the Ark of salvation. Enough giving to Caesar! Now let us give to God what is God's! Let us return as children and as families of God, to form God's society, a truly Christian society.
Let me now insert a caveat for those whose faith is weak. Let us be careful, my good Christians, not to confuse the Church for its unworthy workers and ministers. Indeed we, the ministers of God's mysteries and proclaimers of the News of Redemption and Grace, fall short in our positions and in our personal spiritual call. But don't allow these shortcomings and faults to be transferred to the Church itself, who remains holy, "without blemish" (Song of Songs 4:7) in her. In spite of our shortcomings, she thrives, preserving intact purity of doctrine, wholesomeness of moral teachings and integrity of liturgical life, attracting many converts to her. Even entire congregations embrace the Orthodox Faith together.
Bishop Job, in a sermon he preached on this same feast-day, said among other things:
"Many disillusioned Western Christians are looking to the Orthodox for truth, dogmatically sound teaching and understanding, and true moral guidance... But first, we must be convinced of it ourselves and make that evident in our lives and in the lives of our parishes".
The people "out there" are disillusioned and dissatisfied by the answers they are given by their religious | 1,650 |
How does Character impact business success?
ROC research revealed that organizations with a sustainable culture of innovation were built on a platform of forgiveness and compassion – making<|fim_middle|> all four Keystone Character Principles. They indicate how specific factors of engagement interact with each other and influence the company´s culture and workforce engagement. | room for productive error tolerance.
ROC will support you to build a leadership culture that creates the space of trust in which responsible empowerment and innovation can grow.
ROC helps companies to effectively establish compliance in all organizational levels, thereby significantly reducing business risk.
The ROC study reveals that companies whose leadership follows the four keystone Character Principles are at lower risk than comparable companies with self-focused leadership.
ROC reveals which roadblocks need to be removed to remain viable in the digital age.
Digitalization is the end of fiefdoms. It comes with maximum internal networking and consistent processes, completely new dimensions of customer experience, and above all: the transition to radically different business models.
ROC shows executives which exact character habits help them achieve the full commitment of their employees.
The Gallup Engagement Index shows: 15% are fully committed, 70% show low commitment and the remaining 15% are disengaged. What are the reasons and which hidden reserves of creativity and productivity could be uncovered?
Leaders showing compassion and integrity create trust and collaboration between units and functions.
In order to achieve real customer focus and create new market opportunities and synergies, companies have to move to a constructive, trustworthy cooperation across departmental and functional boundaries. It is necessary to create transparency, share know-how and establish accountability.
ROC reveals how management's character habits are reflected in the reputation of the company and its brand.
Leadership culture permeates all levels of the organization down to ultimately shaping the customer experience. Only the employee who experiences a balance of appreciation and responsibility will focus on the customer's needs and fully respond to them. Showing compassion in your interactions with employees will shape customer relations, creating trust in the company and brand.
integrity, responsibility, forgiveness, and compassion.
Research shows that the most successful leadership teams have a reputation for being strong in | 365 |
Cold calling can leave even the most seasoned pros with<|fim_middle|> overlap.
Kraig Kleeman, who bills himself as "The World's Greatest Cold Caller," reminds us that only 1% of voicemails get returned. Those aren't good odds at all for your bottom line. Though banks like JP Morgan and Citigroup are in the process of axing voicemail, Kleeman urges you not to give up. You want people to call you back? Spend time refining that voicemail and consider writing a script that you can customize for each client. Sales expert and Salesforce partner John Barrows of is a fan of the 30-second or less voicemail during which you leave your name and company at the end of the message, not the beginning, to avoid any hasty hang ups based on false assumptions your prospect might have about your company's services. | a chill. It's always worth polishing up the tools you use to break the ice, and teaching them to your team. Here are our faves of the experts' tips and tricks for warming up your technique.
You may think that a longer list of prospects is key to eventual success with your cold calling, but it all depends on the quality of those leads. In her article for Entrepreneur, Jane Porter advocates doing some research when it comes to your clients. If your product or service best serves large companies or organizations, then make sure your prospect list reflects that. Of course, even the most well researched prospect list doesn't guarantee a "yes," but you set yourself up for a higher rate of success when you target the right audience for cold calling.
Do you and your prospect perhaps have a mutual contact or friend? Easy enough to find out with a simple dash through Linked In. Don't underestimate the value of a well-placed name. It may just be what tips the scales in your favor. Leading sales expert Brian Tracy believes that having a common denominator helps to relax your prospects when cold calling. If you don't have an initial or obvious mutual connection, then it's time to hit up LinkedIn and see where your circles | 246 |
If you really want to see changes in the geography, culture or climate that make up the United States, you have to take the pokey slow roads.
There's a parallel here for the Internet, our information superhighway. We've developed the habit of zipping around to search for info without ever leaving our desks. You can Google your way to facts and data and deals, and think you've learned something. But that's often as bland and indiscriminate as spending five days seeing five states distinguished only by their rest stops and speed limits.
So, in the context of that analogy, it seems to me that weblogs are the by-ways that we can meander to find out what it's really like out there in the global hinterlands. Unlike the fast food of IRC, weblogs give you a chance to savor the peculiar spices of the locale, take in the sights. Sometimes you have to kick your way through the garbage, but by the time you leave, you take with you a definite sense that you've been somewhere unique. If you leave a comment to show that you've been there, you've left your own footprint in the sands of that local history. Now that's connectivity.
What we seek is a signal. A connection. The network isn't about technology. It isn't about business. It isn't about profit. It's about connections. End points are people and people connect, Sometimes we connect with machines to gather information. Often times we connect with other people because we share some link, or bond, or passing interest.
As I looked around the attendees at BloggerCon last Sunday, I couldn't help think that I was probably the oldest one there — certainly the oldest female (who were definitely in the minority). As I experienced Joi Ito<|fim_middle|> don't arrange to make phone calls or arrange email exchanges.
I agree that IM and comments are nothing more than a sense of immediate gratification, but don't they sometimes (often, we hope) lead to more sustained contact? And don't we have connections with people we don't have in-person relationships with? I have close friends I've known for years but never met in person, and some of them are closer friends than people I've known in real life for years. They're connections to me.
The thing I like about the blogosphere is how it goes beyond personal webpages to offer a real connectivity with the lives of strangers. Sure, it is no substitute for taking a walk and meeting your neighbors, but it is a nice addendum for getting a flavor of the global neighborhood. I prefer to see windows into people's lives than to read political commentary, though I mix both in my blog. We are intellectual beings thinking about important issues, so that should show up on our blogs, but we are also spiritual, emotional, relational, basically much more than intellect.
I'm not so concerned about the speed of connection as I am about the lack of perspective and judgment. You know the most popular news source among teens is Fox News? That is more dangerous than the internet, in my book. It always comes back to parents and teachers to try to help the young sort through the crap until they have seen enough of the world to do it for themselves.
But then I am back again to the virtues of learning from people's reports from "a day in the life" on their blogs. You don't have to argue a point when you say, "this is what I did today" or "what happened to me today." This teaches in the most useful way, more like learning from fiction than from essays – only its truth not fiction – even more true in its message than the "nonfiction" essays usually achieve. | 's session on "Community" (and it was an "experience," what with an IRC chat — that included people in the room as well as others — happening on the screen behind Joi as he RSSed and Wiki'd and Wifi'd and excitedly shared information that went completely over my aging head) I couldn't help feeling that I was creeping along in the right lane while the rest of the traffic sped by me on that superhighway. I'm never going to catch up.
After the blue-haired boy in the straightjacket and his handlers stumbled out of the "T" last Sunday, their seats were taken by a couple of older teenaged girls who were instant messaging on their digital cell phone. I can barely program my non-digital cell phone to do one-touch dialing, and I need my magnifying glasses to see the screen anyway. My engine is stalling. I'm pulling over to the shoulder.
Joi Ito talked about how people with instant messaging no longer have to make long range plans to get together. Now you can instant message all of your friends, see who's available to do something and meet-up spontaneously. Fast and faster and fastest. It seems to me that it's all about connecting without really CONNECTING.
This technology is for the young and fast. The ones who grew up with with eye-bytes of MTV, with the machine-gun conversations of IRC, the get-there-quick-and-don't-ask-questions information superhighway.
I've copied Diane Cameron's entire column into an extension to this entry because she brings up implications for education that I think are crictical.
Me, I'm staying on the slow roads. I'm enjoying the by-ways of blogs, where I can linger and converse and find out what it's like to really live somewhere else (big picture and little picture).
I've been driving and thinking a lot this past week. Spending hours on the highway allows reverie.
Our Interstate highway system was developed in the 1950s as an Eisenhower initiative. As a military man, he was aware that the condition of the roads in the United States was so poor that we would not be able to move troops cross-country in a time of war.
You have to remember those were the Cold War days when kids were practicing duck-and-cover drills in elementary school and adults were thinking about backyard bomb shelters. Our enemy was the Russians who we thought might invade any minute. Turns out the Commies didn't bomb us, but we got an interstate highway system. Not bad for the law of unintended consequences.
The result of those highways was that we could get around faster. It also created an idea that we easily could see the whole country. With the interstate, you could drive across the United States in three or four days.
But, as anyone who has done this knows, you don't really "See the USA in your Chevrolet," despite the freewheeling idea of that old ad. The fallacy is that when you drive cross-country on highways, you begin to imagine that you've been somewhere and seen something, but all you've experienced is the interstate: fast, bland and boring, just like the food available along the way. If you really want to see changes in the geography, culture or climate that make up the United States, you have to take the pokey slow roads.
This matters now because we're at a crossroads with education and technology. We have this idea that learning has to be computer based and we measure schools by the numbers of computers available. But do the kids using them learn how to think?
A friend who teaches junior high says she's come to hate the Internet. "It destroys learning," she tells me. Kids get tons of information, but they have no way to decipher it. She and other teachers complain that students can't tell good ideas from bad or legitimate sources from loony ones, and can't assess authority.
And painfully, they don't know the difference between an opinion and a fact. "It was on the Web," they say when questioned about material in their reports. Technology is great when it enhances how we learn, but sometimes we might benefit from an older technology: turning pages to acquire information. Sometimes we need the benefit of speed, but even when driving on an interstate sometimes you have to take an exit, get out of the car and look at the view. Ditto for the Internet. We need to look at the intellectual scenery: Read a book, go to the library and talk to people who know things.
Sometimes when you're traveling, the car breaks down in an out of the way place and you eat homemade chili at a diner and talk to the folks who live in the odd little town. That is when the trip becomes real and you learn amazing things. That becomes the story you always tell when someone asks if you've ever been to Utah or Ohio or Prague.
Our life stories are not about making good time, or piling up facts. Rather they are mostly about detours and breakdowns, about getting lost, meeting people and finding our way again.
Diane Cameron is a Capital Region free-lance writer. Her e-mail address is oklota@localnet.com.
This entry was posted in aging, blogging, education, technology by Elaine. Bookmark the permalink.
Right on, Elaine, I think you and Cameron are asking the right question here, especially in regard to education when Cameron writes, "We have this idea that learning has to be computer based and we measure schools by the numbers of computers available. But do the kids using them learn how to think?" Check out some of Steve Talbott's writings in NetFuture — http://www.netfuture.org/ — he's all over this topic, too. He also asks why we have this demented idea that the technology doesn't change us, i.e., that it's just us, fiddling with the technology as supreme autonomous beings, but not the technology fiddling with us. But clearly the technology is also changing us. I don't want to be changed by something that I don't have some kind of self-reflexive critical idea about. I don't want my kids to be subjected to every new gadget without some critical thinking skills in their brain-toolkit. If that makes me an old fossil, fine by me, but the old marxist in me also says, "follow the money." A lot of this stuff is all about sales, as in "lifestyle for sale." And you gotta sell to the kids — it's a huge, exploitable market.
"Now you can instant message all of your friends, see who's available to do something and meet-up spontaneously. Fast and faster and fastest. It seems to me that it's all about connecting without really CONNECTING." Actually, what you describe is more about planning to connect. Instead of phone trees and invites with RSVPs we now have e-mail and IMs. The in-person connections are still connections.
As far as Cameron's analogy, I think Internet searches are much more akin to "flyovers" than to cross-country trips. There are folks who never touch the ground at all between their point of origin and destination, particularly the ones who regularly fly between the East and West coasts. Looking out an airplane window is hardly conducive to connecting with people on the ground.
I'm not sure it's *all* about connecting without really connecting. I do agree that a lot is about arranging connections. But I think a lot of it is also about making first contact.
I wouldn't be talking to people like Elaine, or Jeneane, or Marek or Frank if not for that "first contact" that was made through one of those ephemeral connections, yet we do share some meaningful contact now. Not arranged, because people | 1,586 |
Operating Lease is<|fim_middle|>Flexibility at the end of the term to return the asset or extend the lease agreement. | a common form of 'off-balance sheet' financing, it enables you to equip your business with a broad spectrum of high value assets or equipment through a rental agreement, reducing any of the attached risks of ownership and costs to your business.
With an operating lease your monthly rental payments are based on the difference between the price of the asset at the start of the agreement and it's projected residual value, plus any interest charges. As you only repay a proportion of the asset's value, you avoid a large initial outlay, reduce your monthly rental payments and instantly boost your business cash flow.
At the end of the lease you simply return the asset to the lender, alleviating any of your disposal and depreciation concerns.
Off Balance Sheet Funding - Operating lease acts purely as a business rental cost.
VAT on rental is reclaimable depending on your usage & VAT Registration.
| 173 |
Beautiful end unit condo in the gorgeous and highly desirable gated community of Vintner+GGs<|fim_middle|> master bedroom waits for you to retreat,complete with a walk-in closet and ensuite master bath featuring a soaking tub, stand-alone shower and dual sinks. The twoupstairs roomy secondary bedrooms do not disappoint! Enjoy the amenities this picturesque community has to offer year-round,including: playgrounds for the little ones, rose garden, community vineyard, pool and spa with plenty of room for lounging, BBQ areacomplete with picnic tables, and impressive stacked stone outdoor fireplace ready to keep you warm on a crisp evening. Located inthe heart of Rancho Cucamonga with easy access to the 10/15/210 freeways, and only a few minutes away from Victoria Gardensand Ontario Mills shopping malls. With so much to offer, come take a look and be ready to make it all yours before it+GGs too late!Square footage not taped, buyer to verify.
Sold by Qingying Tang of Re/Max Champions. | Grove with attached 2 car garage! Withfresh new interior paint and new carpet throughout, the bright and airy floorplan greets you as you enter the home into the familyroom with fireplace, perfect for gathering and relaxing with loved ones. The kitchen features new quartz counter tops, new stainlesssteel sink and faucet, along with an ever useful center island and spacious dining area. The first level also features a bedroom withadjacent +-+ bath for added convenience for your overnight guests. Upstairs, the spacious | 101 |
Innovation and sustainability driven by top-sealed packaging solutions
The research for new packaging solutions, both to match the new trends in fresh produce consumption and to attract a wider range of customers, has been a quite established effort in the food industry during the last few years. The evident consequences have been new developments in packaging design and production and a fine tuning of the existent models.
The sweeping "Plastic Free" environmental movement and the willingness to find out a way for packaging with "less-plastic" to dispose after consumption, have pushed the packaging industry towards a huge streamlining both in design and production. The first evidence is the decrease of plastic by almost 30% on the average weight and the structure itself.
Less and recyclable plastic is the new standard, as sustainable sourcing has become a mainstream. This is the case of the top-sealed packaging solutions made in rPET.
Recently Carton Pack S.p.A. invested on this field, re-designing its top-sealed packaging range to meet the current technical guidelines in the fresh produce market, thus aiming to empower its commitment towards environmental safeguard and sustainability issues too.
The D2 Model, for instance, is a top-sealable container made up to 100% rPET specially designed for tomatoes, grapes, strawberries, and cherries. The top edge has been redesigned to ensure maximum resistance during the sealing process. The corner profiles have been reinforced by solid ribs with rounded lines. Both sides have been made more linear to allow perfect visibility of the produce. The biggest value lies in the structure of the bottom which has some plates to improve the weight distribution and the raising of the entire structure. Breathing has been empowered by special ventilation openings designed to collect the outside air in the very bottom of the tray thus achieving a perfect air flowing towards the top.
The top-sealable range has been declined in lots of formats such as the Bucket (Mod. BK – see pic above), a mono-material rPET container with integrated handle and optional lid; but the range extends also to the 1 or 2 Kg. Tray (Mod. T – see pic above), and a lot of punnets specially designed for berries, cherries, tomatoes, and other small size references.
The projects that Carton Pack will carry out in the future will increasingly involve a consistent use of responsibly managed raw material in the recovery and recycling process.
Last but not least is the great value of top-sealing solutions as we know that branding on packaging enhances consumer experience. Carton Pack has a Creative Design Dept. and a Flexo Printing Dept. which provide a professional support and service to print up to ten colors graphics on the sealing film.
Carton Pack today supplies a turn-key solution of 100% rPET top-sealed packaging made in Italy.
Carton Pack S.p.A.
Marketing Dept.
Email: mktg@cartonpack.com
Web: www.cartonpack.com
New fully recyclable lidded tomato packaging
New sustainable cardboard and R-PET packaging for berries and other crops
Starting this week, the first Belgian strawberries from BelOrta will be packed in new packaging. These are Tray2Tray punnets made from recycled raw materials that are still 100% recyclable. Consumers can recognize these punnets by a special logo.
BelOrta launches 100% recycled & recyclable strawberry punnet 89
Together with Fost Plus and Infia, BelOrta says it is taking 'the next step in increasingly sustainable production and distribution'. "This step contributes to a circular economy. Not unimportant, because recent figures show that we are eating more and more home-grown strawberries," according to the cooperative.
Closed cycle
With the strawberry punnets, no empty strawberry tray has to end up on the waste mountain from now on, because every packaging can be processed and reused as raw material for new packaging.
Jo Lambrecht, Sales & Marketing Manager at BelOrta: "With this Tray2Tray concept, in which new punnets are made from used packaging, we contribute to a circular economy. We have been working with so-called 'r-PET' as a raw material for 4 years, recycled from water and soft drinks bottles and other PET packaging that consumers collect. The New Blue Bag has recently been introduced to us for the collection of all plastic packaging waste.
By the way, Belgians are champions in sorting and collecting waste, which makes a difference to a healthier and more pleasant living environment. Thanks to new techniques, developed under the impulse of Fost Plus, we can now also sort these r-PET punnets (cf. the new blue bag) and recycle them into flakes, after which they are used again as raw material for the production of new packaging, such as for our strawberries and<|fim_middle|>ustainable packaging is getting more important, enforced by retail regulations as well as consumer demand," he added.
"In November of last year, we did a successful soft launch in Canada with the cardboard tray for mini cucumber. Just this month, a US customer started using the trays for sweet corn." The product is available in a range of different sizes from 8 2/16 inches length, 8 11/16 inches wide to 1 11/16 inches height. However, Cascades also offers tailormade solutions. The tray is suitable for a wide range of fruits and vegetables, from Brussels sprouts to bell peppers, green beans, and much more. "The package will stand out even more if it is combined with a compostable top seal film, making it a fully sustainable solution," Bissonnette added.
"We think it's really important to tell the story how sustainable packaging can help to reduce the environmental footprint and achieve the retailer's sustainability goals." To support the story, Cascades has developed an LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) for all its product lines.
"This means we can tell the client exactly the amount of environmental footprint reduction they will be able to achieve with one of our sustainable solutions compared to the material they are using currently." A lot of the current plastic packaging as well as foam packaging can be replaced by this cardboard solution and has proven to offer equivalent shelf life to plastic". The new cardboard tray works with existing machinery and tooling for plastic trays, meaning that no extra investment is required for producers or packers looking to make the switch to cardboard."
Cascades also invested in research on the consumer side. "It's not only the demand for sustainability that has grown but also the willingness among consumers to put their money where their mouth is," said Bissonnette. Most consumers are willing to pay a bit more for produce that is sustainably packaged. Also, better labeling on the packaging would encourage consumers to buy more green, sustainable packaging. "It is still a bit more expensive but both producers and retailers should not be afraid to raise their prices a bit. We are not talking about full dollars but just a few cents, " Bissonnette noted.
Jacques Bissonnette
Cascades Specialty Products Group
Tel:+ 1 514-378-0332
jacques_bissonnette@cascades.com
https://www.cascades.com | berries. This completes the cycle."
450 tons less CO2 emissions per year
But what about 'the most sustainable packaging is no packaging'? Lambrecht: "That is indeed true for many products, often including food. We try to avoid or reduce the use of packaging wherever possible. But for sensitive and perishable products, well-chosen packaging is crucial in the fight against food waste. Various tests, including with strawberries and berries, have taught us that well thought-out packaging makes all the difference. Wasting less food reduces our ecological footprint. Moreover, r-PET as a raw material has a low ecological footprint compared to many other materials."
For BelOrta, the replacement of PET by r-PET means a reduction of 450 tons of CO2 emissions per year.
Belgians eat an average of 1.94 kg of strawberries per year
More than 9,000 tons of strawberries were sold in 2020 via BelOrta. With over 100 different growers, the acreage of strawberries at BelOrta is about 300 hectares, an increase of 4% compared to the previous year.
Recent figures from market research agency GfK also show that the average Belgian ate 1.94 kg of strawberries in 2020. That is a growth of more than 12% compared to the previous year. Elsanta, Portola, Elegance, Malling Centenary, Sonata and Sonsation are the main varieties at BelOrta.
BelOrta lanceert 100% recycled en recyclebare aardbeienpunnet
BelOrta
www.belorta.be
/packaging-system/
Cascades, a North America and European based packaging company, is launching the first thermoformed cardboard tray. The product is made from 100 percent recycled and recyclable cardboard and has a recyclable water-based barrier coating which prevents moisture. "The cardboard tray makes a true alternative to plastic and foam trays," says Jacques Bissonnette with Cascades' Canada office. "S | 430 |
Southern Maine Health Care Donates $60,000 to Support Sanford Schools Legacy Foundation
The Sanford Legacy Foundation is pleased to accept a $60,000 donation from Southern Maine Health Care (SMHC) to name the Athletic<|fim_middle|> organization with a non-profit mission "to improve the health and health care of the communities we serve." SMHC includes a full service, acute care medical center in Biddeford, with York County's only inpatient mental health unit. Emergency care, surgical services and diagnostic and therapy services are available at SMHC's Medical Centers in Biddeford and Sanford. SMHC offers primary care and multi-specialty physician services, diagnostic and therapy services and Walk-In Care centers in York County communities including Biddeford, Kennebunk, Saco, Sanford and Waterboro. SMHC is Joint Commission accredited and has been recognized for quality excellence by numerous outside organizations. SMHC is part of the MaineHealth system, a growing family of health care services in northern New England. To learn more, visit smhc.org.
Allison Kenty
Director, Communications & Public Affairs
akenty@smhc.org | Wing at the new Sanford High School.
Southern Maine Health Care has a long history of commitment to and investment in athletics and health care in Sanford including a partnership with the YMCA through their Sports Performance Center which works with athletes to prevent injuries, optimize physical performance and maximize recovery from injury. The donation will also cover the sponsorship of the athletic trainer golf carts used at the stadium.
"Southern Maine Health Care is dedicated to providing health and wellness services to all students and student athletes," said SMHC President, Nate Howell. "This donation solidifies our commitment to the community and the new school that offers our students such a high level of education and athletic opportunities."
Legacy Foundation Chair Allen Lampert, "The Legacy Foundation is thrilled to have SMHC join our growing list of corporate and private supporters. SMHC has been a leader in athletic programming and health in our community. This donation only strengthens that commitment. We are excited about this growing partnership and look forward to working with SMHC into the future."
To date, the Legacy Foundation has raised over $1.2 million in cash and in-kind donations to support the new high school. For more information about the Sanford Schools Legacy Foundation please visit them at: sanfordschoolslegacyfoundation.org
About Southern Maine Health Care
Southern Maine Health Care (SMHC) is a national award-winning healthcare | 269 |
Since the Booker decision, Congress has demonstrated, for the most part, remarkable restraint against "tinkering" with the system, a fact owed in large measure to the efforts of the United States Sentencing Commission to keep Congress informed<|fim_middle|> probationary sentence. Moreover, despite the Department of Justice's concerns immediately after Booker that it would lose leverage to gain cooperation from defendants, not only has the rate of substantial assistance motions remained relatively steady, the percentage of government-sponsored below-range sentences has continued to increase since Booker.
Lisa A. Rich, Congress Should Engage in Sentencing Review: Some Ideas for the 111th Congress, 21 Fed. Sent. R. 17 (2008). | about federal sentencing trends. The Commission has done an admirable job in turning around its data collection, analysis, and reporting functions to provide Congress, and the entire criminal justice system, with useful statistics and information that suggest the system is not falling apart. For example, the Commission's efforts demonstrate, as Frank Bowman noted, that the average sentence in federal cases did rise between the pre-Booker 2005 time period (median sentences of 43.8 months) and fiscal year 2007 (51.8 months). Looking at this statistic suggests that the system is not spinning out of control across the board resulting in every federal offender receiving a | 135 |
Classic town car service, we are a 5 star town car service provider, we offer a wide luxury town cars and luxury vehicle transportation options to the Honolulu, Hawaii area. We pride ourselves in being committed to delivering only the utmost in class and distinction. Our fleet consist of 4 passenger Lincoln Town Car, 6 passenger Chevy Suburban or GMC Yukon XL and 8 and 10 passenger Lincoln limousine.
Classic town car service was established in 2013 in Orange County and now has a sister company in Honolulu, Hawaii, and is a family owned business. Altough our company has been a business for just a three years here in Honolulu, Hawaii<|fim_middle|> event with the professionalism that you have come to expect from Oahu Classic town car service. Our services are available from Waikiki, all the way down to North shore of Hawaii.
If you are planning a night out in Oahu, our company is ready to serve you in a professional manner with the best fleet of town car's, SUV's and limos. Why take a cab in Hawaii, when you can ride in ultimate style and sophistication. We will be ready when you are to take you anywhere for your enjoyment in the Oahu, Hawaii area. Sports venues,circle island tours, wine tasting, night clubbing and airport transfers to Honolulu airport are some of our many services offered to our guests. Call us today and be ready for the ride of your life. | , we also have 25 years of experience in the limo business in Hawaii and California. We feel our service and fleet to be unmatched by our competitors. The superb fleets of vehicles are all late model vehicles.
Our chauffeurs are expertly trained professionals that will handle every aspect of your special | 60 |
Fun Activities and Attractions in town – The Color Run in Polokwane
Date: 12 August 2017 Venue: Mitchell House School (see map below)
Win Tickets to the Color Run in Polokwane!
Stand a chance to win one of 10 double tickets to this year's Color Run! Simply fill out the contact form below, submit and a winner will be randomly chosen. Please complete all the form fields.
ID Number*
The Color Run, at the conclusion of<|fim_middle|>8." | its Rainbow Tour in Stellenbosch, announced its upcoming tour to the delight of Color Runners. The Superhero Tour will make its world debut in Soweto this April, and whoosh through the country over the next 12 months.
This season, The Color Run and its headline sponsor Capitec Bank, will bring something more than a single day's worth of fun to its fans. The Superhero Tour aims to underpin the journey towards ongoing personal fulfillment and inner strength – it's time we believe in the superhero in each and every one of us.
"We are encouraged by being a part of this movement that has inspired thousands to put on their running shoes, get active and support their communities across South Africa," says Charl Nel, head of communications at Capitec Bank.
The Superhero Tour acknowledges the individual and all the characteristics that define us as heroes. And, it applauds those nearest and dearest to us, and those further afield who inspire us and offer themselves as role models. "Not only are we inspiring participants to celebrate themselves, and those who have mentored, encouraged, and positively influenced them, but this season, we launch a mobile app, through Back A Buddy, which will make raising funds for the Color Runner's charity of choice that much easier," says Trevor Latimer, national event coordinator for The Color Run South Africa.
The upcoming tour was announced this weekend using a number of mechanisms, including Facebook Live, and a new social media campaign encouraging all the superheroes out there to share their personal stories of triumph and inspiration with The Color Run Family. "As part of the campaign, we announced a competition that will see our most inspiring superhero jetting off to an international event – one lucky hero will win an all-expenses paid trip for two to The Color Run in Paris in 201 | 371 |
DVD review by Matt Anderson
See also review by Matt Anderson, review by Marty Mapes and Matt Anderson, DVD review by Matt Anderson
Originally released in August as a frills-free DVD, Sin City is back with a vengeance in this mostly excellent double-disc set. But it's not all it's advertised to be and no matter how the principals involved try to cut it or sell it, the movie is still a triumph of style over substance.
Immersive 101: Sin City
Generally good DVD promises more than it delivers
DVD Features
two versions of the film
featurettes galore
Rodriguez' film school and cooking school segments
Paperback Frank Miller graphic novel
DVD scorecard
Picture: ****
Sound: ***1/2
Extras: ****
Overall: ***1/2
The biggest disappointment with the new set is the "Recut, Extended, Unrated" version itself, touted as 147 minutes long and, quoting the package sleeve, featuring "over 20 minutes of additional<|fim_middle|> he was in love.
While there's another stylized bar fight, believe it or not the best extra footage involves Marv and his mother – and it's played for laughs. More surprisingly, they're really good laughs. There's also some extra footage in That Yellow Bastard, the movie's nastiest storyline, involving a yellow-skinned pedophile who looks like a reject from a cheesy Star Trek episode. Here again, the new stuff is mostly played for (dark) humor as several visitors come to see the hospitalized Hartigan (Bruce Willis), a detective seeking to protect Nancy (who grows up to be played by Jessica Alba) from a sex fiend.
For those with bloodlust, there are grisly seconds added to the climactic confrontation in The Big Fat Kill, the schlockiest story in the set, involving mean ex-boyfriends, the Mob, and prostitutes with machine guns. Now viewers get to see Michael Clarke Duncan get sliced in half from head to… crotch. It's cinematic overkill in every sense of the word.
Schlock and Guffaw
At its core, Sin City is a black comedy, black as pitch, and a stunningly over-the-top salute to pulp fiction. But the action wears down to the borderline sleazy exploitation and cheese director Rodriguez capitalized on with his "special guest director" Tarantino in From Dusk Till Dawn.
In all of the stories, heads roll, bodiless hands keep a cold grip on weaponry, and revenge is the motivation behind every single plot point and action. It's a simple concept told in eye-popping fashion, but there's virtually no redeeming value.
Nonetheless, Sin City does manage to create a giddy sense of sick, twisted fun as the unflappable good guys battle the Hell-bound bad guys. With that in mind, as far as schlock goes, Sin City is pretty good stuff. As an added bonus, there are plenty of quotable lines ("Kill him for me, Marv. Kill him good.") and it is satisfying to see the bad guys get their comeuppance.
The end result, then, is nirvana for fans of bloody mayhem and something of a non-event for almost all others. Sin City is a world of pedophiles, prostitutes, chauvinist pigs, and pistol whippers. Make no mistake, this one's not for the kids.
After two hours of black-and-white-and-red maulings, decapitations, shootings, choppings, croppings, and flying limbs, it's nice to step back into a Technicolor reality. Sin City is an interesting place to visit, but a helluva place to live.
DVD Extras
The original Sin City single-disc DVD was released August 16, 2005. The only supplemental feature was a behind-the-scenes featurette. A scant four months later, those who bought it (at an embarrassingly high $29.99 SRP) now get the opportunity to spend another $39.99, which is a pretty good deal for this highly comprehensive set. No matter how you cut it, this extended package should've been the only release to begin with, or the single disc should have been released at the same time, in the name of choice. Greed is the only explanation for the premature single-disc release.
Disc 1 contains the original theatrical release and Disc 2 has the recut edition. Extra materials are spread across both discs. One can only imagine some poor, confused, working-for-free intern at the marketing department piecing together this package's details. The back page of a promotional insert indicates the "Original Theatrical Release" is on Disc 1 and the "Recut and Extended Theatrical Release" is on Disc 2. Ummm… The version presented on Disc 2 is not by any definition the theatrical release. Mislabeling, misinformation, and misrepresentation seem to be running rampant at Dimension Home Video, at least on this release.
Now let's get back to the good stuff. Astoundingly immersive is the feature called Sin-Chroni-City. It's quite an endeavor that maps out the movie's characters, interactions, and locations. The really cool part is that it's narrated by Miller himself and nobody knows Sin City better than Miller.
There are two running commentaries and one "running curiosity." More noticeably than on previous releases, the movie's soundtrack plays in the background throughout the running commentaries. What the heck? The soundtrack and commentaries wind up competing with each other and it can be highly annoying.
Nonetheless, the Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller commentary offers good stuff as first-time movie director Miller talks about his experience on the set as well as provides additional insights into the characters and story material. Frank's most memorable commentary line, regarding Elijah Wood's role, "You ain't no Goddamn Hobbit anymore."
Less delightful, at least for those of us who find Quentin Tarantino's voice as grating as fingernails on a chalkboard, is the Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino commentary. Well, it is good, albeit a bit repetitive amidst the other features. But Tarantino? At least the nerd's contribution is brief and limited mainly to the scene he directed.
The aforementioned "running curiosity" gives viewers the opportunity to watch the movie while accompanied by the audience reactions recorded at a screening in Austin, Texas (Rodriguez Country). This is strictly for those who have a hard time judging on their own what is funny or scary. Remember: Diff'rent Strokes also had a laugh track. How It Went Down: Convincing Frank Miller to Make the Film is a one-minute story told in six. Curiously enough, considering the extremely comprehensive nature of the set, it's unfortunate the "legendary" short footage shown to Miller on a laptop in a New York City bar is not included in full, although bits are shown in the 15-Minute Flic School segment.
School of Schlock
This set definitely has a "film school" feel about it. In addition to the commentaries, there's a 15-Minute Flic School (or Flick School, depending on which title card you read). Unfortunately, they used the same fast clock; it's actually 12.5 minutes. But, regardless, it's a good bit displaying Rodriguez' enthusiasm for film work that also indicates any ol' Joe can go out there and make a Sin City-style movie on their own laptop. Good luck with that.
Among the best extra features is the "All Green Version," which presents the entire movie in 10 minutes, sped up 800%, sans all special effects just to show how much effort still had to go into the final product after the actors were done saying their lines. It's an interesting thing to witness. Working somewhat hand-in-hand with this feature is a 17-minute chunk of raw green screen footage from the Tarantino-directed scene. It's informative in a film school sort of way as to how things get done down on the floor.
Also on tap are the typical segments regarding props and costumes, plus entire segments devoted to the cars of Sin City and Quentin Tarantino. In this section of the material, the most interesting material is found in the segment regarding the film's makeup.
The Rest of the Riff-Raff
The rest of the riff-raff includes a couple Sin City trailers and another curiosity, Sin City Live. This one presents Bruce Willis and the Accelerators singing Devil Woman at a charity event/cast party held one night after filming.
Oh. And don't miss the 10 Minute Cooking School segment. It's actually a little more than six minutes, but you learn how to make breakfast tacos for those early morning editing sessions under the tutelage of Chef Rodriguez.
Also included is a complete paperback of Frank Miller's The Hard Goodbye graphic novel, mimicking the packaging of Warner's Constantine and Batman Begins deluxe editions, but the DVD extras here are definitely a cut above.
Overall, it's a well-done, worthwhile package for fans of the film and its participants. But rather than playing up that disappointingly misrepresented recut version, it might best have been marketed as Sin City: The Robert Rodriguez School of Schlock.
Picture and Sound
The picture is gloriously presented in a black-and-white-and-red transfer with a 1.85:1 aspect ratio, enhanced for 16:9 TVs. The picture works well in the darkness of home and the sound on the theatrical cut captures all the gunfire and decapitations with flair in both 5.1 DTS and 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround. (Note: The extended cut on Disc 2 does not include a DTS track.)
Subtitles are available in Spanish plus English captions. | footage."
Well, the rationale behind the "recut" is that each of the film's four stories (including the short tone-setting piece with Josh Hartnett, entitled The Customer Is Always Right) is presented separately. Fine. But now that each story is treated as its own short film, an entire 4+ minutes of credits are presented at the end of each one. That means more than 16 minutes are spent on credit rolls. Putting it another way, the segment with Hartnett is slightly more than 8 minutes long and a full half of those minutes are credits.
Compounding the disappointment, somebody's clock seems to be running a bit fast. The total running time (being generous) clocks in at 142 minutes for the four short films combined, lengthy end credits and company logos inclusive. So, when all is said and done, there's very little new material here, but no doubt the marketing folks will be sure to remind the world that all it takes is a couple seconds of new footage to warrant tacking on the "Extended" and "Unrated" adjectives.
Cuts Both Ways
Depending on whose calculator you use, there might be 5 or 6 minutes of actual additional material spread amidst the mayhem. A good portion of those precious new moments is in the movie's most entertaining storyline, The Hard Goodbye, featuring Mickey Rourke as Marv, one tough dude seeking revenge for the murder of a prostitute with whom | 297 |
Crowley Awards Scholarships to Three USMMA Cadets at the 2015 Connie Awards Dinner
(JACKSONVILLE, Fla.; Dec. 8, 2015) – The Crowley Maritime Corporation awarded three United States Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) cadets<|fim_middle|>ville-based Crowley Holdings Inc., a holding company of the 123-year-old Crowley Maritime Corporation, is a privately held family and employee-owned company. The company provides project solutions, energy and logistics services in domestic and international markets by means of six operating lines of business: Puerto Rico/Caribbean Liner Services, Latin America Liner Services, Logistics Services, Petroleum Services, Marine Services and Technical Services. Offered within these operating lines of business are: liner container shipping, logistics, contract towing and transportation; ship assist and escort; energy support; salvage and emergency response through its 50 percent ownership in Ardent Global; vessel management; vessel construction and naval architecture through its Jensen Maritime subsidiary; government services, and petroleum and chemical transportation, distribution and sales. Additional information about Crowley, its subsidiaries and business units may be found at www.crowley.com. | with Thomas B. Crowley Sr. Memorial scholarships at the Containerization and Intermodal Institute's Connie Awards luncheon yesterday in Newark, N.J. Crowley's Jenny Terpenning, supervisor, marine recruiting, presented the scholarships to the recipients at the event.
Recipient William Murray is a first class midshipman studying logistics. At his time at USMMA, he has sailed aboard a containership, an oil tanker, an LNG carrier and participated in an academic research project regarding the development of larger containerships and their affect on the liner shipping industry. After his time at King's Point, Murray plans to pursue a career at sea in addition to continuing his education by pursuing a master's degree in supply chain management.
Peter Tolles, a recipient from Clontarf, Minn., is a first class midshipman at King's Point. Majoring in logistics and intermodal transportation, Tolles plans on sailing commercial vessels in the US Merchant Marine after graduation. In addition to his sailing career, he intends on continuing his education by pursuing a master's degree.
First classman Robert Tirrito from Centerpoint, N.Y., is studying systems engineering with a minor in oceanography. During his second sailing period at USMMA, he served as an engine cadet aboard the M/V St. Louis Express for 70 days. After graduation, he plans on sailing as a third engineer.
Since 1984, Crowley has provided more than $3 million dollars in scholarship funding for more than 1,000 students studying at maritime academies and other select institutions in the U.S., Puerto Rico and Central America. In 1994, Crowley Chairman and CEO, Tom Crowley Jr., established the Thomas B. Crowley Sr. Memorial Scholarship Program, in honor of his father, and has also donated more than $2 million to support other educational programs.
To learn more about the Thomas B. Crowley Sr. Memorial Scholarship program, visit www.crowley.com/scholarships.
Jackson | 405 |
I'd been hiking for weeks, day in and day out trying to find some winter stripers this year. The boating season closes jan 1st until march 1st so you have to do a lot of hiking and searching but, they are accessible from the bank by the patient and willing enthusiast. Feb 27th, I went out to a spot we had been fishing a lot that week trying to catch walleyes or stripers. I had one rod out for walleyes and hadnt put my striper rod out yet. I had a 7' gary loomis signature and a daiwa ss 1300 with 10 lb line. I had a small shiner<|fim_middle|> up the rod , felt the fish, and started cranking on him. Due to the lighter tackle I was working with I let him take some drag for a while , and eventually got him in. Good times in the winter! | rigged with a shy bite float set at 15 ft on a owner mutu light circle hook. My friend had casted into the tree next to me and I was helping him untangle his line. Suddenly we heard my line going though the guides and i looked to see it coming off my reel extremely fast. I picked | 66 |
Vistancia, AZ 02-2017
Praise and Proclaim Ministries had the privilege of partnering with Cross of Glory Lutheran Church and School in Peoria, AZ to launch an outreach initiative on February 24-25. This initiative was held in conjunction with a comprehensive effort for Cross of Glory to begin a second site in nearby Vistancia.
Cross of Glory Lutheran Church began in 2001. The Lord has blessed the congregation with a membership of 261 baptized souls and a preschool/elementary school with a combined enrollment of 86 children. Now that they have established themselves as a neighborhood church in their community, they are ready to expand their church across the freeway and into a new, developing area that is a ten-fifteen-minute drive from the Peoria campus.
This wasn't the first time Praise and Proclaim Ministries came to Vistancia. A year ago, our ministry launched its first campaign in the area – a campaign commissioned by the WELS Board of Home Missions.
On Friday evening, twenty members from Cross of Glory assembled for training at the Vistancia community center. They were joined by four members from nearby CrossWalk Church in Phoenix. Together, they learned a methodology and approachto proclaim the gospel, then immediately were provided an opportunity to put their training into action on a sunny, cool Saturday morning and afternoon.
For most people, Phoenix is not a bad place to be in February. Flying out of Boise on Thursday, the plane needed to be de-iced due to the amount of snow that was falling. With sub-freezing temperatures, that<|fim_middle|> while working in my office. My immediate thought was that this was a Christian home that didn't need the gospel since they were already playing beautiful hymns on their front porch, but I chose to knock anyway.
An elderly man with a deep accent answered the door. He told me that he belonged to a Catholic church that was about 45 minutes away, but I could tell that he didn't go very often. Inquiring about his accent, he told me his story. He was born and raised in Hungary. At the age of fourteen, he escaped the communist takeover in 1956 and fled to Austria. He spent four years there until a Hungarian catholic church in Youngstown, OH sponsored him to immigrate to America. He joined the U.S. army and served for twenty-one years to try and fight the spread of communism. He volunteered for two tours in Vietnam in the late 60's and 70's. During his second tour, he served in Da Nang and was given mortuary duty. He saw hundreds, if not thousands, of young men who were killed during the war. It was during this time, he asked, "Where is God in that?"
He later admitted that he is a "deist" who only goes to the Catholic church because his children and grandchildren attend there. The Lord provided me with opportunity to respectfully share with him the devastation of sin and how God provides answers through the gospel. Jesus – God in human flesh – came to rescue us by substituting himself on the cross. By faith alone we receive Christ's perfection and are acceptable before God. We receive peace during uncertain times and especially when we deal with difficult questions that deal with the devastation of sin. Throughout our twenty-minute discussion on his front porch, hymn after hymn was playing that provided me with wonderful prompts to proclaim a series of brief messages to a darkened heart. Towards the end of the conversation, the strains of "Amazing Grace" were heard. I shared with him the how sweet the sound was of what Christ has already done for us. I told him, "Believe. Your sins are fully forgiven."
As I was walking to the sidewalk and to the next home, I continued to hear "Amazing Grace" being played. All of a sudden, I grabbed my iPhone from my front left pocket and looked. Somehow, my Pandora station on my phone was playing my Hymns station. That's what I was hearing throughout my conversation with Idri – not hymns from his house.
Pray for Idri whose time of grace is drawing near. There is a great deal of baggage in his life, but we trust the "dynamite" of God's Word. We pray that its power can break through the hardened soil of a man's heart whose life has personally seen the devastation of sin at its worst.
We thank the Lord for the members of Cross of Glory and pray that the Lord will bless their desire and prayer to plant a second site in Vistancia.
Goodyear, AZ 02-2017
Citrus Heights, CA 03-2017 | would be a normal definition of cool weather for many people this time of the year.
But not in Phoenix.
While the temperature quickly warmed to 50 degrees, most of the participants who lived in Arizona started to go door-to-door in sweatshirts, long-sleeve t-shirts, or light jackets. Except for me. Basking in the warm sun, I eagerly looked forward to walking out side with my short-sleeve shirt and sun-hat. Perhaps I may have been too obvious to the native Arizonan at the door that I was not from these parts, but that was okay. I was enjoying Phoenix in February.
One important aspect of our training is that we focus on remembering God's promises that are associated with believers who step out in faith to share their faith. Evangelism is scary for many Christians because it is 100% unnatural. It is totally foreign to our human nature. Though fully aware of God's commission for all Christians to be his witnesses, we have a natural response to look in the mirror and be overcome with fear. Instead, Jesus wants us to look at him. The power, strength, and courage come from the biblical truth that Christ lives in us. He is the gospel, and the power of conversion only comes through God's Word — not from us. It's a miracle! God, in his wisdom, sets apart his children to proclaiming the faith-giving power of His Word to others. What a privilege it is to be used by God in this way — to go and make disciples of all nations – even in Vistancia, AZ.
At the end of the day, twenty "mighty warriors in Christ" (Judges 6:12) proclaimed the gospel and planted the seeds of God's Word with 151 people. The Lord provided approximately 28 families who expressed interest to learn more about what Cross of Glory teaches and the new church starting in their neighborhood.
Here are some of the stories:
Two members from Cross of Glory were going door-to-door in the same neighborhood of Vistancia where the pastor who is leading the efforts to plant a second site lives. The members knocked on the door of a man whose house is directly behind the pastor's house. When the member introduced himself, the man at the door was both pleased and excited. Just that morning, he was praying about a church to join, but he didn't know where. And now two members from Cross of Glory showed up at his door! Once he told them about his prayer, they told him, "Well, we are an answer to your prayers."
The second site will be conducting its first worship service on Easter Sunday at Lake Pleasant Elementary School in Vistancia. The neighborhood surrounding the school was the focal point of our door-to-door proclaiming on Saturday morning. Two members knocked on the door and met a lady who expressed great interest in coming to church. She happened to be a teacher at Lake Pleasant and was looking for a church to belong. Perfect timing!
Sometimes we came across busy mothers who were actively taking care of their kids. One busy mother told the members at the door that she had no time for them this morning because she was making breakfast and trying to hustle her kids out the door. After a quick pause, she turned around and said, "But give me one of your flyers. I would like to learn more."
Another woman initially expressed a lack of interest, but the members noticed that she had a high interest in music. [Her dog's name was "Beethoven'} Upon inquiring more about their mutual love of music, the lady expressed that she missed singing and would be interested in participating with the church choir. Since the member at the door belonged to the choir already, it was a meaningful invitation.
Once in a while, I receive a memorable experience when I go out with the participants and help proclaim the gospel. I was walking up to a door in the afternoon and I heard some lovely music. They were Christian instrumentals hymns — I enjoy listening to | 819 |
Investigate the properties of square, rectangle, rhombus, an isosceles trapezoid, and a non-isosceles trapezoid in this dynamic, online activity.
First, the quest asks you to choose all the quadrilaterals with the given properties. After several of those types of activities follows a quiz.
This interactive mathematics resource explores the properties of triangles, quadrilaterals and regular polygons and allows students to classify shapes based on their properties.
Classifying Triangles Game - A fast-paced game where you drag<|fim_middle|> by Sides and Angles - Answer multiple-choice questions about the angles of a triangle and classification of triangles in a quest for fame and fortune. | triangles into the correct basket as fast as you can (acute, obtuse, right).
Triangles & Quadrilaterals Classification Game - Look at the shapes as they go past, and drag them into the right groups (equilateral, isosceles, or scalene triangles, and quadrilaterals with 4 congruent sides, 2 congruent sides, or no congruent sides).
Rags to Riches: Classify Triangles | 89 |
How To Tell If You Had A Lucid Dream
What Is Lucid Dreaming And How Do I Get Started
16/12/2018 · When you do lucid dream, consider waking up intentionally after a few minutes. This increases your chance of remembering the dream. Do not drink any fluids for one hour prior to sleeping. The last thing you want is to wake up from successfully lucid dreaming just because you had to use the bathroom. If you find the dream is not going how you want it to, "close your eyes" for a bit in the dream... "The fact that you've never had a lucid dream doesn't mean you still can't have one," Martinez-Conde says. There are different techniques to consciously induce lucid dreaming, but what works is
A lot of your ordinary dreams will have objects or people in them that could act as a cue to you waking up in your dreams. For example if you regularly talk to 'Elvis' in your ordinary dreams this is an obvious dream sign and can be used to ask yourself if you are dreaming because you know Elvis is dead.... Lucid dreaming is getting more and more attention these days. If you're reading this, I'm assuming you probably know something about it. Just in case you don't, here's a quick summary.
How to lucid dream???? Yahoo Answers
26. Enter dream teleports and mirrors. This is the easiest way to teleport in a Lucid Dream. Find a mirror, and attempt to walk through it, thinking about where you want to … how to stop help payments Lucid Dreaming Tips: How to Have Lucid Dreams. Do you have times when you wake up and can vividly remember your dream and why you dreamed it? For instance, if you ran into a friend you have not seen in years and then had a dream about going on a picnic with them, you know why you had that dream.
How do you know if you are really lucid dreaming or just
Lucid dreams. Lucid<|fim_middle|>id Dreams Instructables.com
Have you ever had a dream where you knew you were dreaming during your dream? This is called a lucid dream. Research has shown that lucid dreaming is accompanied by an increased activation of
Have you ever had a dream in which you were aware you were dreaming? If so, you've had a lucid dream. While some people commonly experience lucid dreams, many have never had one or at least have not remembered it.
Lucid dreams, or dreams you have conscious control of, show how complicated and powerful our mind is. I've written a lot of articles regarding different topics associated with dreaming.
But it may surprise you to learn that lucid dreaming is something you can learn to do at will, and can use to influence the way your dreams play out in an unlimited variety of exciting ways. If lucid dreaming is something you would like to learn to do, there are a few well-practiced tricks and methods that may help you:
You've probably never had a lucid dream before unless it was a once-off occurrence or you've already researched it, or maybe you've already had a lucid dream and just didn't know that it was called a lucid dream. Many people have had an "I'm dreaming" experience that is usually caused by a really horrible or strange dream and then they typically wake up; I know I've had a few
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Samanta Cruze on How To Talk To A Lawyer For The First Time | dreams are dreams that you can have at any time where you are aware that you are dreaming. A lucid dream is truly a mind-opening experience that … how to tell if your company is getting acquired That is the most common definition of a lucid dream—a dream where you know you're dreaming as the dream is occurring. A few writers on lucidity have chosen to make some degree of dream control
Techno-anthropology My story about lucid dreaming and
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How to Have Luc | 137 |
The type of party you have may be dependant on who you invite, does your child have a small group of friends, or is it<|fim_middle|> you could organise a traditional sports day, sack race, egg and spoon. Do a leader board and have a winner, would need a fairly big garden but kids love being outside.
- Face painting - Do you know any friends or family that can do face painting. Perhaps limit them to a theme so there are not so many options for children to choose from.
Number cakes can look great and maybe easier to make than themed cakes. If your child loves chocolate why not put chocolate fingers around the edge with mini eggs or malteasers in the middle for a real chocolatey treat.
You could make a tiered cake and buy figures and props to add to the cake.
Lunch Boxes are a great idea and can be prepared in advance, you can even ask for dietary requirements and put childrens' names on them so you dont have to worry about allergies. Depending on the time of the party may depend on what food you have, You cant beat some sandwiches, cheese straws or cheese pots, fruit, jelly, chocolate fingers and party rings. | typical to invite the whole class? What will your child feel most comfortable with and enjoy, do they really want 30 children running around or would they enjoy a smaller party with close friends? The best parties are not always with the most people, so think about what your child would enjoy most and stick with that.
Set a specific start and finish time, if parents are leaving their children make sure you have their phone numbers and that they know what time to collect them. It sounds obvious but it can be stressfull being responsible for children that you may or may not know that well.
- Crafting activities - You can organise Crafts stations where children can create a themed item, perhaps their own party hat, or a mask?
- Cup cake decorating - Pre make some cup cakes and provide them children with icing and sprinkles - they will love creating their own cakes to eat later on at the party.
- Pamper Party - A smaller party for older girls - get a few new nail varnish colours and mild face masks and cucumber over their eyes. Could easily be done yourself to reduce costs rather than getting a professional in.
- Sports day theme - If the weather is good | 235 |
The theatre was sparkling in front of a sold-out house as Michelle featured her first new album, Another Christmas Story, and previewed her second, Detroit Girl.
ExtraFood Chairman Marv Zauderer with Michelle and ExtraFood Board Member Heidi Insalata Krahling of Insalata's and Marinitas restaurants. Heidi generously provided<|fim_middle|> show - December 8, 2016!
Marilyn has been with us since the beginning of January, doing a variety of food trips all over the county. She is always very responsive, upbeat, and communicative about how her trips go. She also takes a personal interest in the nonprofits she delivers to. Thank you Marilyn! | the food for the event's pre-show VIP reception.
It takes an amazing team to create such a wonderful event that sells out every year! ExtraFood is deeply grateful to Michelle and her team for a hugely successful benefit that helps serve the hungry in our community. Save the date for this year's | 59 |
Home / Space & Astrophysics / Beads of glass in meteorites help scientists piece together how solar system formed
Beads of glass in meteorites help scientists piece together how solar system formed
on Thursday, December 02, 2021 in Space & Astrophysics
Ever since scientists started looking at meteorites with microscopes, they've been puzzled—and fascinated—by what's inside. Most meteorites are made of tiny beads of glass that date back to the earliest days of the solar system, before the planets were even formed.
Scientists with the University of Chicago have published an analysis laying out how these beads, which are found in many meteorites, came to be—and what they can tell us about what happened in the early solar system.
"These are big questions," said UChicago alum Nicole Xike Nie, Ph.D.'19, a postdoctoral fellow at the Carnegie Institution for Science and first author of the study. "Meteorites are snapshots that can reveal the conditions this early dust experienced—which has implications for the evolution of both Earth and other planets."
'This question goes back 50 years'
The beads of glass inside these meteorites are called chondrules. Scientists think they are bits of rock left over from the debris that was floating around billions of years ago, which eventually coalesced into<|fim_middle|> a huge question in the field of cosmochemistry." said Dauphas.
Now, finally, the team is happy to have put a significant dent in the mystery.
"We know other processes happened—this is just one part of the story—but this really solves one step in the formation of planets," said Hopp.
Nie agreed: "It's really cool to be able to say quantitatively, this is what happened."
Other co-authors on the paper were from the Carnegie Institution for Science and the University of Washington.
Nicole X. Nie et al, Imprint of chondrule formation on the K and Rb isotopic compositions of carbonaceous meteorites, Science Advances (2021). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abl3929
at Thursday, December 02, 2021 | the planets we now know and love. These are immensely useful to scientists, who can get their hands on pieces of the original stuff that comprised the solar system—before the constant churn of volcanoes and tectonic plates of Earth changed all the rock we can find on the planet itself.
But what exactly caused the formation of these chondrules remains unclear.
"We have the same theories we had 50 years ago," said study co-author and UChicago postdoctoral researcher Timo Hopp. "Even though there have been advances in many other areas, this one has been stubborn."
Scientists can find clues about the early days of the solar system by looking at the types of a given element in a rock. Elements can come in several different forms, called isotopes, and the proportion in each rock varies according to what happened when that rock was born—how hot it was, whether it cooled slowly or was flash-frozen, what other elements were around to interact with it. From there, scientists can piece together a history of likely events.
To try and understand what had happened to the chondrules, Nie, Hopp and other scientists at the Dauphas Origins Lab at UChicago tried applying a unique angle to the isotopes.
First, Nie took extremely rigorous, precise measurements of the concentrations and isotopes of two elements that are depleted in meteorites, potassium and rubidium, which helped narrow down the possibilities of what could have happened in the early solar system.
From this information, the team pieced together what must have been happening as the chondrules formed. The elements would have been part of a clump of dust that got hot enough to melt, and then to vaporize. Then, as the material cooled, some of that vapor coalesced back into chondrules.
"We can also tell you how fast it cooled, because it was fast enough that not everything condensed," said Nicolas Dauphas, Professor of Geophysical Sciences at UChicago. "That must mean the temperature was dropping at a rate of around 500 degrees Celsius per hour, which is really fast."
Based on these constraints, scientists can theorize what kind of event would have been sudden and violent enough to cause this extreme heating and cooling. One scenario that fits would be massive shockwaves passing through the early nebula. "Large planetary bodies nearby can create shocks, which would have heated and then cooled the dust as it passed through," Dauphas said.
Over the past half-century, people have proposed different scenarios to explain the formation of the chondrules— lightning, or collisions between rocks—but this new evidence tips the balance toward shockwaves as an explanation.
This explanation may be the key to understanding a persistent finding that has bedeviled scientists for decades, involving a category of elements that are "moderately volatile," including potassium and rubidium. The Earth has less of these elements than scientists would expect, based on their general understanding of how the solar system formed. They knew the explanation could be traced to some complex chain of heating and cooling, but no one know the exact sequence. "It's | 631 |
letsgrowaus@phorest.com
Welcome to the Salon Owner's Podcast, Phorest FM Episode 72. Co-hosted by Killian Vigna and Zoé Bélisle-Springer, Phorest FM is a weekly show that puts forth a mix of interviews with industry thought-leaders, salon/spa marketing tips, company insights and information on attending Phorest Academy webinars. Phorest FM is produced every Monday morning for your enjoyment with a cup of coffee on your day off.
Phorest FM Episode 72
You have the technical skills, but you are still frustrated with a mediocre paycheck? You seem pretty busy but your income is nowhere near what you need it to be? For the fourth and final interview of this year's special #30Days2Grow series, Killian and Zoe welcome back salon coach and industry expert David Barnett (High Performance Stylist) to the show. Known for taking salons and stylists to 7 figures, he'll discuss his tried-and-tested formula & techniques for increasing prices and charging what you're truly worth.
High Performance Stylist (Website)
High Performance Stylist (Facebook Page)
David Barnett is offering free 30-minute consultations for anyone looking for some advice or help with an aspect of their business. Pick a date and time that works for you – it's fast and easy: https://meetme.so/DavidBarnett
Leave a Rating & Review: https://bit.ly/phorestfm
Killian Vigna: Welcome to the Phorest FM Podcast, Episode 72. I'm Killian Vigna.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: And I'm Zoe Belisle-Springer.
Killian Vigna: This week's episode concludes our series of #30Days2Grow interviews.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Joining us on the show to discuss what your prices really say about your salon and how to know when it's time to raise them is regular Phorest FM guest and salon coach David Barnett from The High Performance Stylist.
Killian Vigna: So grab yourself a cup of coffee, sit back, relax, and join us weekly for all your salon's business and marketing needs. Good morning, guys. David, welcome back!
David Barnett: Good morning.
Killian Vigna: It's going to be just a couple of weeks ago that we had you again?
David Barnett: Yeah. No, you know what? It's great to be back again. Feels like I was here yesterday and it was fantastic. I love being on here and I love meeting with you guys. And I always get great feedback, which is always fantastic, you know. So, yeah, a pleasure to be here again.
Killian Vigna: No, worries!
Zoe Belisle-Springer: So we're on the very last week of the #30Days2Grow Challenge. And the whole idea behind this 30-day challenge is that we live in, you know, in a deep discounting culture. And we were talking about this loads last year. Salon prices have, like, largely remained the same over the course of the last decade, I'd say, even.
David Barnett: Uh-huh (affirmative).
Zoe Belisle-Springer: So you know, when you came up with this whole idea of charging what you're worth for the episode, and I'm just really curious to see how exactly you get into… like, how do I know what I'm worth?
David Barnett: Right. And that is… that is, of course, the big question, right? You know, and first of all, I mean, at first, the thing is first and foremost, is that of salon owners and stylists are fearful of raising their prices, right? They are actually more fearful than the guest, you know. I mean, they've kind of got this thing in their head that, "If I raise my prices, nobody is gonna come in." Right? Or, "Everyone is going to be so upset with me. And if I keep them low, I'm gonna be packed."
And just, that is not the case. It's not how it works, you know. I mean, I think what made that most evident to me was when I went and worked over in New York City. You know, I was walking… I walked into this salon, and you know, I ended up being a stylist there. But they were charging like astronomical prices, like, you know, I mean, the lowest price haircut was $130. I went in there charging 200. My boss was charging 500.
And the standard of work was just… you know, it wasn't even… I would say… okay, it was good. I'm gonna say it was good, but it was… it was classic, okay? It was classic. So there wasn't anything really exciting about it, or innovative, or different about it. And it just made me realize that, you know, the price is based on the service, you know. On the standard of service and the experience that the guest is having, you know.
And that was where they blew it away. You know, the customer service was absolutely amazing. So I think it's a case of, you know, how good is the experience that you're giving to the client, you know? That's where it kind of stems from rather than worrying about the prices. Because once you're given an amazing experience, then, the price becomes less relevant.
Killian Vigna: It's got to be somewhere that people want to come back.
Killian Vigna: And this is where we saw the issue with these marketplaces and stuff, where to get people in your doors, you were giving 50, 60 percent off these vouchers and Groupons and stuff like that. But those guys never come back, because they're constantly chasing the discount.
David Barnett: Right.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Yeah, it's funny. I, like, know you're a football fan. You've been to the Super Bowl. You've had the VIP stand. I don't know if you saw the Super Bowl ad for Groupon this year, but they were saying like, "We encourage local business," and this and that. And I was like, "Oh, God."
David Barnett: Really? Wow. I, you know, I just… I just dislike the word discount, you know, immensely. I just feel like… you know, I never, ever discounted any services in my business. It was either complimentary, right, free of charge, or it was full price. You know, I just think that's just a much… I think it's just a much classier way of doing it, you know.
Killian Vigna: Yeah.
David Barnett: Either invite somebody in for a complimentary service. And that way, they kind of understand the next time is going to be full price. But if you give them a discount, they kind of expect the discount next time, too. Or, you know, "Why wouldn't you? You gave it last time."
Killian Vigna: But what, also, stops your other clients going, "Well, hang on. Why are they getting it for half the price-"
David Barnett: Exactly.
Killian Vigna: "… when I keep coming back to you?"
David Barnett: If you want to upset your regular clients, do a big Groupon and say it's for new clients only, and see what happens, you know. But Zoe, getting back to what you initially asked me, you know, about how you even know if you're charging what you're worth. Right? And then, first of all, before you even think about what you want to charge, you've got to look at what you can afford to charge. All right?
And so many hairdressers open their own business, and they don't even know what their break-even is. All right? So it's a… it's an easy thing to find out. You know, what are your set charges that you've got every single month? What are the bills you've got coming in that you know you've got to pay?
So first of all, and foremost, it should be what you want to pay yourself, you know. What can you afford to live on? Right? That has to come number one. I was working with a client recently… with a salon recently, she hadn't paid herself for two-and-a-half years.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: At all?
David Barnett: You know, she… at all. She'd been living off her husband's wages, trying to build a salon business. And everybody else had been getting paid and she hadn't been paying herself, you know. And I said to her, immediately, I said, "This is what we need to fix like right now. You do not have a business right now, you know. You have a charity, you know. And we're not in this to break even. We're in this to have a living, and hopefully, a very, very good one."
So first and foremost, I said, "We've got to find out what the number is. So you know, how much you are willing to pay yourself. Enough, as well to live on, right? How much is your rent? How much is your electricity? How much are your products, you know? And any other team members, what are the wages there? What is your break-even? You know, what does it cost you to keep those lights on?" Right?
And then once we figured that out, then we can reverse engineer it from there. We work backwards. And I'm… okay, so let's for instance, let's say, it's… I'm just throwing numbers out there. But let's say it's 1,000 bucks or 1,000 Euro a month to keep the lights on. Well, if your average ticket, then, is 50, 50 Euro, $50, whatever it may be, then how many clients have you got to see in order to do that?
Then we break it down to a daily basis. All right? So obviously, you know, if it's… if it's 1,000, you've got to see 20 clients, right, which, of course, wouldn't be hard to do. So you're seeing one a day, you can afford to keep the lights on. But you know, if it ends up being 4- or 5,000, then, you know, obviously, the numbers are a lot higher.
But you need to have that number. It's so crucial. And the majority of salon owners that I work with, when we first sit down, and I say, "Okay, what's the break-even to begin with," they don't know it, not off the top of their head. And we've got to know that number. You know, you've got to be… have that intimate relationship with your business that you know exactly how much it is in order to keep the lights on.
And then you can start to say, "Okay, this is where my prices need to be. This is where I can afford to have them." Once you've found out that price point, then it's like, "Okay, now how much more am I worth?" You know, so, you know, my experience, obviously, comes into that, you know. Where you've worked previously. How many years you've been in the business. What the experience for the guest is like, you know.
So what else are you doing? Like you know, for instance, in my own salon, we did a lot of scalp massage for every single client that was getting a blow dry or a haircut. For anybody who's having colour, we did hand and arm massages. You know, I have clients that also, they use these relaxing eye pillows. So if they're lying down at the shampoo bowl, they've got these lavender, warm eye pillows.
So little things like that make a massive difference and that's got to affect your price point, as well. So once you've got the bottom line, we start to build on that. "Okay, how much am I worth," you know. Of course, community comes into it. We can even look at other salons, of course. What are the benchmarks for what they're charging, and how am I different from that?
But I think that is how we establish exactly where our price point needs to be rather than guessing it, you know. Another salon that we're working with right now … in fact, I had the conversation with the owner this morning, because I told her that we needed to raise her prices. If she stays where she is, there's no way that she's going to have a business in six months to a year from now.
So we put up the prices across the board. Now, probably only 5 bucks, 5 pound, actually it was in the UK, so 5 pound across the board on each service. And she called me this morning worried about it. You know, "I'm worried about the price increase."
I said, "Why? Who's complained?"
"Nobody yet."
"So, okay. So you haven't had any complaints yet." I said, "You've got this in your own head."
She said, "Well, one of the other stylists said that one of her regulars didn't re-book. She always re-books."
I said, "Well, maybe she's on vacation and she's not sure when her next appointment should be. Let's follow-up with her perhaps in a day or two, get some feedback on her last visit, and find out what it is. Don't jump to conclusions that she's got a big hang-up about the price and she's never coming back. Because as long as you are delivering, or over-delivering on their expectation on the service, then they're gonna come back." You know?
Killian Vigna: Yeah, don't be… don't be biased on, "It's just because I increased a price."
Killian Vigna: Anything could happen that day. Anything in their life could have happened-
David Barnett: Yeah.
Killian Vigna: … that they couldn't come back. So don't worry about the price and… Like, what do you tell someone who does worry that it's going to turn my clients off?
David Barnett: Sure.
Killian Vigna: So how do you get them to believe that this is not going to be the worse case scenario, or worst thing in the world?
David Barnett: Well, I think, first of all, you know, the most important thing is to know that you are ready for a price increase. Okay? And there's a formula to do that. All right?
So this is how… you know, I had regulars… prices… price increases in my salon. But each stylist had to show me they were ready. It wasn't a case of them coming up to me saying, "David, I want to be paid more."
"Okay, I'll put up your prices," or, "Okay, I'll increase your commission," you know.
We sat down, we looked at their numbers. And look, I'm going to give you the formula now that I use in order to know, you know, when a new stylist on the floor was ready for a price increase. Okay? So if you've got a pen and pencil, you might want to jot this down. Okay?
Killian Vigna: I'm waiting to see myself.
David Barnett: So the first thing was that you've got to be 75 percent booked. All right? Now, because of amazing, amazing software companies like Phorest, our life is so much easier. All right? This was such a difficult thing to track not very, very long ago. Now, we've got… you know, you've just made our life… thank you. Thank you both and the whole team at Phorest, because you have made our life just so much easier, you know.
I mean, numbers are the one thing that as a hairdresser we hate to even think about, you know. It's just the one thing that we just get so frustrated with, right? We don't even want to go there. We're artists, right? And we don't even want to look at the numbers. Give that to the accountant. But now, we can click a button and we get all this information.
So firstly, 75 percent booked. If you're not 75 percent booked, don't even think about raising your prices. Okay? There's something else going on. If you've been a hairdresser for a long time and you're still not booked at that price point, there's probably something else going on.
But anyway, 75 percent booked. We also track the amount of services the person has done in a month. So not the amount of clients, the amount of services. So if someone came in for haircut and colour, then, of course, that's two services. All right. They need to have done 130, 130 services was the benchmark that I set for new stylists.
The third thing that we tracked was retention. Right? So 60 percent retention rate. All right? So if you haven't got 60 percent of your clients coming back in … and the way that we kind of judged retention was that<|fim_middle|> know that … if you feel like there's certain clients are going to be sticky with it, I think it's fine to include in the consultation that, "Just to let you know." And you know, "It's because of other things that are happening. You know, it's because of product increases." It's because you haven't raised them in five years, you know. "And yet, my rent and my product cost has all gone up, you know. And we're having to do this now."
And it's also fine for some clients to chose not to come and see you anymore, you know. Be okay with that, because you've got to open some space for your new clients, you know. Maybe they are not supposed to be your client forever. Maybe they're supposed to go and see somebody else in the salon, you know. If you've got younger stylists are coming through, it's a perfect opportunity for them to pick up those clients as well.
So I think it's just one of those things that is always evolving and that we've got to be okay with it.
Killian Vigna: And like that, if you've got a plan in place, information… information is key. Be open, be transparent.
Killian Vigna: "Why are you doing this?"
Killian Vigna: "Well, it's costing me a lot more to do your haircut now."
David Barnett: Uh-huh (affirmative). You know, what we used to do actually… just recalling now… but we used to celebrate it. Okay? So what we would do if one of my stylists had a price increase, we would put a little poster up in the… you know, all of my clients actually went into a little changing area, changing room. They'd change out of their shirt or out of their top and they'd put on the robe. And there was a little poster that would go on the mirror in there and it would say, you know, "Join us in celebrating Kayla's success. You know, she's reached another level in our salon. And her haircuts have gone from 50 to $55 now."
You know, and it would be, "Oh, great." And she'd actually sit down and say, "Congratulations." You know?
Killian Vigna: That's actually cheeky. [crosstalk 00:24:03]
David Barnett: You're not looking at the price, you're going, "My stylist has just graduated in her skills."
Killian Vigna: Yeah. Moved to another little level.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: But in saying that, I mean, I can totally relate how that would work. Because if I look at my relationship with the barber that I go see, I've been following him from shop to shop and looking at his achievements. And I'm just so proud of him. Every time he does something great, then I'm like, "Yeah, whatever. You want to hike your price up? Do it. Like you've been training so much for it. Like I'll be more than happy to support you," you know.
David Barnett: And you what, I think that is the mentality of so many clients, yet we don't think it is. You know, we've already made up the decision in our own head that, "No, no, that will not be the reaction that my clients give, you know. They're gonna freak out because mine are totally different, you know. Mine aren't going to pay any more money."
But I honestly believe that there's more guests and more clients out there that are just like you, Zoe, who would actually congratulate people and expect it.
Killian Vigna: That's amazing. I mean, like if there's any guidelines to get out of this, it's that. It's so crystal clear. It's like 75 percent booked, 130 services. Use this as your guideline.
David Barnett: Yeah, you know, that just gives them something to aim for, as well. You know, I mean, it takes away that awkward conversation of one of your team members coming up to you, either, you know, they think they've caught you on a really good day, or maybe it's after a couple of beers after work, and they say, you know, "Any chance of a pay raise?" Or you know, "I wish I was earning some more money." Or, "My prices should be going up."
You know, my answer ends up being, "Oh, my God, I completely agree with you. I would love to pay you more money. Let's sit down and look at your numbers," you know. And as soon as you do that, it tells you straight away and if it's not… if they're not on track, then you can say, "You know what? You're just off on a couple of things, but we are so close. So let's just make sure we focus on those areas. And yes, 100 percent, let's raise prices."
Killian Vigna: So don't look at that as a scary thing of your staff wanting a pay raise because you're moving your prices up; support them to get to that stage themselves.
David Barnett: Exactly. You know, there's a formula for everything and I think, you know, you'll find that the team will just work harder towards it once they've got that in place.
Killian Vigna: And that comes back [inaudible 00:26:17] your leadership. Take ownership. It's like, yes, this is going to be not an issue. It's going to be a thing that will come up.
David Barnett: Right, right.
Killian Vigna: Own it!
David Barnett: Yeah, 100 percent.
Killian Vigna: That's brilliant, David. Thanks again for joining us. And delighted to have you in for the last week of the #30Days2Grow, because that just there, it really summarizes the whole month. And are you ready? Check it out. And if you still don't know if you're ready, give David a shout.
David Barnett: Yeah. You know, as always, I just wanted to finish on that, as well, Killian. That if there's something going on in your own business and you would love to have 30 minutes with me on a call, I always love to offer this for any of the Phorest… Phorest crew, the Phorest team members, is that, you know, I'm always available. So please let me know if I can help in any way. I'd love to jump on a complimentary call with you and see if I can help you figure it out.
Killian Vigna: Yeah. And always, David, we'll include that in the link, in the blurb of this episode. And it'll go out on social media, as well.
David Barnett: Fantastic. It's always a pleasure to be on. Thanks, guys.
Killian Vigna: No problem at all.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: So listen, guys, that's it for us today. If you have any feedback, feel free to reach out on social media or leave us a review on iTunes or on Stitcher. We're always looking for suggestions on how to improve the show. Otherwise, have a wonderful week and we'll catch you next Monday.
Killian Vigna: All the best.
Catch up on the previous Phorest FM episode, or check out the next Phorest FM episode!
Note: Phorest FM is designed to be heard, not read. We encourage you to listen to the audio, which includes emotion which may not translate itself on the page. Episode transcripts are produced using a third-party transcription service, some errors may remain.
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Let it land in your inbox every Wednesday | if they haven't been back in within three months, okay, twelve weeks, then you weren't retaining that guest. Okay? So if you want to know what your retention is right now, you might want to, you know, track it from three months ago right up until today and that will give you your retention rate.
The other thing that I loved to track was new guests, especially for a new stylist on the floor. They had to have eight new clients coming in per month. All right? So two a week, which isn't a lot. Right? And now, if it was a stylist that was… had been with me sometime and they had a full book of regular clients, I wouldn't track that as closely, because, of course, they haven't got room for new clients. If that's the case for you, then don't worry about that one. Okay?
The other thing that I… the other two things that I also added to this, which was ones that we came up with ourselves, because I believe that these last two, they tell me that the client really trusts you and it tells me that they're definitely going to come back in. And that is, first of all, retail. All right? The retail per client ticket needs to be about 10 pounds, all right, or $12.50 we had it at. And so that means that basically, the average client is buying at least a bottle of shampoo from you. Some clients I know don't buy, and some clients buy three. So on average, you've got to be selling one per guest.
And then the last thing is add-on services. All right? We wanted to see ten add-on services per client. So there's, you know, quite a few benchmarks there that really tell you whether you are ready for a price increase or not. But at least, if you are hitting those, then you know that it's a guarantee there's not gonna be a problem. All right?
If you're under on any of those, then I would say you're taking a little bit of a risk. You're probably going to lose a couple more than you would like to lose. But, and we always found that once they were hitting these benchmarks, then it was a no-brainer, you know. And we would normally increase either the haircut or the colour, one or the other. Normally, not both, because it means that if the client books in for a haircut and colour, she's getting hit with a double whammy there. So we would normally keep it one or the other, so as not to upset the guest.
Killian Vigna: But just looking at that formula there, it's an achievable amount to say, "Yeah, I'm ready for the price increase."
Killian Vigna: There's only one thing there that stands out to me that I might have a doubt about and… excuse me… it's having to sell the retail product for every client. But, for anyone that listened to David's episode a couple of weeks ago where he's talking about upselling products, after listening to that episode, you should have no qualms of being able to off-sell a product to every single client.
Killian Vigna: That was a literally great formula where you just put the three products constantly in their mind.
David Barnett: Right, right. You know, it all comes down to education, you know. And this ties into the client experience. You know, you've got to be educating your guests on what you're doing, you know. They want to know why you picked up that product. They want to know why you're using it, why you chose it for their hair, you know. Why that specific product?
That's all you need to be doing, talking to them about it. And you know, having that in there as a benchmark for them… for the stylist to hit is, of course, gonna encourage them to have that conversation, you know. We need to have a goal there for them to hit.
Killian Vigna: Now, this is a fantastic formula, because we say, like, "Increase your prices." But like you're saying, you have to have a reason why. This here right now, it highlights why you should increase your prices. Not just, "I'm giving a cheap service, I'm going to increase my prices," because that's… there's no value there.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: But even more than that, I mean, obviously, a lot of people think like you were saying that they'll get backlash from, you know, raising their prices. But if anything, if you're actually ready to raise them, like you said, and you've done that formula, if anything, you're actually raising your reputation by raising your prices.
David Barnett: Absolutely. So true, Zoe, right? I mean, you've got to… you've got to keep growing. Right? I mean, everything else in our industry goes up in price. Right? Your rent goes up. Your product cost goes up. Probably your software goes up in price as well. I'm not sure about that. Not very often right? Far as to say, it's pretty consistent.
But I mean, you know, everything gets more expensive, you know. It's very expensive to live every single year, you know. And also, you're getting more experience. You deserve to be raising your prices. That is the bottom line. That you deserve to be doing it, you know. And you know, I can't stress more that it's all about the experience, you know. Don't think about the price. Think about what else you can offer them, you know.
It reminds me of this story. I moved back to Wales about a year ago, right. And I'm from this small town originally, called Menai Bridge, right. Menai Bridge is on this little island called Anglesey, which is like one of the furthest, most western regions of North Wales. And this little town, I mean, like, probably like the fanciest restaurant you could get there would be a really good pub dinner, you know.
Killian Vigna: Yeah, I like a bit of gastro-pub.
David Barnett: Yeah, a gastro-pub dinner, you know. But that was kind of like about it, right. And then someone said to me, "Have you heard that a Michelin star restaurant has opened in Menai Bridge?"
And I was like, "What?" I said, "No, I didn't know that."
He said, "Not only that, they are fully booked six months in advance." Right?
And the thing was, right, you wouldn't have thought that this clientele would have been in that area. But they knew that the experience they were going to offer was gonna be like nothing else. And it's, you know, I think it's a minimum of 95 a head to eat there. That's not including any wine or drinks or anything else. And they go and open up their bookings for a set amount of time now, like twice a year. And the thing completely sells out, you know. And they're fully booked six months at a time.
And if you look at a lot of these Michelin star restaurants, you know, in order to get the Michelin star, it's all based on the experience, you know. It's the… it's the theater of it. It's not just the price. And it's-
Zoe Belisle-Springer: It's the [crosstalk 00:18:12].
David Barnett: Yes, exactly. You know, it's this experience that the client gets to have, you know. And it's the same for us.
And at the moment, there's so many salons out there that aren't thinking outside the box, you know. So many of us are fighting over the same clients because the experience is pretty much the same. And it can be the smallest little thing. Like for instance, I had a client once who came in to me and she just got back from Japan. And she sat in my chair, and I said to her, "Did you get your hair done when you went to Japan?"
She goes, "Oh, my God, I actually did." She says, "I went in and I got a blow dry and you'll never guess what happened."
I was like, "What?"
Well, I was expecting her to say like, you know, "The blow dry lasted a week or something, or three weeks or something." And she didn't. She said to me, "When I went in there, they took my glasses off me." Right, she wore glasses. "They took my glasses off me and they put them in this special box. And then after I'd finished the blow dry, they put the glasses back and they have never been cleaner. They were like unbelievable. I'm not sure what was in it, what they did to it. But I put them on and I was like, Oh, my God, they are like better than new."
And that's all she was raving about. And I was like, "God, I love that." You know, it cost them probably nothing to do, took no time at all. But this client was raving about it. And that's the little stuff. That is the magic that I think that is so obvious. You know, for me, I mean, it's so obvious that so many salons could be doing this, just crushing it, you know. Just standing out head and shoulders above everybody else by adding a couple of these little things.
Killian Vigna: And like that, you're saying, "Look outside the box." So don't just look at what other hair salons are doing-
Killian Vigna: … or other beauty salons do. Look at your local restaurants. Look at your local bar or optician, anywhere you go that there's a service going on.
Killian Vigna: What else are they doing?
David Barnett: Yeah, 100 percent. 100 percent. You know, at another salon recently… just while we're on that subject… being an island, of course, we get the occasional day of rain, occasionally. And that, you know, one salon has this rule in place that whenever it's raining, they insist on walking their guests with an umbrella to their vehicle. I mean, that stuff reminds me of… kind of like, you know, five-star hotels back in the 1940s or something like that. You know, to have that cool man-
Killian Vigna: Concierge.
David Barnett: …concierge service.
David Barnett: But again, it takes somebody a couple of minutes to do it. But the knock-on effect from that, the reaction from the guests, and of course, the posts now, they're going to be putting it all over social media, are just incredible. And that's what they're going to talk about. Not going to talk about the amazing haircut, because that is now expected. Alright? They're going to be talking about the added service.
So you know, when you're putting these things on top of what you do normally and you're over-delivering on the expectation, then your prices can easily reflect that. And they won't even… they won't even blink at it.
Zoe Belisle-Springer: Obviously, there's… there has to be this change and the, you know, the leaders in the industry have copped on to it. So now, it's time for everyone else to, you know, move on with that. But what if, for instance, a stylist or an owner wasn't quite ready to raise their prices and faced a little bit of a backlash, like we said? What issues can you come across after implementing a price hike?
Killian Vigna: Not just the issues, but how do you also kind of make it fool-proof to prevent the issue. So don't just be reactive, be active.
David Barnett: Yeah, you know, I mean, like I said, I mean, first of all, you've got to have a formula. You've got to be ready for it, you know. I mean, I think there's a lot of hairdressers out there that are fully booked, all right, and haven't raised their prices for years. For me, that's a no-brainer. Okay?
Now, if you are still going to get a backlash from it, you know, if you're worried about that, then I think that you handle it in the moment. You know, first of all, you've got to make sure that you are informing them that there has been a price increase. And there's ways of doing that. Like you could even just talk about, "Have you seen our new menu," or "The launch of our new menu," you know. And that can, of course, include the price increase as well.
You can also talk about … if you | 2,727 |
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Editor's note: Today's post concludes my four-part series from downtown Sleepy Eye in southwestern Minnesota. This final photo essay presents a mishmash of images. Enjoy.
The Sleepy Eye Farmers Elevator stands as a visual reminder of this area's strong farming base. However, the elevator has not been used since 2009 and was purchased by a private party from Central Region Cooperative just a year ago.
An Indian chief, spotted in a storefront window, connects visually to the town's namesake, Chief Sleepy Eyes.
I took my camera inside K & J Antiques & Collectibles where shopkeeper Kurk Kramer graciously allowed me to take photos.
Red Wing crocks and a beautiful vintage tile<|fim_middle|> to their Chamber. Such wonderful photography.
Thank you, Sue. Sleepy Eye Online has picked up my series so lots of folks have come my way via that source. | floor drew my attention in this former bakery turned antique shop.
Dakota Chief Sleepy Eyes is the town's namesake. Kurk Kramer pulled this A.J. Pietrus & Sons vintage promo from a display case. He has plenty of Sleepy Eye collectibles for sale.
Native American collectibles are prominently displayed in this town named after a Dakota chief. This doll is offered for sale at K & J Antiques.
Sleepy Eye has a strong faith community with St. Mary's Catholic Church and churches of other denominations. These figurines are shelved at K & J Antiques.
This photo shows a corner of a promo for the Orchid Inn, once a fine dining, banquet and dance hall in Sleepy Eye. These vintage paper pieces are for sale at K & J Antiques. The promo boasts (in part): "Of prime importance is the fact that while conveniently located, the Inn does provide the host with a site free of metropolitan distractions–a vital factor in group control." It's an interesting piece of literature for a former regional gathering place. Plans call for the property to become a STEM learning center with a focus on agriculture.
On a stalwart former bank building, I noticed this vintage alarm.
On another building I spotted this rusted mail slot. It looks like it's been there awhile, as has the door.
I notice details, including this Minion towel hanging in a second floor window in an historic building. Made me laugh.
If you are interested in reading past posts written about Sleepy Eye through the years, please type Sleepy Eye into my blog search engine. Note that Sleepy Eye is much more than I presented in this four-part series. These posts are a result of about an hour spent walking through the downtown area before I had to be on my way. Plan your own trip to explore this community in Brown County, Minnesota. Click here to visit the Sleepy Eye Chamber of Commerce & CVB site for more information.
The minions made me laugh as well. Such a great pictorial tour of some pretty amazing collectibles. I must admit the burglar alarm was my favorite picture in this series. Such a great shot!
I always like discovering the nuances of a community with my camera. Details reveal much.
I agree, the burglar alarm is a fun discovery, probably overlooked by many. Good eye, Audrey.
You can always count on me noticing details like that burglar alarm.
Years ago we had a class reunion at the Orchid Inn and I remember my parents attending functions there various times. Sure does bring back memories! Seems like almost every town in the Midwest has a grain elevator, wow, I miss seeing grain elevators as there are none here. Thanks for the pictures and jogging my memories!
I join you in being those who had a class reunion at the Orchid Inn. I helped plan my five-year reunion there, Wabasso High School Class of 1974.
I thought the same, which is likely why I was drawn to this window.
I enjoyed your series highlighting the different aspects of Sleepy Eye and yes wouldn't it be nice to magically erase the fake fronts etc. and get down to the bare cones of the architecture and learn more about the history of these buildings. I hope you passed along your observations | 667 |
Q: Differential Equation with forcing function
Given the ODE: $$y^{\prime\prime}(x)+25y(x)=F(x)+\frac{99}4\sin(\frac
{x}{2})+\sin(5x),\quad 0<x<\pi$$ $$y(0)=0,\quad y(\pi)=1$$
Which condition does $F(x)$ have to satisfy in order for the problem
to be solvable?
I took : $$y^{\prime\prime}(x)+25y(x)=F(x)$$ and after finding the solution to the homogeneous problem: $y(x)=c_1\cos(5x)+c_2\sin(5x)$, I applied variation of parameters<|fim_middle|>5 \cos(5x)\int_0^x f(t)\sin (5t)\ dt + \frac15 \sin (5x)\int_0^x f(t)\cos(5t)\ dt \\
&= \frac15 \int_0^x f(t)\sin[5(x-t)]\ dt
\end{align}
So the general solution is
$$ y = c_1\cos(5x) + c_2\sin(5x) + \sin\left(\frac{x}{2}\right) - \frac{1}{10}x\cos(5x) + \frac15\int_0^x f(t)\sin[5(x-t)]\ dt $$
Applying the boundary conditions
\begin{align}
y(0) &= c_1 = 0 \\
y(\pi) &= -c_1 + 1 + \frac{\pi}{10} + \frac15 \int_0^\pi f(t)\sin(5t)\ dt = 1
\end{align}
Therefore the required condition is
$$ \int_0^\pi f(t)\sin(5t)\ dt = -\frac{\pi}{2} $$
| to express the general solution as:
$$y(x)=c_1\cos(5x)+c_2\sin(5x)+\frac15\int_0^xf(x^\prime)\sin[5(x^\prime+x)]dx^\prime$$
So, the general solution to the initial problem is:
$$y(x)=c_1\cos(5x)+c_2\sin(5x)+\frac15\int_0^xf(x^\prime)\sin[5(x^\prime+x)]dx^\prime+sin(\frac{x}{2})-\frac1{10}x\cos(5x)$$
After that, I assume $f$ can be determined using the boundary conditions somehow. Any help?
A: You made a sign error. Variation of parameters should give
\begin{align}
y_p &= -\frac1 | 185 |
Caterpillar begins first machine shipments this month of its new Cat 814K wheeled dozer.
Selling points of the 814K<|fim_middle|>-suppression package option to lower sound levels to 70 dB.
Inside the cab the first thing you might notice is that there is no steering wheel. The new fold-up STIC™ (Steering and Transmission Integrated Control System) armrest makes it easier to get into and out of the cab, while simple side-to-side movements turn the machine to the left or right, and gear selection control is operated through a finger-controlled rocker switch. Removal of the steering wheel console vastly increases operator space and improves forward visibility of the work area, Cat says.
The new touchscreen panel displays machine operating data such as system temperatures, fuel use and machine hours. The Vital Information Management System (VIMS) allows technicians to connect to the machine to access sensor information and machine data, to produce productivity reports etc. Cat Product Link offers remote access of machine operating data through the VisionLink interface to facilitate fleet management.
The Cat C7.1 ACERT engine meets EU Stage IV emission standards (and the USA's EPA Tier 4 Final).
Engine Idle Shutdown and Auto Idle Kickdown avoid unnecessary idling to lower fuel consumption. Load Sense Control Hydraulics provide on-demand hydraulic flow required by the implement and steering system to further improve fuel efficiency and deliver increased rimpull.
The 2.84-m3 straight blade delivers high production dozing on stockpile material and general earthmoving projects. Alternatively, the 10.5 m3 coal blade is good for lighter materials. | are the new, sound-suppressed cab, the power unit and transmission drive, and centralised service station configuration. Caterpillar says this "drives machine uptime and operator productivity to new levels".
Isolation cab mounting plus seat air-suspension reduce machine vibration feedback to the operator. Operating noise levels in the cab are 71 dB, compared to 78 dB of its predecessor, with a sound | 82 |
Marvin Crossnoe of CoNetrix Named a 2021 Glassdoor Top CEO
Jun 16, 2021, 8:16 AM -05:00
<|fim_middle|> where people enjoy working together and are challenged to be creative in problem solving. That can only be effective when it starts from the top, with the CEO."
"Over the past year, company leaders around the world faced unprecedented challenges to support employees during the COVID-19 crisis. Now, the employees have spoken and it's clear that these CEOs excelled and found new ways to support their people when the world of work flipped upside down," said Christian Sutherland-Wong, Glassdoor chief executive officer. "Through a challenging year, it's inspiring to see Top CEOs who, according to their employees, adapted to change, redefined visions and led with transparency while putting the health and safety of employees first. I extend my sincerest congratulations to this year's Employees' Choice Award winners."
When employees submit reviews about their employer on Glassdoor, they are asked to rate several factors related to their employment experience. These include rating their CEO's leadership as well as senior management. Specifically, when rating their CEO on Glassdoor, employees are asked to report whether they approve, disapprove, or have no opinion of their CEO's performance.
Across the approximately 1.5 million employers reviewed on Glassdoor, the average CEO approval rating is 73 percent. CoNetrix, however, beat these odds at an outstanding 99 percent CEO approval rating!
Employees' Choice Award winners for the 2021 Top CEOs and Top CEOs at Small & Medium Companies are determined using Glassdoor's proprietary algorithm, taking into account the quantity, quality and consistency of Glassdoor-approved company reviews shared by U.S.-based employees between May 2, 2020 and May 1, 2021. At a minimum, employers considered for the large list must have received at least 100 company reviews, including at least 100 CEO approval ratings and at least 100 senior management ratings. Employers eligible for the small & medium list must have received at least 35 company reviews, including at least 35 CEO approval ratings and at least 35 senior management ratings during the eligibility period. For reporting simplicity, CEO approval ratings are displayed as whole numbers, though calculations extend beyond the thousandth decimal place to determine final rank order. Complete award methodology can be found and downloaded here: https://www.glassdoor.com/Award/index.htm
SEE THE 2021 WINNERS: See the full list of winning CEOs in the U.S. Small and Medium Business Category here: 50 Top CEOs at Small & Medium Companies – U.S.
To see all winning CEOs across this year's six categories, visit: Top CEOs List 2021 | Marvin Crossnoe, founder and CEO of CoNetrix, has been named to Glassdoor's Top CEO list for small and medium businesses. Crossnoe ranks number 21 out of 50, with a 99 percent approval rating among employees. Glassdoor, one of the world's largest job and recruiting sites, just released its annual award list recognizing Top CEOs in 2021 of small and medium sized businesses across the U.S. Annually, Glassdoor hosts Employees' Choice Awards to recognize leaders and companies who are appreciated and respected by their own employees - leaders who create a positive work culture in countries throughout North America and parts of Europe.
CoNetrix, a leading provider of technology and software services founded and based in Lubbock, Texas, serves businesses across the United States and Canada.
Among chief executives recognized by employees in the U.S., Crossnoe received an outstanding approval rating based on the anonymous and voluntary reviews CoNetrix current and former employees shared on Glassdoor throughout the past year. One reviewer said, "Work/life balance, hard-working colleagues, great benefits, and thoughtful leadership have all contributed to the reason I've chosen to remain with CoNetrix over a decade."
"It is truly an honor to be a part of this company. I am surrounded by wonderful people who make our whole business possible, and can't imagine what our business would be like without them. It really is humbling to get this award, but it just reflects all the great people we have here," said award-winner Crossnoe.
CoNetrix Chief of Staff, Leticia Saiid, stated, "Marvin receiving this award shines light on what I see in the office every day. Management is encouraged to create an environment | 358 |
With the recent spotlight on quality improvement, it's helpful to know that a range of tools and resources is available to support communities, schools and organizations aiming to improve the quality of their after school programming.
After School Quality: The Process of Program Improvement (ASQ) is a five-step assessment process that helps teams of after school professionals examine the quality of their program and make changes that will improve practices. By developing a program mission and practical action plan, after school programs can be confident they will address the needs of the youth and families they serve.
The cornerstone of ASQ is the team approach. ASQ relies on the ideas, contributions and energy of all the individuals who care about a program's success: staff, families, youth, program directors, board members and others. Everyone involved is invested, has an important voice and can help discover solutions.
Step 1: Prepare the program community. Introduce stakeholders to the ASQ process, and clarify what you want children and youth to gain from your program.
Step 2: Prepare the ASQ team. Select the team; determine which tools, questionnaires and surveys to implement; and train the team for observation and data collection.
Step 3: Gather information. Learn how your program is functioning through qualitative and quantitative data. Summarize the<|fim_middle|> process; customizable forms, letters, and questionnaires; and the ASQ observational tool.
"Programs that are committed to quality and diversity often see belonging and inclusion as the starting point for all children." -Inclusion Works!
Providing a safe space is critical for after school programs striving to help children thrive. | data to determine the big picture.
Step 4: Create the action plan. Identify areas of strength and areas that need improvement, set priorities and determine strategies for improvement.
Step 5: Take action. Coordinate the tasks identified in the action plan, and monitor progress toward making improvements.
To learn more, visit the ASQ portal on the National Institute on Out-of-School Time (NIOST) website. After school professionals can find materials to support each step of the | 95 |
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