File Exchange Pick of the Week
Our best user submissions
'Custom Syntax for Formatted Strings with %s'\{SPRINTF}
Greg's pick this week is Nice sprintf syntax using \ (left divide) by Will Fox.
A simple entry that exemplifies the extensibility of MATLAB.
Create a formatted character array with the following syntax
c = 'Hello %s, my favorite number is %.5f!'\{"Greg", pi}
c =
'Hello Greg, my favorite number is 3.14159!'
where the left argument is the format definition, and the right argument is a cell array of values applied to the format definition.
How is it done?
The author Will creates a new syntax for creating formatted character arrays in MATLAB where the left divide (MLDIVIDE) operator is used to apply the SPRINTF function.
MATLAB permits the overloading of many operators. Will took advantage of an operator that is not available for cell arrays, and added it to the Cell class of datatypes in MATLAB.
The code in this entry is very simple. It maps the input arguments to MLDIVIDE to the input arguments of SPRINTF.
Brilliance in simplicity.
Should I Learn a New Syntax?
Adding new syntaxes to your code can make things harder in the long term if they are not used consistently (at least within a particular project).
Injecting part of my philisophical view of coding, "consistency is key to readabilty". In my experience, I spend much more time reading code than writing it, so applying consistent coding patterns is a key practice for me, even if no one else will see the code. If the code written is useful then I will likely need to maintain and enhance it in the future. I apply the same ideas when constructing Simulink and Stateflow models.
I'm a fan of this very crisp syntax as more consise syntaxes can (but not always) reduce cognitive load once you have learned to interpret them.
["Let's construct a string by including this syntax: " + '%s!'\{'format'}
 "Adding in some " + 'numbers: %f, %.0d, %-04.4g'\{exp(1), rand*10, pi}
ans = 2×1 string array
 "Let's construct a string by including this syntax: format!"
 "Adding in some numbers: 2.718282, 1e+00, 3.142"
A similar approach is taken for regular expressions in Javascript where a special compact syntax is applied for constant formatted regular expressions.
But, be careful! This is not a standard syntax and it does not appear in the MATLAB Documentation. This will hinder new coders who come onto the project and are not familiar with this syntax or the ability to overload MATLAB operators.
Opportunities for Improvement
Using the ISCHAR and ISCELL functions when testing for the appropraite datatypes in the MLDIVIDE function will likely improve performance with no loss of readability. Currently the ISA function is used instead.
tic;isa('myArray', 'char'); toc
Elapsed time is 0.005289 seconds.
tic; ischar('myArray'); toc
Elapsed time is 0.000234 seconds.
Perhaps this can be extended for the new STRING datatype introduced in MATLAB R2016b. Or applied to regular expressions instead!
Should concise syntaxes like this be built into the MATLAB language?
Have you ever written overloaded methods for your classes? How else could this type of syntax be used?
Let us know here.
 - print
 - send email


text:
The Human Heart: Vulnerable When Hit or Physically Shocked
By Dorothy B. Reitman, Uechi-Ryu Karate
The lay public and newcomers to the martial arts tend to consider the most serious injuries that a person may inflict upon another to be percussive injuries such as the breaking of bones or head injuries. However, strikes that may not even cause bruising could possibly lead to serious injury or even death. [Stephen Drehobl]
The karate style, "Uechi Ryu KarateDo" contains such a movement that contemporary practitioners still struggle to understand. The strike is called Boshuken Morote Zuki in Japanese, which simply means, "thumb-knuckle strike with both hands".
The description of the Boshuken Morote Zuki Strike
Modern Arnis Philippine Martial Art "Stick Fighting" Remy Amador Presas
The black circles in the above drawing are the strike zones.
We will refer to the person performing the strike as "A" and the person struck as "B". "A" drives both hands straightforward in nearly simultaneous bilateral palm heel/thumb knuckle strikes. In kata, the movements are as follows: "A"'s right hand, starting at the ilium, strikes "B" on the left ilium; "A"'s left hand, starting at the pectoralis muscle strikes the right pectoralis muscle of "B". In other words, "A" strikes targets on "B" correspond to his/her own kata starting points. It is important to note that the strike when delivered in a real fight would probably not begin from the origin points in kata. The hands would simply srike from where ever they happened to be at the moment. The kata provides the key to unlocking the mystery of one possible application of this movement by cryptically informing the practitioner where the strike is to be placed on the opponent. The power for this strike is not confined to movement of the arms. It comes initially from the ground /feet, progressing to the knees, hips, waist, and subsequently up the spine and out to the arms to the thumbs..
Can the shock of the Boshuken Morote Zuki directly affect the heart's rhythm?
In order to understand the implications of the Boshuken Morote Zuki, we will examine the anatomy and physiology of the heart beat cycle.
The SA node (sinoatrial node) lies in the right atrium beneath the opening of the superior vena cava. See figure 18-2a. Each cardiac cycle is initiated by the SA node and sets the basic pace for the heart rate. The SA node is the pacemaker of the heart. The SA node initiates electrical impulses that spread out over both atria causing them to contract. The impulse then passes to the AV (atrioventricular node) located near the bottom of the interatrial septum. (Between the atrium and ventricle.) Contraction of ventricles is stimulated by the Purkinje fibers. [Principles of Anatomy and Physiology Gerard J. Tortora, Nicholas P. Anagnostakos ]
The operation of the SA node can be disrupted by shock, such as a physical strike to that area of the torso. When something disrupts the SA node the AV node takes over to initiate a basic pace for the heart rate. When both the SA node and the AV node are Almost simultaneously disrupted, the heartbeat can be dangerously affected. The heart could be profoundly affected to the point of cessation of function.
When the right hand strikes the Ilium a shock wave radiates across the torso, while at the opposite "corner" of the torso, the left hand strikes, which also generates a shock wave across the torso in the opposite direction. The proximity to the heart and the SA and AV nodes may allow the shock waves of the strikes to disrupt the operation of the SA, AV nodes and thereby disrupt the timing of the heartbeat cycle. How serious the strike is depends on where in the heart beat cycle the subject is when hit. The intensity of the strike may not have to be very strong in order to have devastating results. An interesting subtlety was noted by Mr. James Thompson, who pointed out that the potential energy in this movement is amplified by the whiplike phenomenon of the hand corresponding to the forward foot always striking almost simultaneously before the hand corresponding to the rear foot. [Oral seminar communication ]
In training, I was struck very lightly with the Boshuken Morote Zuki, and observed that my heart fluttered and that some light headedness occurred. The strike appeared to disrupt the rhythm of my heart. From my perspective as a registered nurse, I believe that the results of this strike could be very serious, even lethal.
Severe disruption of the heart's life sustaining function is not confined to the martial arts.
In the Philadelphia area alone, several recent newscasts have reported that baseball players struck in the chest by the baseball subsequently lost consciousness and died. A five year old girl in Kyoto, Japan playing catch with friends died after having been struck in the chest by a rubber ball [Mainichi Shimbin, March 17, 2002]
I would like to thank Stephen Drehobl, David Elkins, and Harvey Liebergott for their encouragement and help in preparing this article.
Dorothy Reitman has been studying Uechi Ryu Karate at the Uechi Ryu Karate Academy in Collegeville from Sensei Stephen Drehobl, Yandan since January 2000. She received her Shodan from Sensei James Thompson, Shihan Kyoshi Hachidan June 6, 2003. She has been a registered nurse since July 9, 1977.

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


text:
ACT OF SETTLEMENT (1781)
The Act of Settlement 1781 was passed by the British Parliament on 5th July 1781 to remove the defects of Regulating Act of 1773. The key provision of this Act was to demarcate the relations between the Supreme Court and the Governor General in Council. This Act is popularly known as " The Amending Act of 1781" or "Declaratory Act of 1781".
The basic and fundamental aim of this Act was to establish a new system of Courts to remove the grievances against the Supreme Court and the failure of the Regulating Act's aim of controlling administration through Judiciary.
The conflict between the Supreme Court and Supreme Council reached its apex during _PHONE_. Then, the Supreme Council filed a petition against the improper working of supreme court in Bengal. Similar petition was filed by various zamindars, company's servants and so on. The Parliament, therefore, appointed a Committee (Touchet) to enquire into this matter and report as quickly as possible. Then the Committee submitted its report and as a result the Parliament passed the Act of Settlement in 1781.
Reasons for passing of Act of Settlement 1781:-
- Though the Regulating Act of 1773, brought a major change in the Government's system, but there were certain loopholes which this act failed to achieve. Those loopholes were further fulfilled by the "Act of Settlement 1781"
- Some issues arose with the Administration of Warren Hastings, which led to a lot of discontent and criticisms amongst people. Some of the examples of such issues are :- Patna Case, Cossijurah Case, Nand Kumar Case and so on.
- There was a huge rift between the Supreme Court and Governor-General in Council which imbalanced the Administration to a certain extent.
- Agitation by the people since there was an interference by the Government in personal laws of the communities.
Aim of the Act of Settlement 1781:-
- To indemnify the Governor-General and the Officers of the Council who acted under their orders in undue resistance made to the process of the Supreme Court.
- To remove the doubts and difficulties of the Regulating Act and the Charter which basically created divisions between the Government and Court.
- To provide assistance to the Government of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa so that the revenue can be collected with certainty at any point of time.
- To protect the Rights, Usages, and Privileges of the Indigenous people.
Features of the Act of Settlement 1781
- The Governor-General and Council were exempted from the Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court for the acts done in official way.
- It excluded the matters related to revenue from the Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.
- It even exempted the servants of the company from the Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court for their Official actions.
- It provided that the Supreme Court should have the Jurisdiction over all the Inhabitants. It also asked the Court to administer the personal law of the "Defendants".
- It laid down that the appeals from the Provincial Courts could be taken to the Governor-General-In Council but not to the Supreme Court.
- It basically empowered the Governor-General-In-Council to frame Rules and Regulations for the Provincial Courts and Councils.
The above saying proves, that the "Act of settlement 1781" was the first attempt in India towards the Separation of the Executive from the Judiciary by defining the respective areas of Jurisdiction.
The "Act of Settlement 1781" tried to reconcile the differences and misunderstandings between the Supreme Court and Supreme Council to ensure the harmony in the working of these two vital organs of the Government System. So now let's look at some more provisions of this act.
They are as follows :-
- This Act provided that the Governor-General and Council were completely immune from the Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court for the orders passed or Act done by them in public.
- The Supreme Court had no Jurisdiction in the matters concerning the collection of revenue.
- The Jurisdiction of the "Supreme Court" was precisely defined in this Act. Section 9 of the Act of Settlement provided that the person who had any interest or control over lands and rents into the provinces of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa were immune from the Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.
- This Act provided that the person who were employed in company or under the Governor General were excluded from the Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court in matters relating to Inheritance, Succession, Contracts except wrong Trespasses.
- This Act provided that no action can be taken against any Judicial Officer in the Supreme Court for any act done by him/her in exercise of his/her Judicial functions.
- The British Parliament for the very first time gave recognition to the Civil and Criminal Jurisdiction of the Provincial Courts which were Independently existing. (Under this Act)
- This Act specified that the Civil and Religious Usages of the Natives and their Ancient Rites must be Protected, Preserved and Safeguarded.
- The framing of Rules and Regulations for conducting Civil Suits and Criminal Trials were only possible due to this Act, since it empowered the Governor-General and the Council for the same.
Landmark case :-
In Bampton V. Petumber Mullick Case, the dispute arose regarding the Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court over Indians regarding a part of land which was partly situated in Calcutta and partly outside it. "Section 17" of the Act of Settlement explicitly provides that the Supreme Court shall have Jurisdiction over all the Indigenous people of Calcutta.
Later it was found that the Supreme Court shall have the power and Jurisdiction over the Indigenous people of Calcutta but their cases relating to Inheritance, Succession, Rent, Goods and so on shall be decided with their Personal law i.e Hindu law for Hindus and Mohammedan law for Muslims.
Though this Act benefitted a large section of the people but still there were certain impacts of it on the society.
- This Act completely favoured the Council and gave them a Superior authority over the Judiciary.
- The Executives were strongly Strengthened to ensure that the Britishers were able to maintain their hold on the Indian Empire.
- It was the very first attempt to basically Separate Executive branch of Government from Judiciary.
Though this Act failed to remove the flaws of the Regulating Act of 1773 but it proved to be of a great support in bringing the changes to the system of the Administration and Justice.
Author: Shreya Kaul,
STUDENT AT AMITY UNIVERSITY MP (2020-25)

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


text:
Product Announcement from NanoSight Ltd.
The Georgia Tech research group, with the help of Nanosight's instruments and Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis, works on the development and implementation of new, environmentally responsive (or "smart") materials for photonic materials, bioanalysis and biomimetics. The approach the group is taking is to design hydrogel nanoparticles that undergo large changes in their chemical, mechanical, optical, or electrical makeup in response to a chemical stimulus, biomolecular interaction, or electromagnetic field; such materials can be viewed as amplifiers or sensitisers of the environmental event. As a result of their environmental sensitivity, nanogels have potential in a number of applications.
Principal user is PhD candidate, Michael Smith. He has been very impressed with the instrument. "The NanoSight has been an enabling tool for us in the characterization of dilute nanogel samples, where DLS fails to produce reliable correlation data. For instance, in our recent investigations of degradable nanogels, we used the NanoSight for sizing and number density estimation throughout the erosion reaction. In these studies, sample concentrations were typically very low at later stages of the degradation reaction (due to particle loss). Similarly, the NanoSight is effective at measuring the fractionated samples from Asymmetrical flow field-flow fractionation (where samples are greatly diluted following separation)."
Read more about this research and development project
Learn more about Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis
Visit the Georgia Tech group's website


Jump to Menu
Builder Pattern Tutorial
This tutorial is aimed to guide the definition and application of Gang of Four (GoF) builder design pattern. By reading this tutorial, you will know how to develop a model for the builder pattern, and how to apply it in practice.
Compatible edition(s): Enterprise, Professional, Standard
 - September 28, 2009
 - Views: 15,334
 - PDF
Modeling Design Pattern with Class Diagram
 1. Create a new project Design Patterns.
 2. Create a class diagram Builder.
 new class diagram
 3. Select Class from diagram toolbar. Click on the diagram to create a class. Name it as Director.
 create director class
 4. Right-click on Director and select Add > Operation from the popup menu.
 new oper
 5. Name it as Construct().
 new construct oper
 6. Move the cursor over Director, make use of resource icon Aggregation > Class to create an associated class Builder.
 create builder class
 7. Set the Builder abstract by right clicking on Builder and selecting Model Element Properties > Abstract from the popup menu.
 set builder abstract
 8. Create an operation BuildPart() in Builder.
 add oper to builder
 9. Set BuildPart() abstract by right clicking on it and selecting Model Element Properties > Abstract from the popup menu.
 set oper abstract
 10. Move the cursor over Builder, make use of resource icon Generalization > Class to create a subclass ConcreteBuilder.
 create concrete builder
 11. Inherit operations from Builder by right clicking on ConcreteBuilder and selecting Related Elements > Realize all Interfaces from the popup menu.
 realize
 12. Add an operation GetResult() to ConcreteBuilder. Up to now, the diagram should look like this:
 get result added to concrete builder
 13. Move the cursor over ConcreteBuilder, make use of resource icon Dependency > Class to create a depending class Product.
 created product
 14. In practice, there can be multiple concrete builder classes. To represent this, we need to assign a special stereotype to the ConcreteBuilder class. Right-click on ConcreteBuilder and select Stereotypes > Stereotypes... from the popup menu.
 stereotype concrete builder
 15. Select PTN Cloneable, click > to assign it to the Selected Stereotype list. Click OK to confirm.
 stereotype assigned
 16. In practice, there may be multiple to operations in the Builder class for creating parts. To represent this, we need to assign a special stereotype to the Builder class. Right-click on Builder and select Stereotypes > Stereotypes... from the popup menu.
 stereotype builder
 17. Assign stereotype PTN Members Creatable to the class. Click OK to confirm.
 stereotype assigned
 18. For the association end of the association between the Director and Builder classes, there is a role named Builder. Double click on the Director end and enter Builder as name. The diagram should now become:
 class diagram done
Defining Pattern
 1. Select all classes on the class diagram.
 select all classes
 2. Right-click on the selection and select Define Design Pattern... from the popup menu.
 define design pattern
 3. In the Define Design Pattern dialog box, specify the pattern name Builder. Keep the file name as is. Click OK to proceed.
 define dp
Applying Design Pattern on Class Diagram
In this section, we are going to apply the builder pattern in modeling a report printing system that offers printing PDF, RTF, and HTML report one after the other, with same content in them.
 1. Create a new project Report Printer.
 2. Create a class diagram Report Printer.
 3. Right-click on the class diagram and select Utilities > Apply Design Pattern... from the popup menu.
 apply design pattern
 4. In the Design Pattern dialog box, select Builder from the list of patterns.
 select builder pattern
 5. Click on Director in the preview.
 select director
 6. Rename Director to ReportPrinter at the bottom pane.
 name director
 7. Rename the operation Construct to printReport.
 name oper
 8. Rename the class Builder to Printer.
 rename builder
 9. Rename the operation BuildPart to PrintHeader.
 print header
 10. We need three operations in the Printer class for printing header, content and footer. Press the + button, and select New Operation... to add more operations.
 new oper
 11. In the Operation Specification, name the operation printContent. Check Abstract at the bottom of dialog box. Click OK to confirm.
 name oper
 12. Repeat steps 10 and 11 to create the printFooter method.
 opers added
 13. Now, clone the ConcreteBuilder class to make it have 3 subclasses as printers for PDF, RTF and HTML reports. Select ConcreteBuilder in preview pane first.
 select concrete builder
 14. Click on the + button and select Clone.
 select clone
 15. Select 2 as the number of classes to clone.
 select clone count
 16. Rename the classes and operations as shown below:
 rename class and opers
 17. Click OK to confirm the changes and apply the pattern on diagram.
 18. Tidy up the diagram to make it looks like below:
 diagram neat
 19. Inherits the operations from the Printer class to the concrete printer classes. Right-click on PDFPrinter class and select Related Elements > Realize all Interfaces from the popup menu.
 inherit opers
 20. Do the same for classes HTMLPrinter and RTFPrinter.
 21. Rename the role Builder to Printer. The result should look like this:
 result
Turn every software project into a successful one.


Betanaphthol is a phenol found in coaltar, but usually manufactured from naphthalene.
Properties : It occurs as colorless, or pale buff-colored, crystal-line laminae or a crystalline powder, having a faint phenol-like odor and a sharp, pungent, but not persistent taste. It is only very slightly soluble in water, 1:950, but is very soluble in alcohol (1:0.61).
Action and Uses: Betanaphthol is irritating to the skin or mucous membranes when applied in solution. If absorbed in considerable amount it may cause nephritis by irritation of the kidneys. It tends to destroy the red blood-corpuscles and has been known to produce changes in the retina and opacity of the lens. It is a powerful anti-septic, several times stronger than phenol.
Betanaphthol is applied externally as a parasiticide and antiseptic. Internally it has been much used as an intestinal antiseptic, but its utility is limited because of the danger of poisonous consequences from its possible absorption. It has also been used as an anthelmintic for the treatment of hookworm disease.
Dosage: 0.1 to 0.3 gm. or 2 to 5 grains. It is best given in powder or capsules. Externally it may be used in the form of ointment.


text:
Columbia's Department of Astronomy is a vibrant community of professors, researchers, and students working to make sense of the universe we live in and communicate these findings from historic Pupin Hall, at the northern end of the Morningside campus.
Modern astronomy has expanded beyond its origins as a pursuit of a lone academic atop a chilly mountain to include vast data sets generated by international teams using both space and ground-based surveys and simulations run on the most powerful supercomputers. Collaborative learning and research using the latest tools from data science are now common in the field alongside the more traditional approach of individual deep-thinking about fundamental physics.
While a suitably historic home, Pupin Hall is in many ways inimical to the culture of a 21st century department. Pupin was built 90 years ago based on a 19th century model of higher education: it has lecture halls with seats bolted to the floor in rows; it has large faculty offices with plenty of room for long bookshelves and tall file cabinets; it has labs at the ends of the hall where graduate student desks were wedged in around tabletop experiments. There are no public spaces since the public were generally not allowed in the building. And there is no provision for undergraduates to interact with the department outside of the lecture hall.
With the re-assignment of former attic space on Pupin's 14th floor, Astronomy has the opportunity to re-imagine the Department's space as it should be for THIS century. The new plans include classrooms designed with movable furniture to foster constructivist learning; tables throughout for undergraduate majors to work on research and classes; spaces that allow cross-cohort mentoring programs to flourish; meeting rooms for events ranging from traditional seminars to "data-hacking" sessions; and space "neighborhoods" that are a mixture of graduate student, postdoctoral, and faculty offices.
These plans illustrate Astronomy's opportunity to create a transformational space in which to propel our intellectual and educational progress to the next level of excellence.

source: m-a-p/FineFineWeb


text:
- $16 billion investment in Austin
- Generates $3.6 billion in economic activity for the region
- Over 10,000 jobs supported by Samsung
- Impact to Austin region goes beyond economic benefit
Edward Lorenz spent a lifetime studying mathematics, meteorology, and chaos theory. In particular, he pioneered research examining how a small change in a deterministic nonlinear systems can result in a chain reaction that creates large differences in a later state. His often-cited favorite example on this phenomenon was how the flapping of wings from distant butterflies could influence the trajectory of a hurricane oceans away - a very small change in initial conditions causing significantly different outcomes - today we refer to his model as the Butterfly Effect.
Breaking Ground in North America
Across another ocean in a completely separate environment, not a laboratory per se, but in a series of corporate board rooms in Seoul, South Korea, Samsung executives examined their own set of research, charts, and empirical data. A growing company expanding exponentially, Samsung had a decision to make on where to establish operations in North America for semiconductor manufacturing. Seeking a location that provided economic incentives, sensible regulations, and an environment that would provide a foundation for long-term success, Samsung ultimately chose Austin.
In 1996, Samsung broke ground in northeast Austin with an investment of $1.4 billion. Providing an initial commitment to hire 700, the facility grew so quickly the job count rose to 1,600 by 2007. Benefiting from Austin's generous business environment, the company continued to expand and built on its success. In 2007 they constructed a $3.5 billion campus making the Austin location the largest foreign investment in Texas and one of the largest single foreign investments in the United States. Former Governor Rick Perry and Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman and CEO, Jong-Yong Yun were on-hand to welcome the expansion. Dr. Chang-Gyu Hwang, president of Samsung Electronics Semiconductor Businesses observed, "Samsung's investment in Austin is both a statement of our faith in the Austin community and its human resources, but also a testament to the work and energy of our current work force which has proven that we can compete in a global market in Austin, Texas."
The economic impact of Samsung Austin Semiconductor is nothing short of phenomenal. To date, SAS has pumped $3.6 billion into the regional economy and supports a total of 10,755 jobs in the area which includes $498 million in annual salaries. Most recently, Samsung Austin announced plans to invest an additional $1 billion and create hundreds of new jobs here in 2017. Samsung's contribution is further illustrated in how they support and fund our region's tax base:
|Annual taxable sales supported in Austin||$186,672,995|
|Taxable value of property on local tax rolls supported by the facility and its direct & indirect workers||$3,700,629,921|
|Lodging sales at local hotels||$24,383,835|
|Number of residents supported financially wholly or partially by the facility||24,468|
|Number of school children in Manor ISD who live in households of the facility's employees and indirect workers||129|
|Net property tax for 2015 (largest taxpayer in the state for 2014)||$21,612,141|
*Impact Data Source Economic Impact Study
Investing in local education, communities
While proving to be an economic tsunami, Samsung understands the value of giving back to the community and investing in students, community initiatives, and educational programs. Since 2010 SAS has contributed over $7 million to Austin charities and assistance programs. SAS also is proud that 70 employees work as mentors to at-risk youths in Manor ISD schools, as well, they invest heavily in STEM education programs, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Furthermore, Samsung contributed $150,000 in a joint program with the Colorado River Alliance to create a mobile classroom which serves students throughout the region.
Over twenty years ago an empty field in northeast Austin - just inside City Council District 1 - lay dormant and hollow. The vast emptiness is now occupied by thriving, successful, and generous Samsung Austin Semiconductor. The key decisions to draw Samsung to Austin, to attract their talent, investment, and development, and then experience a wave of monumental economic growth, colossal job creation, alongside massive contributions to our public sector and educational institutes can be fairly described as the Samsung Effect.
Opportunity Austin's commitment goes beyond the initial opening of a business's doors, but we work to keep regulations at a minimum, taxes reasonable, and the incentive to hire more people to meet the growing demand.
Related Categories: Economic Development


'Marjorie Prime' Explores Artificial Intelligence Created in Our Own Image
Jon Hamm and Lois Smith in Marjorie Prime | © FilmRise
Jon Hamm and Lois Smith in Marjorie Prime | © FilmRise
Photo of Peter Ward
Tech Editor16 August 2017
Marjorie Prime is a thoughtful, emotional film that examines humanity's complex relationship with technology without the need for flashy effects, doom-mongering plot lines, and unwarranted twists. The movie also explores how humanity imprints itself on the technology it builds—an idea that provokes much debate, discussion, and concern.
Lois Smith's character Marjorie is kept company by an AI construct of her dead husband Walter, played by Jon Hamm. Walter relies on Marjorie's dementia-ridden memory for anecdotes and information to properly impersonate the deceased. It's a topic that plays on our fears of artificial intelligence and technology in general, but goes beyond the obvious, and instead touches on humanity's interaction with machine, and the unintended consequences.
Marjorie's re-imagining of her husband becomes an idealized version of the departed, something she needs at that point in her life rather than an actual reflection of her spouse. And the pattern continues as other characters in the film get their own "Prime": an AI hologram of a dead loved one.
The film is really an exploration into the memories we keep, the stories we tell, and the lasting impression people leave on us after their deaths. But there is also a cautionary tale of the perils of future technology.
Jon Hamm in Marjorie Prime | © FilmRise
As artificial intelligence and algorithms play an increasingly important role in our lives, ethical and moral questions continue to be raised. As long as AI is created by humans rather than other computers, the technology will always be created in our own image, and thus run the danger of having our flaws and prejudices built in.
One recent example was brought to light by the brilliant reporting of ProPublica last year, which showed how software used to predict who would become criminals had absorbed and adopted the bias against black people of the American judicial system. Algorithms mean no bias—they don't "intend" anything at all—but if they're based on data that's the result of decades of prejudice, then they'll only ever reflect that data.
This year, a study revealed that an AI program to interpret human language had exhibited gender and racial biases. "A lot of people are saying this is showing that AI is prejudiced. No. This is showing we're prejudiced and that AI is learning it," Joanna Bryson, a computer scientist at the University of Bath and a co-author of the report, told The Guardian.
In Marjorie Prime, the AI is given bad data by unreliable human memory (and not just that of Marjorie, who appears to be suffering from Alzheimer's), and this causes ripples across the movie. It's a subtle problem many may have missed among the doomsday scenarios Hollywood, and others, usually present. The results of the miscommunication in the movie are less severe, and by the end the holographic version of the humans in the film appear a lot more content than their fleshy counterparts.
One of the major themes of Marjorie Prime is how we come to accept different memories and versions of our lives, even if they are slightly skewed from reality. At one point, Walter Prime tells the story of the dog he and Marjorie adopted to replace their previous pet Toni, which had died.
"[She was called] Toni II, but that was soon shortened to just Toni," Walter Prime explains. "And of course it wasn't exactly Toni, but the longer they had her the less it mattered which Toni it was that ran along the beach and which Toni it was that dug up all the bulbs in the garden. The more time that passed, the more she became the same dog in their memories."
This tale speaks of the comfort humans can gain when accepting a slanted version of the truth, but when put in the context of AI as a whole, this ability to accept something not quite human will define how AI is used in our lives forever.
The idea of artificial intelligence provokes many fears, but perhaps our greatest concern should be seeing a spark of life in a machine, and realizing it's a reflection of humanity looking back at us.
Marjorie Prime opens on August 18 in New York City.
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text:
|FHWA > Policy Information > NHCCI > The Mathematics of the National Highway Construction Cost Index|
The Mathematics of the National Highway Construction Cost Index
This document specifies the methodology which serves as the basis for the development of the National Highway Construction Cost Index, (NHCCI).
General Methodology for Calculating the NHCCI
The Fisher Ideal Index formula is applied using a chain-type indexing methodology to produce the NHCCI. The specific implementation and reasons for choosing this specification are given in this section.
Step 1. Definition of price index
The price index, It, of a specific cost item of highway construction (such as cement) gives the price of that item in period t, (pt), relative term to its price in reference period 0, (p0). The mathematical expression of It is:
Where, c represents the cost of the item and q represents the quantity of the item.
Step 2. Aggregating individual cost items into a total construction cost index
For highway construction as a whole, however, the direct price (p) does not exist because the price is the product of cost divided by quantity and the quantities of highway construction cost items are measured in different units which are not directly comparable and not additive. Therefore, we cannot calculate the price index of highway construction as a whole by directly implementing equation (1).
One natural way to derive the price index of highway construction as a whole is to calculate it as the weighted average of price indexes of individual cost items.
Where, superscript n represent the nth cost item and wn represents the weight assigned to the nth cost item.
Step 3. Choice of index formula
As equation (2) shows, the aggregate price index for highway construction as a whole not only depends on the price indexes of the individual cost items of highway construction, but also depends on the weights assigned to the individual price indexes. Therefore, how to weight the individual price indexes is essential in calculating an aggregate price index, such as the NHCCI. The choice of weights also leads to the choice of index formula.
In the economic index literature, there are three well known index formulas. They are the Laspeyres Index, the Paasche Index and the Fisher Ideal Index. In equation form, they are:
(3) (Laspeyres price index)
(4) (Paasche price index)
(5) (Fisher price index)
All three price index formulas use quantities of individual cost items as weights to their respective prices in calculating the aggregate price index. However, the Laspeyres price index formula uses quantities of the base period (0) as weights, while the Paasche price index formula uses quantities of the current period (t) as weights. The Fisher price index is a geometric mean of the Laspeyres price index and the Paasche price index.
Despite its many obvious advantages, the Laspeyres price index has its limitations. One of the limitations is that it usually overstates the impact of price increases and understates the impact of price decreases as the current period moves further away from the base period. This occurs because of the substitution effect when prices change in relative terms. Agents substitute away from goods whose relative prices increase so that the base year weights overstate the relative importance of these goods in the budget. As a result, the use of quantities from an earlier period as weights systematically biases the aggregate price index upward from the real change in aggregate price. In contrast, an aggregate price index derived from the Paasche price index formula is usually biased downward due to the substitution effect.
A second limitation of the Laspeyres index as it is often implemented is that as time goes on the fixed base year become less relevant to the current year or the year(s) of concern. However, if the base year is shifted forward in time, the entire index series will be changed. In other words, history will be rewritten every time the base year is changed.
The Fisher Ideal index, proposed by Irving Fisher in 1922, is one of the superlative indexes that give good approximations to the theoretical or "exact" cost-of-living index and yet are relatively simple to compute and use. Compared to fixed-weighted Laspeyres or Paasche Indexes, Fisher Ideal index takes the weights of both the base period and the current period into account. By doing so, Fisher Ideal index has the ability to accommodate the effects of substitutions, something the Laspeyres and Paasche indexes do not do. A major advantage of Fisher Ideal index over other superlative indexes, such as the Tornquvist index, is its "dual" property, i.e. a Fisher Ideal price index implies a Fisher Ideal quantity index, and vice versa. In other words, the product of a Fisher Ideal price index between two periods and a Fisher Ideal quantity index between the same two periods is equal to the total change in value (measured in current dollars) between those two periods.
All these advantages strongly suggest that the Fisher Ideal index formula is an excellent choice for building the NHCCI.
Step 4. Calculating aggregate price index for two adjacent periods
Since the OSI Bid-Tabs database provides data on bid value and bid quantity and estimated bid price data for each cost item of highway constructions in the United States, we can apply the Fisher Ideal Index formula to the bid quantity and estimated bid price data from Bid-Tabs data at the cost item (or Pay Item) level to calculate the NHCCI.
However, each time when the Fisher Ideal Index formula is applied to the price and quantity data, one and only one index number will be generated for the two time periods the data represent. In other words, the formula will not generate a price index series at once. The time period can be a month, a quarter, or a year and is usually determined by the data availability. An index number can be generated between any two periods in time. The two periods can be adjacent to each other. They also can be far away from each other with many periods between them. However, in order to build an index that accurately track price changes from one period to the next over time, it will be necessary to generate an index number for every pair of adjacent periods of the entire time period for which an index is build.
Step 5. Chain index numbers of adjacent periods into a time series of indexes
From the equations, we can see that the R1 is the index number of period (1) relative to period (0); R2 is the index number of period (2) relative to period (1); and Rt is the index number of period (t) relative to period (t-1); and that each index number presents the aggregate price of the current period in relative term to the aggregate price of the previous period. Mathematicians call this kind of indexing relative indexing. In relative indexing, an index number highlights the change in price from the adjacent previous period.
However, to show price changes over time, it will be more effective to compare the price of each period to the price of the base period. When an index is calculated by comparing the concerned period directly to the base period, it is called "direct indexing". The procedure of direct indexing is a dual process. That is, while the price of the concerned period is indexed in terms relative to the price of the base period, the price of the base period is also indexed to 1 and only 1. Therefore, the value of a direct index is always in terms relative to 1 and equal to the change between the two periods. This property provides the mathematical underpinning for the "chain" index procedure.
When the price of the base period (0) is indexed to 1, the chained index numbers, I1 for period (1), I2 for period (2), …, and It for period (t), can be calculated as:
In words, the chained index number of any period (to the base period) can be calculated as the product of the consecutive multiplication of the changes of the adjacent periods between the base period and that period. For example, with the chain-type procedure and annual rates of changes (Rt), the index of year 1995 to year 1990 (I90,95) can be calculated as:
In summary, the Chained Fisher Ideal Index method for building the NHCCI contains two steps. In the first step, Fisher Ideal Index formula is used to calculate changes in aggregate price between adjacent periods with bid quantity and estimated bid price data at the cost item (or Pay Item) level from Oman Bid-Tabs database as inputs. This step is also an aggregation process. Changes in aggregate price of highway construction as a whole calculated in this way are essentially the averages of quantity weighted changes in the prices of the cost items of highway construction. In the second step, changes in aggregate price between adjacent periods are chained together through consecutive multiplication to form a time series of aggregate price index for highway construction as a whole.
The Chained Fisher Ideal Index method recognizes the need for estimating changes in the aggregate price of highway construction as a whole to use weights that are relevant and appropriate for the specific periods being measured. The Chained Fisher Ideal Index method has three important advantages over Fixed-Weighted Indexes. First, while it makes aggregation of price changes in many and different cost items into one measure through weighting, it captures the effects of changes in the relative importance of different cost items in highway construction over time. Second, it minimizes substitution bias and, at the same time, provides a more accurate track of price changes in highway construction cost items as a whole. Third, it eliminates the inconvenience and confusion associated with Fixed-Weighted Indexes of updating the weights and base periods, and thus rewriting economic history, as base periods move further and further into the past and become more and more irrelevant


How do you like your bananas?
I'm a speckled-brown banana lover myself, but I know many people prefer them bright yellow. To keep them this way, a great food hack is to tightly wrap the ends (the brown bit where the bananas join) in cling film. This will make them last much longer.
Alternatively, if you're like me and actually want to speed up the banana ripening process, place them in a brown bag.
Two easy food hacks to get your bananas just as you like them!
11. Store onions in pantyhose
Onions are one of the easiest vegetables to keep fresh, providing you do it right! Store onions in pantyhose, and you'll be able to use them for up to six months.
Grab a pair of strong, clean or new tights and gently drop your onion down to the foot end. Tie a knot above it, then add another onion, knot, and so on. Tie your onion chain somewhere dry and dark.
Using this method allows the onions to breathe, prolonging their shelf life. Best of all, they're really easy to access - just cut underneath the knot when you want to release one.
12. Make mushrooms last longer by storing them in brown bags
Some vegetables like a humid environment, whereas mushrooms fair better where it's dry. Store them in a brown paper bag in your fridge, and the paper will absorb any excess water, preventing it from reaching your mushrooms.
14. Store salad leaves in a container with a paper towel
Salad leaves are one of the most difficult things to keep fresh. Although the packets claim they'll keep for a week, once open it's a different story.
To make your open salad bag last as long as possible, wash, dry and store alongside a paper towel in an airtight container. Salad leaves don't take well to humid air. By placing a paper towel in with them, it will absorb all that excess moisture, leaving salad crisp and dry.
13. Make cut vegetables last longer by storing them in water
make cut vegeatbles last longer by storing in water
A splash of water is all you need.
If you're only cooking for one, you'll use half vegetables all the time - don't let the other half go to waste.
Cut root vegetables such as carrots and parsnips can be difficult to keep fresh, but it's not impossible. They will quickly start to go dry and lose flavour if you don't store them properly.
Keep cut pieces submerged in fresh water in your fridge to prevent this from happening. The water will ensure they don't dry out, and they'll be fresh for use next time you cook.
15. Where to store fruit & veg to make them last longer
Inconveniently, each fruit and vegetable reacts uniquely to different climates, so it's important to get to know what they like best if you want to prolong their shelf life.
Some vegetables, such as potatoes and squash, fair best when kept on the countertop or at room temperature, while others, such as berries, may spoil if left here overnight.
For a comprehensive list of what fresh produce to store where, head over to the Mint Life site.
16. Wrap celery in aluminium foil to prolong its life
Celery - the one food that takes more calories to eat than it contains. It also seems to brown as soon as you get it home.
The trick to tasty, crunchy, fresh tasting celery it to wrap the individual stick in aluminium foil. This food hack has a record of prolonging life for up to 2 weeks - impressive stuff!
17. Store potatoes with apples to prevent them from sprouting
Turns out 'an apple a day' isn't just beneficial for our health, but our potato's shelf life too.
The ethylene gas that apples give off is thought to prevent your potatoes from sprouting and help keep them fresh for longer. This isn't just any old questionable food hack either, it's actually been proven.
During a test, apples stored alongside potatoes remained firm and sprout-free for an impressive eight weeks.
18. Make berries last longer by rinsing them with vinegar
Wash berries with vinegar to prolong their life
Keep your berries nice & bright.
Would you like some vinegar with those berries, madam? Before you answer, it may interest you to know that vinegar can extend the life of your strawberry salad.
By washing raspberries, strawberries and other berries in 1 cup vinegar and 3 cups water before storing, they'll stay fresher for longer.
The acidic taste won't linger - promise!
Start putting some of these food hacks into practise, & you'll be amazed how long your fruit & vegetables last.
Stephanie C
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 1. Author Majen on May 19, 2017 at 7:42 pm
 Don't ask me why, but a piece of previously washed coal left in a bowl/ container with a weary lettuce brings it back to life. It works.
 1. Author Stephanie C on May 22, 2017 at 10:29 am
 Hi Majen. What a peculiar tip - how did you discover this? Thanks for sharing! :)
 2. Author Sandy on May 20, 2017 at 1:14 am
 Hi Stephanie I am a little confused. In hack no. 10 you say that apples, along with broccoli and green beans do not give off ethylene gas. Yet in no.17 you advise keeping an apple with potatoes to prolong their life because apples give off ethylene. Which is right?
 1. Author Stephanie C on May 22, 2017 at 10:27 am
 Hi Sandy. I'm sorry about the confusion. Apples DO in fact give off ethylene gas, however, they are also ethylene sensitive. This means that they will still over-ripen easily if kept alongside other ehthylene-producing fruits & vegetables. I hope this helps. :)
 3. Author Barbara Harding on May 21, 2017 at 4:14 pm
 Thank's for this info, I am ashamed to say that I am forever throwing away fruit and veg and just going out and buying more. With prices going through the roof right now, I know it's time to make the big change. Waste not want not!
 1. Author Stephanie C on May 22, 2017 at 10:23 am
 Hi Barbara. I'm glad you enjoyed the article. Don't fret - we're all guilty of throwing things away from time to time. With a little practice, you'll find you're able to use everything and anything that's left in your fridge! :)
 2. Author Julie featherstone on June 14, 2017 at 8:08 am
 Hi, hope you could help me a bit.? My partner will not eat any foods that are mashed/creamed, ANY sauces either on the side or on his meal, i carnt even have lasagne of any description as he says it makes him feel sick, he wont tolerate melted cheese in any shape or form! E He even even wkng eat a gravy meal off a dark plate even though he he obly has a trickle of gravy on his meat!!!! SO any ideas please? He a traditional food man and im running out of meal plans. Thankyou for your time and patience reading this, Julie☺
 3. Author Stephanie C on June 21, 2017 at 9:26 am
 Hi Julie. Wow - it sounds like you've got your work cut out! What kind of ideas are you looking for exactly? Could you not just leave his own meal without sauce if he prefers it dry? I'm here to help! :)
 4. Author Mary Brennan on September 3, 2018 at 8:37 am
 Another way to keep fruit and vegetables longer in your fridge is to put a natural sponge in the respective drawers. A lump of coal in a bowl of water with lettuce is a very old tip I learnt from my Aunty 40-50 years ago, as in those days we didn't have a fridge. Keep bananas away from other fruit unless it needs to ripen otherwise it will go off quickly.
 1. Author Joanne A on September 3, 2018 at 10:41 am
 Great idea, Mary!
 5. Author alison willis on September 3, 2018 at 8:55 am
 If individual celery stalks are wrapped in aluminium foil this will not only considerably add to the cost of each stalk, but is VERY bad environmentally. At a time when most people are becoming more aware of the need to cut down on packaging it is not sensible to encourage people to put their own foil packaging on food, after taking it out of its plastic supermarket packaging. If you buy a whole celery store it in a glass of water and eat it quickly!
 1. Author Joanne A on September 3, 2018 at 10:42 am
 Storing in a glass of water is a great idea. Thanks for sharing!
 6. Author Wendy Hildyard on September 3, 2018 at 7:02 pm
 I use the old fashioned way of keeping celery fresh by cutting a slice from the bottom and put in a pint glass with a few inches of water
 1. Author Joanne A on September 4, 2018 at 11:29 am
 Old fashioned but effective! Thanks for sharing, Wendy.
 7. Author Carol Brown on September 3, 2018 at


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Ready to try your hand at creating domain name art?
Here's a short how-to:
1. Choose a genre or make one up. Examples include haikus, palindromes, short and sweet witticisms, personal statements, expressions of undying love, calls to political action.
2. Cast it as a domain. You can use up to 63 letters, numbers, dashes, dots, and underscores, but no spaces.
3. Click on one of the domain name registrars in the Resources box to the left to create your domain name art - as a.com,.info,.tv, or whatever feels right!
It's as easy as 1 - 2 - 3!!


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lb) IMAGE POSITION RELATIVE TO MASK
Fig. 6-8. Fine Sun Sensor [Schmidtbauer, et al.y 1973]
in the plane formed by the entrance and reticle slits and makes an angle with the normal to the sensor face of less than a specified limit (typically 32 or 64 deg), the photocell will indicate Sun presence. When two such sensors are placed in a V configuration, usually with one sensor entrance slit parallel to the spin axis, the time between Sun pulses is a measure of the Sun angle, as illustrated in Fig. 6-10 (see also Section 7.1).
6.1.3 Digital Sensors
A common digital Sun sensor for spinning spacecraft consists of the two basic components, command and measurement, as illustrated in Fig. 6-11.* The command component is the same as the Sun presence detector shown in Fig. 6-9.
'The discussion in this section is based on sensors manufactured by the Adcole Corporation and flown on a variety of spacecraft Table 6-1 summarizes the physical data for these sensors.
Because the nominal FOV for Adcole sensors is limited to ±64 deg, full 180-deg coverage is accomplished by mounting two or more sensor units with overlapping FOVs as shown in Fig. 6-12.
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Skip to Main Content
Voltage suppression devices are needed in electronic systems to prevent damage to electrical components from electrical overstress (EOS) and electrostatic discharge (ESD) events. A low capacitance, polymer voltage-suppressor (PVS) device is evaluated using various testing techniques that combine transmission line pulse (TLP) test system, direct discharge HBM, and a system-level ESD gun. Additionally, test methods for integrating PVS devices for system-level ESD protection of cell phone GaAs radio frequency (RF) switches and Gigabit Ethernet server semiconductors will be shown. Our work demonstrates the need for integration of device-level and system-level test methodologies for correlation between component ESD survivability and system-level ESD concerns.


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cloth
- Place and utensils you can boil the Parsley leaves in
- Boil the parsley leaves on water
- Allow them to cool down
- Then once they are warm, take the leaves and wrap them in a piece of cloth round use it as a poultice on and around the boil
Apple Cider Vinegar
Apple cider vinegar has acetic acid that helps kill the bacteria causing the boil, it soothes the boil, reduces pain and it also helps balance the pH levels thus preventing the bacteria from thriving. The best time to use is overnight
- Apple cider vinegar
- A Cotton ball or buds
- Use the cotton buds to soak in the vinegar
- Rub the cotton buds gently on and around the boil
- Then cover it with a bandage
- Repeat this once a day until the boil ripens
Cornmeal will help relieve you from the discomfort of boils and can also be used as a natural absorbent in helping to treat boils.
- Half Cup of boiled water
- Piece of clean cloth
- Add cornmeal to the half cup of boiled water to make it a paste
- Apply the paste around and on the boil
- Then cover with the piece of cloth
- Repeat this once daily until the boil softens and the infection drains
Best for boils on buttocks or inner thighs because it has natural antiseptic and antibacterial qualities
- Take a handful of Neem leaves wash to clean and crush them to make a paste
- Apply it on the boil and let it be for at least 30 minutes before washing off
- Repeat this once or twice a day
The boil should be kept clean, dry, and protected. As a result, the boil will heal in a few days or weeks depending on its location or size.
How to Pop a Boil
Sometimes if the boil isn't that big or there are limited risks, popping your boil is possible. Most people would like to wait for the boil to burst by itself but you can do this by yourself if the boil has ripened thus avoiding chances of getting a secondary infection.
A ripe boil has a softened lump head with yellow pus that can be seen through the skin.
- A Bandage
- A safety pin
- Clean piece of cloth
- Hydrogen Peroxide
- Antiseptic Soap
- Antibiotics soap
- Antibiotic cream
What to do;
- You need washed hands. So scrubbed them with the antiseptic soap then dry them with the fresh piece of cloth
- Place a warm part of fabric gently on the boil then leave it for about 10 minutes
- Use the candle to heat up the safety pins pointy side "this is to cleanse it." Then let the safety pin cool down. Some people like to use thorns because they are easier to get and can't cause tetanus, but it isn't advisable because some thorns can be poisonous "unless you know ones that are not" and the safety pin will be heated so it will be purified.
- Gently prick the head of the boil with the pointy cleansed side of the safety pin
- Use your finger to squeeze the boil from the sides. If it's in a position you can't do so you may need assistance from a trusted friend, and he or she must have clean hands.
- Although it's a painful process, you need to harder and harder so that you can eliminate all the pus. You will know all the discharge is out when you see only blood coming out from the boil, but it's good to feel the sides of the boil too.
- After removing pus from the boil. Clean it using hydrogen peroxide to avoid secondary infections and kill any germs in the area.
- Apply the antibiotic cream on the open boil; it will help heal and protect the boil from further infection
- After all of this cover the field with a bandage. The bandage should be changed once or twice a day while checking if the affected area is healing properly.
If it's a big boil or if the boil has a hard head that is difficult to pop you need to seek medical attention from a doctor.
Possible Complications of Boils
On infrequent occasions, boils may bring about difficulties in the human body.
- Permanent scarring after healing
- Spread of Staphylococcus to other parts of the skin
- Sepsis infection of the tissues or blood
- Boils forming in a cluster form
- Swelling and disease of the heart valve tissues
- Abscess of the spinal cord, skin, kidneys, brain or other organs
When to Seek Medical Care for Boil
- If the boil last more than three weeks
- The pain becomes severe
- If the original boil comes back
- High levels of Fever
- Other boils start appearing
- If you have swollen lymph nodes
- The boil doesn't drain
- Repeated outbreak of oil
- If the boil doesn't ripen
- If the boil is too big
Prevention Measures for Boils
- Make sure to practice good hygiene
- Use antibacterial soap and bath regularly. It will help prevent infection
- Clean minor wounds and treat them
- Wash clothes, towels and bed linen
- Regular skin exfoliation. It reduces chances of boils by unclogging sweat ducts.
- Stay hydrated and eats nutritional meals to improve your immune system


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Land Survey Maps of China, _PHONE_
CHMap provides quick access to 4,088 land survey maps of China produced by either China's central and provincial governments or the land survey department of the Japanese Army during the late 19th and the early 20th centuries. They are the first maps that provide accurate and large-scale outlooks (1:50,000) to a wide geography of proper China. In CHMap, users can access these land survey maps digitized by Shanghai Jiao Tong University and hosted at Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, as well as those hosted at Academia Sinica.
300+ public maps layers of China and the World
In addition to the land survey maps, more than 300 public map layers of China and the World can be referenced and displayed.
User data import
The user can also import a dataset in the form of CSV (Comma Separated Values), JSON, and IIIF manifest from the local drive or from a URL.
Lite Geo-Referencing for IIIF images
CHMap provide an easy-to-use geo-refenrencing tool to add geographical coordinates (location information) to IIIF images, which are now a popular standard for digital images among galleries, libraries, archives, and museums. Unlike the usual geo-referencing steps that cost intensive human labor, the Lite Geo-Referencing tool in CHMap allows the user to specify only one geo-coordinate (for the center of an image) or four coorindates (for four corners of an image) and thus reduce the work load of geo-referencing large quantities of images.
CHMap is designed to bring maps that were produced in different time spans with differnt production technologies and that are hosted now by different institutions to be viewed together on a web interface. This allows users to easily find maps and images from the same regions, compare them, and see the different spatial epistemologies carried out by the map producers.


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Photographs are powerful tools in telling a story. From a fading daguerreotype of a forgotten era to a snapshot taken moments ago with a smart phone, they can capture a moment in time - a freeze frame of the ongoing story of life itself.
Toyo Miyatake established his photography studio at a time of great growth for the Japanese American community in Los Angeles. In a career that spanned five decades, his photographs provided an intimate window into Little Tokyo and the lives of the community, as seen by someone who was actually there.
Born in 1896 in Japan, Toyo Miyatake moved to America in 1909 with his father and settled in the Little Tokyo area, where he founded his photo studio in 1923.
While interned at Manzanar during WWII, Miyatake famously built a camera body from stray pieces of wood. Attaching a lens that he had smuggled in, he now had a device to capture the life of Japanese American internees -- from the inside. His photos taken during this time reveal a perspective that differs from that of officially sanctioned photographers, which included notables such as Ansel Adams and Dorothea Lange. These photos were exhibited along with Adams' work in the landmark exhibition "Two Views of Manzanar" at UCLA in 1978 -- the first time Miyatake's photos were displayed outside of the Japanese American community.
Today Alan Miyatake carries on the legacy began by his grandfather and continued through the efforts of his father Archie Miyatake. The studio has moved to San Gabriel, but it is still very much a part of Little Tokyo, in spirit if not physically. Toyo Miyatake Studio continues to preserve the faces of the Japanese American community as the official photographer of Nisei Week Queens, continuing the tradition that began at the very first Nisei Week festivities 80 years ago.
A monument to the dedication and works displayed by Toyo Miyatake now stands in Little Tokyo -- a replica of the camera he had built while interned at Manzanar. Located in front of the Japanese American National Museum at the very corner where thousands of Japanese Americans were round up to be sent out to internment camps, the public art monument doubles as a photo projector, displaying images of Japanese American life -- ensuring that their struggles and triumphs will forever be a part of the timeline of the community.
In the videos above, Alan Miyatake, grandson of Toyo and current owner of Toyo Miyatake Studios, discuss his family history, their role in L.A.'s Japanese American community, and the importance of photographs in preserving history.


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An app to serial reading (Only TXT Files)
In conventional reading most of time is spent moving the eyes, not really reading the word.
Serial reading allows a faster reading (with the same or better comprehension) because the eyes are kept almost fixed, while the text is displayed.
Additional features of this application:
1) The speed is increased automatically (if you want).
2) Tries to put together symbols and words.
3) Complex words have a bigger time on screen
4) Automatically Save the line you're reading, letting you to continue after a pause.
5) Allows you to pause the reading, just touch the word that are being displayed.
- Fixed bugs when saving the positioning in the file
- Improved Open File Dialog


Discover the Spotify model
What the most popular music technology company can teach us about scaling agile
Mark Cruth Mark Cruth
Spotify is the largest and most popular audio streaming subscription service in the world, with an estimated 286 million users. A key part of Spotify's success is driven by the company's unique approach to organizing around work to enhance team agility. As Spotify's engineering teams traveled down the path towards improved agility, they documented their experience, shared it with the world, and ultimately influenced the way many technology companies organize around work. It is now known as the Spotify model.
What is the Spotify model?
The Spotify model is a people-driven, autonomous approach for scaling agile that emphasizes the importance of culture and network. It has helped Spotify and other organizations increase innovation and productivity by focusing on autonomy, communication, accountability, and quality.
The Spotify model isn't a framework, as Spotify coach Henrik Kniberg noted, since it represents Spotify's view on scaling from both a technical and cultural perspective. It's one example of organizing multiple teams in a product development organization and stresses the need for culture and networks.
…the Spotify model focuses on how we structure an organization to enable agility.
The Spotify model was first introduced to the world in 2012, when Henrik Kniberg and Anders Ivarsson published the whitepaper Scaling Agile @ Spotify, which introduced the radically simple way Spotify approached agility. Since then, the Spotify model generated a lot of buzz and became popular in the agile transformation space. Part of its appeal is that it focuses on organizing around work rather than following a specific set of practices. In traditional scaling frameworks, specific practices (e.g. daily standups) are how the framework is executed, whereas the Spotify model focuses on how businesses can structure an organization to enable agility.
The Spotify model champions team autonomy, so that each team (or Squad) selects their framework (e.g. Scrum, Kanban, Scrumban, etc.). Squads are organized into Tribes and Guilds to help keep people aligned and cross-pollinate knowledge.
Now, let's demystify some of these terms…
Key elements of the Spotify model
The Spotify model is centered around simplicity. When Spotify began organizing around their work, they identified a handful of important elements on how people and teams should be structured.
Similar to a scrum team, Squads are cross-functional, autonomous teams (typically 6-12 individuals) that focus on one feature area. Each Squad has a unique mission that guides the work they do, an agile coach for support, and a product owner for guidance. Squads determine which agile methodology/framework will be used.
When multiple Squads coordinate within each other on the same feature area, they form a Tribe. Tribes help build alignment across Squads and typically consist of 40 - 150 people in order to maintain alignment (leveraging what we call Dunbar's Number). Each Tribe has a Tribe Lead who is responsible for helping coordinate across Squads and for encouraging collaboration.
Even though Squads are autonomous, it's important that specialists (e.g. Javascript Developer, DBAs) align on best practices. Chapters are the family that each specialist has, helping to keep engineering standards in place across a discipline. Chapters are typically led by a senior technology lead, who may also be the manager for the team members in that Chapter.
Team members who are passionate about a topic can form a Guild, which essentially is a community of interest. Anyone can join a Guild and they are completely voluntary. Whereas Chapters belong to a Tribe, Guilds can cross different Tribes. There is no formal leader of a Guild. Rather, someone raises their hand to be the Guild Coordinator and help bring people together.
The Trio (aka TPD Trio) is a combination of a Tribe Lead, product lead, and design lead. Each Tribe has a Trio in place to ensure there is continuous alignment between these three perspectives when working on features areas.
As organizations scale, sometimes multiple Tribes need to closely work together to accomplish a goal. Alliances are a combination of Tribe Trios (typically three or more) that work together to help their Tribes collaborate on a goal that is bigger than any one Tribe.
Spotify model image
That's it. There are not a lot of practices that need to be followed or ceremonies that need to happen. Squads may have ceremonies like sprint planning and retrospectives, but the focus of the Spotify model is on how teams organize around work. It's up to Squads to figure out the best way to get the job done.
The benefits of the Spotify model
When Spotify changed the way they scaled agile they wanted to enable Squads to move fast, ship software quickly, and do so all with minimum pain and overhead. They realized these benefits and more as they took their model and evolved it. The organizational benefits of implementing the Spotify model include:
Less formal process and ceremony
The Spotify model focuses on organizing around work and not necessarily processes and ceremonies. This gives an organization greater flexibility when it comes to how Squads work. Instead of requiring Squads to change how they do their work ("you must do scrum"), it focuses on aligning them with each other and driving towards individual team outcomes.
More self-management and autonomy
The Spotify model encourages autonomy and creativity by trusting people to complete the work they are doing in the way they see fit. Do you need to ship software? That's up to the Squad. Do you need to change direction? That's also up to the Squad. The Spotify model focuses on decentralizing decision making and transferring that responsibility to Squads, Tribes, Chapters, and Guilds.
"Control leads to compliance; autonomy leads to engagement."
- Dan Pink, Author, "Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us"
The Spotify model can offer increased transparency across the work being done and grow a more experimentation-based approach to problem solving in a high trust environment. All this can lead to things like better products, happier customers, and more engaged employees. However, not everyone will experience these outcomes.
The challenges of the Spotify model
The Spotify model was based on one organization's way of working. Many organizations desire the same benefits of the Spotify model, so they attempt to emulate what Spotify did. Some organizations experienced more success than others, but it's likely no organization experienced the same success as Spotify. The reason? Like any way of working, an organization's current culture and structure need to be taken into account. The model is simple, but the environment it's implemented in is complex.
Wise executives tailor their approach to fit the complexity of the circumstances they face.
- Dave Snowden, Management Consultant
Unfortunately, many organizations try to copy the Spotify model. To some, it may seem like a simple matrix organizational structure where people report to a functional area (Chapter), but work with a cross-functional team (Squad). However, it's more complex than that. Although it may look like a matrix organization, the key cultural elements of the model need to be in place to allow the structure to thrive, such as trust and autonomy. If an organization doesn't shift its behaviors (and ultimately its culture), the benefits of the Spotify model will never be realized. If you simply rename teams to Squads, you're just putting lipstick on a pig.
Spotify model best practices
If you're looking to enable a culture of trust, autonomy, and rapid learning, you can't go wrong looking to the Spotify model for inspiration. If your organization is looking at the Spotify model as a means to help you approach agile at scale, the following is a list of best practices to keep in mind.
Don't copy the model
Seek to understand the structure, practices, and mindset behind Spotify's approach. With that understanding, tweak the aspects of the model to fit your own environment. Your goal is not to be Spotify, but to leverage their model to improve how your organization works together.
Autonomy and trust is key
Spotify gave as much autonomy as possible to their people in order to help them pivot quickly. Allowing teams to pick their own development tools and modify another team's code are just some examples. Within your organization, determine if there are decisions that can be pushed to the teams instead of being mandated by parts of the organization that are disconnected from the day-to-day work.
Transparency with community
Spotify's success is credited to their focus on building community and transparency around their work. Establish your first Guild around the Spotify model adoption and encourage participation from everyone in the organization. Build trust by creating transparent, inclusive ways to gather feedback, and gain alignment on how your organization wants to work in the future.
Encourage mistakes
You will fall down and stumble in this journey. But that's okay. Improvement involves experimenting and learning from both our successes and failures. Spotify went through many iterations before they attained the model we know today, and have since continued to experiment to constantly look for new ways to improve the way they work. Encourage the same within your organization!
If you focus on these practices you'll see positive impacts on how your organization collaborates and aligns, whether or not you use the Spotify model as a guide.
In conclusion…
The Spotify model is a great source of inspiration if you're looking to build an organization focused on moving quickly with autonomy and purpose. Even more formal scaling frameworks, such as Scrum@Scale, have gained inspiration from the model (and vice versa). It's important to remember that the Spotify model is not a destination. Ironically enough, Spotify doesn't leverage the original implementation of the Spotify model anymore; they evolved and adapted the model to fit their changing organization. Trios and Alliances are actually newer elements in Spotify as they were brought about to solve new problems the organization faced as it grew larger. Starting with the key elements of the


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Why every business should care about FedNow
The Federal Reserve hasn't changed its payment system in more than 50 years. And while it's operated with relative stability for that duration, the needs of businesses and their customers have evolved.
In today's digital world, consumers' expectations for "real-time" access are rising – in fact, 75% of consumers feel it is important to receive payments and have access to funds instantly (a percentage that grows substantially among younger generations). While innovations in the consumer technology landscape have meant that people can now send money with the click of a button, there remains a massive opportunity to speed up the actual movement of funds, enabling people to access earned wages outside of traditional bank hours.
But all that's changing this summer. For the first time, the Fed is upgrading its infrastructure with a new payments rail that will enable instant payments, aptly called FedNow. These changes will have far-reaching implications for businesses everywhere — and it couldn't be arriving at a better time, given rising interest rates, inflation, and broader macroeconomic uncertainty. Here are 5 key things businesses need to know about what's coming and what they can do to make the most of FedNow's arrival.
Instant clearing and settlement means more efficient operations. FedNow will be an instant clearing and settlement service for payments. Banks on either end of a transaction will be able to instantly exchange associated information and move money between relevant customer accounts. Thanks to instant processing, the sender and the receiver of a transaction can get notified immediately on whether the payment was successful, introducing unprecedented transparency into the money movement process while giving access to funds immediately. This will ultimately lead to increased flexibility and cash flow control, which frees businesses up to make faster (and more informed) financial decisions.
24/7 availability removes barriers of traditional banking hours. One of the key improvements over current payment rails, like ACH or wires, is that FedNow will process transactions 24/7. That means it will clear and settle payments on weekends, bank holidays, at night or any time of day. This is important because it means both consumers and businesses can access funds outside of normal banking hours – consumers can make urgent payments or settle bills without being hamstrung by business hours, while businesses can pay suppliers or employees, regardless of the date or time or day.
Cheaper processing costs for transactions across categories means less reliance on ACH. ACH (and other bank-to-bank transfers) has experienced a resurgence of sorts in recent years as businesses push back against the ever increasing fees associated with card payments or wires. Because the Federal Reserve is not for profit, it can offer more competitive pricing, removing barriers to entry.
Potential for faster payroll. For decades, running payroll has been a multi-day event. People typically don't get access to funds until days later, and well after the period they actually worked. The rise of the gig economy has put pressure on this model, and today's labor market means every business is thinking about how best to retain employees. Payroll providers that have historically relied on ACH, may provide businesses the opportunity to pay employees faster via FedNow. After all, more than half of Americans can't pay an unexpected $1,000 bill, and almost 4 in 10 adults have less savings than they did a year ago. That means millions of households are one emergency away from potential financial disaster — and getting money more quickly will reduce overall money stress, which has been shown to improve employee productivity and loyalty.
Integration with the Federal Reserve's larger network offers an opportunity for inclusivity. FedNow will be, in some ways, similar to another recently introduced payment type, Real-Time Payments (RTP) from The Clearing House. While both RTP and FedNow seem to be similar – in that they clear and settle domestic USD payments 24/7, there are some key differences. FedNow will support smaller community banks around the country, which means that its introduction may be most acutely felt by local financial institutions and their account holders (though it ultimately depends on which banks chose to join the FedNow network at launch). Wide adoption will likely take time, but the promise of a more inclusive financial ecosystem is especially exciting.
With the launch of FedNow around the corner, opportunity abounds for businesses in search of making the promise of faster payments a reality. While it won't solve all our time-to-money problems, it will certainly lay the groundwork for a more efficient financial future.


Compassion for Orphans is a Christian non-profit charitable organisation. As a Christian organisation our values are taken from the Bible.
For 'Compassion for Orphans', the key Bible reference is James 1:27:
"Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself uncorrupted from the world"
An important part of the verse above is "to keep oneself uncorrupted from the world".
Corruption causes countries and their societies to enter into moral and economic decay and is one of the major causes that leads countries into poverty, resulting in children abandoned by families. Other reasons why there are orphans and orphanages include:
natural disasters;
ethnic conflicts; and;
extreme poverty.
Under no circumstances will 'Compassion for Orphans' tolerate any bribery or corruption. No payments will be made to any party unless they are expressly authorised, and are completely transparent to governments on both sides (Under no circumstances will payments be made to any government employee for their personal gain). Some people may attempt to justify bribery as 'expediency fees' in the same manner as paying for an express service (with a courier company for example). Any express service will be genuine and will be accompanied by a genuine receipt. Where bribery is considered a way of life in the adopting country and adoptions are not possible without paying bribes, 'Compassion for Orphans' will refuse to work in that country.
Some examples of corrupt practices and abuses (Source: UNICEF-innocenti digest) include:
 - The abduction of children;
 - Identifying vulnerable expectant mothers and inciting them to give up their newborn baby;
 - Falsely informing a mother that her baby was still born or died shortly after birth;
 - Payment for a child either directly to the family, the director or staff of an institution, or sometimes to the institution itself;
 - Offering women financial incentives to conceive a child specifically for adoption overseas;
 - Deliberately providing misleading information to the birth parents on the consequences of adoption, e.g. assuring them they will be able to stay in contact with their child;
 - Falsifying documentation, e.g. birth certificates, consent of birth parents, etc.;
 - Corruption of officials, judges in order to get a favourable decision, e.g. judges may accept false documents purporting to contain the consent of birth parents, and;
 - Seriously ill children e.g. HIV/Aids presented as healthy to prospective adoptive parents who would not have been prepared for the caring requirements.
Situations can also arise where some institutions that receive payments for foreign adoptions have few incentives to look for domestic solutions for the children as they have more to gain from foreign ones. They may also make only half-hearted efforts to find the child's biological family or neglect to ascertain whether the child had been placed in institutional care temporarily because of an emergency situation.
Many abuses and practices in intercountry adoption often happen in war or post war situations. Children in war situations often get separated from their parents and some time (usually at least 2 years) should be allowed to pass to allow for possible reunification with surviving family members. Often a country's judicial system may no longer be operational and therefore proper processes cannot be followed.
'Compassion for Orphans' believe that even though we, or people adopting a child, play only a small part in world events, we should make a stand and try and reverse the trend.
'Compassion for Orphans' will advise prospective adoptive parents that they should resolve before they travel not to be involved in corruption or bribery in any form no matter how desperate or costly to them a situation may appear. Our advice is to walk away in every case. To succumb to bribery or corruption would be feeding one of the very things that causes orphans to end up in orphanages and would run the risk of adoptions being adversely affected. When irregularities are uncovered this often results in countries putting a moratorium on intercountry adoptions (which can result in more children being kept in institutional care).
'Compassion for Orphans' advice to prospective adoptive parents should they encounter corruption or bribery in any form will be to report it to 'Compassion for Orphans' for further action as appropriate or necessary.
It may take a little longer to process a particular adoption but those concerned will have played their part to help prevent the abduction, the sale of, or traffic in children and therefore change the world in which we live.
In the longer term it is highly likely that an adopted child will want to discover his or her birth parents. If it transpires that the child was not properly put up for adoption, there may be serious implications for the relationships between the adoptive parents and the adopted child. Also, in some cases, where illegal procedures have taken place, knowledge about a child's background and medical history are lost forever. Research by the International Social Service has shown that many adopted children need to know as much as possible about their real identity in order to build balanced personalities.
Our experience has been that there are people overseas who have a genuine interest in the welfare of the children. These are the people we want to build relationships with.
Some of the moral issues or anti-intercountry adoption views that people may encounter or be challenged on include:
 - "That you are robbing a country of its children and the children of their culture and language";
 - "That you have bought a baby";
 - "That it is better to leave a child to be brought up in its own race and culture even if it means a lifetime in an institution";
 - "That adopting a child is putting a band-aid on and ignoring the real problem which is helping a country out of poverty", and;
 - "That trans-racial adoption can result in a child with a confused identity and racism can result."
Provided every effort that has been made to find a family for a child in his or her own country has failed, and the child faces a bleak future of life in an institution, common sense would suggest that a child (no matter what race or culture) is better off being brought up in a loving family environment in a country such as New Zealand.
The procedures found in the 1993 Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in respect of Intercountry Adoption (e.g. birth parents counselled, possibility of the child being adopted in their own country has been considered), have evolved as a result of the aforementioned issues and, if followed, should allow all concerned to have peace of mind that it is a truly abandoned child that is being adopted.
This explains why 'Compassion for Orphans' will only intermediate intercountry adoptions from countries who have ratified or acceded to the 1993 Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption and governed by the Adoption (Intercountry) Act 1997.
However, it should be recognised that the fact that a country has agreed to international standards and processes is no guarantee that there will not be people who seek to circumvent the processes. It is important therefore that all involved (e.g. government officials, agencies, adoptive parents, etc) adhere scrupulously to internationally accepted standards.


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Volunteers are central to RUMFS research, education, and outreach activities. The Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve (JCNERR) provides the mechanism for these activities.
Volunteers can participate in a wide range of field, laboratory, and outreach activities. In the field, they may assist with sampling on boats or from the shore by trawling, seining, and trapping fishes and invertebrates. In the laboratory, they might perform faunal identification, dissection, or related analysis. Other activities include data entry, and library and office assistance. Others have provided logistical support for field activities and sample delivery.
If you are interested in volunteering with JCNERR and RUMFS, fill out a volunteer application today!
You can also visit the JCNERR Volunteer page for more information on past, present, and future volunteer opportunities.


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Fugro RAMMS/CAMCOPTER S-100 solution in remote coastal locations
Fugro RAMMS, the world's smallest and lightest 'deepwater' airborne lidar bathymetry (ALB) system, can now be deployed from vessels of opportunity using a Schiebel CAMCOPTER® S-100 uncrewed aerial system (UAS).
The specialised UAS incorporates vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) technology, making it an ideal nearshore and coastal mapping solution in areas that lack aviation infrastructure. Fugro technology partner and RAMMS co-developer Areté Associates proved the capability during a recent demonstration project for the US Navy in Florida. Fugro supported that effort, acquiring vessel-based bathymetry over the test site for validation of the field trial data.
In addition to extended geographic reach, the RAMMS/CAMCOPTER S-100 solution provides significant sustainability gains. With low fuel consumption, high in-air endurance and rapid rate of data collection, the new approach reduces carbon emissions by 98 % compared to large, legacy ALB systems. Other important benefits include reduced operational risk by eliminating the need for flight crew, and improved feature detection with no limits on data resolution given the system's ability to hover over areas of interest. The RAMMS/CAMCOPTER S-100 solution is also well suited for mapping waters in high-relief areas, like canyons and fjords, where crewed, fixed-wing operations can be both difficult and dangerous.
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text: They're both white powders. They're both used in baking. Both substances are leavening agents, substances that release gas bubbles and puff up dough so it's fluffy instead of flat. Both have the same look and texture, but they are used differently. What's the chemistry behind that?


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The decision then was to redevelop this latter part with a more modern look to it and retain the rustic feel of the former. This is the former part that leads to a chinese-design bridge over a pond. The old and bent Callistemon viminalis trees were kept because of the beauty they give to the pond with their arching branches. The reflection of the landscape in the pond was just splendid and the small islands of plants in the pond add a different dimension to it. The landscape architect was brilliant and suggested the use of Phoenix palms in the water as a trial and they are still there in the pond today.
Amongst the marginal aquatic plants was a Waterhen that moved quietly through the thick growth. Part of the old concrete footpath along the pond edge was laid with wooden blocks salvaged from an Australian railway, at least that was what I was told. Then I was back on the red-bricked pathway that led me out of the park where I was greeted by the majestic rows of silver Bismarckia nobilis that is so iconic of this location.


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ONRSR, in conjunction with the Rail Industry Safety and Standards Board (RISSB), has released the results of a global investigation into how world standard technology can protect track workers in the Australian rail industry.
Titled Track Worker Safety Options, the interactive report has been a year in the making and explores the many and varied options available to rail transport operators to drive and inform future investment in, and implementation of, track worker safety treatments.
ONRSR Chief Executive and National Rail Safety Regulator, Sue McCarrey said the report would provide a valuable resource for operators of all kinds, right around the country.
"Track worker safety is a priority for all of us in the business of rail safety and this information offers us a great chance to make a real difference in this space and to ultimately save lives," she said.
"In commending this report to the Australian rail industry I am asking all rail transport operators, whatever the scope and nature of your operation, to challenge your current thinking and understand how this research can help you improve your track worker safety profile."
The report, overseen by the Australasian Centre for Rail Innovation (ACRI), is the culmination of extensive research to identify applicable technologies, and comprehensive engagement with stakeholders around the country, to first characterise the technology and ultimately examine a path to adoption that is both effective and commercially viable.
Download a copy of the report and additional information below.


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Sunshine may be abundant and free, but converting it into a usable form of energy is expensive. Investment decisions, funding of research and development, and commercial applications all rely on economic analysis.This book reviews the spectrum of economic methods that have been developed from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s to analyze the feasibility of solar systems and shows how the use of these techniques has influenced federally sponsored research, development, and demonstration programs. There is a strong emphasis on the use of methods and modeling in studying policy alternatives. The book also reviews applications analysis, net energy analysis, and cost requirements for active and passive heating and cooling, for electric power generation, and for industrial process heat. The change in the costs of solar systems over time is one indication of program success, and the book includes a useful summary of the cost histories of various solar programs.Ronald West is a Professor in the Chemical Engineering Department at the University of Colorado. Frank Kreith is a Senior Research Fellow at the Solar Energy Research Institute. Economic Analysis of Solar Thermal Energy System is included in the series Solar Heat Technologies: Fundamentals and Applications.
About the Editor
Ronald West is a Professor in the Chemical Engineering Department at the University of Colorado.


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Welding Triangles In A Mesh Using Thrust 2016-02-29
This algorithm is designed to weld together triangle vertices with a certain tolerance and remove duplicated triangles. Thrust will be used making the algorithm parallel on the CPU using OpenMP or on the GPU using CUDA. Additionally, I assume that the code is run on the CPU.
This example is based on the Welding Vertices example in the Thrust GitHub examples folder. I used the following to merge vertices and triangles for a marching cubes code which generated an unoptimized triangle mesh.
The input to this procedure is a list of triangles and vertices,
vertices is a three dimensional vector with the locations of each vertex in a triangle and
indices is an array of indices for the vertices that make up a specific triangle. Note that the input to the algorithm must not be merged already, meaning that
vertices will contain unique entries for every vertex and
indices will reference 3 unique vertices. No vertex will be shared by a triangle.


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Experimental measurements of gravity casting flow
NTIS -New Technologies for the Information Society, Faculty of Applied Sciences, University of West Bohemia, Univerzitní 8, 30100 Plzeň, Czech Republic
* e-mail: _EMAIL_
Published online: 28 June 2019
An experimental investigation of casting processes performed under well controlled laboratory conditions is presented. Casting molds made of transparent material allow for analysis of flow patterns by means of standard optical measurement methods. The tests are carried out for selected highly-viscous Newtonian fluids at room temperature. The physical properties of the test fluids (i.e. viscosity, surface tension and density) are identified. As a result, an extensive set of experimental data is provided.
© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2019
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (_URL_ which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.


Easiest Way to Cook Delicious Thyme Bread
Posted on
Thyme Bread.
thyme-bread-recipe-main-photo-_PHONE_ You can cook Thyme Bread using 8 ingredients and 4 steps. Here is how you achieve it.
Ingredients of Thyme Bread
 1. It's 3 of and a half cups of white flour.
 2. It's 1 cup of and a half water.
 3. It's Half of a cup of black olives.
 4. Prepare Half of a cup of thyme.
 5. It's Half of a cup of grated cheese (mozzarella).
 6. Prepare 2 tablespoons of instant yeast.
 7. You need 1 tablespoon of sugar.
 8. Prepare 1 tablespoon of sugar.
Thyme Bread step by step
 1. Hear water to 100-110 f and add to yeast and sugar. Leave for four minutes..
 2. Add the yeast mixture to all other ingredients and knead well..
 3. Cover with a wet cloth and let the magic happen for two hours..
 4. Knead into loaves and bake in a pre-heated oven..
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