50c for 30mins ( conventional hyperthermia involves heating up to 50c from an external source - safe for human consumption - mann group has active research on it - 2130 molecules of coat protein 2. m13 bacteriophage - 6. 6nmx880nm, helical ( length is too long - pose an issue in targeting cells ) - lots of research done by the belcher group, including attaching mnps to m13 for imaging purposes - we are familiar with the system 3. cowpea chlorotic mottle virus ( ccmv ) - 26nm, icosahedral 4. cowpea mosaic virus ( cpmv ) - 27nm, icosahedral 5. brome mosaic virus ( bmv ) - 28nm, icosahedral 6. turnip yellow mosaic virus ( tymv ) - 30nm, icosahedral current work in viral mnp attachment attachment of mnps to m13 phage for in vivo imaging of prostate cancer what we propose to do see flowchart sketch. - identifying / screening for appropriate virus vehicles and tumor - specific anchoring sequencse - developing / engineering viral mnps - in vivo testing for efficacy of engineered vmnps in mouse tumor cells. we will start with using ferritin ( fe3o4 ) as the mnp. stage 1 : virus hunt - we need to investigate how the selected virus ( likely one of the following : tmv, m13, ccmv, cpmv, bmv or tpmv ) interacts with mammalian cells in vivo. stage 2 : screening for mnp binding site on virus - we will start by using fe3o4 as our mnp of interest. with this, a protein coat screen of the selected virus for a protein coat that can bind with our mnp is necessary. stage 3 : screening for tumor - specific sequence binding site on virus - we need to do a protein coat or rna screen of the virus for a region that can bind with a tumor - specific peptide sequence. if necessary, we might need to screen tumors for unique short sequences on their cell surfaces. stage 4 : virus engineering - we can now engineer wild - type viruses using specific protein coats or rna regions isolated in stage 2 and 3 to produce the viral mnp of interest. stage 5 : in vivo testing - perform an in vivo experiment by injecting the engineered viral mnps into the circulatory system of


specific protein coats or rna regions isolated in stage 2 and 3 to produce the viral mnp of interest. stage 5 : in vivo testing - perform an in vivo experiment by injecting the engineered viral mnps into the circulatory system of mice that have developed tumors. by subjecting these mice to an alternating magnetic field under standard hyperthermia conditions and measuring the change in tumor size, we will be able to quantify the efficacy of using viral mnps in magnetic hyperthermia. - experimenting with double layer mnp to increase response - target other cancerous cells - experiment with other types of viruses quantitative goals ( we can quantify with ic50 value ) - currently, with the aid of 10gy radiation, the hyperthermia treatment successfully accumulated less than 0. 3mg fe / g tissue. dosage : 0. 2mg fe per gram of mouse. say mouse is 25g, so 5mg total dosage injected. so 1 % efficiency with the aid of radiation. ( mnp sizes used : 70nm and 120nm ; murine flank breast tumors were 150mm3 ) from http : / / manalis - lab. mit. edu / publications / grover % 20pnas % 202011. pdf, we estimated that a typical cell has an average density of 1. 1g / ml. since the murine flank breast tumors were 150mm3, and 0. 25mg fe / g of tumor was detected in the tumors, we can calculate that only a total of 0. 0495mg of fe is accumulated in the tumors. this gives a % efficacy of 1 %. - south korean experiment : 75ug of mnps were injected. - from belcher lab ' s paper, what is the % efficacy of using m13? - " the actual rotations of the nanoparticles are disordered because the microviscosity of the local environment in cancer cells is not constant, and effective elasticity depends on the binding conditions between nanoparticles and membranes. " - but this is actually present because when treatment is done with individual mnps, one side of the mnp is always bound to the targeted cell, so direction is never constant! - gupta ak, naregalkar rr, vaidya vd, and gupta m. recent advances on surface engineering of magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles and their biomedical applications. future medicine. 2007. 2 ( 1 ), 23 - 39. - bakoglidis kd, simeonidis k


##d, and gupta m. recent advances on surface engineering of magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles and their biomedical applications. future medicine. 2007. 2 ( 1 ), 23 - 39. - bakoglidis kd, simeonidis k, sakellari d, g. stefanou, and angelakeris m. size - dependent mechanisms in ac magnetic hyperthermia response of iron - oxide nanoparticles. ieee transactions on magnetics. 2012. 48 : 1320 - 1323. - great layman ' s way of explaining magnetic hyperthermia http : / / trialx. com / curetalk / 2012 / 11 / cancer - treatment - multifunctional - magnetic - nanoparticles - for - molecular - imaging - and - hyperthermia / - a. j. giustini, a. a. petryk, s. m. cassim, j. a. tate, i. baker, p. j. hoopes. magnetic nanoparticle hyperthermia in cancer treatment. nano life 2010 ; 01 : 17. - d. ghosh, y. lee, s. thomas, a. g. kohli, d. s. yun, a. m. belcher, k. a. kelly. m13 - templated magnetic nanoparticles for targeted in vivo imaging of prostate cancer. nat. nanotechnol. 2012 ; 7 ( 10 ) : 677 – 82. - add more references as deem appropriate 11 / 29 from professor angela belcher : - look at nature nano belcher lab paper - need to do very good characterization of materials using tem, elemental analysis, etc.


sleep apnea is a condition in which breathing is repeatedly interrupted during sleep. the time period for which the breathing stops or decreases is usually between 10 and 30 seconds. when these episodes occur repeatedly, sleep apnea can seriously disrupt the quality of sleep. there are three types of respiratory events : - obstructive apnea — caused by a temporary, partial, or complete blockage of the airway - central apnea — caused by a temporary failure to make an effort to breathe - mixed apnea — combination of the first two types these factors increase your chance of developing sleep apnea. tell your doctor if you have any of these risk factors : - sex : male - large neck circumference - age : middle to older age - family history of apnea structural abnormalities of the nose, throat, or other part of the respiratory tract. examples include : - severely enlarged tonsils - deviated nasal septum - medicines : sedatives and sleeping aids - alcohol consumption - fatigue and sleepiness during waking hours - loud snoring - breathing that stops during the night ( noticed by the partner ) - repeated waking at night - unrefreshing sleep - morning headaches - poor concentration or problems with memory - irritability or short temper people with chronic untreated sleep apnea may be at risk for : an overnight sleep study is used to help diagnose sleep apnea. overnight sleep study ( polysomnography ) this test helps detect the presence and severity of sleep apnea. during sleep, it measures your : - eye and muscle movements - brain activity ( electroencephalogram ) - heart rate - breathing ( pattern and depth ) - percent saturation of your red blood cells with oxygen there are a number of treatment options for sleep apnea, including : - lose weight if you are overweight. - avoid using sedatives, sleeping pills, alcohol, and nicotine, which tend to make the condition worse. - try sleeping on your side instead of your back. - place pillows strategically so you are as comfortable as possible. - for daytime sleepiness, practice safety measures, such as avoiding driving or operating potentially hazardous equipment. continuous positive airway pressure ( cpap ) entails wearing a mask over your nose and / or mouth during sleep. an air blower forces enough constant and continuous air through your air passages to prevent the tissues from collapsing and blocking the airway. in some cases, dental appliances that help keep the tongue or jaw in a more forward position may help. in some


we had a running joke in science ed that kids get so overexposed to discrepant events involving density and air pressure that they tend to try to explain anything and everything they don ' t understand with respect to science in terms of those two concepts. why do we have seasons? ummm... air pressure? why did dr. smith use that particular research design? ummm... density? i think we need another catch - all explanation. i suggest index of refraction. to simplify greatly, index of refraction describes the amount of bending a light ray will undergo as it passes from one medium to another ( it ' s also related to the velocity of light in both media, but i do want to keep this simple ). if the two media have significantly different indices, light passing from one to the other at an angle ( not perpendicularly, in which case there is no bending ) will be bent more than if indices of the two are similar. the first four data points are from hyperphysics, the final one from wikipedia... glass has a wide range of compositions and thus indices of refraction. water at 20 c : 1. 33 typical soda - lime glass : close to 1. 5 since glycerine and glass have similar ior, light passing from one to the other isn ' t bent ; as long as both are transparent and similarly colored, each will be effectively " invisible " against the other. so, why does it rain? umm... index of refraction? a bright moon impact 12 hours ago


an introduction to 127. 0. 0. 1 127. 0. 0. 1 is an ip address utilized for a looplock network connection. what does this mean? if a user tries to connect to this ip address, they will be sent back to their computer. the address is also known as a localhost. the localhost is the computer. how the localhost works if the command is relayed to the localhost, you would be hooked up to the system where the commands were sent out. for instance, suppose the computer is called " joker ". if you telnet from the joker computer to the localhost, a message will appear. it will attempt to hook up to the localhost is employed in lieu of the computer hostname to be linked to. this ip address is the most wisely used localhost address. however, you can actually use any ip address provided it starts with 127. this means 127. *. *. * can be used as a localhost. establishing a connection with the loopback address is similar to creating a connection with remote network computers. the only difference is you don ' t have to deal with network for this reason it is widely utilized by software developers. it is also used by system administrators. it is often used for testing programs and apps. if the connection is ipv4, the computer ' s loopback address will be the 127. *. *. *. the subnet mask is typically 255. 0. 0. 0. this ip addresses 127. *. *. *. are defined in rfc 330 as special - use ipv4 addresses. the 127. 0. 0. 0 / 8 block is defined as the net host loopback address. if a higher level protocol sends a datagram anywhere in the block, it will be looped in the host. this is typically implemented with the 127. 0. 0. 1 / 32 for looplock. however, addresses in the block must not be visible anywhere else in the network. there is also a localhost ipv6 version. in rfc 3513, it is defined as internet protocol version 6 ( ipv6 ) addressing architecture : : 1 / 128. more information about the localhost in simple terms, the localhost means the computer. it is the hostname allocated loopback network interface address. the name is likewise a domain name. this will help prevent confusion with the hostname definition. in ipv6, the loopback ip address


| gallium metal is silver - white and melts at approximately body temperature ( wikipedia image ). | | atomic number : | | 31 | | atomic radius : | | 187 pm ( van der waals ) | | atomic symbol : | | ga | | melting point : | | 29. 76 °c | | atomic weight : | | 69. 72 | | boiling point : | | 2204 °c | | electron configuration : | | [ ar ] 4s23d104p1 | | oxidation states : | | 3 | from the latin word gallia, france ; also from latin, gallus, a translation of " lecoq, " a cock. predicted and described by mendeleev as ekaaluminum, and discovered spectroscopically by lecoq de boisbaudran in 1875, who in the same year obtained the free metal by electrolysis of a solution of the hydroxide in koh. gallium is often found as a trace element in diaspore, sphalerite, germanite, bauxite, and coal. some flue dusts from burning coal have been shown to contain as much 1. 5 percent gallium. it is one of four metals - - mercury, cesium, and rubidium - - which can be liquid near room temperature and, thus, can be used in high - temperature thermometers. it has one of the longest liquid ranges of any metal and has a low vapor pressure even at high temperatures. there is a strong tendency for gallium to supercool below its freezing point. therefore, seeding may be necessary to initiate solidification. ultra - pure gallium has a beautiful, silvery appearance, and the solid metal exhibits a conchoidal fracture similar to glass. the metal expands 3. 1 percent on solidifying ; therefore, it should not be stored in glass or metal containers, because they may break as the metal solidifies. high - purity gallium is attacked only slowly by mineral acids. gallium wets glass or porcelain and forms a brilliant mirror when it is painted on glass. it is widely used in doping semiconductors and producing solid - state devices such as transistors. magnesium gallate containing divalent impurities, such as mn + 2, is finding use in commercial ultraviolet - activated powder phosphors. gallium arsenide is capable of converting electricity directly into coherent light. gallium readily alloys with most metals, and has been used as a component in low - melting alloys.


from oxford university press : there is a broad consensus among scholars that the idea of human rights was a product of the enlightenment but that a self - conscious and broad - based human rights movement focused on international law only began after world war ii. in this narrative, the nineteenth century ' s absence is conspicuous - - few have considered that era seriously, much less written books on it. but as jenny martinez shows in this novel interpretation of the roots of human rights law, the foundation of the movement that we know today was a product of one of the nineteenth century ' s central moral causes : the movement to ban the international slave trade. originating in england in the late eighteenth century, abolitionism achieved remarkable success over the course of the nineteenth century. martinez focuses in particular on the international admiralty courts, which tried the crews of captured slave ships. the courts, which were based in the caribbean, west africa, cape town, and brazil, helped free at least 80, 000 africans from captured slavers between 1807 and 1871. here then, buried in the dusty archives of admiralty courts, ships ' logs, and the british foreign office, are the foundations of contemporary human rights law : international courts targeting states and non - state transnational actors while working on behalf the world ' s most persecuted peoples - - captured west africans bound for the slave plantations of the americas. fueled by a powerful thesis and novel evidence, martinez ' s work will reshape the fields of human rights history and international human rights law. - forces us to fundamentally rethink the origins of human rights activism - filled with fascinating stories of captured slave ship crews brought to trial across the atlantic world in the nineteenth century - shows how the prosecution of the international slave trade was crucial to the development of modern international law


phantom phone calls ospri. net - alleged contact with the dead has occurred universally throughout history, taking various forms ; as dreams, waking visions and auditory hallucinations, either spontaneous or induced through trance. in many cultures, the spirits of the dead have been sought for their wisdom, advice and knowledge of the future. the dead also seem to initiate their own communication, using whatever means seem to be most effective. with the advent of electromagnetic technology, mysterious messages have been communicated by telegraph, wireless, phonographs and radio. a curious phenomenon of modern times is the communication via the telephone. phone calls from the dead seem to be random and occasional occurrences that happen without explanation. the great majority are exchanges between persons who shared a close emotional tie while both were living : spouses, parents and children, siblings, and occasionally friends and other relatives. most communications are " intention " calls, initiated by the deceased to impart a message, such as farewell upon death, a warning of impending danger, or information the living needs to carry out a task. for example, actress ida lupino ' s father, stanley, who died intestate in london during world war ii, called lupino six months after his death to relate information concerning his estate, the location of some unknown but important papers. some calls appear to have no other purpose than to make contact with the living ; many of these occur on emotionally charged " anniversary " days, such as mothers day or fathers day, a birthday or holiday. in a typical ” anniversary ” call, the dead may do nothing more than repeat a phrase over and over, such as " hello, mom, is that you? " persons who have received phone calls from the dead report that the voices are exactly the same as when the deceased was living, furthermore, the voice often uses pet names and words. the telephone usually rings normally, although some recipients say that the ring sounded flat and abnormal. in many cases, the connection is bad, with a great deal of static and line noise, and occasionally the faint voices of the other persons are heard, as though lines have been crossed. in many cases, the voice of the dead one is difficult to hear and grows fainter as the call goes on. sometimes, the voice just fades away but the line remains open, and the recipient hangs up after giving up on further communication. sometimes the call is terminated by the dead and the recipient hers the click of disengagement, other times, the line simply goes dead. the phantom phone calls typically


line remains open, and the recipient hangs up after giving up on further communication. sometimes the call is terminated by the dead and the recipient hers the click of disengagement, other times, the line simply goes dead. the phantom phone calls typically occur when the recipient is in a passive state of mind. if the recipient knows the caller is dead, the shock is great and the phone call very brief, invariably, the caller terminates the call after a few seconds or minutes, or the line goes dead. if the recipient does not know the caller is dead, a lengthy conversation of up to 30 minutes or so may take place, during which the recipient is not aware of anything amiss. in a minority of cases, the call is placed person - to - person, long - distance with the assistance of a mysterious operator. checks with the telephone company later turn up no evidence of a call being places. similar phone calls from the dead are " intention " phone calls occurring between two living persons. such calls are much rarer than calls from the dead. in a typical " intention " call, the caller thinks about making the call but never does, the recipient nevertheless receives a call. in some cases, emergencies precipitate phantom calls, a surgeon is summoned by a nurse to the hospital to perform an emergency operation, a priest is called by a " relative " to give last rites to a dying man and so forth. some persons who claim to have had ufo encounters report receiving harassing phantom phone calls. the calls are received soon after the witness returns home, or within a day or two of the encounter, in many cases, the calls come before the witness has shared the experience with anyone, stranger still, they are often placed to unlisted phone numbers. the unidentified caller warns the witness not to talk and to " forget " what he or she saw. phone calls allegedly may be placed to the dead as well. the caller does not find out until sometime after the call that the person on the other end has been dead. in one such case, a woman dreamed of a female friend she had not seen for several years. in the disturbing dream, she witnessed the friend sliding down into a pool of blood. upon awakening, she worried that the dream was a portent of trouble, and called the friend. she was relieved when the friend answered. the friend explained that she had been in the hospital, had been released and was due to be readmitted in a few days. she demurred when the woman offered to visit


and called the friend. she was relieved when the friend answered. the friend explained that she had been in the hospital, had been released and was due to be readmitted in a few days. she demurred when the woman offered to visit, saying she would call later. the return call never came. the woman called her friend again, to be told by a relative that the friend has been dead for six months at the time the conversation took place. in several cases studied by researchers, the deceased callers make reference to an anonymous ” they ” and caution that there is little time to talk. the remarks imply that communication between the living and the dead is not only difficult, but not necessarily desirable. most phone calls from the dead occur within 24 hours of the death of the caller. most short calls come from those who have been dead seven days or less : most lengthy calls come from those who have been dead several months. one of the longest death - intervals on record is two years. in a small number of cases, the callers are strangers who say they are calling on behalf of a third party, whom the recipient later discovered is dead. several theories exist as to the origin of phantom phone calls. ( 1 ) they are indeed placed by the dead, who somehow manipulate the telephone mechanisms and circuitry : ( 2 ) they are deceptions of elemental - type spirits who enjoy playing tricks on the living : ( 3 ) they are psychokinetic acts caused subconsciously by the recipient, whose intense desire to communicate with the dead creates a type of hallucinatory experience : ( 4 ) they are entirely fantasy created by the recipient. for the most part, phantom phone calls are not seriously regarded by parapsychologists. in the early 20th century, numerous devices were built by investigators in hopes of capturing ghostly voices : many of them were modifications of the telegraph and wireless. thomas alva edison, whose parents were spiritualists, believed that a telephone could be invented that would connect the living to the dead. he verified that he was working on such a device, but apparently it never was completed before his death. " psychic telephone " experiments were conducted in the 1940 ' s in england and america. interest in the phenomenon waned until the 1960 ’ s, following the findings of konstantin raudive that ghostly voices could be captured on electromagnetic tape.


researchers at ut southwestern medical center have found that fluctuations in internal body temperature regulate the body ' s circadian rhythm, the 24 - hour cycle that controls metabolism, sleep and other bodily functions. a light - sensitive portion of the brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus ( scn ) remains the body ' s " master clock " that coordinates the daily cycle, but it does so indirectly, according to a study published by ut southwestern researchers in the oct. 15 issue of science. the scn responds to light entering the eye, and so is sensitive to cycles of day and night. while light may be the trigger, the ut southwestern researchers determined that the scn transforms that information into neural signals that set the body ' s temperature. these cyclic fluctuations in temperature then set the timing of cells, and ultimately tissues and organs, to be active or inactive, the study showed. scientists have long known that body temperature fluctuates in warm - blooded animals throughout the day on a 24 - hour, or circadian, rhythm, but the new study shows that temperature actually controls body cycles, said dr. joseph takahashi, chairman of neuroscience at ut southwestern and senior author of the study. " small changes in body temperature can send a powerful signal to the clocks in our bodies, " said dr. takahashi, an investigator with the howard hughes medical institute. " it takes only a small change in internal body temperature to synchronize cellular ' clocks ' throughout the body. " daily changes in temperature span only a few degrees and stay within normal healthy ranges. this mechanism has nothing to do with fever or environmental temperature, dr. takahashi said. this system might be a modification of an ancient circadian control system that first developed in other organisms, including cold - blooded animals, whose daily biological cycles are affected by external temperature changes, dr. takahashi said. " circadian rhythms in plants, simple organisms and cold - blooded animals are very sensitive to temperature, so it makes sense that over the course of evolution, this primordial mechanism could have been modified in warm - blooded animals, " he said. in the current study, the researchers focused on cultured mouse cells and tissues, and found that genes related to circadian functions were controlled by temperature fluctuations. scn cells were not temperature - sensitive, however. this finding makes sense, dr. takahashi said, because if the scn, as the master control mechanism, responded to temperature cues, a disruptive feedback loop could result, he said. explore further : now we know why old scizoph


major section : break - rewrite example : ( brr @ : target ) ; the term being rewritten ( brr @ : unify - subst ) ; the unifying substitutionwhere general form : ( brr @ : symbol ) : symbolis one of the following keywords. those marked with * probably require an implementor ' s knowledge of the system to use effectively. they are supported but not well documented. more is said on this topic following the table. : symbol ( brr @ : symbol ) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - in general : target the term to be rewritten. this term is an instantiation of the left - hand side of the conclusion of the rewrite - rule being broken. this term is in translated form! thus, if you are expecting ( equal x nil ) - - and your expectation is almost right - - you will see ( equal x ' nil ) ; similarly, instead of ( cadr a ) you will see ( car ( cdr a ) ). in translated forms, all constants are quoted ( even nil, t, strings and numbers ) and all macros are expanded. : unify - subst the substitution that, when applied to : target, produces the left - hand side of the rule being broken. this substitution is an alist pairing variable symbols to translated (! ) terms. : wonp t or nil indicating whether the rune was successfully applied. ( brr @ : wonp ) returns nil if evaluated before : evaling the rule. : rewritten - rhs the result of successfully applying the rule or else nil if ( brr @ : wonp ) is nil. the result of successfully applying the rule is always a translated (! ) term and is never nil. : failure - reason some non - nil lisp object indicating why the rule was not applied or else nil. before the rule is : evaled, ( brr @ : failure - reason ) is nil. after : evaling the rule, ( brr @ : failure - reason ) is nil if ( brr @ : wonp ) is t. rather than document the various non - nil objects returned as the failure reason, we encourage you simply to evaluate ( brr @ : failure - reason ) in the contexts of interest. alternatively, study the acl2 function tilde -


t. rather than document the various non - nil objects returned as the failure reason, we encourage you simply to evaluate ( brr @ : failure - reason ) in the contexts of interest. alternatively, study the acl2 function tilde - @ - failure - reason - phrase. : lemma * the rewrite rule being broken. for example, ( access rewrite - rule ( brr @ : lemma ) : lhs ) will return the left - hand side of the conclusion of the rule. : type - alist * a display of the type - alist governing : target. elements on the displayed list are of the form ( term type ), where term is a term and type describes information about term assumed to hold in the current context. the type - alist may be used to determine the current assumptions, e. g., whether a is a consp. : ancestors * a stack of frames indicating the backchain history of the current context. the theorem prover is in the process of trying to establish each hypothesis in this stack. thus, the negation of each hypothesis can be assumed false. each frame also records the rules on behalf of which this backchaining is being done and the weight ( function symbol count ) of the hypothesis. all three items are involved in the heuristic for preventing infinite backchaining. exception : some frames are ` ` binding hypotheses ' ' ( equal var term ) or ( equiv var ( double - rewrite term ) ) that bind variable var to the result of rewriting term. : gstack * the current goal stack. the gstack is maintained by rewrite and is the data structure printed as the current ` ` path. ' ' thus, any information derivable from the : path brr command is derivable from gstack. for example, from gstack one might determine that the current term is the second hypothesis of a certain rewrite rule. brr @ - expressionsare used in break conditions, the expressions that determine whether interactive breaks occur when monitored runes are applied. see monitor. for example, you might want to break only those attempts in which one particular term is being rewritten or only those attempts in which the binding for the variable ais known to be a consp. such conditions can be expressed using acl2 system functions and the information provided by brr @. unfortunately, digging some of this information out of the internal data structures may be awkward or may, at least


step - by - step instructions for activities like folding paper airplanes is testament to the generalized longing for play ' s good old days. so were the questions after stuart brown ' s library talk ; one woman asked how her children will learn trust, empathy and social skills when their most frequent playing is done online. brown told her that while video games do have some play value, a true sense of ' ' interpersonal nuance ' ' can be achieved only by a child who is engaging all five senses by playing in the three - dimensional world. this is part of a larger conversation americans are having about play. parents bobble between a nostalgia - infused yearning for their children to play and fear that time spent playing is time lost to more practical pursuits. alarming headlines about u. s. students falling behind other countries in science and math, combined with the ever - more - intense competition to get kids into college, make parents rush to sign up their children for piano lessons and test - prep courses instead of just leaving them to improvise on their own ; playtime versus r? m? uilding. discussions about play force us to reckon with our underlying ideas about childhood, sex differences, creativity and success. do boys play differently than girls? are children being damaged by staring at computer screens and video games? are they missing something when fantasy play is populated with characters from hollywood ' s imagination and not their own? most of these issues are too vast to be addressed by a single field of study ( let alone a magazine article ). but the growing science of play does have much to add to the conversation. armed with research grounded in evolutionary biology and experimental neuroscience, some scientists have shown themselves eager - - at times perhaps a little too eager - - to promote a scientific argument for play. they have spent the past few decades learning how and why play evolved in animals, generating insights that can inform our understanding of its evolution in humans too. they are studying, from an evolutionary perspective, to what extent play is a luxury that can be dispensed with when there are too many other competing claims on the growing brain, and to what extent it is central to how that brain grows in the first place. scientists who study play, in animals and humans alike, are developing a consensus view that play is something more than a way for restless kids to work off steam ; more than a way for chubby kids to burn off calories ; more than a frivolous luxury. play, in their view, is a central part of neurological growth and development -


buildings, equipment, intangible assets ( like patents ) | liabilities | | liabilities are creditors ' claims for funds, usually because they have provided funds, or goods and services, to the firm. | examples : accounts payable, unearned income, notes payable, buildings, accrued salaries | shareholders ' equity | | shareholders ' equity shows the amounts of funds owners have provided and, in parallel, their claims on the assets of a firm. | examples : common stock, contributed capital, retained earnings | what are the separate sections on a balance sheet ( balance sheet classification ) | | 1. current assets represent assets that a firm expects to turn into cash, or sell, or consume within approximately one year from the date of the balance sheet ( i. e., accounts receivable and inventory ). | 2. current liabilities represent obligations a firm expects to pay within one year ( i. e., accounts payable and salaries payable ). 3. non - current assets are typically held and used for several years ( i. e., land, buildings, equipment, patents, long - term security investments ). 4. noncurrent liabilities and shareholders ' equity are sources of funds where the supplier of funds does not expect to receive them all back within the next year. | income statement | | 1. sometimes called the statement of profit and loss by firms applying ifrs | 2. provides information on profitability 3. may use the terms net income, earnings, and profit interchangeably 4. reports amounts for a period of time 5. typically one year 6. is represented by the basic income equation : net income = revenues - expenses | revenues | | ( also known as sales, sales revenue, or turnover, a term used by some firms reporting under ifrs ) measure the inflows of assets ( or reductions in liabilities ) from selling goods and providing services to customers. | | expenses | | measure the outflow of assets ( or increases in liabilities ) used in generating revenues. | | relationship between the balance sheet and the income statement | | 1. the income statement links the balance sheet at the beginning of the period with the balance sheet at the end of the period. | 2. retained earnings is increased by net income and decreased by dividends. | statement of cash flows | | the statement of cash flows ( also called the | cash flow statement ) reports information about cash generated from or used by : 2. investing, and 3. financing activities during specified time periods


or sales : | ( common income statement terms ) | assets received in exchange for goods sold and services rendered. | | cost of goods sold : | ( common income statement terms ) | the cost of products sold. | | selling, general, and administrative ( sg & a ) : | ( common income statement terms ) | costs incurred to sell products / services as well as costs of administration. | | research and development ( r & d ) expense : | ( common income statement terms ) | costs incurred to create / develop new products, processes, and services. | | interest income : | ( common income statement terms ) | income earned on amounts lent to others or from investments in interest - yielding securities. | | unique relationships exist between the balance sheet and the income statement | | important account differences | | 1. balance sheet accounts are permanent accounts in the sense that they remain open, with nonzero balances, at the end of the reporting period. | 2. in contrast, income statement accounts are temporary accounts in the sense that they start a period with a zero balance, accumulate information during the reporting period, and have a zero balance at the end of the reporting period. | the financial statement relationships can be summarized as : | - after preparing the end - of - period income statement, the accountant transfers the balance in each temporary revenue and expense account to the retained earnings account. - this procedure is called closing the revenue and expense accounts. after transferring to retained earnings, each revenue and expense account is ready to begin the next period with a zero balance. | expense and revenue transactions | | dividend declaration and payment | | issues of capital stock | | posting | | 1. after each transaction is recognized by a journal entry, the information is transferred in the accounting system via an activity known as posting. | 2. the balance sheet ledger accounts ( or permanent accounts ) where these are posted begin each period with a balance equal to the ending balance of the previous period. 3. the income statement ledger accounts ( or temporary accounts ) have zero beginning balances. | adjusting entries | | there are some journal entries that are not triggered by a transaction or exchange. | - rather, journal entries known as adjusting entries, result from the passage of time at the end of an accounting period or are used to correct errors ( more commonly known as correcting entries ). | four basic types of adjusting entries | | 1. unearned revenues | | closing process | | 1. after adjusting and correcting entries are made, the income statement can be


intel demonstrated a wireless electric power system that could revolutionize modern life by eliminating chargers, wall outlets and eventually batteries all together by 2050. intel chief technology officer justin rattner demonstrated a wireless energy resonant link at intel ’ s 2008 developer ’ s forum. during the demo electricity was sent wirelessly to a lamp on stage, lighting a 60 watt bulb that uses more power than a typical laptop computer. most importantly, the electricity was transmitted without zapping anything or anyone that got between the sending and receiving units. “ the trick with wireless power is not can you do it ; it ’ s can you do it safely and efficiently, ” according to intel researcher josh smith. “ it turns out the human body is not affected by magnetic fields ; it is affected by elective fields. so what we are doing is transmitting energy using the magnetic field not the electric field. ” examples of potential applications include airports, offices or other buildings that could be rigged to supply power to laptops, mobile telephones or other devices toted into them. the technology could also be built into plugged in computer components, such as monitors, to enable them to broadcast power to devices left on desks or carried into rooms, according to mr. smith. - duracell, energizer, texas instruments and motorola mobility in attendance at the international wireless power summit ( prweb. com ) - british start - up working to bring wireless charging to the racetrack ( wheels. blogs. nytimes. com )


by roger fox i doubt the keystone project is even a real long term goal by transcanada,. certainly in the big picture keystone is only a single chapter in a much larger book. if you read this diary you will risk information overload, you will be offered numerous disparate data points that at first glance may seem unconnected. you will need to digest all the information offered, and then analyze. crude is is classified by the american petroleum institute ( api ) into light, medium, heavy and extra heavy crudes, by api gravity. if its api gravity is greater than 10, it is lighter and floats on water ; if less than 10, it is heavier and sinks. the albert tar sands contain crudes of api 10 or less that is called extra heavy or bitumen. heavy oil is defined as having an api gravity below 22. 3, medium oil is defined as having an api gravity between 22. 3 °api and 31. 1 °api, light crude oil is defined as having an api gravity higher than 31. 1. at a production rate of 3 million barells a day the tar sands can last for 170 years. this would also mean a hole in the ground visible from orbit. the keystone pipeline is only one of a couple of handfuls of pipeline proposals over the last decade in the western us, canada and alaska. alaskan nat gas is largely unexploited, and is used locally on the north slope. its estimated that 70 trillion cubic feet of nat gas can be found in alaska, a lot of it in the north slope area. there are at least 3 major proposals for nat gas pipelines from the north slope area and the adjacent mackenzie river delta in canada. 2 of these projects point right at alberta. transcanada and exxon mobil are partnered in the alaska gas pipeline proposal that will directly link nat gas production in the north slope of alaska thru alberta to the us mid west. this project may be the same as the denali proposal, and was reintroduced to thesenate in feb, of 2011. there also at least 2 variations. additionally there is the dempster lateral. - > next page : follow the routes south


w hy is it important for scientists to contribute to science education? our nation has failed to meet important educational challenges, and our children are ill prepared to respond to the demands of today? s world. results of the third international mathematics and science study ( timss ) - - and its successor, timss - r - - show that the relatively strong international performance of u. s. 4th graders successively deteriorates across 8th - and 12th - grade cohorts. related studies indicate that u. s. prek - 12 curricula lack coherence, depth, and continuity and cover too many topics superficially. by high school, unacceptably low numbers of students show motivation or interest in enrolling in physics ( only one - quarter of all students ) or chemistry ( only one - half ). we are rapidly approaching universal participation at the postsecondary level, but we still have critical science, technology, engineering, and mathematics ( stem ) workforce needs and too few teachers who have studied science or mathematics. science and engineering degrees as a percentage of the degrees conferred each year have remained relatively constant at about 5 %. in this group, women and minorities are gravely underrepresented. the consequences of these conditions are serious. the u. s. department of labor estimates that 60 % of the new jobs being created in our economy today will require technological literacy, yet only 22 % of the young people entering the job market now actually possess those skills. by 2010, all jobs will require some form of technological literacy, and 80 % of those jobs haven? t even been created yet. we must prepare our students for a world that we ourselves cannot completely anticipate. this will require the active involvement of scientists and engineers. how is nsf seeking to encourage scientists to work on educational issues? the nsf strategic plan includes two relevant goals : to develop " a diverse, internationally competitive, and globally engaged workforce of scientists, engineers, and well - prepared citizens " and to support " discovery across the frontiers of science and engineering, connected to learning, innovation, and service to society. " to realize both of these goals, our nation? s scientists and engineers must care about the educational implications of their work and explore educational issues as seriously and knowledgeably as they do their research questions. the phrase " integration of research and education " conveys two ideas. first, good research generates an educational asset, and we must effectively use that asset. second, we need to encourage more scientists and engineers to pursue research careers that focus


research questions. the phrase " integration of research and education " conveys two ideas. first, good research generates an educational asset, and we must effectively use that asset. second, we need to encourage more scientists and engineers to pursue research careers that focus on teaching and learning within their own disciplines. all proposals submitted to nsf for funding must address two merit criteria : intellectual merit and broader impacts. in everyday terms, our approach to evaluating the broader impact of proposals is built on the philosophy that scientists and engineers should pay attention to teaching and value it, and that their institutions should recognize, support, and reward faculty, as well as researchers in government and industry, who take their role as educators seriously and approach instruction as a scholarly act. we think of education very broadly, including formal education ( k - graduate and postdoctoral study ) and informal education ( efforts to promote public understanding of science and research outside the traditional educational environment ). what does it mean to take education seriously and explore it knowledgeably? any scholarly approach to education must be intentional, be based on a valid body of knowledge, and be rigorously assessed. that is, our approach to educational questions must be a scholarly act. nsf actively invests in educational reform and models that encourage scientists and engineers to improve curriculum, teaching, and learning in science and mathematics at all levels of the educational system from elementary school to graduate study and postdoctoral work. we recognize that to interest faculty and practicing scientists and engineers in education, we must support research that generates convincing evidence that changing how we approach the teaching of science and mathematics will pay off in better learning and deeper interest in these fields. here are a few of the most recent efforts to stimulate interest in education that might be of interest to next wave readers. ( for more information, go to the nsf education and human resources directorate ' s web site. ) the gk - 12 program supports fellowships and training to enable stem graduate students and advanced undergraduates to serve in k - 12 schools as resources in stem content and applications. outcomes include improved communication and teaching skills for the fellows, increased content knowledge for prek - 12 teachers, enriched prek - 12 student learning, and stronger partnerships between higher education and local schools. the centers for learning and teaching ( clt ) program is a " comprehensive, research - based effort that addresses critical issues and national needs of the stem instructional workforce across the entire spectrum of formal and informal education. " the goal of the clt program is to support the development of new approaches to the assessment of learning, research on learning


- based effort that addresses critical issues and national needs of the stem instructional workforce across the entire spectrum of formal and informal education. " the goal of the clt program is to support the development of new approaches to the assessment of learning, research on learning within the disciplines, the design and development of effective curricular materials, and research - based approaches to instruction - - and through this work to increase the number of people who do research on education in the stem fields. this year ( fy 02 ) we are launching some prototype higher education centers to reform teaching and learning in our nation ' s colleges and universities through a mix of research, faculty development and exploration of instructional practices that can promote learning. like other nsf efforts, the centers incorporate a balanced strategy of attention to people, ideas and tools. we hope to encourage more science and engineering faculty to work on educational issues in both k - 12 and in postsecondary education. if you are interested in these issues and want to pursue graduate or postdoctoral study, or want to develop a research agenda on learning in stem fields, find the location and goals of the currently funded centers and also check later this summer to find out which higher education clt prototypes are funded. the following solicitations all involve the integration of research and education as well as attention to broadening participation in stem careers : the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics talent expansion program ( step ) program seeks to increase the number of students ( u. s. citizens or permanent residents ) pursuing and receiving associate or baccalaureate degrees in established or emerging fields within stem. the faculty early career development ( career ) program recognizes and supports the early career development activities of those teacher - scholars who are most likely to become the academic leaders of the 21st century. the course, curriculum, and laboratory improvement ( ccli ) program seeks to improve the quality of stem education for all students and targets activities affecting learning environments, course content, curricula, and educational practices. ccli offers three tracks : educational materials development, national dissemination, and adaptation and implementation. the integrative graduate education and research training ( igert ) program addresses the challenges of preparing ph. d. scientists and engineers with the multidisciplinary backgrounds and the technical, professional, and personal skills needed for the career demands of the future. the vertical integration of research and education in the mathematical sciences ( vigre ) program supports institutions with ph. d. - granting departments in the mathematical sciences in carrying out innovative educational programs, at all levels, that are integrated with


file compression is to perform some algorithm on the file that reduces it in size but the reverse of the algorithm will return it to its original form. in data files, the compression and decompression must be lossless which means that the data must be returned to its exact form. there are various methods to do this : some hardware implementations and some software. the most popular ones that are implemented in hardware usually use a limpel - ziv algorithm to look for repeating sequences over a set span of data ( the run ) and replace that with special identifying information. compression does save space but may take extra time ( latency ). video and music data are typically already compressed. the compression rates are usually very high because of the data and the fact that a lossy compression algorithm is used. it can be lossy ( meaning that all bits may not be decompressed exactly ) because it won ' t be noticeable with video or music. zip files are the result of software compression. another compression round on already compressed data will probably not yield any substantial gain. evaluator group, inc. editor ' s note : do you agree with this expert ' s response? if you have more to share, post it in our storage networking forum at http : / / searchstorage. discussions. techtarget. com / webx? 50 @ @. ee83ce4 or e - mail us directly at firstname. lastname @ example. org. this was first published in december 2001


classroom activities for teaching sedimentary geologythis collection of teaching materials allows for the sharing of ideas and activities within the community of geoscience teachers. do you have a favorite teaching activity you ' d like to share? please help us expand this collection by contributing your own teaching materials. subject : sedimentary geology results 1 - 4 of 4 matches chemical and physical weathering field and lab experiment : development and testing of hypotheses part of activities lisa greer, washington and lee university this exercise combines an integrated field and laboratory experiment with a significant scientific writing assignment to address chemical and physical weathering processes via hypothesis development, experimental... demystifying the equations of sedimentary geology part of activities larry lemke, wayne state university this activity includes three strategies to help students develop a deeper comfort level and stronger intuitive sense for understanding mathematical expressions commonly encountered in sedimentary geology. each can... digital sandstone tutorial part of activities kitty milliken, university of texas at austin, the the tutorial petrographic image atlas is designed to give students more exposure to petrographic features than they can get during organized laboratory periods. red rock and concretion models from earth to mars : teaching diagenesis part of activities margie chan, university of utah this activity teaches students concepts of terrestrial diagenesis ( cementation, fluid flow, porosity and permeability, concretions ) and encourages them to apply those concepts to new or unknown settings, including...


- exam wrappers. as david thompson describes the process, " exam wrappers required students to reflect on their performance before and after seeing their graded tests. " the first four questions, completed just prior to receiving their graded test, asked students to report the time they spent preparing for the test, their methods of preparation, and their predicted test grade. after reviewing their graded test, students completed the final three reflection questions, including a categorization of test mistakes and a list of changes to implement in preparation for the next test. thompson then collected and made copies of the wrappers returned them to the students several days later, reminding them to consider what they planned to do differently or the same in preparation for the upcoming test. thompson reports that each reflection exercise required only 8 - 10 minutes of class time. clara hardy and others also describes uses exam wrappers. - reading reflections. as karl wirth writes, reading reflections, effectively outlined by david bressoud ( 2008 ), are designed to address some of the challenges students face with college - level reading assignments. students submit online reading reflections ( e. g., using moodle or blackboard ) after completing each reading assignment and before coming to class. in each reflection, students summarize the important concepts of the reading and describe what was interesting, surprising, or confusing to them. the reading reflections not only encourage students to read regularly before class, but they also promote content mastery and foster student development of monitoring, self - evaluation, and reflection skills. for the instructor, reading reflections facilitate " just - in - time " teaching and provide invaluable insights into student thinking and learning. according to wirth, expert readers are skilled at using a wide range of strategies during all phases of reading ( e. g., setting goals for learning, monitoring comprehension during reading, checking comprehension, and self - reflection ), but most college instruction simply assumes the mastery of such metacognitive skills. - knowledge surveys. many members of the group were influenced by karl wirth ' s work on " knowledge surveys " as a central strategy for helping students think about their thinking. knowledge surveys involve simple self - reports from students about their knowledge of course concepts and content. in knowledge surveys, students are presented with different facets of course content and are asked to indicate whether they know the answer, know some of the answer, or don ' t know the answer. faculty can use these reports to gauge how confident students feel in their understanding of course material at the beginning or end of a course, before


bottom waters, takes the form of a spiral or helix. more than 95 per cent of the river ' s energy is lost in turbulence and friction. the direction of the flow of the thames is therefore quixotic. it might be assumed that it would move eastwards, but it defies any simple prediction. it flows north - west above henley and at teddington, west above abingdon, south from cookham and north above marlow and kingston. this has to do with the variegated curves of the river. it does not meander like the euphrates, where according to herodotus the voyager came upon the same village three times on three separate days, but it is circuitous. it specialises in loops. it will take the riparian traveller two or three times as long to cover the same distance as a companion on the high road. so the thames teaches you to take time, and to view the world from a different vantage. the average " fall " or decline of the river from its beginning to its end is approximately 17 to 21 inches ( 432 to 533 mm ) per mile. it follows gravity, and seeks out perpetually the simplest way to the sea. it falls some 600 feet ( 183 m ) from source to sea, with a relatively precipitous decline of 300 feet ( 91. 5 m ) in the first 9 miles ; it falls 100 ( 30. 4 m ) more in the next 11 miles, with a lower average for the rest of its course. yet averages may not be so important. they mask the changeability and idiosyncrasy of the thames. the mean width of the river is given as 1, 000 feet ( 305 m ), and a mean depth of 30 feet ( 9 m ) ; but the width varies from 1 or 2 feet ( 0. 3 to 0. 6 m ) at trewsbury to 51u2 miles at the nore. the tide, in the words of tennyson, is that which " moving seems asleep, too full for sound and foam. " on its flood inward it can promise benefit or danger ; on its ebb seaward it suggests separation or adventure. it is one general movement but it comprises a thousand different streams and eddies ; there are opposing streams, and high water is not necessarily the same thing as high tide. the water will sometimes begin to fall before the tide is over. the average speed of the tide lies between 1 and 3 knots ( 1. 15 and 3. 45 miles


becomes a place of recreation, breezy and jaunty with the skiffs and the punts, the sports in port meadow and the picnic parties on the banks by binsey. but then by some change of light it becomes dark green, surrounded by vegetation like a jungle river ; and then the traveller begins to see the dwellings of oxford, and the river changes again. oxford is a pivotal point. from there you can look upward and consider the quiet source ; or you can look downstream and contemplate the coming immensity of london. in the reaches before lechlade the water makes its way through isolated pastures ; at wapping and rotherhithe the dwellings seem to drop into it, as if overwhelmed by numbers. the elements of rusticity and urbanity are nourished equally by the thames. that is why parts of the river induce calm and forgetfulness, and others provoke anxiety and despair. it is the river of dreams, but it is also the river of suicide. it has been called liquid history because within itself it dissolves and carries all epochs and generations. they ebb and flow like water. the river as metaphor the river runs through the language, and we speak of its influence in every conceivable context. it is employed to characterise life and death, time and destiny ; it is used as a metaphor for continuity and dissolution, for intimacy and transitoriness, for art and history, for poetry itself. in the principles of psychology ( 1890 ) william james first coined the phrase " stream of consciousness " in which " every definite image of the mind is steeped... in the free water that flows around it. " thus " it flows " like the river itself. yet the river is also a token of the unconscious, with its suggestion of depth and invisible life. the river is a symbol of eternity, in its unending cycle of movement and change. it is one of the few such symbols that can readily be understood, or appreciated, and in the continuing stream the mind or soul can begin to contemplate its own possible immortality. in the poetry of john denham ' s " cooper ' s hill " ( 1642 ), the thames is a metaphor for human life. how slight its beginning, how confident its continuing course, how ineluctable its destination within the great ocean : hasting to pay his tribute to the sea, like mortal life to meet eternity. the poetry of the thames has always emphasised its affiliations with human purpose and with human realities


course, how ineluctable its destination within the great ocean : hasting to pay his tribute to the sea, like mortal life to meet eternity. the poetry of the thames has always emphasised its affiliations with human purpose and with human realities. so the personality of the river changes in the course of its journey from the purity of its origins to the broad reaches of the commercial world. the river in its infancy is undefiled, innocent and clear. by the time it is closely pent in by the city, it has become dank and foul, defiled by greed and speculation. in this regress it is the paradigm of human life and of human history. yet the river has one great advantage over its metaphoric companions. it returns to its source, and its corruption can be reversed. that is why baptism was once instinctively associated with the river. the thames has been an emblem of redemption and of renewal, of the hope of escaping from time itself. when wordsworth observed the river at low tide, with the vista of the " mighty heart " of london " lying still, " he used the imagery of human circulation. it is the image of the river as blood, pulsing through the veins and arteries of its terrain, without which the life of london would seize up. sir walter raleigh, contemplating the thames from the walk by his cell in the tower, remarked that the " blood which disperseth itself by the branches or veins through all the body, may be resembled to these waters which are carried by brooks and rivers overall the earth. " he wrote his history of the world ( 1610 ) from his prison cell, and was deeply imbued with the current of the thames as a model of human destiny. it has been used as the symbol for the unfolding of events in time, and carries the burden of past events upon its back. for raleigh the freight of time grew ever more complex and wearisome as it proceeded from its source ; human life had become darker and deeper, less pure and more susceptible to the tides of affairs. there was one difference raleigh noticed in his history, when he declared that " for this tide of man ' s life, after it once turneth and declineth, ever runneth with a perpetual ebb and falling stream, but never floweth again. " the thames has also been understood as a mirror of morality. the bending rushes and the yielding willows afford lessons in humility and forbearance ; the humble weeds along its banks have been praised for their lowliness


never floweth again. " the thames has also been understood as a mirror of morality. the bending rushes and the yielding willows afford lessons in humility and forbearance ; the humble weeds along its banks have been praised for their lowliness and absence of ostentation. and who has ventured upon the river without learning the value of patience, of endurance, and of vigilance? john denham makes the thames the subject of native discourse in a further sense : though deep, yet clear ; though gentle, yet not dull ; strong without rage ; without o ' erflowing, full. this suggests that the river represents an english measure, an aesthetic harmony to be sought or wished for, but in the same breath denham seems to be adverting to some emblem of englishness itself. the thames is a metaphor for the country through which it runs. it is modest and moderate, calm and resourceful ; it is powerful without being fierce. it is not flamboyantly impressive. it is large without being too vast. it eschews extremes. it weaves its own course without artificial diversions or interventions. it is useful for all manner of purposes. it is a practical river. when robert menzies, an erstwhile australian prime minister, was taken to runnymede he was moved to comment upon the " secret springs " of the " slow english character. " this identification of the land with the people, the characteristics of the earth and water with the temperament of their inhabitants, remains a poignant one. there is an inward and intimate association between the river and those who live beside it, even if that association cannot readily be understood. from the hardcover edition.


in my next few blogs, i will provide an overview of voltage source converter ( vsc ) hvdc technology and its suitability for smart grids operation and control discussed. vsc hvdc is based upon transistor technology and was developed in the 1990 ′ s. the switching element is the insulated gate bipolar thyristor ( igbt ), which can be switched on and off by applying a suitable voltage to the gate ( steering electrode ). because of the more switching operations, and the nature of the semiconductor devices itself, the converter losses are generally higher than those of hvdc classic converters. vsc hvdc is commonly used with underground or submarine cables with a transfer capacity in the range of 10 – 1000 mw, and is suitable to serve as a connection to a wind farm or supply a remote load. vsc hvdc technology has very fast steer and control functionality and is suitable for meshed networks. it is characterised by compactness of the converter stations, due to the reduced need for ac harmonic filters and reactive power compensation. power flow reversal in vsc systems is achieved by reversal of the current, whereas in hvdc classic systems the voltage polarity has to change. an important consequence of this voltage source behavior is the ability to use cheaper and easier to install xlpe cables, instead of the mass - impregnated cables that are needed for hvdc classic. currently, only twelve vsc hvdc projects are in service. a few examples include : estlink, which connects estonia to finland ( 350 mw ), and borwin1, connecting an offshore wind farm to northern germany ( 400 mw ). both are equipped with ±150 kv submarine cables, and the trans bay project in california ( 400 mw ) that consists of 90 km ±200 kv submarine cable. most projects have submarine cable, but some projects include long lengths of underground cable, such as murraylink ( 220 mw, 177 km underground cable ), and nord e. on 1 ( 400 mw, 75km underground cable ). the 500 mw east - west interconnector between ireland and great britain, operating at ±200 kv, is scheduled to go into service in 2012. a 2000 mw 65 km cable interconnector ±320kv as part of the trans european network — between spain and france — is scheduled for commissioning in 2013, and will represent the highest power rating for a vsc hvdc system installed at this time. make sure to check back next


the operations layer defines the operational processes and procedures necessary to deliver information technology ( it ) as a service. this layer leverages it service management concepts that can be found in prevailing best practices such as itil and mof. the main focus of the operations layer is to execute the business requirements defined at the service delivery layer. cloud - like service attributes cannot be achieved through technology alone and require a high level of it service management maturity. change management process is responsible for controlling the life cycle of all changes. the primary objective of change management is to eliminate or at least minimize disruption while desired changes are made to services. change management focuses on understanding and balancing the cost and risk of making the change versus the benefit of the change to either the business or the service. driving predictability and minimizing human involvement are the core principles for achieving a mature service management process and ensuring changes can be made without impacting the perception of continuous availability. standard ( automated ) change non - standard ( mechanized ) change it is important to note that a record of all changes must be maintained, including standard changes that have been automated. the automated process for standard changes should include the creation and population of the change record per standard policy in order to make sure auditability. automating changes also enables other key principles such as : the service asset and configuration management process is responsible for maintaining information on the assets, components, and infrastructure needed to provide a service. critical configuration data for each component, and its relationship to other components, must be accurately captured and maintained. this configuration data should include past and current states and future - state forecasts, and be easily available to those who need it. mature service asset and configuration management processes are necessary for achieving predictability. a virtualized infrastructure adds complexity to the management of configuration items ( cis ) due to the transient nature of the relationship between guests and hosts in the infrastructure. how is the relationship between cis maintained in an environment that is potentially changing very frequently? a service comprises software, platform, and infrastructure layers. each layer provides a level of abstraction that is dependent on the layer beneath it. this abstraction hides the implementation and composition details of the layer. access to the layer is provided through an interface and as long as the fabric is available, the actual physical location of a hosted vm is irrelevant. to provide infrastructure as a service ( iaas ), the configuration and relationship of the components within the fabric must be understood, whereas the details of the configuration within the vms hosted by the fabric are irrelevant. the configuration management system (


is irrelevant. to provide infrastructure as a service ( iaas ), the configuration and relationship of the components within the fabric must be understood, whereas the details of the configuration within the vms hosted by the fabric are irrelevant. the configuration management system ( cms ) will need to be partitioned, at a minimum, into physical and logical ci layers. two configuration management databases ( cmdbs ) might be used ; one to manage the physical cis of the fabric ( facilities, network, storage, hardware, and hypervisor ) and the other to manage the logical cis ( everything else ). the cms can be further partitioned by layer, with separate management of the infrastructure, platform, and software layers. the benefits and trade - offs of each approach are summarized below. cms partitioned by layer cms partitioned into physical and logical table 2 : configuration management system options partitioning logical and physical ci information allows for greater stability within the cms, because cis will need to be changed less frequently. this means less effort will need to be expended to accurately maintain the information. during normal operations, mapping a vm to its physical host is irrelevant. if historical records of a vm ’ s location are needed, ( for example, for auditing or root cause analysis ) they can be traced through change logs. the physical or fabric cmdb will need to include a mapping of fault domains, upgrade domains, and live migration domains. the relationship of these patterns to the infrastructure cis will provide critical information to the fabric management system. the release and deployment management processes are responsible for making sure that approved changes to a service can be built, tested, and deployed to meet specifications with minimal disruption to the service and production environment. where change management is based on the approval mechanism ( determining what will be changed and why ), release and deployment management will determine how those changes will be implemented. the primary focus of release and deployment management is to protect the production environment. the less variation is found in the environment, the greater the level of predictability – and, therefore, the lower the risk of causing harm when new elements are introduced. the concept of homogenization of physical infrastructure is derived from this predictability principle. if the physical infrastructure is completely homogenized, there is much greater predictability in the release and deployment process. while complete homogenization is the ideal, it may not be achievable in the real world. homogenization is a continuum. the closer an environment gets to complete homogeneity,


predictability in the release and deployment process. while complete homogenization is the ideal, it may not be achievable in the real world. homogenization is a continuum. the closer an environment gets to complete homogeneity, the more predictable it becomes and the fewer the risks. full homogeneity means not only that identical hardware models are used, but all hardware configuration is identical as well. when complete hardware homogeneity is not feasible, strive for configuration homogeneity wherever possible. figure 2 : homogenization continuum the scale unit concept drives predictability in capacity planning and agility in the release and deployment of physical infrastructure. the hardware specifications and configurations have been pre - defined and tested, allowing for a more rapid deployment cycle than in a traditional data center. similarly, known quantities of resources are added to the data center when the capacity plan is triggered. however, when the scale unit itself must change ( for example, when a vendor retires a hardware model ), a new risk is introduced to the private cloud. there will likely be a period where both n and n - 1 versions of the scale unit exist in the infrastructure, but steps can be taken to minimize the risk this creates. work with hardware vendors to understand the life cycle of their products and coordinate changes from multiple vendors to minimize iterations of the scale unit change. also, upgrading to the new version of the scale unit should take place one fault domain at a time wherever possible. this will make sure that if an incident occurs with the new version, it can be isolated to a single fault domain. homogenization of the physical infrastructure means consistency and predictability for the vms regardless of which physical host they reside on. this concept can be extended beyond the production environment. the fabric can be partitioned into development, test, and pre - production environments as well. eliminating variability between environments enables developers to more easily optimize applications for a private cloud and gives testers more confidence that the results reflect the realities of production, which in turn should greatly improve testing efficiency. the virtualized infrastructure enables workloads to be transferred more easily between environments. all vms should be built from a common set of component templates housed in a library, which is used across all environments. this shared library includes templates for all components approved for production, such as vm images, the gold os image, server role templates, and platform templates. these component templates are downloaded from the shared library and become the building blocks of the


shared library includes templates for all components approved for production, such as vm images, the gold os image, server role templates, and platform templates. these component templates are downloaded from the shared library and become the building blocks of the development environment. from development, these components are packaged together to create a test candidate package ( in the form of a virtual hard disk ( vhd ) that is uploaded to the library. this test candidate package can then be deployed by booting the vhd in the test environment. when testing is complete, the package can again be uploaded to the library as a release candidate package – for deployment into the pre - production environment, and ultimately into the production environment. since workloads are deployed by booting a vm from a vhd, the release management process occurs very quickly through the transfer of vhd packages to different environments. this also allows for rapid rollback should the deployment fail ; the current release can be deleted and the vm can be booted off the previous vhd. virtualization and the use of standard vm templates allow us to rethink software updates and patch management. as there is minimal variation in the production environment and all services in production are built with a common set of component templates, patches need not be applied in production. instead, they should be applied to the templates in the shared library. any services in production using that template will require a new version release. the release package is then rebuilt, tested, and redeployed, as shown below. figure 3 : the release process this may seem counter - intuitive for a critical patch scenario, such as when an exploitable vulnerability is exposed. but with virtualization technologies and automated test scripts, a new version of a service can be built, tested, and deployed quite rapidly. variation can also be reduced through standardized, automated test scenarios. while not every test scenario can or should be automated, tests that are automated will improve predictability and facilitate more rapid test and deployment timelines. test scenarios that are common for all applications, or the ones that might be shared by certain application patterns, are key candidates for automation. these automated test scripts may be required for all release candidates prior to deployment and would make sure further reduction in variation in the production environment. knowledge management is the process of gathering, analyzing, storing, and sharing knowledge and information within an organization. the goal of knowledge management is to make sure that the right people have access to the information they need to maintain a private cloud. as operational


. knowledge management is the process of gathering, analyzing, storing, and sharing knowledge and information within an organization. the goal of knowledge management is to make sure that the right people have access to the information they need to maintain a private cloud. as operational knowledge expands and matures, the ability to intelligently automate operational tasks improves, providing for an increasingly dynamic environment. an immature approach to knowledge management costs organizations in terms of slower, less - efficient problem solving. every problem or new situation that arises becomes a crisis that must be solved. a few people may have the prior experience to resolve the problem quickly and calmly, but their knowledge is not shared. immature knowledge management creates greater stress for the operations staff and usually results in user dissatisfaction with frequent and lengthy unexpected outages. mature knowledge management processes are necessary for achieving a service provider ’ s approach to delivering infrastructure. past knowledge and experience is documented, communicated, and readily available when needed. operating teams are no longer crisis - driven as service - impacting events grow less frequent and are quickly resolves when they do occur. when designing a private cloud, development of the health model will drive much of the information needed for knowledge management. the health model defines the ideal states for each infrastructure component and the daily, weekly, monthly, and as - needed tasks required to maintain this state. the health model also defines unhealthy states for each infrastructure component and actions to be taken to restore their health. this information will form the foundation of the knowledge management database. aligning the health model with alerts allows these alerts to contain links to the knowledge management database describing the specific steps to be taken in response to the alert. this will help drive predictability as a consistent, proven set of actions will be taken in response to each alert. the final step toward achieving a private cloud is the automation of responses to each alert as defined in the knowledge management database. once these responses are proven successful, they should be automated to the fullest extent possible. it is important to note, though, that automating responses to alerts does not make them invisible and forgotten. even when alerts generate a fully automated response they must be captured in the service management system. if the alert indicates the need for a change, the change record should be logged. similarly, if the alert is in response to an incident, an incident record should be created. these automated workflows must be reviewed regularly by operations staff to make sure the automated action achieves the expected result. finally, as the environment changes over time


identification and possible resolution of the root much more quickly than non - automated processes. but automation may mask the root cause of the incident. careful consideration should be given to determining which troubleshooting steps should be automated and which require human analysis. human analysis of troubleshooting if a compute resource fails, it is no longer necessary to treat the failure as an incident that must be fixed immediately. it may be more efficient and cost effective to treat the failure as part of the decay of the resource pool. rather than treat a failed server as an incident that requires immediate resolution, treat it as a natural candidate for replacement on a regular maintenance schedule, or when the resource pool reaches a certain threshold of decay. each organization must balance cost, efficiency, and risk as it determines an acceptable decay threshold – and choose among these courses of action : the benefits and trade - off of each of the options are listed below : option 4 is the least desirable, as it does not take advantage of the resiliency and cost reduction benefits of a private cloud. a well - planned resource pool and reserve capacity strategy will account for resource decay. option 1 is the most recommended approach. a predictable maintenance schedule allows for better procurement planning and can help avoid conflicts with other maintenance activities, such as software upgrades. again, a well - planned resource pool and reserve capacity strategy will account for resource decay and minimize the risk of exceeding critical thresholds before the scheduled maintenance. option 3 will likely be the only option for self - contained scale unit scenarios, as the container must be replaced as a single scale unit when the decay threshold is reached. the goal of request fulfillment is to manage requests for service from users. users should have a clear understanding of the process they need to initiate to request service and it should have a consistent approach for managing these requests. much like any service provider, it should clearly define the types of requests available to users in the service catalog. the service catalog should include an sla on when the request will be completed, as well as the cost of fulfilling the request, if any. the types of requests available and their associated costs should reflect the actual cost of completing the request and this cost should be easily understood. for example, if a user requests an additional vm, its daily cost should be noted on the request form, which should also be exposed to the organization or person responsible for paying the bill. it is relatively easy to see the need for adding resources, but more difficult to see when a resource is no longer needed. a process for identifying and removing unused v


##ing. as long as user actions are isolated and cannot impact mission critical applications, the agility and user empowerment may justify the risk of giving up control of release management. again, it is essential that in such a scenario, expiration timers are included to prevent server sprawl. the goal of access management is to make sure authorized users have access to the services they need while preventing access by unauthorized users. access management is the implementation of security policies defined by information security management at the service delivery layer. maintaining access for authorized users is critical for achieving the perception of continuous availability. besides allowing access, access management defines users who are allowed to use, configure, or administer objects in the management layer. from a provider ’ s perspective, it answers questions like : from a consumer ’ s perspective, it answers questions such as : access management is implemented at several levels and can include physical barriers to systems such as requiring access smartcards at the data center, or virtual barriers such as network and virtual local area network ( vlan ) separation, firewalling, and access to storage and applications. taking a service provider ’ s approach to access management will also make sure that resource segmentation and multi - tenancy is addressed. resource pools may need to be segmented to address security concerns around confidentiality, integrity, and availability. some tenants may not wish to share infrastructure resources to keep their environment isolated from others. access management of shared infrastructure requires logical access control mechanisms such as encryption, access control rights, user groupings, and permissions. dedicated infrastructure also relies on physical access control mechanisms, where infrastructure is not physically connected, but is effectively isolated through a firewall or other mechanisms. the goal of systems administration is to make sure that the daily, weekly, monthly, and as - needed tasks required to keep a system healthy are being performed. regularly performing ongoing systems administration tasks is critical for achieving predictability. as the organization matures and the knowledge management database becomes more robust and increasingly automated, systems administration tasks is no longer part of the job role function. it is important to keep this in mind as an organization moves to a private cloud. staff once responsible for systems administration should refocus on automation and scripting skills – and on monitoring the fabric to identify patterns that indicate possibilities for ongoing improvement of existing automated workflows.


published may 2008 properly located digital signage in high traffic areas on school campuses provides students and faculty with a convenient resource to stay up to date about the latest school news and activities. signage in education by anthony d. coppedge technology gets high marks. digital media and communications have come to play a vital role in people ’ s everyday lives, and a visit to the local k - 12 school, college or university campus quickly illustrates the many ways in which individuals rely on audio and visual technologies each day. the shift from analog media to digital, represented by milestones ranging from the replacement of the walkman by the mp3 player to the dtv transition currently enabling broadcasts beyond the home to mobile devices, has redefined the options that larger institutions, including those in our educational system, have for sharing information across the campus and facilities. flexible and efficient digital signage, in particular, is proving to be a flexible and efficient tool for delivering specific and up - to - date information within the educational environment. as a high - resolution, high - impact medium, it lives up to the now - widespread expectation that visual media be crisp and clear, displayed on a large screen. although the appeal of implementing digital signage networks does stem, in part, from plummeting screen prices and sophisticated content delivery systems, what ’ s equally or more important is that digital signage provides valuable information to the people who need it, when and where they need it. on school campuses — whether preschool, elementary, high school or post - secondary institutions — it does so effectively, for both educational purposes and for the security and safety of staff, administration and the student body as a whole. school campuses have begun leveraging digital signage technology in addition to, or in place of, printed material, such as course schedules, content and location ; time - sensitive school news and updates ; maps and directions ; welcome messages for visitors and applicants ; and event schedules. digital signage simplifies creation and delivery of multiple channels of targeted content to different displays on the network. although a display in the college admissions office might provide prospective students with a glimpse into student life, for example, another display outside a lab or seminar room might present the courses or lectures scheduled for that space throughout the day. this model of a distribution concept illustrates a school distributing educational content over a public tv broadcast network. at the k - 12 level, digital signage makes it easy to deliver information such as team or band practice schedules, or to post the cafeteria menu and give students information encouraging sound food choices. digital signage in the preschool and day


public tv broadcast network. at the k - 12 level, digital signage makes it easy to deliver information such as team or band practice schedules, or to post the cafeteria menu and give students information encouraging sound food choices. digital signage in the preschool and daycare setting makes it easy for teachers and caregivers to share targeted educational programming with their classes. among the most striking benefits of communicating through digital signage is the quality of the pictures and the flexibility with which images, text and video can be combined in one or more windows to convey information. studies have shown that dynamic signage is noticed significantly more often than are static displays and, furthermore, that viewers are more likely to remember that dynamic content. though most regularly updated digital signage content tends to be text - based, digital signage networks also have the capacity to enable the live campus - wide broadcast of key events : a speech by a visiting dignitary, the basketball team ’ s first trip to the state or national tournament, or even the proceedings at commencement and graduation. when time is short, it ’ s impractical to gather the entire student body in one place or there simply isn ’ t the time or means to deliver the live message in any other way. the ability to share critical information to the entire school community, clearly and without delay, has made digital signage valuable as a tool for emergency response and communications. parents, administrators, teachers and students today can ’ t help but be concerned about the school ’ s ability to respond quickly and effectively to a dangerous situation, whether the threat be from another person, an environmental hazard, an unpredictable weather system or some other menace. digital signage screens installed across a school campus can be updated immediately to warn students and staff of the danger, and to provide unambiguous instructions for seeking shelter or safety : where to go and what to do. although early digital signage systems relied on ip - based networks and point - to - point connections between a player and each display, current solutions operate on far less costly and much more scalable platforms. broadcast - based digital signage models allow content to be distributed remotely from a single data source via transport media, such as digital television broadcast, satellite, broadband and wimax. the staff member responsible for maintaining the digital signage network can use popular content creation toolsets to populate both dynamic and static displays. this content is uploaded to a server that, in turn, feeds the digital signage network via broadcast, much like datacasting, to the receive site for playout. by slotting specific content into predefined


both dynamic and static displays. this content is uploaded to a server that, in turn, feeds the digital signage network via broadcast, much like datacasting, to the receive site for playout. by slotting specific content into predefined display templates, each section with its own playlist, the administrator can schedule display of multiple elements simultaneously or a single - window static, video or animated display. the playlist enables delivery of the correct elements to the targeted display both at the scheduled time and in the appropriate layout. in networks with multicast - enabled routers, the administrator can schedule unique content for displays in different locations. in the case of delivering emergency preparedness or response information across a campus, content can be created through the same back - office software used for day - to - day digital signage displays. within the broadcast - based model, three components ensure the smooth delivery of content to each display. a transmission component serves as a content hub, allocating bandwidth and inserting content into the broadcast stream based on the schedule dictated by the network ’ s content management component. content is encapsulated into ip packets that, in turn, are encapsulated into mpeg2 packets for delivery. generic content distribution model for digital signage solution. the content management component of the digital signage network provides for organization and scheduling of content, as well as targeting of that content to specific receivers. flexibility in managing the digital signage system enables distribution of the same emergency message across all receivers and associated displays, or the delivery of select messages to particular displays within the larger network. with tight control over the message being distributed, school administrators can immediately provide the information that students and staff in different parts of the campus need to maintain the safest possible environment. receivers can be set to confirm receipt of content, in turn assuring administrative and emergency personnel that their communications are, in fact, being conveyed as intended. on the receiving end, the third component of the system, content, is extracted from the digital broadcast stream and fed to the display screen. the relationships that many colleges and universities share with public tv stations provide an excellent opportunity for establishing a digital signage network. today, the deployed base of broadcast - based content distribution systems in public tv stations is capable of reaching 50 % of the us population. these stations ’ dtv bandwidth is used not only for television programming, but also to generate new revenues and aggressively support public charters by providing efficient delivery of multimedia content for education, homeland security and other public services. educational institutions affiliated with such broadcasters already have


these stations ’ dtv bandwidth is used not only for television programming, but also to generate new revenues and aggressively support public charters by providing efficient delivery of multimedia content for education, homeland security and other public services. educational institutions affiliated with such broadcasters already have the technology, and much of the necessary infrastructure, in place to launch a digital signage network. in taking advantage of the public broadcaster ’ s content delivery system, the college or university also can tap into the station ’ s existing links with area emergency response agencies. as digital signage technology continues to evolve, educational institutions will be able to extend both urgent alerts and more mundane daily communications over text and email messaging. smart content distribution systems will push consistent information to screens of all sizes, providing messages not only to displays, but also to the cell phones and pdas so ubiquitous in us schools. the continued evolution of mph technology will support this enhancement in delivery of messages directly to each student. mph in - band mobile dtv technology leverages atsc dtv broadcasts to enable extensions of digital signage and broadcast content directly to personal devices, whether stationary or on the move. rather than rely on numerous unrelated systems, such as ringing bells, written memos and intercom announcements, schools can unify messaging and its delivery, in turn reducing the redundancy involved in maintaining communications with the student body. an effective digital signage network provides day - to - day benefits for an elementary school, high school, college or university while providing invaluable emergency communications capabilities that increasingly are considered a necessity, irrespective of whether they get put to the test. the selection of an appropriate digital signage model depends, of course, on the needs of the organization. educational institutions share many of the same concerns held by counterparts in the corporate world, and key among those concerns is the simple matter of getting long - term value and use out of their technical investments. however, before even addressing the type of content the school wishes to create and distribute, the systems integrator, consultant or other av and media professional should work with the eventual operators of the digital signage network to identify and map out the existing workflow. once the system designer, integrator or installer has evaluated how staff currently work in an emergency to distribute information, he then can adjust established processes and adapt them to the digital signage model. the administrative staff who will be expected to update or import schedules to the digital signage system will have a much lower threshold of acceptance for a workflow that is completely unfamiliar or at odds with all their previous experience.