text:
Hot ice, more commonly referred to as sodium acetate, is basically the sodium salt of acetic acid. In non scientific terms, this substance is basically the opposite supercooling, as it gets warm since the reaction is exothermic. Continue reading to see five awesome demonstration captured on video.
5. Needle Crystal
Sodium acetate is used in the textile industry to neutralize sulfuric acid waste streams, and as a photoresist while using aniline dyes. It is also a pickling agent in chrome tanning, and it helps to retard vulcanization of chloroprene in synthetic rubber production. In processing cotton for disposable cotton pads, sodium acetate is used to eliminate the buildup of static electricity.
4. Instant Ice
Sodium acetate is used to reduce the damage water can potentially do to concrete by acting as a Concrete sealant, while also being environmentally benign and cheaper than the epoxy alternative that is usually employed for sealing concrete against water permeation.
Sodium acetate may be added to foods as a seasoning. It may be used in the form of sodium diacetate - a 1:1 complex of sodium acetate and acetic acid, given the E-number E262. A frequent use of this form is in salt and vinegar chips in the United States. Many US brands, including national manufacturer Frito-Lay, sell "salt and vinegar flavored" chips that use this chemical, with lactose and smaller percentages of other chemicals, in lieu of a real salt and vinegar preparation.
2. Growing Tower
As the conjugate base of a weak acid, a solution of sodium acetate and acetic acid can act as a buffer to keep a relatively constant pH. This is useful especially in biochemical applications where reactions are pH dependent.
1. Make Your Own
Sodium acetate is also used in consumer heating pads or hand warmers and is also used in hot ice. Sodium acetate trihydrate crystals melt at 54C-58C dissolving in their water of crystallization. When they are heated to around 100°C, and subsequently allowed to cool, the aqueous solution becomes supersaturated. This solution is capable of cooling to room temperature without forming crystals. By clicking on a metal disc in the heating pad, a nucleation centre is formed which causes the solution to crystallize into solid sodium acetate trihydrate again.


text:
The carrot weevil, Listronotus oregonensis (Leconte; Coleoptera: Curculionidae), is an insect pest that causes significant damage to carrot and celery crops. A recent study demonstrated that at least one Ontario population of carrot weevils was resistant to the organophosphate, phosmet. In Quebec, the number of applications targeting the weevil has been increasing for several years, now reaching up to five applications during a season. The loss of effectiveness of insecticides approved for several years is one of the factors that may explain the difficulty in controlling the carrot weevil, which is on the list of Quebec pests suspected of resistance to insecticides. In order to avoid the development of resistance in several farms in Quebec for phosmet or other active ingredients, it is important to obtain diagnostic tools for this pest.
The objective of this project is to develop diagnostic tools for resistance to insecticides in the carrot weevil in natural populations in Quebec through bioassays and the identification of resistance genes.
More specifically, the project aims to:
From 2023 to 2026
Pest, weed, and disease control
This project is funded by the ministère de l'Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l'Alimentation.
Meeting nitrogen requirements mainly through the use of a highly stable form of fertilizer can minimize nitrogen losses, provide nitrogen amounts closer to the plant's actual needs.
Researcher: Christine Landry
This project aims to develop mass trapping strategies to keep damage caused by the striped cucumber beetle populations below the economic threshold, while minimizing the capture of pollinators and natural enemies.
Researchers: Annabelle Firlej Maxime Lefebvre
Production of technical sheets on the main natural enemies of Québec's market garden crops.
Researcher: Célia Bordier

source: m-a-p/FineFineWeb


text:
0.25 degree x 0.25 degree (Surface only) - From 2001 to Present - Monthly mean
Sea surface temperature is the temperature of the water close to the sea surface. SST is a standard product from satellite-based thermal infra-red sensors, and optical sensors complemented with infrared bands. The gradients are processed from Monthly mean sea surface temperature (in degree-C at 4km resolution) derived from the MODIS-TERRA sensor (Satellite remote sensing Ocean color data).
Sea surface foundation temperature (kelvin)


Skip to main content
Figure 6 | BMC Genomics
Figure 6
From: A new platform for ultra-high density Staphylococcus aureus transposon libraries
Figure 6
Genes that influence fitness at high temperature. (A) Genes contributing to fitness at 43°C were classified by cellular function. Genes associated with the cell envelope constituted the largest fraction of the hits. (B) Six genes known to be associated with the heat-shock response were found to be temperature-sensitive. The number of reads in each gene normalized to 5 million sample reads is shown at the various temperatures tested. Loss of lyrA and mprF was found to have opposite phenotypes at 43°C, with an increase (C) and decrease (D) in fitness being observed, respectively. (E) To validate these phenotypes, null mutants in S. aureus HG003 were grown to mid-log phase, diluted, and grown at 43°C. While ΔmprF did not grow, confirming temperature sensitivity, the ΔlyrA strain grew at nearly twice the rate of WT.
Back to article page
\


simply the statement that caused the control-flow, and is used to identify the nature of the conditional control-flow between blocks. For example, in the case of an if-statement, the terminator refers to the IfStmt object in the AST that represented the given branch.
To illustrate, consider the following code example:
int foo(int x) {
 x = x + 1;
 if (x > 2)
 x++;
 else {
 x += 2;
 x *= 2;
 }
 return x;
}
After invoking the parser+semantic analyzer on this code fragment, the AST of the body of foo is referenced by a single Stmt*. We can then construct an instance of CFG representing the control-flow graph of this function body by single call to a static class method:
Stmt *FooBody = ...
std::unique_ptr<CFG> FooCFG = CFG::buildCFG(FooBody);
Along with providing an interface to iterate over its CFGBlocks, the CFG class also provides methods that are useful for debugging and visualizing CFGs. For example, the method CFG::dump() dumps a pretty-printed version of the CFG to standard error. This is especially useful when one is using a debugger such as gdb. For example, here is the output of FooCFG->dump():
[ B5 (ENTRY) ]
 Predecessors (0):
 Successors (1): B4
[ B4 ]
 1: x = x + 1
 2: (x > 2)
 T: if [B4.2]
 Predecessors (1): B5
 Successors (2): B3 B2
[ B3 ]
 1: x++
 Predecessors (1): B4
 Successors (1): B1
[ B2 ]
 1: x += 2
 2: x *= 2
 Predecessors (1): B4
 Successors (1): B1
[ B1 ]
 1: return x;
 Predecessors (2): B2 B3
 Successors (1): B0
[ B0 (EXIT) ]
 Predecessors (1): B1
 Successors (0):
For each block, the pretty-printed output displays for each block the number of predecessor blocks (blocks that have outgoing control-flow to the given block) and successor blocks (blocks that have control-flow that have incoming control-flow from the given block). We can also clearly see the special entry and exit blocks at the beginning and end of the pretty-printed output. For the entry block (block B5), the number of predecessor blocks is 0, while for the exit block (block B0) the number of successor blocks is 0.
The most interesting block here is B4, whose outgoing control-flow represents the branching caused by the sole if-statement in foo. Of particular interest is the second statement in the block, (x > 2), and the terminator, printed as if [B4.2]. The second statement represents the evaluation of the condition of the if-statement, which occurs before the actual branching of control-flow. Within the CFGBlock for B4, the Stmt* for the second statement refers to the actual expression in the AST for (x > 2). Thus pointers to subclasses of Expr can appear in the list of statements in a block, and not just subclasses of Stmt that refer to proper C statements.
The terminator of block B4 is a pointer to the IfStmt object in the AST. The pretty-printer outputs if [B4.2] because the condition expression of the if-statement has an actual place in the basic block, and thus the terminator is essentially referring to the expression that is the second statement of block B4 (i.e., B4.2). In this manner, conditions for control-flow (which also includes conditions for loops and switch statements) are hoisted into the actual basic block.
Constant Folding in the Clang AST
There are several places where constants and constant folding matter a lot to the Clang front-end. First, in general, we prefer the AST to retain the source code as close to how the user wrote it as possible. This means that if they wrote "5+4", we want to keep the addition and two constants in the AST, we don't want to fold to "9". This means that constant folding in various ways turns into a tree walk that needs to handle the various cases.
However, there are places in both C and C++ that require constants to be folded. For example, the C standard defines what an "integer constant expression" (i-c-e) is with very precise and specific requirements. The language then requires i-c-e's in a lot of places (for example, the size of a bitfield, the value for a case statement, etc). For these, we have to be able to constant fold the constants, to do semantic checks (e.g., verify bitfield size is non-negative and that case statements aren't duplicated). We aim for Clang to be very pedantic about this, diagnosing cases when the code does not use an i-c-e where one is required, but accepting the code unless running with -pedantic-errors.
Things get a little bit more tricky when it comes to compatibility with real-world source code. Specifically, GCC has historically accepted a huge superset of expressions as i-c-e's, and a lot of real world code depends on this unfortunate accident of history (including, e.g., the glibc system headers). GCC accepts anything its "fold" optimizer is capable of reducing to an integer constant, which means that the definition of what it accepts changes as its optimizer does. One example is that GCC accepts things like "case X-X:" even when X is a variable, because it can fold this to 0.
Another issue are how constants interact with the extensions we support, such as __builtin_constant_p, __builtin_inf, __extension__ and many others. C99 obviously does not specify the semantics of any of these extensions, and the definition of i-c-e does not include them. However, these extensions are often used in real code, and we have to have a way to reason about them.
Finally, this is not just a problem for semantic analysis. The code generator and other clients have to be able to fold constants (e.g., to initialize global variables) and has to handle a superset of what C99 allows. Further, these clients can benefit from extended information. For example, we know that "foo() || 1" always evaluates to true, but we can't replace the expression with true because it has side effects.
Implementation Approach
After trying several different approaches, we've finally converged on a design (Note, at the time of this writing, not all of this has been implemented, consider this a design goal!). Our basic approach is to define a single recursive evaluation method (Expr::Evaluate), which is implemented in AST/ExprConstant.cpp. Given an expression with "scalar" type (integer, fp, complex, or pointer) this method returns the following information:
 - Whether the expression is an integer constant expression, a general constant that was folded but has no side effects, a general constant that was folded but that does have side effects, or an uncomputable/unfoldable value.
 - If the expression was computable in any way, this method returns the APValue for the result of the expression.
 - If the expression is not evaluatable at all, this method returns information on one of the problems with the expression. This includes a SourceLocation for where the problem is, and a diagnostic ID that explains the problem. The diagnostic should have ERROR type.
 - If the expression is not an integer constant expression, this method returns information on one of the problems with the expression. This includes a SourceLocation for where the problem is, and a diagnostic ID that explains the problem. The diagnostic should have EXTENSION type.
This information gives various clients the flexibility that they want, and we will eventually have some helper methods for various extensions. For example, Sema should have a Sema::VerifyIntegerConstantExpression method, which calls Evaluate on the expression. If the expression is not foldable, the error is emitted, and it would return true. If the expression is not an i-c-e, the EXTENSION diagnostic is emitted. Finally it would return false to indicate that the AST is OK.
Other clients can use the information in other ways, for example, codegen can just use expressions that are foldable in any way.
Extensions
This section describes how some of the various extensions Clang supports interacts with constant evaluation:
 - __extension__: The expression form of this extension causes any evaluatable subexpression to be accepted as an integer constant expression.
 - __builtin_constant_p: This returns true (as an integer constant expression) if the operand evaluates to either a numeric value (that is, not a pointer cast to integral type) of integral, enumeration, floating or complex type, or if it evaluates to the address of the first character of a string literal


Uff da! | what does the expression mean? | Norway
Uff da! is a Norwegian interjection, often used to express sympathy. For example when a child falls over: Uff da! Slo du deg? - meaning Poor you! Did you hurt yourself?
LA Dahlmann | talk NORWAY
«Uff da!» - what does it actually mean? | Illustration: LA Dahlmann cc pdm.
«Uff da! Slo du deg nå, lille venn?»
Uff da!
Uff da! is usually said in a deep voice, and in a drawn-out and comforting way. But the response can also be quick and upbeat, if the damage done or the message received is not too bad. Then it works more as an encouragement. Below, see some examples of how the expression is used. There are several phrase-variations, mostly with a fairly similar meaning:
 - Uff a meg!
 - Uff a meg'en!
 - Au da!
 - Oi da!
 - Uff og uff!
 - Uff det var leit å høre!
 - Or simply just – Uff!
The expressions are informal, and usually only used when speaking to someone you know well – both grown-ups and children. However, it can also be used if a stranger tells you something that requires an immediate show of sympathy.
Example 1
The expression used in a conversation with a friend:
Person A | My father just called; he has been in a car accident!
Person B | Uff da! Is he OK?
Person A | He broke his arm.
Person B | Uff a meg! How terrible!
Example 2
The quick, encouraging and upbeat tone would be used if for example a child falls over but turns to you smiling: Uff da! Up you go!
Example 3
The expression can also be used in a more sarcastic context and tone. For example, in a conversation with a friend who earns twice as much as you do:
Person A | I am furious! I only got a 3% pay rise this year!
Person B | Uff da! How terrible for you.
Many descendants of Norwegian emigrants to North America, several generations down the line, still hold on to this somewhat peculiar expression.
Did you see this one?
Vintage photos | the stave churches | Norway
Our most recent posts
My Norwegian heritage
Here is a collection of some wonderful vintage photos, showing a handful of Norwegians and their lives.
In the old farming society, nature dictated the flow of the working year. And farmworkers could only leave their jobs on 2 specific days during the year.
For many, it may come as a surprise that the history of rose painting and its place in Norwegian folk art is not as old as one might think.
Uekte and ekte are Norwegian adjectives that in one context means illegitimate and legitimate - as in a child born outside or inside a marriage.
To make sure he could tide the animals over the long and cold winter, the historical Norwegian farmer utilised all available resources.
The Heddal stave church - stavkirke - is Norway's largest remaining building of its kind. It is a woodwork masterpiece, with a history that stretches back more than 800 years.
Per O. Rød wrote the history of the Stornæve farm and its inhabitants back in 1968. Decades earlier, several children of Stornæve had emigrated to the US.
The old Norwegian farming society was a self-sufficient and balanced world. Coins and notes were all but an alien concept.
In 1942, Hans Hyldbakk wrote the history of the local cotter's holdings in Surnadal, Nordmøre, Norway. The book was updated in 1966.
The Fjord horse is one of today's oldest and purest horse breeds. Its historical habitat is Norway's western coast, with its deep fjords and steep mountainsides.
The Norwegian landscape is wild and beautiful. And it is a lot more than just fjords and mountains.
The old Norwegian farm needed hundreds of litres of water every single day: for food-making, cleaning, and human and animal consumption.
Myrmelk is a Norwegian noun that means milk conserved in a container buried in a mountain peat bog, left there for herders or others to drink at a later stage.
Follow us on social media
Norwegian history


text:
Computing and communications for the software-defined metamaterial paradigm: a context analysis
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Rights accessOpen Access
Metamaterials are artificial structures that have recently enabled the realization of novel electromagnetic components with engineered and even unnatural functionalities. Existing metamaterials are specifically designed for a single application working under preset conditions (e.g., electromagnetic cloaking for a fixed angle of incidence) and cannot be reused. Software-defined metamaterials (SDMs) are a much sought-after paradigm shift, exhibiting electromagnetic properties that can be reconfigured at runtime using a set of software primitives. To enable this new technology, SDMs require the integration of a network of controllers within the structure of the metamaterial, where each controller interacts locally and communicates globally to obtain the programmed behavior. The design approach for such controllers and the interconnection network, however, remains unclear due to the unique combination of constraints and requirements of the scenario. To bridge this gap, this paper aims to provide a context analysis from the computation and communication perspectives. Then, analogies are drawn between the SDM scenario and other applications both at the micro and nano scales, identifying possible candidates for the implementation of the controllers and the intra-SDM network. Finally, the main challenges of SDMs related to computing and communications are outlined.
CitationAbadal, S., Liaskos, C., Tsioliaridou, A., Ioannidis, S., Pitsillides, A., Solé-Pareta, J., Alarcon, E., A. C. Computing and communications for the software-defined metamaterial paradigm: a context analysis. "IEEE access", 1 Gener 2017, vol. 5, p. 6225-6235.

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


text:
I'm using multiple instances of the Behavior script. Some of the instances have delays on a Mouth Open trigger and others have delays on a Mouth Closed trigger. Each instance enables or disables an image object.
The mouth open triggers all work correctly, enabling image objects with delays.
The mouth closed triggers only work with delays correctly disabling image objects the first time they are triggered. On subsequent triggering, there is no delay and all of the objects are disabled immediately.
It's the same out-of-the-box script as the mouth open triggers. What could be causing the loss of delay?


example if Alice must generate 2 $α$-pairs for $(a_1,b_1)$ i $(a_2,b_2)$, and calculation of new pair is based on multiplication respectively by $c1$ i $c2$ so the truth is: $b' = c_1\cdot b_1 + c_2 \cdot b_2 = c_1 (\alpha \cdot a_1) + c_2(\alpha\cdot a_2) = \alpha (c_1\cdot a_1 + c_2\cdot a_2) = \alpha\cdot a'.$
4. The Verifiable Blind Evaluation Protocol
Let's combine all the things we concepts we already presented in order to define verifiable blind evaluation protocol which will "force" Alice to generate "correct" polynomial:
 1. Bob has some homomorphic function $E(x)=x⋅g$. He chooses some value of coefficient $α$. He sends to Alice the values: $E(x)$ : $E(s^0), E(s^1), …, E(s^d)$ (so the values $s^0⋅g, s^1⋅g,…,s^d⋅g$) and also the values of $E(x⋅α)$ – what means exactly: $α⋅(s^0⋅g), α⋅(s^1⋅g),…, α⋅(s^d⋅g)$
 2. Alice has some polynomial $P(x)$ degree of $d$. She calculates $a= E(P(s)) = P(s)⋅g$ and $b=α⋅E(P(s)) = α⋅P(s)⋅g$. She can do it because values calculated by her are linear combinations of Bob's values of homomorphic function (algorithm from point 2 – blind evaluation).
 3. Bob verifies if true is the equation $b=α⋅a$ and accepts only if so.
Using the blind evaluation protocol and KCA we proposed the algorithm which allows to verify the correctness of Alice's polynomial. In given way Alice can provide to Bob the value $E(P(s))$ not knowing the $s$ and Bob can verify if it's correct. In that moment correct polynomial means: having expected degree.
The mechanisms we now learned already allows us to define the zk-SNARK protocol. The goal is allowing to prove some statements and then to verify them. The statement in that meaning is some kind of math formula. The prover side presenting the proof would like to indeed prove that can solve the formula however the verifier side has to be able to verify the proof without knowing the formula solution. Let's present then the important zk-SNARK problem: how to present the formulas (statements) in some generic way – giving the possibility to define any statement as a formula?
5. Quadratic Arithmetic Program
QAP is general method for presenting the statement which should be proved with zero knowledge. The statement written in QAP gives the possibility to decompose it to polynomials for whose it's easy to find the solution. In other words: we have possibility to define statements to prove in some QAP form for which we can easy verify if the solution is correct.
It's worth to mention that the statement to prove with zk-SNARK algorithm should already be polynomial. QAP is not the method to translate the statement implemented in some programming language to the polynomial form (e.g. the program which implements the function $C(x,y)$, which proves that Alice knows the value $x$ for which the hash is $y$, so $C(x,y) == true$). QAP is the method to translate statement to prove which are already in form of polynomial (so in practice the program code already presented in form of polynomial) to QAP polynomials form. It's generic method – algorithm to transform statements to prove to some required form, which thanks to algebraic transformations and homomorphic function will later be used to implement concrete zk-SNARK functions (for proving and verifying the proofs).
6. Pinocchio Protocol
Using QAP and taking all the previously described features we can propose given mechanism: Alice can prove to Bob that she knows the solution of $(c1⋅c2)⋅(c1+c3)=7$ (some example polynomial) what means that she knows c1, c2, c3 and she doesn't need to discolose these values in order to prove it to Bob. Protocol (called Pinocchio Protocol) of proceeding given scenario is given:
 1. The statement polynomial $(c1⋅c2)⋅(c1+c3)=7$ presented in QAP form consists of polynomials $P, L, R, O$ which are created by Alice using the solution of the polynomial she knows. If she has the correct solution – she knows such $c1, c2, c3$ for whose $(c1⋅c2)⋅(c1+c3)=7$ and it means that defined polynomials by her also fulfill the equity: $P = L⋅R – O$. Moreover if she knows correct $c1, c2, c3$ she can also define such polynomial $H$ that $P = H⋅T$.
 2. Bob chooses some value of $s$ and sends to Alice the value of $E(T(s))$. The polynomial T is known for Bob because it's also the result of QAP presented statement to prove.
 3. Alice sends back to Bob values: $E(L(s)),E(R(s)),E(O(s)),E(H(s))$
 4. Bob checks if $E(P(s)) = E(T(s)*H(s))$, exactly if $E(L(s)⋅R(s)−O(s))=E(T(s)⋅H(s))$
This protocol gives the possibility to present by Alice the proof of having solution without exposing the solution. Bob can verify the proof on the assumption that Alice returned correct value, expected by Bob.
Above scenario is already good starting point to define general protocol for defining easy to prove statements (using QAP) and verification the solutions of these statements (blind evaluation and QAP). Unfortunately given protocol is still vulnerable: Alice can provide the proof to Bob, however there still not the certainty that she already did it – theoretically she can return the values which Bob will evaluate as correct (in point 4), but these values will not be exactly the "correct" values possessed by Alice.
7. zk-RKS, almost zk-SNARK
Pinocchio Protcol is the base for creating complete zero proof knowledge algorithm. In order to get complete zk-SNARK protocol we need to solve few issues yet.
7.1 Problem: Bob must have correct homomorphic function E
Correct means the one which supports multiplication. Previously we didn't introduce any concrete function. The solution of that problem is using the homomorphic function based on ecliptic curves.
7.2 Problem: Alice must generate correct polynomials – having correct degree and be based on the correct solution of the statement to prove
This is the problem we deal from the beginning. In the Pinocchio Protocol Alice generates the polynomials $P, L, R, O$ using own solution. The protocol allows Bob to verify if Alice has the correct QAP solution, so she has the solution for the statement to prove. However Bob has to sure that Alice really provided correct QAP solution based on the statement solution.
Solving this problem in practice is possible by using the characteristics of QAP. Presenting the statement in QAP form allows to verify the solution. Using also homomorphic function adds the possibility to "hide" the real value. This is what was done in Pinocchio Protocol. Mixing above with mechanics of linear combinations allows also the real verification of statements in QAP. Let's define the group of polynomials $Fi$ which are the result of combination polynomials $L, R, O$ with the QAP solution. Bob can ask Alice for proving him that Alice can write $F(s)$ – it's the result of combining many $Fi$ values. This proof will allow Bob to verify that Alice indeed uses real solution of the QAP and the real solution of the statement. Now we have complete zero-proof-knowledge.
8. Complete zk-SNARK
The Pinocchio Protocol with the fixes included in point 7 so far is zk-RKS (Zero Knowledge Argument Of Knowledge). It means that we can already define zero knowledge proofs and verify them, however the process is not yet fast enough and still requires interaction between participants (too complex and too long interaction).
How to make it zk-SNARK (Zero Knowledge Succinct Non Interactive Argument of Knowledge)? How to reduce the required amount of interactions between participants, reduce it single message between verifier and prover? The solution of that is simply based on removing the necessity of sending by Bob values to Alice which are required by her to generate the proof.
Creating complete zk-SNARK is simple: required values can prepare and set in the protocol (CRS). In other words implementation of zk


How to insert & remove your Secret Whispers Kegel Weights
1. Firstly wash your hands and ensure your weights are clean by using warm soapy water.
2. Empty your bladder and bowel
3. Find a room and time where you won't be disturbed
4. Find a comfortable position – such as leg raised on the toilet or bath
5. Insert as you would do with a tampon – It can't go too far. Insert as high as is comfortable. They will move down to a natural resting place.
6. Insert them gently on an outward breath. Relax and remember to continue breathing
7. Use water or a water based (only) lubricant if referred
8. The cord should remain outside your body
9. Wearing underwear is recommended
Remove the weights during an outward breath (do not bear down with your pelvic floor) and wash thoroughly


text:
Clear glass shop round for Quinine, England, _PHONE_
This glass bottle was once on the shelves of the prominant English chemists Savory & Moore (active _PHONE_), who were based in London. The label shows that the amber liquid in the bottom is quinine. Quinine is used for pain relief and to prevent fevers and for a long time was the primary treatment for malaria. The shop round or bottle has a black and gold label fixed as a transfer to the glass. These bottles were typically used in pharmacies in the 1800s to store liquid preparations.
Related Themes and Topics
There are 583 related objects. View all related objects
Glossary: shop round
The preparation and medicinal dispensing of drugs.
Parasitic disease transmitted by certain kinds of mosquito. Malaria is characterized by fever and enlargement of the spleen. Each year, there are approximately 515 million cases of malaria, killing between one and three million people.
A substance taken to fight malaria. Quinine is found naturally in the bark of the cinchona tree. It is also an ingredient in tonic water.

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


text:
The Sultan Ibrahim Solar PV Park is envisioned to be South-East Asia's largest solar energy storage system
by AUFA MARDHAH & ZAHIN ZAILANI
WITH its proposed location in the Pengerang Industrial Park (PIP), the Sultan Ibrahim Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Park, a 450-megawatt (MW) solar PV power project, is envisioned to be South-East Asia's largest solar energy storage system.
The project is Johor's crown jewel into large-scale sustainable energy, which will promote a green economy as well as the state's first-ever major private investment following Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar's persistent efforts to bring investment and development to boost the socioeconomic standing of Johoreans.
"We have a suitable plot for the project, robust growth and development, as well as a healthy demand from our neighbour, which makes Johor the most strategic location," Sultan Ibrahim said in a Facebook post.
The Sultan added that the construction of the project will have a healthy spillover effect by creating jobs for Johor citizens at various levels.
At the time of writing, the project is still in the permitting stage and expected to get commissioned at the cost of RM1.4 billion.
Johor currently relies predominantly on coal and gas as sources of energy for electricity generation.
Potential as Solar Energy Production Hub
Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER) senior research fellow Dr Shankaran Nambiar highlighted the importance of the solar farm project, first suggested by Sultan Ibrahim in 2021, in line with Malaysia's dedication to sustainability and advancement of alternative energy sources that are not reliant on fossil fuel.
Emphasising the vast potential of unused land in Johor, he also underscored the opportunity for the state to emerge as central hub for solar energy production, with the possibility of exporting surplus energy to neighbouring Singapore.
Apart from that, he anticipated that the development of the solar farm would stimulate job creation and foster the emergence of new technical skills in the region.
Moreover, he envisaged a ripple effect, wherein ancillary industries such as solar panel manufacturing could flourish, further bolstering economic activity within the state.
In terms of the benefit of the solar farm towards South-East Asia, he said the project is poised to have significant economic implications for both Malaysia and the broader South-East Asian region.
With Malaysia positioned as a hub for energy generation, the establishment of the solar farm will enable the country to harness its abundant solar resources to produce clean energy at scale.
This increased capacity for energy generation not only satisfies domestic demand but also positions Malaysia as a potential exporter of clean energy to neighbouring countries within the Asean region.
As a result, the nation gets to benefit from the enhanced economic opportunities from the exportation of clean energy, further solidifying its role as a key player in the regional energy landscape.
Additionally, the development of the solar farm reinforces Malaysia's commitment to sustainability and environmental stewardship, aligning with global efforts to transition towards renewable energy (RE) sources and mitigate the impacts of climate change.
Regional Comparison of Solar Farms
To also put it in a global context, the Sultan Ibrahim Solar PV Park is about 60% of the output of India's Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Park, at 750MW.
The park is the 15th largest in the world and the implementation of the Johor's solar park would put it on the map upon completion.
The Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Park is located in Madhya Pradesh with a population of over 72.6 million compared to Johor's approximately four million population.
A solar plant with 60% output would be very high relative to its counterparts, which would bode well for its plans to sell excess energy to Singapore.
Other South-East Asian countries leading in this field are Thailand and the Philippines, encompassing the top 10 highest outputs of solar PV farm power in the region.
The Cadiz Solar Power Plant in the Philippines was commissioned in 2016, generating about 132.5MW of power, or 132,500 kilowatt-peak (kWp), and is the largest in the region.
It is followed by the EA Solar Lampang in Thailand with a power output of 128.4MW.
The third largest is EA Solar Nakornsawan, also in Thailand, and has an output of 126MW.
Meanwhile, there are about five solar farms across Malaysia, all with various installation capacities.
The smallest, located in Sungai Petani, Kedah, has an installed capacity of 1,764kW. (1,000kW = 1MW.)
The construction of the Sultan Ibrahim Solar PV Park will make it the largest by far in South-East Asia. To compare, an output of 450MW would mean more than that of the top three largest solar farms in the region.
According to the data compiled by The Malaysian Reserve (TMR), along with the EA Solar Nakornsawan, located in Nakhon Sawan, Thailand (126MW), the combined output of the top three would yield about 387MW, which means that the Johor solar farm would lead by 63MW more.
Advancement of Solar Technology
Given the anticipated increase in energy production from the Sultan Ibrahim Solar PV Park, the project is expected to attract significant attention.
Universiti Malaya Power Energy Dedicated Advanced Centre's Prof Ir Dr Nasrudin Abd Rahim said solar farm industry players are strategically adapting to address Malaysia's growing demand for clean and RE sources.
To remain responsive to evolving market needs, he said these players must stay informed of both current and future trends in RE technology and its applications.
By remaining vigilant about emerging developments, solar power industry stakeholders can identify new ideas and innovative solutions that offer boundless potential.
One such captivating innovation is the integration of solar power into electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, promoting cleaner transportation options.
Additionally, industry players are exploring the potential of green hydrogen, produced through electrolysis powered by solar energy, as another avenue for sustainable energy generation.
Nevertheless, innovations in the solar industry are driving advancements in energy storage and grid integration, leading to a more reliable power supply.
Nasrudin said one notable innovation is the adoption of smart grid technology, which enables more efficient management and distribution of solar energy.
By integrating solar energy into smart grids, grid stability and energy efficiency are enhanced, allowing for bidirectional electricity flow.
This means that surplus solar energy generated can be seamlessly fed back into the grid, optimising utilisation and reducing wastage.
Furthermore, the increasing utilisation and development of RE sources connected to the electric grid underscore the importance of energy storage technologies.
These technologies play a crucial role in mitigating intermittent power disparities by storing excess or unused energy and supplying it when needed, thereby stabilising power production and meeting energy demand more effectively.
As Malaysia's solar energy industry continues to expand rapidly, he highlighted that there is a concerted effort to address the growing demand for skilled professionals through targeted initiatives aimed at training and upskilling the workforce.
These initiatives encompass a broad spectrum of roles within the solar energy sector, ranging from solar module installers to project managers, design engineers, competent engineers and research scientists.
To meet the diverse needs of the industry, Nasrudin said various educational institutions, including technical colleges, vocational schools, polytechnics and universities, are offering specialised programmes and certifications.
These are commonly available at technical colleges and vocational schools, while polytechnics and universities offer diplomas and degrees.
For professionals seeking advanced specialisation and research opportunities, universities also provide master's and doctoral degrees tailored to the specific requirements of the solar energy industry.
Looking ahead, Malaysia's position in the RE sector on the global stage appears promising, particularly with solar power emerging as one of the most reliable and sustainable energy sources.
"The future of solar power looks bright with continual advancements in technology and a growing awareness of environmental concerns driving the demand for clean energy alternatives," he told TMR.
With the nation's targets outlined in the National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR), he believed that Malaysia is poised to establish itself as a significant player in the global RE sector.
By 2050, RE is projected to constitute the majority of installed capacity, with solar PV installations leading the charge.
As part of Malaysia's goal to achieve a 70% RE share by 2050, an estimated 59 gigawatts (GW) of solar PV capacity is anticipated to be installed, underscoring the country's commitment to sustain- able energy development and its potential to become a key contributor to the global RE landscape.
Concerns On Nation's Energy Transition Decisions
Beyond the aim of becoming South-East Asia's largest solar energy storage system and concurrently promoting a green economy, a concern arises regarding a holistic ecosystem of a just transition.
Ili Nadiah Dzulfakar from Klima Action Malaysia (KAMY) emphasised the importance of fairness in Malaysia's transition from fossil fuel-dependent projects to low-carbon initiatives.
She underscored the need to prioritise the welfare of workers, especially amid efforts to attract increased investments in RE and associated projects.
The surge in demand for manpower begs the question of where will these workers come from.
Ili Nadiah acknowledged that labour resources will originate from various channels, including newcomers to the RE sector.
However, she highlighted the significance of considering individuals from economies deeply entrenched in fossil fuels, ensuring that they do not lose their competitive edge as they transition to emerging fields.
Consequently, she emphasised the necessity of developing strategies to effectively harness their expertise.
As Malaysia navigates this transition, she stressed the importance of inclusivity within the RE sector, emphasising the need to provide ample job opportunities for all.
Additionally, she urged the


text:
Stressed Out Bees Get the Blues13 June, 2011 at 20:16 | Posted in Animal welfare, Environmental issues, Nature, Science | 2 Comments
Tags: Animal welfare, environmental issues, Nature, Science
Bees are more likely to make pessimistic judgements when they are stressed, according to an article published online in Current Biology on June 2.
Humans are more likely to be pessimistic when experiencing stress, and prior research has shown that other vertebrates like dogs, rats, and birds are also more likely to make decisions reflecting negative emotions due to stress.
This new study shows that bees, which are invertebrates, are more similar to humans cognitively than previously believed.
"Bees stressed by a simulated predator attack exhibit pessimism mirroring that seen in depressed and anxious people," said Geraldine Wright, leader of the research team at Newcastle University in the United Kingdom, in a press release.
"In other words, the stressed bee's glass is half empty," said first author Melissa Bateson in the release.
The researchers first trained honeybees to associate one scent with a sugary reward and a second scent with bitter quinine. The bees demonstrated they can differentiate the scents as they were more likely to extend their mouthparts toward the sweet odor.
Half of the bees were then shaken vigorously for one minute to simulate a beehive attack, while the other half of the bees were left alone. The bees were then exposed to the two scents again as well as to new scents made by combining the two.
The team found that the shaken bees were less likely than the unshaken bees to extend their mouthparts toward some of the new scents. "We show for the first time that agitated bees are more likely to classify ambiguous stimuli as predicting punishment," the article summary states.
The researchers also found reduced levels of serotonin and other neurotransmitters in the shaken bees' circulation systems. Imbalance in serotonin levels is believed by some scientists to cause depression in humans.
"What we have shown is that when a honeybee is subjected to a manipulation of its state that in humans would induce a feeling of anxiety, the bees show a similar suite of changes in physiology, cognition, and behavior to those we would measure in an anxious human," said Wright.


text:
Desiccation in woody plants is common in Colorado, because soils range from sandy to clay and plants rely almost totally on supplemental watering. In addition, nearly all woody plants found in Colorado are imported from different parts of the country and have varying moisture requirements.
Symptoms of desiccation appear when too little or too much water is available. It also occurs in plants that have weak root systems; most often in transplants. Too much water drives oxygen from the soil, which leaves roots unable to absorb water and nutrients. Symptoms of desiccation appear over the course of a day in small, newly transplanted plants. A large conifer may not show symptoms for a couple of years.
In response to desiccation, many plants will try to adapt. Established deciduous woody plants show the most obvious signs of desiccation. To conserve water, these plants often shed some or all their leaves. In the fall, early coloration is a sign of water stress. Cottonwoods, aspens and willows also drop twigs and small branches in a effort to conserve. After several years of inadequate water, the annual growth becomes weak.
Conifers are much less susceptible to desiccation. Their needles are well adapted to xeric conditions. If water stress does occur, it's most likely to happen in spruce and fir. In these plants, you typically won't see symptoms until the following growing season when stunted and off-color needles appear.
Desiccation in broad-leaved evergreens, such as Oregon grape and pyracantha, often appears in leaves, which brown at the margins. To protect broad-leafed evergreens, plant them in a protected area, such as the north side of a structure.
Don't flood plants to correct water deficits. Flooding, even for a short period, can quickly kill a woody plant.
For "Fall & winter watering" refer to message number 1706.
For more information, see the following Colorado State Extension fact sheet(s). _URL_


text:
Board of Public Works approves funding for Ellicott City climate resiliency
Grant will help protect Ellicott City from flooding; additional grant will help connect a fire station to a public water system
BALTIMORE (July 6, 2022) – The Maryland Board of Public Works in Annapolis approved a $1.2 million grant today for a project to better control stormwater runoff and help protect Ellicott City from flooding. The board is composed of Governor Larry Hogan, Treasurer Dereck E. Davis and Comptroller Peter Franchot.
The grant, which follows a $2.4 million grant last year for the construction of a stormwater detention basin, is for the excavation of additional rocks encountered during construction.
"With climate change bringing extreme weather, it is more important than ever to invest in water infrastructure improvements to protect historic Ellicott City and other Maryland communities from flooding," said Maryland Environment Secretary Horacio Tablada.
The board also approved a grant for a fire company in Cecil County to connect to a public water system.
The following projects were approved today:
Ellicott City H7 (Hudson Branch No. 7) Mitigation Pond project – Howard County
A $1,245,047 Comprehensive Flood Management grant to Howard County will help fund the construction of a stormwater detention basin to provide flood protection for historic Ellicott City. The new dry pond at the cloverleaf area at the intersection of U.S. routes 40 and 29 will reduce the flows to the Hudson Branch, which passes through downtown Ellicott City. This project is consistent with Maryland's climate change adaptation and resiliency objectives through the reduction of runoff that is exacerbated by increased precipitation or flooding events.
Perryville Fire Company Station 16 Service Line project – Cecil County
A $79,270 Water Supply Financial Assistance grant to the Town of Perryville will help fund the design and construction of a water main and pump to connect Perryville Fire Company's Station 16 to the town's water system. The fire station is connected to a well system, but the water cannot be used for essential purposes due to contamination and corrosion issues from poor water quality. Connecting the station to the town water supply will resolve water quality issues and allow the station to decommission the compromised well system. This project will be constructed in accordance with coastal and non-coastal resiliency guidelines developed as part of the Coast Smart Program to reduce climate change risks to such projects.
# # #


text:
Last week, we posted a letter from scientists Kevin Padian and Alan Gishlick in response to a piece by Jonathan Wells in the September/October issue of Books & Culture, dealing with the notorious peppered moth experiments. This week, we have given Wells an opportunity to respond. At stake are fundamental questions about truthfulness in debate—matters on which there should be consensus among all parties to the debate over Darwin's legacy.
In Of Moths and Men, Judith Hooper charges that defenders of the peppered myth have "marginalized" and "demonized" scientists who challenge them. Here Kevin Padian and Alan Gishlick obligingly prove her charge beyond a reasonable doubt.
According to the myth, light-colored peppered moths resting on pollution-darkened tree trunks are preferentially eaten by birds; the resulting natural selection explains why better-camouflaged dark moths became more common during the industrial revolution. The myth was largely exploded in the 1980s, however, when scientists discovered that peppered moths don't normally rest on tree trunks. Yet many biology textbooks still illustrate natural selection with staged photos of moths on tree trunks—usually made by pinning or gluing dead moths in place. The New York Times recently featured such photos as a now-classic example of "scientific fakery" (October 15, 2002).
Yet Padian and Gishlick continue to defend the discredited myth, claiming that a quarter of peppered moths rest on tree trunks and insisting that their claim is "based directly on the scientific literature."
A 1998 book by peppered moth expert Michael Majerus reported that between 1964 and 1996, scientists spotted 47 peppered moths resting in the wild, including 12 on tree trunks. Padian and Gishlick simply...


HomebulletScriptsbulletTag: l10n (2 results)
 1. Simple Language Changer Script
 661 total visits
 2. No Screenshot
 1546 total visits
 Integers to words takes a number between 1 and 99999999 and converts it into words that express the number in English. Crores and Lakhs are used to express very high numbers.Requirements: PHP 3.0 or higher
Pages 1 of 1« 1 »


Monthly Archives: October 2018
A Simple Lesson About Money and Models
Imagine you are in your high school algebra class and you are presented with the following two equations:
x + y = 20
2x + 10y = 100
Two linear equations with 2 unknowns. This is a simple problem to solve.
Now suppose that your teacher gives you the following three equations:
x + y = 20
2x + 10y = 100
x + z = 5
Note that this is still a simple problem to solve. The first two equations are identical to the previous example. You can use those first two equations to solve for x and y. Then, knowing x, you can solve for z. The central point is that the third equation is not important for determining the value of x. The first two equations are sufficient to solve for x and y.
So why am I bringing this up?
This is precisely how the benchmark New Keynesian model deals with money. The baseline New Keynesian model does not include money. The model is complete and a solution exists. Subsequently, to examine whether money would be important in the model, a money demand function is added to this system of equations. There is a solution to the model that exists. Money is then shown to be irrelevant in the determination of the other variables. But, then again, so was z.
UPDATE: I have updated the post to read "benchmark New Keynesian model" to reflect the fact that some have attempted to integrate money into the NK model in other ways, specifically through non-separable utility. This is, in fact, where I am going to take this argument in the future. Nonetheless, for now, see the excellent comment by Jonathan Benchimol below with some links to his related research.


text:
The River Ash is a river in England and lies just outside of Greater London. More specifically, it flows from the River Colne, through the borough of Spelthorne, running through the towns of Ashford and Shepperton before finally joining the River Thames in the creek behind Sunbury Lock at Sunbury. It goes through many back-gardens in Old Charlton Road, Shepperton.
Many alterations have been made due to human action. There are maps dating back to medieval times to depict this. The earliest one shows the history of the Shepperton Studios site, more particularly Shepperton Manor. This dates to the Westiminster's monks, whom, it is suggested, may have done some widening still visible today.
In 1910, the Metropolitan Water Board made the Staines Aqueduct, with the purpose of supplying water from the River Thames at Hythe End to its works in Sunbury. This meant that the river was now in a siphon at three locations: Birch Green, Shortwood Allotments as well as adjacent to where the Queen Mary Reservoir is in Laleham.
More recently, the source of the river was moved quite a few metres south and some hundred metres of its length was diverted to make way for the Staines Bypass (the A30) in the early 1960s. Here it flows underground for 270 metres beneath the Crooked Billet roundabout.
Much of recent flood prevention is done by River Ash Flood Alleviation Scheme. A major upgrade of the water treatment works at Ashford Common was started by Thames Water Utilities during 1994 and 1995. There was an expected increases in flow and flood risk to properties along Old Charlton Road, Shepperton and Heriden Way because the works discharges to the lower River Ash near the M3. Consequently, a flood relief channel was suggested. This was built during the first five months in 1995 and cost a total of £450,000.


Famous People We Wish Were Still Alive
Noble people have always strived towards improving the lives of others. Many achieve their goal of changing the world for the better, so much so that we end up missing them after their death. It is often the thought that the world could have utilized such individuals' wisdom that makes us wish they were still alive. Here is a list of such personalities whom we miss dearly.
Also Known As: Michael King Jr.
Birthday: 15 January 1929
Born In: Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Died On: 04 April 1968
Famous As: Civil Rights Activist
Martin Luther King Jr. was the leader of the civil rights movement in the USA. He employed Christian believes and non-violence methods like civil disobedience and paved the way for dignified and respected life for African-Americans.
Birthday: 14 March 1879
Born In: Ulm, Kingdom of Württemberg, German Empire
Died On: 18 April 1955
Famous As: Physicist
The Nobel laureate, Albert Einstein, was one of the greatest theoretical physicists who immensely contributed to the growth of modern physics and quantum mechanics. He is considered one of the most intelligent persons in history. Though not tested, his estimated intelligence quotient is regarded as a benchmark.
Also Known As: Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci
Birthday: 15 April 1452
Born In: Anchiano, Italy
Died On: 02 May 1519
Famous As: Polymath
Most of Leonardo da Vinci's paintings, including the world-renowned 'Mona Lisa,' are being studied and scrutinized by scholars, historians, and scientists among men from other professional fields in order to decipher the hidden messages. Perhaps, Leonardo could have helped decipher his works if he were still alive today.
Also Known As: Frederick Freddie Mercury, Farrokh Bulsara
Birthday: 05 September 1946
Born In: Stone Town, Tanzania
Died On: 24 November 1991
Famous As: Singer-songwriter, Record Producer
Known for his four-octave vocal range, Freddie Mercury is often considered one of the greatest lead singers in rock music history. His life was cut short by AIDS at the age of 45. In 2001, he was inducted posthumously into the 'Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.'
Also Known As: Robin McLaurin Williams
Birthday: 21 July 1951
Born In: Chicago
Died On: 11 August 2014
Famous As: American stand-up comedian
Regarded as one of the funniest comedians of all time, Robin Williams went on to achieve huge popularity as a film actor. If not for Lewy body dementia, which forced him to commit suicide by hanging, Robin would've continued making people laugh for many more years.


text:
This rainbow playsilk display is a beautiful way to organize your silks.
Simply hang on a wall and slip your playsilks through.
It's easy enough for children to do independently and encourages young ones to keep their playrooms tidy.
Cleaning instructions: Wipe down and clean using a drop of soap and lukewarm water.
Sarah's Silks is devoted to sustainability and ethics, utilizing natural materials, minimizing their ecological footprint and supporting communities. They make sure everything they do contributes to improving working conditions in communities, both locally and abroad, and the environment. Silk is a naturally biodegradable fiber and when treated with nontoxic dyes, it can go on to provide nutrition for soil instead of landing in a trashcan. Sarah's Silks are free from harmful chemicals, including toxins and irritants, and are 100% safe and healthy, even for babies. Sarah's Silks uses minimal environmentally friendly packaging.


text:
This is an impressive and RARE wealth-class Urnfield tapered straight-wall ceramic bowl from the Bronze Age Lusatian Culture of Central Europe. It is in fantastic preservation having survived in its unbroken, complete state. It could have been a stand-alone piece but likely, it was a lid to a large, primary burial urn, being the primary serving bowl for a complete set. The rolled rim has been embellished with impressed designs around the entire edge. The black burnished glaze finish and decorations are very scarce for this pottery. They indicate this was a true prestige object reserved for the highest members of the society. It also happens to be the only one of its kind that we acquired from this collection. This superb, rare European ancient ceramic is a must to complete advanced collections of the period!
Advanced collectors will appreciate this unique opportunity to acquire some EXTREMELY RARE European Bronze Age ceramic pieces we will be offering from the former private German collection of H.S. Hesse. These are not just ordinary "everyday life" ancient ceramics but are European Urnfield burial ceramics of exquisite condition and preservation, from the European Lusatian Culture. Usually only found in museum collections in Europe, Urnfield pottery of fine condition is extremely rare! These are fascinating specimens, not of everyday ancient life, but of ancient death and the ritual, religion and burial practices of ancient European peoples of the Bronze Age, into the Early Iron Age. The majority of Urnfield pottery excavated and exhibited in museums is reassembled from mere fragments and requires EXTENSIVE restoration and fabrication. The condition of these ceramics from this very limited collection, are of much finer preservation than typically seen!
Once this limited number of pieces is gone, we will never again have the chance to offer any more. These ceramics are INFINITELY MORE RARE THAN ANY ANCIENT ROMAN OR GREEK POTTERY.
The Urnfield Culture describes a tradition of Late Bronze Age central European societies dating back from 1300 B.C. to 700 B.C.. It gets its name from the practice of cremating the dead, placing the ashes in ceramic pots accompanied by other ceramic vessels, and then burying these pots in fields. These fields became ancient cemeteries and some included hundreds of burials while others were limited to only a few dozen per field. The practice of cremation is believed to have originated from the Balkans. Urnfield societies were based on economies of agriculture and animal husbandry.
The earliest Urnfield Culture societies cremated their dead and then dug graves whereby the ashes were simply scattered in the grave. Later, the practice changed to putting the ashes and bones in a large urn accompanied by other smaller ceramic vessels such as cups, bowls and small dishes. It is possible that food was also placed in this urn, all to be present with the deceased in the afterlife. Occasionally, jewelry is found in the urn which was worn by the deceased and survived the fire, but this is rare. Rich burials included grave gifts of spectacular objects in bronze such as elaborate spiral motif jewelry, fibulae, razors, hammered sheet armor, weapons such as swords, daggers, axes, spears and arrowheads, and vessels. In some cases, the objects like swords, are purposely destroyed as part of a ritual of the burial. The most prized bronze weapon was a sword. Other luxury grave gifts included amber or glass beads, and beautiful gold jewelry and appliqués reserved for the most wealthy and noble classes. Some burials have been found with entire wagons interred with the deceased!
One interesting member of the greater Urnfield Culture was the Lusatian Culture of eastern Europe. In Germany, the culture is known as 'Lausitz', named for the Lusatia area of eastern Germany where sites were first described in the 1800's by German pathologist and archaeologist, Rudolf Virchow (known today as the father of modern pathology). The Lusatian Culture peoples' interred cremated remains in pots to a time beyond central European societies, from the Late Bronze Age 1300 B.C., into the Early Iron Age around 500 B.C.. Lusatian Culture burials usually consist of a main urn that can range from modest sizes up to very large dimensions. In most cases, secondary ceramic vessels are included in the burial urn. The people of the Lusatian Culture were mainly farmers with domestication of animals and supplementing their diet with hunted game. Their settlements existed in both open and fortified plans.
The importance of the European Urnfield Culture is that it displays an ancient human concept of the existence of an afterlife and the cherishing of remains of deceased by loved ones. The placing of remains in a vessel demonstrates care of the deceased by the living. The inclusion of other vessels, accessories and gifts in the burial urn with the ashes, demonstrates the beliefs of these ancient peoples and helps us to delve into their mind, an invaluable insight since no written language existed in their societies at this time.
- Coles, J. A., Harding, A. F., The Bronze Age in Europe, 1979
- Jażdżewski, Konrad, Urgeschichte Mitteleuropas, 1984
- Mallory, J.P., In Search of the Indo-Europeans, 1989
- Piggott, Stuart, Ancient Europe from the Beginnings of Agriculture to Classical Antiquity, 1965
- Seidel, Ute, Bronzezeit. Württembergisches Landesmuseum Stuttgart, 1995
- Weber, G., Händler, Kieger, Bronzegießer, 1992


Warning: This document is for an old version of Rasa X.
Improve Assistant
Improving an assistant involves making incremental updates both on the Rasa X server and on your local machine. By incorporating automated testing into every update, you will immediately know how any changes to your training data affect the performance of your assistant.
Rasa X is not intended to be an all-in-one bot builder; many things are easier to do in a text editor on your local machine, and that's where you should do them. Rasa X is meant to help you improve some parts of your assistant using a UI, while still keeping it easy to make changes locally.
Making Incremental Updates
In order to improve your assistant, you will need to make updates inside and outside of Rasa X based on what you learn from your conversations. There are 3 types of updates you can make to improve your assistant: minor, major and architectural updates.
Minor Updates
The most efficient way to make iterative improvements to your model, such as fixing incorrect NLU / Core predictions or updating response templates, is to do it on the Rasa X server. From there, you can push your changes to the remote Git repository via the Integrated Version Control feature and run automated tests before redeploying.
One example of a minor update is annotating new messages that come from users talking to your assistant. You can improve your assistant by annotating new data from these users. You can classify the data to new or existing intents.
Data that is displayed on the Annotate new data screen comes from a few different sources. These sources include:
 - User conversations from sharing your assistant or via a custom channel like Slack, Twilio, etc.
 - Conversations you have with the assistant on the Talk to your bot screen.
On the Annotate new data screen, you can review & fix intent and entity predictions, mark them as correct, or delete them.
Rasa X NLU Train Annotate Screenshot
Once you select Mark Correct, the data will be moved from the Annotate new data screen to the Training Data screen.
Rasa X NLU Train Annotate Ok Button
To annotate entities, you select one or multiple words in a sentence. A menu will pop up where you select the Entity type and an optional Entity Synonym to be used instead of the actual text in the sentence:
Rasa X NLU Train Annotate Ok Button
Note
In order to use this training data you will need to retrain your assistant via the Train button.
Major Updates
For more disruptive changes to your assistant, like merging two intents into one or changing the logic of stories, whether you will want to use Rasa X or not depends on the situation. Usually smaller changes are easier in Rasa X, while larger changes are often faster in a text editor on your local machine. After you make these changes, you will want to push your updates to the Git repo connected to your Rasa X instance, and let a continuous integration (CI) server ensure that everything works as expected.
A good example of a major update that you can do with Rasa X is the creation of a new story using Interactive Learning mode on the Talk to your bot screen.
With Interactive Learning, you create a story by teaching your assistant as you talk to it. At each step in the conversation, you validate and correct the predictions that are made by your assistant.
To start, on the Talk to your bot screen you select the Interactive Learning button:
Interactive Learning Button Tooltip
In this example, when you enter hello, the assistant correctly predicts the intent greet. However, because you are in Interactive Learning mode, the conversation with the assistant pauses until you mark this as a correct prediction by clicking the check box.
Interactive Learning Hello Greet
As soon as you click the check box, the sentence with it's prediction will be added to the Training Data screen. If a sentence happens to be already in the Training Data, it will not be added again to avoid duplication.
You can check if a sentence like 'Yoh!' also triggers the greet intent, by refreshing the page, switching again to Interactive Learning mode, and typing it in to check the prediction:
Interactive Learning Hello Update
In this case, the assistant predicts the intent affirm, which is wrong. You can change the predicted intent in the dropdown to greet, and then click on the checkbox.
Interactive Learning Sup Update
After clicking the checkbox, you will see the next predicted Core action. The conversation will again pause until you validate or correct this. In this example, the next action of the assistant is correct, and you click the checkbox.
Interactive Learning Greeting Action
The conversation is moving along nicely, and after the assistant has completed the utter_great action, you will see the next predicted step in the conversation. It is predicted that the assistant should take as Next Action: action_listen. This is correct, so you click the checkbox.
Interactive Learning Listen Action
You continue this flow until you have created a new story that you want to add to the Training Data.
On the right hand side of the screen you can find the Story till now and you can save it in the Training Data by clicking the Save Story button.
Interactive Learning Story
This completes the major update of creating a new story via Interactive Learning, and you can now retrain your assistant via the Train button.
Architectural Updates
If the improvement requires altering the structure of your assistant that surrounds and defines your model, such as implementing a custom NLU component or custom action, you will want to use a text editor on your local machine. After you have improved your assistant, you will once again want to go through the process of pushing your changes to the Git repository and then testing and deploying with CI/CD.
Using Integrated Version Control
Integrating your Rasa X server with Git enables you and your team to apply best practices from software engineering to the development of AI assistants.
Once you have connected your assistant's repository to your Rasa X server, Rasa X will automatically pull data from your remote repository and reflect those updates in Rasa X. At this initial stage, Rasa X will have the latest data from your remote repository on the Git server. Rasa X will indicate that you are up to date with the latest changes with a green state in the side bar.
Rasa X server in a clean Git state
When you make a change to your assistant in Rasa X, the side bar state will transition to an orange state. This means that you have changes that can be pushed to the remote repository when you are ready. During this time, Rasa X won't fetch new changes from the remote repository to avoid overwriting your changes.
Rasa X server with changes which can be committed and pushed.
When you are finished making changes and are ready to add them to your Git server, you can commit and push them by clicking on the Git icon in the sidebar. If your remote branch has not changed while you were annotating, you can choose between
 - pushing changes directly to the remote branch
 - pushing them to a new branch
If new changes were added to the remote branch while you were annotating, you will only be able to push your changes to a new branch to avoid potential merge conflicts. Rasa X will notify you that there have been changes to the remote branch with a red state on the side bar.
Rasa X server with changes while remote is ahead.
When you are ready, click on the side bar icon and follow its instructions. Once your changes are pushed, Rasa X will return to being in sync with your remote branch and will pull in the latest changes from your remote as they become available.
Note
If you pushed your changes to a new branch, these changes won't be reflected in Rasa X until you have merged them into the target branch.
You can of course also discard your changes. Rasa X will then be reset to the latest state of your remote branch.
Leveraging Git
Integrating Rasa X with Git enables your team to use the full power of the Git ecosystem:
 - Apply a review process for any changes to your model
 - Automatically evaluate dialogues end-to-end, running through test conversations and making sure that both NLU and Core make correct predictions, as part of a CI pipeline (check out End-to-End Evaluation in the Rasa docs for more information)
 - Automatically generate reports, a confusion matrix, and a confidence histogram on your new model as part of a CI pipeline (check out Evaluating Models in the Rasa docs for more information)
 - Minimize the time from change to production with continuous deployment


text:
Effects of Different Irrigation Regimes and Genotypes on Yield Contributing Parameters of Potato (Solanum Tuberosum L.) Under Chhattisgarh, India
Keywords:Irrigation regimes, Potato genotypes, Fresh weight of tuber, Growth parameters, Harvest index (%)
The field experiment was conducted at the Horticultural Research Farm, College of Agriculture, Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Raipur, Chhattisgarh, India during Rabi 2018-19 in Split plot Design with four level of irrigation regimes and four potato genotypes. The irrigation treatments were allotted in the main plot while, potato genotypes allotted in the sub-plots. At 75 days after planting (DAP) and 90 days after planting (DAP), the various yield contributing parameters were affected significantly by the different irrigation regimes except the plant emergence and number of shoots/plant. The number of shoots/plant, number of total leaves/plant, fresh weight of tubers/plant (g), total number of tuber/plant and harvest index (%) were significantly affected by the different irrigation regimes and potato genotypes. The plant with irrigation at 25 mm cumulative pan evaporation (CPE) produced the maximum plant height, number of shoots/plant, number of total leaves/plant, number of tubers/plant, fresh weight/plant and harvest index at 75 DAP and 90 DAP, respectively. The potato genotype AICRP-P-38 gave the highest fresh weight of tuber/ plant, number of tubers/plant and harvest index at 75 DAP and 90 DAP, respectively.
Bangladesh J. Bot. 52(1): 211-216, 2023 (March)
How to Cite
© Bangladesh Botanical Society
Authors are required to transfer the copyright of their articles to the journal. The Declaration form is available here _URL_


RT - Journal Article T1 - Effect of Long-term Continuous Methimazole Treatment of Thyrotoxicosisi: Comparison with Radioiodine JF - IJEM YR - 2011 JO - IJEM VO - 12 IS - 5 UR - _URL_ SP - 466 EP - 475 K1 - Methimazole K1 - Radioiodine K1 - Hyperthyroidism K1 - Recurrence K1 - Complications AB - AbstractIntroduction: The major complication of radioiodine therapy for thyrotoxicosis is hypoth-yroidism, the long-term management of which is often problematic. In this study, the long-term effects of continuous methimazole (MMI) therapy are investigated. Materials and Methods: One hundred and thirty-two patients, aged between 36-66 years, with Graves recurrence, were semi randomly randomized in 2 groups for continuous antithyroid and radioiodine treatment. The number of thyroid dysfunctions in each patient were recorded and serum TSH, FT4, Anti TPO, TRAb, FBS, HOMA IR, and lipid profiles were measured. Bone mineral density and echocar-diography were performed. Results: There was no significant differences in age, duration of symptoms and thyroid function between the 2 groups. No serious complications occurred in the MMI group and no difference in any of parameters was seen between groups 1 and 2. Goiter rate and anti TPO concentration were higher in group 1 than in group 2. Serum triglycerides and cholesterol were increased in group 2 as compared to group 1. Bone mineral density was more reduced in group 2, especially in the spine. Echocardiography showed diastolic dysfunction in group 2 as compared to group 1. Some parameters in neuro-pschyciatric evaluation were significantly better in the MMI group, as compared to the radioiodine one. Conclusion: Considering it is a safe treatment and has fewer complications, methimazole is another option for patients with recurrent Graves', who do not wish to use radioiodine. LA eng UL _URL_ M3 ER -


text:
An information paper, released in September 2007, described revisions to Australia's national and international accounts to be implemented in 2009. These revisions result from the updating of the respective international standards - the System of National Accounts (SNA) and the Balance of Payments Manual (BPM). This information paper is one in a series that provides more detail about the most significant changes being made to Australia's national and international accounts.
This paper discusses the treatment of Workers' remittances. Workers' remittances are cash or in-kind transfers by resident households in one economy to households of other economies. A methodology has been developed to estimate Workers' remittances debits (i.e. transfers out of Australia). The new data series will commence from September quarter 1989 and will be included under Personal transfers in the Secondary Income Account of the Balance of Payments from the September quarter 2009 issue of Balance of Payments and International Investment Position, Australia (cat. no. 5302.0).
DEFINITION AND STANDARDS
Workers' remittances are current transfers made by employees to residents of another economy. For many economies, Workers' remittances can represent a sizeable and stable source of funds that can exceed official aid or financial inflows from foreign direct investment. Workers' remittances is of considerable interest to economists and analysts because it can have a significant impact on poverty reduction and / or can finance economic growth in receiving economies.
The definition of Workers' remittances has not changed between the BPM 5th edition (BPM5) and the BPM 6th edition (BPM6), although in BPM6 Workers' remittances are included as a supplementary item under the Personal transfers category. Relevant extracts from BPM5 and BPM6 follow.
BPM5, paragraph 302 - Workers' remittances
Workers' remittances cover current transfers by migrants who are employed in their new economies and considered residents there. (A migrant is a person who comes to an economy and stays, or is expected to stay, for a year or more.) Workers' remittances often occur between related persons. Persons who work for and stay in new economies for less than a year are considered non residents; their transactions are appropriate mainly to compensation of employees. Workers' remittances are not currently estimated in Australia's Balance of Payments due to the difficulty in collecting or estimating this data.
BPM6, paragraphs 12.47 to 12.50 - Personal Transfers (includes Workers' remittances)
Personal transfers consist of all current transfers in cash or in kind made or received by resident households to or from non-resident households. Personal transfers thus include all current transfers between resident and non-resident individuals, independently of:
(a) the source of income of the sender (irrespective of whether the sender receives income from labour, entrepreneurial or property income, social benefits, and any other types of transfers; or disposes assets); and
(b) the relationship between the households (irrespective of whether they are related or unrelated individuals).
By convention, current transfers between households with regard to lotteries and other gambling are included under personal transfers.
Workers' remittances are current transfers made by employees to residents of another economy. They are included as a supplementary item.
The connection to the residence status of the person concerned is important in determining whether a personal transfer is involved. In the case of workers, personal transfers include only those transfers abroad made by workers who are residents of the economy in which they are employed.
Funds sent abroad by individuals who are resident in the economy in which they are employed, self-employed, or operating a business, for the purpose of making a deposit in his or her own account with a bank located abroad represent a financial investment, which is recorded in the financial account, rather than as a personal transfer. But, any withdrawals to provide resources to a relative or another person (without a quid pro quo) should be recorded as a personal transfer.
In BPM5 Workers' remittances is recorded in its own category and is a sub-component of 'Current transfers'. The current presentation is shown in table 23 of Balance of Payments and International Investment Position, Australia (cat. no. 5302.0). BPM6 includes Workers' remittances under a new category termed 'Personal transfers'. Personal transfers is a sub-component of the 'Secondary Income'. In BPM6 Workers' remittances is a supplementary item meaning that each country can decide if this item should be recorded separately.
Along with other changes to the international accounts, the revised treatment of Worker's remittances will be implemented in the September quarter 2009 issue of Balance of Payments and International Investment Position, Australia (cat. no. 5302.0). Workers' remittances will be presented as a supplementary item in the 'Secondary income' table. The new classification and estimation methodology will also be applied in the 2008-09 issue of Australian System of National Accounts (cat. no. 5204.0) and the September quarter 2009 issue of Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product (cat. no. 5206.0).
WORKERS' REMITTANCES CREDITS (INFLOWS)
It is not currently possible to estimate the value of Workers' remittances credits (inflows) as there is no information available regarding the amounts expatriate Australians remit back to Australia. It is considered unlikely that Australia receives significant amounts of remittances. Therefore, both the Personal transfers credits item and the Workers' remittances credits supplementary item will be recorded as not available (n.a.).
NEW METHODOLOGY AND DATA SOURCES FOR WORKERS' REMITTANCES DEBITS (OUTFLOWS)
The estimate for Workers' remittances debits (outflows) is derived using the following formula:
Total Workers remittances = population of remitters x average amount remitted, where
- Population of remitters = foreign born population x percentage remitting to another economy
- Average remitted = average income of foreign born employees x percentage of income remitted to another economy
ESTIMATES OF WORKERS' REMITTANCES DEBITS AND IMPACT ON THE CURRENT ACCOUNT
- The data sources for the above components are:
- Estimates of foreign born employees (i.e. foreign born population) and average weekly earnings (i.e. average income) of foreign born employees aged between 15 and 54 years are derived from Employee Earnings, Benefits and Trade Union Membership, Australia (cat. no. 6310.0).
- The percentage of foreign born employees remitting to another economy and the percentage of their income remitted to another economy are obtained from the 2004 report on the Second Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants in Australia (LSIA2), The Changing Settlement Experience of New Migrants, prepared by the National Institute of Labour Studies, Flinders University.
Secondary income (Current transfers) debits will increase by $676 million in 2006-07 due to the incorporation of an estimate of Workers' remittances. This is likely to increase current account debits by between 0.2% and 0.3%.
Table 1: Estimates of Workers' remittances debits and impact on the current account 1996-97 to 2006-07
Workers' remittances debits
Current account debits
Estimated impact on
Current account debits
Over the past ten years the value of Workers' remittances has increased from $414 million to $676 million, an average increase of 5% per year. The percentage increase was lower in 2000-01 and 2003-04 due to falls in the employed foreign born population.
Estimates for Workers' remittances debits have been compiled from September quarter 1989 onwards. Estimates could not be compiled for earlier periods because estimates of the average weekly earnings of foreign born persons are not available prior to 1989-90. As a result, both the Personal transfers debits item and the Workers' remittances debits supplementary item will be recorded as not available (n.a.) prior to September quarter 1989.
Workers' remittances are one part of Personal transfers albeit usually the most significant. Due to the lack of information currently available on other Personal transfers, Workers' remittances debits and Personal transfer debits will have the same value.
For further information about revisions to Australia's national and international accounts to be implemented in 2009 see:
For further information please contact Peter Meadows on 02 6252 7209.
This page last updated 2 June 2011


The Difference between Jail and Prison
The Difference between Jail and Prison
The type of facility a convicted criminal will serve their time depends on the level and severity of the crime, the class of the crime, and the type of crime committed. In the following article, I will explain the difference between jail and prison while also mentioning federal prison. Focus will be given to the offense committed by the inmate.
County Jail
County jails are funded and run by the county or city government.
People who are sent to County Jails fit one of three criteria:
 - The person was just arrested and is being for a plea bargain, trial, or sentencing.
 - County Jails also act as holding cells for those who were transferred and are awaiting transportation to State or Federal Prison.
 - People who have only been convicted of misdemeanors and are serving shorter sentences; usually only a year or less.
State Prison
State prisons are funded and run by the state or federal government, and are often referred to as penitentiaries.
People are sent to State Prison if they fit these criteria:
 - The person has been convicted of a felony criminal offense and is serving a sentence longer than a year.
 - Those who are released from prison are usually released under the supervision of parole officers, halfway houses, or other type of community program.
Federal Prison
Federal Prisons are funded and run by the federal government. The requirements of being sentenced to federal prison are much stricter than any other correctional facility.
People are sent to Federal Prison if they commit the following types of crimes:
 - If the person committed a crime on federal property, like a national park or military base.
 - If the person committed a crime against a federal officer, like a DEA or FBI agent.
 - If the person commits a crime across state lines; like kidnapping or murdering a victim and driving them through several states.
 - If the person commits a crime that involves immigration or customs violations; such as human trafficking.
Further reading:
The Bureau of Justice Statistics – Information on correctional population in the United States
Be the first to comment
Leave a Reply


Back to Blog
Mirror Care 101
Mirror Care 101
Mirrors can really enhance any space throughout your home. But when a mirror is neglected and the frame or glass looks streaky and dusty, it can leave a pretty bad impression. Mirrors are the focal part of a room and attract attention, so it's important to keep them clean and looking great. Here are some tips to help you take proper care of your mirrors.
Always use a clean, gentle cloth when cleaning the glass
Mirrors are delicate, so it's imperative to be gentle when it's time to clean the surface of the glass. Never use an old, dirty rag. This can easily scratch up the glass if there are any abrasive particles or areas on the cloth. Using a soft, clean rag or paper towel works best.
Avoid using harsh cleaning agents
Using toxic cleaning agents that contain chlorine or ammonia can also damage the frame, so avoid using these. You can make a simple cleaning solution that works better than those toxic glass cleaners. Just combine equals part of warm water and dish soap. Even better, use M&T Glass Cleaner!
Avoid spraying cleaning agents directly on the mirror
Spraying cleaning agents directly on the glass surface of the mirror allows the cleaning product to drip down and seep in between the seams of the frame. This can end up damaging the backing of the frame over time. Always spray your cloth or paper towel when cleaning the surface.
Keep mirrors dry
For mirrors that are placed in the bathroom or any other space that experiences heat and moisture, this can make them deteriorate quickly if not maintained. Always try to ensure that rooms where mirrors are placed are well ventilated. Any "sweating" that may occur can end up damaging the mirror and frame over time so wipe mirrors down frequently, especially after a hot shower.
Always be diligent when hanging mirrors
If you're hanging a mirror on a wall, always ensure that there is sufficient support to handle the weight of the mirror. Check out this guide for hanging heavy mirrors.
Since mirrors are often a focal part of a room, they should be cared for and maintained properly. There are many common mistakes that homeowners perform when cleaning the mirror that can actually end up doing more harm than good. Avoid these mistakes by following these tips to keep you mirrors clean and looking great.


text:
Welcome to randomFAQ! Our Random Fact generator will add another random fact or frequently asked question from our massive database every day. Using the HTML code provided on the right side of each page, you can display a specific or random FAQ, or the latest fact of the day, on your website, blog, or MySpace profile. Just choose which fact to display, and any color to match your site. Please enjoy the unlimited use of this free service!
Fact of the Day
SGR-1806-20 is a star in the constellation Sagittarius. SGR-1806-20 had a starquake in December of 2004. This quake created the first known cracks in the surface of a star. Its magnetic field measures one million billion Gauss. Unbelievably, the diameter of the star is only 12 miles.
The earth's magnetic field is 0.5 Gauss. A magnet on the refrigerator in your kitchen has a field of about 10 Gauss.
It is said that if the earth were within 10 light years of SGR-1806-20 during the quake, all life would be annihilated. Some satellites were affected by the magnetism.
View All Facts


text:
Are you using mouse acceleration settings in Reflex or QL and want to get the same feeling in the other game or driver? Do you want to take your driver settings and use them in a game where the computer doesn't have the driver installed? I can help (if QL is involved, I'm assuming cl_mouseaccelstyle 1). First, here's a table of the equivalent options/commands between the driver, Quake Live, and Reflex:
Use this calculator if you want to convert from Quake Live to Reflex or the driver:
Note: Once you've set post-scale values to work as m_yaw and m_pitch values, you will want to set m_yaw back to 0.022 and m_pitch back to 0.022 or -0.022 (depending on if you use inverted mouse).
Use this calculator if you want to convert from Reflex to Quake Live or the driver:
Use this calculator if you want to convert your driver settings to a specific game:
There are multiple ways to perform these conversions. If you want to do any math yourself, keep in mind that sensitivity is multiplied in before the acceleration, offset, and sensitivity cap calculations are performed, whereas post-scale values are multiplied in after.


This documentation is archived and is not being maintained.
BuildDependencySet Class
Represents dependencies returned by the build manager.
System.Object
 System.Web.Compilation.BuildDependencySet
Namespace: System.Web.Compilation
Assembly: System.Web (in System.Web.dll)
public sealed class BuildDependencySet
The BuildDependencySet type exposes the following members.
 NameDescription
Public propertyHashCodeGets a string representing the hash code of the dependent virtual paths.
Public propertyVirtualPathsGets a list of virtual path dependencies.
Top
 NameDescription
Public methodEquals(Object)Determines whether the specified Object is equal to the current Object. (Inherited from Object.)
Protected methodFinalizeAllows an object to try to free resources and perform other cleanup operations before it is reclaimed by garbage collection. (Inherited from Object.)
Public methodGetHashCodeServes as a hash function for a particular type. (Inherited from Object.)
Public methodGetTypeGets the Type of the current instance. (Inherited from Object.)
Protected methodMemberwiseCloneCreates a shallow copy of the current Object. (Inherited from Object.)
Public methodToStringReturns a string that represents the current object. (Inherited from Object.)
Top
The BuildDependencySet object for an application can be retrieved through the GetCachedBuildDependencySet method. It contains the properties that represent the list of dependencies.
.NET Framework
Supported in: 4, 3.5, 3.0, 2.0
Windows 7, Windows Vista SP1 or later, Windows XP SP3, Windows XP SP2 x64 Edition, Windows Server 2008 (Server Core not supported), Windows Server 2008 R2 (Server Core supported with SP1 or later), Windows Server 2003 SP2
The .NET Framework does not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.
Any public static (Shared in Visual Basic) members of this type are thread safe. Any instance members are not guaranteed to be thread safe.
Show:


text:
Photo: Greek Bronze Helmet
Credit: Photo courtesy Israel Antiquities Authority.
Archaeologists have found a Greek bronze helmet covered with gold leaf that is 2,600-year-old. The bronze helmet probably belonged to a Greek mercenary who fought with Neco, a pharaoh of Egypt. The helmet was discovered in the waters of Haifa Bay, in Israel.
Neco (his name also appears as Necho in some translations of the Bible), was a pharaoh of the 26th Dynasty (Saite). He ruled from 609 to 595 B.C. Neco appears in the Hebrew Bible as the one who caused the death of Josiah, king of Judah, at Megiddo in 609 (see 2 Kgs. 23:28–30; 2 Chr. 35:20–27).
During the struggle between Babylon and Assyria in the late 7th century B.C., Neco took the side of Assyria in its effort to stop the rise of Babylon.
Below is an excerpt from an article about the bronze helmet that was published in Live Science:
A Greek bronze helmet, covered with gold leaf and decorated with snakes, lions and a peacock's tail (or palmette), has been discovered in the waters of Haifa Bay in Israel. But how this helmet ended up at the bottom of the bay is a mystery.
The helmet dates back around 2,600 years and likely belonged to a wealthy Greek mercenary who took part in a series of wars, immortalized in the Bible, which ravaged the region at that time. Archaeologists believe that he likely fought for an Egyptian pharaoh named Necho II.
This warrior was likely one of Egyptian pharaoh Necho II's troops, which he sent through Israel accompanied by a fleet of ancient ships. The pharaoh was heavily involved in military campaigns in the region for nearly a decade, operations in which this warrior and his group likely were involved. [Photos: Amazing Egyptian Discoveries]
The series of wars engulfed Egypt, Judah (a Jewish kingdom), Assyria and Babylon, with Necho II of Egypt intervening on the side of Assyria.
The end result of these conflicts was the conquest of Judah and the rise of a resurgent Babylon led by King Nebuchadnezzar II. These events would be immortalized in the [Hebrew Bible]
You can read the article in its entirety at Live Science.
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary


text:
This post is also available in: עברית (Hebrew)
The inspection of road tunnels is operated regularly in order to detect anomalies. Drones may now replace inspection teams in this demanding task. The Land Transport Authority (LTA) in Singapore is weighing the option of using drones and other unmanned systems in inspecting Singapore's underground railway systems. It has issued a Request for Information (RFI) to seek the industry's participation in the use of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) and Unmanned Vehicle (UV) technology for road tunnel inspections.
"It's a three-hour manual process, involving two workers walking along our underground (the MRT) tunnels for inspection. In the future, a drone zipping along the tunnel will be able to complete the mission in a much quicker and safer manner. Welcome to the world of technology and automation," LTA said in a statement.
Participants of the RFI are invited to design and develop suitable trials based on UAS technology to conduct automated inspections in MRT tunnels. They can also develop trials involving UAS, UV or other technology for the inspection of road tunnels. The trials should incorporate 360-degree video mapping of the tunnels, as well as software to automatically detect defects from the video taken and provide their location.
Through the RFI, LTA will evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of leveraging such technologies in the routine inspection of tunnels.
According to sbr.com, manual inspections are currently carried out regularly on rail and road tunnels to detect anomalies, such as cracks or water leakage. LTA's road tunnel inspections also cover rainwater storage tanks where utility lines are located. These checks allow LTA to ascertain the health of the tunnel structures so that necessary maintenance can be carried out. Such checks require workers to physically go through the tunnels. The inspection of rail tunnels is even more challenging as workers can only do so within a very limited number of hours at night, after passenger service ceases.
"The use of automated technologies such as UAS and UVs will not only improve the accuracy of inspections but will also free up engineers' time, enabling them to focus on the analysis of the data captured to recommend any necessary remedial measures," LTA said.
This RFI expands on LTA's proof-of-concept trials at ten Thomson-East Coast Line sites, where UAS are being deployed to monitor work progress by taking aerial photographs and videos. These new trials will help to further current research developments and validate UAS and UV technologies under demanding operational conditions. If found effective, LTA aims to fully deploy these technologies for tunnel inspections in the next five years.


text:
Sumatra, erected by a Decree of 30 June, 1911, and entrusted to the Dutch Capuchins. Previously it formed part of the Vicariate Apostolic of Batavia, which is under the care of the Jesuits of Holland. The new prefecture comprises Sumatra and the surrounding islands, including Bangka (area, 4888 sq. miles; population, 78,000) The Island of Sumatra, referred to as Jabadin by Ptolemy, and visited by Marco Polo in 1292, was discovered by the Portuguese navigator Siqueira in 1508, and occupied by the Dutch in 1599. It extends from 95º 16' to 106º 3' E. long., and from 5º 40' N. to 5º 59' S. lat., and has an area of about 181,000 square miles. The natives, of Malayan race, number about 5,500,000, exclusive of the little known inland tribes. They are indolent and cruel; their religion is a mixture of fetishism and Mahommedanism. At the beginning of 1911 the Jesuits had four chief mission centres in Sumatra, — at Medan, Padang, Koata Radja, and Tandjeong-Sakti, — and sixteen minor stations. The Sisters of Charity of Tilburg (Holland) were established at Padang. There were two mission schools, and 4600 Catholics of whom 3200 were Europeans.
Missiones Catholicæ (Rome, 1907), 263-6; Pius Almanak (Amsterdam, 1912); ZONDERVAN, Banka en zijne bewoners (Amsterdam, 1895); YZERMAN, Dwars door Sumatra (Haarlem, 1896).
APA citation. (1912). Prefecture Apostolic of Sumatra. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. _URL_
MLA citation. "Prefecture Apostolic of Sumatra." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 14. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. .
Transcription. This article was transcribed for New Advent by Douglas J. Potter. Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. July 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Contact information. The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is feedback732 at newadvent.org. (To help fight spam, this address might change occasionally.) Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads.


text:
We have studied the characteristics of a pulsed gas-discharge laser on iron bromide vapor generating radiation with a wavelength of 452.9 nm at a pulse repetition frequency (PRF) of 5–30 kHz. The maximum output power amounted to 10 mW at a PRF within 5–15 kHz for a voltage of 20–25 kV applied to electrodes of the discharge tube. Addition of HBr to the medium produced leveling of the radial profile of emission. Initial weak lasing at a wavelength of 868.9 nm was observed for the first time, which ceased with buildup of the main 452.9-nm line.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)


Skip to definition.
Noun: morals mor-ulz [N. Amer], mó-rulz [Brit]
 1. Motivation based on ideas of right and wrong
 - ethical motive, ethics, morality
Noun: moral mor-ul [N. Amer], mó-rul [Brit]
 1. The significance of a story or event
 "the moral of the story is to love thy neighbour";
 - lesson
Type of: import, meaning, motivation, motive, need, significance, signification
Encyclopedia: Morals