Research Examples
Fracture propagation and surface reconstruction in Si
(Physical Review B72, 075323 (2005), "Nanoscale structures formed in silicon cleavage studied with large-scale electronic structure calculations: Surface reconstruction, steps, and bending" by Takeo Hoshi, Yusuke Iguchi, and Takeo Fujiwara)
The 10-nm-scale structure formed in silicon cleavage is studied by the quantum mechanical calculations of large-scale electronic structure. The cleavage process was simulated and the results show not only the elementary process of the (experimentally observed) (111-(2x1) surface reconstruction but also several step formation processes. The bendings are observed from the initial (001) plane to (111) -type and/or (110) -type planes, such as (001)->(111)->(110) planes.. These processes are studied by analyzing electronic freedom and compared with scanning tunneling microscopy experiments. The stability mechanism of the (111) -(2x1) cleavage mode is presented beyond the traditional approach with surface energy. In other results, the cleavage path was bent into the experimentally observed planes, owing to the relative stability among cleavage modes. Several common aspects between cleavage and other phenomena are discussed from the viewpoints of non-equilibrium process and 10-nm-scale structure.
Appearance of well-defined reconstructed surfaces after bending in cleavage path. The figures are drawn by projection from the [1-10] direction. (a) Bending from the (111) plane to (110) plane. After the bending, the buckled (110) surface structures appears, as indicated by b. (b) and (c) Two snapshots of the bending from (001) plane to (111) plane. The resultant (111) plane contains the π-bonded (2x1) structure with seven-membered and five-membered rings, indicated as 7 and 5 in (c).
fig.1
Cleavage process of silicon with (111)-(2x1) cleaved surface.
fig.2
Helical multi-shell gold nanowires
(Phys. Rev. Letters 99, 125507 (2007) "Two-Stage Formation Model and Helicity of Gold Nanowires" by Yusuke Iguchi, Takeo Hoshi, and Takeo Fujiwara.)
A model for the formation of helical multishell gold nanowires is proposed and is confirmed with quantum mechanical molecular dynamics simulations. The model can explain the magic number of the helical gold nanowires in the multishell structure. The reconstruction from ideal nonhelical to realistic helical nanowires consists of two stages: dissociations of atoms on the outermost shell from atoms on the inner shell (Stage 1) and slip deformations of atom rows generating (111)-like structure on the outermost shell (Stage 2). The elementary processes are governed by competition between energy loss and gain by s and d electrons together with the width of the d band. The possibility for the helical nanowires of platinum, silver, and copper is discussed.
The detailed analysis shows that the mechanism in both Stages 1 and 2 is governed by the d bandwidth and the helical nanowires appear only among metals with a wider d band. The d bandwidth in platinum and gold is commonly wider than that in lighter elements, Ag and Cu. The two-stage model explains why the platinum nanowire can be also formed with helicity.
fig.3
Change of the total energy and the atomic configuration during the formation process of the 11-4 nanowire at 600 K. Red, blue, purple, and green atoms are named A, B, C, and D, respectively. Within 500 MD steps, the atom A was disassociated from inner shell. Between 2000 and 5000 MD steps, the slip between the atom B and D brought the surface reconstruction, and (001) face becomes (111) face.
Elongation growth mechanism of Carbon Nanotube.
(unpublished: "Seeding growth model of carbon nanotubes", by Shuang Zhang, Takeo Hoshi, and Takeo Fujiwara)
The elongation growth processes of drawing out a seed carbon nanotube from carbon fluid are studied by molecular dynamics simulations. The range of suitable growth conditions of drawing velocities, carbon fluid densities and temperatures are given, which show that the low temperature and density zone of catalytic chemical vapor deposition method can be expanded, and a much higher growth velocity could be achieved by mechanical control. Sometimes, we observe that the defects in grown nanotube are healed by attached carbon clusters, and a mechanism for defect-free product is discussed. The Czochralski-like approach is proposed to produce carbon nanotube "single crystal" labeled by special (n,m) by cloning a seed nanotube, and the (n,m) crystal can be used as template to mass produce same materials. We simulate the process of fabricating a Y junction with two nanotubes, and propose a route towards mass production of wirelike networks of carbon nanotubes.
fig.4
Atomic configurations during the defect healing process observed in growth process (a) A series of configurations during the process. The simulation times are noted. The blue atom signed by number n is denoted by B(lue)n, similarly, e.g. G(reen)1 and R(ed)1.
to Pagetop


What role does the coordinate measuring machine play in the field of stamping processing?
by：Sinowon 2021-05-21
What role does the coordinate measuring machine play in the field of stamping processing? Publish time: 2019-12-25 Source: _URL_ Three coordinate measuring machines have a wide range of applications in the field of industrial production. They can achieve precise control of the size of the workpiece, thereby realizing the shape. The stamping processing field is widely used, what role does the three-coordinate measuring machine play in the stamping processing field? In the field of stamping processing, presses and dies apply external force to plates, strips, pipes and profiles to cause plastic deformation or separation (including punching, bending, stretching, forming, and finishing) to obtain the desired shape The main function of the coordinate measuring machine in this process is to ensure the size and quality control of the workpiece processing and forming. The main aspects of stamping parts that need to be applied to the three-coordinate measuring machine inspection include hardness testing and size testing. The main purpose of the hardness test is to determine whether the annealing degree of the purchased metal sheet is suitable for the subsequent processing of stamping parts. Different types of stamping parts processing procedures require sheets of different hardness levels. The aluminum alloy used for stamping parts can be tested by a Webster hardness tester. When the thickness of the material is greater than 13mm, a Barcol hardness tester can be used. For pure aluminum or low-hardness aluminum alloy plates, a Barcol hardness tester should be used. The three-coordinate measuring machine measures the size of stamping parts, mainly for product design and improvement, and reverse engineering. Therefore, when choosing a three-coordinate measuring machine, it is necessary to consider that the software function requires a strong CAD function. The three-coordinate measuring machine adopts the industry benchmark software PC-DMIS, which not only has the function of importing CAD models to compare digital and analog, but also Provide reverse CAD measurement. The coordinate measuring machine plays an important role in the field of stamping processing. Its precise measurement has greatly improved the detection, design and reverse engineering of stamping parts, and promoted the development of the industry's process and quality. As a professional measuring equipment manufacturer in China, Miaoji Technology is currently launching a novel three-coordinate measuring machine for the stamping processing field, so that the equipment has better measurement performance and applicability. Customers in need are welcome to contact us!
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22 June 2011
The Magical Weapon
Magical 'weapons' (or tools) have been an important part of ritual magick ever since, well, probably prehistoric times already. But choosing the right tool or set of tools is no simple matter.
Old grimoires are full of swords, daggers, wands and other implements, complete with mysterious sigils. The problem with these, however, is that the grimoires are rarely very specific about the actual use or meaning of the weapons. 19th century occult revivalists attached an endless amount of symbolism to weapons, but actual functionality still didn't seem to be a high priority. And that was the conclusion I came to after a fair amount of thought on the topic: functionality should be paramount.
The Basic Weapon
So what it all boils down to is the 'Pointy Thing'. This is the tool you use to 'channel energy', to trace symbols in the air etc. The most obvious choice of tool for the PT is the wand, since this is pretty much its function. If you don't use the wand for pointing at things and waving about, what's the point of having one?
You could use a dagger or knife for this, of course. But the function of a knife is to cut. If you plan to do any kind of carving or cutting as part of your occult endeavours, the knife may be best reserved for this function. (Also, waving a knife about haphazardly does have an element of risk involved.)
Of course if you're going for a more Wiccan feel, the knife, or athame (this name is basically meaningless, probably a corruption of Latin 'artavus', which quite possibly originally referred to a different tool entirely, but it is fairly universal in Wicca, so I guess it's fine), is quite traditional, and using it is perfectly fine (as long as you pay heed to safety). Most sources call for a different knife for actual cutting, and that's fine too, although by no means compulsory. Some Wiccan sources say either knife should not be used outside the magic circle, but I think that's simply poppycock. The wand is traditionally also listed among Wiccan tools, but, like I said, if you use a knife for pointing, what use is there for a wand? I don't see much point in cluttering up the working space just for the sake of it.
Many traditions have a sword, but frankly, a sword is rather too unwieldy to use as a PT, and it doesn't really have any other function, either. Of course there are many other possibilities for both a Pointy Thing and other functional tools. Simply use what feels right. Use your imagination.
Other Stuff
The Pointy Thing and the optional Cutting Thing are pretty much all you need, really. You may want to have candles, incense etc. around, but these don't really count as magical weapons, in my mind.
If you really, really want to have the complete set of elemental weapons as used by the G∴D∴ or A∴A∴, that's fine, but I don't really see the need for it. You might want to think about the functionality again, though. What is the pentacle? It's essentially a plate. And what do you do with plates? You put food on them. Well, this could be useful if you intend to make sacrifices to any entities. Likewise, a cup is for drinking. If you want to make a toast as part of your ritual, that's fine of course.
In most cases, if you stick to just one or two tools and don't use a lot of materials, an altar is probably unnecessary. If you feel you need one, just improvise.
The Four Elements
Many systems and authors associate weapons with particular elements. This is an important feature of the above mentioned G∴D∴ and A∴A∴ weapons, but Wiccan authors have also continued the tradition.
To put it bluntly, I don't see the point of this. In my mind, the weapons are defined by their function in the ritual, no more, no less. For elemental attributions to truly make sense, the number of weapons should match the elements, and they should all be equally meaningful in the ritual.
The Question of Appearance
Well, there really is no right answer for this. There are tons of instructions around in occult texts, both ancient and modern. You could use plain tools, or decorate them with elaborate sigils, modern, ancient or entirely original. It really is up to you.
I find a wand is best when it's no more than a foot long, and fairly slender. I have used plain wands, and some decorated with astrological symbols. For a while I even used one that had decorations based on the fire wand of the G∴D∴. This wasn't planned, really. I'd made it a couple years earlier, at a time when I was more enamoured with Victorian systems of magick than I am now. I had planned to make a complete set of elemental weapons, but never got around to it. However, comparing some of the wands I'd made over the years one day, I discovered, to my surprise, that this one felt the best in my hand. Who was I to argue with physical attraction? Of course it had a very strong association with fire, but I didn't feel that was a problem, even if I didn't have other elemental weapons to balance it, since the Pointy Thing is supposed to be a tool for channelling energy, after all.
I have a white handled working knife with symbols from the Key of Solomon painted on it. This one as well dates from an earlier period of my occult career, and the paint job is less than perfect, but what the heck, it's a good, functional knife. I also have a black handled knife, or athame, with symbols based on some presented in Janet and Stewart Farrar's The Witches' Way, a modified version of Key of Solomon originals.
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The histories of a city: Portland and the Halprin plazas
on December 14, 2009 at 10:57 AM, updated December 14, 2009 at 11:38 AM
mainpagesplash.pngLawrence Halprin's drawing of the Halprin plazas, from "Where the Revolution Began."
One of the civic contributions of my former colleague Randy Gragg is his "re-discovery" of the string of Lawrence Halprin plazas and fountains in the South Auditorium District that start at Keller Fountain and move steadily south to the small Source Fountain.
Gragg has restored Halprin, the great American landscape architect, to the city's present tense through his columns when he was at The Oregonian; a smart, lush new book ("Where the Revolution Began"); and a series of events and exhibitions. The highlight of the events was "The City Dance of Lawrence and Anna Halprin," which animated the plazas in 2008 with dance, music and a throng of spectators who followed the show to each Halprin site.
Why did these lovely plazas need rediscovering (and preserving) in the first place? Why didn't we recognize their greatness before Gragg asked us to have a new look at them?
The answer lies in Portland's complex and dynamic politics of the 1960s and the city planning ideals that shaped the South Auditorium District, including the 1950s concept that the path to civic improvement needs to be paved and have four lanes.
That idea led the city to scrape clean two "decaying" neighborhoods, South Portland and the neighborhood along North Williams Ave., and replace them with the city's first two major urban renewal projects, Memorial Coliseum and the South Auditorium District. We would now consider those moves mistakes -- even though they produced two remarkable civic projects, the Coliseum and the Halprin plazas -- because they displaced thousands of people and because they failed to create the lively urban areas that cities depend on for their lifeblood. We are still dealing with the Rose Quarter, and only the expansion of Portland State University down to Southwest Fourth Avenue has begun to slightly enliven the South Auditorium District.
The reaction against this mass-scale urban renewal and the city's plans to do the same in other "decaying" inner-ring neighborhoods generated the city's neighborhood association movement and led to the city's current working model -- a collection of livable neighborhoods connected by mass transit.
What neighborhoods did the city planners at the time considered decaying? Lair Hill and Goose Hollow on the west side, and the Bungalow Belt (my thanks to Alexander Craghead and Dan Haneckow for this characterization) on the east side from Brooklyn to Eliot, according to historian Carl Abbott in his essential "Portland: Planning Politics, and Growth in a Twentieth-Century City." (Abbott and Gragg talked about this history in 2008, which I reported on at Art Scatter.)
The neighborhoods won; we developed a new city philosophy and a new set of political leaders. The plan for 50 miles of new freeways through close-in Portland neighborhoods was abandoned, and so was the razing of Lair Hill.
However, the South Auditorium District remained, a testament to "modern" urban planning in the 1940s and '50s. When I first moved to the city in the late 1970s, my walk to work led me through those Halprin plazas. They were nearly always empty, walled off from the rest of the city by pleasant residential towers. Keller Fountain (then the Forecourt Fountain) was used by many, but not the Lovejoy, Pettygrove or Source plazas.
Neglected, they fell into disrepair, the state in which Gragg found them, and understanding their significance to the history of public spaces both in Portland and nationally, he resolved to save them. He's now a board member of the Halprin Landscape Conservancy.
Before urban renewal, South Portland was no more "decaying" than neighborhoods that are thriving now, such as Sunnyside or Clinton or Mississippi. South Portland had been the home of several waves of immigrants to the city -- Jewish, Italian and Japanese -- but according to Abbott, the declining area was seen as a threat to central city business interests. And city planning doctrine at the time maintained that once a neighborhood had begun to decline it was destined to deteriorate completely.
Now, we would consider the area block by block, even building by building. We might provide tax incentives to save some of the structures -- we've gotten really good at our historic renovations in Portland -- or replace them with congenial new buildings. We understand that successful urban neighborhoods are busy with commerce, accidental meetings and recreation at the street level -- like South Portland might have been.
The Oregon Jewish Museum and curator Tim DuRoche will revisit South Portland in "The Shape of Time," the first exhibit at the museum's new space, 1953 N.W. Kearney St., which opens to the public Dec. 20. The show intends to update the past in the context of our present needs, activating memories of the past with historical and present-day photographs.
As Gragg suggests, though, our stories and memories belong to various histories, they are contradictory, they refuse to be pinned down. Which is why they are endlessly useful to the present.
Say we had applied today's urban planning doctrines to South Portland. Would we have had the gift of Halprin's plazas and fountains, and the other public spaces built in the same spirit -- Pioneer Courthouse Square and Jamison Square? Sometimes history just laughs at us when we try to make it tell just one story.
Barry Johnson: _PHONE_;; Twitter.
NOTE: This post ran as a column in The Oregonian, Dec. 14, 2009.


text:
Crows have long been recognized for their intelligence. Lately, the crow's ability to make and to use tools has been acquiring this bird a great deal of attention and scientific study.
In this video you'll see a crow pick up the lid to a jar, set it down on the apex of a snow-mottled roof and slide down one side, carefully keeping its feet on the lid until it gets to the bottom. Then it picks up the lid, flies back to the apex, tests out another face of the roof, finds it lacking, returns to the original position, and slides down again.
More about this video at The Atlantic.

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


text:
Posted by B.Barclay on December 06, 2004
The phrase is much older than Airplanes. It goes back at least 100 years to the days of the stationary steam engines and refers to the speed regulator that kept the output speed constant. The "balls" were attached to the outer horizontal corners of diamond shaped 4-link mechanism mounted vertically on a shaft that spun in proportion to the output speed of the main drive pulley or gear. The upper corner of the diamond was fastened to the shaft and the bottom corner was fastened to throttle that applied more or less steam to the engine. The faster the shaft turned the further the balls extended horisontally due to centrifugal force, and higher the bottom of diamond rose and the more steam was applied and the faster the engine ran. The engine's fastest speed was when it ran with the "balls to the walls."
There is some advantage to being older than dirt!


text:
UC Cooperative Extension Ventura County
669 County Square Dr. Suite 100
Ventura CA 93003
Our offices are currently closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and our team is telecommuting from home. We are available via phone and email.
Click here for our office directory: Contact/Staff Info
Armillaria Root Rot
In a yard and home landscape situation your control alternatives are very limited. In commercial situations several fumigant materials can be used to suppress Armillaria mellea infected sites. However, none of these materials are registered for use in residential landscape situations. Therefore, the alternatives for managing Armillaria root rot are to change the landscape planting to immune and resistant species and to alter the management of the landscape to put the Armillaria at a disadvantage. The cultural management of the landscape is important. I recently talked with an Armillaria expert from UC Davis, and he informed me that even so-called immune/resistant plants can succumb to Armillaria if they are grown under high moisture conditions during the summer and fall growing season.
Armillaria mellea has a wide host range including many woody and herbaceous plants. Therefore, if you have a landscape planting in which a variety of shrubs and trees are dying, you should suspect Armillaria mellea as a possible cause. Fortunately, the fungus is soilborne and generally moves (the margins of the infected site) very slowly creating an ever larger infected zone.
To stop or at least dramatically slow the progress of Armillaria, the landscape should be converted to a Mediterranean type, i.e., winter/spring wet (rain or irrigation) and summer/fall dry (little or no irrigation). A Mediterranean garden should be planted in the fall so the plants can become established during the winter and spring before the water is turned off. Turf grass and high water use plants will not be part of this landscape.

source: m-a-p/FineFineWeb


text: An anonymous reader sends this quote from Wired: "By harnessing the power of tiny waves dancing in an electron sea, Japanese physicists have developed a novel way to project holograms that don't change color when you move your head. 'In a conventional hologram, if you change the angle, the color changes,' said optical physicist Satoshi Kawata of Osaka University in Japan. 'Our hologram shows natural color at any angle you observe.' The researchers' machine takes advantage of how beams of light trigger waves of activity in free electrons, unattached to any atom, arrayed on a metal surface. Called surface plasmons, these waves could be used to blast cancer cells and build ultra-fast computer processors. They also show up in medieval stained glass windows, where plasmons on flecks of gold suspended in the glass make the window change color as the sun sets."


Unknown
Dataset Information
0
Fatty infiltration of the minor salivary glands is a selective feature of aging but not Sjogren's syndrome.
ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVE:Determine the presence and assess the extent of fatty infiltration of the minor salivary glands (SG) of primary SS patients (pSS) as compared to those with non-SS sicca (nSS). METHODS:Minor SG biopsy samples from 134 subjects with pSS (n?=?72) or nSS (n?=?62) were imaged. Total area and fatty replacement area for each glandular cross-section (n?=?4-6 cross-sections per subject) were measured using Image J (National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD). The observer was blinded to subject classification status. The average area of fatty infiltration calculated per subject was evaluated by logistic regression and general linearized models (GLM) to assess relationships between fatty infiltration and clinical exam results, extent of fibrosis and age. RESULTS:The average area of fatty infiltration for subjects with pSS (median% (range) 4.97 (0.05-30.2)) was not significantly different from that of those with nSS (3.75 (0.087-41.9). Infiltration severity varied widely, and subjects with fatty replacement greater than 6% were equivalently distributed between pSS and nSS participants (?2 p?=?.50). Age accounted for all apparent relationships between fatty infiltration and fibrosis or reduced saliva flow. The all-inclusive GLM for prediction of pSS versus non-SS classification including fibrosis, age, fatty replacement, and focus score was not significantly different from any desaturated model. In no iteration of the model did fatty replacement exert a significant effect on the capacity to predict pSS classification. CONCLUSIONS:Fatty infiltration is an age-associated phenomenon and not a selective feature of Sjögren's syndrome. Sicca patients who do not fulfil pSS criteria have similar rates of fatty infiltration of the minor SG.
PROVIDER: S-EPMC5730459 | BioStudies |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies
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text:
Brora: the industrial capital of Sutherland
A small pocket of Jurassic rocks containing coal on the east coast of Sutherland at Brora gave rise to its place in history as the industrial capital of the Highlands. Coal was mined here for 400 years. The first reference to coal in Brora occurs in a Sutherland Charter of 1529. The last pit closed in 1974. Coal powered a range of local industries including brickworks, textile making, distilleries and of course salt panning. No trace of the coal industry upon which the one-time prosperity of Brora so largely depended, now remains.
"The ancient glory of Brora...laid bare"
These words from the Inverness Advertiser in 1869 were reporting an
event in which "the sand banks along the shore have been considerably
encroached upon, and at Port Cheaniraidh (winter port), a mile to the
west of the river, the action of the sea against the banks has laid
bare a row of buildings which must have been for ages lain imbedded
in the sea… Numbers of people flock to visit this long hidden relic
of the ancient glory of Brora". Read more about recent uncovering
of long hidden buildings and new discoveries about Brora's former salt
pan sites in our Archaeology pages.
Local participation and events are the foundation and the strength of the Brora Saltpans Project. Find out more - and find yourself! on our Gallery pages.


text:
Drivers who turn on their high-beam headlights during heavy snowfall quickly learn what the term "blinding snowstorm" really means. Light bounces off the flakes and returns to the driver's eye, ruining forward vision. Now, however, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University's (CMU) Robotics Institute believe they've found a solution to that problem. By combining projector-type headlights with camera-based sensors, they believe they can direct light between snowflakes or raindrops, reducing the reflection that temporarily blinds the driver.
"We can illuminate the space around the particles," Srinivasa Narasimhan, associate professor of robotics at CMU, told us. "And we can do it because we now have a way to control light over space and time."
Carnegie Mellon University created a smart headlight system that directs light between rain drops or snowflakes.
CMU's development relies on automakers to go beyond traditional headlights, to light sources such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs), liquid crystal displays (LCDs), or Digital Light Processing (DLP). By combining one of those light sources with camera-based sensors and a microprocessor, CMU researchers have proven that they can locate the offending droplets and turn off the light pixels that would otherwise scatter off them.
"For a long time, the automotive headlight has been a bulb with mirrors and lenses to process the beam," Narasimhan said. "Here, we want to use a light projector instead of a bulb. That way, we have a million pixels that we can control."
The heart of the system is the powerful software developed at CMU, which recognizes the speeding precipitation droplet and turns off the correct pixel in response to it. The software -- along with the light source, sensor, and an Intel quad core i7 processor -- form an embedded system that that reads the sensor signal and orchestrates the on/off reaction at each pixel.
The key to the system's ability to do that is the co-location of the light projector and the camera. CMU employs a splitter to send out a beam of light and pick up the reflected light from the same pixel. It does all this -- captures the image, processes the data, and projects the light -- in a scant 13ms. Ultimately, the researchers want to reduce that time to about 2ms to 3 ms, which they said would enable the system to work in a raging thunderstorm on a car driving 60 mph. To bring the time down, they plan to incorporate the light source, sensor, and processor chip in a single embedded system. "What we need is tight integration between the LCD, camera, and embedded computer," Narasimhan said. "With everything tightly coupled, we can bring the time down by eight milliseconds."


Causes and cures of this motor killer
Heat is a paramotor's mortal enemy. Worst cases have the piston welding itself to the cylinder wall in the mother of all motor failures: a seizure. A close cousin is the piston burning a hole through it's top. Molten material drops harmfully into the engine's lower, and most expensive, workings.
There are a number of reasons why heat gets to this point. Here are most, starting with the most common.
1. Mixture is too lean: on carb adjustment. On floatbowl carbs this can be caused by having too small a jet.
2. Mixture too lean: Too much oil. At some point, oil replaces fuel and therefore the mixture goes up.
3. Mixture too lean: Air leak inside crankcase or cylinder. It can come from the cylinder, carburetor attachment, bearings, or exhaust.
4. Low RPM due to oversized or overpitched prop.
5. Blockage in fan (if equipped).
6. Piston ring sticking


Was There a Boarding House Where Many of the Hudson River Painters Lived?
The first of its kind in the United States, the Tenth Street Studio Building was designed expressly for use by visual artists. Opening in 1857, the building provided outstanding work space as well as a place where artists could exchange ideas, teach, exhibit and sell their work, making it symbolic of an era in which artists promoted both their work and themselves.
Creative: Tronvig Group


PTA Constitution
Balerno High School PTA Constitution
1 Title
The association shall be known as Balerno High School PTA.
2 Aims
The aims of the association are to advance the education and well being of the
pupils of the school by providing or assisting in the provision of facilities for education
at the school. This includes:-
a) promoting close co-operation and communication between parents and
b) studying and discussing matters of mutual interest relating to the education
and welfare of pupils
c) engaging in activities which support and advance the education of the pupils
attending the school, including fund raising and after school activities
d) considering applications for funds put to the PTA from parents, teachers and
groups within the school and granting funds to support such applications where the
request is passed by a majority of the general committee.
3 Membership
The members of the association shall comprise all parents or guardians of children
attending the school and all teachers employed at the school.
4 Powers of the association
The association shall have the power to do anything considered by the general
committee to be in furtherance of the aims. This includes the power to:
a) raise funds and invite and receive contributions in furtherance of the aims of
the association
b) purchase, retain and sell any assets of any description
c) pay from the funds of the association all the proper costs and expenses
incurred by the general committee in establishing and administering the charity and
funds of the association
d) reimburse themselves out of the funds of the association created in the
performance or exercise of their duties and powers
e) employ and pay proper and reasonable remuneration to staff, professional
and technical advisers whose services are, in the opinion of the general committee,
required for the carrying out of the purposes of the association
f) establish and operate both current accounts and deposit accounts with
bankers in the name of the association provided that cheques drawn on such
accounts shall not be signed by less than two members of the general committee
5 Office bearers
The office bearers of the association shall consist of:
1 Chairperson
2 Vice chairperson
3 Secretary
4 Treasurer
5 Minute secretary
The general committee of the association may appoint such other office bearers as
may from time to time be deemed necessary. The office bearers will be elected by the committee at the first meeting after the AGM. Office bearers will hold office for one year, being eligible for re-election. Where an office bearer's position becomes vacant during the normal term of office the committee may, at their discretion, opt to fill this post in one of the following ways:
(i) the deputy for the post or an agreed member of the committee may stand
in for the duration
(ii) the committee may elect a replacement from its membership, or
(iii) an EGM may be called to elect a new member to the post.
The minute secretary shall be responsible for keeping accurate minutes of all
meetings and distributing these to the committee members. Copies should be made
available to any member of the association who requests them.
6 General committee
The business of the association shall be managed by a committee of no more than
25 members, consisting of at least 5 parents and 1 teacher.
Members of the committee shall be appointed at the AGM. They shall be elected for
a period of 3 years or until the AGM immediately following three year's service
should they join mid-term.
In the event of any vacancies, the committee shall have the right to co-opt as many
members as necessary to complete the complement until the following AGM.
Where a member of the committee fails to attend regular meetings and does not play
an active role in any of the activities of the Association, the General Committee
reserves the right to ask the member to step down.
Meetings of the general committee shall be held as required during term time. At all
meetings of the committee a third of general committee members, at least two of
whom are office bearers, shall form a quorum.
by a simple majority vote of those present. The chairman shall have the deciding
A representative from the PTA general committee will attend parent council
7 Annual general meetings
The AGM shall be held in October each year. The notice calling the meeting
shall be sent to members at least 21 days in advance provided that non-receipt of
such notice by any member shall not invalidate the meeting.
The business shall include:-
a) the work of the Committee
b) approval of the Accounts for the preceding year
c) appointment of an independent examiner of the accounts if requried
d) receipt of reports of the office bearers
e) election of members to serve on the committee
f) discussion of motions received
At all AGMs voting shall be on the basis of one vote per member present at the
At all AGMs the quorum shall consist of no less than 5 members of the association.
The general committee or a minimum of 25 members, on submission of a formal
written request, shall have the power a call an EGM
Any member of the association shall have the right to raise a motion to be voted on
at the AGM by sending the motion in writing to the secretary by no later than 10 days
prior to the AGM.
8 Finance
Funds of the association shall be lodged in a bank, building society or other account
in the name of Balerno High School PTA. Cheques shall be drawn or withdrawals
made against the signatures of two named committee members.
The treasurer shall be responsible for keeping accurate records of the financial
transactions of the association.
The association's financial year shall end on the last day of July in each year. If the
income level achieved makes review by an independent examiner mandatory the
accounts shall be reviewed annually by an independent examiner appointed at the
previous AGM by the members.
The committee shall be responsible for ensuring that all property/money received
by/for the association shall be applied for the aims of the association.
9 Alterations to the constitution
approved by not less than two thirds of those present.
10 Dissolution
If it becomes necessary to dissolve the association, by reason of it being impossible
to achieve the objectives for which the association is set up, this decision must be
made by no less than 3 members of the association voting in person plus the
chairman of the association. Any remaining funds will be passed to the education


text:
Email to a friend
Researchers discover which
organs in Antarctic fish produce antifreeze
Life Sciences Editor
photo to enlarge
by L. Brian Stauffer
"Christina" C. Cheng, a professor of animal
biology at Illinois, and colleagues have discovered
that antifreeze glycoproteins originate in the exocrine
pancreas and the stomach of Antarctic fish, not the
liver as long presumed.
— Thirty-five years ago Arthur DeVries of the University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign first documented antifreeze glycoproteins (AFGPs)
in Antarctic notothenioid fishes. This month three colleagues report
they've solved the ensuing, long-running mystery of where these
AFGPs, which allow the fish to survive in icy waters, are produced.
"Ever since the discovery of these antifreeze proteins, it was
assumed they had to be produced in the liver, since the vertebrate liver
is well known as a source of secreted plasma protein, so there was no
reason to think otherwise" said Chi-Hing "Christina"
C. Cheng, a professor of animal
biology. "It turns out that the liver has no role in the freezing
avoidance in these fishes at all."
Instead, antifreeze glycoproteins (AFGP) originate primarily from the
exocrine pancreas and the stomach, say Cheng, Paul A. Cziko and Clive
W. Evans in a paper appearing online this week ahead of regular publication
in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Cziko is a research
specialist at Illinois. Evans is a professor of molecular genetics and
development at the University of Auckland in New Zealand.
The liver-synthesis mindset dominated earlier studies even though results
appeared to be at odds, Cheng said. The first radioactive-tracer characterization
of liver AFGP biosynthesis, in fact, suggested another source of production
was possible. Later on, Northern-blot studies had shown very low expression
levels of antifreeze messenger RNA in the liver, but this was inconsistent
with high levels of production of the protein, the researchers noted.
Cheng and colleagues
used Northern blots of total RNA from various tissues to hybridize with
an AFGP gene probe. A clear picture of strong AFGP mRNA expression came
into focus in the pancreatic tissues in all notothenioids tested. The
use of cDNA cloning and sequencing showed that the mRNA all encode secreted
An RNA analysis from tissues of a single notothenioid unveiled the anterior
portion of the stomach, next to the esophagus-stomach junction, as being
the only other site with strong AFGP mRNA expression. Using antibodies,
the researchers found the absence of liver synthesis and strong pancreas
expression in newly hatched fish larvae and young juveniles.
The exocrine pancreas is the larger of the two parts that make up the
pancreas. It consists of tubuloacinar glands that primarily manufacture
and secrete digestive enzymes that break down food in the intestine
so it can be absorbed.
In this case, AFGPs
are secreted into the intestinal lumen where they protect the intestinal
fluid from being frozen by ice crystals that come in with seawater and
food. Internal fluids in notothenioids are about one-half as salty as
seawater. While seawater reaches its freezing point at –1.91 degrees
Celsius, fish fluids freeze at about –1 degree Celsius. These
species dwell in water that rarely rises above the freezing point and
is regularly filled with ice crystals.
From the intestine, the AFGPs are, apparently, absorbed into the blood.
This hypothesis is based on the near-identical composition and abundance
of AFGPs found in the fish serum.
"In this comprehensive
study, we confirm that the exocrine pancreas is the major AFGP synthesis
site in Antarctic notothenioid fishes from hatching through adulthood,
while the liver is AFGP-expression null in all life stages," the
researchers conclude. "Because the notothenioids are confined
to chronically icy Antarctic waters, and face high risks of ice inoculation
from frequent seawater drinking, the evolution of AFGPs in these fishes
was probably driven first and foremost by the need to prevent the hyposmotic
intestinal fluid from freezing."
The researchers also studied a variety of fishes from Arctic waters
that have liver expression of AFGPs, and found that all of them also
express antifreeze in the pancreas.
The findings, they wrote, bring a new perspective to teleost freeze-avoidance
physiology and "reveals that the long-held paradigm of hepatic-based
AF synthesis and secretion is no longer universally applicable."
Instead, pancreatic antifreeze expression is universal.
The National Science Foundation funded the research through two grants
Cheng, while Evans received funding from the University of Auckland


text:
Al-Jassani, ban Adil, Urquhart, Neil B and Almaini, A E A (2011) State assignment for sequential circuits using multi-objective genetic algorithm. IET Computers & Digital Techniques, 5 (4). pp. 296-305. ISSN _PHONE_
|PDF (Review Copy) |
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial.
Download (633kB) | Preview
In this study, a new approach using a multi-objective genetic algorithm (MOGA) is proposed to determine the optimal state assignment with less area and power dissipations for completely and incompletely specified sequential circuits. The goal is to find the best assignments which reduce the component count and switching activity. The MOGA employs a Pareto ranking scheme and produces a set of state assignments, which are optimal in both objectives. The ESPRESSO tool is used to optimise the combinational parts of the sequential circuits. Experimental results are given using a personal computer with an Intel CPU of 2.4 GHz and 2 GB RAM. The algorithm is implemented using C++ and fully tested with benchmark examples. The experimental results show that saving in components and switching activity are achieved in most of the benchmarks tested compared with recent published research.
|Uncontrolled Keywords:||multiobjective genetic algorithm; component count; switching activity; Pareto ranking scheme; state assignments; ESPRESSO tool; combinational parts; power dissipations; incompletely specified sequential circuits; completely specified sequential circuits|
|University Divisions/Research Centres:||Edinburgh Napier University, Institute for Informatics and Digital Innovation|
|Dewey Decimal Subjects:||600 Technology > 620 Engineering > 621 Electronic & mechanical engineering > 621.3 Electrical & electronic engineering|
|Library of Congress Subjects:||T Technology > TK Electrical engineering. Electronics Nuclear engineering|
|Depositing User:||Computing Research|
|Date Deposited:||31 May 2011 11:47|
|Last Modified:||29 Nov 2012 10:01|
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source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


text:
The Sumxu is also known as the Chinese Lop-Eared Cat, Droop-eared cat, Drop-eared cat, or Hanging-Ear cat. All the names refer to its main feature - pendulous ears. Nowadays, the breed is considered extinct.
It is thought that the pendulous ears were a result of mutation similar to that occurred in the Scottish Fold.
All descriptions of the breed are based on reports of travellers. In 1976, a German naturalist gave rather a detailed description of the Sumxu, when a droop-eared cat had been brought from China by a traveller. The breed was described as long-haired cats with glossy black, yellow or cream coats and pendulous ears. Most probably, they looked like longhair Scottish Folds.
The Cat by Lady Cust (1870) has this brief description:
Bosman relates that in the province of Pe-chily, in China, there are cats with long hair and drooping ears, which are in great favour with the Chinese ladies; others say this is not a cat but an animal called 'Samxces'.
Georges Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, described the cat in The Natural History of The Cat (Volume 4 of Histoire Naturelle c. 1767, translated by William Smellie, 1781):
Our domestic cats, though they differ in colour, form no distinct races. The climates of Spain and Syria have alone produced permanent varieties: to these may be added the climate of Pe-chi-ly in China, where the cats have long hair and pendulous ears, and are the favourites of the ladies. These domestic cats with pendulous ears, of which we have full descriptions, are still farther removed from the wild and primitive race, than those whose ears are erect.
I formerly remarked, that, in China, there were cats with pendulous ears. This variety is not found any where else, and perhaps it is an animal of a different species; for travellers, when mentioning an animal called Sumxu, which is entirely domestic, say, that they can compare it to nothing but the cat, with which it has a great resemblance. Its colour is black or yellow, and its hair very bright and glittering. The Chinese put silver collars about the necks of these animals, and render them extremely familiar. As they are not common, they give a high price, both on account of their beauty, and because they destroy rats.
Jean Bungartz also described the Chinese Lop-Eared Cat or Hanging-Ear Cat in his book Die Hauskatze, ihre Rassen und Varietäten (Housecats, Their Races and Varieties) from Illustriertes Katzenbuch (An Illustrated Book of Cats) in Berlin in 1896:
The Chinese or Lop-Eared cat is most interesting, because it provides proof that by continual disuse of an organ, the organ withers. With the Chinese cat the hearing and ears have deteriorated. Michel says the Chinese, not only admire the cat in porcelain, but also value it for culinary reasons. The cats are regarded as special morsels and enjoyed particularly with noodles or with rice. This cat is bred particularly for the purpose of meat production, and is a preferred Chinese morsel; this is not unusual if one considers that the Chinese consume much the sight of which revolts the stomachs of Europeans. The poor creature is confined in small bamboo cages and fattened like a goose on plentiful portions. There is extensive trade with other parts of Asia and the canny Chinese allow no tomcats to be exported so there is no interference in this lucrative source of income.
Due to the restrictive conditions that have deprived the cat of its actual use, its hearing has decreased because it is no longer needed for hunting its own food. With no need for watchfulness, it had no need of sharp hearing to listen for hidden things so its hearing became blunted and as a natural consequence its ears lost their upright nature, gradually becoming lower and becoming the hanging ear that is now the characteristic feature of the Chinese cat. At first impression this is a surprising and amusing look, but this impression is lost with closer examination. If one ignores the characteristic of the ears, one sees a beauty similar to the Angora cat: a long, close coat of hair, albeit less rich, covers the body. The hair is silky-soft and shining and the colour is usually isabelline or a dirty white yellow, although some have the usual colouring of the common house-cat. In size it is considerably larger and stronger than a housecat. The ears hang completely, as with our hunting dogs and are large in relation to the cat.
Although the Chinese cat is found in considerable numbers in its homeland, it is rarely found at European animal markets. Only one such cat has reached us in the flesh; we acquired this years ago when a sailor returning from China brought it into Hamburg. The accompanying illustration is based on this cat. In character it is like the Angora cat and somewhat languid. It prefer to live by a warm fire, is rather sensitive to flattery, hears badly and is at its most animated when given milk or food. Apart from its unusual ears, it has no really attractive characteristics and is a curious specimen of housecat.
In Frances Simpson's The Book of the Cat (1903), contributing author H.C. Brooke wrote:
There is said to be a variety of Chinese cat which is remarkable for its pendent ears. We have never been able to ascertain anything definite with regard to this variety. Some years back a class was provided for them at a certain Continental cat show, and we went across in the hope of seeing, and if possible acquiring, some specimens; but alas the class was empty! We have seen a stuffed specimen in a Continental museum, which was a half long-haired cat, the ears being pendent down the sides of the head instead of erect; but do not attach much value to this.
In 1926, H.C. Brooke wrote in the magazine Cat Gossip that for many years Continental cat shows had offered prizes for the Drop-eared Chinese Cat. On each occasion, the cat failed to materialise and Brooke considered it to be mythical. Other writers suggested the folded or crumpled ears were the result of damage or haematomas. Brooke wrote that although no-one ever saw the cat itself, one always met "someone who knows someone whose friends has often seen them". Brooke himself had been assured by a Chinese gentleman he had met only once that "he knew them well".
HC Brooke, and several other cat fanciers, contacted the Chinese Embassy and Carl Hagenbeck's animal exchange in Hamburg and also a "certain well known author, who has lived for years in China and knows that country well", but their enquiries bore no fruit. The search for this cat became so intense in the 1920s that The American Express Company instructed their representatives at Shanghai and Peking to make enquiries with the wild animal dealers who supplied zoos. They also had no success finding a Chinese Lop-Eared cat for western cat fanciers.
Brooke said that in 1882 he had seen a stuffed specimen in a Continental museum. The specimen was "half-coated with yellowish fur" and Brooke admitted it might have been a fake or a cat with its ears deformed by canker. With all avenues of enquiry finally exhausted, Brooke declared the Chinese Drop-eared cat extinct.
The last reported sighting of the Chinese Lop-eared cat was in 1938 when a droop-eared cat was imported from China. On that last occasion the mutation was believed to occur only in white longhaired cats.
People are waiting to help.


text:
|GUHSD > Educational Technology Resources > Teacher Exchange > Artifact Details|
Ratios & Proportions-Relating to the physical world
Date Submitted: 5/22/2009
Description: These are your basic notes for teaching ratio and proportion, enhanced with a link to a website to illustrate the Chief Crazy Horse problem on p. 566 of the Heath Algebra I text. The link can be used separate from the text as well.
Click Here To Download (21 KB ~ Word [.doc])
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Sage X3 Fashion
Sage X3 Fashion is a solution for fashion distribution. Its structure is represented in the diagram below.
Fashion add ons
The Sage ERP X3 would implement the following functionalities (CPI will provide the essential add ons to the standard Sage ERP X3 solution):
 1. Products;
 2. Prices, costs, margins;
 3. Purchasing (Orders, Receipts, Invoices Control);
 4. Sales;
 5. Stocks Control (Quantities, Values, Movements);
 6. Reports.
Product and business definitions
Product information contains:
 1. Size and color matrix with different size tables and color tables (eventually those used by suppliers);
 2. Size tables equivalences (for instances between S/M/L and 36/38/40 tables);
 3. Supplier data;
 4. Different internal and external codes, including one or more barcodes per item, supplier codes, etc.;
 5. Specific article data (family, sub-family, supplier, brand, line, usage, thematic color, packaging units and method – box or hanged, composition, washing instructions, collection, permanent item, etc.), VAT rates;
 6. Combined products, with special rules (sell only together or isolated, supply only ensemble available, etc.);
 7. Consigned or purchased article, and priority on sell;
 8. Distribution rules (by article or collection);
 9. Guarantee management.
Purchase management
 1. Purchase processes follow a down to top orders sequence, from store demand to economical manufacturing quantities. A confirmation closes the first purchase process (during season planning, several months in advance);
 2. Quality control can be added according to purchase definition;
 3. Label printing methodologies can be a second verification process.
 1. Day closing process in account (sales by stores);
 2. Matrix sales order;
 3. Selling price by mark up or margin;
 4. Voucher discount (optional).
Stock control
 1. Different article groups with and without variants: shoes, caps, dap, clothing, utilities, tools;
 2. Different size tables: EU, US, children, lingerie, belt measures;
 3. EAN Code treatment: generation and definition;
 4. Subcontracting management (optional);
 5. Logistic process: reception, picking, expedition;
 6. Mobile functions (PDAs): receptions, inventory (optional).
 1. Some reports are on matrix format (ex. customer order confirmation) with comments added at document level or product level;
 2. Others reports can be made on demand.
© 2018 by CPI RETAIL
T: +351 217804000


text:
Founded in 1997, BookFinder.com has become a leading book price comparison site:
Find and compare hundreds of millions of new books, used books, rare books and out of print books from over 100,000 booksellers and 60+ websites worldwide.
Reconstruction in Philosophy
by John Dewey
ISBN _PHONE_ / 9781428615144 / 1-4286-1514-8
Publisher Kessinger Pub Co
List price $26.95
› Find signed collectible books: 'Reconstruction in Philosophy'
For those of us trying to make sense of the world and the institutions we devise to cope with it, John Dewey's Reconstruction in Philosophy offers tremendous insight. Writing a few years after World War I, the highly regarded American philosopher chose to embrace the modern sense of scientific optimism and apply it to the search for truth. He argued forcefully that our philosophical constructions are not based in reason, but only use higher thinking to justify themselves, and that we might find better ways of living if we examine our deepest beliefs and feelings with an eye toward their ultimate effects on us and others. This experimental philosophy, pragmatism, took several steps beyond the previous century's utilitarianism and was both hailed and reviled as a subsumption of philosophy and ethics into science.
Written as lectures, Reconstruction in Philosophy is marginally less dry than other philosophical tracts, but for readers new to the jargon, some sections can be slow-going. The pleasure of Dewey's works, though, comes from the intellectual stimulation of following a brilliant mind into then-uncharted epistemological territory. The last chapter, "Reconstruction As Affecting Social Philosophy," foreshadows so much 20th-century political thinking--from across the spectrum--that it ought to be required reading in high school civics classes. Did pragmatism change our lives for the better? The very fact that we can ask such a question is Dewey's legacy; the answer must remain an open question. --Rob Lightner [via]


text:
DURHAM, N.C., Jan. 17 (UPI) -- A new kind of sensor could be more efficient, versatile and cheaper to use in airport security scanners and collision avoidance systems, U.S. developers say.
Researchers at Duke University reported in the journal Science a new manmade metamaterial that can act as a lens to image scenes using fewer components than conventional detectors.
Using this metamaterial means additional equipment needed for conventional detector systems -- like lenses, mechanical positioners and data storage or transmission devices -- are not required, they said.
The material, a thin laminate with row-upon-row of tiny squares etched onto copper, each tuned to a different frequency of light, is flexible and durable enough to be attached to a wall, wrapped around corners or even laid on the floor like a rug, making it an inexpensive alternative for a variety of sensing applications, the researchers reported.
The system works with microwave light and produces two-dimensional images.
"By taking advantage of the unique properties of these metamaterials, we were able to create a system capable of microwave imaging without lenses or any moving parts," Duke graduate student John Hunt said.
Unlike current imaging systems that must move a single sensing device with a small aperture to scan an object or a person, the new device can scan the entire field at once, resulting in faster and more efficient screening, the researchers said.
"Using conventional systems such as airport security cameras or collision-detection devices, you have to wait for a scan to complete before you can see an image, while the new system can scan an entire range at once," Hunt said.
|Additional Science News Stories|
ABUJA, Nigeria, May 25 (UPI) --The Nigerian army says it destroyed camps used by Islamist militants to coordinate attacks against communities in northeastern regions of the country.
JAKARTA, May 25 (UPI) --South Korean pop star Psy will perform in Indonesia at a concert celebrating diplomatic ties between the two countries, his management agency said Saturday.
COLOGNE, Germany, May 25 (UPI) --An Apple-1 computer, which sold for $666 when it debuted in 1976, sold for a record $671,400 Saturday at auction in German, the auctioneer said.


text:
Pakistan's government is taking a bold step towards a cashless future with the introduction of a National Digital Wallet. Facilitated by the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), this innovative initiative includes a digital rewards system. It will convert a percentage of utility and fuel bills into digital wallet credits, revolutionizing transactions and expanding digital horizons. The collaboration between NADRA and an Electronic Money Institution promises a significant leap in the nation's digitization journey.
The National Digital Wallet encourages digital transactions and rewards users with digital credits for utility and fuel bill payments, including telecommunication airtime credits. The government contemplates a 1% reward for digitally paying electricity, gas, and fuel bills. Additionally, users will receive a 10% reward (equivalent to Rs 100) for every Rs 1,000 airtime credit acquisition. The scheme may extend incentives for fuel and utility bill payments, fostering widespread adoption of digital transformation.
Designed to provide various amenities, the National Digital Wallet enables citizens to digitally hold and access their national ID on smartphones. Users will be rewarded for payments made through the platform. Implementation follows guidelines developed in collaboration with stakeholders, with formal approval pending from the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) and the cabinet.
A notable feature is the wallet's integration with different FinTech applications and services via OpenAI. NADRA, in collaboration with Karandaaz, will determine maintenance and usage charges. This initiative aims to boost cashless transactions and enhance financial inclusivity in Pakistan, leveraging digital identity and biometric technology.


text:
What New Zealand actually looks like
If you didn't know already, all footage from NZ is edited to make it look like it does in the northern hemisphere. Spatziba is proud to give you the first unedited shots from New Zealand. EVER!
The Southern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is south of the equator—the word hemisphere (from the Greek word σφαιρα (sphere) +ημι(half)) literally means 'half ball'. It is also that half of the celestial sphere south of the celestial equator.
Earth's southern hemisphere contains all or parts of four continents (Antarctica, Australia, most parts of South America and southern half of Africa), four oceans (South Atlantic, Indian, South Pacific, and Southern) and most of Oceania. Several islands off the Asian continental mainland are also in the Southern Hemisphere. Due to the tilt of Earth's rotation relative to the Sun and the ecliptic plane, summer is December 21 to March 21 and winter is June 21 to September 22. September 22 is the vernal equinox and March 21 is the autumnal equinox.
The Southern Hemisphere is also the part of the world that is upside down. Therefore footage from The Southern Hemisphere must be edited to not be upside down.
So if you are wondering why Jossi and Byron Wells are so red in their faces all the time. Now you know.
Because of all the blood in Kiwis head all the time, it makes them tired and moody, so therefore the rule. NEVER FLICK A KIWI THE BIRD
For the same reason many Kiwis tend to wanna flip a lot to get some blood in their feet. You know, you get really cold feet from skiing with bad circulation in your feet!
So now you know!
Spatziba will continue opening your eyes, bringing you the truth and breaking the barriers. Stay tuned


text:
Opto Engineering LED pattern projectors have been designed for 3D profiling/reconstruction and for the measurement of objects with complex structures or inclined planes.
They are successfully used in a variety of applications like quality control in food and packaging to check for correct volume, reverse engineering, dimensional measurement of electronic components, planarity control of products, robot guidance for pick and place and alignment applications.
When compared to laser emitters, LED technology ensures more homogeneous illumination in addition to sharp edges and no speckle effect.
Many 3D machine vision applications require structured light to be projected onto inclined surfaces, i.e. at a certain angle from the vertical axis. In such cases, the focus is maintained only within a small area close to the center of the field of view and the rest of the image shows relevant defocusing thus making 3D measurement inaccurate.
For this reason, the Opto pattern projector series includes special projectors equipped with a high-precision tilting mechanism that allows the pattern of the light source to meet the Scheimpflug condition so that the projected light is properly and evenly focused across the entire sample surface.
Take a look at the Opto Pattern Projector Series to learn more.
Like to learn more about Machine Vision Lighting? Take a read of our Lighting guide with Illumination techniques


text:
The point of this three piece prototype spinning aluminum impeller heatsink from Sandia National Labs is to get rid of boundary layers by exploiting a fairly obscure fluid dynamic effect first discussed in the 1950's, where by boundary layers are substantially thinned above the surface of accelerating bodies (ie. radial fins on a disk rapidly spinning). In this case, the aluminum cooling fins - the fan impeller - are spinning at 2000RPM. According to Sandia Labs, heat is transferred from the processor to the rotating cooling component above, across a very thin 'air bearing' - essentially a metal surface rotating a fraction of a millimeter over a similarly sized stationary surface.
Orientation Agnostic In the video below you'll see the air bearing heatsink sitting horizontally on a table, yet if you glance at your computer tower you'll know that CPU heatsinks mostly always operate while mounted to a vertical motherboard. The Sandia cooler is orientation agnostic - meaning the air bearing is not affected by gravity and will operate vertically, upside-down or at angle because a compression spring is used to hold the impeller and base together, not gravity.
The complete 48 pg PDF from Sandia National Laboratories researcher Jeff Koplow, titled; "A Fundamentally New Approach to Air-Cooled Heat Exchangers" is available here. The project report 'borrows' one of my photos from a Frostytech reviewwithout crediting it to Frostytech.com (pg.5, figure 1), but this technology is cool so I'll let it slide. ;) Update - received a nice apology regarding the unattributed image and all is good. :)


×
zbMATH — the first resource for mathematics
Cores of hyperbolic 3-manifolds and limits of Kleinian groups. (English) Zbl 0863.30048
In this work, the relationship between algebraic and geometric limits of Kleinian groups is studied. Previously Jorgensen, Thurston, Kerckhoff and Ohshika found examples of groups where the former is a proper subgroup of the latter. When the geometric limit is finite, a detailed study was done by Jorgensen and Marden. Here the general situation is discussed and the criteria for both limits to be equal are given. It is proven that algebraic limit is the fundamental group of a compact submanifold of the quotient of the geometric limit under some restrictions. When the algebraic limit has non-empty domain of discontinuity, connected limit set and no accidental parabolic elements, it is a precisely embedded subgroup of the geometric limit and therefore will be either a degenerate group or a generalized web group. Combining all these, it is obtained that algebraic limit corresponds to a compact submanifold of the geometric limit. Also shown that any precisely embedded web subgroup of a torsion-free Kleinian group \(\Gamma\) is a summand of a Klein-Maskit decomposition of \(\Gamma\). The relations between these limits and the cores of hyperbolic 3-manifolds are established.
MSC:
30F40 Kleinian groups (aspects of compact Riemann surfaces and uniformization)
PDF BibTeX Cite
Full Text: DOI Link arXiv


Contract action on Customer Contracts screen."
); this.RenewExpiring(instance); instance.Save.Press();
Another way to insert some record in db is to use PXDataBase.Insert. Example of usage is the following:
 new PXDataFieldAssign("TranType", PXDbType.NVarChar, apTran.TranType),
 new PXDataFieldAssign("RefNbr", apTran.RefNbr),
 new PXDataFieldAssign("ManualPrice", apTran.ManualPrice),
 new PXDataFieldAssign("LineNbr", apTran.LineNbr));
The first option gives you opportunity to use logic of graph, while second gives you good perfomance.
PXSmartPanel in Acumatica
Hello everybody,
today I want to write few words how to work with PXSmartPanel.
One of my clients asked following:
1. Press at button.
2. Pop up should appear with two buttons ( "OK", "Cancel")
3. At pop up should be also selector of contracts and datetime.
4. Existing screen should be modified.
In order to do this, following actions were implemented:
1. Existing screen was CT301000.
2. If to look in screen source code, following line says about graph:
3. It means, that we need to create extension class for ContractMaint.
4. For example like this:
public class ContractMaintExt : PXGraphExtension
 public PXFilter SubstituteSettings;
 public PXAction Substitute;
 [PXButton(CommitChanges = true)]
 [PXUIField(DisplayName = "Substitute")]
 protected void substitute()
 if (this.SubstituteSettings.AskExt(new PX.Data.PXView.InitializePanel(this.fillFilter)) ==
 var subsFilter = (SubstituteSettingsFilter)this.SubstituteSettings.Cache.Current;
 CopyOpenPMTaskHistory(Base.Contracts.Current.ContractID, subsFilter.ContractID, subsFilter.TransitionDate);
5. In the line 4 we declared to Acumatica, that we want to extend ContractMaint, and we want to create some data input, which is related to SubstituteSettingsFilter. Take note of Substitute and substitute: both of them are needed in order to make processing of inputted values.
6. Take a look at SubstituteSettingsFilter class itself:
 public class SubstituteSettingsFilter : IBqlTable
 _TAG_ contractID
 public abstract class contractID : IBqlField, IBqlOperand
 protected int? _ContractID;
 [PXDimensionSelector("CONTRACT", typeof(Search2>,
 LeftJoin>>>,
 Where,
 And>>>),
 new System.Type[] { typeof(Contract.contractCD), typeof(Contract.customerID), typeof(Customer.acctName),
 typeof(Contract.locationID), typeof(Contract.description), typeof(Contract.status), typeof(Contract.expireDate),
 typeof(ContractBillingSchedule.lastDate), typeof(ContractBillingSchedule.nextDate) },
 DescriptionField = typeof(Contract.description), Filterable = true)]
 [PXUIField(DisplayName = "Contract ID", Visibility = PXUIVisibility.SelectorVisible)]
 public virtual int? ContractID
 get { return this._ContractID; }
 set { this._ContractID = value; }
 _TAG_ contractID
 _TAG_ TransitionDate
 public abstract class transitionDate : PX.Data.IBqlField
 protected DateTime? _TransitionDate;
 [PXUIField(DisplayName = "Transition Date")]
 public virtual DateTime? TransitionDate
 return this._TransitionDate;
 this._TransitionDate = value;
 _TAG_ TransitionDate
7. We described two properties: contractID and TransitionDate.
8. Now goes time of aspx page at section I described the following:

Few words. AcceptButtonID speak about who plays role of OK button, Caption means title, CaptionVisible means that title will be visible, HideAfterAction means hide or not after action, Key means name of member in extension or graph, DefaultControlID means which control is active by default. Another important detail is DataMember property, which equals to Key. Then goes layout rules, which I ommit. Then in Template goes selector, and datetime input.
9. Here how control look like:
Here it is. If you have any comments, wishes, etc, you are welcome to post them


scalawag (n.) Look up scalawag at
also scallawag, "disreputable fellow," 1848, American English, originally in trade union jargon, of uncertain origin; perhaps an alteration (by influence of wag "habitual joker") of Scottish scallag "farm servant, rustic," itself an alteration of Scalloway, one of the Shetland Islands, wit the reference being to little Shetland ponies (an early recorded sense of scalawag was "undersized or worthless animal," 1854). In U.S. history, used from 1862 as a derogatory term for anti-Confederate native white Southerners.


masks when working with acid etchants.
 - Be extremely careful when mixing and stirring the acid. Do not use metallic objects and do not put the container on the edge of the disk.
 - While irradiating your PCB with UV, take an absolute care to not have a direct visual contact with the UV generating part of the insulator/chamber, or use special anti-UV protection glasses. If you have to check your PCB during the process, better stop the machine prior to open it.
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to files in S3 using the s3 table function. This will require appropriate permissions. We pass the credentials needed in the request, but view the Managing Credentials page for more options.
In the simple example below, we use the table function as a destination instead of a source. Here we stream 10,000 rows from the trips table to a bucket, specifying lz4 compression and output type of CSV:
INSERT INTO FUNCTION
s3(
'_URL_
's3_key',
's3_secret',
'CSV'
)
SELECT *
FROM trips
LIMIT 10000;
Note here how the format of the file is inferred from the extension. We also don't need to specify the columns in the s3 function - this can be inferred from the SELECT.
Splitting Large Files
It is unlikely you will want to export your data as a single file. Most tools, including ClickHouse, will achieve higher throughput performance when reading and writing to multiple files due to the possibility of parallelism. We could execute our INSERT command multiple times, targeting a subset of the data. ClickHouse offers a means of automatic splitting files using a PARTITION key.
In the example below, we create ten files using a modulus of the rand() function. Notice how the resulting partition ID is referenced in the filename. This results in ten files with a numerical suffix, e.g. trips_0.csv.lz4, trips_1.csv.lz4 etc...:
INSERT INTO FUNCTION
s3(
'_URL_
's3_key',
's3_secret',
'CSV'
)
PARTITION BY rand() % 10
SELECT *
FROM trips
LIMIT 100000;
Alternatively, we can reference a field in the data. For this dataset, the payment_type provides a natural partitioning key with a cardinality of 5.
INSERT INTO FUNCTION
s3(
'_URL_
's3_key',
's3_secret',
'CSV'
)
PARTITION BY payment_type
SELECT *
FROM trips
LIMIT 100000;
Utilizing Clusters
The above functions are all limited to execution on a single node. Read speeds will scale linearly with CPU cores until other resources (typically network) are saturated, allowing users to vertically scale. However, this approach has its limitations. While users can alleviate some resource pressure by inserting into a distributed table when performing an INSERT INTO SELECT query, this still leaves a single node reading, parsing, and processing the data. To address this challenge and allow us to scale reads horizontally, we have the s3Cluster function.
The node which receives the query, known as the initiator, creates a connection to every node in the cluster. The glob pattern determining which files need to be read is resolved to a set of files. The initiator distributes files to the nodes in the cluster, which act as workers. These workers, in turn, request files to process as they complete reads. This process ensures that we can scale reads horizontally.
The s3Cluster function takes the same format as the single node variants, except that a target cluster is required to denote the worker nodes:
s3Cluster(cluster_name, source, [access_key_id, secret_access_key,] format, structure)
 - cluster_name — Name of a cluster that is used to build a set of addresses and connection parameters to remote and local servers.
 - source — URL to a file or a bunch of files. Supports following wildcards in read-only mode: *, ?, {'abc','def'} and {N..M} where N, M — numbers, abc, def — strings. For more information see Wildcards In Path.
 - access_key_id and secret_access_key — Keys that specify credentials to use with the given endpoint. Optional.
 - format — The format of the file.
 - structure — Structure of the table. Format 'column1_name column1_type, column2_name column2_type, ...'.
Like any s3 functions, the credentials are optional if the bucket is insecure or you define security through the environment, e.g., IAM roles. Unlike the s3 function, however, the structure must be specified in the request as of 22.3.1, i.e., the schema is not inferred.
This function will be used as part of an INSERT INTO SELECT in most cases. In this case, you will often be inserting a distributed table. We illustrate a simple example below where trips_all is a distributed table. While this table uses the events cluster, the consistency of the nodes used for reads and writes is not a requirement:
INSERT INTO default.trips_all
SELECT *
FROM s3Cluster(
'events',
'_URL_
'TabSeparatedWithNames'
)
Inserts will occur against the initiator node. This means that while reads will occur on each node, the resulting rows will be routed to the initiator for distribution. In high throughput scenarios, this may prove a bottleneck. To address this, set the parameter parallel_distributed_insert_select for the s3cluster function.
S3 Table Engines
While the s3 functions allow ad-hoc queries to be performed on data stored in S3, they are syntactically verbose. The S3 table engine allows you to not have to specify the bucket URL and credentials over and over again. To address this, ClickHouse provides the S3 table engine.
CREATE TABLE s3_engine_table (name String, value UInt32)
ENGINE = S3(path, [aws_access_key_id, aws_secret_access_key,] format, [compression])
[SETTINGS ...]
 - path — Bucket URL with a path to the file. Supports following wildcards in read-only mode: *, ?, {abc,def} and {N..M} where N, M — numbers, 'abc', 'def' — strings. For more information, see here.
 - format — The format of the file.
 - aws_access_key_id, aws_secret_access_key - Long-term credentials for the AWS account user. You can use these to authenticate your requests. The parameter is optional. If credentials are not specified, configuration file values are used. For more information, see Managing credentials.
 - compression — Compression type. Supported values: none, gzip/gz, brotli/br, xz/LZMA, zstd/zst. The parameter is optional. By default, it will autodetect compression by file extension.
Reading Data
In the following example, we create a table named trips_raw using the first ten TSV files located in the _URL_ bucket. Each of these contains 1M rows each:
CREATE TABLE trips_raw
(
'trip_id' UInt32,
'vendor_id' Enum8('1' = 1, '2' = 2, '3' = 3, '4' = 4, 'CMT' = 5, 'VTS' = 6, 'DDS' = 7, 'B02512' = 10, 'B02598' = 11, 'B02617' = 12, 'B02682' = 13, 'B02764' = 14, '' = 15),
'pickup_date' Date,
'pickup_datetime' DateTime,
'dropoff_date' Date,
'dropoff_datetime' DateTime,
'store_and_fwd_flag' UInt8,
'rate_code_id' UInt8,
'pickup_longitude' Float64,
'pickup_latitude' Float64,
'dropoff_longitude' Float64,
'dropoff_latitude' Float64,
'passenger_count' UInt8,
'trip_distance' Float64,
'fare_amount' Float32,
'extra' Float32,
'mta_tax' Float32,
'tip_amount' Float32,
'tolls_amount' Float32,
'ehail_fee' Float32,
'improvement_surcharge' Float32,
'total_amount' Float32,
'payment_type_' Enum8('UNK' = 0, 'CSH' = 1, 'CRE' = 2, 'NOC' = 3, 'DIS' = 4),
'trip_type' UInt8,
'pickup' FixedString(25),
'dropoff' FixedString(25),
'cab_type' Enum8('yellow' = 1, 'green' = 2, 'uber' = 3),
'pickup_nyct2010_gid' Int8,
'pickup_ctlabel' Float32,
'pickup_borocode' Int8,
'pickup_ct2010' String,
'pickup_boroct2010' FixedString(7),
'pickup_cdeligibil' String,
'pickup_ntacode' FixedString(4),
'pickup_ntaname' String,
'pickup_puma' UInt16,
'dropoff_nyct2010_gid' UInt8,
'dropoff_ctlabel' Float32,
'dropoff_borocode' UI


text:
Dan and Horace talk about the distinction between what Facebook is and what its value is perceived to be. We touch on both the opportunities and the challenges for social media and how these are reflected in the IPO. We note how and why Facebook integration in iOS might happen. Horace has a few words about China, WWDC, and the future of apps on TVs. It's all about context.
5by5 | The Critical Path #41: Contextual Inquiry.


PDA
View Full Version : Compares C++ and Pascal
Jaguar
06-30-2002, 01:37 PM
I used to compare Object Pascal (Delphi) with Borland C++5.0 with several source programs. All programs written in same algorithm. I found that for all cases, Object Pascal can run faster than BC++, moreover Object Pascal generates much smaller size of exe files. I question that why so many people say C++ is faster and smaller, is it correct?
Remark All programs are tested on Windows 2000's command prompt. Programs written with BC++, I abbreviated the codes as much as possible (idioms) and debug informations were removed.
May I ask the following questions.
1. which one is smaller and faster?
2. If I want smaller size of exe file translated from C++, how shall I do? (As I tested, exe file translated from C++ consumes at least 40 KB, to write application of 10 KB is not possible, but it's possible for Object Pascal and Assembly)
sean
07-02-2002, 12:25 PM
I've always heard the same thing, so your results are interesting. I think what we've heard is wrong, because it just doesn't make any sense. Aseembly is very close to the system. In fact, it's about as close as you're going to get to the system with out using binary and microcode chips! Being close to the system, you have a lot of control, and you use just what you need. C++ will bring in tonnes of libraries that you'll probably never use. C++ is useful because it's high level language structure makes it easy to program with, but ASsembly and Object Pascal are powerful. It really depends on what you want in a language and the project you're working on, but I agree completely with your results.
VBprogrammer
07-02-2002, 04:47 PM
Aseembly is very close to the system. In fact, it's about as close as you're going to get to the system with out using binary and microcode chips!
You where right till you got to binary, binary doesnt let you do anything more than you can do with assembly, it just makes it hard to understand!
Jaguar
07-03-2002, 09:35 AM
Yr comments r very useful.
Thx a lot.
sean
07-03-2002, 12:43 PM
ACtually it does. It's in a PC storable format. You can store things on microprocessors with a bse 256 system yet. There's a big difference between 256 and 2. It's 254 if I'm not mistaken.
VBprogrammer
07-03-2002, 01:48 PM
Sorry Sean, I dont have a clue what your talking about! If your talking about he diffrence between Hex and Binary there is none i.e. 0x0A = 00001100b and 00001100b = 0x0A. They are entirely the same, just a different way of representing numbers. The computer does store at as binary, but it doesnt care if it was binary, hex or even decimal to begin with.
BTW hex is base 16 and binary is base 2.
Shiro
07-03-2002, 01:51 PM
I found that for all cases, Object Pascal can run faster than BC++, moreover Object Pascal generates much smaller size of exe files.
Very interesting. At university we started learning Pascal and then C, C++ and Java. Mainly because a lot of companies use it these days. But Pascal stayed one of my favourite languages, its a very elegant language and nice to read.
But I guess these results are compiler dependent isn't it? Or is Object Pascal a more efficient/faster/smaller language than C++?
I noticed that Pascal and C can do the same things and when using a good compiler, there are no big differences when it comes to speed and size. So I was really wondering why C came up, but I guess it has to do with the popularity of the Unix OS.
Jaguar
07-04-2002, 02:06 AM
Originally posted by Shiro
But I guess these results are compiler dependent isn't it? Or is Object Pascal a more efficient/faster/smaller language than C++?
I absolutely agree with Shiro. It's compiler dependent.
sean
07-04-2002, 01:38 PM
True - but I think on average is what he's asking. The characters are essentially a base 256 system. Computer do store it in binary. YOu just don't see the 1's and 0's. Instead, parts of the disk are either magnetized (1), or not (0). Getting it into binary is a huge step towards putting it on the computer.
VBprogrammer
07-04-2002, 02:34 PM
Sean the only base 256 system i can think of is Octal, something even low level programmers rearly have to deal with.
Unless your talking about sticking wires into your computer to try to program it (do not try that at home) converting numbers to binary does pretty much nothing, apart from making it look wierd!
sean
07-05-2002, 10:03 AM
OK, now would be a good time for you to go and learn about number systems. Octal is base 8, hence the name Octal. Characters - 256 of them. They can be represented by a base 256 number system. In BASIC for example, if you imagine each character as a = 1, b = 2, etc.. until z = 26. You can do math operations on strings. AZ > AY, AZ < ZA.
master5001
07-17-2002, 12:46 AM
Here is my 2 cents. When I was doing DOS stuff I used Turbo C and then I started doing windows programming and began to us mingw. Well I found that GCC's output was much faster and smaller than the Borland Compilers. When comparing GCC to GPC (gnu c compiler versus gnu pascal compiler) you will find that gcc produces similar results. So to me your results are inconsequential since you are using a crappy c compiler. And a decent pascal compiler. Besides, what you are doing isn't exactly how they do benchmarks. Using your logic if I put my thumb in the air and it obscures the sun I could say "My thumb is bigger than the sun."
quagsire
07-17-2002, 06:40 AM
If you disable the exception handling and RTTI, the executable size drops. Also make sure that the compilers don't include the debug info. The executable size should then be much smaller.
Jaguar
07-19-2002, 11:28 AM
Originally posted by quagsire
Also make sure that the compilers don't include the debug info. The executable size should then be much smaller.
As stated in my first sentence I had already removed debug info. But anyway I have known that it's compiler-dependent. My opinion BC++ is not a good compiler. Even getchar() not functioning properly on win32 and it lacks stability. Have anyone ever felt this?


text:
The height of the atmospheric boundary layer or mixing layer is an important parameter for understanding the dynamics of the atmosphere and the dispersion of trace gases and air pollution. The height of the mixing layer (MLH) can be retrieved, among other methods, from lidar or ceilometer backscatter data. These instruments use the vertical backscatter lidar signal to infer MLHL, which is feasible because the main sources of aerosols are situated at the surface and vertical gradients are expected going from the aerosol loaded mixing layer close to the ground to the cleaner free atmosphere above. Various lidar/ceilometer algorithms are currently applied, but accounting for MLH temporal development is not always well taken care of. As a result, MLHL retrievals may jump between different atmospheric layers, rather than reliably track true MLH development over time. This hampers the usefulness of MLHL time series for e.g. process studies, model validation/verification and climatology. Here, we introduce a new method "Pathfinder", which applies graph theory to simultaneously evaluate timeframes consistent with scales of MLH dynamics, leading to coherent tracking of MLH. Starting from a grid of gradients in the backscatter profiles, MLH development is followed using Dijkstra's shortest path algorithm (Dijkstra, 1959). Locations of strong gradients are connected under the condition that subsequent points on the path are limited to a restricted vertical range. The search is further guided by rules based on presence of clouds and residual layers. Applied to backscatter lidar data from Cabauw, excellent agreement is found with windprofiler retrievals for a 12-day period in 2008 (R² = 0.90) and visual judgment of lidar data during a full year in 2010 (R² = 0.96). These values compare favourably against other MLHL methods applied to the same lidar data set and corroborate more consistent MLH tracking by Pathfinder.
M de Bruine, A Apituley,, DP Donovan, H Klein Baltink. Pathfinder: Applying graph theory for consistent tracking of daytime mixed layer height with backscatter lidar
Status: submitted, Journal: Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, Year: 2017, doi: doi:10.5194/amt-2016-327


text:
Study: Jogging Outside Can Make You Stupid
What has always been known as a cornerstone of good health and exercise, a new study reveals that jogging outside may actually have some detrimental effects on the brain.
While it is known to clear the mind, jogging outside in busy, traffic-filled areas could actually cause mental decline.
According to Belgian researchers from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, people who live in a city and exercise outdoors have higher levels of inflammation and lower scores on cognitive tests than those who jog in the suburbs.
In a study, they separated exercisers into two groups who exercised three times a week for 12 weeks, between midday and 1 PM.
One group alternated and walking in a busy, urban area – the other in a rural location.
The researchers then gave the joggers a test to measure their response time and attention span.
They found that high levels of air pollution in the city prevented participants from getting some of the brain-boosting benefits of exercise, such as the ability to absorb new information and a reduced chance of mental health problems.
The city joggers also had significantly higher blood levels of some inflammation markers, Men's Health magazine reported.
This is important because inflammation in the brain is associated with mental illness.
The question is, were the people who decided jogging outside in a traffic-filled area already mentally ill, or did the jogging drive them to mental illness?
Stephen Willard | Elite.


Gleninchaquin Park closed due to Weater
Gleninchaquin – The History of a Valley
Kate Landers_FH54537And8more_tonemapped-Edit-1
Objectives of survey:
 1. Provide an accurate record of the people that have lived in the valley.
 2. Connect the recently uncovered dwellings with the people that had lived there as part of the preparation for their restoration.
Both of these surveys are part of ongoing studies and we welcome any interest from institutions and individuals with expertise in these fields. Work on the restoration of the 18th century farm was completed back in 2012.


text:
Land degradation is a series problem in Ethiopia highlands, particular in abbay basin reflected in the form of soil erosion and soil fertility decline from time to time. Beshilo catchment is one of the Abbay basin tributary, which covers 5,700 km2; this shows that the problem of the catchment is significant effect in Abbay basin development. In this study the impact of Land use/ Land cover change on annual outflow contribution of Beshilo Catchment is evaluated, distributed physically based hydrological model known as soil and water assessment tool (SWAT) model was used this study. Changes were analyzed and characterized impacts on surface runoff were evaluated. The model was calibrated and validated over the gauged upper reaches of catchments of Gummara River. The model was calibrated for the period from _PHONE_ and validated for the period from 2009-2014. The performance of the model was evaluated on the basis of performance rating criteria, coefficient of determination, Nash & Sutcliff efficiency. The overall performance of the models gives good result. For this study the land use land cover change scenario, were developed using its change. From the land cover change analysis results it was found that there has been a substantial decline of forest lands, shrub lands, grass lands and expansion of agricultural land. The SWAT modeling shows the result indicated that the mean annual surface flow were increase by 7.4 % with 2004 LULC and increased by 6.8 % with 2013 LULC from 1996 LULC.
Keywords: Stream flow analysis Arc SWAT-model –SWAT-CUP


Tuesday, December 29, 2015
"Antiques" from Syria: U.S. Cultural Property Import Stats Raise Suspicion
Imports of Syrian goods into the United States have fallen dramatically since war broke out in the Mideast nation in 2011 and since the White House expanded the Syria Sanctions Program. Yet, despite the decline in U.S. imports from Syria, there are now disquieting trade statistics from 2014--the most recent complete data available--that should stir the attention of customs officials, police, and policymakers concerned about looted archaeology, stolen mosaics, and illicitly excavated coins trafficked illegally into the U.S.
Overall, America imported about $429.3 million worth of declared goods from Syria in 2010. Last year, that total collapsed to roughly $12.4 million, a stark decline over the five year period.
Moving in the opposite direction for a period of time were U.S. imports of antiques over 100 years old from Syria, which spiked to $11 million in 2013, a spectacular 133% increase in declared customs value over the previous year. While this figure noticeably fell last year to roughly $4.9 million, the value is similar to the $4.7 million worth of imported antiques recorded in 2012.
The 2014 statistic on antiques is striking because the five year trend line for imports of Syrian antiques failed to fade to black like other U.S. imports of Syrian goods. Instead, as the graphic above demonstrates, antiques constituted a decidedly large slice of the American import pie last year. They accounted for a whopping 40% of the value of all imports of every kind from Syria. In fact, goods classified by importers as Antiques of an Age Exceeding 100 Years under Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) 9706 were the #1 import into the U.S. from Syria. There simply was no other import category that ranked higher in value than antiques, including the #2 import of Syrian anise and cumin seeds and juniper berries classified under HTS 0909.
Notably, every Syrian import classified as an HTS 9706 antique was shipped to the customs district of New York City, the location of one of the largest and most important art and antiquities markets in the world.
What we do not know is what kind of objects these "antiques" were. They may have been at-risk archaeological objects like cuneiform tablets or ancient pottery, deliberately mislabeled by smugglers as being "of an age exceeding 100 years." Customs officials need to find out.
Enforcement officials also need to investigate the #3 American import from Syria in 2014, commodities classified by a code smugglers might use to disguise imports of ancient mosaics. Mosaics, of course, are architectural features made of stone, glass, and/or ceramic. They are spotlighted in the International Council of Museum's Emergency Red List of Syrian cultural property, which is why the import of $1.4 million worth of HTS 6802 goods--11% of the total value of all Syrian imports to the U.S.--is concerning. HTS 6802 is intended to cover worked monumental or building stone; mosaic cubes of natural stone; and artificially colored granules, chippings and powder of natural stone. Yet the code may have been used by traffickers to unlawfully classify 5th century mosaics.
Together, the declared imports of HTS 9706 and HTS 6802 goods accounted for 51% of the total imports of all Syrian commodities by value in 2014, a striking statistic that simply cannot be overlooked by cultural property watchers focused on spotting trafficked heritage objects that may have illegally piggybacked on legitimate international trade.
Classified by HTS 9705 and amounting to approximately $303,000, collections of historical and archaeological material of Syrian origin was the #5 import by value in 2014. This number was almost a triple increase from the $118,000 imported the year before.
Looking deeper into this trade category, we find that the bulk of HTS 9705 imports from Syria to the United States consisted of Numismatic (Collectors') Coins, Except Gold, classified by HTS 9705.00.0060, having a declared import value of approximately $265,000, which was a quarter of a million dollar jump from the exiguous value of $12,064 declared in 2013. Just like imports of Syrian antiques, every Syrian collectors' coin declared under this HTS category went through the New York City customs district. Were these coins ancient Roman, Byzantine, or Islamic like the ones identified on the Red List? Customs enforcement officials need to find out.
Given the reasonable articulable suspicion that Syrian cultural contraband may be moving to the U.S. through ordinary channels of international trade, police and customs investigators are justified in scrutinizing import paperwork and asking detailed questions of importers and customs brokers that will confirm or dispel this suspicion. To protect cultural heritage in jeopardy, to defend against money laundering, and to protect against terror financing in Syria, it is vital to know exactly what cultural property has been shipped to the U.S. from Syria under the HTS 9705, 9706, and 6802 classifications and why heritage goods makes up such a large portion of imported Syrian commodities.
Data source: CHL compiled, arranged, and assessed the import figures presented here using raw data collected by the U.S. International Trade Commission and the U.S. Bureau of the Census.
Copyright notice: Although the data presented here is sourced from publicly available information, it is an original work of authorship that has been carefully selected, coordinated, arranged, and analyzed so that it is an original work of authorship subject to copyright protection as a compilation and/or a derivative work by CHL. The publication, retransmission, or broadcast of this compiled data is strictly prohibited without CHL's express consent.
Note: Import data is reported to U.S. Customs and Border Protection by the owner, purchaser, or licensed broker of the consignee. They file the entry documents, not the customs officials who are unable to inspect and document every cargo shipment. So whether cultural commodities are properly classified as HTS 9705 archaeological material or HTS 9706 antiques is the responsibility of the importer. In fact whether imports are falsely classified so that they can be smuggled across the border or whether they are mistakenly classified because of an error in judgment is a function of the importing party. The import classification process is a self-reporting system, part of a shared compliance program overseen by U.S. Customs that obliges the trade community to regulate itself and follow federal law. Shared compliance allows the U.S. to competitively engage the world in global commerce. Smugglers, nevertheless, will try to exploit gaps and loopholes.
Text copyrighted 2015 by Cultural Heritage Lawyer, a blog commenting on matters of cultural property law, art law, cultural heritage policy, antiquities trafficking, and museum risk management. Blog url: culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com. Any unauthorized reproduction or retransmission of any blog post without the express written consent of CHL is prohibited. CHL is a service of Red Arch Cultural Heritage Law & Policy Research, Inc.