By Isaac Sever, Cypress Semiconductor
Stepper motors convert electrical energy into discrete mechanical rotation. They are ideally suited for many measurement and control applications where positional accuracy is important. Stepping motors have the following advantages:
- Full torque when rotation is stopped. This is in contrast to brushed and brushless DC motors, which cannot provide full torque continuously when the rotor is stopped. This aids in maintaining the current position.
- Precise open-loop positioning and repetition. Stepper motors move in discrete steps as long as the motor stays under the maximum torque and current limits. This allows the rotor position to be determined by the control sequence without additional tracking or feedback. High quality stepping motors have three to five percent precision within a single step.
- Quick starts, stop, and reverse capability.
- High reliability because there is no brush or physical contact required for commutation. The life span of a stepping motor is dependent on the performance of the bearings.
- Microstepping mode can be used allowing direct connection to a load without intermediate gearing.
- A wide speed range can be controlled by varying the drive signal timing.
- Inherent resonance can cause noise, jerky rotation, and at extreme levels, loss of position.
- It is possible to lose position control in some situations, because no feedback is natively provided.
- Power consumption does not decrease to zero, even if load is absent.
- Stepping motors have low-power density and lower maximum speed compared to brushed and brushless DC motors. Typical loaded maximum operating speeds for stepper motors are around 1000 RPM.
- Complex electronic controls are required.
Figure 1: Structure of motors.
Types of stepping motors
There are several basic types of stepping motors:
- Variable reluctance motors with metal teeth.
- Permanent magnet motors.
- Hybrid motors with both permanent magnets and metal teeth.
Variable reluctance stepping motors have three to five windings and a common terminal connection, creating several phases on the stator. The rotor is toothed and made of metal, but is not permanently magnetized. A simplified variable reluctance stepping motor is shown in Figure 2. In this figure, the rotor has four teeth and the stator has three independent windings (six phases), creating 30 degree steps.
Figure 2: Simple variable reluctance stepping motor.
The rotation of a variable reluctance stepping motor is produced by energizing individual windings. When a winding is energized, current flows and magnetic poles are created, which attracts the metal teeth of the rotor. The rotor moves one step to align the offset teeth to the energized winding. At this position, the next adjacent windings can be energized to continue rotation to another step, or the current winding can remain energized to hold the motor at its current position. When the phases are turned on sequentially, the rotor rotates continuously.
The described rotation is identical to a typical BLDC motor. The fundamental difference between a stepper and BLDC motor is that the stepper is designed to operate continuously stalled without overheating or damage.
Rotation for a variable reluctance stepping motor with three windings and four rotor teeth is illustrated in Figure 3.
1, 2, 3, 1 → 3 steps → quarter turn
12 steps per rotation
As shown in Figure 3, energizing each of the windings in sequence moves the rotor a quarter turn, 12 steps are required for a full rotation.
Table 1: Variable reluctance stepper motor in Figure 3.
The three steps shown in Figure 3 move the rotor a quarter turn. A full rotation requires 12 steps for a variable reluctance stepper motor.
Typical variable reluctance motors have more teeth and use a tooth pole along with a toothed rotor to produce step angles near one degree.
Figure 3: Rotation control of variable reluctance stepping motor.
Permanent magnet stepping motor
A permanent magnet stepping motor consists of a stator with windings and a rotor with permanent magnet poles. Alternate rotor poles have rectilinear forms parallel to the motor axis. Stepping motors with magnetized rotors provide greater flux and torque than motors with variable reluctance. The motor, shown in Figure 4, has three rotor pole pairs and two independent stator windings, creating 30 degree steps.
Motors with permanent magnets are subjected to influence from the back-EMF of the rotor, which limits the maximum speed. Therefore, when high speeds are required, motors with variable reluctance are preferred over motors with permanent magnets.
Figure 4: Permanent magnet stepping motor.
Rotation of a permanent magnet stepping motor is produced by energizing individual windings in a positive or negative direction. When a winding is energized, a north and south pole are created, depending on the polarity of the current flowing. These generated poles attract the permanent poles of the rotor. The rotor moves one step to align the offset permanent poles to the corresponding energized windings. At this position, the next adjacent windings can be energized to continue rotation to another step, or the current winding can remain energized to hold the motor at its current position. When the phases are turned on sequentially the rotor is continuously rotated.
Rotation for a permanent magnet stepping motor with two windings and three pairs of permanent rotor poles (six poles) is shown in Figure 5.
Winding in sequence:
1 +/-, 2 +/-, 1 -/+, 2 -/+ → 3 steps → quarter turn
12 steps per rotation
Table 2: Permanent magnet stepping motor in Figure 5.
With one winding energized, the three steps move the rotor a quarter turn. A full rotation requires 12 steps for a permanent magnet stepper motor (bipolar) with both windings energized in each step. As shown in Figure 5, energizing each winding in sequence through each polarity moves the rotor a quarter turn. As before, 12 steps are required for a full rotation.
Figure 5: Rotation control of permanent magnet stepping motor, sequencing individual windings.
Another alternative to rotate a permanent magnet rotor is to energize both windings in each step. The vector torque generated by each of the coils is additive; this doubles the current flowing in the motor, and increases the torque. More complex control is also required to sequence the turning on and off of both windings.
As shown in Figure 6, energizing two windings in each step, sequencing through each combination of polarities moves the rotor a quarter turn. As before, 12 steps are required for a full rotation.
Table 3: Permanent magnet stepping motor in Figure 6.
Figure 6: Rotation control of permanent magnet stepping motor using both windings together.
Typical permanent magnet motors have more poles to create smaller steps. To make significantly smaller steps down to one degree, permanent magnet rotors can add metal teeth and toothed windings. This hybrid motor is described in the next section.
Hybrid stepping motor
Hybrid stepping motors combine a permanent magnet and a rotor with metal teeth to provide features of the variable reluctance and permanent magnet motors. Hybrid motors are more expensive than motors with permanent magnets, but they use smaller steps, have greater torque, and have greater maximum speeds.
A hybrid motor rotor has teeth placed on the directional axes. The rotor is divided into parts between constant magnet poles. The number of rotor pole pairs is equal to the number of teeth on one of the rotor’s parts. The hybrid motor stator has teeth creating more poles than just the main poles containing windings. The rotor teeth provide a smaller magnetic circuit resistance in some rotor positions, which improves static and dynamic torque. This is provided by corresponding teeth positioning; some parts of the rotor teeth are placed opposite the stator teeth and the remaining rotor teeth are placed between the stator teeth. Dependence between the number of rotor poles, the stator equivalent poles, and the phase number define step angle:
Figure 7: Hybrid stepping motor.
Rotation of a hybrid stepping motor is produced with the same control method as a permanent magnet stepping motor, by energizing individual windings in a positive or negative direction. When a winding is energized, a north and south pole are created, depending on the polarity of the current flowing. These generated poles attract the permanent poles of the rotor and the finer metal rotor teeth. The rotor moves one step to align the offset magnetized rotor teeth to the corresponding energized windings.
Stepping motor control
A step motor is a synchronous electric motor. Its fixed rotor equilibrium position occurs when aligned with the stator magnetic field. When the stator changes position, the rotor rotates to occupy a new equilibrium position.
There are several stepper motor drive modes:
- Full-step mode.
- Double-step mode.
- Half-step mode.
- Microstep Mode.
Stepping motors can be controlled in a variety of ways, trading off implementation requirements with greater accuracy and smoother transitions. Rotation control with full-steps, half-steps, and microsteps is described as follows:
Full-step mode for a permanent magnet and hybrid stepping motor is detailed in the Stepper Motor Introduction. Figure 5 illustrates one-phase full-step mode in which only one winding is turned on at a time. In this mode, the rotor’s balanced position for each step is in line with the stator poles. With only half of the motor coils used at a given time, the full torque obtained is limited.
Two-phase, full-step mode shown in Figure 6 uses both windings energized in each step. This doubles the current through the motor and provides 40 percent more torque than when only one phase is used at a time. With two windings energized, the rotor’s balanced position for each step is halfway between the two energized stator poles.
The full-step and double-step drive modes can be combined to generate half-steps of rotation for half-step mode. First one winding is turned on, and then the second winding is energized, moving the rotor half a step towards the second, as shown in Figure 8.
A half-step with the combination of one and two windings energized in full-step mode produces higher resolution, but does not provide constant torque throughout rotation.
Figure 8: Three half steps, 1/8 of a rotation.
Microstepping mode is an extension of the half-step drive mode. Instead of switching the current in a winding from on to off, the current is scaled up and down in smaller steps. When two phases are turned on and the current of each phase is not equal, the rotor position is determined by the current phase ratio. This changing current ratio creates discrete steps in the torque exerted on the rotor and results in smaller fractional steps of rotation between each full-step. Microstep mode reduces torque ripple and low-speed resonance present in the other modes and is required in many situations.
Microstepping creates rotation of the rotor by scaling the contributions of the two additive torque vectors from the two stepper motor windings.
Figure 9: Torque in microstepping control mode.
The total torque exerted on the rotor is the vector addition of the torque from the two rotors. Each of the torques is proportional to the position of the rotor and the sine/cosine of the step angle.
These equations can be combined and solved for the position of the rotor.
Fractional steps are created by scaling torque contributions between windings. Because torque is proportional to magnetic flux that is proportional to the current in the winding, the position of the rotor can be controlled by controlling the current flowing in each winding. To create smooth microsteps between full-steps, the current is varied sinusoidally with a 90 degree phase shift between the two windings as shown in Figure 10.
The current is scaled by controlling the root mean square (RMS) current using a current mode buck converter, commonly called a chopper drive when used with stepper motors. The phase current is converted into a voltage using a sense resistor in each phase ground path. This voltage is routed to a comparator that disables the output whenever the phase current rises above a reference. The comparator reference is provided by a voltage digital-to-analog converter (VDAC). By changing the VDAC supplied current limit for each microstep, the total motor torque remains approximately constant for each step of the sinusoidal current waveform.
Figure 10: VDAC current limit for microstep mode.
Microstepping allows the rotor position to be controlled with more accuracy and also has advantages in the rotation. Advantages of microstepping are:
- Position is controlled with more accuracy.
- Rotation can be stopped at specific fraction of a step.
- Transitions are smoother.
- Damp resonance creates fewer oscillations as motor steps (especially at startup and slowdown).
Figure 11: Smooth transitions between steps and limited oscillations and settling in microstep mode.
PSoC 3 introduction
The CY8C3866AXI device is in the PSoC 3 architecture. A block diagram of the device is shown in Figure 12 with the blocks used in the stepper application highlighted.
Figure 12: PSoC 3 (CY8C3866AXI) block diagram.
The PSoC 3 digital subsystem provides unique configurability of functions and interconnects. The stepper motor control uses these digital resources to implement timers, pulse width modulator (PWM) blocks, control registers, and a hardware lookup table (LUT).
The PSoC 3 analog subsystem provides the device the second half of its unique configurability. The stepper motor uses dedicated comparators, voltage DACs, and programmable gain amplifiers (PGA).
Stepper motor control based on PSoC 3
The block diagram of the stepper motor control based on the CY8C3866AXI is shown in Figure 13. The PSoC Creator™ schematic is shown in Figure 14.
Figure 13: Block diagram of PSoC 3 stepper motor controller.
Input control signals to the PSoC 3 device are:
- Motor Current Sensing: Analog input pins to detect motor phase current on shunt resistor. Used to limit current of the motor phases. See details in the following section.
- User Interface Pins
- User Input: Analog pin to read potentiometer for parameter input. Two digital pins for Menu control buttons.
- Character LCD: Digital output port (seven pins) to drive the character LCD on the DVK for menu options and user feedback.
- PWM signals to the high-side drivers (four digital output pins).
- PWM signals to the low-side drivers (four digital output pins).
Figure 14: PSoC Creator schematic for stepper motor control.
The PWMs are not used to produce the typical pulse width modulation output used with other motors. Instead, the PWMs act more as a timer to ensure a maximum chopping frequency to avoid overheating the drivers. Additionally, the PWM ‘kill circuit’ natively includes the cycle kill mode that implements the chopper drive method by disabling the drive outputs for the remainder of the current PWM cycle after the comparator trips.
The PWM signals are routed to a look up table (LUT) logic block, along with the current stepping stage index. This logic block implements a LUT using the PLD capabilities of a universal digital block (UDB) and routes the PWM signals to the eight legal output control combinations based on the current polarity of each phase. These control signals are routed through GPIOs to the external power driver circuits that drive the stepper motor. In the demonstrated chopper drive topology, transistors or MOSFETs are typically used to switch the high voltages and currents used to drive the stepper motors. The sequencing of the PWM control signals on the external power drivers produces the step by step rotation of the motor.
A timer generates periodic interrupts that generate each step (or microstep) of the motor. This timer can be used to run the motor at a specific speed, or to a specific position (exact number of steps). To set the speed of the motor, the interrupt period of the timer is updated by firmware.
PSoC 3 also implements current limiting for motor overcurrent protection and microstepping in hardware. This is described in the following section.
Microstepping and current protection implementation
Microstepping limits the current flowing in the motor windings to create smooth and well-controlled transitions between full-steps. This functionality also builds protection in hardware for overcurrent that shields the motor from damage. The block diagram of the system with the current feedback sensing paths is shown in Figure 15.
Figure 15: Overcurrent protection block diagram for microstepping.
Motor current is measured with two shunt resistors in the ground paths of the power driver MOSFETS (R1 and R2 in Figure 15). This voltage is low-pass filtered on the board and connected to two analog pins on PSoC 3 (labeled Curr_A and Curr_B).
The input voltages are fed into programmable gain amplifiers (PGA) implemented with the analog continuous time (CT) blocks. The PGA buffers the input voltage and drives it to a continuous time comparator. This voltage level from the sense resistor is compared to the current limit, set by an 8-bit voltage DAC. For microstepping the DACs’ output, sine and cosine waveforms are generated from a software lookup table. This limits the motor current sinusoidally for smooth microstepping.
The output of the comparator is connected to the PWM block and kills the PWM output when the current limit threshold is exceeded. This provides cycle-by-cycle current limiting to the motor and creates smooth microstepping transitions. The implementation of the current limiting protection in PSoC Creator is shown in Figure 16.
Figure 16: PSoC Creator schematic implementation of current limiting block for microstepping.
The PSoC 3 resources used in current limiting are:
- Two continuous time (CT) blocks implement the PGAs.
- Two fixed analog comparators are dedicated analog resources and do not use any SC/CT blocks.
- Two 8-bit PWMs implemented in UDBs (the same PWMs used to control the power device drivers). The output of the comparator triggers the kill input to the PWM when a current limiting condition is detected.
- Two 8-bit VDACs. These built in 8-bit voltage DACs are used to set the threshold for the comparator current limit.
Shown in Figure 17 are the settings for each DAC and rotation index, and the microstep pointer (ramping 1-128).
Figure 17: Current limit versus time step for 128 step microstepping.
The currents flowing in the two windings are measured with small sense resistors between the power devices and ground. The value of the current detection shunt resistor is a trade-off between power efficiency and robustness of the detection blocks. For a given current limit, enough change in voltage must be generated by the motor current to accurately detect the change with the comparator, but increasing the resistor increases heat and reduces efficiency.
The current limiting protection mechanism implemented in PSoC 3 hardware is an on-chip low-cost solution.
The output PWM drivers are controlled by a hardware lookup table. The table takes inputs from the two PWM blocks and a control register that holds the rotation index (as shown in Figure 18).
In Table 4, the PWM control hardware LUT receives the stage index and PWM signals as inputs and outputs the eight PWM driver signals.
Table 4: PWM control hardware LUT.
Figure 18: PSoC Creator schematic LUT implementation of PWM output control.
When operating with microstep drive mode, the PWM outputs for PWM_A and PWM_B cycle through 01, 10, and 11. When the stepper motor operates under full-step mode, both PWMs are on (11). In this case, the LUT simplifies to the following table the rotation sequence described in the full-step descriptions earlier.
In Table 5, the simplified MPhase output control hardware LUT receives the stage index and PWM signals as inputs and outputs the eight PWM driver signals.
Table 5: MPhase output control hardware LUT.
The stepper motor can be run at a fixed speed or to a desired position. To run at a fixed speed, the timer period that triggers each step (or microstep) is adjusted. The 16-bit timer terminal count triggers an interrupt that is used to initiate each step. Input frequency of the timer is 100 kHz to ensure precision speed control. PSoC 3 is also able to receive step pulse commands from an external controller such as a PLC.
In Figure 19, the timer terminal count triggers an interrupt that initiates each step.
Figure 19: PSoC Creator schematic implementation of speed control timer.
To run in position control mode, the stepper motor turns a specific number of steps and then stops. (Position control mode is not supported with the user interface in the stepper motor demo). An internal counter is used to count the desired steps. When the desired position is reached, the step control from the timer interrupt is masked until the user requests another action.
When the motor stops, phase current is lowered automatically to save power and reduce heating.
The ability to control the position in an open loop configuration by counting steps (or microsteps) is dependent on the stepper motor operating within the torque and motor load limits. If the torque/load limits are exceeded, the motor can miss steps and the absolute rotational position information is lost.
There is one main loop and one interrupt service routine (ISR) for control of the motor, the timer ISR. The timer ISR generates an interrupt that triggers the step control function (see Figure 19). Each time the step function is called, the motor takes one step (or microstep). The step function looks up the sinusoidal values from a table and sets the DAC output voltage to control the phase currents. A flow chart of the firmware operation is shown in Figure 20. Other ISRs for the UART and ADC are also used for the demo project UI and GUI interfaces.
Figure 20: Stepper motor control firmware flow chart.
PSoC resource utilization
The stepper motor uses resources from the digital and analog portions of the PSoC 3 device. The highest use of resources stem from the VDACs and comparators. Two VDACs and two comparators are used for the stepper motor microstepping control. This constraint limits the CY8C3866AXI-040 device to a maximum of two stepper motor controllers.
Table 6: Stepper motor demo CY8C3866AXI-040 resource utilization (blocks with none used are not shown).
Table 7: Stepper motor demo on CY8C3866AXI-040 memory utilization (Keil™ Complier, Level-5 optimization)
Cypress’ stepper motor control with PSoC 3 incorporates current limiting and microstepping control for an optimized solution. Up to 128 microsteps is suitable for precision position control. The PSoC 3 stepper motor control solution has low total system cost and leaves significant PSoC 3 resources available for additional system functions.
- Cypress Application Note AN2229, “Motor Control - Multi-Functional Stepping Motor Driver” by Victor Kremin and Ruslan Bachinsky.
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Pacific ecosystem: An ochre sea star makes a kelp forest home in Monterey Bay, California.
Image courtesy of Kip F. Evans
Ocean Literacy - Essential Principle 5
The ocean supports a great diversity of life and ecosystems.
Fundamental Concept 5a.
Ocean life ranges in size from the smallest virus to the largest animal that has lived on Earth, the blue whale.
Fundamental Concept 5b.
Most life in the ocean exists as microbes. Microbes are the most important primary producers in the ocean. Not only are they the most abundant life form in the ocean, they have extremely fast growth rates and life cycles.
Fundamental Concept 5c.
Some major groups are found exclusively in the ocean. The diversity of major groups of organisms is much greater in the ocean than on land.
Fundamental Concept 5d.
Ocean biology provides many unique examples of life cycles, adaptations and important relationships among organisms (symbiosis, predator-prey dynamics and energy transfer) that do not occur on land.
Fundamental Concept 5e.
The ocean is three-dimensional, offering vast living space and diverse habitats from the surface through the water column to the seafloor. Most of the living space on Earth is in the ocean.
Fundamental Concept 5f.
Ocean habitats are defined by environmental factors. Due to interactions of abiotic factors such as salinity, temperature, oxygen, pH, light, nutrients, pressure, substrate and circulation, ocean life is not evenly distributed temporally or spatially, i.e., it is “patchy”. Some regions of the ocean support more diverse and abundant life than anywhere on Earth, while much of the ocean is considered a desert.
Fundamental Concept 5g.
There are deep ocean ecosystems that are independent of energy from sunlight and photosynthetic organisms. Hydrothermal vents, submarine hot springs, methane cold seeps, and whale falls rely only on chemical energy and chemosynthetic organisms to support life.
Fundamental Concept 5h.
Tides, waves and predation cause vertical zonation patterns along the shore, influencing the distribution and diversity of organisms.
Fundamental Concept 5i.
Estuaries provide important and productive nursery areas for many marine and aquatic species.
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Rurik DynastyArticle Free Pass
Rurik Dynasty, princes of Kievan Rus and, later, Muscovy who, according to tradition, were descendants of the Varangian prince Rurik, who had been invited by the people of Novgorod to rule that city (c. 862); the Rurik princes maintained their control over Kievan Rus and, later, Muscovy until 1598.
Rurik’s successor Oleg (d. 912) conquered Kiev (c. 882) and established control of the trade route extending from Novgorod, along the Dnieper River, to the Black Sea. Igor (allegedly Rurik’s son; reigned 912–945) and his successors—his wife, St. Olga (regent 945–969), and their son Svyatoslav (reigned 945–972)—further extended their territories; Svyatoslav’s son Vladimir I (St. Vladimir; reigned c. 980–1015) consolidated the dynasty’s rule.
Vladimir compiled the first Kievan Rus law code and introduced Christianity into the country. He also organized the Kievan Rus lands into a cohesive confederation by distributing the major cities among his sons; the eldest was to be grand prince of Kiev, and the brothers were to succeed each other, moving up the hierarchy of cities toward Kiev, filling vacancies left by the advancement or death of an elder brother. The youngest brother was to be succeeded as grand prince by his eldest nephew whose father had been a grand prince. This succession pattern was generally followed through the reigns of Svyatopolk (1015–19); Yaroslav the Wise (1019–54); his sons Izyaslav (1054–68; 1069–73; and 1077–78), Svyatoslav (1073–76), and Vsevolod (1078–93); and Svyatopolk II (son of Izyaslav; reigned 1093–1113).
The successions were accomplished, however, amid continual civil wars. In addition to the princes’ unwillingness to adhere to the pattern and readiness to seize their positions by force instead, the system was upset whenever a city rejected the prince designated to rule it. It was also undermined by the tendency of the princes to settle in regions they ruled rather than move from city to city to become the prince of Kiev.
In 1097 all the princes of Kievan Rus met at Lyubech (northwest of Chernigov) and decided to divide their lands into patrimonial estates. The succession for grand prince, however, continued to be based on the generation pattern; thus, Vladimir Monomakh succeeded his cousin Svyatopolk II as grand prince of Kiev. During his reign (1113–25) Vladimir tried to restore unity to the lands of Kievan Rus; and his sons (Mstislav, reigned 1125–32; Yaropolk, 1132–39; Vyacheslav, 1139; and Yury Dolgoruky, 1149–57) succeeded him eventually, though not without some troubles in the 1140s.
Nevertheless, distinct branches of the dynasty established their own rule in the major centres of the country outside Kiev—Halicz, Novgorod, and Suzdal. The princes of these regions vied with each other for control of Kiev; but when Andrew Bogolyubsky of Suzdal finally conquered and sacked the city (1169), he returned to Vladimir (a city in the Suzdal principality) and transferred the seat of the grand prince to Vladimir. Andrew Bogolyubsky’s brother Vsevolod III succeeded him as grand prince of Vladimir (reigned 1176–1212); Vsevolod was followed by his sons Yury (1212–38), Yaroslav (1238–46), and Svyatoslav (1246–47) and his grandson Andrew (1247–52).
Alexander Nevsky (1252–63) succeeded his brother Andrew; and Alexander’s brothers and sons succeeded him. Furthering the tendency toward fragmentation, however, none moved to Vladimir but remained in their regional seats and secured their local princely houses. Thus, Alexander’s brother Yaroslav (grand prince of Vladimir, 1264–71) founded the house of Tver, and Alexander’s son Daniel founded the house of Moscow.
After the Mongol invasion (1240) the Russian princes were obliged to seek a patent from the Mongol khan in order to rule as grand prince. Rivalry for the patent, as well as for leadership in the grand principality of Vladimir, developed among the princely houses, particularly those of Tver and Moscow. Gradually, the princes of Moscow became dominant, forming the grand principality of Moscow (Muscovy), which they ruled until their male line died out in 1598.
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There are really two decisions that must be made regarding the hidden layers: how many hidden layers to actually have in the neural network and how many neurons will be in each of these layers. We will first examine how to determine the number of hidden layers to use with the neural network.
Problems that require two hidden layers are rarely encountered. However, neural networks with two hidden layers can represent functions with any kind of shape. There is currently no theoretical reason to use neural networks with any more than two hidden layers. In fact, for many practical problems, there is no reason to use any more than one hidden layer. Table 5.1 summarizes the capabilities of neural network architectures with various hidden layers.
Table 5.1: Determining the Number of Hidden Layers
|Number of Hidden Layers||Result|
|none||Only capable of representing linear separable functions or decisions.|
|1||Can approximate any function that contains a continuous mapping from one finite space to another.|
|2||Can represent an arbitrary decision boundary to arbitrary accuracy with rational activation functions and can approximate any smooth mapping to any accuracy.|
Deciding the number of hidden neuron layers is only a small part of the problem. You must also determine how many neurons will be in each of these hidden layers. This process is covered in the next section.
Deciding the number of neurons in the hidden layers is a very important part of deciding your overall neural network architecture. Though these layers do not directly interact with the external environment, they have a tremendous influence on the final output. Both the number of hidden layers and the number of neurons in each of these hidden layers must be carefully considered.
Using too few neurons in the hidden layers will result in something called underfitting. Underfitting occurs when there are too few neurons in the hidden layers to adequately detect the signals in a complicated data set.
Using too many neurons in the hidden layers can result in several problems. First, too many neurons in the hidden layers may result in overfitting. Overfitting occurs when the neural network has so much information processing capacity that the limited amount of information contained in the training set is not enough to train all of the neurons in the hidden layers. A second problem can occur even when the training data is sufficient. An inordinately large number of neurons in the hidden layers can increase the time it takes to train the network. The amount of training time can increase to the point that it is impossible to adequately train the neural network. Obviously, some compromise must be reached between too many and too few neurons in the hidden layers.
There are many rule-of-thumb methods for determining the correct number of neurons to use in the hidden layers, such as the following:
These three rules provide a starting point for you to consider. Ultimately, the selection of an architecture for your neural network will come down to trial and error. But what exactly is meant by trial and error? You do not want to start throwing random numbers of layers and neurons at your network. To do so would be very time consuming. Chapter 8, “Pruning a Neural Network” will explore various ways to determine an optimal structure for a neural network.


Friday Flyby May Trigger 'Asteroid-Quake' on Space Rock
The close flyby of Earth by asteroid 2012 DA14 on Friday (Feb. 15) could trigger a quake on the space rock, scientists say.
"We are going to be looking closely for evidence of seismic activity on 2014 DA14 as it passes by," Richard Binzel, a professor of planetary science at MIT, said in a statement. "This is the first case of an object coming close enough to experience quakes and where we have enough notice to plan observations."
During the unprecedented close approach, 2012 DA14, which is about half the size of a football field, will cruise within 17,200 miles (27,700 kilometers) of the planet. It poses no threat to Earth, but the flyby marks the first time scientists like Binzel have had the chance to observe such a big space rock this close-up.
Binzel believes many near-Earth asteroids get shaken up when they fly too closely to our planet's gravitational field, which could help explain why some space rocks seem to shed a worn-looking outer coating caused by "space weathering." [Asteroid 2012 DA14's Flyby: Complete Coverage]
"As asteroids move through space, they slowly turn dark red," Binzel said. "This phenomenon, called space weathering, is caused by long exposure to cosmic rays and solar radiation. For decades, however, we have known about a handful of small asteroids that looked [light and fresh]; they were not space-weathered."
Binzel and his colleagues calculated the orbits of those squeaky-clean asteroids and found out what they all had in common: close encounters with Earth in the past million years.
"Gravitational forces during the flybys can stretch, rattle and torque these asteroids, causing dark, space-weathered material on the surface to be overturned, revealing the fresh stuff underneath," Binzel said.
Compared to quakes on Earth, asteroid-quakes would look quite minor. Binzel said an astronaut floating next to an asteroid during a tremor might notice its surface sway by a few centimeters or spot "gentle avalanches" on the space rock's steepest crater slopes.
"These asteroids experience [seismic activity] in the milli- to micro-g range," he said. "That might not sound like much, but remember these are small bodies. Gravity is not very strong, so just a little shaking or stretching goes a long way."
Binzel and his colleagues will be looking for changes in the color, spin, shape and reflectivity of asteroid 2012 DA14 as it passes by.
SPACE.com is providing complete coverage of asteroid 2012 DA14's flyby. Visit SPACE.com on Friday for day-long coverage as the asteroid buzzes Earth.
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The World Heritage Committee,
1. Having examined Documents WHC-08/32.COM/8B and WHC-08/32.COM/INF.8B1,
2. Inscribes the Al-Hijr Archaeological Site (Madâin Sâlih), Saudi Arabia,on the World Heritage List on the basis of criteria (ii) and (iii);
3. Adopts the following Statement of Outstanding Universal Value:
The archaeological site of Al-Hijr is a major site of the Nabataean civilisation, in the south of its zone of influence. Its integrity is remarkable and it is well conserved. It includes a major ensemble of tombs and monuments, whose architecture and decorations are directly cut into the sandstone.
It bears witness to the encounter between a variety of decorative and architectural influences (Assyrian, Egyptian, Phoenician, Hellenistic), and the epigraphic presence of several ancient languages (Lihyanite, Talmudic, Nabataean, Greek, Latin).
It bears witness to the development of Nabataean agricultural techniques using a large number of artificial wells in rocky ground. The wells are still in use.
The ancient city of Hegra/Al-Hijr bears witness to the international caravan trade during late Antiquity.
Criterion (ii): The site of Al-Hijr is located at a meeting point between various civilisations of late Antiquity, on a trade route between the Arabian Peninsula, the Mediterranean world and Asia. It bears outstanding witness to important cultural exchanges in architecture, decoration, language use and the caravan trade. Although the Nabataean city was abandoned during the pre-Islamic period, the route continued to play its international role for caravans and then for the pilgrimage to Mecca, up to its modernisation by the construction of the railway at the start of the 20th century.
Criterion (iii): The site of Al-Hijr bears unique testimony to the Nabataean civilisation, between the 2nd and 3rd centuries BC and the pre-Islamic period, and particularly in the 1st century AD. It is an outstanding illustration of the architectural style specific to the Nabataeans, consisting of monuments directly cut into the rock, and with facades bearing a large number of decorative motifs. The site includes a set of wells, most of which were sunk into the rock, demonstrating the Nabataeans' mastery of hydraulic techniques for agricultural purposes.
The testimony borne by Al-Hijr to the Nabataean civilisation is of outstanding integrity and authenticity, because of its early abandonment and the benefit over a very long period of highly favourable climatic conditions.
The State Party has begun to set up an extremely comprehensive Local Management Unit, and this process is now under way. The announced management plan should enable satisfactory protection of the property. With this in mind, the plan should organise systematic monitoring of the conservation of the site, and prepare a project for the presentation of the Outstanding Universal Value of the property for the benefit both of visitors and of the population of the region.
4. Requests the State Party to:
- a) implement the established management plan;
- b) in the framework of the management plan and the Local Management Unit, conduct regular monitoring;
5. Recommends that:
- a) the new framework law on the Kingdom's Antiquities and Museums be promulgated;
- b) care be taken to ensure that the development of reception facilities at the property and future developments in the wider surroundings of the property do not impact on the expression of the property's Outstanding Universal Value.


: Grade-2 English Games
Sight Words is a simple vocabulary and memory exercise for kids. It is designed to introduce kids to some common dolch sight words. Early readers recognize sight words from having memorized them. In this exercise, kids will learn to recognize and recall dolch sight words by flipping the cards and making a pair of the matching words. Kids will enjoy as they sharpen their memory skills and build their vocabulary. This will help kids in improving their reading skills also.


Last week a curious, free release popped up on Steam: Moonbase Alpha, a NASA-funded game where up to six players can team up in order to save a near-future Lunar base crippled by a meteor strike. The game is just the first release from NASA's Learning Technologies program, which aims to help raise interest in the space program through gaming.
Ars spoke with Daniel Laughlin, project manager of Learning Technologies, to learn more about the game and what we can expect to see in the future.
The game was codeveloped by Army Game Studio and Virtual Heroes, two of the leading developers of "serious games." And according to Laughlin, NASA's decision to move into the game space was influenced a great deal by the success of the studios' previous releases. "The project was inspired in part by America's Army," Laughlin told Ars. "It started as an effort to prove we could create a commercial quality game using NASA content that is fun. NASA was looking for a project at the same time the Army Game Studio was looking to branch out from America’s Army. It helped that Army Game Studio and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center are co-located at Redstone Arsenal in Alabama. Virtual Heroes has a history for with America’s Army so we were excited to see them selected to support the Army Game Studio on the game."
Though development of the game didn't start until last year, Laughlin actually began researching the prospect of using games as an educational tool back in 2004. The main impetus for the project was the decline in interest in STEM education—science, technology, engineering and mathematics—amongst the American population.
"The US is facing a crisis in technical fields," explained Laughlin. "There are not enough students studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics to fill our national needs in those areas. NASA literally cannot function without STEM graduates. The big goals for NASA Education are to get more students into STEM fields of study and graduating into STEM careers. It’s also the president’s goal with the Educate to Innovate initiative. Moonbase Alpha was developed in support of those goals."
In addition to funding the game, NASA also had a hand in ensuring that it was as accurate as possible, going so far as to have several engineers and scientists review the game for accuracy. Meanwhile, all of the models for the structures, vehicles and space suits were based on NASA’s lunar architecture plans.
The game itself only takes around 20 minutes to play, and despite its sophisticated 3D visuals—the game utilizes Unreal Engine 3—Moonbase Alpha is really just a proof of concept. NASA has another, much more ambitious project in the works: an MMO tentatively titled Astronaut: Moon, Mars and Beyond.
And, according to Laughlin, the success of Moonbase Alpha could have a big affect on the development of the MMO.
"Summaries of the player feedback from Moonbase Alpha will be going to the design team for Astronaut: Moon, Mars and Beyond," he told Ars. "Even more importantly, Moonbase Alpha has the potential to make or break the MMO project. A big negative reaction would mean revisiting the rationale for the MMO and reconsidering the project. A big positive reaction will give momentum and support to Astronaut: Moon, Mars and Beyond."
Moonbase Alpha is currently available as a free download on Steam.


NICAEA, ARABIC CANONS OF, name applied to several series of canons that are missing in the Greek or Latin canonical collections. They appear to have been reworked from the Syriac, at least in part. In the latter language the texts attributed to the Council of NICAEA in 325 are said to have come from the pen of the bishop Maruta of Maipherkat (in Arabic Mayyafaraqin, today a town in Turkey). At all events, who the translator, or rather the adapter, was is not known, nor at what date the canons were adopted by the Copts. It will be noted—this is not a proof that they were previously unknown—that in his Nomocanon the twelfth-century patriarch GABRIEL II IBN TURAYK knew only the twenty canons counted in the Greek collections, while MIKHA’IL, bishop of Damietta, cited two series of canons of Nicaea, one of twenty canons and one of eighty-four. Given that the grouping of these texts diverges greatly in the manuscripts, it has seemed better to follow the exposition given by Abu al-Barakat IBN KABAR in his religious encyclopedia Misbah al-Zulmah. This passage was translated into French in J. M. Vansleb's Histoire de l'église d'Alexandrie (1677, pp. 265ff.).
Ibn Kabar divides the documents attributed to the Council of Nicaea into three books. In the first book (according to him, it is the second in the Greek collections) he groups a history of CONSTANTINE I and his mother, Helena, as well as a presentation of his incentives for the convocation of the council, which forms a kind of introduction. The collection of Macarius, a monk of Dayr Abu Maqar in the fourteenth century, adds at this point a list of heresies and sects and a list of the 318 bishops who participated. Then comes the series of twenty authentic canons, according to the Melchite recension, followed by the Coptic series of thirty (sometimes thirty-three) canons concerning anchorites, monks, and the clergy. W. Riedel (1968, pp. 38, 1791) asked if this was not a reworking of the Syntagma ad monachos attributed to Saint Athanasius.
As to the second book, Ibn Kabar tells us, "The Melchites and the Nestorians have translated [the second book] and the Jacobites have adopted it." It is a series of eighty-four (sometimes eighty) canons. This division would perhaps indicate that the original text was continuous.
The third book contains the "Books of the Kings," which are themselves divided into four books and also exist independently. This is a collection of the legislation enacted by the Byzantine emperors Constantine, Theodosius, and Leo. Here these canons are attributed to the Council of Nicaea. It appears that the Christians of the Orient adopted these texts in defiance of the Muslims, who referred to the Shari‘ah, or Muslim sacred law, for guidance in purely civil matters such as marriages, inheritances, and the like.
These texts provide numerous translations. The first book gives a history of the emperor Constantine and his mother and relates the story of the council, as well as the reasons for the convocation of the bishops. It includes the twenty authentic canons followed by the thirty canons called Arabic and gives the history, or prehistory, of the Council of Nicaea in a rather free Latin translation by Abraham Ecchellensis (Ibrahim al-Haqilani), a celebrated Maronite deacon. The "Thirty Canons Relative to the Monks and Clergy" are given in Latin by the same author in a paraphrase rather than a true translation. The list of heresies is given in German translation by A. Harnack (1899, pp. 14-71). The list of the bishops according to the Coptic texts is examined by, among others, F. Haase (1920, pp. 81-92). As for the eighty-four canons, they will be found in a paraphrase by Abraham Ecchellensis in J. D. Mansi (cols. 1029-1049).
The enormous mass of the documents relating, rightly or wrongly, to the first council, which played a considerable role in the East more than anywhere else, is organized in the collection of Macarius into four books. The difference between his division and that of Ibn Kabar is that Macarius' second book comprises not all the eighty-four canons but only the first thirty-two. Canons forty-eight to seventy-three, combined with the thirty concerning anchorites, monks, and clergy, form the third book, the fourth containing only the Coptic recension of the twenty official canons. The "Four Books of the Kings" have with him a place apart.
The Arabic Canons of Nicaea are, in the strict sense, the eighty-four canons adapted from the Syriac by the Melchites and borrowed by the Copts. In addition to this series of eighty-four canons in Arabic literature, the literature in the Coptic language contains a series that has not survived in Arabic translation, called Gnômès. It is credited to the Council of Nicaea and gives moral exhortations, which probably reflect the discipline in force in the fourth century in the church of Alexandria. It was published and translated into French by E. Revillout (1873, pp. 210-88; and 1875, pp. 5-77, 209-266).
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Delahoyde & Hughes
A 6th-century BCE Greek philosopher and mathematician, originally from Samos (an island off the coast of Asia Minor settled by the Greeks), and born about 570 BCE, he left home around 530 BCE to escape the tyranny of the autocrat Polycrates. He lived in southern Italy, influencing city politics until the turn of the century when the citizens revolted against his influence and forced him to settle in Metapontum instead. Followers venerated him and they formed some sort of religious order. Although he did not set down his ideas in written form, Pythagorean centers sprang up throughout the Greek mainland during the 5th century BCE, including in Thebes and Athens, so he certainly influenced Socrates and therefore Plato. Legends include an instance of a superhuman voice wishing Pythagoras good morning as he was crossing the river Casas, and his being able to appear in both Croton and Metapontum on the same day at the same hour.
Pythagoras' concepts included the mathematical order of the cosmos, and he may have been led to this assessment from the mathematical order of music (consonants of octaves, fifths, and fourths being produced by simple ratios in the lengths of the vibrating strings). We know "the square of the hypotenuse of a right triangle is equal to the sum of the squares of the sides containing the right angle." But Pythagoras had an all-inclusive vision, which also included the "music of the spheres" (the sound that no doubt had to be produced by the planets encircling earth).
Pythagoras believed in reincarnation and claimed to remember previous incarnations. [Transmigration of souls is not a Greek leaning, so one school of thought says Pythagoras travelled east beyond Egypt and came back with the notion (but they say this of Jesus too).] A later report claims he told followers that he has once been Aethalides, a son of Hermes, who allowed him one wish excluding immortality. He wished to remember what happened to him, alive and dead. One of his remembered incarnations was as Euphorbus, who was wounded by Menelaus. Afterwards, he became Hermotimus, who in a temple of Apollo identified the shield of Menelaus (dedicated to Apollo when he sailed back from Troy). His next incarnation was as Pyrrhus the Delian fisherman, and then Pythagoras.There is a famous story that he once stopped an animal from being beaten because he insisted he recognized the voice of a dead friend. (I wonder if that might not have been merely a humane device to stop the beating of an animal.) (Asimov 535)Due partly to his belief in metempsychosis, he opposed the taking of life, the eating of flesh, and association with those who benefit by the slaughter business. He supposedly coined the term "Philosophy" first as a word to signify the love and pursuit of wisdom, which helps the soul bring itself into attunement with the cosmos.
- Do you agree with the philosophy of Pythagoras?Without transmigration of souls as a foundation, Metamorphoses still works because of its notions of the earth being generous, its commentary on pollution, and in general its environmentalism which seems almost modern in essence.
- But we don't sacrifice to the gods anymore.Uh huh, well, in celebration of the Pilgrims infiltrating North America we butcher countless turkeys; and there is a trend of celebrating the birth and rebirth of our Lord and Saviour with roast pigs; and there's this sanctimony about grilling ground flesh in honor of "the boys" who died in the big war; and we certainly sacrifice millions of animals now to the "god" Science. So what we consider "religion" may have changed more than the nature of the practices (or the excuses).
- The final connection to all the previous books?Metamorphoses celebrates the joy of change, of the natural world being animated, and in the ongoing process of wondrous creation. The stories are intended to inspire respect for the wonders of nature (however based in speciesistic assumptions that stories must be about humans). In this ongoing creation and active context, we have responsibilities too -- according to Pythagoras. The world, its flora, and its fauna: all have past lives and life stories worthy of some respect.
Ferguson, Kitty. The Music of Pythagoras. NY: Walker & Co., 2008.
Orpheus: Roman Mythology


The wide variety of national origins and the USA's relatively short history has resulted in a rich blend of cultural and traditional customs. All Americans are renowned for their openness and friendliness to visitors. As a rule, dress is casual; although smart restaurants, hotels and clubs insist on suits and ties or long dresses. Smoking is becoming increasingly unpopular and is often considered offensive; in fact, it's forbidden on city transport and often in public buildings. There will usually be a notice where no smoking is requested, and most restaurants have smoking and non-smoking sections.
Most people are Protestant with significant Roman Catholic, Jewish and ethnic minorities.
Archaeological finds suggest that Florida had been inhabited for thousands of years before any European settlements. Juan Ponce de Leon, a Spanish conquistador, named Florida in honour of his discovery of the land in 1513, during Pascua Florida - a Spanish term for the Easter season.
Over the following century, both the Spanish and French established settlements with varying degrees of success. The area of Spanish Florida diminished with the development of English colonies to the north and French to the west. Great Britain gained control of Florida diplomatically in 1763 through the Peace of Paris, but Spain regained it after Britain's defeat by the American colonies and the subsequent Treaty of Versailles (1783). Finally, in 1819, Spain ceded Florida to the United States in exchange for the American renunciation of any claims on Texas. On March 3, 1845, Florida became the 27th state of the United States of America.
Until the mid-twentieth century Florida was the least populated Southern state. However, the local climate - helped by the growing availability of air conditioning - made the state a desirable location, and migration sharply increased the population. Economic prosperity led to the Florida land boom of the 1920s, which brought a brief period of intense development before the Great Depression brought it all to an end. Florida's economy didn't fully recover until World War II. But today, it's the most populous state in the South besides Texas, and the fourth most populous in the United States.
Before the American Civil War, when slavery was legal, African Americans made up nearly half of the state's population. This proportion declined over the next century, as many moved north in the Great Migration while large numbers of northern whites moved to the state. Recently, the state's percentage of black residents has begun to grow again. Today, large concentrations of black residents can be found in northern Florida (especially in Jacksonville, Gainesville and Pensacola), the Tampa Bay area, and South Florida (where their numbers have been bolstered by significant immigration from Haiti and Jamaica).
Florida's Hispanic population includes large communities of Cuban Americans in Miami and Tampa, Puerto Ricans in Tampa and Orlando, and Central American migrant workers in inland West-Central and South Florida. The Hispanic community continues to grow more affluent and mobile.
Whites of all ethnic groups are present in all areas of the state. Those of British ancestry can be found in large numbers in the coastal cities, there's a large German population in South West Florida, a sizeable Italian community in the Miami area, and white Floridians of longer-present generations in parts of inland and northern Florida. Native white Floridians, especially those who have descended from long-time Florida families, affectionately refer to themselves as "Florida Crackers."
As far as language is concerned, around 75% of Florida residents speak only English at home, while around 15% speak Spanish. Haitian Creole is the third most spoken language at around 2%.
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From Sioux Falls to Rapid City, fire weather meteorologists are watching conditions closely. And until we receive widespread, heavy moisture they'll be monitoring what is known as the Keetch-Byram Drought Index or KBDI.
It measures the amount of precipitation needed to return the soil to full saturation. It uses a system rating of zero to 800, which represents the moisture amount of zero to eight inches of water. It's what is needed to reduce the drought index to zero, which is saturation.
Much of KELOLAND is at 500 or above. The KBDI of 400 to 600 is typical of late summer and early fall.
When it gets to 600 and above, that's when intense, deep burning fires can be expected with an emphasis on downwind new fires occuring.
The highest spots are in south central, north central and northeast South Dakota. Just this week, the area near Lake Andes is also considered at 800.
It's an important number to know this time of year, whether you're harvesting or off road for hunting.
© 2012 KELOLAND TV. All Rights Reserved.


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Maryland’s Largest Civil War Exhibit Now Open
Baltimore, Maryland (April 21, 2011) -The Maryland Historical Society’s (MdHS) Museum opened Maryland’s largest and most comprehensive Civil War exhibit on April 16. The impact of the war on the people of Maryland is being told in personal terms in “Divided Voices: Maryland in the Civil War.” The largest Civil War exhibit in the museum’s 167-year history occupies over 5,000 square feet and tells the story of a tragedy in three acts: the romantic war, the real war and the long reunion. For more information on this 150th anniversary of the Civil War exhibit go to www.mdhs.org or call 410-685-3750.
The exhibit takes visitors back in time with 3-D videos that leads them back to 1861. There are also be interactive exhibits designed for children and adults as well as storyteller guides in period costumes. On Saturdays and Sundays the Maryland Historical Society Players perform short vignettes of major events that took place in Maryland. Admission - $6 adults, $5 seniors, 3-18 $4, under 3 free. Museum is free on first Thursday of each month.
The romantic war was the first year or so of the conflict, when both sides saw the war as an adventure and patriotic duty. The real war over the next three years of bloodshed left hundreds of thousands of young men dead. The long reunion focuses on the reuniting of the country, which some say is not complete to this day.
Maryland sent 60,000 men to serve in the Union Army. Over 20,000 more served in the Confederacy. The first bloodshed of the war took place in Baltimore. The human stories of these men and women are told by bringing letters to life with today’s technology, as well as the display of hundreds of rare objects, many of which have not been shown publicly since the 19th century. Museum visitors see Robert E. Lee’s camp chair, John Brown’s carbine, Abraham Lincoln memorabilia as well as compelling and heartbreaking photographs of the period.
Visitors will learn of Maryland’s major battles like Antietam and of lesser-known battles like the Battles of Monocacy and Silver Spring. They will come to understand how the soldiers suffered. More than 600,000 men died in the Civil War, compared to 400,000 American deaths in World War II. It was the deadliest war in American history.
Museum goers will discover why the first widely-used bullet made this one of history’s bloodiest wars and how this spurred advances in medical care. Triage, the ambulance corps, field hospitals and many significant surgical advances all began during the Civil War.
The war’s impact on Maryland’s citizens is revealed. Baltimore, for example, was under martial law and occupied by Union troops for the entire war. Lincoln’s suspension of the writ of habeas corpus ( people can’t be jailed without trial or a hearing) was famously used against John Merryman of Cockeysville, Maryland. Lincoln was willing to break the law to keep Maryland from joining the Confederacy and cutting the capital off from the North. The State legislature moved from Annapolis to Frederick to keep Maryland from joining the Confederacy.
Visitors also learn the important role that African Americans played in the war. Over 10,000 African Americans served in the Union Army. Harriet Tubman served as a spy for the Union Army. Black soldiers such as Christian Fleetwood of Baltimore led African American troops into battle and earned America’s highest military honor.
Women’s growing role in society during those years will be revealed. They began serving as nurses for the first time. Women on the home front mourned their dead, creating the “Vacant Chair” tradition at dinner tables in Maryland and elsewhere.
The Civil War exhibit will run for the next four years with annual updates. Visitors to the museum will also find major exhibits of famous Maryland paintings, silver, furniture, maritime history and children’s toys from the last 300 years.
The Maryland Historical Society was founded in 1844 and is the world’s largest museum and library dedicated to the history of Maryland. Occupying an entire city block in the Mount Vernon district of Baltimore, the society’s mission is to “collect, preserve, and interpret the objects and materials that reflect Maryland’s diverse cultural heritage.” The Society is home to the original manuscript of the Star Spangled Banner and publishes a quarterly titled “Maryland Historical Magazine.” More information about the Maryland Historical Society can be found online at http://www.mdhs.org/
Three Union soldiers are stationed on Federal Hill overlooking what is now the Inner Harbor of Baltimore (1862 photo). Their cannon is trained on the city as Baltimore was under martial law throughout the Civil War. Lincoln was afraid that Maryland would secede from the Union cutting Washington D.C. off from the North. The background is a contemporary photo of Baltimore from the same angle. The historic photo is part of the Maryland Historical Society's Civil War exhibit, Divided Voices: Maryland in the Civil War, the largest and most comprehensive display on the subject in the state.


Dora Bas Rivka Silver O'H
The Sideways Ark
G-d told Moshe to go among the Jews and accept donations for building the Mishkan (Tabernacle). These donations could consist of gold, silver, copper, colored wool and other fabrics, skins, wood, gems, oil and spices. G-d would instruct Moshe in building the Mishkan, where His Presence would reside.
The first vessel G-d described was the Aron (Ark), a wooden box overlaid with gold. There were rings on the corners, through which poles were placed to carry the Aron; these poles were never to be removed. (The Ark is popularly depicted with the poles running along the longer sides but, really, the poles ran along the shorter ends. See Talmud Menachos 98a-b).


LACMA May Fund The Fading Watts Towers
Due to a severe budget crisis, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art is interested in stepping into the breach as curator and conservator of the Watts Towers this summer to maintain the historic landmark.
The Towers were built by Italian immigrant construction worker Sabato Rodia in his spare time over a period of 33 years, from 1921 to 1954. He created the framework of steel, wire and concrete and ornamented the three main spires and their 14 surrounding sculptural elements with colorful bits of broken glass, pottery and seashells. His work is an example of non-traditional vernacular architecture and American Naïve art. Article LA Times.


Mercury findings raise new questions
One of a kind New data from NASA's Messenger spacecraft has surprised scientists showing the planet Mercury has some of the most unusual internal dynamics ever seen.
The findings, which will appear in the journal Science, mean the planet closest to the Sun has evolved differently compared to the other terrestrial planets in the solar system.
After its first full year in orbit around Mercury, Messenger has returned a detailed picture of the planet's northern hemisphere suggesting a deep reservoir of high-density material exists below a thin crust surface.
Using the Messenger data, Dr Maria Zuber, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and colleagues created a detailed elevation model showing the planet's northern hemisphere is far flatter than Mars or the Moon.
They also found extensive lowlands and a vast northern volcanic plain.
The researchers were also surprised to discover that the floor of several craters are tilted. For example, the 1500-kilometre wide Caloris impact crater is tilted to the extent that parts of its floor are now taller than the rim.
Unlike the Moon
"Prior to Messenger's observations, many scientists believed Mercury was much like the Moon," says Zuber.
"We thought it cooled off very early in solar system history, and has been a dead planet throughout most of its evolution."
Now Zuber and colleagues say there's compelling evidence that Mercury must have sustained intense geophysical activity for most of its history.
Messenger's also provided scientists with the first measurements of Mercury's gravity field showing the planet's crust is thicker at low latitudes and thinner toward the northern polar region.
They believe Mercury's outer shell is denser than previously thought, indicating a deep layer of iron sulfide below the surface.
The data also suggests Mercury has a huge iron rich liquid outer core and perhaps a solid inner core, together comprising about 85 per cent of the planet's radius.
By comparison Earth's core is about half our planet's radius.
The data means Mercury's mantle and crust occupy only the outer 15 percent or so of the planet's radius giving it a different internal structure compared to other terrestrial planets.
Strange and interesting world
Planetary scientist Dr Craig O'Neill from Sydney's Macquarie University says the new data shows Mercury is a far more interesting planet than previously thought.
"It seems the internal dynamics of Mercury is doing a lot more to the planet's crust than we gave it credit for," says O'Neill.
"The tilted crater floors are interesting and we don't really know what would have caused this."
According to O'Neill the discovery of what may be a liquid core, could also explain the magnetic field detected around Mercury.
"We used to think it was just residual traces of magnetism in the rocks," says O'Neill.
"But thanks to Messenger we now know there's something going on in Mercury's core."


This week I was visited by a woman inventor who created a way to reduce one seemingly small contributor to the landfill. You know those little tiny plastic spoons they give you in the ice cream shop so you can taste lots of flavors before you make a selection or that are distributed along with little samples of a new soup in the supermarket? Well they're not reused, recycled, or biodegradable.
That's why Peggy Cross developed the EcoTaster (shown left),a paperboard tasting spoon made from recycled materials that will decompose in compost in just two weeks.
For full-size portions, she also offers the EcoTensil (shown right) which is made of the same type of paperboard as a milk carton and will also biodegrade, although a little bit more slowly.
Cross also pointed out that these made-in-the-USA tools are made of less material and take up less space than other disposable utensils (see photo at left), making for a much smaller carbon footprint. Stonyfield Farms recently used the spoons for yogurt samplings at the US Open tennis championship--we hope they start popping up in supermarkets, trade shows, and sports events all over the country. Voskos Yogurt, Solgar Vitamin and Herb Company, and Schoolhouse Kitchen are other companies that are already using them.
Here at GHRI we've demonstrated our commitment to the environment with our Green Good Housekeeping Seal which helps you make wise choices for the earth, when you're out shopping.


Crew: Filipchenko, Grechko. Soyuz s/n 18 would have been the active spacecraft of the first dual-spacecraft test of the Kontakt docking system. A crew transfer using the Krechet spacesuit would presumably have taken place. Backup crew: Lazarev, Makarov.
Soyuz s/n 18 would have been the active spacecraft of the first dual-spacecraft test of the Kontakt docking system. A crew transfer using the Krechet spacesuit would presumably have taken place.
By December 1970, there were four crews in training for two pairs of Soyuz spacecraft to be launched to test the Kontakt lunar rendezvous/docking system. During the Salyut 1 mission, in June 1971, six crews were identified and assigned to specific Soyuz spacecraft serial numbers for these tests. These would have been launched in three pairs beginning in early 1972, depending on the schedule for the DOS-2 station. In the event, the death of the Soyuz 11 crew, and subsequent redesign of the Soyuz spacecraft, led to these Kontakt missions being cancelled and the whole Kontakt test series being reformulated with new crew members in early 1973. Soyuz Kontakt 1 would have been the active spacecraft of the first mission.
AKA: Soyuz s/n 18.
More... - Chronology...
First Launch: 1972 Early.
Lazarev Lazarev, Vasili Grigoryevich (1928-1990) Russian physician cosmonaut. Flew on Soyuz 12, Soyuz 18-1. Survived first manned spaceflight abort during launch. More...
Filipchenko Filipchenko, Anatoli Vassilyevich (1928-) Russian pilot cosmonaut. Flew on Soyuz 7, Soyuz 16. More...
Grechko Grechko, Georgi Mikhailovich (1931-) Russian engineer cosmonaut. Flew on Soyuz 17, Salyut 6 EO-1, Salyut 7 EP-5. More...
Makarov Makarov, Oleg Grigoryevich (1933-2003) Russian engineer cosmonaut. Flew on Soyuz 12, Soyuz 18-1, Salyut 6 EP-1, Salyut 6 EO-5. Survived first manned spaceflight abort during launch. More...
Lunar L3 The Soviet program to land a man on the moon and return him safely to earth. More...
Soyuz sn 18 Chronology
1971 June 15 -
- Soyuz Kontakt and DOS-2 crew assignments made. - .
Nation: USSR. Related Persons: Filipchenko; Grechko; Lazarev; Makarov; Vorobyov; Yazdovsky; Yakovlev; Porvatkin; Kovalyonok; Isakov; Shcheglov; Leonov; Rukavishnikov; Kolodin; Gubarev; Sevastyanov; Voronov; Klimuk; Artyukhin; Bykovsky; Alekseyev, Semyon; Gorbatko. Program: Salyut; Lunar L3. Flight: Soyuz 11; Soyuz 12 / DOS 1; Soyuz sn 18; Soyuz sn 19; Soyuz sn 20; Soyuz sn 21; Soyuz sn 22; Soyuz sn 23; DOS 2-1; DOS 2-2; DOS 2-3; DOS 2-4. Spacecraft: Soyuz Kontakt; Salyut 1. Crews are formed for six Soyuz (Kontakt?) flights. Soyuz s/n 18 - Filipchenko and Grechko; Soyuz s/n 19 - Lazarev and Makarov; Soyuz s/n 20 - Vorobyov and Yazdovsky; Soyuz s/n 21 - Yakovlelv and Porvatkin; Soyuz s/n 22 - Kovalyonok and Isakov; Soyuz s/n 23 - Shcheglov and [illegible]. Five crews are training for Salyut flights: Crew 1, Leonov, Rukavishnikov, and Kolodin; Crew 2, Gubarev, Sevastyanov, and Voronov. TsKBEM engineer cosmonauts are to be selected will round out the last three crews, but VVS members will be: Crew 3, Klimuk, Artyukhin; Crew 4, Bykovskyy, Alekseyev; Crew 5, Gorbatko. Leonov and Gubarev will have their crews fully ready for Soyuz 12 by 30 June, for a launch date between 15-20 July. Leonov is asking to go to East Germany for two to three days in the first week of July. Kamanin is fully opposed to this - he is thinkng not of his upcoming flight, but the exhibition of his paintings at the Prezdensk Gallery!
1972 Early -
- Soyuz sn 18 (cancelled) - .
Crew: Filipchenko; Grechko. Nation: USSR. Related Persons: Filipchenko; Grechko. Program: Lunar L3. Flight: Soyuz sn 18. Spacecraft: Soyuz Kontakt. Summary: Soyuz s/n 18 would have been the active spacecraft of the first dual launch to test the Kontakt lunar orbit rendezvous system. A crew transfer using the Krechet spacesuit would presumably have taken place..
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Ismaili Community: History
The Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims, generally known as the Ismailis, belong to the Shia branch of Islam. The Shia form one of the two major branches of Islam, the Sunni being the other. The Ismailis live in over 25 different countries, mainly in Central and South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, as well as in Europe, North America and Australia.
As Muslims, the Ismailis affirm the fundamental Islamic testimony of truth, the Shahada, that there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) is His Messenger. They believe that Muhammad was the last and final Prophet of Allah, and that the Holy Quran, Allah's final message to mankind, was revealed through him. Muslims hold this revelation to be the culmination of the message that had been revealed through other Prophets of the Abrahamic tradition before Muhammad, including Abraham, Moses and Jesus, all of whom Muslims revere as Prophets of Allah.
In common with other Shia Muslims, the Ismailis affirm that after the Prophet's death, Hazrat Ali, the Prophet's cousin and son-in-law, became the first Imam - the spiritual leader - of the Muslim community and that this spiritual leadership (known as Imamat) continues thereafter by hereditary succession through Ali and his wife Fatima, the Prophet's daughter. Succession to Imamat, according to Shia doctrine and tradition, is by way of Nass (Designation), it being the absolute prerogative of the Imam of the Time to appoint his successor from amongst any of his male descendants.
His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan is the 49th hereditary Imam of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims. He was born on 13 December 1936 in Geneva, son of Prince Aly Khan and Princess Tajuddawlah Aly Khan and spent his early childhood in Nairobi, Kenya. He attended Le Rosey School in Switzerland for nine years and graduated from Harvard in 1959 with a BA (Honours) in Islamic History. He succeeded his grandfather Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan on 11 July 1957 at the age of 20.
Spiritual allegiance to the Imam and adherence to the Shia Imami Ismaili tariqah (persuasion) of Islam according to the guidance of the Imam of the Time, have engendered in the Ismaili Community an ethos of self-reliance, unity, and a common identity. In a number of the countries where they live, the Ismailis have evolved a well-defined institutional framework through which they have, under the leadership and guidance of the Imam, established schools, hospitals, health centres, housing societies and a variety of social and economic development institutions for the common good of all citizens regardless of their race or religion.
During the course of history, the Ismailis have, under the guidance of their Imams, made significant contributions to Islamic civilisations, the cultural, intellectual and religious life of Muslims. The University of al-Azhar and the Academy of Science, Dar al-Ilm, in Egypt and indeed the city of Cairo itself, are testimony to this contribution. Among the renowned philosophers, jurists, physicians, mathematicians, astronomers and scientists of the past who flourished under the patronage of Ismaili Imams are Qadi al-Numan, al-Kirmani, Ibn al-Haytham (al-Hazen), Nasir e-Khusraw and Nasir al-Din Tusi.


By A. M. Sullivan
CHAPTER IX. (continued)
From the Atlas and Cyclopedia of Ireland (1900)
It was to the rugged and desolate Hebrides that Columba turned his face when he accepted the terrible penance of Molaise. He bade farewell to his relatives, and, with a few monks who insisted on accompany him whithersoever he might go, launched his frail currochs from the northern shore. They landed first, or rather were carried by wind and stream, upon the little isle of Oronsay, close by Islay; and here for a moment they thought their future abode was to be. But when Columba, with the early morning, ascending the highest ground on the island, to take what he thought would be a harmless look toward the land of his heart, lo! on the dim horizon a faint blue ridge—the distant hills of Antrim! He averts his head and flies downward to the strand! Here they cannot stay, if his vow is to be kept. They betake them once more to the currochs, and steering further northward, eventually land upon Iona, thenceforth, till time shall be no more, to be famed as the sacred isle of Columba! Here landing, he ascended the loftiest of the hills upon the isle, and "gazing into the distance, found no longer any trace of Ireland upon the horizon." In Iona accordingly he resolved to make his home. The spot from whence St. Columba made this sorrowful survey is still called by the islesmen in the Gaelic tongue, Carn-cul-ri-Erinn, or the Cairn of Farewell—literally, The back turned on Ireland.
Writers without number have traced the glories of Iona. Here rose, as if by miracle, a city of churches; the isle became one vast monastery, and soon much too small for the crowds that still pressed thither. Then from the parent isle there went forth to the surrounding shores, and all over the mainland, off-shoot establishments and missionary colonies (all under the authority of Columba), until in time the Gospel light was ablaze on the hills of Albyn; and the names of St. Columba and Iona were on every tongue from Rome to the utmost limits of Europe!
"This man, whom we have seen so passionate, so irritable, so warlike and vindictive, became little by little the most gentle, the humblest, the most tender of friends and fathers. It was he, the great head of the Caledonian Church, who, kneeling before the strangers who came to Iona, or before the monks returning from their work, took off their shoes, washed their feet, and after having washed them, respectfully kissed them. But charity was still stronger than humility in that transfigured soul. No necessity, spiritual or temporal, found him indifferent. He devoted himself to the solace of all infirmities, all misery and pain, weeping often over those who did not weep for themselves.
"The work of transcription remained until his last day the occupation of his old age, as it had been the passion of his youth; it had such an attraction for him, and seemed to him so essential to a knowledge of the truth that, as we have already said, three hundred copies of the Holy Gospels, copied by his own hand, have been attributed to him."
But still Columba carried with him in his heart the great grief that made life for him a lengthened penance. "Far from having any prevision of the glory of Iona, his soul," says Montalembert, "was still swayed by a sentiment which never abandoned him—regret for his lost country. All his life he retained for Ireland the passionate tenderness of an exile, a love which displayed itself in the songs which have been preserved to us, and which date perhaps from the first moment of his exile. . . . 'Death in faultless Ireland is better than life without end in Albyn.' After this cry of despair follow strains more plaintive and submissive."
"But it was not only in these elegies, repeated and perhaps retouched by Irish bards and monks, but at each instant of his life, in season and out of season, that this love and passionate longing for his native country burst forth in words and musings; the narratives of his most trustworthy biographers are full of it. The most severe penance which he could have imagined for the guiltiest sinners who came to confess to him, was to impose upon them the same fate which he had voluntarily inflicted on himself—never to set foot again upon Irish soil! But when, instead of forbidding to sinners all access to that beloved isle, he had to smother his envy of those who hard the right and happiness to go there at their pleasure, he dared scarcely trust himself to name its name; and when speaking to his guests, or to the monks who were to return to Ireland, he would only say to them, 'you will return to the country that you love.' "
 "We are now," said Dr. Johnson, " treading that illustrious island which was once the luminary of the Caledonian regions; whence savage clans and roving barbarians derived the benefits of knowledge and the blessings of religion....Far from me and from my friends be such frigid philosophy as may conduct us indifferent and unmoved over any ground which has been dignified by wisdom, bravery, or virtue. That man is little to be envied whose patriotism would not gain force upon the plain of Marathon, or whose piety would not grow warmer among the ruins of Iona."—Boswell's "Tour to the Hebrides."
From a sad, comfortless childhood Giles Truelove developed into a reclusive and uncommunicative man whose sole passion was books. For so long they were the only meaning to his existence. But when fate eventually intervened to have the outside world intrude upon his life, he began to discover emotions that he never knew he had.
A story for the genuine booklover, penned by an Irish bookseller under the pseudonym of Ralph St. John Featherstonehaugh.
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Artificial intelligence research is ushering in a new era of sophisticated, mass-market transportation technology. While computers can already fly a passenger jet better than a trained human pilot, people are still faced with the dangerous yet tedious task of driving automobiles. Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) is the field that focuses on integrating information technology with vehicles and transportation infrastructure to make transportation safer, cheaper, and more efficient. Recent advances in ITS point to a future in which vehicles themselves handle the vast majority of the driving task. Once autonomous vehicles become popular, autonomous interactions amongst multiple vehicles will be possible. Current methods of vehicle coordination, which are all designed to work with human drivers, will be outdated. The bottleneck for roadway efficiency will no longer be the drivers, but rather the mechanism by which those drivers' actions are coordinated. While open-road driving is a well-studied and more-or-less-solved problem, urban traffic scenarios, especially intersections, are much more challenging.
We believe current methods for controlling traffic, specifically at intersections, will not be able to take advantage of the increased sensitivity and precision of autonomous vehicles as compared to human drivers. In this article, we suggest an alternative mechanism for coordinating the movement of autonomous vehicles through intersections. Drivers and intersections in this mechanism are treated as autonomous agents in a multiagent system. In this multiagent system, intersections use a new reservation-based approach built around a detailed communication protocol, which we also present. We demonstrate in simulation that our new mechanism has the potential to significantly outperform current intersection control technology -- traffic lights and stop signs. Because our mechanism can emulate a traffic light or stop sign, it subsumes the most popular current methods of intersection control. This article also presents two extensions to the mechanism. The first extension allows the system to control human-driven vehicles in addition to autonomous vehicles. The second gives priority to emergency vehicles without significant cost to civilian vehicles. The mechanism, including both extensions, is implemented and tested in simulation, and we present experimental results that strongly attest to the efficacy of this approach.


Diabetic Ketoacidosis Symptoms
The body's cells need two energy requirements to function. The blood stream delivers both oxygen and glucose to the front door of the cell. The the oxygen is invited in, but the glucose needs a key to open the door. The insulin molecule is that key. When we eat, the body senses the levels of glucose in the blood stream and secretes just the right amount of insulin from the pancreas so that cells and the body can function.
People with diabetes don't have the luxury of that auto-sensing. They need to balance the amount of glucose intake with the amount of insulin that needs to be injected. Not enough insulin and the glucose levels in the blood stream start to rise; too much insulin, and they plummet.
The consequences of hypoglycemia (hypo=low, glycemia=glucose in the blood) are easy to understand. No energy source, no function - and the first organ to go is the brain. It needs glucose to function and without it, the brain shuts down quickly. Confusion, lethargy, and coma occur quickly. It's interesting that brain cells don't need insulin to open their doors to glucose, so when people develop coma from low blood sugar, they waken almost instantaneously upon treatment. Blood sugar is one of the first things checked on scene of a comatose patient, because it's so easy to fix and very embarrassing for an EMT to miss.


Patent Models: Textile and Sewing Machines - Introduction
For much of the nineteenth century, inventors submitted a model with their patent application to the United States Patent Office. The National Museum of American History’s patent model collection began with the acquisition of 284 models from the Patent Office in June 1908, and reached more than 1,000 models by the end of that summer. In 1926, Congress decided to dispense with the stored collection of models and gave the Smithsonian Institution the opportunity to collect any models it wanted. Today, the Museum’s collection exceeds 10,000 patent models dating from 1836 to 1910.
The Museum’s Textile Collection contains over four thousand patent models. The collection includes many examples of carding machines, spinning machines, knitting machines, rope making machines, looms, baskets, carpets, fabrics, and sewing machines. Even the simple clothespin is well represented, with 41 patent models.
This sampling of patent models from the Textile Collection describes the two major groupings, textile machinery and sewing machines. In both groups, the examination of the models begins with the earliest of the inventions. In this early group of patent models, the textile machinery models date from 1837 to 1840, and the sewing machine models from 1842 to 1854.
For more information about the Museum’s patent model collection, see Patent Model Index, Guide to the Collections of the National Museum of American History.
"Patent Models: Textile and Sewing Machines - Introduction" showing 1 items.
- Spinning Wheel Patent Model
- Patent No. 710, issued April 25, 1838
- Hiram F. Wheeler of Springville, Pennsylvania
- Hiram Wheeler’s domestic wheel was for spinning wool. He titled his invention “inclined spinner,” referring to the fact that the operator would sit at the wheel as opposed to standing and walking when using the typical wool wheel. When the treadle was forced down by the operator’s foot, a cord pulled the carriage and spinning wheel head away from the spinner. A weight brought both of them back toward the spinner. This movement of the carriage was equivalent to the spinner walking forward to the spindle tip for the draw out and then back to the wheel. Wheeler specifically claimed as his invention this sliding action of the wheel head.
- Currently not on view
- model constructed
- before 1838-04-25
- patent date
- Wheeler, Hiram F.
- ID Number
- catalog number
- accession number
- patent number
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center


Belmont Station "Quality" Physical Education
Mr. Comins and Mrs. Martin
What is "Quality" Physical Education?
A program that involves moderate/vigorous activity 90% of the time or more
Intentional fitness - Use of functional equipment
Teacher role modeling of all lessons
Core curriculum content integration
Physical fitness and nutrition integration
Our lessons for the 2012-2013 school year will reflect a physical education program that stresses physical fitness, nutrition, and motor skills. Belmont Station will continue to teach the Five for Life program. Children in grades one through five will participate at moderate to vigorous levels of physical activity for much of the time they attend physical education class. All activities will be centered around the academic content presented in the Five for Life curriculum. Intensity levels, the five components of fitness, nutrition, the muscular system, and the skeletal system are several of the units that will be taught this upcoming year. Feedback technologies such as pedometers and heart rate batons will continue to be used as well. Please take some time to check out our web page. It will be updated each month so that our students and parents can see what we will be doing. It's going to be another productive year in physical education class!


Includes bibliographical references (p. -491) and indexes.
PART ONE: FRAMEWORK Guide to This Book Qualitative Research: Why and How To Do It Qualitative and Quantitative Research Ethics of Qualitative Research PART TWO: FROM THEORY TO TEXT Making Use of the Literature in Qualitative Research Theoretical Positions Underlying Qualitative Research Epistemological Background: Construction and Understanding of Texts PART THREE: RESEARCH DESIGN The Qualitative Research Process Research Questions Entering the Field Sampling How to Design Qualitative Research: An Overview PART FOUR: VERBAL DATA Interviews Narratives Focus Groups Verbal Data: An Overview PART FIVE: OBSERVATION AND MEDIATED DATA Observation and Ethnography Visual Data: Photography, Film, and Video Using Documents as Data Qualitative Online Research: Using the Internet Observation and Mediated Data: An Overview PART SIX: FROM TEXT TO THEORY Documentation of Data Coding and Categorizing Analyzing Conversation, Discourse, and Genres Narrative and Hermeneutic Analysis Using Computers in Qualitative Analysis Text Interpretation: An Overview PART SEVEN: GROUNDING AND WRITING QUALITATIVE RESEARCH Quality Criteria in Qualitative Research The Quality of Qualitative Research: Beyond Criteria Writing Qualitative Research PART EIGHT: QUALITATIVE RESEARCH: INTEGRATION AND OUTLOOK Qualitative Research At Work I: Grounded Theory Qualitative Research At Work II: Triangulation Qualitative Research: State of the Art and the Future Glossary References Author index Subject index About the Author.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)
'The fourth edition of Uwe Flick's "Introduction to Qualitative Research" remains the most comprehensive and thorough text in qualitative research. It is student - and user-friendly, thoroughly up-to-date in terms of the latest developments in the field, imminently practical. It is the single most important introductory book on qualitative inquiry in the social sciences today' - Norman K. Denzin, University of Illinois. The new edition of Uwe Flick's bestselling textbook has been fully revised, expanded and updated. "An Introduction to Qualitative Research" guides the student step-by-step through the research process of qualitative research. This classic text covers all of the main theoretical approaches to qualitative research, and provides unmatched coverage of the full range of different qualitative methods and approaches now available to researchers. A range of new features have been added to the new edition including: new structure to better meet the needs of teaching qualitative research; a new chapter on Grounded Theory plus updated coverage on the full range of other qualitative methods; a summary section discussing the state-of-the-art in qualitative research; a glossary; and, updated cases studies, exercises and guided questions. This new edition will continue to ensure that. "An Introduction to Qualitative Research" remains an essential introductory text for all students of qualitative research. (source: Nielsen Book Data)


First of all, these phrases sound very strange to me (I should have the context they are used into, in order to have a better understanding of them).
In Spanish such phrases may be an example of that is knoun as "Complemento del Nombre". I'm not sure if such a concept exists in English grammar. In Spanish you must think of that complement as some sort of adjective that specifies the role of the main noun.
Its structure is:
[Main Noun] de [Specifier Noun]
So, with the phrase "Fiestas de árboles", you have:
- Fiestas is the main noun.
- árboles is the specifier.
then you may have these meanings (among others, depending on the context):
- Parties attended by trees (should be better expressed with: Fiestas de los árboles).
- Parties made out of trees (parties whose main element are trees).
On the other hand, "Árboles de fiestas" may have these meanings:
- Abbreviation of Árboles que están de fiestas: trees which are going or attending to a party.
- Trees used within parties (should be also expressed with: Árboles para fiestas).
As you can see, at least the meanings I can think of these phrases are very similar for both cases.


Sudoku Puzzle #11
Education World's weekly Sudoku Puzzle
feature offers a perfect tool for building students' critical thinking skills. It can be used in class, assigned for homework, or offered as a challenge or reward activity. The best part of all: as students learn to complete the puzzles they will be building confidence in their ability to tackle challenging tasks and building critical thinking skills that will carry over into all aspects of their classroom performance.
Each Suduko puzzle challenges students to use the numbers provided to help them fill in the blank squares so that each number, 1 to 9, appears in every Column, Row, and Block of the completed puzzle.
Click for a PDF [portable document format] printable page. (If you are unable to view the printable page, download the free Adobe Acrobat Reader.)
Click for the answers to this week's puzzle.
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