Research Article Current Issue Versions 2 Vol 3 (4) : 20030408 2020
Machine Learning based Optical Proximity Correction Techniques
： 2020 - 10 - 09
： 2020 - 12 - 15
： 2020 - 12 - 30
70 6 0
Abstract & Keywords
Abstract: The shrinking of the size of the advanced technological nodes brings up new challenges to the semiconductor manufacturing community. The optical proximity correction (OPC) is invented to reduce the errors of the lithographic process. The conventional OPC techniques rely on the empirical models and optimization methods of iterative type. Both the accuracy and computing speed of the existing OPC techniques need to be improved to fulfill the stringent requirement of the research and design for latest technological nodes. The emergence of machine learning technologies inspires novel OPC algorithms. More accurate forward simulation of the lithographic process and single turn optimization methods are enabled by the machine learning based OPC techniques. We discuss the latest progress made by the OPC community in the process simulation and optimization based on machine learning techniques.
Keywords: optical proximity correction; machine learning; deep learning; lithography
1. Introduction
Optical proximity correction (OPC) becomes critical for the process of current advanced technological nodes. The conventional methods of the optical proximity correction rely on the empirical rules or the combination of the parametric models and traditional optimization methods most likely in the iterative sense. The empirical rules highly depend on the experience of process engineers and works well for the early technological nodes with larger critical dimensions, but the model based methods are required for the sub 100nm technological nodes. Considering the difficulty of the rigorous mathematical simulation of the physical and chemical process involved in the optical lithographic process, simplified models with empirical parameters are usually applied in the actual OPC process[1, 2]. Even the contemporary numerical methods such as Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD)[35] or Finite Element Method (FEM) et. al. are able to provide more accurate solutions to the optical imaging process, photo-chemical reactions and so on, the formidable cost of computation power hinders the application of such methods to larger scale systems such as full chip level optimization problems. The past efforts in deriving more accurate analytical or semi-numerical models for the forward simulations of relevant physical chemical processes[6,7] boost the development of more practical and efficient OPC technologies. Even the complexity of the photo-resist reactions slows down the progress of obtainment of more reliable resist model, and so does the etch model, the optical imaging problems can usually be well resolved after simplified assumptions are made to the optical imaging systems. The appearance of the computational tractable models makes the iterative optimization of the mask shapes possible which becomes the corner stone of the current OPC technologies. Combining with the latest setup of the optical lithography machines which enables the variable illumination conditions[8, 9], source-mask optimization (SMO)[1012] also becomes an important part of the OPC workflow. Until the techniques of the insertion of sub-resolution assist features (SRAF) being added to the arsenal of OPC toolkit to enlarge the process window of the optimized mask patterns, the framework of contemporary OPC is settled down. However, the room of the improvement of current OPC workflow remains and the rise of data science as well as machine learning provides huge amount of opportunities for the computational lithography community.
2. Optical Lithographic System
Figure 1. Illustration of an optical lithographic projection system[13].
The optical microlithography system mainly includes four parts: source, mask/reticle, exposure system and wafer. To avoid the inhomogeneity of illumination on the photomask, Kohler's method of illumination is applied. The source or the image of the source is placed at the focal plane of the condenser. The photomask/reticle is then illuminated by the parallel beam and the energy distribution on the top plane of the mask is then homogenous in the idealistic situation. Traditional mask is the binary intensity mask. They are formed by the chromium on glass. Different types of fused silicon are applied for varied illumination wavelengths. Phase shift masks are also introduced to improve the image quality. The image of the scattering sources on the photomask is formed on the wafer after the projection optics. The standing wave pattern is formed by the reflection from the photoresist/wafer interface. There are two types of photoresist: positive resist and negative resist. They response differently to the illumination.
3. Machine Learning Based OPC
The machine learning and data driven perspective may change the OPC workflow mainly in three aspects. Firstly, more accurate and fast models become accessible after the introduction of novel tools such as deep neural networks as a good universal approximator which should be beneficial even they are simply embedded into the traditional OPC framework; Secondly, the expensive and time consuming iterative optimization process of prevailing OPC techniques may be replaced by the single run computation of well trained models which directly perform the optimization process including the mask optimization (MO), SMO, SRAF insertion and so on; Third, the whole workflow of the OPC may be modified by the data driven methodology and the changes may not be constrained within the scopes of feature pattern selection and hotspots detection. The novel full chip level solution may be enabled in the future. We shall discuss the recent progress of the machine learning based OPC technologies in the three directions mentioned above separately.
3.1. Machine Learning Based Simulators
The simulation of the lithography mainly contains three parts: Optical model, Resist model and Etch model. The first two process is coarsely shown in Figure 1.
Figure 2. Lithography simulation[14].
The ideal situation of the forward simulation is the success of the ab initio calculation. For the optical imaging system, this target is more achievable. The realistic imaging system is usually simplified and mathematical abstraction can be done within the framework of optics[15]. In Figure 2, a typical optical configuration is shown. The aerial image is computed approximately with methods such as Hopkins method The chemistry involved in the resist model is complicated to compute from the first principle[16-18]. Sometimes, a simple threshold model is applied for the resist model and the threshold can be either constant or variable[19]. The etch model is more intractable due to the complicated physicalchemical process and multi-factorial control parameters involved such as plasma nature, chamber configuration Historically, variable etch bias (VEB) model is applied for the optimization purpose[20]. However, the approaches mentioned above may not be able to meet the requirement of the OPC techniques developing for the advanced technological nodes and more accurate and rigorous models are necessary while the nodes shrink. The machine learning based resist model and etch model turn out to be effective and becomes good candidates for future OPC application.
The general purpose of the ML based simulators is to obtain a general function approximator with the local geometric features as input and values of the height or threshold at the pixel level as the output. In principle, it can be done with the multilayer neural networks.
Figure 3. ANN-based 3D resist model[21].
Seongbo Shim et. al. applied the full connected neural network to fit the resist model with the points sampled from the geometry of layout as the input and the resist height at center of the window as the output. The configuration of their model is shown in Figure 3. Youngchang Kim et. al. use the similar method to realize the prediction of etch bias[20].
Figure 4. CNN architecture[14].
Since the inventions of new architectures of neural networks emerge, more efficient and suitable approaches are fetched by the OPC community to improve the performance of the forward simulators. Yuki Watanabe et. al. use convolutional neural networks which are widely applied in the computer vision computation to estimate the resist pattern instead[14]. The architecture of their net is shown in Figure 4. Since sometimes, the rigorous simulation or experimental data are hard to obtain especially for new technical nodes, to obtain the trained model with the required accuracy with fewer data, Yibo Lin et. al. take the advantage of the transfer learning and active learning while they are trying to solve the same problem[22]. Later, the generative adversarial net is also introduced by the same group for simulating purpose[23].
3.2. Machine Learning Based Optimizers
Early days, the mask optimization relies on the empirical rules which usually depend on the geometry of the layout patterns. The contours of the layout patterns are decomposed into the edges and corners and the positions of their end points are varied and optimized according to the rules subtracted from the experimental facts[24]. Even though computationally efficient, the rule based optimization methods are not able to provide the required accuracy and fail to fulfill the requests of the advanced technological nodes. A more robust iterative optimization method based on the optical models, photoresist models et. al. is introduced. The basic idea is to change the positions of the end points of the edges and corners mentioned above and the simulated images on the wafer are obtained accordingly. The full optimization cycle is stopped once the target patterns and the simulated images match each other. Different kinds of error functions are applied to provide a quantitative estimation of the deviations between the target patterns and the simulated images. The Edge Displacement Error (EDE)[25], Edge Placement Error (EPE)[26] or Pixel-wise Error Summation[27] et. al. are usually calculated. The optimization process is usually computationally expensive due to the slow convergence of the iterations. While coarser models which are more computationally tractable are applied at the cost of the accuracy, the effort of the reduction of the iterations inspired the early application of machine


text:
.
Step 3: Download and store the MP4 video
Double click the MP4 file, and you will see a 'Download' option. Hit 'Download' button and select a suitable destination to store MP4 on Google Drive to computer.
Step 4: Play the MP4 video on Google Drive
Locate the MP4 video and choose 'Play' option by double-clicking it. And you can select full-screen in the bottom of the MP4 video.
- Limitation for MP4 video:
- 1. You can only store videos no more than 5TB. If it is not enough for you, you can select to purchase more storage.
- 2. The downloaded MP4 video on Google Drive has to be less than 1920 x 1080P.
Part 2: Store and play MP4 videos on Google Drive for Android
After learning how to store and play MP4 files on Google Drive to computer, the following article will introduce the download and playback of MP4 on the mobile device. The Android system will be presented first. Continue to read the tutorial for you.
Step 1: Open the Google Drive on Android
Firstly, use your Android cell phone or tablet computer to click on your own system's own photo application.
Step 2: Select the MP4 files
On your Android phone or tablet photo application, your favorite MP4 in a number of video files to do the next steps of downloading and playing.
Step 3: Download the MP4 files on Google Drive
In the upper right window of the Google Drive app, you will see a similar triangle share logo, tap the logo. Select 'Save to Drive' button in a new window. Click the icon again, the video will be saved automatically.
Notes: If you want to get the best download speed, you'd better download the MP4 file via a Wi-Fi connection.
Step 4: Play the MP4 files on Google Drive
You can see a search button in the shape of a magnifying glass at the top right of the Google Drive application. Click on the button and search for the video you want to play. In the list of search results, select and click the video you have searched.
Part 3: Store and play MP4 videos on Google Drive for iPhone/ iPad
The method about how to download and playback MP4 on Google Drive to Android is introduced above. If you have a problem with the application of iPhone/iPad, keep reading the following content that tells the specific operation process.
Google Drive Won't Download Video Download
Step 1: Open the Google Drive app
Before you store and play MP4 videos on Google Drive, you are supposed to open the Google Drive app, which will be used in the next steps on your iPhone or iPad.
Step 2: Choose an MP4 video
Secondly, you'd better choose your favorite MP4 video early, which can greatly improve the efficiency of storing and playing MP4 on Google Drive.
Step 3: Store an MP4 video on iPhone/iPad
On the interface between the Google Driver app of iPhone or iPad, a sign with a shape of plus will be found. Tap this icon, then you choose the MP4 video that have been selected before. Click the 'Download' button, a state bar will be presented at the bottom of the screen.
Notes: If you want to check the file to check whether it is the one you choose, click the 'location' button to figure out.
Step 4: Play an MP4 video on iPhone/iPad
In the upper right corner of the application, there will be a 'Search' button. Click it to input the name of MP4 videos you want to find. Then you will see a list, select 'Videos' icon in the option. After that, you can play the MP4 videos you want to play at will.
Part 4: Common error information in storage and playback
The following content will introduce some common mistakes. These errors may happen frequently when you store or play MP4 videos on Google Drive. Here are also some simple ways to solve and deal with such problems.
Google Drive Won't Download Video On Youtube
1. 'The video is not available at the moment.'
It means that the video needs to be prepared to play. You only need to wait a few minutes and try again to solve the problem.
2. 'Working on this video. Please check again later. '
This means that the video is in the process of being ready to play. For example, if this is a large file, it takes some time to open it and let it play. What you do is just waiting to try again.
3. 'Can't handle this video.'
This indicates that the video may not be in the right format, or it has been damaged. You need to try to re convert the format of the video, or upload videos again.

source: m-a-p/FineFineWeb


Reaching your most valuable audiences: Predicting Conversion Intent Part 2
by Lotte Jonkman, on Dec 4, 2020 11:30:14 AM
Blog 2 out of 4: feature selection analysis
Reaching your most valuable audiences_ Predicting Conversion Intent
 - Blog 2: feature selection analysis
 - Blog 3: training/evaluating the model
 - Blog 4: deploying the model
In the previous blog "capture the behavioural 'rules' that lead to your target", I spoke about the first steps of creating a model to predict a customer's conversion intent: creating features and defining the target. In this blog, I will describe how to select the best set of features based on a feature selection analysis. We do this because having too many features can be computationally expensive. Besides, it may negatively impact model performance.
We often use three different ways to analyse the features in a dataset:
 - Chi-square test
 - Mutual Information
 - Correlation Matrix
Chi-square test
The chi-square test is a statistical test that determines the relationship between two variables, in this case, the feature and the target. We calculate the chi-square statistics for every feature variable and target variable and analyse how strong the relationship is. If the relationship is not so strong, we can discard that feature variable, if it is strong, the feature is very important.
In this example, I continued with the dataset created in the first blog where we predict conversion intent based on a set of features. You can see that the strongest relationships are all previous revenue-based features, next to the city of the customer.
Reaching your most valuable audiences: Predicting Conversion Intent
Mutual Information
Mutual information quantifies the amount of information obtained about one variable, in this case, the target, through the other variable, the feature. Mutual information gives you a score for each feature of your data, the higher the score the more important or relevant is the feature towards your output variable.
Using the same data as above, we see that the following features in the top 5:
Reaching your most valuable audiences: Predicting Conversion Intent
Correlation Matrix
A correlation matrix is a matrix that shows all the correlations between the features and the target and the features with other features. If this number is positive, it means that the increase of the value of one feature increases the value of the other feature (or the other way around). Negative means that the increase in the value of one feature decreases the value of the other feature. The bigger the number the stronger the relationship.
When we calculate the correlations, we usually put them in a spreadsheet and use conditional formatting to see which features are highly correlated with the target. Also, we check which features are highly correlated with each other since we might only need to use only one feature.
Reaching your most valuable audiences: Predicting Conversion Intent Part
As you can see in the image above, the max of the clicks on a call-to-action is highly correlated with the sum of the clicks on a call-to-action, which is logical. We can see which of the two is performing better in the model using the results of the other feature analysis tests and see if we can leave one of the two out of the model.
By performing this analysis we can determine which features are useful to add and which are not. This helps us to reduce the set of features. This reduced set of features is not guaranteed to give us the best model yet. But practically, it does reduce our search space for the best model.
In my next blog of this series, I will describe the next step, which is to create models and investigate if leaving out a subset of features is beneficial for the model's performance.
Discover the benefits of marketing analytics
Topics:NewsMarketing Analytics


text: A truck loaded with cannonball watermelons stops suddenly to avoid running over the edge of a washed-out bridge (see figure). The quick stop causes a number of melons to fly off the truck. One melon rolls over the edge with an initial speed vi = 8.0 m/s in the horizontal direction. A cross-section of the bank has the shape of the bottom half of a parabola with its vertex at the edge of the road, and with the equation y2 = 14x, where x and y are measured in meters. What are the x and y coordinates of the melon when it splatters on the bank? How do you find the angle out of Y2=14x?

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


FamilySearch Indexing: US Veterans Pension Cards, _PHONE_, FAQEdit This Page
From FamilySearch Wiki
Revision as of 20:57, 10 March 2012 by Eafreem2 (Talk | contribs)
When indexing a widow's card with minors, please clarify if the widow is indexed as the guardian even if the word guardian is not used. If I don't index it that way, the arbitrator usually changes it; if I do index it that way, the arbitrator usually changes it. The field helps are being rewritten to clarify this situation. The reason we would index the widow as a guardian is that on many cards this will be the only way a child will have a surname attached to them.
How do we index co-guardians for the minors listed on a Minors' Card? The project is now being updated
Press Tab to skip the guardian fields unless: The clearly indicated guardian is the guardian of a MINOR. ONE EXCEPTION: When neither the MINOR nor the SOLDIER has a surname listed on the card, index the WIDOW as the guardian of the MINORS (so that a surname can be associated with the indexed minors).
We should not extract information from the NED (No Extractable Data) side of the card and index the information as if it were on the front of the card. Remember: Each image is treated as a unique document and not linked to any other document. Some indexers have been pulling names, death dates, etc., from the NED side of what they assume is the back of the card they are indexing.
When a married woman remarries and her previous married surname and new married surname are clearly indicated, "or" is not used between the two surnames. The names are separated with a space. Example: For the surnames (was) Smith and (now) Jones, you would enter the surname as: Smith Jones.
Where are the instructions when the two documents do not match? Each image is treated as a unique document and not linked to any another document.
Regarding PartA/004694298[4] the first image for Calder, Philip C, Army Invalid, has a dates of commencement of 1907 and 1912. The second image for Calder, Rachel, Army widow says the name of the soldier was James and the date of commencement 1901. Treat each image as a seperate record.
Did you find this article helpful?


HomeMavenMaven - skip tests?
Maven – skip tests?
In this quick guide, we discuss several use cases on how to skip unit test cases using maven mvn command when you are working with clean install or package a build.
Skipping tests is bad idea, but there might be situations where we need to skip tests in some environments (for example local) or we might need to build application without compiling and running tests, as tests are outdated. Let's see how we can skip tests with Maven.
1. maven.test.skip=true
Define maven.test.skip system property and value should be true in pom.xml or from command line, Maven will skip the tests. In this tutorial, to run tests, we used install and package phases and configured Maven Surefire Plugin. Let's see an example.
1.1. From Command line
Skip tests in install or package phase.
$ mvn clean install -Dmaven.test.skip=true OR $ mvn clean package -Dmaven.test.skip=true
Results:
3 Phases, 1. Copying test resources, 2. Compiling test sources and 3. Tests are skipped
1.2. From pom.xml configuration
If you would like to skip tests by default, you need to define maven.test.skip in pom.xml and set value true. This value can be changed to false using command line flag -Dmaven.test.skip=false to not to skip tests.
In pom.xml:
 <properties>
 <maven.test.skip>true</maven.test.skip>
 </properties>
The above configuration skips all the tests by default when you build application using maven. To not skip tests, you need to set -Dmaven.test.skip value as false.
$ mvn clean install -Dmaven.test.skip=true
2. skipTests=true
In some cases, you may require compile test sources and only just need to skip tests. Similarly maven.test.skip, you can define system property skipTests from command line or in pom.xml.
From Command:
$ mvn clean install -DskipTests OR $ mvn clean package -DskipTests
Results: Only skips running tests, and Copying test resources, Compiling test sources phase will not be skipped.
In pom.xml:
 <properties>
 <skipTests>true</skipTests>
 </properties>
To not skip tests, use command $ mvn clean package -DskipTests=false.
3. Maven surefire plugin
Alternatively skipTests property can define in surefire plugin. By default all tests will be skipped.
 <properties>
 <skipTests>true</skipTests>
 </properties>

 <plugin>
 <artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
 <version>${maven-surefire-plugin.version}</version>
 <configuration>
 <skipTests>${skip.tests}</skipTests>
 </configuration>
 </plugin>
To not skip tests, you have to use following command.
$ mvn clean package -Dskip.tests=false
4. Skip Tests on specific environment
For example, you would need to skip tests on Local environment and should continue on other environments like Prod or QA, we can use Maven Profiles.
 <profiles>
 <profile>
 <id>local</id>
 <properties>
 <maven.test.skip>true</maven.test.skip>
 </properties>
 </profile>
 </profiles>
To run profile, following command can be used.
$ mvn clean package -Plocal
5. Conclusion
In this tutorial, we covered how to skip unit test cases using maven mvn command when you are working with clean install or package a build.
You also might interested in following Maven guides:
 1. Install Maven on Windows
 2. Install Maven on Mac
 3. Install Maven on Ubuntu
 4. Import maven project into Eclipse
 5. Maven run single test
 6. Maven set java version
 7. Maven run java main class
6. References
 1. Surefire Plugin
 2. skip tests
LEAVE A REPLY
Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here


text: What is it that makes the French diet so healthy? What is it that makes the diet of some Northern European countries so unhealthy? Nutritionists and epidemiologists have examined the diet of Northern Ireland and SW France against the background of large scientific population comparisons of disease and death in the two areas, especially cardiovascular. Does the protection come from copper in red wine and from beta-carotene in vegetables? Chemistry, physiology, dietary studies and epidemiology are behind this attempt to find a true basis for healthier eating.


Q&A: Ache of Teething
How can I ease the ache of teething for my puppy?
Q&A: Ache of Teething
Q: How can I ease the ache of teething for my puppy?
A: There are several things you can do to help a puppy whose adult teeth are coming in and appears to be experiencing some discomfort.
First, you should provide safe chew toys such as tough nylon bones for your dog. This can help as the teeth come through. Then, you might try giving your dog ice cubes or a frozen wet cloth such as a washcloth, as these cold items can help ease the ache of teething. This is rather like giving a baby a frozen teething ring.
Here is a helpful online article on dog teething:
And here is another:
8/23/2006 10:16:10 PM
Fran Howell said:
My 10 month old Golden has started bitting and chewing and druling again. Does he have more teeth coming in?
URL: (optional)
Guru Spotlight
Sheri Ann Richerson


text:
Battlefield Medical Situational Awareness Goggles (Human Computer Interface)
Department of Defense
Agency Tracking Number:
Solicitation Topic Code:
Small Business Information
23715 Mercantile Rd., Suite 100, Beachwood, OH, -
Socially and Economically Disadvantaged:
AbstractThis proposal presents Think-A-Move, Ltds (TAMs) approach to heads-up, hands-free interaction with electronic medical records (EMR), while maintaining the situational awareness (SA) needed to provide the level of care needed on todays battlefield. This solution will combine the state-of-the-art in mobile computing technology, Heads-Up Displays (HUD), Electronic Information Carriers (EIC), and automatic speech transcription software, all controlled hands free through the use of speech commands. The user will wear a set of augmented reality ballistic goggles, which contain a HUD, a small but powerful mobile computing device, and TAMs SPEAR earpiece. The operator will issue voice commands to control software through the use of speech recognition, call up and enter patient records, and navigate through medical databases.
* information listed above is at the time of submission.


Speech enabling our website
What is browsealoud?
Browsealoud is a computer program that reads out the words on this website. Browsealoud reads web pages aloud for people who find it difficult to read online.
Browsealoud makes using the Internet easier for people who have:
 - Low literacy and reading skills
 - English as a second language
 - Dyslexia
 - Mild visual impairments
How does it work?
You download a FREE Browsealoud plug-in. Once installed any page on the website can be spoken aloud.
Does it work on all pages?
Browsealoud can read any page on the IT Sligo website as well as PDF's, and Word documents.
Downloading browsealoud
Simply click on the image below to download. On the following page select what operating system you're using. Browsealoud will place an icon on your system try.
Download Browsealoud
For further help and assistance with the Browsealoud plug-in visit their FAQs on their website.
2015/16 Prospectus


text:
I am doing a learning seminar on 'Bhargavaology', which is the collection of techniques and results surrounding the recent work of Manjul Bhargava, a Fields Medalist in 2014. The introductory talk is scheduled on Monday, Jan 12 in MC 5413, from 2:30 PM to 3:30 PM. The abstract is indicated below:
Title: Introduction to Bhargavaology
Speaker: Stanley Yao Xiao
Abstract: In this introductory talk I aim to give a sampling of the vast web of important theorems related to Manjul Bhargava, one of the four Fields Medalists of 2014, and describe their importance in the context of modern number theory. There are no technical details in the talk, making it very accessible.


request, and once it gets the response, it transfers it to the appropriate thread.
The programming style is also very similar; a functional approach is used. A data structure stores the configuration, strings, and imports, and it is passed as an argument to all the functions that need it.
For example, here are a few function prototypes:
 - __int64 getMachineGuid(main_struct* main_struct, __int64 machineguid)
 - __int64 writeBufferToFile(main_struct* main_struct, __int64 buffer, unsigned int nbBytes)
 - __int64 recv(main_struct* main_struct, __int64 socket, unsigned int nbBytes, __int64 buffer)
Both SideWalk and CROSSWALK are modular backdoors that can load additional modules sent by the C&C server. The SideWalk module handling is implemented in a manner similar to CROSSWALK. Some of the possible module operations are execution, installation, and uninstallation.
Functionalities
Like CROSSWALK, during its initialization, SideWalk computes a 32-bit hash value of the shellcode at the very beginning of its execution using a ROR4 loop.
CROSSWALK and SideWalk gather similar artifacts; among them:
 - IP configuration
 - OS version
 - Username
 - Computer name
 - Filename
 - Current process ID
 - Current time
Proxy handling is the same in both CROSSWALK and SideWalk. Both use common, legitimate URLs (such as _URL_ or _URL_) and a WinHttpGetIEProxyConfigForCurrentUser Windows API call to retrieve the proxy configuration.
Data layout
SideWalk and CROSSWALK follow the same shellcode layout, with instructions followed by strings, IAT, and encrypted configuration data.
Data handling
SideWalk and CROSSWALK each process the data at the end of the shellcode in the same way:
 - First, the data section is decrypted using a 16-byte XOR loop.
 - Then, function addresses from name hashes stored in the data section are resolved and stored in its main structure (pointing to the IAT in the data section).
 - Finally, its configuration that contains the C&C server address is decrypted (although the decryption algorithm used by SideWalk is different).
Table 2. Summary of the similarities between SideWalk and CROSSWALK
CategoryFeatureSimilaritiesScarcity
ArchitectureThreading modelMultiple threads are used, each thread being responsible for specific actions:
 · Making requests
 · Handling responses and processing commands
Low
Programming styleA main data structure is used to store all the backdoor configuration, strings and imports and passed as an argument to all the functions that need it.High
Module handlingInstalls, uninstalls, and executes modules in a similar manner to CROSSWALK.High
FunctionalityGathered information · IP configuration
 · OS version
 · Username
 · Computer name
 · Filenames
 · Current process ID
 · Current time
Low
NetworkingSimilar proxy handlingMedium
Anti-tamperingCustom hash of the shellcode is computed and checked against a 32-bit reference value.High
ConfigurationInternal data handling · Similar 16-byte XOR key decryption
 · Similar IAT resolution (similar hash/address pair structure)
 · Similar data processing order
High
Data layoutSimilar data structure layout with:
 · Encrypted string pool
 · IAT
 · Encrypted C&C configuration
High
Conclusion
SideWalk is a previously undocumented backdoor used by the SparklingGoblin APT group. It was most likely produced by the same developers as those behind CROSSWALK, with which it shares many design structures and implementation details.
SparklingGoblin is a group with some level of connection to Winnti Group. It was very active in 2020 and the first half of 2021, compromising multiple organizations over a wide range of verticals around the world and with a particular focus on the academic sector and East Asia.
ESET Research is now offering a private APT intelligence report and data feed. For any inquiries about this new service, or research published on WLS, contact us at _EMAIL_.
Indicators of Compromise (IoCs)
A comprehensive list of Indicators of Compromise and samples can be found in our GitHub repository.
Samples
Note that the SideWalk sample referenced below is not the one on which our analysis is based; the actual sample used during the compromise is the one discussed in detail in the text of this blogpost.
SHA-1DescriptionESET detection name
1077A3DC0D9CCFBB73BD9F2E6B72BC67ADDCF2ABInstallUtil-based .NET loader used to decrypt and load SideWalkMSIL/ShellcodeRunner.L.gen
153B8E46458BD65A68A89D258997E314FEF72181ChaCha20-based shellcode loader used to decrypt and load the SideWalk shellcodeWin64/Agent.AQD
829AADBDE42DF14CE8ED06AC02AD697A6C9798FESideWalk ChaCha20-encrypted shellcodeN/A
9762BC1C4CB04FE8EAEEF50A4378A8D188D85360SideWalk decrypted shellcodeWin64/Agent.AQD
EA44E9FBDBE5906A7FC469A988D83587E8E4B20DInstallUtil-based .NET loader used to decrypt and load Cobalt StrikeMSIL/ShellcodeRunner.O
AA5B5F24BDFB049EF51BBB6246CB56CEC89752BFCobalt Strike encrypted shellcodeN/A
Network
update.facebookint.workers[.]dev
cdn.cloudfiare.workers[.]dev
104.21.49[.]220
80.85.155[.]80
193.38.54[.]110
Filenames
C:\Windows\System32\Tasks\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\WebService
C:\windows\system32\tasks\Microsoft\Windows\Ras\RasTaskStart
iislog.tmp
mscorsecimpl.tlb
C_25749.NLS
Microsoft.WebService.targets
SSL certificate
Serial number8E812FCAD3B3855DFD78980CEE0BEB71
FingerprintD54AEB62D0102D0CC4B96CA9E5EAADE3846EC470
Subject CNCloudFlare Origin Certificate
Subject OCloudFlare, Inc.
Subject LSan Francisco
Subject SCalifornia
Subject CUS
Valid from2020-11-04 09:35:00
Valid to2035-11-01 09:35:00
X509v3 Subject Alternative NameDNS:*.facebookint.com
DNS:facebookint.com
MITRE ATT&CK techniques
This table was built using version 9 of the MITRE ATT&CK framework.
TacticIDNameDescription
Resource DevelopmentT1583.001Acquire Infrastructure: DomainsSparklingGoblin uses its own domains.
T1583.004Acquire Infrastructure: ServerSparklingGoblin uses servers hosted by various providers for its C&C servers.
T1583.006Acquire Infrastructure: Web ServicesSparklingGoblin uses Cloudflare worker services as C&C servers.
T1587.001Develop Capabilities: MalwareSparklingGoblin uses its own malware arsenal.
T1587.003Develop Capabilities: Digital CertificatesSparkling uses self-signed SSL certificates.
ExecutionT1053.005Scheduled Task/Job: Scheduled TaskSparklingGoblin's .NET shellcode loaders are executed by a scheduled task.
PersistenceT1574.001Hijack Execution Flow: DLL Search Order HijackingSome SparklingGoblin shellcode loaders persist by being installed at locations used for DLL search order hijacking.
T1053.005Scheduled Task/Job: Scheduled TaskSparklingGoblin's .NET shellcode loaders persist as scheduled tasks.
Privilege EscalationT1134.001Access Token Manipulation: Token Impersonation/TheftSideWalk uses token impersonation before performing HTTP requests.
Defense EvasionT1140Deobfuscate/Decode Files or InformationMost shellcode used by SparklingGoblin is stored encrypted on disk.
T1055.012Process Injection: Process HollowingSome SparklingGoblin loaders use process hollowing to execute their shellcode.
T1218.004Signed Binary Proxy Execution: InstallUtilSparklingGoblin's .NET loaders are executed by InstallUtil.
DiscoveryT1012Query RegistrySideWalk queries the registry to get the proxy configuration.
T1082System Information DiscoverySideWalk and CROSSWALK collect various information about the compromised system.
T1016System Network Configuration DiscoverySideWalk and CROSSWALK retrieve the local proxy configuration.
Command And ControlT1071.001Application Layer Protocol: Web ProtocolsSide


text:
Envision Math Grade 5 Homeschool Bundle
Let the pictures to the talking! Envision Math develops math concepts through interactive and visual learning. Math concepts are taught with step-by-step purposeful, sequential illustrations along with learning activities and lesson exercises. Grades 3-6 use a hardcover student edition book which contains daily lessons that provide a Visual Learning Bridge.
The grade 5 homeschool bundle includes:
- Student Edition Worktext (hardcover)
- Mindpoint Quiz Show CD-ROM
- Teacher Edition CD-ROM
Macintosh/Windows Dual Compatibility System Requirements: Windows: Minimum Processor: Pentium II 233MHz; Minimum System: Windows 2000 (SP4)/XP (SP2); Memory: 256MB; CD/DVD Speed: 8X; Hard Drive Space: 40MB (20MB for Lite version). Macintosh: Minimum Processor: Power Mac 200MHz; Minimum System: OS 10.3.9 (Classic mode required. Will not work on Intel® based Macs.); Memory: 256; CD/DVD Speed: 8X; Hard Drive Space: 32MB (20MB for Lite version).

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


text:
Garland-Wrapped Ornament Tree & Wreath
The Dow Chemical Co.
sizes: tree, 4"x12"; wreath, 10" diameter
- Dow STYROFOAM Brand Foam: Cone, 4"x12"; Beveled Wreath, 10" diameter
- Garland of choice, 10'
- Glass or plastic ornaments: 25mm, 15; 2-1/2"
- Wire-edge ribbon, in various holiday prints and colors, 1-1/2"-wide
- Hanger of choice
- Straight pins
- Wire cutters
- Adhesives: double-sided tape, glue gun and sticks
- 1. Press double-sided tape on three sides of cone. Pin garland to top of cone and wrap around cone, pinning again at bottom. (Note: The double-sided tape helps hold garland in place.)
- 2. Pin ribbon to top of cone and wrap it loosely around cone, pinning again at bottom to secure.
- 3. Adhere 25mm ornaments around cone, in between ribbon, using glue gun. Adhere 2-1/2" ornament to top of cone using glue gun.
- 1. Cut ribbon into 5" lengths.
- 2. Pinch ends of ribbon length together; pin ends to wreath so loop extends out on surface of wreath.
- 3. Repeat process covering entire wreath in ribbon loops.
- 4. Attach hanger onto back of wreath to hang.
- 1. Use wire cutters when cutting wire-edged ribbon so you don't dull your scissors.


text:
Thermoplastic Concrete Casting
Thermoplastic Concrete Casting explores formwork making and concrete casting with thermoplastic textile. Casting in concrete typically requires extensive formwork that takes time, material, and a tremendous amount of labor to produce. This novel way of creating formwork for casting eliminates heavy rigid molds and scaffoldings for support. Instead, using sartorial techniques borrowed from tailoring and patterning in clothing production, pliable non-woven thermoplastic textile is cut and felted together (a process of needle punching), and then heat-stiffened to rigid form, ready for glass fiber reinforced concrete (GFRC) casting. The project explores the relationship between form, material behavior, and performance of both non-woven thermoplastics as formwork with complex geometries and concrete casting to create thin-shell, materially efficient structures.
Wes McGee, Assistant Professor of Architecture
Tsz Yan Ng, Assistant Professor of Architecture


text:
Survivorship Life Insurance
Most people are very familiar with individual life insurance policies that will pay a certain amount to beneficiaries upon the death of the policy holder. A survivorship, or second-to-die, life insurance policy insures two individuals, usually spouses, and only pays out when both have passed away.
There are several reasons a family may be interested in a survivorship policy as opposed to, or in addition to, an individual life policy. If a family has a substantial estate that may be subject to an estate tax, the proceeds of this policy may be used to offset some of what may be owed upon the death of the second policy holder. Also, these policies are generally easier to qualify for and less costly. The health and medical histories of both applicants are considered, making it easier for an individual in poor health to qualify for coverage. And since the benefit is only paid after both parties have died, premiums are generally lower than individual policies. Some families also use second-to-die policies as a way to add additional wealth to their overall estate. For example, it's not uncommon for parents to use a policy to fund a special needs trust.
Of course, there are also disadvantages to survivorship policies. For instance, when the first spouse dies, the second must continue to pay the premium, which may be difficult if the remaining spouse lacks the funds to do so. Also, if a couple has a large disparity in age, the younger spouse may end up paying more than they would have for a solo policy, since the premium is calculated using the average age of the insureds.
Second-to-die policies are just one of the tools that can be used in forming a comprehensive estate plan. It's always wise to consult an experienced estate planning attorney before making decisions regarding insurance products.


text:
Using the right kind of soil for your spider plant is important to keep it happy and healthy. While they're not too fussy, they do prefer a nutrient-rich mix that drains well.
In this post, I'm going to explain all you need to know about spider plant soil. I'll also share my simple recipe and step-by-step instructions for making your own mix.
Plus you'll learn how to choose the best type to use, the properties that make it suitable, and how to properly store the leftovers for later.
The Best Soil For Spider Plants
The best soil for spider plants is a loamy, nutrient-rich, lightweight, quick-draining medium that provides good aeration and has a neutral to mildly acidic pH level.
I recommend buying a high-quality general purpose potting mix, or using my simple recipe below to make your own.
How To Choose The Right Soil
To make sure that the soil you choose is perfect for your spider plant (also known as Chlorophytum comosum, or airplane plants), check the packaging for the following properties:
- Well-draining – The label should say something like "fast draining" or "well draining". This will allow excess water to flow readily from the pot, and prevent the medium from becoming overly wet or soggy.
- Loamy and nutrient-rich – To keep your plant healthy and vibrant, look for rich, fertile soil. Avoid mixes that contain chemical fertilizers, and look for one made from natural or organic ingredients instead.
Related Post: How To Care For A Spider Plant (Chlorophytum comosum)
- Moisture retentive – Although your Chlorophytum comosum won't do well in very wet soil, it doesn't like to be completely dry out either. Choose a mix containing ingredients that naturally retain moisture, such as peat moss and pine bark.
- Porous mix – Spider plants love porous soil because it is loose and aerated. This means that water will pass through it easily, preventing it from retaining too much, and keeping the moisture level just right.
- Mildly acidic – Airplane plants prefer neutral to mildly acidic mix ranging between 6.1 – 7.5 on a probe meter. If it is too alkaline the tips of the leaves may turn brown and begin to die back. You can add acidic fertilizer granules if it's too alkaline, or garden lime to neutralize it.
Related Post: Why Do Spider Plant Tips Turn Brown & How To Fix It
Making DIY Spider Plant Soil Mix
You could use a general purpose potting medium for your spider plant, or try making your own. It's easy to do and gives you full control over the ingredients. Below is my recipe and tips for mixing it.
You only need 4 ingredients to make your own homemade spider plant soil mix using my recipe. Below I'll tell you the purpose of each one, and give you substitutions incase you can't find them.
- Peat moss – Improves water retention, aeration, and drainage while also providing nutrients. You can use coco coir instead, if you prefer. In that case, add some acidic granules.
- Pine bark – Provides additional nutrients as it breaks down, prevents compaction, and helps to improve drainage.
- Coarse sand – Helps to ensure that the mix drains quickly. You can substitute turface or poultry grit. Some people like to use crushed granite or aquarium rock instead.
- Perlite – Adds drainage and aeration and also prevents compaction. If you can't find it where you live, then you can use pumice instead, which is very similar.
Tips For Mixing Your Homemade Spider Plant Soil
Moisten the peat moss if it's dry, then pour all of the ingredients into a table-top potting tray or bucket.
Stir everything together with a hand trowel or shovel. Make sure all of the ingredients are thoroughly mixed together before using.
Storing The Leftovers
You can use your DIY spider plant potting soil right away or store the leftovers for later. To keep it safe, use a 5-gallon bucket with a tight-fitting lid. This creates an airtight environment that will protect it from bugs and pathogens.
Store the bucket in a cool, dry location and label it clearly, as it can be very difficult to tell homemade mediums apart once they're mixed.
While you could use cactus mix for your spider plant, I don't recommend it. Cactus soil is gritty and doesn't retain moisture well, so you would need to water a lot more often. It also lacks the nutrient-rich materials that Chlorophytum comosum needs.
Yes, African violet soil is a good choice for spider plants. The texture and pH level are ideal, plus it provides the perfect balance of nutrients.
Yes, you can use regular potting soil for your spider plant. Just make sure to buy a high quality brand that's made for indoor plants, otherwise it may be too heavy.
If you want to learn all there is to know about maintaining healthy indoor plants, then you need my Houseplant Care eBook. It will show you everything you need to know about how to keep every plant in your home thriving. Download your copy now!
More About Spider Plants
- How To Water Spider Plants
- Collecting and Sowing Spider Plant Seeds
- Spider Plant Propagation In 5 Easy Steps
More About Potting Soils
- 7 Easy DIY Potting Soil Recipes To Mix Your Own
- How To Make Your Own Succulent Soil
- How To Choose The Best Snake Plant Soil (With Recipe!)
- How To Choose The Best Money Tree Soil (With Recipe!)
Share your tips for the best spider plant soil or your favorite recipe in the comments section below.


Recipe: Sweet potato flour paste
Home Cooking Recipe: Sweet potato flour paste
From snacks to big stuff, it's delicious and convenient. You can also go in whatever fruit you like to eat, and the dried fruit is also. I like to put brown sugar and brown sugar, like white sugar.
 1. Add the sweet potato powder to the water for a while and mix well. The static setting is for the large particles in the powder to melt completely. Like a thin paste, you can increase the proportion of water, and vice versa, thicker, less water. This step is the key.
 2. The cashew nuts are cooked or fried, and cooked. Then mash or small pieces. Pear diced.
 3. Open the medium and small fire, mix the sweet potato powder into the pot. Stir while observing, in the pot, it is necessary to stir all the time, in one direction. Until it is transparent, it means cooked, then add cashew nuts, dried bayberry, black sesame seeds, raisins, pears. Turn to a small fire, stir evenly, put sugar, turn off the heat.
Sugar can also be added together when adding water. When it needs to be hot, it is not so delicious when it is cold. It seems that it is not good for the second time, so it is not possible to stay overnight. Now eat now.
Look around:


Skip to content
Advertisement
 - Database
 - Open Access
An integrated pharmacokinetics ontology and corpus for text mining
 - 1,
 - 1,
 - 1,
 - 1, 2,
 - 3,
 - 1, 3, 4,
 - 1,
 - 5,
 - 6,
 - 7,
 - 3, 9,
 - 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9 and
 - 1, 2, 4, 7Email author
Contributed equally
BMC Bioinformatics201314:35
_URL_
 - Received: 8 December 2011
 - Accepted: 30 November 2012
 - Published:
Abstract
Background
Drug pharmacokinetics parameters, drug interaction parameters, and pharmacogenetics data have been unevenly collected in different databases and published extensively in the literature. Without appropriate pharmacokinetics ontology and a well annotated pharmacokinetics corpus, it will be difficult to develop text mining tools for pharmacokinetics data collection from the literature and pharmacokinetics data integration from multiple databases.
Description
A comprehensive pharmacokinetics ontology was constructed. It can annotate all aspects of in vitro pharmacokinetics experiments and in vivo pharmacokinetics studies. It covers all drug metabolism and transportation enzymes. Using our pharmacokinetics ontology, a PK-corpus was constructed to present four classes of pharmacokinetics abstracts: in vivo pharmacokinetics studies, in vivo pharmacogenetic studies, in vivo drug interaction studies, and in vitro drug interaction studies. A novel hierarchical three level annotation scheme was proposed and implemented to tag key terms, drug interaction sentences, and drug interaction pairs. The utility of the pharmacokinetics ontology was demonstrated by annotating three pharmacokinetics studies; and the utility of the PK-corpus was demonstrated by a drug interaction extraction text mining analysis.
Conclusions
The pharmacokinetics ontology annotates both in vitro pharmacokinetics experiments and in vivo pharmacokinetics studies. The PK-corpus is a highly valuable resource for the text mining of pharmacokinetics parameters and drug interactions.
Keywords
 - Text Mining
 - Annotation Scheme
 - Drug Interaction Study
 - GENIA Corpus
 - Cascade Style Sheet
Background
Pharmacokinetics (PK) is a very important translational research field, which studies drug absorption, disposition, metabolism, excretion, and transportation (ADMET). PK systematically investigates the physiological and biochemical mechanisms of drug exposure in multiple tissue types, cells, animals, and human subjects[1]. There are two major molecular mechanisms of a drug's PK: metabolism and transportation. The drug metabolism mainly happens in the gut and liver; while drug transportation exists in all tissue types. If the PK can be interpreted as how a body does on the drug, pharmacodynamics (PD) can be defined as how a drug does on the body. A drug's pharmacodynamics effect ranges widely from the molecular signals (such as its targets or downstream biomarkers) to clinical symptoms (such as the efficacy or side effect endpoints)[1].
Drug-drug interaction (DDI) is another important pharmacology concept. It is defined as whether one drug's PK or PD response is changed due to the presence of another drug. PD based drug interaction has a wide range of interpretations (i.e. from molecular markers to clinical endpoints). PK based drug interaction mechanism is very well defined: metabolism enzyme based and transporter based DDIs. Pharmacogenetic (PG) variations in a drug's PK and PD pathways can also affect its responses[1]. In this paper, we will focus our discussion on the PK, PK based DDI, and PK related PG.
Although significant efforts have been invested to integrate biochemistry, genetics, and clinical information for drugs, significant gaps exist in the area of PK. For example DrugBank (_URL_ doesn't have in vitro PK and its associated DDI data; DiDB (_URL_ doesn't have sufficient PG data; and PharmGKB (_URL_ doesn't have sufficient in vivo and in vitro PK and its associated DDI data. As an alternative approach to collect PK from the published literature, text mining has just started to be explored[1-4].
From either database construction or literature mining, the main challenge of PK data integration is the lack of PK ontology. This paper developed a PK ontology first. Then, a PK corpus was constructed. It facilitated DDI text mining from the literature.
Construction and content
PK Ontology is composed of several components: experiments, metabolism, transporter, drug, and subject (Table1). Our primary contribution is the ontology development for the PK experiment, and integration of the PK experiment ontology with other PK-related ontologies.
Table 1
PK ontology categories
Categories
Description
Resources
Pharmacokinetics Experiments
Pharmacokinetics studies and parameters. There are two major categories: in vitro experiments and in vivo studies.
Manually accumulated from text books and literatures.
Transporters
Drug transportation enzymes
_URL_
Metabolism Enzymes
Drug metabolism enzymes
_URL_
Drugs
Drug names
_URL_
Subjects
Subject description for a pharmacokinetics study. It is composed three categories: disease, physiology, and demographics
_URL_

_URL_

_URL_
Experiment specifies in vitro and in vivo PK studies and their associated PK parameters. Table2 presents definitions and units of the in vitro PK parameters. The PK parameters of the single drug metabolism experiment include Michaelis-Menten constant (Km), maximum velocity of the enzyme activity (Vmax), intrinsic clearance (CLint), metabolic ratio, and fraction of metabolism by an enzyme (fmenzyme)[5]. In the transporter experiment, the PK parameters include apparent permeability (Papp), ratio of the basolateral to apical permeability and apical to basolateral permeability (Re), radioactivity, and uptake volume[6]. There are multiple drug interaction mechanisms: competitive inhibition, non-competitive inhibition, uncompetitive inhibition, mechanism based inhibition, and induction[7]. IC50 is the inhibition concentration that inhibits to 50% enzyme activity; it is substrate dependent; and it doesn't imply the inhibition mechanism. Ki is the inhibition rate constant for competitive inhibition, noncompetitive inhibition, and uncompetitive inhibition. It represents the inhibition concentration that inhibits to 50% enzyme activity, and it is substrate concentration independent. Kdeg is the degradation rate constant for the enzyme. KI is the concentration of inhibitor associated with half maximal Inactivation in the mechanism based inhibition; and Kinact is the maximum degradation rate constant in the presence of a high concentration of inhibitor in the mechanism based inhibition. Emax is the maximum induction rate, and EC50 is the concentration of inducer that is associated with the half maximal induction
Table 2
In vitro PK parameters
Experiment types
Parameters
Description
Unit
References
Single Drug Metabolism Experiment
Km
Michaelis-Menten constant.
mg L-1
Segel p28.

Vmax
Maximum velocity of the enzyme activity.
mg h-1 mg-1 protein
Segel p19

CLint
Intrinsic metabolic clearance is defined as ratio of maximum metabolism rate, Vmax, and the Michaelis-Menten constant, Km.
ml h-1 mg-1 protein
RT p165

Metabolic ratio
Parent drug/metabolite concentration ratio
NA

fmenzyme
Fraction of drug systemically available that is converted to a metabolite through a specific enzyme.
NA
RT xiii
Single Drug Transporter Experiment
Papp
The apparent permeability of compounds across the monolayer cells.
cm/sec
Transport Consortium

Re
Re is the ratio of basolateral to apical over apical to basolateral.
NA
Transport Consortium

Radioactivity
Total radioactivity in plasma and bile samples is measured in a liquid scintillation counter
dpm/mg protein
Transport Consortium

Uptake Volume
The amount of radioactivity associated with the cells divided by its concentration in the incubation medium.
ul/mg protein
Transport Consortium
Drug Interaction Experiment
IC50
Inhibitor concentration that inhibits to 50% of enzyme activity.
mg L-1

Ki
Inhibition rate constant for competitive inhibition, noncompetitive inhibition, and uncompetitive inhibition.
mg L-1
Segel p103

Kdeg
The natural degradation rate constant for the Enzyme.
h-1
Rostami-Hodjegan and Tucker

KI
The concentration of inhibitor associated with half maximal Inactivation in the mechanism based inhibition.
mg L-1
Rostami-Hodjegan and Tucker

Kinact
The maximum degradation rate constant in the presence of a high concentration of inhibitor in the mechanism based inhibition.
h-1
Rostami-Hodjegan and Tucker

Emax
Maximum induction rate
Unit free
Rostami-Hodjegan and Tucker

EC50
The concentration of inducer that is associated with the half maximal induction.
mg L-1
Rostami-Hodjegan and Tucker
Type of Drug Interactions
Competitive inhibition, noncompetitive inhibition, uncompetitive inhibition, mechanism based inhibition, and induction.
Rostami-Hodjegan and Tucker

Note: Segel H. Irwin. Enzyme Kinetics - Behavior and analysis of rapid equilibrium and steady state enzyme systems. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1975, New York. Rostami-Ho


With me, with you
– The word in Marshallese for 'with' is 'ippān.' However, it changes when you say 'with me,' 'with you,' etc.:
ippa with me
ippaṃ with you (singular)
ippān with him or with her or with it
ippān Dan with Dan
ippān Greg im Brian with Greg and Brian
ippād with us (inclusive)
ippām with us (exclusive)
ippāmi with you (plural)
ippāer with them
(You might notice that these words bare a resemblance to 'my,' 'your,' etc. in the last lesson. This is not a coincidence. If you want to know why see Lessons 66-71).
– If you want to say 'with' in the sense of 'using,' like in the sentence 'I hit the nail with the hammer' (as opposed to the sense of 'accompanied by,' like in the sentence 'I went to the lagoon with you'), then use 'kōn' for 'with' andkake' for 'with it.' For example:
Iaar jeje kōn pinjeḷ eo = (not Iaar jeje ippān pinjeḷ eo) I-PAST/write/with/pencil/the = I wrote with the pencil
Iaar jeje kake = (not Iaar jeje ippān) I-PAST/write/with it = I wrote with it
ṃōkaj or eṃṃōkaj (E: ṃōkaj or ṃōṃkaj) fast, on time, early
ṃōkaj ñan iien on time, on time to ___ Ex. Ṃōkaj ñan iien jikuuḷ = On time to school
nuknuk clothes
ruuṃ (from English) room, space
peen (from English) pen
pen hard (in both the physical sense and the sense of 'difficult')
pidodo easy, soft
pilawā (from English) flour, bread
pinjeḷ (from English) pencil
teeñki flashlight
wūnto (from English) window
Pronunciation Practice
The two ō's
The letter 'ō' in Marshallese actually stands for two different sounds. To hear the difference between these sounds, have a Marshallese person say these two words:
wōn 'turtle' wōn 'who?'
Notice that the first 'ō' sounds close to the 'oo' in 'book,' but the second 'ō' sounds like the 'u' in 'buck.' In the Marshallese-English Dictionary, the first sound is indicated in the phonetic transcription of a word by an 'e' with a hook under it, and the second sound is indicated by an 'e' with no hook. Here are some common words with 'ō' sorted by which sound it stands for:
Book Buck Book Buck
wōn 'turtle' wōn 'who' ṃōḷo 'cold' kiiō 'now'
wōt 'rain' wōt 'only' kōto 'wind' kōṇaan 'want'
ṃōj 'finished' elōñ 'there is' aebōj 'water' bōk 'take'
bōd 'wrong' ewōr 'there is' ṃōṇōṇō 'happy'
kōn 'about' ṃōñā 'eat' eọñōd 'to fish'
kōnke 'because' kōṃṃan 'do' ḷōmṇak 'think'
kwōle 'hungry' kōrā 'woman'
Practical Marshallese
Published by Marco Mora-Huizar
Leave a comment
Leave a Reply


Can Exadata take you Beyond "Infinity and Beyond" with Non-Numbers?
Let me clarify… in a previous post, I showed some of the arithmetic around some of Oracle's floating point literals and how that arithmetic didn't make much sense. But one of the other literals available helped me solve an issue with the optimizer, indexes, and Exadata: an anomaly with a smart phone app gave me an idea…
LEFT JOINs, NULLs, and Offloading on Exadata
I was investigating query performance, and the root cause appeared to be a join condition that also had a filter:
...
from table1
 left join table2
 on =
 and table2.cust_code IS NULL
Long story short, the join condition was rewritten without IS NULL like this:
 and nvl(table2.cust_code,-999) = -999
The problem is, there was no easy way to ensure that that column might not actually contain the value -999 short of adding a CHECK constraint, and it would have taken weeks to get a change like that into production.
Alternate Solution: A Number that's Not a Number
Instead of using a constant that might actually be valid data, why not use one of Oracle's built-in constants like BINARY_DOUBLE_NAN? The chances of the CUST_CODE column containing the value BINARY_DOUBLE_NAN are essentially zero because the UI for TABLE2 would not allow anything but numeric constants.
I tried out this method on a copy of DBA_TAB_COLS. The column DATA_PRECISION has a lot of NULL values; if I use NVL and the Oracle BINARY_DOUBLE_NAN constant to avoid the IS NULL construct, it works great:
select count(*)
from col_data
where nvl(data_precision,BINARY_DOUBLE_NAN) = BINARY_DOUBLE_NAN;
I get the same number of rows as if I had used the IS NULL construct.
What About Exadata Offloading?
The question I always ask is, "how does this work on Exadata?" The answer did not disappoint.
Of course, single-row functions such as NVL are in V$SQLFN_METADATA and marked with OFFLOADABLE=YES; constants such as BINARY_DOUBLE_NAN are treated as any other numeric value.
Using Oracle's built-in functionality including numeric constants representing very large numbers, very small numbers, and numbers that are actually not numbers can help you out of trouble with NULL values (which are also not numbers!). And Exadata will not get in your way using solutions like this either!
Leave a Reply
You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change )
Google photo
Twitter picture
Facebook photo
Connecting to %s


text:
The chukar partridge is an introduced species found in the dry, rimrock country of eastern Oregon. Oregon stocks originated from India and the first successful releases began in 1951. Over several decades, chukars were released into all suitable areas east of the Cascades.
Features: Chukars are brown-gray with a black stripe running across the head, through the eye, and down onto the chest. Their bills and feet are red, and their sides have white and black barring.
Habitat: Extensive areas in eastern Oregon provide ideal habitat for chukars. Cheatgrass, an introduced plant species, was already well established through much of eastern Oregon prior to the 1950s, and provides one of the most important year-around food resources for the chukar. Their habitat is generally steep, rocky, dry, and largely unsuitable for development, agriculture or other commercial uses except grazing. Important chukar areas in Oregon include the lower Deschutes and John Day Rivers, the Snake River and several of its tributaries, Malheur and Owyhee River drainages, and mountain ranges including Steens, Hart and Trout Creek mountains.
Technique: Chukars are among Oregon's most challenging birds to hunt. Good boots, a water bottle and sufficient food and shells to stay afield all day are necessary. Binoculars are also helpful. Chukars have the disconcerting habit of running uphill, usually faster than a hunter can follow, and they fly downhill at high speed. Hunters soon learn that the best way to get within range is to approach from above or on a contour.


text:
Location: primary school Mittertreffling / Upper Austria
(in co-operation with Sigrid Kurz)
Klopf and Kurz designed a publicly accessible square for the Mittertreffling primary school, with the title Moon Square. The artists made five circular depressions (each measuring five meters in diameter) and covered the entire area with rubber granulate. The hollows in the ground serve to create a new spatial situation which can be used for playing as well as for outdoor teaching.
(Moon Square, 2001 / Completed 2003; Rubber granulate, 29 x 15 m; Mittertreffling primary school; architecture: Josef Dürrhammer, Anton Heckmann / Linz)


text:
Interactive timeline of Anglo-Dutch exchanges (50BC-1830)
This interactive multimedial timeline on Anglo-Dutch relations from antiquity to 1830, uses MIT's Simile technology and is based on the manuscript 'The Stranger's case : a timeline of Cross-Channel Interactions' by Jaap Harskamp, curator of the Dutch and Flemish collections at the British Library, in which he has compiled and annotated a comprehensive list of over 800 events relating to Anglo-Dutch relations throughout the centuries. It is part of the Open Learning Environment in early modern Low Countries history (_URL_
|Added On:||22 Jul 2010 05:35|
|Creators:||Jaap Harskamp & UCL Dutch|
|Tags:||ukoer;, virtualdutch;, dutch;, low, countries;, anglo dutch, relations;, netherlands;, belgium;, luxemburg;, holland;, flanders;, brabant;, history|


text:
Firewall Filters for EX Series Switches Overview
Firewall filters provide rules that define whether to permit, deny, or forward packets that are transiting an interface on a Juniper Networks EX Series Ethernet Switch from a source address to a destination address. You configure firewall filters to determine whether to permit, deny, or forward traffic before it enters or exits a port, VLAN, or Layer 3 (routed) interface to which the firewall filter is applied. To apply a firewall filter, you must first configure the filter and then apply it to an port, VLAN, or Layer 3 interface.
You can apply firewall filters to network interfaces, aggregated Ethernet interfaces (also known as link aggregation groups (LAGs)), loopback interfaces, management interfaces, virtual management Ethernet interfaces (VMEs), and routed VLAN interfaces (RVIs). For information on EX Series switches that support a firewall filter on these interfaces, see EX Series Switch Software Features Overview.
An ingress firewall filter is a filter that is applied to packets that are entering a network. An egress firewall filter is a filter that is applied to packets that are exiting a network. You can configure firewall filters to subject packets to filtering, class-of-service (CoS) marking (grouping similar types of traffic together, and treating each type of traffic as a class with its own level of service priority), and traffic policing (controlling the maximum rate of traffic sent or received on an interface).
Firewall Filter Types
The following firewall filter types are supported for EX Series switches:
Port (Layer 2) firewall filter—Port firewall filters apply to Layer 2 switch ports. You can apply port firewall filters in both ingress and egress directions on a physical port.
VLAN firewall filter—VLAN firewall filters provide access control for packets that enter a VLAN, are bridged within a VLAN, or leave a VLAN. You can apply VLAN firewall filters in both ingress and egress directions on a VLAN. VLAN firewall filters are applied to all packets that are forwarded to or forwarded from the VLAN.
Router (Layer 3) firewall filter—You can apply a router firewall filter in both ingress and egress directions on Layer 3 (routed) interfaces and routed VLAN interfaces (RVIs). You can apply a router firewall filter in the ingress direction on the loopback interface (lo0) also. Firewall filters configured on loopback interfaces are applied only to packets that are sent to the Routing Engine CPU for further processing.
You can apply port, VLAN, or router firewall filters to both IPv4 and IPv6 traffic on these switches:
For information on firewall filters supported on different switches, see Platform Support for Firewall Filter Match Conditions, Actions, and Action Modifiers on EX Series Switches.
Firewall Filter Components
In a firewall filter, you first define the family address type (ethernet-switching, inet, or inet6), and then you define one or more terms that specify the filtering criteria (specified as terms with match conditions) and the action (specified as actions or action modifiers) to take if a match occurs.
The maximum number of terms allowed per firewall filter for EX Series switches is:
512 for EX2200 switches
1436 for EX3300 switches
On EX3300 switches, if you add and delete filters with a large number of terms (on the order of 1000 or more) in the same commit operation, not all the filters are installed. You must add filters in one commit operation, and delete filters in a separate commit operation.
7,042 for EX3200 and EX4200 switches—as allocated by the dynamic allocation of ternary content addressable memory (TCAM) for firewall filters.
On EX4300 switches, the following maximum number of terms are supported for ingress and egress traffic, for firewall filers configured on a port, VLAN and Layer 3 interface:
For ingress traffic:
3500 terms for firewall filters configured on a port
3500 terms for firewall filters configured on a VLAN
7000 terms for firewall filters configured on Layer 3 interfaces for IPv4 traffic
3500 terms for firewall filters configured on Layer 3 interfaces for IPv6 traffic
For egress traffic:
512 terms for firewall filters configured on a port
256 terms for firewall filters configured on a VLAN
512 terms for firewall filters configured on Layer 3 interfaces for IPv4 traffic
512 terms for firewall filters configured on Layer 3 interfaces for IPv6 traffic
You can configure the maximum number of terms only when you configure one type of firewall filter (port, VLAN, or router (Layer 3) firewall filter) on the switch, and when storm control is not enabled on any interface in the switch.
1200 for EX4500 and EX4550 switches
1400 for EX6200 switches
32,768 for EX8200 switches
The on-demand dynamic allocation of the shared space TCAM in EX8200 switches is achieved by assigning free space blocks to firewall filters. Firewall filters are categorized into two different pools. Port and VLAN filters are pooled together (the memory threshold for this pool is 22K) while router firewall filters are pooled separately (the threshold for this pool is 32K). The assignment happens based on the filter pool type. Free space blocks can be shared only among the firewall filters belonging to the same filter pool type. An error message is generated when you try to configure a firewall filter beyond the TCAM threshold.
Each term consists of the following components:
Match conditions—Specify the values or fields that the packet must contain. You can define various match conditions, including the IP source address field, IP destination address field, Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) or User Datagram Protocol (UDP) source port field, IP protocol field, Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) packet type, TCP flags, and interfaces.
Action—Specifies what to do if a packet matches the match conditions. Possible actions are to accept or discard the packet or to send the packet to a specific virtual routing interface. In addition, packets can be counted to collect statistical information. If no action is specified for a term, the default action is to accept the packet.
Action modifier—Specifies one or more actions for the switch if a packet matches the match conditions. You can specify action modifiers such as count, mirror, rate limit, and classify packets.
Firewall Filter Processing
The order of the terms within a firewall filter configuration is important. Packets are tested against each term in the order in which the terms are listed in the firewall filter configuration. For information on how firewall filters process packets, see Understanding How Firewall Filters Are Evaluated.


- FirefoxInstall the new Firefox »
 - grow
 Behavior to avoid to get big ideas off the ground
 By Les McKeown | Yahoo Small Business
 Feel like nothing ever gets done? Here's how you can figure out what's slowing you down.
 Stop and think for a moment.
 How many great decisions have you made this year that never got off the ground? Do you feel that you and your team are coming up with smart, competition-beating ideas, but you've lost the ability to execute on those ideas?
 If you're missing the sense of achievement that comes from translating ideas into results-delivering reality, then chances are, it's because of one or more of these four reasons:
 1. You have no idea how decisions are really made. Whether you manage a business, division, department, project, or team, you have to understand the path of information. How does information arrive into the group, how is it processed, and how is it turned into action? Understanding this process is the single most crucial determinant of your ability to execute.
 Once you understand the process, ask yourself: Does the information flow get snarled? Does a decision have to be run by three different people before being approved? Or does your accounting software fail to give you high-quality data in a timely fashion? These examples are gaps in the process--gaps that will come between the ability of your group to make a decision.
 You may want to really map out this process. Trace the path of the last two or three decisions your team made that weren't effectively and efficiently executed. Map where the necessary information came from, the main communication lines and key decision points.
 When you're done, if you can easily make sense of what you see, all is good. If it looks like a rat's nest of intertwined, overlapping, dead-end-reaching lines, then you need to simplify your group's decision-making process.
 2. You're a micromanager (Yes, you!). The ability of a group to execute effectively can be crushed by just one micromanager.
 You know the type: The person that insists everything is 'run by them' and then becomes so overwhelmed by the volume of stuff being 'run by them' that they can barely come up for air.
 Look around. Can you see the micromanager in your group? They're easy to spot. Find them and make them stop.
 But if you can't find one, here's the thing: It's probably you. Micromanaging is so easy to see in others, but is much harder to see in ourselves.
 Here's a full-proof test: Pick out the single most productive person in your group. Watch closely at how they get things done. If it includes finding multiple innovative ways to bypass you, then you're the problem.
 3. You're rushing the decision. Remember when your business was small and life was simple? When a board meeting was a ride up in the elevator? When you could make three great decisions before breakfast and have them implemented by lunch? When communicating a decision was as simple as saying it out loud, because everyone was within hearing distance?
 Now, life isn't that simple. Your business has grown and now has many more moving parts. And, chances are that the growth in complexity happened iteratively, over time, and like the proverbial frog in slowly heated water, you haven't noticed the effect on your decision-making.
 Here's the difference: In the smaller, simpler business, you can make a decision fast, and implement it quickly. Now you have a larger, more complex business, making decisions fast actually slows down the implementation process--sometimes crippling it entirely.
 Why? Because you made the decision so fast you didn't take into account all the variables (people, customers, systems) involved in your now more complex business.
 Once a business has grown beyond infancy, speedy and effective implementation depends on slower decision-making. Not slow--you don't need to descend into to paralysis by analysis--just slower. Take a little longer to make the initial decision, and watch the rate of implementation rise.
 4. You've worn everyone out. You're a passionate, engaged leader. You're intellectually curious, innovative, and not afraid of risk. You're full of great ideas and keen to implement them. Your people respect and admire you... and they're exhausted.
 Do your team members avoid you on Monday mornings? Do they look apprehensive when you return from a two-week vacation?
 If so, it's because they know weekends and holidays are dangerous times because that's when you come back to the office with five brilliant, must-do projects--even though they haven't finished implementing last month's brilliant, must-do projects.
 If you suspect this might be you, then do yourself and your team a favor. Keep a list of all current projects. When you have a blinding flash of creativity which produces a new project, instead of simply adding it to the list, make a conscious, explicit decision about which existing project to drop off the list in return.
 You'll find that compared with your existing priorities, many of those 'brilliant must-do's' just aren't that important, and those that do make the list will stand much more chance of actually being implemented.
 More from Inc.com:
 Yahoo Small Business Services


text:
A good start when programming efficiently is to have knowledge about how much memory different data types and operations require. It is implementation-dependent how much memory the Erlang data types and other items consume, but here are some figures for erts-5.2 system (OTP release R9B). (There have been no significant changes in R13.)
The unit of measurement is memory words. There exists both a 32-bit and a 64-bit implementation, and a word is therefore, 4 bytes or 8 bytes, respectively.
|Data type||Memory size|
|Small integer||1 word
On 32-bit architectures: -134217729 < i < 134217728 (28 bits)
On 64-bit architectures: -576460752303423489 < i < 576460752303423488 (60 bits)
|Big integer||3..N words|
|Atom||1 word. Note: an atom refers into an atom table which also consumes memory. The atom text is stored once for each unique atom in this table. The atom table is not garbage-collected.|
|Float||On 32-bit architectures: 4 words
On 64-bit architectures: 3 words
|Binary||3..6 + data (can be shared)|
|List||1 word + 1 word per element + the size of each element|
|String (is the same as a list of integers)||1 word + 2 words per character|
|Tuple||2 words + the size of each element|
|Pid||1 word for a process identifier from the current local node, and 5 words for a process identifier from another node. Note: a process identifier refers into a process table and a node table which also consumes memory.|
|Port||1 word for a port identifier from the current local node, and 5 words for a port identifier from another node. Note: a port identifier refers into a port table and a node table which also consumes memory.|
|Reference||On 32-bit architectures: 5 words for a reference from the current local node, and 7 words for a reference from another node.
On 64-bit architectures: 4 words for a reference from the current local node, and 6 words for a reference from another node. Note: a reference refers into a node table which also consumes memory.
|Fun||9..13 words + size of environment. Note: a fun refers into a fun table which also consumes memory.|
|Ets table||Initially 768 words + the size of each element (6 words + size of Erlang data). The table will grow when necessary.|
|Erlang process||327 words when spawned including a heap of 233 words.|
The Erlang language specification puts no limits on number of processes, length of atoms etc., but for performance and memory saving reasons, there will always be limits in a practical implementation of the Erlang language and execution environment.
The maximum number of simultaneously alive Erlang processes is by default 32768. This limit can be raised up to at most 268435456 processes at startup (see documentation of the system flag +P in the erl(1) documentation). The maximum limit of 268435456 processes will at least on a 32-bit architecture be impossible to reach due to memory shortage.
- Distributed nodes
- Known nodes
A remote node Y has to be known to node X if there exist any pids, ports, references, or funs (Erlang data types) from Y on X, or if X and Y are connected. The maximum number of remote nodes simultaneously/ever known to a node is limited by the maximum number of atoms available for node names. All data concerning remote nodes, except for the node name atom, are garbage-collected.
- Connected nodes
- The maximum number of simultaneously connected nodes is limited by either the maximum number of simultaneously known remote nodes, the maximum number of (Erlang) ports available, or the maximum number of sockets available.
- Characters in an atom
- By default, the maximum number of atoms is _PHONE_. This limit can be raised or lowered using the +t option.
- The default is 1400, can be changed with the environment variable ERL_MAX_ETS_TABLES.
- Elements in a tuple
- The maximum number of elements in a tuple is 67108863 (26 bit unsigned integer). Other factors such as the available memory can of course make it hard to create a tuple of that size.
- Size of binary
- In the 32-bit implementation of Erlang, 536870911 bytes is the largest binary that can be constructed or matched using the bit syntax. (In the 64-bit implementation, the maximum size is 2305843009213693951 bytes.) If the limit is exceeded, bit syntax construction will fail with a system_limit exception, while any attempt to match a binary that is too large will fail. This limit is enforced starting with the R11B-4 release; in earlier releases, operations on too large binaries would in general either fail or give incorrect results. In future releases of Erlang/OTP, other operations that create binaries (such as list_to_binary/1) will probably also enforce the same limit.
- Total amount of data allocated by an Erlang node
- The Erlang runtime system can use the complete 32 (or 64) bit address space, but the operating system often limits a single process to use less than that.
- Length of a node name
- An Erlang node name has the form host@shortname or host@longname. The node name is used as an atom within the system so the maximum size of 255 holds for the node name too.
- Open ports
The maximum number of simultaneously open Erlang ports is by default 1024. This limit can be raised up to at most 268435456 at startup (see environment variable ERL_MAX_PORTS in erlang(3)) The maximum limit of 268435456 open ports will at least on a 32-bit architecture be impossible to reach due to memory shortage.
- Open files, and sockets
- The maximum number of simultaneously open files and sockets depend on the maximum number of Erlang ports available, and operating system specific settings and limits.
- Number of arguments to a function or fun


text:
University Park, Pa. — If you thought trout streams were lower
than ever before on opening day, you were right. They were.
You have to go back to the early 1980s to find a March as dry as
the third month of 2006 – which was the fifth driest in
Pennsylvania since 1895, when such record keeping began. Another
was in 1969 and the other two were before 1920.
Largely because of March's lack of rainfall, coming on the heels
of a mild, very dry winter, the state Department of Environmental
Protection in mid-April declared a drought watch that asks state
residents to cut back on (nonessential) water use by 5 percent.
Maybe no cause for alarm yet, but Bryan Swistock, Penn State
Cooperative Extension water resources specialist, worries that a
serious situation is developing.
"I don't want folks to panic, but I don't like the way this is
shaping up for our groundwater supplies," he said. "A drought is
never a good situation to be in, but for us to be this dry, this
early in the year, is a very bad thing. We are nearing the end of
the groundwater recharge period, and streams and groundwater levels
in some areas of the state – particularly in the southeast – are
already very low."
What concerns Swistock is that March and April generally are the
wettest months – the time of year when groundwater supplies should
be recharging. "In Pennsylvania, there aren't great variations
between average precipitation from month to month," he said. "But
typically in March and April, we get a lot of rain.
"Groundwater starting out the year so low could prove to be
disastrous later because usually the levels go down from here. As
soon as the trees start leafing out and taking up large amounts of
water – about now in Pennsylvania – it is very difficult to get
water into the ground."
Because Swistock works in Penn State's College of Agricultural
Sciences, he is very aware of farmers' need for rain in the spring.
But for groundwater supplies, given how dry it has been in recent
months, normal amounts of rainfall won't be enough.
"This is a bad time to start a drought because farmers are
trying to plant their crops and they must have adequate soil
moisture," he said. "But if we are lucky and the showers are timed
right, we might get just enough moisture for crops to grow and
farmers will be pleased. But folks who depend on wells for drinking
water might still face a serious shortage in late summer."
Although he is in the business of monitoring and anticipating
precipitation levels, Swistock readily concedes that long-term
weather forecasts are unreliable. "Beyond three months, I don't pay
any attention to them," he said. "But we don't see any dramatic
weather patterns coming into the summer – we are just not getting
much moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. It looks like this drought
will get worse before it gets better.
"Looking at the long-term weather forecast by the National
Weather Service, Pennsylvania is sort of sandwiched between an area
to our south extending down to the Carolinas where a significant
drought is projected to develop, and an area to our north around
the Great Lakes that is projected to receive above-average amounts
of rainfall," Swistock said.
"So I suppose we could go either way. But the way our year has
started doesn't give me any confidence."
Ironically, while much of the rest of the country dreads the
coming hurricane season that has been forecast to be worse than
normal, Pennsylvania by late summer may desperately need tropical
moisture. "If you look at our state's history, most all the serious
droughts were broken by the remnants of hurricanes bringing
prolonged rains," he said. "The year after Katrina, I hate to say
this, but Pennsylvania may be glad to see the remnants of
hurricanes this year if the current weather pattern continues."
Although his experience monitoring precipitation in Pennsylvania
makes him pessimistic about groundwater supplies in a year such as
this, Swistock knows a lot can happen weather-wise before late
summer. "Seems like every time I talk about drought, it rains," he
said. "But it will be tough for one or two storm events to overcome
this drought. We need to see a change in the weather pattern."


text:
The ICV refers to the MOBA - Intelligent Compaction Value which is recorded by MOBA's Compaction Meter Assistent in short M.C.A. The ICV relates the stiffness level that can be measured via a special algorithm mainly observed and calculated via frequency and amplitude of the drum.
Why is it important to achieve the optimum stiffness and subsequently density?
Reaching optimum density through road compaction is vital because it ensures structural integrity, stability, and durability. It protects against moisture damage, improves ride quality, saves costs, and reduces the environmental impact of transportation infrastructure.
To better understand the difference of stiffness and density, please see the explanation below:
(Picture credit to: picture left MOBA MCA 500 System/ Picture rigth Bomag compaction process 2011)
The MOBA MCA system show the most efficient way to operate compaction machines to achieve the maximum possible density rating. The optimum stiffness level will ultimately produce the most efficient outcome of density based on machine, underground and other external settings. The stiffness level can be compared to an actual density rating as shown above. Actual density of soil/asphalt can only be determined by plate bearing test, core test, sand replacement or a nuclear gauge. By relating the stiffness level to the actual density level, operator can work compaction work with most effective measures without having to rely on costly and timely laboratory testing at the site. MOBA compaction assistant will tell you when you have reached optimum compaction level based on machine and underground.
How does it work to set the ICV with MCA compaction systems?
Required Reference – one section compacted and tested for stiffness
Density value can be measured in laboratory and applied to ICV.
During the first Test run ICV sets a semi-random value influenced by given variables between 0-200.
High ICV Value indicate harder underlying material (like Rock)
Low ICV Value indicate softer underlying material (like sand)
Any change of the variables will lead to change of the ICV.
Once you have set ICV, the system supports the operator to achieve maximum efficiency and best result possible.
Below you can see the test and result comparing conventional compaction without compaction meter versus the MOBA MCA compaction system. MCA systems are able to reduce the time, costs and machine wear and tear up to 50% and still provide a better density value.
MCA systems reduce cost and time and at the same improve the quality of the compaction for soil and asphalt.
Compaction test without MCA system in Brasil.
Compaction test with MCA system
(Credit to MOBA Brasil)
Please find further reference here:


Posted on
shelf life of hemp seed oil
What is the shelf life of hemp oil
The short answer is, if stored correctly, an unopened bottle of our hemp oil will last 14 months from the date of production. The long answer is there are several factors that can influence the shelf life of hemp oil. The major ones are how the seed is pressed, how the oil is packaged and how the oil is stored.
Pressing hemp oil to extend shelf life
Since the essential fatty acids in hemp are very susceptible to degradation and rancidity, producing a shelf stable oil starts with being very careful at the production stage. By ensuring that the oil has had minimal exposure to heat and to oxygen, the production of the oil ensures that the goodness that was available in the raw seed is retained in our virgin cold-pressed hemp oil. We do this through a production process that protects the essential fatty acids from exposure to oxygen by replacing the "air" in the production environment with pure nitrogen. In addition to protecting the oil from oxidation, we also ensure that the oil is kept well below the allowable temperatures required to be able to call the oil cold-pressed. These two factors enable us to produce a product that is as close as possible to mimicking the seed in it's ability to safeguard the oil. You might consider our method better, since seeds can get broken, allowing oxygen to access the oils.
Sealed jugs devoid of oxygen extend shelf life
The oxygen free environment doesn't stop at the pressing stage, we continue it right through to the bottling stage where the oil is maintained oxygen free and then the last bit of space in the top of the filled bottle is also replaced with nitrogen before the bottle is sealed with a foil topper and the lid is put on. These extra steps ensure that the oil will remain fresh for a long period of time after it has been placed in the bottle, literally for many months allowing us to set a best before date of 14 months from the date of manufacture.
Cold storage of the oil extends shelf life
Keep your oil cold. While we maintain an environment that is consistently lower than 15 C for short term storage of the products, we highly recommend you storing your oil in the freezer for longer term storage. One of the many wonderful benefits of hemp oil is that it will not turn to a solid at the temperatures reached in your home freezer so you can keep you oil there and it will still pour for you. There may be some separation of the naturally occurring waxes but this will just result in some cloudiness and is not something to be concerned about. It will not affect flavour or consistency when the oil warms.
Keep your oil cold and out of the light
The two things you need to be aware of after you get your oil is that you should keep it cool and out of the sunlight. Store the oil in the freezer for long term storage and in the fridge in the short term. The oil can withstand moderate temperatures, for instance while being shipped, without any significant degradation. For long term storage, just ensure you maintain a cold temperature.
Organic Hemp oil, Canadian hemp seed, Superior quality, best prices. Canada's #1 Hemp Oil retailer since 1996.
Cold Pressed or Refined Hemp Oil?
Hemp oil is referred to as the most perfectly balanced oil created by nature. This is due to the perfect balance of unsaturated Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids that cannot be found anywhere else. Hemp oil is also rich in vitamins, antioxidants, and other health beneficial substances. However, this only applies if the oil is cold pressed, as only unrefined hemp oil preserves all the nutrients contained in the hemp seed.
How is unrefined hemp oil made?
Unrefined, cold pressed hemp oil is obtained from hemp seeds with mechanical extraction at a low temperature that doesn't exceed 40 degrees Celsius. Cold pressed hemp oil is not chemically cleaned or bleached and the sediments are removed mechanically using filtration.
The shorter shelf life of cold pressed oil
Due to the lack of chemical treatment and absence of high temperatures, the active substances found in the seeds of the plant are also preserved in cold pressed oils. Because of this, the oil has a shorter shelf life and needs to be stored in cold places, and the supply chain between the manufacturer and the end consumer needs to be shortened as well. Incorrect storage and irregularities in transportation can make the cold pressed oil go bad faster. The first sign alerting you to any irregularities will be an unusual odor. Properly stored, fresh cold pressed hemp oil has a strong green color, as well as a strong but pleasant smell that resembles a mixture of freshly mowed grass and nuts.
Why is unrefined oil better than refined oil?
Refined oil has a cleaner appearance, with a lighter color, and does not contain small particles. Refining is a relatively complex process that includes treatment with chemical compounds and at high temperatures, reaching up to 270 degrees Celsius. The process removes most of the vitamins contained in the oil, as well as other health beneficial substances. Also lost in the process are Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, which are the ingredients that give hemp oil the title of the most balanced oil. Refined hemp oil is primarily used in cosmetics, the production of various ointments and even plastics.
Two main reasons most cosmetics manufacturers decide to use refined oils
 - Refined oils last longer allowing for a longer supply chain between production and the end consumer, higher volumes of stock and lower risk for the manufacturer
 - Refined hemp oil is significantly cheaper than unrefined oil
At Hemptouch, we swear by unrefined, Cold Pressed Hemp Oil
All our products are based exclusively on cold pressed hemp oil. This is the only way to preserve all the beneficial substances that make hemp oil so popular in skin care. We realize this makes the shelf life of our products much shorter and that it affects the supply chain, which is a challenge in business, however, this helps us ensure our products are always fresh and of the highest quality.
Because we want to have full control over the ingredients used in our products, we make the cold pressed oil from our own hemp, grown on our field in Novo mesto, where we can observe its growth from seed to full-grown plant.
You might enjoy these
Facebook Instagram Youtube
 - About us
 - Imprint, Contact us
 - Terms & Conditions
 - Privacy policy
 - Affiliate program
 - Events & projects
 - Skin balms
 - Face care
 - Body care
 - CBD oils & sprays
 - Bundles & Samples
Sign up for our newsletter


text:
Developments To Minimize The Occurrence Of Surface And Subsurface Vortices At Pump Intakes
Free (open access)
S. J. van Vuuren
Surface vortices have been classified and are widely used as parametric criteria to evaluate the acceptability of the hydraulic inlet conditions at pumps. The geometry of the pump sump, pump inlet and the flow characteristics (fluid structure interaction) normally depict the tendency for the formation of surface vortices. The presence of surface vortices will invariably lead to un-uniform loading on the pump inlet, leading to vibration and possible structural failure. Current literature [2,3] reflects the submergence requirements at pump intakes to prevent the occurrence of surface vortices. The accepted hypothesis is that by increasing the submergence the formation of vortices will be reduced. This hypothesis is challenged on the basis that surface vortices can only occur when the vertical flow component is significant and that this can be limited by the accentuation of the horizontal flow velocity that will dissipate the vertical flow component and thus reduce the submergence requirement significantly. Physical and computational modelling was conducted to verify the relationship of flow velocities on the required submergence to prevent surface and subsurface vortices. Keywords: pump intakes, vortices, deflector beam, vane turning box, submergence, swirl angle, pre-rotation, horizontal flow. 1 Introduction The criteria suggested for effective pump operation entail, the limitation of surface vortices, ensuring a balanced velocity distribution and limiting the prerotation at the pump inlet .
pump intakes, vortices, deflector beam, vane turning box, submergence, swirl angle, pre-rotation, horizontal flow.