Questions about Chapter 18 (Boost Thread)
Volume I - Foundations
Questions about Chapter 18 (Boost Thread)
Postby admin » Mon Feb 21, 2011 5:06 pm
We've got a few questions from a reader about chapter 18 which we will answer below.
[Q1] In Section 18.8, you talk about interrupts. In the code fragment you have a try block with a function call boost::this_thread::interruption_point()
Am I right in saying that unless the function t.interrupt() is invoked from the main function (in this case) this is ignored. So if you removed the t.interrupt() call that thread in the function ThreadFunction will be stuck in a infinite loop?
Yes, a call to interruption_point() is ignored. It has no functionality besides throwing a thread_interrupted exception in case the thread was interrupted. A thread_interrupted exception can only be thrown when the thread is in the ?WaitSleepJoin? state thus when the boost threading functions sleep(), wait() or join() is called. So if the loop never calls one of those functions, it will never be interrupted. In that case you need to call interruption_point() so a thread can be interrupted else it will be in this case an infinite loop. And if you never call t.interrupt(), the thread function will be an infinite loop too in this case.
[Q2] In Section 18.12, how does the Producer thread break out of its while(true) loop? I see no call to boost::this_thread::interruption_point(); as in the Consumer thread's while(true) loop?
See also answer above. Threads can be interrupted only when they are in the ?WaitSleepJoin? state. Since the producer loop calls sleep(), it can be interrupted there. So a call to interruption_point() is not needed in this case.
[Q3] Again in Section 18.12, you make a call to boost::this_thread::interruption_point();
however, you mention in Section 18.8 that this will throw an exception. In the main() function you do not have any catch statements for this exception. Does this mean your program will crash? Admittedly I have not run it (don't have the facilities at the moment), or do the function calls:
// Interrupt the threads and stop them
producers.interrupt_all(); producers.join_all(); consumers.interrupt_all(); consumers.join_all();
handle the exception?
Exceptions thrown inside a thread can only be handled in the thread they are thrown in. So the main() function does not handle them but must be handled in the thread function themselves. If the thread function does not handle it, then that thread will be stopped but the remaining threads and main program will still continue running. The regular ?exception not handled? messages are not shown for unhandled exceptions in additional threads. So the program will not crash, only that thread will stop.
It is however more clean to catch the exception. So in the while loops, you can place the code in a try block and add a catch handler for thread_interrupted exception to cleanly abort the thread (or to cancel the interrupt and continue running).
[Q4] Finally, still referring to Section 18.8, if boost::this_thread::interruption_point(); throws an exception, why are they not in a try block in the Consumer and Producer threads?
See also the answer above. In this case to simplify the example. But in real-world code, you would put it in a try?catch block to handle the exception cleanly.
admin
Site Admin

Posts: 237
Joined: Thu Dec 07, 2006 4:03 pm
Location: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Re: Questions about Chapter 18 (Boost Thread)
Postby saaleha » Thu Apr 23, 2015 8:13 am
Here I focus specifically on how to use Boost threads in a practical setting, ... There is a separate example program for each section below, and a common Bjam ... This is simply to avoid cluttering up the examples with code that would .....
saaleha

Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2015 6:55 am
Return to Introduction to the Boost C++ Libraries - Volume I (Demming/Duffy)
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests
cron


text:
So many gods, so many creeds,
So many paths that wind and wind,
While just the art of being kind
Is all the sad world needs.
— Ella Wheeler Wilcox, American poet (_PHONE_)
This session introduces kindness as an intangible gift that can be freely given every day. The Wonder Box holds a golden ruler that represents one of Jesus' timeless teachings: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." The Golden Rule can be found in many faith traditions. In the story, "The Very Short Rule," the children hear a parable in which Jesus teaches that following all the rules in the Bible will not necessarily make someone a good person. If we are to follow only one rule, Jesus taught, we should be kind to others in the same way that we would want others to be kind to us.
This session will:
- Introduce kindness as an intangible gift
- Explore the Golden Rule and reveal opportunities for children to use it
- Show how kindness is a way of living our Unitarian Universalist Principles
- Demonstrate that authentic welcoming must include kindness
- Engage participants in the spiritual practices of opening and closing rituals.
- Explore the value of the Golden Rule
- Create a "Golden Ruler" to represent being kind to others
- Learn how kindness is an important part of welcome
- Hear a story in which Jesus explains the Golden Rule.

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


Pskov-Caves Monastery
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 (Redirected from Pskovo-Pechorsky Monastery)
Jump to: navigation, search
View of Pskovo-Pechorsky Monastery, seen over the monastery walls.
Pskov-Caves Monastery or The Pskovo-Pechersky Dormition Monastery or Pskovo-Pechersky Monastery (Russian: Пско́во-Печ́ерский Успе́нский монасты́рь, Estonian: Petseri klooster) is a Russian Orthodox male monastery, located in Pechory, Pskov Oblast in Russia, just a few kilometers from the Estonian border. Pskov-Caves Monastery is one of the few Russian monasteries that have never been closed at any point in their existence, including during World War II and the Soviet regime.
Ivan the Terrible's repentance: he asks the hegumen (father superior) Cornelius of the Pskovo-Pechorsky Monastery to let him take the tonsure at his monastery. Painting by Klavdy Lebedev.
The monastery was founded in the mid-15th century, when the first hermits settled in local caves. The first cave Church of the Dormition of the Theotokos (церковь Успения Богородицы) was built in 1473 (its modern facade was constructed in the 18th century).
After the monastery had been destroyed by the Livonian feudals, it was rebuilt by a Pskovian dyak Mikhail Munekhin-Misyur in 1519. A posad (settlement) was built next to the monastery, which would later grow into a town. In 1550s-1560s, Pskovo-Pechorsky Monastery and its posad were surrounded by a wall with towers (eventually, these fortifications were rebuilt in 1701).
The monastery became an important outpost for defending the western border of Russia. In 1581–1582, it withstood the siege laid by Stefan Batory's army. In 1611–1616, the monastery repelled the attack of the Polish army led by Jan Karol Chodkiewicz and Aleksander Józef Lisowski and Swedish army led by Gustav II Adolf.
As fortification Pskovo-Pechersky Monastery lost its importance after the Great Northern War of 1700–1721. In 1920–1944, Pskovo-Pechorsky Monastery belonged to Estonia. The monastery was one of the few acting male monasteries in the USSR, having been saved from destruction by Pechory being Estonian territory before World War II. In Soviet times, famous Russian mystic Sampson Sievers briefly lived and served in the monastery.
Since the fall of the Soviet Union the monastery has flourished. Currently the monastic community numbers over 90 who through their pastoral labors live the tradition of asceticism and eldership as witnessed recently by the Archimandrite John (Krestiankin). In 2013 the monastery marks the 540th anniversary of its existence.
External links[edit]
Coordinates: 57°48′35″N 27°36′55″E / 57.80972°N 27.61528°E / 57.80972; 27.61528


AVMA's Veterinary Medical Assistance Teams
The AVMA's Veterinary Medical Assistance Teams (VMAT) serve as first responders providing high-quality care of animals during disasters and emergencies. When requested by a state, VMATs provide operational assistance in emergency response, and organize and provide training on animal emergency preparedness and response to animal health authorities, veterinary medical associations, and other relevant organizations.
The dedicated volunteers who make up the AVMA VMAT program help ensure that pets, livestock, zoo animals and wildlife all receive the care they need during times of crisis. For more than 20 years, the VMAT program was supported through generous funding from the American Veterinary Medical Foundation (AVMF). In 2016, the AVMA is providing support for the VMAT program.


text:
How to Find and Download an English to Korean Dictionary PDF for Free
If you are learning Korean or want to improve your vocabulary, you might be looking for an English to Korean dictionary PDF that you can download and use offline. A PDF dictionary can be a handy tool for quick reference, especially if you don't have internet access or want to save data. However, finding a reliable and comprehensive English to Korean dictionary PDF for free can be challenging. Here are some tips and sources to help you find what you need.
Tip 1: Use a reputable website
There are many websites that offer free PDF downloads of English to Korean dictionaries, but not all of them are trustworthy or accurate. Some may contain outdated or incorrect information, viruses, malware, or spam. To avoid these risks, you should use a reputable website that has a good reputation and reviews from other users. Some examples of reputable websites that offer free English to Korean dictionary PDFs are:
Cambridge EnglishâKorean Dictionary: This dictionary is based on original research on the unique Cambridge English Corpus, and includes more than 18,000 clear definitions in English with Korean translations and thousands of example sentences[^2^]. You can download the PDF version by clicking on the \"Download PDF\" button at the bottom of the page.
KoreanâEnglish Dictionary by Leon Kuperman: This dictionary is a Project Gutenberg ebook that is free to download and distribute under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License[^4^]. It contains more than 10,000 entries of common Korean words and phrases with English translations and romanizations.
Tip 2: Use a translator tool
If you can't find a suitable English to Korean dictionary PDF for free, you can also use a translator tool to create your own. A translator tool can help you translate any word or phrase from English to Korean or vice versa, and provide you with pronunciation guides, synonyms, antonyms, and examples. You can copy and paste the translations into a word processor and save them as a PDF file. Some examples of translator tools that offer free English to Korean translations are:
Cambridge EnglishâKorean Translator: This translator tool allows you to type or paste your text and get a quick, free translation with links to dictionary entries for the words in your text[^3^]. You can also choose from other languages and listen to the words spoken in British English.
Bing Translator: This translator tool allows you to type or paste your text and get a fast, accurate translation with transliterations and alternate translations[^1^]. You can also choose from other languages and listen to the words spoken in different accents.
An English to Korean dictionary PDF can be a useful resource for learning new words and phrases in Korean. However, finding one for free can be difficult. You can use these tips and sources to help you find and download an English to Korean dictionary PDF for free. Remember to always use a reputable website or a translator tool to ensure the quality and accuracy of your dictionary. 061ffe29dd


8 Ways to Fix: CM FILE MANAGER App Not Working
CM FILE MANAGER App Not Working creates a big issue when you urgently need it. However, users of the app often encounter bugs.
CM FILE MANAGER app users often experience issues such as not being able to load the app or it not working. These problems can arise for many reasons.
This article will provide all information regarding the CM FILE MANAGER app not functioning and possible solutions.
Why is CM FILE MANAGER App Not Working?
If CM FILE MANAGER app not working, It can happen due to several reasons, such as:
 - There Might be a glitch or a bug in the CM FILE MANAGER app.
 - Your device is not compatible with CM FILE MANAGER app
 - You have turned on the low data mode in your mobile
 - You haven't updated the CM FILE MANAGER app in a long while
 - Your Wi-Fi or mobile data is not working properly
9 Fixes "CM FILE MANAGER App Not Working"?
1. Check if Wi-Fi or cellular data is working
It is common to get stuck on an app page when you aren't connected to the internet or have poor internet connectivity. Switch off the internet connection and then turn it on again to find a good place.
2. Clear Cache and Data in the CM FILE MANAGER App
Steps To Clear Cache and Data in the CM FILE MANAGER App:
Step 1: Click the menu icon on your device from the device's home screen.
Step 2: Make a selection of options.
Step 3: Apps should be chosen.
Step 4: From your app list, find the CM FILE MANAGER app. Select it by clicking on it.
Step 5: Choose a storage option.
Step 6: Click the "Clear Data" option at the bottom of the screen. This helps to clean the data as well as the cache.
You can Check Here What is Cache?
Note: Available screens, settings, or steps for clearing the cache may vary by software version and phone model.
3. Update CM FILE MANAGER App
Your smartphone is running an outdated version of CM FILE MANAGER, which is why it's not working properly.
Apps must be kept up-to-date because bugs can be fixed, and patches and new features are all available as part of in-app upgrades. The CM FILE MANAGER app can be downloaded from the Google Play Store.
4. Restart Your Phone
If you experience similar problems, you can reset your phone. If your phone is not responding to your commands, you can restart the app and it will work as new.
It is easy to reset your device and fix any technical problems you may have with its functions or features.
Before using the app, ensure your device is connected to the internet. Your application should now be live and available for use.
5. Contact the CM FILE MANAGER support team
After trying several methods, you can always contact the CM FILE MANAGER Support team if your issue is not solved. They provide 24*7 customer service. So, you can contact CM FILE MANAGER Support and ask your query. They will solve the issue as soon as possible.
Thus, these processes can help to solve the CM FILE MANAGER App not working issue.
6. Reinstall CM FILE MANAGER App
These issues can usually be fixed by reinstalling the program. First, you need to delete the app from your device. Next, go to Google Play and search for the app. Select the program you wish to install and click the Install button.
7. Try using CM FILE MANAGER with a different browser or device
Finally, a common way to troubleshoot a computer problem is to see if you can reproduce the same issue elsewhere. If the iPhone CM FILE MANAGER app isn't working, for example, try using CM FILE MANAGER in the iPhone's Safari browser — or a browser on your computer. If it isn't working in Chrome on your PC, try opening the site in Firefox.
Final Thought
Today's generation is the Internet generation. And there are hundreds of data stored and cleaned. So there is nothing to worry about. There might be any technical error CM FILE MANAGER with the application, or this error might be from your side. So, If there is an error from the company side then it will be solved as early as possible by the company.
If Error from your side then you can try the above-mentioned solution to solve your Problem. Hope this guide will help you to solve the problem which you are finding. If Helped then please share it with your friends and social media to help us to reach out more people. Have a good day.

Similar Posts
Leave a Reply
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


text:
Update: Monday 14 June
This Summer, Kelly will be running a week long 'Metal Work Summer school' at Lyth Arts Centre
Explore and learn 3 main metal work techniques: soldering, saw piercing and texturing precious and non-precious metals to complete a collection of jewellery pieces. You will also work on a group piece inspired Wick's fishing Heritage.
Morning: Learn how to make a silver ring using soldering and texturing techniques that you can take home at the end of the session.
Afternoon: Discuss and plan sculpture project for the week and start making paper mock ups of the piece.
Morning: Learn how to cut brass using the saw piercing technique and create a brass keyring to take home at the end of the day.
Afternoon: Using the morning session's skills, we will saw pierce some parts for the sculpture.
Morning: Learn how to twist, texture and plait silver wire and create a silver pendant to take home.
Afternoon: Use the morning's techniques to create part of the sculpture.
Morning: Begin 2 day project to design and make a piece of jewellery based on your own style.
Afternoon: Continue work on main sculpture.
Morning: Continue with 2 day project.
Afternoon: Finalise sculpture.
Booking info: For ages 13-19, the course will run from 10am to 4pm each day. Please book one ticket per attendee, the ticket covers the week long course.
To book, please click here

source: m-a-p/FineFineWeb


text:
What would it be like to inherit a compass from your parents that always led you home, no matter where you were in the world? Apparently, sea turtles do inherit such a compass, and so do other marine animals such as salmon and whales.
They use the earth's magnetic field to guide them to feeding grounds or mating grounds. What's even more amazing is that they seem to be born with an internal map to go along with their compass. Salmon, for instance automatically know how to get to the same feeding grounds used by their biological parents even if they were born and raised in a hatchery..
Scientists are finding out that these internal navigation tools are way more sensitive than they thought. They've known for a long time that many animals use the earth's magnetic field to determine their latitude, or north-south position. It's a fairly straightforward thing to do because it relies on the north-south direction of the earth's magnetic field, something that never changes.
The surprising thing that researchers have recently learned is that sea turtles also use magnetic fields to determine their longitude (east-west position). That's a trickier job because it's not about simply knowing the direction of the Earth's magnetic field; it's about recognizing very small changes in the strength of it, too. The turtles combine information about magnetic strength and direction to determine where they are in a vast ocean with no other clues or landmarks to guide them.
These changes in magnetic strength are so small a regular compass can't detect them, which means sea turtles are very sensitive to shifts in magnetic fields. That's important because they travel such long distances that even a small mistake can send them way off course.
Understanding how sea turtles navigate during their long journeys might help us protect them. It may also lead to improvements in navigation technology, and it could provide clues to why the turtles and other animals such as whales and dolphin sometimes beach themselves.
Read about these studies here:
Sea Turtles Migrate with help of a magnetic map


Technology Musings
Making Reusable iPhone Widgets with Interface Builder
One annoying thing about Interface Builder, at least for the iPhone, is that there is not a direct way of making reusable widgets that are both made *in* Interface Builder and *for* Interface Builder. I came up, though, with a set of instructions and helpers that make the process fairly painless. The class is called IBView, and should be used as the parent class for your reusable widget.
Here's how to create the widget:
 1. Create a class for your new widget, called MyWidget. Inherit from the IBView class (code provided below). Create all of the IBOutlets you want for your widget.
 2. Create a view with the same name as your widget class in Interface Builder. If your widget was named "MyWidget.m" then your interface should be called "MyWidget.xib". DO NOT set the class of this view or any subview to be of the MyWidget (or whatever class you are create) type. DO NOT do it.
 3. Set the "File's Owner" of your interface in Interface Builder to be the name of the class that you are creating - MyWidget in this case.
 4. Set up any connections you want between your IB view and File's Owner (i.e. your widget).
Now, your widget is created. You can now use the view in any IB panel by doing putting in a generic UIView, and setting the class name to your new class (MyWidget in this case).
Important caveat - one consequence of creating the view in Interface Builder is that there will be an extra view between the main view represented by your class and the rest of the elements of your class. Basically, your custom view acts as a generic view, and then *loads in* your Interface Builder file as a subview, meaning that the toplevel view in Interface Builder will sit under your MyWidget view. This is usually unimportant if you are just using IBOutlet stuff, but if you do advanced view management, it would be important to know that a view sits between you and the rest of your sub-widgets.
Okay, here is the code for IBView.m - just very simple code, with a tiny bit of Objective-C magic thrown in:
_TAG_ "IBView.h"
_USER_ IBView
-(void) loadViewsFromBundle {
NSString *class_name = NSStringFromClass([self class]);
NSLog(@"Loading bundle: %@", class_name);
UIView *mainSubView = [[[NSBundle mainBundle] loadNibNamed:class_name owner:self options:nil] lastObject];
[self addSubview:mainSubView];
-(id) initWithCoder:(NSCoder *)coder {
self = [super initWithCoder:coder];
if(self) {
[self loadViewsFromBundle];
return self;
- (id)initWithFrame:(CGRect)frame {
self = [super initWithFrame:frame];
if (self) {
[self loadViewsFromBundle];
// Initialization code.
return self;
And IBView.h is super-simple:
_TAG_
_USER_ IBView : UIView {
And that's all there is to it!


Quick Answer: Why Do You Think She Is Telling Her Son About Her Life In This Way?
What is being compared in the poem mother to son?
In "Mother to Son" Hughes uses a metaphor to describe the life of the mother.
In this case, it is an extended metaphor that compares the mother's life to a staircase.
Each step symbolizes a part of her life that she had to endure.
This metaphor is used throughout the poem to show the meaning of the poem..
What do you think is the most probable purpose of the writer in writing mother to son?
The purpose of the Langston Hughes poem "Mother to Son" is to illustrate, through narrative, the difficulties that previous generations of black people have endured, sometimes as a sacrifice to ensure a better future for the next generation.
What to say to your son before he gets married?
I'd like to share these bits of wisdom with him now — 12 things he should know before his wedding day. Never take her — or anything — for granted. Be grateful every day for the life you have and the love you've found. Do something nice for her every day, and thank her for something at least once a day.
Which three pieces of advice does the speaker give the boy in the poem mother to son?
❏Major Themes in "Mother to Son": Hardships, hope, and courage are some of the major themes of the poem. ❏The poem explores the dignity and determination of a person when facing problems. ❏The speaker compares her life to a ragged staircase and conjures up an idea that one should not give up.
What is the overall message the mother is trying to convey to her son?
It was first published in the magazine Crisis in 1922. The poem is about a mother giving advice to her son about the challenges of life. It also illustrates how sometimes life becomes too heavy, but a person should never give up.
What is the moral lesson of the poem mother to son?
"Mother to Son" poem by Langston Hughes teaches a lesson to those people who get scared of hardships in life. And, loose hopes to overcome from their hardships. This poem demonstrates that if we have strong determination and courage then we can win any race in this world no matter how rough is our way.
What is the mother's advice to her son?
The advice that she gives her son is to keep going. She tells him never to sit down on the steps, never to fall, and never to turn back.
What point of view is mother to son?
Summary. "Mother to Son" is a poem written from the point of view of a mother talking to her son. She begins by telling the son that life is not a crystal stair, that it has tacks and splinters, and all the boards are torn up and it doesn't even have carpet in some places.
What is the conflict in mother to son?
The conflict in the poem is between the mother and the son. Her warning in the resolution shows that she has reason to fear that her son might not continue up the stair, that he might "find it's kinder hard" and just "set down on the steps." After her hard life, this is something the mother does not want to happen.
Why do you think Hughes uses the stairs as a comparison for life in mother to son?
What metaphor is used throughout "Mother to Son"? The mother's life is compare to climbing an uncomfortable and dangerous stairway. the metaphor suggets that her life has been hard but she has kept going. … She is worried her son will sit up, give up or fall because he finds life hard.
What does bare mean in mother to son?
She tells her son that "life for me ain't me no crystal stair" (2) literally meaning that life is not like a smooth, clear crystal. Instead she says the staircase has "tacks in it" (3), "splinters" (4), "boards torn up"(5), "places with no carpet on the floor"(6) and is "bare"(7).
What is the mother's experience of life?
What is the meaning of splinters?
noun. a small, thin, sharp piece of wood, bone, or the like, split or broken off from the main body. splinter group.
What is the central theme of the poem?
The poem's central theme is contained in the subject matter of the poem. In other words, it is the abstract idea of what the poem is saying about life. A poem may convey different levels of meaning, simultaneously.
What literary devices are used in mother to son?
Poets use many literary devices to convey a theme to the readers. In the poem "Mother to Son" by Langston Hughes, imagery, figurative language, and sound devices are used to express the speaker's experiences. The crystal stairs are a metaphor comparing to the speaker's life.
Which is the most interesting phrase in the poem mother to son why?
The poem is to inspire us to not give up no matter what happens and no matter how hard life can be. It encourages us to strive hard and be the best that we can be. The most interesting line is "Life for me ain't been no crystal stair." This line of the mother tells the whole story of her life, of her motherhood.
What do you think might have motivated the mother to advice her son?
Answer. The mother might gave her son some advice for she wants her son to be prepared. Prepared on what kind of obstacle her son might encounter.


Saravana Kumar Saravana Kumar - 25 days ago 24
C# Question
Detect windows logon attempts programmatically using C#
I want to develop a windows forms application to monitor my network computers do login, logoff and login attempts details and do something based on detection. (For example send some notification for admin)
What I have tried:
I read about windows service, Windows Task Scheduler and Event auditing using Task Scheduler But I want to do it pragmatically. So my question is How can I detect windows logon attempts programmatically using C#?
Answer
To detect logon attempts you can rely on windows security events. Here you can see a list of security events and their meanings. Common events which you may be interested in are:
4624: An account was successfully logged on.
4625: An account failed to log on.
4648: A logon was attempted using explicit credentials.
4675: SIDs were filtered.
Detect Events using an Application/Service
You can detect logon attempts yourself by code using EventLog class and handling its EntryWritten event. The code sample below just logs the event in a file to show you can be informed of event and use it. Instead of writing in a file, you can send notification by email or run an application or do something else.
To test the code you should Run as Administrator. Also in a real environment you should make it like a service or configure it to run before user login.
private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
 EventLog logListener = new EventLog("Security");
 logListener.EntryWritten += logListener_EntryWritten;
 logListener.EnableRaisingEvents = true;
}
void logListener_EntryWritten(object sender, EntryWrittenEventArgs e)
{
 //4624: An account was successfully logged on.
 //4625: An account failed to log on.
 //4648: A logon was attempted using explicit credentials.
 //4675: SIDs were filtered.
 var events = new int[] { 4624, 4625, 4648, 4675 };
 if (events.Contains(e.Entry.EventID))
 System.IO.File.AppendAllLines(@"d:\log.txt", new string[] {
 string.Format("{0}:{1}", e.Entry.EventID, e.Entry.Message)
 });
}
Note: As also you said in the question you can use Windows Scheduled Task to do something when an Event Occurred.
You can ask the Windows to do something for you when an unsuccessful logon attempt detected, for example run an application (which sends an email or somethings else). To do so, use Windows Task Scheduler and say the task run when an specific event occurred and specify suitable event source and Id. Also to see an example of complete steps see Getting event log contents by email on an event log trigger.
Comments


Why more foreign students are attending Australian international schools
Southeast Asian students are flocking to Australian international schools. Source: Shutterstock
Australia has always been a popular destination for international students, but new reports show an influx of foreign student enrolments at Australian international schools at a rate that's unlikely to slow.
According to the Australian Financial Review, the number of non-native students at Australian international schools in 2018 increased by 11 percent from 2016. There are now over 25,000 international students enrolled in schools across the country.
These young learners make up such a significant portion of the K-12 student population that some schools are making special modifications to their facilities to accommodate them.
A hub for Southeast Asian students
Caralyn Dea, Director of International and Boarding at Toorak College, told the Australian Financial Review that the boarding school has 58 international students out of 62 boarders, out of which two-thirds come from China.
She said, "We've just finished renovating our boarding house. It's had a full redesign with feng shui principles built into the structure."
"A boarding school has its culture but it also has to reflect the values of the families who send their children to live and study there."
The major reason why parents from Southeast Asian families are choosing to send their children to Australia to study is to prepare them for university, on top of allowing them to receive a high-quality education delivered in English.
In countries like China, citizens are not proficient in English as it's not a language commonly spoken there. When enrolled in an Australian international school, foreign students can improve their English and subsequently enjoy an easier transition to university.
International schools also have smaller class sizes so teachers can focus more attention on students, helping them identify and address challenges they face.
Experience an English education in Australia
According to the Australian Financial Review, Toorak College "has a dedicated English language unit that ensures the foreign students are sufficiently fluent so they have every chance of high ATARs in their end-of-school exams."
Dr Minglu Chen, a lecturer at the University of Sydney's China Studies Centre, told ABC that families were looking for better English education and a pathway to top Australian universities for their children.
She said, "This is what we could expect from China's growing economy, which is at the moment is the second largest economy in the world, which actually also has a growing middle class.
"I think parents, wealthy middle class parents in China, would prefer their children to be educated in an English-speaking society."
Parents from Southeast Asian families want their kids to receive an overseas education mainly so that they can eventually work or settle down in that country.
The recent tensions between China and the US, as well as the visa crackdown under the Trump administration, is further driving families from Asia to choose Australia instead.
The chance to work overseas and earn a higher wage compared to their home countries is more likely to happen in Australia than the US or UK.
Plus, the country is closer to Asia than Europe, the US or Canada, so parents feel more comfortable sending their kids to Australia where they can visit them more easily or have them return home for short breaks.
By allowing them to receive an Australian primary and secondary school education, students leave better prepared for university life in the country as well as beint more adjusted to the local culture.
Liked this? Then you'll love…
Affordable international schools in Asia
Why Australian schools are going beyond traditional classroom design


text:
The Weath-A-Stic is a new product for controling mist in plant propagation using mist. It automatically keeps the correct amount of mist on cuttings producing optimal plant growth and reducing rot. The device uses 5 different sensors to predict when mist is needed and calls for a 5 second mist. No timers are needed and the surrounding humidity, temperature, light and wind speed determines the moisture evaporation from the plants and when to call for more mist.
You are visitor number:


Format
Send to
Choose Destination
Exp Brain Res. 1980;41(1):1-10.
Inhibitory interactions contributing to the ocular dominance of monocularly dominated cells in the normal cat striate cortex.
Abstract
Experiments have been carried out to ascertain whether intracortical inhibitory processes influence the ocular dominance of monocularly dominated cells in the primary visual cortex of the normal cat. The GABA antagonist bicuculline has been iontophoretically applied to the cells studied to produce a localised block of inhibitory mechanisms acting on them. The ocular dominance of these cells was tested before, during, and after bicuculline application. In a sample of 42 cells studied, approximately 50% (19) showed a significant change in ocular dominance during bicuculline application. Some exclusively monocular cells became equally driven by either eye during bicuculline application. All the effects were reversible. Receptive field properties revealed in the non-dominant eye were not identical to those in the dominant eye. Evidence is presented to suggest that for some of the cells there is a selective GABA-mediated inhibitory process suppressing the non-dominant eye input. The possible implications of these data are discussed.
PMID:
_PHONE_
DOI:
10.1007/bf00236673
[Indexed for MEDLINE]
Supplemental Content
Loading ...
Support Center


text:
July 5, 2006 to July 7, 2006
Satoshi Yonemoto, Kyushu Sangyo University, Japan
Takahiro Yotsumoto, Kyushu Sangyo University, Japan
Rin-ichiro Taniguchi, Kyushu Sangyo University, Japan
DOI Bookmark: _URL_
In this paper, we describe a tangible interface for Hands-on Learning using physical-tangible objects ( pattern blocks). A computer recognizes the states of the user-handled objects in real time and it gives the users advice to execute learning tasks if necessary. In our approach, a pattern block is employed as a primitive piece. It helps the users to do direct manipulation in real environments, while displayed events in virtual environments help them to support the learning tasks. Concretely, we have developed the interaction system can support Hands-on Math activities.
Augmented reality, computer vision.
Satoshi Yonemoto, Takahiro Yotsumoto, Rin-ichiro Taniguchi, "A Tangible Interface for Hands-on Learning", IV, 2006, Information Visualization, Information Visualization 2006, pp. 535-538, doi:10.1109/IV.2006.13


text:
South Florida is much better poised to deal with flooding now than it was when Tropical Storm Isaac dumped more than a foot of rain in August 2012, according to the South Florida Water Management District.
Canals have been cleared of debris and canal and levee banks have been fortified, said district spokesman Randy Smith. Among the biggest improvements: A new pump station along Southern Boulevard that should prevent the pile up of water that caused flooding in western communities after Isaac.
The new pump station, called the S-319, enables the district to pump water from the C-51 canal, that runs along Southern Boulevard, into a stormwater treatment area just west of Wellington, Smith said. After Isaac, some communities that wanted to discharge their flood waters into the C-51 could not do so. The water piled up and caused flooding.
Hardest hit was the Acreage, where canals and swales are maintained by the Indian Trails Improvement District. Water flooded the rural community of dirt roads, where canals had not been properly cared for. The South Florida Water Managment District volunteered its pumps and engineers when water from the Corbett Wildlife Area nearly breached a levee.
Since then, the district has rebuilt much of the levee, Smith said.
Meteorologists, engineers, logistics experts and the Army Corps of Engineers rode out the storm in the windowless, emergency operations center district headquarters on Southern Boulevard near the airport. The district is responsible for flood control from Orlando to Key West.
Much of the 2,100 miles of canals the district oversees are monitored by remote sensors located in water control structures. These unmanned structures constantly feed data to the district's control room, where officials can open and close structures as needed.
With this information the district can not only quickly pinpoint flooding but also provide valuable information to other agencies about inaccessible roads and where emergency supplies are needed.


text:
The theme of this year's Earth Day celebration at Salem State University is "Whose Earth Is It? Climate Change, Biodiversity and the Future"
Inspired by Conservation International's "Nature is Speaking" campaign, Earth Days Week this year will focus on human interactions with nature and the consequences of these interactions for the future. We believe that global warming, over-development, environmental degradation, over-consumption and over-population are central challenges to the survival of the planet and its human and non-human inhabitants. The costs of climate change include conflict, poverty, inequality, hunger and species extinctions. How we interact with nature will determine our future.
The Earth Day Planning Committee invites you to participate in this year's Earth Days events to learn, contemplate, discuss and share ideas to protect and preserve the earth, oceans, atmosphere and biodiversity and to foster coexistence with nature. To encourage discussion of these important issues within the campus community, we encourage the campus community to watch the "Nature is Speaking" short films – The Ocean, Mother Nature, The Soil, Water, The Rainforest, The Redwood and Coral Reef – at _URL_.


Contact Us
News Releases
EPA takes action against Del Monte Fresh Produce to protect community, workers from hazardous waste Company fined $190,000 for improperly stored and handled hazardous waste
Release Date: 09/25/2008
Contact Information: Dean Higuchi, _PHONE_,
(09/25/08) HONOLULU -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today fined Del Monte Fresh Produce Co., a Kunia, Oahu, fruit grower, $190,000 for hazardous waste storage, handling, and used oil management violations.
In August 2007, EPA inspectors found open and unlabeled containers of hazardous waste at the facility and evidence of a release of used oil.
"Companies must properly store and handle hazardous waste to protect the community, workers and the environment," said Jeff Scott, director of Waste Programs for the EPA's Pacific Southwest region. "I am pleased that Del Monte has corrected the violations and that the facility no longer presents a potential risk to human health and the environment."
Additionally, the EPA found the facility had stored containers of hazardous waste without a permit and stored hazardous waste for longer than the 90 days allowed by the EPA's hazardous waste storage rules. At the time of the inspection, the company had ceased its pineapple growing operations.
The facility also failed to:
* have a response plan for hazardous waste and used oil spills and have an emergency response coordinator;
* properly manage other wastes, such as lead acid batteries;
* keep adequate hazardous waste training records for its staff;
* properly store used oil and label the containers; and
* respond to releases of used oil, and comply with oil pollution control requirements.
The EPA's hazardous waste rules require facilities to properly store, label and seal hazardous waste containers. Facilities must also have trained staff, as improperly stored hazardous waste can potentially spill and pose a risk to workers and the environment. Proper disposal of hazardous waste is required at a permitted disposal site, with the required permits and notifications made to the EPA.
For information on hazardous waste, please visit:
# # #


text:
About Edinburgh Fringe Festival -- Alternative Theatre in Scotland
Travel to the Edinburgh Fringe Theatre Festival in Scotland and see new forms of theater from all over the world! In this course you will learn to navigate the largest Fringe Festival in the world with confidence. Attend shows by international companies, experience experimental theater, and see new work by contemporary playwrights. By attending and critically evaluating a wide range of new performance created by artists from all over the world, you will have the opportunity to engage in a more complex way with the relationship of theatre, culture, and national identity – transforming your understanding of theatre and your world.
The Alternative Theatre course focuses on developing an international perspective on theatre's relationship to culture and identity by experiencing and evaluating diverse aesthetic viewpoints from artists all over the world. In doing so, the course also covers a wide range of general or liberal education objectives.
August 9 - 23, 2017
Kym Longhi has cultivated her artistic vision as an actor, mime, writer, director, teacher and artist for nearly 3 decades. Her experience encompasses classical speaking theater, experimental theater, mime and dance. She is the first certified Margolis Method instructor in the United States and is registered as an RYT 200.
Housing and Meals
Housing is dorm-style in a hostel. Limit 4 to a room. Welcome meal is included; remaining meals are up to the student.
Organized excursions will include a bus tour of the Scottish Highlands, and a walking tour of the city of Edinburgh.
Contact Kym Longhi _EMAIL_ for more information.


Service
Professional Uses of the Heat gun
Introduction:
Heat guns are a tremendously great tool, but if not applied effectively, they could be harmful. To help you keep your protection when utilizing a heat gun, here are a few important ideas. In the suitable air-flow and fire-retardant clothes towards the various temperatures options and nozzle add-ons, the following information will teach you how to use a heat gun securely and efficiently.
Ventilation and Flames-Retardant Apparel
The first task to securely utilizing a heat gun is making positive you possess adequate air-flow. Heat firearms produce intense heat, and so the oxygen in your work area must be constantly moving. It is also essential that you wear flames-retardant clothing while working with a heat gun. This can include extended jeans and sleeves as well as hand protection and protection eyeglasses.
Temperatures Options
hot gun feature adjustable heat adjustments, generally ranging from 150°F to 1,200°F or higher. The better the heat environment, the faster the task can get carried out but it additionally raises the danger of blaze or injury. Consequently, it's wise to start at the lowest environment possible and gradually increase it until you choose one that works for your personal project.
Nozzle Devices
Most heat gun models include a number of nozzle devices made for various software like loosening color or fasten, soldering wires together, or heating system plastic-type parts for bending uses. When deciding on a nozzle attachment for the venture ensure it suits both the size of your project along with its material composition to avoid any potential accidents or damage to your project.
Verdict:
Using a heat gun responsibly needs careful consideration of several variables for example enough ventilation, fire-retardant apparel, temperatures adjustments, and nozzle add-ons. Following these steps will help make sure your safety whenever using a heat gun as well as offer you far better final results on whatever task you may be doing. By using these straightforward tips under consideration and some exercise within your belt, you will be ready to carry out any project that involves using a heat gun!
Enjoy an Unforgettable Relaxation with a Gentle Gwangju Massage
Anxiety may have a large influence on your actual, intellectual, and mental wellness. The good news is, there are actually relaxation strategies which will help you lessen pressure and feel rejuvenated. In this article, we will be investigating the key benefits of Gwangmyeong Massage being a pleasure approach.
What is Gwangmyeong Massage?
Gwangju Massage (광주마사지) the type of massage therapies that has been applied in Eastern Asia for years and years. It's renowned for its healing effects and its ability to assist ease physical and mental tension. During the Gwangmyeng massage program, experts use their hands to make use of tension to distinct parts of the body. This minimises stress levels, increase blood circulation, and activate the body's natural recovery process.
Great things about Gwangmyeong Massage
The main advantage of Gwangmyeong Massage is it calms the body and mind. Additionally, it boosts the flow of blood and minimises muscle stress which can cause enhanced flexibility and flexibility. In addition, it will help improve digestion by revitalizing the digestive bodily organs which leads to much better nutritional absorption and spend removing from your entire body. Eventually, it may help enhance the immune system by improving lymphatic drainage which helps remove harmful toxins from your system.
How to Combine Gwangmyeong Massage into Your Rest Routine
Gwangmyeong Massage is an easy approach to incorporate pleasure into the everyday schedule and never have to invest too much effort or work. If you are unfamiliar with this system, begin by learning some basic strokes including kneading, tapping, rubbing, or going just before gradually improving your level of skill after a while. When you become comfortable with these techniques, you can begin integrating them into the current relaxing program or perhaps put aside specific times in the daytime for personal-massages. Of course when participating in any form of massage treatment method ensure that you check with your physician initial before starting any new strategy!
Summary: When there are several kinds of relaxing methods now available, just about the most efficient ways to chill out is through Gwangmyeong Massage treatment. Not only does it offer numerous benefits additionally it needs small energy but still offers highly effective outcomes when done properly. So if you're looking for an effective way to lessen stress levels as a way to stay a far healthier daily life then consider adding Gwangmyeong Massage in your daily program!
What are one of the dangers associated with operating an offshore company?
You may have listened to the phrase "offshore company", however precisely what does it recommend? An offshore company is really a company that is certainly included beyond the owner's property nation. This sort of company typically offers more mobility, prospects for enlargement, and taxation beneficial features as opposed to those based in the home area. In this article we take a look at why you need to take into account developing an offshore company and exactly how it could advantage your small business.
Have you figured out the Advantages of Offshore Businesses?
If you are browsing to lessen taxes and enhance your income, an offshore company may well be a wonderful technique of doing this. Depending on the nation for which you make your offshore company, there could be particular taxation rewards which can help you decrease your total expenditures. In addition, numerous nations around the world offer you rewards like no corporate and business and enterprise taxes or minimized charges on tax depending on how very much cash is acquired in the nation. This will help you to preserve more of the profits as opposed to having to pay out a big part towards the government.
An additional benefit of creating an offshore company is that it enables you admission to new forex trading trading markets and customers. Because you are not any further constrained by geographic edges, you could get in touch with possible potential customers outside your home country who may benefit from the options or products. Additionally, should you put in place a subsidiary in a a lot more property, this will supply you with using near by resources that will not be offered someplace in addition.
Lastly, having an offshore company allows faster development simply because you are not little by rules within one certain legislation. With much less limitations how quickly it can be easy to improve your organization and its particular procedures overseas, this generates far more prospective customers for fulfillment in comparison to receiving limited within a particular specific location or location. Furthermore, with a lot less limits shows up much more overall flexibility with regards to making choices about purchases or alterations in characteristics while not getting to concern yourself with arrangement with community lawful recommendations all the way up.
Along with the benefits outlined earlier mentioned, owning an offshore company might help safeguard your buy then sell techniques and methods and mental house from simply being thieved or misappropriated. By getting your company a company's bylaws and also the 'principal variety to business' in just one region, it really is feasible to create a plan to protect against employees, affiliates, or companies from stealing beneficial industry important facts. Furthermore, by obtaining your company situated in a territory with sturdy Ip address protections and enforcement, you can actually assistance make certain that any emotional residence and brand name acknowledgement connected to your online organization is protected. Eventually, this enables for better confidence in relation to protecting your buy and then sell on secrets and methods and useful IP.
Verdict:
Making an offshore company has several rewards for businesses seeking to boost their profitability and grow into new marketplaces or locations world wide. These companies give usage of decrease income taxes along with elevated overall flexibility when discovering ventures or versions in features when still complying with reputable demands within each particular expert they operate in. Should you be considering broadening your business internationally or want usage of worldwide possessions hard to get at in other places, then setting up an offshore company might be best for you!
Football Betting Website You can Trust
If you look around yourself, there are plenty of soccer fanatics. It is amongst the most famous online games globally with a sizeable supporter foundation. And that is certainly also the main reason why people like to bet on baseball. It can be located on a variety of betting websites, rendering it an easy task to guess when tournaments and game titles are close to. In case you are a professional bettor, it is possible to succeed huge, definitely huge. Why then not, proper.
Betting programs
It is really not there is simply one best football betting website (เว็บพนันบอลดีที่สุด) can be found in the field of sporting activities wagering. You might have so many possibilities which may overpower you initially. You may even have problems selecting the very best site to put a guess. But, you want not be concerned because the subsequent issues described are what you should see online:
-Kinds of wagers
You need to steer clear of getting started with a site that only offers a few types of wagering options. A site supplying diverse playing formats is the best choice.
-Wagering odds
Make sure to begin to see the playing chances of an internet site whilst deciding on a single. Extremely competing gambling chances are desired because they supply significant chances to earn.
-Financial options
Seek out the safety and security in the dealings. Is setting up a put in or withdrawal simple or not?
i99BETS is definitely the go-to เว็บแทงบอลthat you can rely regarding satisfying your demands. The site is simple to operate and navigate with squads available every 2nd during the day.
The employees communication also holders approximately your expectations. You can always ring the website's staff members up in the case of inquiries. The internet site is as outlined by overseas criteria – there is no doubt of stability.
You will get more benefits when


text:
Use the Login Page Settings page to customize your login page.
To navigate to the Login Page Settings page, click the gear wheel, select Users & System Administration, and click Login Page under Customize.
Here, you can change the background image and the welcome text that displays above the Login credentials. The default text for the welcome text is your company name as registered in kintone Store.
To customize your login page:
- Enter desired Welcome Text in the box. To display nothing in this area of the Login Page, just leave this field blank.
- Click Browse, locate a file from your device, and select a background image.
- To delete the image, click the Delete icon.
- Click Save.
- When you logout and log back in, you will see the new image and text.
You can use the following file types for the background image:


text:
Dr. Juan Explains How Dietary Fiber Might Help You Avoid a Heart Attack
Santo Remedio founder and renowned cardiologist Dr. Juan Rivera is on a mission to help hispanics avoid diabetes and the deadly complications that come with it, especially heart disease.
Hispanics are over 50 percent more likely to die of diabetes than caucasians.
One of the reasons is the insidious, constant inflammation that diabetes creates in the body, which can lead to heart disease and heart attacks.
To manage diabetes, or avoid it altogether, the key is controlling your blood sugar levels. High blood sugar is a hallmark of diabetes, and it, more than anything, is what creates the chronic inflammation that is so damaging.
So how do we get the right amounts of dietary fiber in our busy lives? Here's Dr. Juan explaining exactly how, with even more information on how to fight or avoid diabetes and heart disease.
Let's get healthier together,
Your friends at Santo Remedio
Tips for an unforgettable summer! The most popular season is finally here! It's time to enjoy the sun and spend more...
What is it like to be a dad? Probably those who are fathers ask themselves that often. A father is...
Just as the seasons change, our skincare routine also needs to adapt to the changing temperatures, humidity levels, sun exposure,...
Join the Santo Remedio family
Sign up for product giveaways, discounts, and tips from Dr. Juan


text:
Contacts: Cathy Rofshus, MPCA, _PHONE_ Kari Etrheim, OCPHS, _PHONE_ Rochester, Minn. -- "Air Pollution Health Alerts" are issued by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) to advise citizens how polluted the air is, and what associated health effects might be a concern. The alerts focus on health effects some citizens may experience within a few hours or days after breathing polluted air. Several thousand people in Olmsted County are affected when the alerts are issued and should take precautions to protect their health. WHAT: Catch Your Breath: The Health Impact of Air Pollution in the Rochester Area
WHEN: Tuesday, April 28, from 4:00 - 5:30 p.m.
WHERE: Olmsted County Public Health Services, 2100 Campus Drive East, Rochester
WHO: Individuals with respiratory or cardiovascular concerns, their families and caregivers; school, neighborhood and community leaders; and health professionals may benefit most and are encouraged to attend.
WHY: Outdoor air pollutants increase the risk of triggering respiratory and cardiovascular problems, cancer and other health effects.
Pollutants from myriad sources create odors and smog, diminish the protective ozone layer, and contribute to environmental problems, such as acid rain and global climate change.
The program is a collaborative effort between Olmsted County Public Health Services, the MPCA, Zumbro Valley Medical Society and the Minnesota Department of Health. The program is free of charge and open to the public.
Note to editors: Interviews with speakers and panelists available at 3:30 p.m. Please call Cathy or Kari to arrange.

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


text:
1.3 Regulated river
The volume recognised in the water accounting statement (16,385 ML) represents the volume of water held in the regulated lower Ord River at 30 June 2012.
The regulated river is defined as the lower Ord River, which extends 76 km from Lake Kununurra downstream to the upper tidal limit. Water in the regulated river is recognised as a water asset when the electrical conductivity is less than 1,500 µS/cm. Water in the regulated river above this level is not fit for purpose and as such does not provide a future benefit to the Ord region.
A series of approximately 40 cross sections detailing channel geometry of the lower Ord River was surveyed between 1997 and 2002. The survey information was used to create a hydraulic model of the Ord River between Lake Kununurra and the limit of tidal incursion, 76 km below the Kununurra Diversion Dam (Braimbridge & Malseed, 2007).
The river storage volume is calculated using the model based on a flow rate of 0.074 ML/s as measured at the Tarrara Bar (Station 809339) at the start and end of the 2011–12 year.
Assumptions, limitations, caveats and approximations
The cross sections along the lower Ord River were surveyed for the purposes of making environmental assessments of various parts of the river downstream of Lake Kununurra, not for calculating an accurate volume (e.g. the depths of the river pools were not surveyed).
The cross-sectional profile of the river varies substantially downstream of Lake Kununurra. Approximately 40 cross section profiles were surveyed and the calculated hydraulic model volume is considered only to provide an order of magnitude estimate of the true river volume. It is expected that since the cross sections were surveyed between 1992 and 2002, there will have been changes within the channel. The extent and rate of these changes is unknown.
The method of estimation also assumes that a constant flow rate is occurring along the entire (76 km) length of the lower Ord River for which the calculation was made.
Derived from modelled data. The uncertainty estimate was not quantified.


text:
Complying with ever-changing safety and environmental regulations is forcing manufacturers to make a tough choice. They're having to put off investing in newer equipment to fund compliance. Unfortunately, sticking with aging equipment raises the risk of a costly incident.
Mobile safety inspections using connected worker technology provide critical early warnings for manufacturing maintenance and safety processes. Conducting inspections with handheld digital devices and wearables improves process visibility, data collection, compliance, and decision making.
This whitepaper will examine the safety and environmental problems manufacturing companies confront every day. We'll focus on the operational and safety inspection process, particularly on why it is proving inadequate for so many organizations. It will also introduce a digital solution these companies can use today to reduce potential dangers and reduce costs while boosting daily inspection efficiency and accuracy.
Mobile inspections help manufacturing companies to:
- Eliminate paper and clipboards
- Log data in real-time
- Display and enter operations data across the corporate network
- Respond to alerts without having to return to the office or a PC


text:
You're mistaken: men of sense often learn from their enemies. Prudence is the best safeguard. This principle cannot be learned from a friend, but an enemy extorts it immediately. It is from their foes, not their friends, that cities learn the lesson of building high walls and ships of war. And this lesson saves their children, their homes, and their properties.
It appears then that it will be better for us to hear what they have to say first; for one may learn something at times even from one's enemies.


text:
Pranab Mukherjee pays respect to 'unknown' Indian soldiers in Second World War
President Mukherjee paid homage to the soldiers, killed during World War-II and laid to rest at the Bomana cemetery in Papua New Guinea.
Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea: President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday paid homage to the soldiers, including many Indians, killed during World War-II, while fighting along with the British forces, and laid to rest at Bomana cemetery in Papua New Guinea.
Mukherjee, the supreme commander of Indian armed forces, walked up to a pillar erected in memory of the troops and placed a wreath there.
This was the second engagement of Mukherjee, who arrived here on Thursday, on the first ever state visit from India to this largest island in the Pacific.
Immediately after meeting with the Governor General of Papua New Guinea (PNG) Sir Michael Ogio, the president drove to the war cemetery, located 20 km from there.
As he placed the wreath, a Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF) band sounded the "Last Post," signifying the end of the troops' journey in life. A minutes' silence was observed in their memory after which Mukherjee went around the cemetery.
The cemetery contains 3,824 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War, out of which 699 of them are unidentified. Around 250 of the unidentified soldiers are from undivided India, who were fighting along with the British and allied forces.
Indian High Commissioner to PNG, Nagendra Kumar Saxena, has been extensively working on the role of Indians during the World War.
During the banquet hosted by the Ogio, in honour of the President last night, the Governor General also said the link between the two countries goes back to the Second World War in which Indian servicemen, some 615 brave sons who were part of the British Army and Allied Forces, fought and died in PNG.
"Their mortal remains lie buried in war cemeteries throughout the country," he said.
The troops were fighting the Japanese forces who had landed at Lae and Salamaua in March 1942 with Port Moresby as their chief objective.
India offered Papua New Guinea support to harness the country's abundant natural resources and establish mutually ventures.
Seventeen prisoners have been shot dead after a mass breakout at a jail in Papua New Guinea, reports said on Monday, with 57 still on the run
Papua New Guinea sits on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, which is a hotspot for seismic activity due to friction between tectonic plates


Confidence/Uncertainty
From NENA Knowledge Base
Confidence
The mathematically derived statistical estimate indicating how sure the measuring system is that the wireless Phase 2 location data estimate is accurate, within the bounds defined by the Uncertainty value. This is expressed as a percentage, such as 90%, or 45% etc. The specific value is not representative of the accuracy of the PDE locating system.
Uncertainty
The mathematically derived statistical estimate, expressed in meters, indicating the size of the area used in the calculation of Confidence. The specific value IS NOT representative of the accuracy of the PDE locating system.
NOTE: Because of the differences in the way that location vendors have implemented their technologies, the resulting Confidence & Uncertainty values cannot be viewed consistently across multiple carriers. Example (not indicative of any particular company):
 - Wireless Service Provider "A" sends the following C&U 90%, 115 meters
 - Wireless Service Provider "B" sends the following C&U 80%, 115 meters
Relevant NENA Documents
Note: To find and download the document, copy the document number (like NENA-STA-010) from below and search the NENA Standards and Documents page.
 - NENA-STA-010, NENA i3 Standard for Next Generation 9-1-1
 - NENA-STA-015, NENA Standard Data Formats for 9-1-1 Data Exchange & GIS Mapping


Bu Qian Zhou Wendou, mai 20, 2017 - juin 24, 2017
À propos
de Sarthe Gallery is pleased to announce a solo exhibition of new work by Zhou Wendou, entitled Bu Qian, curated by Wang Pao Pao, opening on May 20th 2017. The show will continue until June 24th, 2017.
Zhou Wendou's creativity has undergone a transformation over the past two decades. He first began as a painter and then transitioned to photography with a focus on constructing camera oriented installations. After this, he focused on producing installation art, to which he still dedicates himself. Utilizing commonly found ready-made objects, his artwork is born out of conventional forms through a process of deconstruction and transformation. He constantly looks towards the boundaries of art and attempts to challenge the appearance and shape of objects. He deliberately removes certain properties of objects, but does not contribute his own subjective judgment or emotions in the process. On the contrary, he records his creations metaphysically and shows it in moderate and humorous ways.
The title of the exhibition, Bu Qian, is extracted from a concept used by Chinese philosophers of ancient times. Partial translations are 'immutable' or 'immovable,' depending on which school of thought uses the term.It is the idea that sometime things will remain unshakable, immobile, even when the environment surrounding them changes. In this exhibition, common objects such as lamps and slingshots remain unaltered yet submitted to different forces that rip off their original use and turn them into artistic installations. Each artwork has an intrinsic tension yet remains motionless in the gallery. The hull of a boat floating in two buckets of water is the starting point of the exhibition, and leads the audience to a pile of skateboards and a massive whirl made out of metal hand grips. Everything in the show appears motionless, as if suspended in time, but also seems as if it is on the edge of giving way to movement. This is Zhou Wendou's interpretation of Bu Qian.


text:
A tomb is defined as a final resting place for the dead. The empty tomb is frequently associated with Jesus' resurrection at Easter. Because of its religious significance, the empty tomb can be used as an Easter religious decoration template. Today we will make an Easter card using an empty tomb template. The template can be used in a variety of ways. It can be done with a printable template, cut and stick, beads, buttons, or a stained glass pattern. Let's get this party started!
First, let's look at the printable template. Prepare the materials, which include an empty tomb printable template, white paper for the background, glue, scissors, and a coloring pen. First and foremost, print and color your template. Then cut it along the template line. Then, place your colored template on the white paper. Then, inside the card, write your Easter greeting. The next step is to cut and stick. Prepare a colored printable Easter template, glue, colored paper, and scissors at this time. The Easter template must be cut and firmly attached to the white paper background. Write your Easter messages on your card and fold them.
The third is an Easter card craft made with beads. In this method, you can start with an empty tomb template and then stick the beads as shown. To make it look more unique, use small beads. The fourth step is the same as when using beads for the button. To make it more artistic, you can use any size of buttons in this case. Last but not least, a stained glass pattern. You will need an Easter tomb stained glass pattern template, colored toilet paper, glue, and scissors to make this stained glass pattern card.
First and foremost, print your empty tomb template. Make certain that you print on white solid paper. Make a card-sized template out of the template. Following that, you can begin gluing the toilet paper in the stained glass pattern. Let's experiment! Make your Easter card stand out by using a variety of colors. Finally, write your message on the card. These are the steps for making an Easter card with an empty tomb template that does not require any drawing. Have fun with your crafting!
Easter is celebrated as a religious holiday in the modern era. Easter cards, chocolate, and candies are usually in high sales. These items can be used as Easter treats. In addition, some families around the world serve traditional foods to celebrate the Easter holiday. The hot cross bun is a dish that has been around for centuries. In terms of history, Queen Elisabet I decreed that hot cross buns could only be eaten during Easter, Christmas, and burials. The following traditional dish is roast leg of lamb, which is traditionally prepared on Easter Sunday.
This dish is also featured on the Jewish Passover menu during Easter. The third menu item is a Simnel cake from the United Kingdom. This sweet and fruity cake is commonly served as an Easter dessert. The final dish is Tortilla Pasqualino from Argentina, also known as the Easter breakfast menu. Aside from these menus, there are numerous traditional Easter menus available. Go ahead and set a challenge for yourself to make one of them!
Easter is an important holiday for Christians to observe. During Easter, they usually adhere to religious traditions that have been in place since the previous century. Here are a few Christian Easter customs. Palm Sunday is a tradition that commemorates Jesus' Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. Lent is a pre-Easter tradition that involves "giving up" something in order to get closer to God and also as a preparation for Easter Sunday. The next tradition is putting ashes on one's forehead on Ash Wednesday (the first day of Easter). Participants will be invited to have ashes of palm fronds positioned on their foreheads as a symbol of repentance and death during the service.
Passion play is the fourth tradition. A passion play is a theatrical depiction of Jesus' crucifixion, death, and resurrection. Then there's the Salubong tradition, which is typically practiced in the Philippines. It is customary to take part in a pre-dawn Easter Sunday procession and celebration known as Salubong. It represents the reunification of the bereaved Mary with her son as she discovers Jesus has been resurrected.
The church bell, which usually rang every day, was deafeningly quiet. This custom is still practiced in France. The cross is then stationed. Christian faiths encourage praying and meditating in front of a series of images depicting different stages of Jesus' journey to the crucifixion and resurrection. The final service is a sunrise service, which is usually held outside on Easter Sunday. These are the Christian religious traditions for Easter. In addition, they celebrate the Easter holiday with fun activities such as decorating an Easter tree, Easter egg hunting, Easter treats, and many others.


text:
Dick Eastman's Genealogy Newsletter had a post this week about the courses being offered for free through the LDS Church's FamilySearch.org website. I decided to see if they had anything available to assist Portuguese researchers.
I found they have three courses under Reading Handwritten Records Series:
This lesson covers the basics on the way the Portuguese write letters. I thought the examples of each letter were very good. This lesson runs 20 minutes. There is also a PDF file with letter examples.
This lesson covers months, days, years, and common words found in Portuguese records. There are also question and answer sections so you can test your knowledge. This lesson runs 25 minutes. There are three handouts in PDF format for dates, keywords, and abbreviations.
This lesson covers the actual records one might encounter in Portuguese research. It walks you through examples of real records. It even shows you the actual text of documents line by line. This lesson runs 25 minutes.
I haven't gone through these lessons in their entirety. But, from what I saw they are presented very well. The audio compliments the text.
If you are starting with Portuguese records, or find yourself having difficulty understand the old handwriting, give this course a try.


Disabling ARR's Instance Affinity in Windows Azure Web Sites
2013年11月18日 に投稿済み
Program Manager, Azure Web Sites
Setting up multiple instances of a website in Windows Azure Websites is a terrific way to scale out your website, and Azure makes great use of the Application Request Routing IIS Extension to distribute your connecting users between your active instances. ARR cleverly keeps track of connecting users by giving them a special cookie (known as an affinity cookie), which allows it to know, upon subsequent requests, to which server instance they were talking to. This way, we can be sure that once a client establishes a session with a specific server instance, it will keep talking to the same server as long as his session is active. This is of particular importance for session-sensitive application (a.k.a. stateless applications), because the session-specific data won't move from one server to another on its own. Applications can be designed to do this (typically by storing that data in some kind of shared storage like SQL), but most are not and so normally, we want to keep every user attached to his designated server. If the user moves to another server, a new session is started, and whatever session data the application was using is gone (for example, the content of a shopping cart). Here's a brief description of this process:
 1. Client connects to an Azure Web Sites website
 2. ARR runs on the front-end Azure server and receives the request
 3. ARR decides to which of the available instances the request should go
 4. ARR forwards the request to the selected server, crafts and attaches an ARRAffinity cookie to the request
 5. The response comes back to the client, holding the ARRAffinity cookie.
 6. When the client receives the request, it stores the cookie for later use (browsers are designed to do this for cookies they receive from servers)
 7. When the client submits a subsequent request, it includes the cookie in it
 8. When ARR receives the request, it sees the cookie, and decodes it.
 9. The decoded cookie holds the name of the instance that was used earlier, and so ARR forwards the request to the same instance, rather than choosing one from the pool
 10. The same thing (steps 7-9) repeat upon every subsequent request for the same site, until the user closes the browser, at which point the cookie is cleared
8407.blogpicture.png-550x0
However, there are situations where keeping affinity is not desired. For example, some users don't close their browser, and remain connected for extended periods of time. When this happens, the affinity cookie remains in the browser, and this keeps the user attached to his server for a period that could last hours, days or even more (in theory, indefinitely!). Keeping your computer on and browser open is not unusual, and many people (especially on their work-place computers) do it all the time. In the real world, this leads to the distribution of users per instance falling out of balance (that's a little like how the line behind some registers in the supermarket can get hogged by a single customer, leading to others waiting in line more than they normally should). Depending on your applications and what they do, you may care more or less about users being tied to to their servers. In case this is of little or no importance and you'd rather disable this affinity and opt for better load balancing, we have introduced the ability for you to control it. Because the affinity is controlled by an affinity cookie, all you have to do to disable affinity is make sure that Azure doesn't give the cookies out. If it doesn't, subsequent requests by the user will be treated as "new", and instead of trying to route them to "their" server, ARR will use its normal load-balancing behavior to route the request to the best server. This is how the affinity cookie looks:
5773.bp2.png-550x0
Disabling the affinity can be done in two ways:
 1. In your application
 2. In a site configuration
To control this behavior in an application, you need to write code to send out a special HTTP header, which will tell the Application Request Router to remove the affinity cookie. This header is Arr-Disable-Session-Affinity, and if you set it to true, ARR will strip out the cookie. For example, you could add a line similar to this to your applications' code:
headers.Add("Arr-Disable-Session-Affinity", "True");
* This example is for C#, but this could just as easily be done in any other language or platform. Setting this in the application's code would be suitable for situations you DO want affinity to be kept for the most part, and only reset on specific application pages. If, however, you prefer to have it completely disabled, you could have ARR remove the cookie always by having IIS itself inject that header directly. This is done with a customHeaders configuration section in web.config. Simply add the following into your web.config, and upload it to the root of the site: 6765.bp3.JPG-550x0 Keep in mind, though, that the configuration in web.config is sensitive, and a badly formatted file can stop the site from working properly. If you haven't had a chance to work with web.config files before, read this getting-started guide. Troubleshooting If you intend on implementing this, you might wonder how to confirm its working and troubleshoot it. The ARR Affinity cookie is normally included with the 1st response from any Azure Web Sites web site, and subsequently included with any request sent from the client and response received from the server. To see it in action, you could use any of multiple HTTP troubleshooting and diagnostic tools. Here is a list of some of the more popular options:
 1. Fiddler
 2. HTTPWatc
 3. Network Monitor
 4. WireShark
 5. Firebug
You can find info about several other tools here. The 1st one on the list, Fiddler, is one of the most popular, because it can interact with any browser, and is available for free. Once Fiddler is installed, it will record any URL you browse to, and you can then click on the Inspector tab for either the request or response to see the details. For example, below you can see the HTTP Headers tab, which show the affinity cookie sent by the server using the Set-Cookie header: 5140.bp4.png-550x0 If you add the Arr-Disable-Session-Affinity header to disable the affinity cookie, ARR will not set the cookie, but it will also remove the Arr-Disable-Session-Affinity header itself, so if your process is working correctly, you will see neither. If you see both the cookie AND the header, this means that something is wrong with the way you set the header. Possibly an error in the text of the header name or its value. If you see the cookie and not the header, this probably means your changes to Web.config are invalid, or your header-injection code is not working, and you could try to confirm it by adding another, unrelated header. Generally speaking, it's easier to set the headers with web.config than with code, so in case of doubt, you should start by simplifying it to reduce the surface area of your investigation. In closing, we should mention that disabling the affinity is not something that should be taken lightly. For static content, it would rarely be an issue, but if you're running applications, and they are not designed for dealing with users jumping from one server to another, it might not end well. For scenarios where the affinity has led to imbalance, this new ability will come as great news.
Web


text:
The Georg Friedrich Götz Award is presented annually to two researchers who are habilitated at the University of Zurich and can demonstrate outstanding, internationally recognized achievements in the area of basic or clinical research. The award comes with total prize money of CHF 30,000.
The Georg Friedrich Götz Foundation is run as part of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Zurich (UZH) and is presented annually to two researchers who are habilitated at the University of Zurich and can demonstrate outstanding, internationally recognized achievements in the area of basic or clinical research. And this with a long-standing tradition: Since 1969, the annual Georg Friedrich Götz Award has been awarded to more than 100 researchers in recognition of their work. Since 2019, the UZH Foundation has been in charge of the foundation's business operations.
The foundation's founder Georg Friedrich Götz was a successful German entrepreneur, who moved to Switzerland in 1960. He had to travel to Zurich several times for operations, including for lung cancer and for bowel disease. In gratitude for the care he received, he started a foundation at the University of Zurich in 1964 which each year awards a prize for progress in medicine.
Find out more about the life of Georg Friedrich Götz
An English version will be available soon. In the meantime, please consider the German version.
The Georg Friedrich Götz-Prize is presented annually to two researchers who are habilitated at the University of Zurich and can demonstrate outstanding, internationally recognized achievements in the area of basic or clinical research. The award comes with total prize money of CHF 30,000.
The jury comprises the following members:
The advisory board is made up of the following members:
Ana Guerreiro Stücklin, MD, PhD
Research topic: «Brain tumors in young children: The path from discovery of new tumor entities to more targeted therapies.»
Carlo Cervia, MD
Research topic: «Immunoglobulin signature predicts the risk of post-acute COVID-19 syndrome»
Florentia Dimitriou, MD
Research topic: «Immunotherapy in advanced mucosal melanoma»
Ana Guerrreiro Stücklin, MD, PhD, is chief of service in Pediatric Neurooncology at the University Children's Hospital Zurich. In 2018, she founded her own research program in translational pediatric brain tumor research.
Brain tumors in infants and young children have a challenging clinical course and standard treatment approaches are often lacking or insufficient. While studying congenital brain tumors, we found a new group of pediatric gliomas, molecularly and biologically distinct from gliomas in older children and adolescents. These tumors are driven by chromosomal rearrangements leading to oncogenic gene fusions, involving the receptor tyrosine kinase genes ALK, ROS1, NTRK1/2/3 or MET, which promote rapid tumor growth. Through our research, we further decipher the architecture of these tumours at a single cell resolution and explore how gene fusions re-program the (phospho)proteome and transcriptome to drive tumor formation. Gene fusions are a critical class of oncogenic drivers in human cancers. Uncovering novel oncofusions in pediatric gliomas is fueling new precision medicine opportunities and bringing new treatment options for a vulnerable group of patients.
Carlo Cervia, MD, is physician scientist at the Department of Immunology of the University Hospital Zurich. His research focuses on the risk of post-acute COVID-19 disease.
An infection with the pandemic coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 leads to mild illness in the majority of cases but can also have a severe to life-threatening disease course. The virus can affect different organs and cause diverse symptoms, which usually disappear after the immune system has fought the infection. However, about 3% of those infected report persistent symptoms that can last for several months. This clinical picture is called Long Covid, also known as post-acute COVID-19 syndrome (PACS). The symptoms of Long Covid can vary greatly and include, most commonly, fatigue, shortness of breath, and cognitive difficulties. The cause of persistent symptoms is still unknown. In his study, Carlo Cervia followed a total of 175 COVID-19 patients and 40 healthy volunteers over one year in order to better understand the clinical presentation and the immune response to the virus. Various risk factors could be identified that correlated with development of Long Covid, including older age, a previous history of allergic asthma, and the number of symptoms at onset of COVID-19. After extensive analysis of immunological markers in the blood, low levels of immunoglobulin M (IgM) and immunoglobulin G3 (IgG3) were found to be associated with an increased risk of developing Long Covid. Using these risk factors, a prediction model could be developed which allows physicians, researchers, and patients to calculate the risk of developing Long Covid. The clinical prediction model was tested in a second, independent cohort of 395 COVID-19 patients and is openly available at: _URL_. Using the immunoglobulin signature, the individual Long Covid risk can be better predicted, and preventive measures initiated early in the disease course.
Florentia Dimitriou, MD, is attending physician at the Department of Dermatology at the University Hospital Zurich. Her research focuses on dermatological oncology (prevention and therapy of skin cancer) as well as clinical and translational research.
Mucosal Melanoma is a rare melanoma subtype with poor prognosis. The research team led by Florentia Dimitriou investigated the relationship between the primary site of mucosal melanoma, ethnicity, and response to anti-PD1-based treatment administered as either monotherapy or combination therapy in an international study involving 545 patients from 25 different centers. As the largest report on the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors to date, the study demonstrates, among other things, for the first time that the efficacy of the two types of therapy (anti-PD1 monotherapy and anti-PD1/ipilimumab combination therapy) is similar and that response to treatment is not dependent on the primary site of mucosal melanoma (naso-oral, urogenital, anorectal) or race (Caucasian and Asian). The results have direct clinical implications and change the treatment of this rare tumor: Systemic treatment with anti-PD1/ipilimumab is associated with high toxicity and these data allow for a more accurate evaluation of the anti-PD1-based treatment in this melanoma subtype, thus guiding future treatment decisions. Patients who responded to treatment had a shorter duration of response, suggesting acquired resistance that should be further explored. These data, in turn, underscore the need for early-stage studies and biomarker analyses to develop more effective therapies.


text:
Localized seasonal forecast for Myanmar's monsoon
The monsoon season in Myanmar is about to start. For farmers, the monsoon season is the main source of water for their crops. Information about the seasonal precipitation forecast is therefore vital and helps them in their long term planning. After a successful pilot during the 2020 monsoon season, Weather Impact continues to provide a monthly seasonal update with the rainfall forecast for the Htwet Toe application.
The seasonal forecast for Myanmar has a lower predictability than in other years and is caused by the neutral phase of two important drivers of the monsoon season in Myanmar; the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD). The onset of this year's monsoon period is uncertain and no clear signal for a drier or wetter onset is unanimously predicted by the models (white colours in Figure 1). In the south eastern part of the country, the models provide a light signal for slightly increased rainfall than average in the month May (green colours in Figure 1), which vanishes in the month June.
Figure 1. Rainfall forecast for Myanmar for the 3 month average of April, May, June.
Based on the model from April 2021
To tailor the seasonal forecast for the Myanmarese townships, the seasonal forecasting models from the Copernicus Climate Data Store are combined and bias corrected to the local precipitation amounts. Using the bias corrected models, we provide monthly rainfall predictions to the farmers. These monthly forecasts can be compared to the local climatology and to the previous two years of precipitation. In Figure 2, an example is given of a localized seasonal forecast for the Labutta township in Ayeyarwaddy. Here we see that the onset of the monsoon season in May is wetter than normal and also wetter than the previous two years. From June, the forecasted rainfall amounts are around the normal values. However, due to the lower predictability of seasonal rainfall patterns this year, there is a larger uncertainty around these values.
Farmers use these forecast to plan their long term farming activities and optimal planting date. Despite the difficulties of reaching the farmers in Myanmar in these times, our partner VillageLink is working hard to deliver our weather and seasonal forecasts to the local farmers. You can read more about our work in Myanmar here.
Figure 2. Seasonal rainfall forecast for Labutta township (Ayeyarwaddy), provided in April 2021. In this figure monthly precipitation sums of this year (blue) and last two years (grey and orange) are shown. The climatological average is represented by black horizontal lines and can be used to define whether the forecasted seasonal is drier or wetter than normal. The seasonal forecast is shown in the blue dashed bars.


text:
Barcode readers identify food and beverage pallet labels, even under challenging conditions
After production is complete, foods are boxed and palletized for transport. Pallet scanning systems are used to register pallets leaving the factory and route them to the correct warehouse or distribution center. Pallets are often shrink-wrapped with reflective materials such as tape or plastic, which can cause no-reads during scanning. Because a pallet contains many barcodes, it can be difficult for the reader to distinguish the right one. Lighting conditions can also present challenges. Factory lighting can vary throughout the day, and occlusions in the camera's line of sight may also render codes unreadable.
Cognex DataMan barcode readers scan pallets as easily as boxes. With a large depth-of-field and wide field-of-view, DataMan readers decipher a pallet label quickly and accurately, even when it is surrounded by other labels. Polarized lighting options enhance the readability of codes covered by shrink wrap or other reflective coverings.


Tornado – FX
Software : Houdini 14
Debris, Debris Skirt and Rain are particle simulations.
7up – Commercial
Client : 7up
Studio : Framestore LA
Work : CG Crowd.
The system was subdivided in 3 steps:
It Follows – VFX Work
Project : It Follows (2014)
Production companies: Northern Lights Films, Animal Kingdom, Two Flints
Director-screenwriter: David Robert Mitchell
Director of photography: Michael Gioulakis
Production designer: Michael T. Perry
Costume designer: Kimberly Leitz-McCauley
Editor: Julio C. Perez IV
Music: Disasterpeace
Sales: Cinetic/Visit Films
Related articles:
Yahoo Movies
The Hollywood Reporter
Python SOP vs VOP SOP – and the winner is …
Check it out yourself:
OTL | HIP
Why VEX is it faster?
 - it allows multithreading
 - it doesn't have the overhead loading times of importing Python libraries
Why sometimes Python is better?
 - because differently from VEX, it allows recursion
If you want speed, use VEX.
If you need recursion, use Python.
lsystem wrapper
In this nth experiment I wanted to create a way to wrap a growing geometry on the surface of another geometry without relying upon UVs on the target geometry.
The OTL I created takes 3 inputs:
 1. lsystem (this will be wrapped on top of 2)
 2. poly geometry
 3. one point
L-System (points and edges)
The L-System provided as first input can be any L-System where the root point of a new branch overlaps the point it generates from. In other words if you 'window' select the first point of a branch in your L-System you should end up selecting 2 points.
Inside the OTL the L-System is pre-processed adding point attributes (like an attr that specifies if a certain point is a branch root, or the direction of each segment) that will make traversing it's hierarchy later on way faster.
Something like this:
Wrapped Geometry (any geometry)
The OTL wraps the original L-System around this geometry. It can be any geometry. This geometry will be converted into a VDB SDF in the OTL, sample and gradient volume vops are used to quickly find the closest point on this surface. Because of this approach, the OTL doesn't require any UV coordinate to locate positions on this geometry and it's super fast since the SDF is calculate only once at the beginning of the whole simulation and contains already all the info to calculate the closest point on the surface with just a couple of multiplications and sums.
Start Point (one point)
The closest point of the Start Point on the Wrapped Geometry is where the root of the 'wrapped' L-System will sit. This point must be as close as possible to the the Wrapped Geometry surface (in order to have it within the Wrapped Geometry SDF VDB voxels).
How it works
This is the interface to the OTL
The original L-System is flattened on the XY plane before being processed.
The root (the first point calculated) of the wrapped L-System (WL) is the closest point of the Start Point (SP) on the Wrapped Geometry (WG). The initial direction is given by the vector specified in the OTL UI (see image above).
Every 'next' point position is calculated starting from the position of the previous point. For this reason I used a foreach loop making sure to uncheck the parameter "merge", since I want the same data to be processed and provided to the next cycle after adding a new point.
To calculate the closest point on the surface from a certain point in the world space, I've used VDB SDF. SDF are already a blessing provided by Houdini but they've always had a certain level of imprecision. VDB SDF are way faster to calculate, and much more precise (thank you DreamWorks Animation for this gift!).
The following is the VOP SOP structure to calculate the closest point on surface, given an SDF volume and a sample location in world space:
In this example I've created the wrapped L-System, and then used a Ray Sop to make sure each point really was on the surface, once per frame (Ray Sop is very fast).
I made sure to preserve the Width attribute calculated by default in the L-System Sop and I used it in the PolyWire Sop to drive the width of the Tubes as explained in the PolyWire documentation:
….This node works like the Wireframe node, but this node creates more complex tube geometry from curves, with smoother bends and intersections than Wireframe, especially for L-systems.
The four numerical parameters support all the local variables of the Point operation, plus the LSYSTEM specific variables of $WIDTH, $SEGS, $DIV, $LAGE, $GEN, and $ARC….
WL has been calculated on a static WG (I choose the first frame of the hand animation). Then I used a Lattice Sop to wrap WL on the animated version of WG. Before applying the Lattice Sop I've calculated and stored the density of the points on a point attribute on the animated WG via VOP SOP where I used Point Cloud vex nodes to access the same geometry and return the number of points within a certain radius. Then I've used the density attribute to drive the size of the metaballs internally used by Lattice Sop.
L-Systems are perfect to create intricate veins systems. Because L-Systems are a parallel rewriting systems, their size might get huge very fast. For instance in the previous example the original L-System had 95 generations and ~66k points. Nevertheless the generation of the L-System itself was very fast (less than 1s per frame for 95 generations).
OTL processing time to calculate the Wrapped L-System in this example:
Frames 1-84 (83 frames) : less than 2 minutes
Frames 85-91 (7 frames) : ~1 minute
Frames 92-96 (4 frames) : ~1 minute
Frames 97-99 (2 frames) : ~1 minute
Frames 100-102 (2 frames) : ~1 minute
Frames 103-104 (1 frame): ~1 minute
Frame 116 : ~2 minutes
Frame 122 : ~3 minutes
Frame 131 : ~5 minutes
Frame 138: ~10 minutes
Frame 145: ~21 minutes
Time to calculate 145 frames ~ 3h 40m.
On an Intel Core i7 3.0Ghz – 4 cores – 8 logical
All VOP SOPs are set to 1 thread per proc.
As you can see, processing times increase exponentially when the number of L-System generation starts getting crazy so if the idea is, for instance, to cover a full animated character with veins, the best approach is divide and conquer, instead of using one single massive L-System.
Now, I guess this is just a way to accomplish this effect, I am sure there are many others I've not thought about. So, feel free to comment and pitch ideas!