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Beverley Shenstone In 2016, Shenstone was named to the Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame. He was married to Helen Marguerite Home (1907-1994). | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=48424335 | 328,433 |
Decibel 1 TU was defined such that the number of TUs was ten times the base-10 logarithm of the ratio of measured power to a reference power. The definition was conveniently chosen such that 1 TU approximated 1 MSC; specifically, 1 MSC was 1.056 TU. In 1928, the Bell system renamed the TU into the decibel, being one tenth of a newly defined unit for the base-10 logarithm of the power ratio. It was named the "bel", in honor of the telecommunications pioneer Alexander Graham Bell. The bel is seldom used, as the decibel was the proposed working unit. The naming and early definition of the decibel is described in the NBS Standard's Yearbook of 1931: In 1954, J. W. Horton argued that the use of the decibel as a unit for quantities other than transmission loss led to confusion, and suggested the name "logit" for "standard magnitudes which combine by multiplication", to contrast with the name "unit" for "standard magnitudes which combine by addition". In April 2003, the International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM) considered a recommendation for the inclusion of the decibel in the International System of Units (SI), but decided against the proposal. However, the decibel is recognized by other international bodies such as the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=8410 | 395,428 |
Old age In Norway, a 20-year longitudinal study of 400 people found that bodily failure and greater dependence became prevalent in the 80+ years. The study calls these years the "fourth age" or "old age in the real meaning of the term". Similarly, the "Berlin Aging Study" rated over-all functionality on four levels: good, medium, poor, and very poor. People in their 70s were mostly rated good. In the 80–90 year range, the four levels of functionality were divided equally. By the 90–100 year range, 60% would be considered frail because of very poor functionality and only 5% still possessed good functionality. In the United States, the 85+ age group is the fastest growing, a group that is almost sure to face the "inevitable decrepitude" of survivors. (Frailty and decrepitude are synonyms.) Three unique markers of frailty have been proposed: (a) loss of any notion of invincibility, (b) loss of ability to do things essential to one's care, and (c) loss of possibility for a subsequent life stage. survivors on-average deteriorate from agility in their 65–80s to a period of frailty preceding death. This deterioration is gradual for some and precipitous for others. Frailty is marked by an array of chronic physical and mental problems which means that frailty is not treatable as a specific disease. These problems coupled with increased dependency in the basic activities of daily living (ADLs) required for personal care add emotional problems: depression and anxiety | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=229060 | 13,803 |
Olympus OM system The OM-4 featured a built-in spot meter [of a narrow acceptance angle, see Canon FTb] (2% of view; 3.3˚ with 50 mm lens) and was the first camera capable of measuring eight individual areas and averaging them. The light meter used a dual-concentric segmented silicon photo-diode to provide spot or centerweighted readings. It used a graduated linear LCD for the shutter speed at the bottom of the viewfinder to precisely indicate its readings versus the actual camera settings. In 1986 the OM-4 was improved to a tougher OM-4Ti (OM-4T in USA) version, with titanium top and bottom plates, improved weatherproofing and high-speed flash sync. This last version was discontinued in 2002. The OM-10 hit the markets in June 1979 at the same time as the OM-2N. The camera was a 35mm focal-plane shutter aperture priority AE SLR camera with an electronic shutter. Only aperture-priority AE was available with the camera unless the optional manual exposure adapter was installed. This allowed the setting of shutter speeds between 1s and 1/1000s, (bulb mode was also available). The camera was equipped with a fixed pentaprism viewfinder which contained an LED exposure indicator. The finder coverage was measured to be 93%. Exposure control was aperture priority AE using center-weighted light metering. Film speeds of the camera range from ASA 25 to ASA 1600. Film winding was done by using the film-wind lever located on the top right of the camera. Film rewinding was done manually using the film-rewind crank located at the top left | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=3028928 | 425,897 |
NGC 473 is a lenticular galaxy in the constellation of Pisces. It was discovered on December 20, 1786 by William Herschel. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=54368685 | 8,973 |
Cameronians War Memorial The memorial became a Category B listed building in 1988, and it was restored in 2009. Another Cameronians memorial in Douglas, South Lanarkshire was built in 1892 to commemorate the bicentenary of the raising of the Cameronian Regiment (26th Regiment of Foot) on 14 May 1689. It depicts the regiment`s first Colonel, James Douglas, Earl of Angus. Another memorial on the Douglas Estate commemorates the disbanding of the 1st Battalion, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) on 14 May 1968. Clark created a similar sculpture of an advancing infantryman for his Southwark War Memorial, unveiled in 1922, with the rifle slung over his left shoulder rather than held in his right hand. A similar sculpture of an infantryman with rifle was used by Albert Toft for the Royal Fusiliers War Memorial in Holborn. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=49970256 | 333,291 |
Barnacle (slang) The barnacle work may be done in the field using portable tools and components or it may require a product recall with the barnacle work being done on the manufacturing floor. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=23716350 | 393,179 |
Compounds of oxygen So-called noble metals, such as gold and platinum, resist direct chemical combination with oxygen, and substances like gold(III) oxide () must be formed by an indirect route. The alkali metals and alkali earth metals all react spontaneously with oxygen when exposed to dry air to form oxides, and form hydroxides in the presence of oxygen and water. As a result, none of these elements is found in nature as a free metal. Caesium is so reactive with oxygen that it is used as a getter in vacuum tubes. Although solid magnesium reacts slowly with oxygen at STP, it is capable of burning in air, generating very high temperatures, and its metal powder may form explosive mixtures with air. Oxygen is present as compounds in the atmosphere in trace quantities in the form of carbon dioxide () and oxides of nitrogen (NO). The earth's crustal rock is composed in large part of oxides of silicon (silica , found in granite and sand), aluminium (aluminium oxide , in bauxite and corundum), iron (iron (III) oxide , in hematite and rust) and other oxides of metals. The rest of the Earth's crust is formed also of oxygen compounds, most importantly calcium carbonate (in limestone) and silicates (in feldspars). Water-soluble silicates in the form of , , and are used as detergents and adhesives. Peroxides retain some of oxygen's original molecular structure (<(O-O). White or light yellow sodium peroxide () is formed when metallic sodium is burned in oxygen | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=15374320 | 47,090 |
C14H12 The molecular formula CH (molar mass : 180.25 g/mol) may refer to: | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=24272090 | 30,706 |
Stargate (device) The primary team is called SG-1, and the series follows their adventures. For a long time, it was thought that the Goa'uld were the builders of the Stargate Network, but it was later discovered that they had merely made use of the relics left behind by a different and extinct race, the Ancients. At the climax of "SG-1"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s 6th season, Daniel Jackson discovers that the Earth myth of Atlantis is in fact founded on the Lost City of the Ancients, and Season 7 is spent trying to locate it. At the beginning of the show "Stargate Atlantis", which coincides with the beginning of "SG-1"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s 8th season, the city is found in the Pegasus Galaxy, and 8 chevrons are dialed to send an expedition there on what could be a one-way trip. It is there that they discover a new network of stargates, and are plagued by the nemesis of the Ancients, the Wraith. During the events of "The Ark of Truth", it is revealed that the pre-ascended Ancient known as Amelius originated the concept of the Stargate and wormhole travel. In the events of the third television series, "Stargate Universe", a third generation of stargates is discovered, which allegedly predates the model originally discovered in the Milky Way galaxy | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=757130 | 245,005 |
Quantitative comparative linguistics For consensus trees the Consistency Index (CI) is a measure of homoplasy. For one character it is the ratio of the minimimum conceivable number of steps on any one tree (= 1 for binary trees) divided by the number of reconstructed steps on the tree. The CI of a tree is the sum of the character CIs divided by the number of characters. It represents the proportion of patterns correctly assigned. The Retention Index (RI) measures the amount of similarity in a character. It is the ratio (g - s) / (g - m) where g is the greatest number of steps of a character on any tree, m is the minimum number of steps on any tree, and s is the minimum steps on a particular tree. There is also a Rescaled CI which is the product of the CI and RI. For binary trees the standard way of comparing their topology is to use the Robinson-Foulds metric. This distance is the average of the number of false positives and false negatives in terms of branch occurrence. R-F rates above 10% are considered poor matches. For other sorts of trees and for networks there is yet no standard method of comparison. Lists of incompatible characters are produced by some tree producing methods. These can be extremely helpful in analysing the output. Where heuristic methods are used repeatability is an issue. However, standard mathematical techniques are used to overcome this problem. In order to evaluate the methods a well understood family of languages is chosen, with a reliable dataset. This family is often the IE one but others have been used | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=21312140 | 146,723 |
St Mary Magdalene's Church, Battlefield John's bull of 30 October 1410 was the first document explicitly to describe the Battlefield church as a college of priests: "a certain college which was called a perpetual chantry." The document rehearsed the history of the foundation, the property boundaries and the endowments, confirming all of the king's grants, with the exception of the fair. The dedication of the college and chantry was to Mary Magdalene and this had been decided by the time of Henry IV's endowment of Battlefield chapel in March 1409, if not earlier. The Battle of Shrewsbury took place on 21 July, the vigil or eve of St Mary Magdalene's Day, which falls on 22 July. The unknown and unrecovered bodies of the dead would have been buried mainly on the saint's day. The only extant seal of the college, found on a deed of 1530, is marked "SIGILLUM COMMUNE DOMINI ROGERI IVE PRIMI MAGISTRI ET SUCCESSORUM SUORUM COLLEGII BEATE MARIE MAGDALENE IUXTA SALOP", showing that the dedication persisted and was regularly attested. The festival of Mary Magdalene was celebrated annually and accompanied by the fair. Colleges of secular clergy were the dominant form for new religious foundation by the 15th century. The closest example to Battlefield was the College of St Bartholomew's Church, Tong, founded under a licence granted to Isabel of Pembridge on 25 November 1410, and so almost contemporary, although it was purely a family chantry and mausoleum, without the wider historical reference of Battlefield | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=29472060 | 353,410 |
Steve Wozniak Wozniak also designed the Disk II floppy disk drive, released in 1978 specifically for use with the Apple II series to replace the slower cassette tape storage. In 1980, Apple went public to instant and significant financial profitability, making Jobs and Wozniak both millionaires. The Apple II's intended successor, the Apple III, released the same year, was a commercial failure and was discontinued in 1984. According to Wozniak, the Apple III "had 100 percent hardware failures", and that the primary reason for these failures was that the system was designed by Apple's marketing department, unlike Apple's previous engineering-driven projects. During the early design and development phase of the original Macintosh, Wozniak had had heavy influence over the project. Later named the "Macintosh 128k", it would become the first mass-market personal computer featuring an integral graphical user interface and mouse. The Macintosh would also go on to introduce the desktop publishing industry with the addition of the Apple LaserWriter, the first laser printer to feature vector graphics. In a 2013 interview, Wozniak said that in 1981, "Steve [Jobs] really took over the project when I had a plane crash and wasn't there." On February 7, 1981, the Beechcraft Bonanza A36TC which Wozniak was piloting crashed soon after takeoff from the Sky Park Airport in Scotts Valley, California. The airplane stalled while climbing, then bounced down the runway, broke through two fences, and crashed into an embankment | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=27848 | 419,679 |
Lenarviricota is a phylum of viruses. The following classes are recognized: | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=63772022 | 6,345 |
Digital potentiometer This may not be the case when a digital potentiometer is used. Both electro-mechanical and digital potentiometers generally have poor tolerances (typically ±20%), poor temperature coefficients (many hundreds of ppm per degree C), and a stop resistance that is typically about 0.5-1% of the full scale resistance. Note that stop resistance is the residual resistance when the terminal to wiper resistance is set to the minimum value. A multiplying DAC used as a digital potentiometer can eliminate most of these limitations. Typically a signal span of +15V to -15V is possible, with 16 bit control, i.e. 65535 discrete set points, and drift and non-linearity are negligible. However a DAC has to be initialised each time the system is powered on, which is typically done by software in an embedded microcontroller. A multiplying DAC can not be directly used as a rheostat (2 wire connection), but in that mode a digipot performs badly anyway, due to its temperature coefficient and resistance tolerance. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=11630215 | 373,246 |
Reindeer distribution The reindeer is a widespread and numerous species in the northern Holarctic, being present in both tundra and taiga (boreal forest). Originally, the reindeer was found in Scandinavia, eastern Europe, Russia, Mongolia, and northern China north of the 50th latitude. In North America, it was found in Canada, Alaska (United States), and the northern conterminous USA from Washington to Maine. In the 19th century, it was apparently still present in southern Idaho. It also occurred naturally on Sakhalin, Greenland, and probably even in historical times in Ireland. During the late Pleistocene era, reindeer were found as far south as Nevada and Tennessee in North America and Spain in Europe. Today, wild reindeer have disappeared from many areas within this large historical range, especially from the southern parts, where it vanished almost everywhere. Populations of wild reindeer are still found in Norway, Finland, Siberia, Greenland, Alaska, and Canada. The George River reindeer herd in the tundra of Quebec and Labrador in eastern Canada, once numbered world's largest 8–900,000 animals, stands December 2011 at 74,000 – a drop of up to 92% because of , flooding for hydro-power and road-building. Domesticated reindeer are mostly found in northern Fennoscandia and Russia, with a herd of approximately 150–170 reindeer living around the Cairngorms region in Scotland. The last remaining wild tundra reindeer in Europe are found in portions of southern Norway | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=63006760 | 163,315 |
Shridhar Chillal (born 1937) is an Indian man who held the world record for the longest fingernails ever reached on a single hand, with a combined length of 909.6 centimeters (358.1 inches). Chillal's longest single nail is his thumbnail, measuring 197.8 centimeters (77.87 inches). He stopped cutting his nails in 1952. Although proud of his record-breaking nails, Chillal has faced increasing difficulties due to the weight of his finger nails, including disfigurement of his fingers and loss of function in his left hand. Nerve damage caused from the nails' immense weight has also caused deafness in Chillal's left ear. Chillal has appeared in films and television displaying his nails, such as "Jackass 2.5". On 11 July 2018, Chillal had his fingernails cut with a power tool at the Ripley's Believe It or Not! museum in New York City, where the nails will be put on display. A technician wearing protective gear cut the nails during a "nail clipping ceremony". | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4798166 | 143,663 |
G.hn is a specification for home networking with data rates up to 2 Gbit/s and operation over four types of legacy wires: telephone wiring, coaxial cables, power lines and plastic optical fiber. A single semiconductor device is able to network over any of the supported home wire types. Some benefits of a multi-wire standard are lower equipment development costs and lower deployment costs for service providers (by allowing customer self-install). was developed under the International Telecommunication Union's Telecommunication Standardization sector (the ITU-T) and promoted by the HomeGrid Forum and several other organizations. ITU-T Recommendation (the ITU's term for standard) G.9960, which received approval on October 9, 2009, specified the physical layers and the architecture of G.hn. The Data Link Layer (Recommendation G.9961) was approved on June 11, 2010. Key promoters CEPCA, HomePNA, and UPA, creators of two of these interfaces, united behind the latest version of the standard in February 2009. The ITU-T extended the technology with multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) technology to increase data rates and signaling distance. This new feature was approved in March 2012 under G.9963 Recommendation. Amendments to the main G.9960/G.9961 added new functionalities to the base standard: specifies a single physical layer based on fast Fourier transform (FFT) orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) modulation and low-density parity-check code (LDPC) forward error correction (FEC) code | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=17216326 | 497,926 |
Fragment molecular orbital Suenaga has a very convenient specialised support of FMO (in addition to other features), with which an automatic fragmentation of molecular clusters, proteins, nucleotides, saccharides and any combination thereof (e.g., DNA and protein complexes in explicit solvent) can be done in a few minutes, and a manual fragmentation of solids and surfaces can be accomplished by clicking the bonds to be detached. Facio can also visualise results of FMO calculations, such as the pair interactions. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=5847984 | 92,949 |
Grove Hill Cemetery Chapel The Grove Hill Cemetery Chapel, in Grove Hill Cemetery near Shelbyville, Kentucky was built in 1893. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. It is a limestone ashlar building, designed and built by local builder Lynn T. Gruber in Gothic Revival style. It is located south of Shelbyville at Clear Creek. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=60176225 | 306,874 |
Test engineer Test automation refers to the automation of the process to test a product through the use of machines. Depending on the product, the machines that we are referring to could mean a combination of Automatic Test Equipment (ATE), handler, interface board, and test program that drives the ATE, as with the case of the IC chip testing. Test automation is a big part of a test engineer's job. The whole intention of automating the test is as follows: Overall, this drives manufacturing reliability and quality at the end of the line making sure that all units shipped out to customers are well tested, stressed, filtered out of any errors, and configured properly. Following are some of the documents that the test engineers maintain or define: A contract manufacturer (CM) also provides a test engineer for their customers. The function of these test engineers varies depending on the level of support they provide for their customers: providing "interactive and first level of defense"-only support or providing partial or ground-up solutions. Providing "interactive and first level-of-defense"-only support is the usual job of the CM TE. Here are some typical job functions for a CM test engineer: Because of their close involvement with the test line, they monitor the products going through the line and inspect the failed boards to decide if it really failed or if the failure was just caused by some improper test setup | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4325991 | 411,005 |
Ageless computing In contrast to younger users, senior citizens are more likely to use tablets than smartphones. Applications designed for multiple screen sizes should support tablet use when following ageless computing principals. User interface and user experience designers can help contribute to ageless computing through simple design that is intuitive for users of all ages. The following design elements can help to include the elderly. Although many people will use ageless computing principals in general software, it can also be used for very specialized purposes. One opportunity would be in health care technology, creating software to make it easier for the elderly to manage medications, pace makers, insulin pumps, and more. Video game rehabilitation integrates rehabilitation practices into popular gaming platforms for stroke recovery, neurological conditions, etc. Studies have shown that these technologies can also aid the elderly in areas such as balance, cognition, social interaction, entertainment, and more. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=39489536 | 272,177 |
History of hang gliding The first recorded foot-launched flight in Australia occurred in 1972 and the "Australian Self Soaring Association" was formed by foot-launched pilots in 1974. The first foot-launched Australian Championships were held in 1976. First flights in the early 1970s from Mt. Kilimanjaro by Moyes, and Caril Ridley's flights in India met with headlines. In 1973 the ZDF German Television produced a 30 min documentary on Mike Harker's world record hang glider flight from Mt. Zugspitze in Germany. This TV documentary helped promote the development of hang gliding in Europe. Harker also produced other hang gliding documentaries in the mid-1970s which were presented in TV by 16 countries. Although by the early 1970s many rigid wings were developed, none sold terribly well, while dozens of flexible-wing hang glider companies were springing up all over the world. The mid 1970s underwent significant improvements in hang glider design as manufacturers were bringing out new and improved models at a fast rate. From the simple structures of the early 1970s, the aspect ratio of the gliders increased dramatically, sails became tighter, battens became the rule, and the gliders became safer. In the late 1970s preformed aluminium battens became common. The Manta Fledgling IIB dominance at the 1979 US Nationals, invigorated interest in double surface wings and pilot-controlled surfaces. The "Fledge" demonstrated significant improvements in glide ratio and flight maneuvers | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=3604446 | 239,140 |
Ford 9-inch axle The Ford 9-inch is an automobile axle manufactured by Ford Motor Company. It is known as one of the most popular axles in automotive history. It was introduced in 1957 model year cars and ended production in 1986, having been phased out in favor of the Ford 8.8 inch axle. However, aftermarket companies still produce the 9-inch design. It is a semi-floating drop-out axle and had a GAWR up to . One of the features which distinguishes this axle from other high-performance or heavy-duty domestic solid axles is that unlike other axle designs, access to the differential gears is not through the rear center cover; rather, in the Ford 9 inch, the rear cover is welded to the axle housing, and access to internals is obtained by removing the center cover on the pinion (front) side of the axle through which the driveshaft yoke connects, with the differential assembly coming out of the axle as a unit attached to the cover. Although this requires disconnecting the driveshaft to access the internal gearset, it offers the advantage of being able to disassemble and reassemble the differential gears and adjust clearances conveniently on the benchtop, rather than with the restricted access of working within the axle housing under the car. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=32629238 | 220,043 |
Failure mode and effects analysis "Effects analysis" refers to studying the consequences of those failures on different system levels. Functional analyses are needed as an input to determine correct failure modes, at all system levels, both for functional FMEA or Piece-Part (hardware) FMEA. An FMEA is used to structure Mitigation for Risk reduction based on either failure (mode) effect severity reduction or based on lowering the probability of failure or both. The FMEA is in principle a full inductive (forward logic) analysis, however the failure probability can only be estimated or reduced by understanding the "failure mechanism". Hence, FMEA may include information on causes of failure (deductive analysis) to reduce the possibility of occurrence by eliminating identified "(root) causes". The FME(C)A is a design tool used to systematically analyze postulated component failures and identify the resultant effects on system operations. The analysis is sometimes characterized as consisting of two sub-analyses, the first being the failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA), and the second, the criticality analysis (CA). Successful development of an FMEA requires that the analyst include all significant failure modes for each contributing element or part in the system. FMEAs can be performed at the system, subsystem, assembly, subassembly or part level. The FMECA should be a living document during development of a hardware design. It should be scheduled and completed concurrently with the design | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=981631 | 217,362 |
Netcracker Technology The company's Managed Services include Hosted, Client-Hosted, and Build-Operate-Transfer delivery models. Professional Services include System Integration, Consulting, Solution Delivery, Outsourcing, and Operations and Maintenance. Netcracker's suite includes orchestration capabilities, an SDN Controller, and a range of virtual network functions (VNFs), such as virtualized customer premises equipment (vCPE), virtualized evolved packet core (vEPC), and other value-added VNFs and management offerings. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=21297432 | 253,708 |
Asbestos The first such study was conducted by Murray at the Charing Cross Hospital, London in 1900, in which a postmortem investigation discovered asbestos traces in the lungs of a young man who had died from pulmonary fibrosis after having worked for 14 years in an asbestos textile factory. Adelaide Anderson, the Inspector of Factories in Britain, included asbestos in a list of harmful industrial substances in 1902. Similar investigations were conducted in France in 1906 and Italy in 1908. The first diagnosis of asbestosis was made in the UK in 1924. Nellie Kershaw was employed at Turner Brothers in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England from 1917, spinning raw asbestos fibre into yarn. Her death in 1924 led to a formal inquest. Pathologist William Edmund Cooke testified that his examination of the lungs indicated old scarring indicative of a previous, healed tuberculosis infection, and extensive fibrosis, in which were visible "particles of mineral matter ... of various shapes, but the large majority have sharp angles." Having compared these particles with samples of asbestos dust provided by S. A. Henry, His Majesty's Medical Inspector of Factories, Cooke concluded that they "originated from asbestos and were, beyond a reasonable doubt, the primary cause of the fibrosis of the lungs and therefore of death." As a result of Cooke's paper, Parliament commissioned an inquiry into the effects of asbestos dust by E. R. A | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=21492663 | 33,517 |
Louis XVI style Marie Antoinette had a similar small neoclassical belvedere created by architect Richard Mique, who had also designed the Hameau de la Reine, her picturesque rustic village in the gardens. Another unusual architectural project was the transformation of the Palais Royal in the heart of Paris, into a grand shopping mall. In 1781 the Duc de Chartres, needing money, commissioned architect Victor Louis to create an arcade of shops, cafes and clubs on the ground floor. In 1788 he added a covered cirque in the center, a covered promenade and space for concerts and entertainments, with a trellis roof supported by seventy-two ionic columns. The most characteristic building of the late Louis XVI residential style is the Hôtel de Salm in Paris (Now the Palais de la Légion d'Honneur, built by Pierre Rousseau in 1751–83. The facade is distinguished by its simplicity and purity, and its harmony and balance. A colonnade of corinthian columns supports the entablement of the rotunda, which is surmounted by statues. The facade is also animated by busts of roman emperors in niches, and sculptures in relief above the windows of the semicircular central avant-corps. The Pantheon, designed by Jacques Germain Soufflot as the Church of Sainte-Geneviève and begun in 1757 under Louis XV, was the most prominent example of religious architecture under construction during the period. It replaced the colossal columns modeled after those of the Church of the Jesu and St | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=17210883 | 297,913 |
Nanoparticle drug delivery For example, the triblock copolymer of poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(3-aminopropyl-methacrylamide)-b-poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PEG-b-PAPMA-b-PNIPAm) can self-assemble to form micelles, possessing a core–shell–corona architecture above the lower critical solution temperature. It is also pH responsive. Therefore, drug release can be tuned by changing either temperature or pH conditions. Drug delivery strategies of inorganic nanoparticles are dependent on material properties. The active targeting of inorganic nanoparticle drug carriers is often achieved by surface functionalization with specific ligands of nanoparticles. For example, the inorganic multifunctional nanovehicle (5-FU/Fe3O4/αZrP@CHI-FA-R6G) is able to accomplish tumor optical imaging and therapy simultaneously. It can be directed to the location of cancer cells with sustained release behavior. Studies have also been done on gold nanoparticle responses to local near-infrared (NIR) light as a stimuli for drug release. In one study, gold nanoparticles functionalized with double-stranded DNA encapsulated with drug molecules, were irradiated with NIR light. The particles generated heat and denatured the double-stranded DNA, which triggered the release of drugs at the target site. Studies also suggest that a porous structure is beneficial to attain a sustained or pulsatile release. Porous inorganic materials demonstrate high mechanical and chemical stability within a range of physiological conditions | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=59383794 | 79,361 |
Morbius, the Living Vampire Spider-Man, learning that Morbius was planning to use the blood samples to create a cure for Jack Russell, agreed to help Morbius by giving him more blood. During the "Origin of the Species" storyline, Morbius was among the supervillains recruited by Doctor Octopus to secure some items for him. During the events of "Spider-Island", it was revealed to the reader that Morbius was the mysterious Number Six working at Horizon Labs. He assisted, in a hazmat suit to protect his identity, in preparing the cure to the spider-powers virus. When Peter Parker tried to investigate the identity of "Number Six", he accidentally provoked Morbius—who had been using the cure to try to develop a basis for a cure for his own condition—into a frenzy, prompting the staff at Horizon to step up building security (making it harder for Peter to enter and exit the building as Spider-Man in the future) and also forcing Morbius to leave, where it was revealed that he had been working with the Lizard, presumably trying to find a cure for both of their conditions. It was also revealed that Morbius was a college friend of Max Modell. Using DNA samples from the corpse of Billy Connors, Morbius was able to create a cure that would restore the Lizard to human form, but he failed to recognize that the Lizard had fully destroyed Curt Connors' human persona. They left the Lizard alone in Morbius' lab, allowing the Lizard to release blood into the lab's air supply to provoke the injured Morbius into attacking the other Horizon scientists | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=1809522 | 172,925 |
DNA They are mostly single stranded sequences isolated from a large pool of random sequences through a combinatorial approach called in vitro selection or systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX). DNAzymes catalyze variety of chemical reactions including RNA-cleavage, RNA-ligation, amino acids phosphorylation-dephosphorylation, carbon-carbon bond formation, and etc. DNAzymes can enhance catalytic rate of chemical reactions up to 100,000,000,000-fold over the uncatalyzed reaction. The most extensively studied class of DNAzymes is RNA-cleaving types which have been used to detect different metal ions and designing therapeutic agents. Several metal-specific DNAzymes have been reported including the GR-5 DNAzyme (lead-specific), the CA1-3 DNAzymes (copper-specific), the 39E DNAzyme (uranyl-specific) and the NaA43 DNAzyme (sodium-specific). The NaA43 DNAzyme, which is reported to be more than 10,000-fold selective for sodium over other metal ions, was used to make a real-time sodium sensor in cells. Bioinformatics involves the development of techniques to store, data mine, search and manipulate biological data, including nucleic acid sequence data. These have led to widely applied advances in computer science, especially string searching algorithms, machine learning, and database theory. String searching or matching algorithms, which find an occurrence of a sequence of letters inside a larger sequence of letters, were developed to search for specific sequences of nucleotides | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=7955 | 301,117 |
Phone connector (audio) When the user plugs in a two-conductor (mono) guitar or microphone lead, the resulting short-circuit between sleeve and ring connects an internal battery to the unit's circuitry, ensuring that it powers up or down automatically whenever a signal lead is inserted or removed. A drawback of this design is the risk of inadvertently discharging the battery if the lead is not removed after use, such as if the equipment is left plugged in overnight. When a phone connector is used to make a balanced connection, the two active conductors are both used for a monaural signal. The ring, used for the right channel in stereo systems, is used instead for the inverting input. This is a common use in small audio mixing desks, where space is a premium and they offer a more compact alternative to XLR connectors. Another advantage offered by TRS phone connectors used for balanced microphone inputs is that a standard unbalanced signal lead using a TS phone jack can simply be plugged into such an input. The ring (right channel) contact then makes contact with the plug body, correctly grounding the inverting input. A disadvantage of using phone connectors for balanced audio connections is that the ground mates last and the socket grounds the plug tip and ring when inserting or disconnecting the plug. This causes bursts of hum, cracks and pops and may stress some outputs as they will be short circuited briefly, or longer if the plug is left half in | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=258959 | 419,922 |
Anonymous work Anonymous works are works, such as art or literature, that have an anonymous, undisclosed, or unknown creator or author. In the case of very old works, the author's name may simply be lost over the course of history and time. There are a number of reasons anonymous works arise. In the United States, anonymous work is legally defined as "a work on the copies or phonorecords of which no natural person is identified as author." In the case of very old works, the author's name may simply be lost over the course of history and time. In such cases the author is often referred to as , the Latin form of "anonymous". In other cases, the creator's name is intentionally kept secret. The author's reasons may vary from fear of persecution to protection of his or her reputation. Legal reasons may also bar an author from self-identifying, as in 2007 when "The Washington Post" published an article by an anonymous author—who would have preferred to be named—describing the use of national security letters by the FBI. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=13557443 | 500,971 |
Pro-nuclear movement The job outlook for nuclear engineering from the year 2012 to the year 2022 is predicted to grow 9% due to many elder nuclear engineers retiring, safety systems needing to be updated in power plants, and the advancements made in nuclear medicine. Many people, including former opponents of nuclear energy, now say that nuclear energy is necessary for reducing carbon dioxide emissions. They recognize that the threat to humanity from climate change is far worse than any risk associated with nuclear energy. Many of these supporters, but not all, acknowledge that renewable energy is also important to the effort to eliminate emissions. Early environmentalists who publicly voiced support for nuclear power include James Lovelock, originator of the Gaia hypothesis, Patrick Moore, an early member of Greenpeace and former president of Greenpeace Canada, George Monbiot and Stewart Brand, creator of the Whole Earth Catalog. Lovelock goes further to refute claims about the danger of nuclear energy and its waste products. In a January 2008 interview, Moore said that "It wasn't until after I'd left Greenpeace and the climate change issue started coming to the forefront that I started rethinking energy policy in general and realised that I had been incorrect in my analysis of nuclear as being some kind of evil plot | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=40797927 | 222,164 |
Rolsø Kapel (Rolsø Chapel) in Denmark is a desolate, abandoned, cemetery with examples of graveyard custom stretching back to the 1700s. The cemetery’s dilapidated gravesites belonged to Rolsø Kirke, (Rolsø Church) that was torn down in 1908. The remaining Chapel with cemetery lies by an unpopulated cape, that forms the northern mouth of Knebel Vig (Knebel Bay) into Århus Bugt(Århus Bay) on the southern part of the peninsula Djursland, in Denmark, Northern Europe. As opposed to most other cemeteries in Denmark older graves have not been canceled. For example, one can find graves without stones, but with cast iron crosses, with the burial inscriptions cast into the metal. These crosses are over 150 years old. Another example of old graveyard custom is teacher Chr. Johansens gravesite from 1897. Here a black and white photo of Chr. Johansen is embedded into the gravestone. This is in contrast to the picture-free gravesite norm in Denmark today, even though this is not the case several other places in the world, where photos of the deceased can be a central part of a gravesite. The photographic quality of the photo of Chr. Johansen, taken in the late 1800s might seem surprising, as well as the fact that the seemingly porcelain based picture embedded centrally in the gravestone, apart from damage from a blow, does not show signs of aging, such as fading, even though it has been exposed to the elements for over one hundred years at a desolate cape by the sea | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=52845675 | 336,485 |
Trip valve gear Trip valve mechanisms are a class of steam engine valve gear developed to improve efficiency. The trip mechanism allows the inlet valve to be closed rapidly, giving a short, sharp cut-off. The valve itself can be a drop valve or a Corliss valve. was applied to larger stationary engines. It was not used in transport applications, as it was not suitable for high speed. The trip point of the valve mechanism, and therefore the cut-off, would be adjusted either manually or automatically by the governor. The valve is opened by the mechanical valve gear mechanism, and when the trip gear trigger releases the mechanism the valve is snapped closed, usually by a spring acting against a dashpot. When using the Corliss and other trip valve gears, the possible advantages are: The trip valve-gear, which is almost always a multiple valve-gear, has the potential to face the following disadvantages: | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=18048688 | 226,241 |
Olszewski tube This eventually helps the lake as a whole because the bottom of the lake will have more dissolved oxygen and the top of the lake will have less eutrophication. The first implementation of the was attempted at Lake Kortowo in Poland and this led to oligotrophication, reduction of nutrient cycling. This tube has shown the most promise in a 3.9 meter deep eutrophic lake in Switzerland because the phosphorus and nitrogen levels in the summer drastically decreased, oxygen levels increased, and the amount of cyanobacteria decreased from 152 grams per square meter to 41 grams per square meter. It has also been reported by a scientist named Bjork that there have been successes with the in European lakes. Other limnologists like Pechlaner and Gachter have reported successes in small lakes where the total phosphorus decreased, transparency of water increased, and less algae was present. Some complications that can arise with the use of an include disruption of the thermocline and excessive water loss. The thermocline separates the upper layer of water that is mixed temperatures with the deeper, cooler water. If the thermocline is disrupted, it could alter the ecology of the lake, potentially making it uninhabitable. Another complication is that the installation must be a long-term process. Short-term uses of Olszewski tubes have largely failed because it takes some time for the anoxic condition of the hypolimnetic layer to increase in dissolved oxygen | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20895158 | 221,257 |
Ice blasting is the use of explosives to break up ice in rivers, greatly aiding navigation systems. This is done during the spring when snow is melting and river ice is breaking up. There is always a chance that the ice flows could collide creating an ice jam and blocking the river. The river, filled with melt water, will quickly flood and often cause damage to nearby settlements. Thus in most northern areas governments quickly act to break up the ice jams before they can do much damage. This is most easily done with explosives. These explosives may be planted from the shore, or in some cases by helicopter. Explosives can also be remotely delivered by artillery or dropped by bombers. In the large rivers of the Siberia the Russian airforce is sometimes called in to bomb ice jams. Some districts, where flooding is especially common, do preemptive ice blasting. The city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, for instance, blasts the Rideau River each spring to break up the ice. In 1994, for instance, 10,000 sticks of dynamite were used to break up ice along 9 kilometres of the river. has a number of disadvantages. It is expensive and dangerous requiring highly skilled explosives experts. When blasting is occurring the public must be warned to keep their distance. The blasting has negative environmental consequences. Fish and other river creatures are inevitably killed and the river bottom is scarred. Unexploded ordnance can also be a concern where remote delivery is used. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=1666672 | 249,951 |
Socialism They elected a Commune council of 92 members, one member for each 20,000 residents. Despite internal differences, the council began to organise public services. It reached a consensus on certain policies that tended towards a progressive, secular and highly democratic social democracy. Because the Commune was able to meet on fewer than 60 days in total, only a few decrees were actually implemented. These included the separation of church and state; the remission of rents owed for the period of the siege (during which payment had been suspended); the abolition of night work in the hundreds of Paris bakeries; the granting of pensions to the unmarried companions and children of National Guards killed on active service; and the free return of all workmen's tools and household items valued up to 20 francs that had been pledged during the siege. The Commune was concerned that skilled workers had been forced to pawn their tools during the war; the postponement of commercial debt obligations and the abolition of interest on the debts; and the right of employees to take over and run an enterprise if it were deserted by its owner. The Commune nonetheless recognised the previous owner's right to compensation. In 1864, the First International was founded in London. It united diverse revolutionary currents, including socialists such as the French followers of Proudhon, Blanquists, Philadelphes, English trade unionists and social democrats | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=26847 | 509,304 |
Global Positioning System After that, the National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing Executive Committee was established by presidential directive in 2004 to advise and coordinate federal departments and agencies on matters concerning the GPS and related systems. The executive committee is chaired jointly by the Deputy Secretaries of Defense and Transportation. Its membership includes equivalent-level officials from the Departments of State, Commerce, and Homeland Security, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and NASA. Components of the executive office of the president participate as observers to the executive committee, and the FCC chairman participates as a liaison. The U.S. Department of Defense is required by law to "maintain a Standard Positioning Service (as defined in the federal radio navigation plan and the standard positioning service signal specification) that will be available on a continuous, worldwide basis," and "develop measures to prevent hostile use of GPS and its augmentations without unduly disrupting or degrading civilian uses." On February 10, 1993, the National Aeronautic Association selected the GPS Team as winners of the 1992 Robert J. Collier Trophy, the US's most prestigious aviation award. This team combines researchers from the Naval Research Laboratory, the USAF, the Aerospace Corporation, Rockwell International Corporation, and IBM Federal Systems Company | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=11866 | 259,325 |
Ormolu In the hands of the Parisian "marchands-merciers", the precursors of decorators, ormolu or gilt-bronze sculptures were used for bright, non-oxidizing fireplace accessories or for Rococo or Neoclassical mantel-clocks or wall-mounted clock-cases – a specialty of Charles Cressent (1685–1768) – complemented by rock-crystal drops on gilt-bronze chandeliers and wall-lights. The bronze mounts were cast by lost wax casting, and then chiseled and chased to add detail. Rococo gilt bronze tends to be finely cast, lightly chiseled, and part-burnished. Neoclassical gilt-bronze is often entirely chiseled and chased with extraordinary skill and delicacy to create finely varied surfaces. The ormolu technique was extensively used in the French Empire mantel clocks, reaching its peak during this period. Chinese and European porcelains mounted in gilt-bronze were luxury wares that heightened the impact of often-costly and ornamental ceramic pieces sometimes used for display. Chinese ceramics with gilt-bronze mounts were produced under the guidance of the Parisian "marchands-merciers", for only they had access to the ceramics (often purchased in the Netherlands) and the ability to overleap the guild restrictions. A few surviving pieces of 16th-century Chinese porcelain subsequently mounted in contemporary European silver-gilt, or "vermeil", show where the foundations of the later fashion lay | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=1682480 | 85,621 |
Surface-conduction electron-emitter display The front is easily prepared using methods similar to existing CRT systems; the phosphors are painted onto the screen using a variety of silkscreen or similar technologies, and then covered with a thin layer of aluminum to make the screen visibly opaque and provide an electrical return path for the electrons once they strike the screen. In the SED, this layer also serves as the front electrode that accelerates the electrons toward the screen, which is held at a constant high voltage relative to the switching grid. As is the case with modern CRT's, a dark mask is applied to the glass before the phosphor is painted on, to give the screen a dark charcoal grey color and improve contrast ratio. Creating the rear layer with the emitters is a multi-step process. First, a matrix of silver wires is printed on the screen to form the rows or columns, an insulator is added, and then the columns or rows are deposited on top of that. Electrodes are added into this array, typically using platinum, leaving a gap of about 60 micrometres between the columns. Next, square pads of palladium oxide (PdO) only 20 nm thick are deposited into the gaps between the electrodes, connecting to them to supply power. A small slit is cut into the pad in the middle by repeatedly pulsing high currents though them. The resulting erosion causes a gap to form. The gap in the pad forms the emitter. The width of the gap has to be tightly controlled in order to work properly, and this proved difficult to control in practice | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=1530649 | 369,439 |
Calshot Castle is an artillery fort constructed by Henry VIII on the Calshot Spit, Hampshire, England, between 1539 and 1540. It formed part of the King's Device programme to protect against invasion from France and the Holy Roman Empire and defend Southampton Water as it met the Solent. The castle had a keep at its centre, surrounded by a curtain wall and a moat. Initially heavily armed, it had a garrison of 16 men and as many as 36 artillery guns. The castle continued in use for many years, surviving the English Civil War intact and being extensively modernised in the 1770s. During the 19th century, was used by the coastguard as a base for combating smuggling. In 1894, however, fresh fears of a French invasion led to it being brought back into use as an artillery fort: a large coastal battery was constructed alongside the older castle and a boom built across Southampton Water, controlled from the castle. During the First World War, was primarily used as a base for seaplanes, deployed on anti-submarine patrols in the English Channel; its guns were removed before the end of the war, probably for use in France. The air base, by then called RAF Calshot, grew in size during the inter-war years, hosting the Schneider Trophy air races. With the outbreak of the Second World War, Calshot was re-armed in the face of a possible German invasion. The station continued in use after the war, but as military seaplanes became obsolete, it was finally closed in 1961 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=1016554 | 320,023 |
Iron metallurgy in Africa The linguist Christopher Ehret argues that the first words for iron-working in Bantu languages were borrowed from Central Sudanic languages, probably somewhere in the vicinity of modern Uganda and Kenya, while Jan Vansina argues instead that they originated in non-Bantu languages in Nigeria, and that iron metallurgy spread southwards and eastwards to speakers of Bantu languages, which had already dispersed into the Congo rainforest and into the Great Lakes region. Whichever of these interpretations is correct, the archaeological evidence clearly indicates that iron and cereal agriculture (millet and sorghum) spread together from southern Tanzania and northern Zambia, starting in the first century BC, all the way south to the eastern Cape region of present South Africa, which was reached by the third of fourth century AD It seems highly probable that both iron metallurgy and cereal agriculture were spread through this vast area by migrations of people speaking Bantu languages. All indigenous African iron smelting processes are variants of the bloomery process. A much wider range of bloomery smelting processes has been recorded on the African continent than elsewhere in the Old World, probably because bloomeries remained in use into the 20th century in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, whereas in Europe and most parts of Asia they were replaced by the blast furnace before most varieties of bloomeries could be recorded. W.W | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=20255436 | 73,951 |
Internal conversion (chemistry) In applications that make use of bimolecular electron transfer the internal conversion is undesirable. For example, it is advantageous to have a long lived excited states in Grätzel cells (Dye-sensitized solar cells). | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=2362780 | 29,237 |
International Software Testing Qualifications Board Worldwide there are testing boards in 57 countries (date: May 2017). In the United States, the corresponding organisation is the American Software Testing Qualifications Board (ASTQB); in Britain, the UK Testing Board (UKTB); and in India, the Indian Testing Board (ITB). The exam for the Foundation Level has a theoretical nature and requires knowledge of software development – especially in the field of software testing. The different Advanced Level exams are more practical and require deeper knowledge in special areas. Test Manager deals with planning and control of the test process. Test Analyst concerns, amongst other things, reviews and black box testing methods. Technical Test Analyst includes component tests (also called unit test), requiring knowledge of white box testing and non-functional testing methods – this section also includes test tools. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=5933562 | 252,032 |
C16H24N2 The molecular formula CHN (molar mass : 244.37 g/mol, exact mass : 244.193949) may refer to : | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=24154897 | 30,540 |
Priority effect They found that hatchlings of a toad species ("Bufo americanus") exhibited higher growth and survivorship when introduced to a pond before those of a frog species ("Rana sphenocephala"). The frog larvae, however, did best when introduced after the toad larvae. Thus, prior establishment by the toad species facilitated the frog species, while prior establishment by the frog species inhibited the toad species. Studies on tree frogs have also documented both types of priority effect. Morin (1987) also observed that priority effects became less important in the presence of a predatory salamander. He hypothesized that predation mediated priority effects by reducing competition between frog species. Studies on larval insects and frogs in water-filled tree holes and stumps found that abiotic factors such as space, resource availability, and toxin levels can also be important in mediating priority effects. Terrestrial studies on priority effects are rare. The aforementioned ISI Web of Science search retrieved only 19 studies on fully terrestrial organisms, and all of these studies were published during or after 1993. Most studies have focused on arthropods or grassland plant species. In a lab experiment, Shorrocks and Bingley (1994) showed that prior arrival increased survivorship for two species of fruit flies; each fly species had inhibitory impacts on the other | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=26956160 | 177,312 |
Collateralized debt obligation A) Based on the underlying asset: B) Other types of CDOs by assets/collateral include: The collateral for cash CDOs include: Participants in a CDO transaction include investors, the underwriter, the asset manager, the trustee and collateral administrator, accountants and attorneys. Beginning in 1999, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act allowed banks to also participate. Investors—buyers of CDO—include insurance companies, mutual fund companies, unit trusts, investment trusts, commercial banks, investment banks, pension fund managers, private banking organizations, other CDOs and structured investment vehicles. Investors have different motivations for purchasing CDO securities depending on which tranche they select. At the more senior levels of debt, investors are able to obtain better yields than those that are available on more traditional securities (e.g., corporate bonds) of a similar rating. In some cases, investors utilize leverage and hope to profit from the excess of the spread offered by the senior tranche and their cost of borrowing. This is true because senior tranches pay a spread above LIBOR despite their AAA-ratings. Investors also benefit from the diversification of the CDO portfolio, the expertise of the asset manager, and the credit support built into the transaction. Investors include banks and insurance companies as well as investment funds. Junior tranche investors achieve a leveraged, non-recourse investment in the underlying diversified collateral portfolio | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=1310579 | 457,111 |
Colour banding Colour banding, or color banding (American English), is a problem of inaccurate colour presentation in computer graphics. In 24-bit colour modes, 8 bits per channel is usually considered sufficient to render images in Rec. 709 or sRGB. However, in some cases there is a risk of producing abrupt changes between shades of the same colour. For instance, displaying natural gradients (like sunsets, dawns or clear blue skies) can show minor banding. is more noticeable with fewer bits per pixel (BPP) at 16–256 colours (4–8 BPP), where not every shade can be shown without dithering. Possible solutions include the introduction of dithering and increasing the number of bits per colour channel. Blurring does "not" fix this, unless one actually increases the number of levels available so that the blur can render color in intermediate levels. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=552122 | 119,880 |
Separation barrier The Line of Control (LoC) refers to the military control line between the Indian and Pakistani controlled parts of the former princely state of Kashmir and Jammu—a line which, to this day, does not constitute a legally recognized international boundary, but is the de facto border. Originally known as the "Cease-fire Line", it was redesignated as the "Line of Control" following the Simla Agreement, which was signed on 3 July 1972. The part of the former princely state that is under Indian control is known as the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The two parts of the former princely state that are under Pakistani control are known as Gilgit–Baltistan and Azad Kashmir (AJK). Its northernmost point is known as the NJ9842. This territorial division, which to this day still exists, severed many villages and separated family members from each other. A separation fence construction between Indian and Pakistani controlled areas, based on 1972 cease-fire line, was initiated by India in 2003. In December 2013, it was revealed that India plans a construction of a separation wall in the Himalayan area in Kashmir. The wall is aimed to cover 179 km. The other sections of India's borders also have a fence or wall. Israel began building the Israeli West Bank barrier in 2002, in order to protect civilians from Palestinian terrorism such as suicide bombing attacks which increased significantly during the Second Intifada | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=370681 | 204,358 |
Rapid transit track gauge The vast majority of rapid transit systems use . Some of the largest and oldest subway systems in the world use standard gauge in agreement with the country wide dominant usage for track gauge, e.g. London Underground (1863), Chicago "L" (1892), Vienna Metro (1898), Paris Métro (1900), Berlin U-Bahn (1902), New York City Subway (1904), Stockholm Metro (1950), Milan Metro (1964), Mexico City Metro (1969), Beijing Subway (1969), Seoul Metropolitan Subway (1974), Shanghai Metro (1993), Guangzhou Metro (1997), Shenzhen Metro (2004). A lot of rapid transit systems in countries where the main lines do not use standard gauges are built in standard gauge, e.g. Barcelona Metro, Santiago Metro, Taipei Metro or many systems in India. There are also systems that use (some systems in Japan and Jakarta MRT), (the standard in former Soviet Union, and (the standard in Brazil) and few others. Some systems use rubber tires, with someones adding them to the normal steel wheels (e.g. Paris Metro, Mexico City Metro, Montreal Metro) and some others with only tires (e.g. Lille Metro, Sapporo Municipal Subway). Some systems use monorail, the largest ones are in Chongqing Rail Transit and in São Paulo Metro. For references for the figures, see each system's page and List of metro systems. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=39347962 | 436,939 |
Bundesverband der Energie- und Wasserwirtschaft The (BDEW) e.V. (German Association of Energy and Water Industries) with headquarters in Berlin is the German business organisation for the energy (power producers, grid operators, natural gas, electricity and district heating) and water industry (water supply and sanitation). BDEW influences the German energy policy and is a proponent of free-market designs. Depending on the sources, BDEW represents over 1800 or even 1900 companies, including local and municipal utilities as well as regional and inter-regional suppliers. Among the big players in the association are E.ON, Vattenfall, EnBW and RWE. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=61358363 | 494,648 |
River engineering Engineering works to increase the navigability of rivers can only be advantageously undertaken in large rivers with a moderate fall and a fair discharge at their lowest stage, for with a large fall the current presents a great impediment to up-stream navigation, and there are generally great variations in water level, and when the discharge becomes very small in the dry season. It is impossible to maintain a sufficient depth of water in the low-water channel. The possibility to secure uniformity of depth in a river by lowering the shoals obstructing the channel depends on the nature of the shoals. A soft shoal in the bed of a river is due to deposit from a diminution in velocity of flow, produced by a reduction in fall and by a widening of the channel, or to a loss in concentration of the scour of the main current in passing over from one concave bank to the next on the opposite side. The lowering of such a shoal by dredging merely effects a temporary deepening, for it soon forms again from the causes which produced it. The removal, moreover, of the rocky obstructions at rapids, though increasing the depth and equalizing the flow at these places, produces a lowering of the river above the rapids by facilitating the efflux, which may result in the appearance of fresh shoals at the low stage of the river | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=3966984 | 202,020 |
Coca-Cola Coliseum The Fair uses the arena for the annual "Royal Horse Show" equestrian competition, as well as animal presentations. Each year in August, the Coliseum is used by the CNE for exhibits and performances. It has in the past used for CNE cat, dog and horse shows. Until 2013, the CNE held the CNE Horse Show, a competitive event in the Coliseum. At one time run during the Ex, it changed to be a pre-CNE event in 2005. It has been used by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Musical Ride. During the 2009, 2010 and 2011 CNE, it was used for a figure skating show. The arena is also used for trade shows. The annual Boat Show builds an indoor pond over the arena floor. As early as the 1970s, plans were floated to outfit CNE Coliseum for ice hockey. When the World Hockey Association's Ottawa Nationals moved to Toronto as the Toronto Toros, they initially wanted to play at a renovated CNE Coliseum. However, due to objections from Maple Leafs vice president Bill Ballard, the Toros played at Varsity Arena before briefly becoming tenants of the Leafs at Maple Leaf Gardens. In the early 2000s, there were efforts to bring a minor professional hockey team to the Coliseum. Plans to move the dormant Phoenix Roadrunners of the International Hockey League to Toronto for the 2002-2003 season fell apart when the league dissolved and six teams, but not the Roadrunners, were absorbed by the American Hockey League (AHL) in the summer of 2001 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=1461462 | 311,820 |
Occupational safety and health In Norway, the main required tasks of an occupational health and safety practitioner include the following: In the Netherlands, the required tasks for health and safety staff are only summarily defined and include the following: ‘The main influence of the Dutch law on the job of the safety professional is through the requirement on each employer to use the services of a certified working conditions service to advise them on health and safety’. A ‘certified service’ must employ sufficient numbers of four types of certified experts to cover the risks in the organisations which use the service: In 2004, 37% of health and safety practitioners in Norway and 14% in the Netherlands had an MSc; 44% had a BSc in Norway and 63% in the Netherlands; and 19% had training as an OSH technician in Norway and 23% in the Netherlands. The main tasks undertaken by the OHS practitioner in the US include: Knowledge required by the OHS professional in the US include: Some skills required by the OHS professional in the US include (but are not limited to): Because different countries take different approaches to ensuring occupational safety and health, areas of OSH need and focus also vary between countries and regions. Similar to the findings of the ENHSPO survey conducted in Australia, the Institute of Occupational Medicine in the UK found that there is a need to put greater emphasis on work-related illness in the UK | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=35319154 | 227,560 |
Settling basin If impairment occurs in any of these functions, this might have a great impact on pond performance, which could lead to damaging the effectiveness of the process. Wastewater produced by mining industries contribute to the acidity, suspended material and dissolved heavy metal ions in the aquatic environment, causing environmental problems for biological life and discoloration of the receiving waters. The application of settling basins by the Coeur d’Alene mining district of northern Idaho, United States, globally known to produce lead, zinc and silver, to treat wastewater has greatly improved the quality of water discharge from mining operations. By reducing flow velocity to limit solids being transported along with fast flowing liquid, separation can occur. Approximately 35% – 60% of the solids is removed from dilute liquid slurry, with 10 minutes detention time, with a common detention time of 30 to 60 minutes. Due to the inadequate consideration of critical design criteria, most settling basins built were oversized and had low efficiency. Settling basins used in dairy production reduce the nutrient-loading on a vegetative filter strip from lot runoff, thus decreasing the required lagoon volume for a new facility. Moreover, settling basins are useful to remove unwanted solid materials, such as hay, straw and feathers from the waste stream before flowing to the lagoon, aids to reduce smell and avoid crust formation on the lagoon surface. A baffle may be used to retain the floating solids removed | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=757300 | 309,694 |
History of Apple Inc. Although the machine was fairly simple, it was nevertheless a masterpiece of design, using far fewer parts than anything in its class, and quickly earning Wozniak a reputation as a master designer. Encouraged by the success of the Apple I, Jobs started looking for investments to further expand the business, but banks were reluctant to lend him money; the idea of a computer for ordinary people seemed absurd at the time. In August 1976, Jobs approached his former boss at Atari, Nolan Bushnell, who recommended that he meet with Don Valentine, the founder of Sequoia Capital. Valentine was not interested in funding Apple, but in turn introduced Jobs to Mike Markkula, a millionaire who had worked under him at Fairchild Semiconductor. Markkula, unlike Valentine, saw great potential in the two Steves, and decided to become an angel investor of their company. He invested $92,000 in Apple out of his own property while securing a $250,000 () line of credit from Bank of America. In return for his investment, Markkula received a one-third stake in Apple. With the help of Markkula, Apple Computer, Inc. was incorporated on January 3, 1977. The new corporation bought out the old partnership the two Steves formed nine months earlier. In February 1977, Markkula recruited Michael Scott from National Semiconductor to serve as the first president and CEO of Apple Computer, as Jobs and Wozniak were both insufficiently experienced and he was not interested in taking that position himself | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=2593693 | 102,854 |
Ccrypt ccrypt is a utility for the secure encryption and decryption of files and streams. It was designed as a replacement for the standard UNIX crypt utility, which is notorious for using a very weak encryption algorithm. ccrypt is based on the Rijndael cypher, the same cipher used in the AES standard. However, in the AES standard a 128-bit block size is used, whereas ccrypt uses a 256-bit block size. ccrypt commonly uses the .cpt file extension for encrypted files. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=21564296 | 112,841 |
Stencil buffer A stencil buffer is an extra data buffer, in addition to the "color buffer" and "Z-buffer", found on modern graphics hardware. The buffer is per pixel, and works on integer values, usually with a depth of one byte per pixel. The Z-buffer and stencil buffer often share the same area in the RAM of the graphics hardware. In the simplest case, the stencil buffer is used to limit the area of rendering (stenciling). More advanced usage of the stencil buffer makes use of the strong connection between the Z-buffer and the stencil buffer in the rendering pipeline. For example, stencil values can be automatically increased/decreased for every pixel that fails or passes the depth test. The simple combination of depth test and stencil modifiers make a vast number of effects possible (such as stencil shadow volumes, Two-Sided Stencil, compositing, decaling, dissolves, fades, swipes, silhouettes, outline drawing or highlighting of intersections between complex primitives) though they often require several rendering passes and, therefore, can put a heavy load on the graphics hardware. The most typical application is still to add shadows to 3D applications. It is also used for planar reflections. Other rendering techniques, such as portal rendering, use the stencil buffer in other ways; for example, it can be used to find the area of the screen obscured by a portal and re-render those pixels correctly. The stencil buffer and its modifiers can be accessed in computer graphics by using APIs like OpenGL and Direct3D | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=2318997 | 108,213 |
P. S. Ayyaswamy His national and international awards and honors include ASME 2007 Worcester Reed Warner Medal, ASME 2001 Heat Transfer Memorial Award in the Science Category, Council of Indian Organizations Award, ASME Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award, Am. Inst. Aeronautics and Astronautics Aerospace Professional of the Year (1997) award, He was also elected Panelist for Review of NASA Strategic Roadmaps: Space Station Panel (2005), Elected Fellow of ASME (1990) and Visiting Professor of Dept. of Mech. Eng., University of California, Berkeley, CA (2000). Ayyaswamy has also won several teaching awards which include Lindback Award and Reid Warren Award for Distinguished Teaching. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=26630302 | 448,991 |
Turbulence The Reynolds number quantifies the relative importance of these two types of forces for given flow conditions, and is a guide to when turbulent flow will occur in a particular situation. This ability to predict the onset of turbulent flow is an important design tool for equipment such as piping systems or aircraft wings, but the Reynolds number is also used in scaling of fluid dynamics problems, and is used to determine dynamic similitude between two different cases of fluid flow, such as between a model aircraft, and its full size version. Such scaling is not always linear and the application of Reynolds numbers to both situations allows scaling factors to be developed. A flow situation in which the kinetic energy is significantly absorbed due to the action of fluid molecular viscosity gives rise to a laminar flow regime. For this the dimensionless quantity the Reynolds number () is used as a guide. With respect to laminar and turbulent flow regimes: The Reynolds number is defined as where: While there is no theorem directly relating the non-dimensional Reynolds number to turbulence, flows at Reynolds numbers larger than 5000 are typically (but not necessarily) turbulent, while those at low Reynolds numbers usually remain laminar. In Poiseuille flow, for example, turbulence can first be sustained if the Reynolds number is larger than a critical value of about 2040; moreover, the turbulence is generally interspersed with laminar flow until a larger Reynolds number of about 4000 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=154664 | 434,112 |
Anarcho-syndicalism At this point, many in the CNT leadership were critical of participation in the government, seeing it as dominated by the Communists. Prominent CNT leaders went so far as to refer to Blanco as "sop of the libertarian movement" and "just one more Negrínist". On the other side, Blanco was responsible for installing other CNT members into the ministry of education and stopping the spread of "Communist propaganda" by the ministry. In March 1939, with the war nearly over, CNT leaders participated in the National Defense Council's coup overthrowing the government of the Socialist Juan Negrín. Those involved included the CNT's Eduardo Val and José Manuel González Marín serving on the council, while Cipriano Mera's 70th Division provided military support, and Melechor Rodríquez became mayor of Madrid. The Council attempted to negotiate a peace with Franco, though he granted virtually none of their demands. After World War II, an appeal in the "Fraye Arbeter Shtime", detailing the plight of German anarchists, called for Americans to support them. By February 1946, the sending of aid parcels to anarchists in Germany was a large-scale operation. In 1947, Rudolf Rocker published "Zur Betrachtung der Lage in Deutschland" ("Regarding the Portrayal of the Situation in Germany") about the impossibility of another anarchist movement in Germany. It became the first post-World War II anarchist writing to be distributed in Germany | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=49938 | 509,773 |
Ionic compound More generally HSAB theory can be applied, whereby the compounds with the most ionic character are those consisting of hard acids and hard bases: small, highly charged ions with a high difference in electronegativities between the anion and cation. This difference in electronegativities means that the charge separation, and resulting dipole moment, is maintained even when the ions are in contact (the excess electrons on the anions are not transferred or polarized to neutralize the cations). Ions typically pack into extremely regular crystalline structures, in an arrangement that minimizes the lattice energy (maximizing attractions and minimizing repulsions). The lattice energy is the summation of the interaction of all sites with all other sites. For unpolarizable spherical ions only the charges and distances are required to determine the electrostatic interaction energy. For any particular ideal crystal structure, all distances are geometrically related to the smallest internuclear distance. So for each possible crystal structure, the total electrostatic energy can be related to the electrostatic energy of unit charges at the nearest neighbour distance by a multiplicative constant called the Madelung constant that can be efficiently computed using an Ewald sum. When a reasonable form is assumed for the additional repulsive energy, the total lattice energy can be modelled using the Born–Landé equation, the Born–Mayer equation, or in the absence of structural information, the Kapustinskii equation | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=210000 | 34,957 |
Noam Chomsky " Chomsky was married to Carol () from 1949 until her death in 2008. They had three children together: Aviva (b. 1957), Diane (b. 1960), and Harry (b. 1967). In 2014, Chomsky married Valeria Wasserman. Chomsky has been a defining Western intellectual figure, central to the field of linguistics and definitive in cognitive science, computer science, philosophy, and psychology. In addition to being known as one of the most important intellectuals of his time, Chomsky carries a dual legacy as both a "leader in the field" of linguistics and "a figure of enlightenment and inspiration" for political dissenters. Despite his academic success, his political viewpoints and activism have resulted in his being distrusted by the mainstream media apparatus, and he is regarded as being "on the outer margin of acceptability". The reception of his work is intertwined with his public image as an anarchist, a gadfly, an historian, a Jew, a linguist, and a philosopher. McGilvray observes that Chomsky inaugurated the "cognitive revolution" in linguistics, and that he is largely responsible for establishing the field as a formal, natural science, moving it away from the procedural form of structural linguistics dominant during the mid-20th century. As such, some have called Chomsky "the father of modern linguistics". Linguist John Lyons further remarked that within a few decades of publication, Chomskyan linguistics had become "the most dynamic and influential" school of thought in the field | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=21566 | 516,386 |
Mitochondrial disease Mitochondrial diseases are a group of disorders caused by dysfunctional mitochondria, the organelles that generate energy for the cell. Mitochondria are found in every cell of the human body except red blood cells, and convert the energy of food molecules into the ATP that powers most cell functions. Mitochondrial diseases take on unique characteristics both because of the way the diseases are often inherited and because mitochondria are so critical to cell function. A subclass of these diseases that have neuromuscular symptoms are sometimes called mitochondrial myopathies. Symptoms include: Acquired conditions in which mitochondrial dysfunction has been involved are: The body, and each mutation, is modulated by other genome variants; the mutation that in one individual may cause liver disease might in another person cause a brain disorder. The severity of the specific defect may also be great or small. Some defects include exercise intolerance. Defects often affect the operation of the mitochondria and multiple tissues more severely, leading to multi-system diseases. As a rule, mitochondrial diseases are worse when the defective mitochondria are present in the muscles, cerebrum, or nerves, because these cells use more energy than most other cells in the body | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=160125 | 36,170 |
Sustainable capitalism Any attempt to adequately protect the environment within such a capitalist framework is doomed to fail, so the argument goes, because society simply is not structured to be willing to sacrifice private profits for public endeavors on this scale. The Capital Institute describes the concept of sustainable capitalism as an oxymoron. They argue that modern capitalism is not designed for cooperation and much of the proposed measures in the manifesto are insufficient. Regeneration, cooperation, and well-being are aspects of sustainability that do not coincide with what capitalism has evolved to be. Efforts may be made to reform current capitalistic practices, but mass movements focusing on environmental concerns that do not create a radical change of the system are not likely to succeed as they go against what capitalism was designed to achieve. Capitalism and sustainability are mutually exclusive ideas given the current model. Critics such as Neil E. Harrison argue that the government would likely be resistant to sustainable changes for the current capitalist model. Since the capitalist government was built upon capitalist ideals and business interests, he argues, the government is dependent on the system. Often, the government is most focused on overt crises rather than long-term solutions to problems that are not readily apparent. His main argument is that beyond the current structure, authority is not enough to control the social and economic aspects enough to truly impact the environmental needs. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=48764624 | 473,482 |
Sandrine Heutz She demonstrated that copper phthalocyanine could be used for quantum computing, where information is stored as qubits as opposed to binary bits. Heutz has continued to work on room temperature magnetic organic materials for spintronic applications, working with Nic Harrison, the co-Director of the Imperial College Institute for Molecular Science and Engineering. Together they have explored new approaches to grow phthalocyanine thin films with desired structural and spectroscopic properties. She has shown that at low temperatures (100 K) cobalt phthalocyanine forms molecular structures with strong magnetic alignment. Heutz and her research group have developed flexible thin films of cobalt phthalocyanine for use in spintronic devices. Harrison contributed theoretical models of cobalt phthalocyanine, and demonstrated that by manipulating the angle between adjacent layers of cobalt phthalocyanine it is possible to improve the magnetic properties of the material. This finding explains how cobalt phthalocyanine demonstrates magnetic properties above liquid nitrogen temperatures. In 2018 Heutz demonstrated that pentacene could undergo singlet fission – absorbing a single photon could result in the generation of two excited electrons. She demonstrated that the molecular orientation of pentacene within a solar cell could increase the power output. Pentacene packs in a herringbone structure and each molecule can either be parallel or titled with respect to its neighbours | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=62431193 | 16,300 |
William Sterling Parsons The fuze, eventually known as the VT (variable time) fuze, Mark 32, went into production in 1942. Parsons was on hand to watch the cruiser shoot down the first enemy aircraft with a VT fuze in the Solomon Islands in January 1943. In June 1943, Parsons joined the Manhattan Project as Associate Director at the research laboratory at Los Alamos, New Mexico under J. Robert Oppenheimer. Parsons became responsible for the ordnance aspects of the project, including the design and testing of the non-nuclear components of nuclear weapons. In a reorganization in 1944, he lost responsibility for the implosion-type fission weapon, but retained that for the design and development of the gun-type fission weapon, which eventually became Little Boy. He was also responsible for the delivery program, codenamed Project Alberta. He watched the Trinity nuclear test from a B-29. After the war, Parsons was promoted to the rank of rear admiral without ever having commanded a ship. He participated in Operation Crossroads, the nuclear weapon tests at Bikini Atoll in 1946, and later the Operation Sandstone tests at Enewetak Atoll in 1948. In 1947, he became deputy commander of the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project. He died of a heart attack on 5 December 1953. was born in Chicago, Illinois, on 26 November 1901, the oldest of three children of a lawyer, Harry Robert Parsons, and his wife Clara, née Doolittle. In 1909, the family moved to Fort Sumner, New Mexico, where William learned to speak fluent Spanish | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=587693 | 278,257 |
Reclaimed water The World Health Organization, in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP), has developed guidelines for safe use of wastewater in 2006. These guidelines advocate a ‘multiple-barrier’ approach wastewater use, for example by encouraging farmers to adopt various risk-reducing behaviours. These include ceasing irrigation a few days before harvesting to allow pathogens to die off in the sunlight, applying water carefully so it does not contaminate leaves likely to be eaten raw, cleaning vegetables with disinfectant or allowing fecal sludge used in farming to dry before being used as a human manure. The use of reclaimed water to create, enhance, sustain, or augment water bodies including wetlands, aquatic habitats, or stream flow is called "environmental reuse". For example, constructed wetlands fed by wastewater provide both wastewater treatment and habitats for flora and fauna. The use of reclaimed water to recharge aquifers that are not used as a potable water source. Planned potable reuse is publicly acknowledged as an intentional project to recycle water for drinking water. There are two ways in which potable water can be delivered for reuse - "Indirect Potable Reuse" (IPR) and "Direct Potable Reuse". Both these forms of reuse are described below, and commonly involve a more formal public process and public consultation program than is the case with de facto or unacknowledged reuse | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=1018367 | 312,638 |
Gold gram A gold gram is the amount of value represented by exactly one gram of gold. It is a unit of account frequently used for digital gold currencies. It is sometimes denoted by the symbol "gg", "AUG", or "GAU". A milligram of gold is sometimes referred to as a mil or mgg. Therefore, 1 AUG = 1 gg = 1000 mgg = 1000 mil, and 1 mil = 1 mgg = 0.001 gg = 0.001 AUG. This allows gold holdings and transfers to take place in tiny fractions of a gram (equivalent to a few cents) A possible source of confusion is that gold is often priced on the open market in the more traditional troy ounce (one troy ounce is exactly 31.1034768 grams, which is larger than the avoirdupois ounce generally in use in the United States and has a mass of 28.35 grams). Kilogram gold prices are commonly used by the Zurich Gold Pool where 1,000 kilograms = one metric tonne. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=730228 | 516,777 |
Cophonicity The integral at the denominator of the definition of formula_2 is the contribution of the atom A to the states in the frequency range formula_10; we call such quantity the "phonicity of the A atom" in that specific frequency range. The phonicity of an atom then represents the amount of phonon states that such atom contributes to form; in this respect, it can be regarded as the phonon counterpart of the atomic valence, that is the number of electrons with which an atom participates to form the electronic states of the system, counted as the integral of the atom-projected electronic density of states. Consider a generic A-B atomic pair. The relative position formula_13 of the center mass of formula_3 with respect to the center mass of formula_15 is given as formula_16 which is specified in the same units of the frequency formula_17. A positive (negative) sign of formula_13 indicates that the A (B) atom contributes more to the high frequency modes of the specified range. The smaller is formula_19, the higher is the mixing of the A and B contributions to the frequency band, and the two atoms have the same weight in the determination of the modes specific of the considered energy range. We define the quantity formula_13 as the "cophonicity of the A-B atomic pair", in analogy with the A-B bond covalency definition formulated in terms of atomic contributions to the electronic density of states. is then a characteristic of a specific atomic pair found in a system | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=49875825 | 52,345 |
Ohlson o-score The Ohlson O-Score for predicting bankruptcy is a multi-factor financial formula postulated in 1980 by Dr. James Ohlson of the New York University Stern Accounting Department as an alternative to the Altman Z-score for predicting financial distress. The Ohlson O-Score is the result of a 9-factor linear combination of coefficient-weighted business ratios which are readily obtained or derived from the standard periodic financial disclosure statements provided by publicly traded corporations. Two of the factors utilized are widely considered to be dummies as their value and thus their impact upon the formula typically is 0. When using an O-Score to evaluate the probability of company’s failure, then exp(O-Score) is divided by 1 + exp(O-score). The calculation for Ohlson’s O-Score appears below: where The original model for the O-Score was derived from the study of a pool of just over 2000 companies, whereas by comparison its predecessor the Altman Z-Score considered just 66 companies. As a result, the O-Score is significantly more accurate a predictor of bankruptcy within a 2-year period. The original Z-Score was estimated to be over 70% accurate with its later variants reaching as high as 90% accuracy. The O-Score is more accurate than this. However, no mathematical model is 100% accurate, so while the O-Score may forecast bankruptcy or solvency, factors both inside and outside of the formula can impact its accuracy | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=43038259 | 496,634 |
Chipotle Mexican Grill Scientists are waiting for the results of the more definitive whole genome sequencing analyses to determine if the organisms responsible for this outbreak are genetically related to the "E. coli" that are responsible for causing the outbreak that had started in Oregon and Washington in late October and thus an extension of that outbreak. The agency has not yet determined which food is responsible for the outbreak. The Food and Drug Administration reported that they are trying to determine how the bacteria in these cases, along with the earlier Oregon, Washington, and other multi-state cases, might have been propagated through the food supply chain. In December 2015, eighty students at Boston College, including members of the men's basketball team, were sickened after eating at a single Chipotle restaurant. Affected students had been tested for both "E. coli" and norovirus in order to determine the cause of the illnesses. Although it would take as long as two days before the results of more definitive tests became known, public health investigators reported that preliminary tests pointed to the presence of norovirus. The health inspectors for the City of Boston had since closed this particular location on December 7 for a number of health violations that included maintaining meats at a too low of a temperature on the serving line and for allowing a sick employee to work at the time of the inspection | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=191352 | 493,147 |
Can Feliz The living room, lit by three lofty bay windows looking out over the countryside and the sea beyond, is a large theatre-like space divided into two levels separated by four or five steps. The upper area is designed for work with large wooden bookcases and a huge work table while an equally large sofa and five simple white-upholstered rocking chairs are spread across the lower level. Many of the houses furnishings are also made of local stone, faced with glazed blue-patterned tiling. On the southern side of the building, there is a large covered terrace which leads onto a series of interlinked platforms down to the swimming pool. On the northern side, there is also a loggia and patio. The entire building is more carefully finished, detracting somewhat from the originality of Can Lis. But the house is an unequalled study in the relationship between structure and light. Furthermore, it fits perfectly into the surroundings, demonstrating Utzon's gift for adapting buildings to their natural environment. Although the building occupies some 400 or 500 square metres, only about 150 square metres is devoted to actual indoor living space. The house is sparsely furnished. There are no pictures on the walls, just books on the shelves in the various rooms, and the only decoration comes from the glazed blue and black tiles on sections of the walls. Overall, the house gives an impression of timelessness. The house is currently occupied by Utzon's daughter Lin who is a ceramics designer. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=33238793 | 335,590 |
Road case A road case, ATA case or flight case is a shipping container specifically built to protect musical instruments, motion picture equipment, audio and lighting production equipment, properties, firearms, or other sensitive equipment when it must be frequently moved between locations by ground or air. Many varying-sized road cases can be built to outfit the needs of an entire concert tour, or custom designed individually for a specific industry or product. The term road case is mostly used in the United States and implies that the case is primarily for road-based travel, unlike a flight case. The term originates from its use for storing and shipping band equipment while the musicians were on the road. The history of flight case design is based on an airplane parts packaging specification. It was designed by airline packaging engineers. The specification is ATA 300 Category I. ATA is the A4A (Airlines for America) International, formerly the Air Transport Association of America located in Washington, D.C. and consists of members like Boeing, Airbus, FedEx, American, United, and JetBlue. ATA 300 Category I cases are designed to withstand a minimum of 100 round trips, Category II containers a minimum of 10 round trips, and Category III containers 1 round trip as defined to also include the return of a replacement part | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=1199733 | 293,998 |
Malware Information Sharing Platform Indicators of compromise which are managed by MISP may originate from a variety of sources; including internal incident investigation teams, intelligence sharing partners or commercial intelligence sources. Commercial sources with integration to MISP include Symantec's DeepSight Intelligence, Kaspersky threat feeds and McAfee Active Response. MISP integrations with open-source and commercial threat intelligence platforms include EclecticIQ Platform. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=60018290 | 114,779 |
South American dreadnought race The Brazilian government replied with reasoning similar to Pena's speech in 1906, in that they believed the ships were necessary to replace the antiquated equipment left by the long-term neglect of the Brazilian Navy, and they repeatedly insisted that the ships were not meant for use against Argentina. In August, a bill authorizing the Argentine Navy to acquire three dreadnoughts was passed by the Chamber of Deputies seventy-two to thirteen. Three months later, it was defeated in the Senate after they approved an arbitration treaty and the government made a last-ditch offer to purchase one of the two Brazilian dreadnoughts currently being constructed. The Brazilian government declined, so the bill was reintroduced and passed by the Senate on 17 December 1908 with forty-nine in support to thirteen opposed, over socialist objections that the country needed to be populated and the large sum of money (£14,000,000) could be better spent in other areas of the government. After the Argentine government sent a naval delegation to Europe to solicit and evaluate armament companies' offers, they received tenders from fifteen shipyards in five countries (the United States, Great Britain, Germany, France, and Italy), and conducted a drawn-out bidding process. The Argentine delegation rejected all of the bids twice, each time recycling the best technical aspects of the tendered designs when crafting new bidding requirements. The reason given for the first rejection was the appearance of the first super-dreadnought, | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31790769 | 273,009 |
Bursting The slow subsystem also is connected to endogenous bursting patterns in neurons, where the pattern can be maintained completely by internal mechanism without any synaptic input. This process also relies on calcium channels, which depolarize the neuron by allowing an influx of calcium ions. So long as internal calcium ion concentrations remain at an elevated level, the neuron will continue to undergo periods of rapid spiking. However, elevated calcium ion levels also trigger a second messenger cascade within the cell which lower calcium influx and promote calcium efflux and buffering. As calcium concentrations decline, the period of rapid bursting ceases, and the phase of quiescence begins. When calcium levels are low, the original calcium channels will reopen, restarting the process and creating a bursting pattern. In isolation or in mathematical models bursting can be recognized since the environment and state of the neuron can be carefully observed and modulated. When observing neurons in the wild, however, bursting may be difficult to distinguish from normal firing patterns. In order to recognize bursting patterns in these contexts statistical methods are used to determine threshold parameters. is characterized by a coefficient of variation (CV) of the interspike intervals (ISI) that is larger than one, or a Fano factor of the spike count that is larger than one, because bursting leads to spike patterns that are more irregular than a Poisson process (which has a CV and Fano factor equal to unity) | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4360231 | 142,965 |
Schonchin Butte The 1942 date on the doorstep of the lookout represents when it was installed, not when the lookout was built, or first staffed. The lookout has changed over the years, but its general appearance and structure have remained relatively unchanged. Linoleum, not carpet, used to cover the building’s floor, and the furnishings were stained while trim was painted. Early lookouts used a radio phone, and a regular telephone was not installed for several decades. Many original items remain: the Osborne Fire Finder and its stand, the sink, and the insulated stool which lookouts use during thunderstorms. Through the 1980s, rangers staffed the lookout for extended periods. They used gas for light and cooking, but electricity replaced gas in the 1950s when the National Park Service constructed a power line that ascended the cinder cone’s east slope. The National Park Service removed the line in the mid-1980s when electric lines were buried along the Monument’s main road. Solar panels now power a repeater, radio, and small lights. Maintenance has been done piecemeal from the building’s creation through the 1990s. By 1992, the building, placed on the National Register of Historic Places, showed signs of its age. In 1993, the Park Service received about $50,000 to restore the lookout. During June and July 1994, maintenance workers stripped the inside of paint and bad sheetrock. They removed old fixtures and a gas stove from the main level and various junk from the basement. The refrigerator was moved to the basement | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=263966 | 356,180 |
Digital immortality The aim of Dmitry Itskov's 2045 Initiative is to "create technologies enabling the transfer of an individual’s personality to a non-biological carrier, and extending existence, including to the point of immortality". Reaching digital immortality is a two-step process: According to Gordon Bell and Jim Gray from Microsoft Research, retaining every conversation that a person has ever heard is already realistic: it needs less than a terabyte of storage (for adequate quality). The speech or text recognition technologies are one of the biggest challenges of the concept. A second possibility would be to archive and analyze social Internet use to map the personality of people. By analyzing social Internet use during 50 years, it would be possible to model a society's culture, a society's way of thinking, and a society's interests. Rothblatt envisions the creation of "mindfiles" – collections of data from all kinds of sources, including the photos we upload to Facebook, the discussions and opinions we share on forums or blogs, and other social media interactions that reflect our life experiences and our unique self. Richard Grandmorin summarized the concept of digital immortality by the following equation: "semantic analysis + social internet use + Artificial Intelligence = immortality". Some find that photos, videos, soundclips, social media posts and other data of oneself could already be regarded as such an archiving | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=23347654 | 273,691 |
Single-sideband modulation formula_7 is the analytic representation of formula_8 which means that it comprises only the positive-frequency components of formula_4: where formula_11 and formula_12 are the respective Fourier transforms of formula_7 and formula_14 Therefore, the frequency-translated function formula_15 contains only one side of formula_16 Since it also has only positive-frequency components, its inverse Fourier transform is the analytic representation of formula_17 and again the real part of this expression causes no loss of information. With Euler's formula to expand formula_19 we obtain : Coherent demodulation of formula_21 to recover formula_4 is the same as AM: multiply by formula_23 and lowpass to remove the "double-frequency" components around frequency formula_24. If the demodulating carrier is not in the correct phase (cosine phase here), then the demodulated signal will be some linear combination of formula_4 and formula_26, which is usually acceptable in voice communications (if the demodulation carrier frequency is not quite right, the phase will be drifting cyclically, which again is usually acceptable in voice communications if the frequency error is small enough, and amateur radio operators are sometimes tolerant of even larger frequency errors that cause unnatural-sounding pitch shifting effects) | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=29048 | 381,500 |
Field emission probes are used in scanning electron microscopy for imaging. When a voltage is applied to these probes, electrons are emitted from the tips through a process known as field electron emission. When a body is subjected to ion milling in vacuum, we do not get to know about the geometry of the surface of the body. So to study it we will keep the field emission probes which will emit electrons as soon as a voltage is applied across it. This in turn will cause emission of secondary electrons from the surface of the body that is subjected to ion milling, by collecting these secondary emitted electrons we get a clear image of the surface of the ion milled body. This is the technique that is used in the or scanning electron microscope(SEM). There exist various well defined techniques for preparing field emission probes. Ideally, a field emission probe should be extremely sharp, possibly terminating in a single atom, in order to resolve details at the atomic level; it should have a small aspect ratio to reduce mechanical vibration while scanning, have a stable atomic configuration at its apex to yield reliable and reproducible images, and be clean to ensure a stable tunnel junction, since the presence of contaminants like oxides or etching by products could alter its metallic behavior. Our experimental setup helps us obtain tips with an apex radius of a few nanometres. There are various well-known methods to make field emission probes but still it is difficult to get an ideal probe. One of them is the Drop-off method | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=23850454 | 20,224 |
Objections to evolution This argument forms the core of intelligent design, a neo-creationist movement seeking to establish certain variants of the design argument as legitimate science, rather than as philosophy or theology, and have them be taught alongside evolution. This objection is fundamentally an argument by lack of imagination, or argument from incredulity: a certain explanation is seen as being counterintuitive, and therefore an alternate, more intuitive explanation is appealed to instead. Supporters of evolution generally respond by arguing that evolution is not based on "chance," but on predictable chemical interactions: natural processes, rather than supernatural beings, are the "designer." Although the process involves some random elements, it is the non-random selection of survival-enhancing genes that drives evolution along an ordered trajectory. The fact that the results are ordered and seem "designed" is no more evidence for a supernatural intelligence than the appearance of complex natural phenomena (e.g. snowflakes). It is also argued that there is insufficient evidence to make statements about the plausibility or implausibility of abiogenesis, that certain structures demonstrate poor design, and that the implausibility of life evolving exactly as it did is no more evidence for an intelligence than the implausibility of a deck of cards being shuffled and dealt in a certain random order | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=8787159 | 161,611 |
Glazier Glaziers are typically educated at the high school diploma or equivalent level and learn the skills of the trade through an apprenticeship program, which in the U.S. is typically four years. In the U.S., apprenticeship programs are offered through the National Glass Association as well as trade associations and local contractors' associations. Construction-industry A large portion of the glaziers in the Unites States are frequently members of the IUPAT International Union of Painters and Allied Trades which offers its own apprenticeship program which is 8000 hours of on the job training and 4 years of classroom education, because of this IUPAT Glaziers tend to be well rounded in all aspects of the trade therefore carry a higher production rate, and less health & safety risks and command a higher pay rate. In Canada, glaziers usually go through a formal apprenticeship which includes about four years of on-the-job experience combined with classroom study in order to get certified. Unions and many employers offer these apprenticeships. To become an apprentice, one must be at least 18 years old and have a graduated high school. Once a person is certified, they will be eligible to apply for the Red Seal allowing the person to work anywhere in Canada without re-certifying. In Ontario, Canada, apprenticeships are offered at the provincial level and certified through the Ontario College of Trades | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=1828739 | 196,525 |
Anosov diffeomorphism Any inner product at formula_30 extends to a left-invariant Riemannian metric on "P", and thus to a Riemannian metric on "Q". The length of a vector formula_31 expands exponentially as exp(t) under the action of formula_21. The length of a vector formula_33 shrinks exponentially as exp(-t) under the action of formula_21. Vectors in formula_35 are unchanged. This may be seen by examining how the group elements commute. The geodesic flow is invariant, but the other two shrink and expand: and where we recall that a tangent vector in formula_39 is given by the derivative, with respect to "t", of the curve formula_40, the setting formula_41. When acting on the point formula_42 of the upper half-plane, formula_21 corresponds to a geodesic on the upper half plane, passing through the point formula_42. The action is the standard Möbius transformation action of SL(2,R) on the upper half-plane, so that A general geodesic is given by with "a", "b", "c" and "d" real, with formula_47. The curves formula_48 and formula_40 are called horocycles. Horocycles correspond to the motion of the normal vectors of a horosphere on the upper half-plane. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=2320078 | 428,849 |
Solar constant Variations in total solar irradiance (TSI) were small and difficult to detect accurately with technology available before the satellite era (±2% in 1954). Total solar output is now measured as varying (over the last three 11-year sunspot cycles) by approximately 0.1%; see solar variation for details. In 1838, Claude Pouillet made the first estimate of the solar constant. Using a very simple pyrheliometer he developed, he obtained a value of 1.228 kW/m², close to the current estimate. In 1875, Jules Violle resumed the work of Pouillet and offered a somewhat larger estimate of 1.7 kW/m² based, in part, on a measurement that he made from Mont Blanc in France. In 1884, Samuel Pierpont Langley attempted to estimate the solar constant from Mount Whitney in California. By taking readings at different times of day, he tried to correct for effects due to atmospheric absorption. However, the final value he proposed, 2.903 kW/m², was much too large. In 1954 the solar constant was evaluated as 2.00 cal/min/cm ± 2%. Current results are about 2.5 percent lower. The actual direct solar irradiance at the top of the atmosphere fluctuates by about 6.9% during a year (from 1.412 kW/m² in early January to 1.321 kW/m² in early July) due to the Earth's varying distance from the Sun, and typically by much less than 0.1% from day to day. Thus, for the whole Earth (which has a cross section of 127,400,000 km²), the power is 1.730×10 W (or 173,000 terawatts), plus or minus 3.5% (half the approximately 6.9% annual range) | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=345758 | 391,852 |
Analog computer An analog computer or analogue computer is a type of computer that uses the continuously changeable aspects of physical phenomena such as electrical, mechanical, or hydraulic quantities to model the problem being solved. In contrast, digital computers represent varying quantities symbolically and by discrete values of both time and amplitude. Analog computers can have a very wide range of complexity. Slide rules and nomograms are the simplest, while naval gunfire control computers and large hybrid digital/analog computers were among the most complicated. Systems for process control and protective relays used analog computation to perform control and protective functions. Analog computers were widely used in scientific and industrial applications even after the advent of digital computers, because at the time they were typically much faster, but they started to become obsolete as early as the 1950s and 1960s, although remained in use in some specific applications, such as aircraft flight simulators, the flight computer in aircraft, and for teaching control systems in universities. More complex applications, such as aircraft flight simulators and synthetic aperture radar, remained the domain of analog computing (and hybrid computing) well into the 1980s, since digital computers were insufficient for the task. This is a list of examples of early computation devices considered precursors of the modern computers | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=2428 | 134,602 |
Unbinilium This result could partially explain the relatively long half-life of Og measured in experiments at Dubna. Similar experiments have indicated a similar phenomenon at element 124 but not for flerovium, suggesting that the next proton shell does in fact lie beyond element 120. In September 2007, the team at RIKEN began a program utilizing Cm targets and have indicated future experiments to probe the possibility of 120 being the next proton magic number (and 184 being the next neutron magic number) using the aforementioned nuclear reactions to form Ubn*, as well as Cm+Cr. They also planned to further chart the region by investigating the nearby compound nuclei Og*, Og*, Ubb*, and Ubb*. Being the second period 8 element, unbinilium is predicted to be an alkaline earth metal, below beryllium, magnesium, calcium, strontium, barium, and radium. Each of these elements has two valence electrons in the outermost s-orbital (valence electron configuration "n"s), which is easily lost in chemical reactions to form the +2 oxidation state: thus the alkaline earth metals are rather reactive elements, with the exception of beryllium due to its small size. is predicted to continue the trend and have a valence electron configuration of 8s. It is therefore expected to behave much like its lighter congeners; however, it is also predicted to differ from the lighter alkaline earth metals in some properties | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=67491 | 69,645 |
Galápagos syndrome Despite the fact that companies have started to address the issue, which "could" have a link to the total value of exports increasing over the past five years, there are concerns about the future Galápagosization of Japan. With the aging and shrinking Japanese population, the fact that fewer and fewer students study abroad to acquire a more internationally oriented university education is reason for concerns over the future of the Japanese economy. Furthermore, there is a conception that the younger generation could enhance the Galápagos effect due to a lack of interest in international education and work placements. Kiyoshi Takeuchi, sociology professor at the Sophia university, describes the young generation to have less "ambition and motivation" as a result from the fear that a wrong move could have negative effects. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=23681908 | 274,006 |
Separator (oil production) As a result, many operators find their separator no longer able to meet the required oil and water effluent standards, or experience high liquid carry-over in the gas according to Power "et al" (1990). Some operational maintenance and considerations are discussed below: In refineries and processing plants, it is normal practice to inspect all pressure vessels and piping periodically for corrosion and erosion. In the oil fields, this practice is not generally followed (they are inspected at a predetermined frequency, normally decided by an RBI assessment) and equipment is replaced only after actual failure. This policy may create hazardous conditions for operating personnel and surrounding equipment. It is recommended that periodic inspection schedules for all pressure equipment be established and followed to protect against undue failures. All safety relief devices should be installed as close to the vessel as possible and in such manner that the reaction force from exhausting fluids will not break off, unscrew, or otherwise dislodge the safety device. The discharge from safety devices should not endanger personnel or other equipment. Separators should be operated above hydrate-formation temperature. Otherwise hydrates may form in the vessel and partially or completely plug it thereby reducing the capacity of the separator. In some instances when the liquid or gas outlet is plugged or restricted, this causes the safety valve to open or the safety head to rupture | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=10980696 | 201,084 |
Calcium deficiency (plant disorder) Calcium (Ca) deficiency is a plant disorder that can be caused by insufficient level of biologically available calcium in the growing medium, but is more frequently a product of low transpiration of the whole plant or more commonly the affected tissue. Plants are susceptible to such localized calcium deficiencies in low or non-transpiring tissues because calcium is not transported in the phloem. This may be due to water shortages, which slow the transportation of calcium to the plant, poor uptake of calcium through the stem, or too much nitrogen in the soil. Acidic, sandy, or coarse soils often contain less calcium. Uneven soil moisture and overuse of fertilizers can also cause calcium deficiency. At times, even with sufficient calcium in the soil, it can be in an insoluble form and is then unusable by the plant or it could be attributed to a "transport protein". Soils containing high phosphorus are particularly susceptible to creating insoluble forms of calcium. Calcium and Magnesium are opposed within the plant cells, and have antagonistic interactions. As a result, a homeostatic balance between Ca and Mg within the plant is necessary for optimal growth and proper development. Calcium deficiency symptoms appear initially as localized tissue necrosis leading to stunted plant growth, necrotic leaf margins on young leaves or curling of the leaves, and eventual death of terminal buds and root tips. Generally, the new growth and rapidly growing tissues of the plant are affected first | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=157877 | 24,211 |
Antistatic device It's important to discharge at a slow rate, therefore a resistor should be used in earthing the mat. The resistor, as well as allowing high-voltage charges to leak through to earth, also prevents a shock hazard when working with low-voltage parts. Some ground mats allow you to connect an antistatic wrist strap to them. Versions are designed for placement on both the floor and desk. An antistatic wrist strap, ESD wrist strap, or ground bracelet is an antistatic device used to safely ground a person working on very sensitive electronic equipment, to prevent the buildup of static electricity on their body, which can result in electrostatic discharge (ESD). It is used in the electronics industry by workers working on electronic devices which can be damaged by ESD, and also sometimes by people working around explosives, to prevent electric sparks which could set off an explosion. It consists of an elastic band of fabric with fine conductive fibers woven into it, attached to a wire with a clip on the end to connect it to a ground conductor. The fibers are usually made of carbon or carbon-filled rubber, and the strap is bound with a stainless steel clasp or plate. They are usually used in conjunction with an antistatic mat on the workbench, or a special static-dissipating plastic laminate on the workbench surface. The wrist strap is usually worn on the nondominant hand (the left wrist for a right-handed person) | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=8563704 | 385,843 |
Green bridge (filtration system) There is an overall odour and mosquito reduction and improvement of river aesthetics. Increase in health status of aquatic life in lentic-lotic system by reduction in ecotoxicity of pollutants. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31505928 | 31,736 |
Allergan, Inc. , a development-stage company mainly researching the treatment of migraine and other oral drugs in Neurology for approximately $958 million. The principal products of this sub-company are under review with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In December 2013, the company sold its obesity intervention business to Apollo Endosurgery, Inc., for a cash payment of $75 million and a $15 million minority equity interest in Apollo Endosurgery. In November 2014 AbbVie announced its intention to acquire Allergan, Inc., the manufacturer of Botox Completion of the deal would increase its market capitalization to $147 billion. On March 17, 2015, Abbvie, plc completed the acquisition of in a cash and equity transaction valued at approximately $70.5 billion, and was folded into that company. The combination created a $23 billion diversified global pharmaceutical company with commercial reach across 100 countries. In June 2015, Abbvie, plc officially changed its name to Allergan, plc. In June announced it would acquire Kythera Biopharmaceuticals for around $2.1 billion. On April 22, 2014, details were released by Valeant Pharmaceuticals and hedge fund CEO, Bill Ackman, about a $46 billion (CAD) offer presented to Allergan. Valeant proposed to exchange $48.30 in cash and 0.83 shares of Valeant per Allergan share. stockholders would own 43 per cent of the combined company | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=3406613 | 144,701 |
Wayne Town House The is a historic town hall on Maine State Route 133 in Wayne, Maine. Built in 1840, it is one of the state's little-altered examples of a period town hall building, retaining a number of distinctive features, including benches for sex-segregated seating. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. The stands near the center of the rural community, on the north side of SR 133 a short way west of Pond Road. It is a modest single-story wood frame structure, with a gabled roof, clapboarded exterior, and granite foundation. Its modest Greek Revival touches are limited to the door surround, which has wide molding topped by blocks. The main facade is symmetrical, with the entrance flanked by twelve-over-eight sash windows, with a third in the gable above. The interior has a single large open space, its original plaster walls covered in wallboard, and original wooden plank benches lining the two side walls. These are set at a raised elevation above the center, resulting in stepped bleacher-style seating. The town house was built in 1840 by Peter Fifield for $350.25, and was the town's first purpose-built meeting house, its earlier town meetings having taken place in other private facilities. Of Maine's surviving municipal buildings of this period, it is one of the ones with a very small number alterations. The survival of its benches is of particular note: men sit on one side, and women (who originally were not allowed to vote) sat on the other side. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=51134091 | 326,509 |
Mosque of Amir al-Maridani Many of the columns have varying heights which is compensated for with different sized pedestals. The eight columns that support the dome, however, are all of equal size, have ancient Egyptian capitals, and were likely brought from Upper Egypt. The facade of the courtyard, created by the surrounding arcades, is characterized by features that are unusual for Mamluk architecture. The points of the arches are framed with a continuous molding that curls into a loop at the top of each arch, and stucco carved niches and medallions alternate in the spandrels of each arcade. Crenellation crowns the arches, and is also carved in stucco. Relieving oculi penetrate the spandrels of the second row of arches, and at each corner and the middle of each wall of the courtyard a small domicile with a mabkhara contains a bright blue bulb of glass. The fountain in the courtyard is not a part of the original mosque. The courtyard area is separated from the sanctuary with a mashrabiyya, upon which is a large inscription from the Qur'an. This wooden screen mostly shades the sanctuary from the courtyard's light, making the double windows in the outer wall necessary. The sanctuary, while richly decorated at one point is "currently in bad shape". The qibla wall is decorated with the remains of gilded stucco and epigraphic bands, with trees at their center. These trees are one of the only extant naturalistic features in Mamluk architectural decoration | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31092533 | 352,744 |
The EMBO Journal is a peer-reviewed scientific journal focusing on full-length papers describing original research of general interest in molecular biology and related areas. The journal was established in 1982 and was published by Nature Publishing Group on behalf of the European Molecular Biology Organization until the launch of EMBO press in 2013. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=3668978 | 145,072 |
Bra size Obtaining the correct size is further complicated by the fact that the size and shape of women's breasts change, if they experience menstrual cycles, during the cycle and can experience unusual or unexpectedly rapid growth in size due to pregnancy, weight gain or loss, or medical conditions. Even breathing can substantially alter the measurements. Some women's breasts can change shape by as much as 20% per month: Individual fitting of bra before purchase is highly recommended also, because the breast shape varies significantly from one woman to another. Globally, many women have “pear-shaped” breasts. From the practical point of view this means that the breasts rest on the bottom of the bra cup and the breast tissue fills mainly the lower part of the bra cup. In contrast, U.S. born women of Caucasian origin have commonly more hemisphere-shaped breasts that fill also the upper part of the bra cup. Consequently, also the aperture area and the bra top are filled with breast tissue. In other words, a bra of identical shape and size may fit both a typical Caucasian U.S. woman and non-U.S. woman although the U.S. woman has a much higher actual breast tissue volume than the non-U.S. woman. In addition, there is a lot of breast shape variation between the individuals of female populations in all countries of the world. Consequently, a bra should always be individually fitted for optimal comfort and support. In 2010, the most common bra size sold in the UK was 36D | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=8003764 | 439,579 |
New Public Management This NPM approach is contrasted with the traditional public administration model, in which institutional decision-making, policy-making and public service delivery is guided by regulations, legislation and administrative procedures. NPM reforms use approaches such as disaggregation, customer satisfaction initiatives, customer service efforts, applying an entrepreneurial spirit to public service, and introducing innovations. The NPM system allows "the expert manager to have a greater discretion". "Public Managers under the reforms can provide a range of choices from which customers can choose, including the right to opt out of the service delivery system completely". The first practices of emerged in the United Kingdom under the leadership of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Thatcher played the functional role of “policy entrepreneur" and the official role of prime minister. Thatcher drove changes in public management policy in such areas as organizational methods, civil service, labor relations, expenditure planning, financial management, audit, evaluation, and procurement. Thatcher's successor, John Major, kept public management policy on the agenda of the Conservative government, leading to the implementation of the Next Steps Initiative. Major also launched the programs of the Citizens Charter Initiative, Competing for Quality, Resource Accounting and Budgeting, and the Private Finance Initiative | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=1906130 | 517,738 |
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