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Eight Ingredients for a Peaceful Society By Michael Shank Christian Science Monitor[WEBSITE VERSION] December 19, 2011
What makes for a peaceful society? Hot spots from Congo to the Middle East would benefit from such knowledge. But so would the United States, which, at home, isn't always so harmonious and abroad, is still at war in Afghanistan.
The Institute for Economics and Peace, an international research group, has come up with eight ingredients for more peaceful societies. They're laid out in a report, "Structures of Peace," based on the institute's annual Global Peace Index and more than 300 data sets from around the world. The US does pretty well on five of them, but falls far short on three key ingredients.
Michael Shank, vice president of the institute's US office gives his take on eight ingredients America needs to reap the economic and social benefits of peace.
1. Government effectiveness
According to the institute's report, "government effectiveness" is measured by quality of public services, civil service, policy formulation and implementation, and the credibility of the government's commitment to policies. The US falls short on all counts.
For example, the American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that more than $2 trillion is needed to fix US bridges, dams, waterways, and wastewater plants. Meanwhile, just 9 percent of Americans approve of how Congress is handling its job – an all-time low. US tax, trade, and labor policy over the last 30 years has largely failed the American people. You see that in the Occupy protests.
The tide is changing however. "Make it in America" is now bipartisan and bicameral and could do wonders for cities once buzzing with manufacturing and industry. The concept of a National Infrastructure Bank for public-private projects is becoming increasingly popular in Washington.
2. Distribution of resources
There is a "growing unequal" in America, to borrow a phrase from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Americans now have the highest poverty rate since WWII and the highest income inequality rate since the Great Depression. Data compiled recently by the Economic Policy Institute show that in the last 30 years, the top 1 percent doubled their incomes. Everybody else gained hardly anything.
It behooves the US to close its inequality gap because with it comes a host of social-health problems, whether those are high rates of homicide, incarceration, obesity, illness, addiction, teenage pregnancy, illiteracy and low social mobility and life expectancy – which cost in the hundreds of billions of dollars.
Improving this situation requires making it easier for Americans to get ahead, get insured, get educated, and get a job. The current tax code benefits asset owners (e.g. low taxes for capital gains) much more than it benefits wage earners. A more fair and distributive tax system would help balance the inequitable scales.
3. High levels of education
Considering persistently poor scores on the Program for International Student Assessment, which is given to 15-year-old students by the OECD, America's mediocre ranking in science, math, and reading has US policymakers scrambling for a fix. A recent example is releasing states from No Child Left Behind (NCLB) standards, allowing them to pursue their own accountability and performance measures. (Half of public schools fail to meet NCLB standards, according to a December report by the Center on Education Policy.)
The US needs to go beyond the short-term fixes of voucher programs and charter schools, which may work well for some but neglects others and fails to fix a broken system. The Department of Education's Equity and Excellence Commission, is a step in the right direction. It uniquely focuses on how education is financed to address disparities in educational opportunity.
Meanwhile, a college education is still inaccessible and unaffordable for many. Student debt nearing $1 trillion is testament to this unsustainable trend. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's focus on community colleges and efforts by governors to nationalize core curriculum standards are encouraging.
Greater educational opportunity and graduation rates correlate with lower levels of violence (see the US Peace Index) thus requiring fewer state funds to respond to violence. But with presidential candidates queuing to further cut the federal role in education and with congressional deficit reduction agendas targeting education funding, vigilance is vital – America's economic future depends on it.
4. Five other ingredients
America does fairly well on five other factors in the institute's report: a sound business environment, acceptance of the rights of others, good relations with neighbors, free flow of information, and low levels of corruption. But there's still much room for improvement.
For example, on the "rights of others," the US has yet to ratify the international treaties related to the rights of the child, the International Criminal Court, and the elimination of discrimination against women.
On "corruption" and the perception of corruption, the Occupy Wall Street protests illustrate growing distrust of the financial industry, an industry that can now spend unlimited amounts in federal elections thanks to campaign finance laws weakened by the Supreme Court.
On "good relations with neighbors," America's ongoing drug and gun wars with Latin America and war and conflict in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and Libya, continue to cost taxpayers trillions of dollars.
Baby steps on any of these fronts will garner big gains as a more peaceful America (on par with Canada, for example) would yield $361 billion in annual savings and additional economic activity. The investment is worth it.
Michael Shank is the US vice president at the Institute for Economics and Peace and a former senior policy advisor to Democratic Congressman Michael Honda of California.


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What's Kosher For Passover? The OU's Annual Guide Has All The Answers
This special edition of the OU's Jewish Action magazine comes out annually and delineates domestic items that are acceptable for Passover use. In the Guide, the OU has compiled two basic lists:
One is for items that do not require special Passover certifications (although they do need a standard symbol) such as aluminum foil, candles, cleansers, and paper goods;
Another is for items that must have an P to appear on the label, such as baking mixes, baked products, beverages, candy, condiments, olive oil, dairy products, detergents, and polishes.
This year's edition also includes guidelines concerning the use and consumption of "inedible" products and of medicines on Passover.
Additionally, the Guide contains essential information for observing the holiday and articles on making a kitchen kosher for Passover, as well as guidelines for the seder and the counting of the Omer. Listed in the guide are the latest possible times to eat leavened bread (chametz), burning chametz, as well as candle lighting times for Passover in various cities across the United States and Canada.

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


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CALIBRATION GAS FOR CEMS (Continuous Emissions Monitoring Systems)
CAC GAS supplies the highest quality calibration gas used to calibrate these systems. With regulations constantly becoming more strict, it is imperative that emissions monitoring systems run without costly errors. Measurement data and precision depend on the quality and reliability of not just the CEMS but also the gas to calibrate them.
Marine emissions calibration gas accredited to ISO:17025
Marine emissions gravimetric calibration gas meeting NPL or NIST
The ISO 17025 Marine Emissions test kit provides SO2/CO2 calibration gases for marine stack gas analysis. The kit provides the equipment necessary to calibrate and test CEMS (Continuous Emissions Monitoring Systems) to meet airborne pollution levels in the MARPOL Annex VI.
Traceable, certified and ISO17025 accredited specialty gas mixtures are available in multiple cylinder sizes.
- Calibration Gas to meet Solas XI-Reg 7
- Butane / Isobutane Mixures
- 4GAS - H2S/CO/CH4/O2

source: m-a-p/FineFineWeb


Open P-TECH for
Schools & NGOs
Open P-TECH gives schools and organizations who work with students the ability to create admin accounts at absolutely no cost.
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Industry-backed online learning for your whole school!
Schools and student-serving organizations can integrate Open P-TECH into their overall learning plans, so that they can better support and track student progress. Open P-TECH offers administrative accounts at absolutely no cost. This provides the following benefits to organizations who want their own Open P-TECH accounts:
Bulk registration: After an ID is created, organizations can bulk-register all teachers, facilitators, and students who will access the platform through a simple upload feature, or custom URL. This includes the ability to assign students to specific teachers or facilitators to enable easier progress tracking.
Administrative features: Give teachers the ability to track student learning completions, create specific learning plans, assign specific learning to their students, and add external content of their choosing to their organization's Open P-TECH content library.
Customized level of service: Organizations who meet basic requirements for usage will receive individual support from a member of the Open P-TECH team to ensure that all their onboarding needs are met. Organizational users will also have access to custom enablement materials and ongoing webinars to ensure that Open P-TECH is easy to use and maximize.
How do I sign up my organization?
Any organizations that meet the following criteria can fill out the form below.
A member of our team will contact you within 24 hours with simple next steps on how to create accounts for the students and teachers who will access Open P-TECH.
 1. A url to your organization indicating a mission of working with youths aged 14 to 20 years.
 2. A need for at least 10 student accounts and at least one teacher/faculty account.
 3. Name, email address, and title of a point-of-contact for the bulk
 4. registration process.
Fill in the following request form
To sign up your organization, please first register for a personal account with Open P-TECH. Then provide us with your Open P-TECH login information below.


How to Tell the Difference Between a Male and Female Snake?
How in the world do you tell whether a snake is male or female? It is so difficult, right? Well, I did some research on the topic and have written it down to share with you.
Male snakes can most easily be differentiated from females because they have thicker tails. If this does not clearly show the difference, a probe can be inserted in the slit in front of the tail to feel for a hemipenes.
Trying to tell by just looking for hemipenes is actually harder than it sounds. So, what are the best ways to tell the difference between boy snakes and girl snakes?
Tail Characteristics as a Way to Sex Snakes
Male and female snakes have very different shaped tails. Who knew? The first thing you need to know is, what qualifies as the snake's tail? In every snake there is a slit along the underbelly, toward the end of the snake, this slit is called a cloaca.
The length of the snake from the cloaca to the tip of the back end of the snake is its tail. Because females lack hemipenes, their tails are skinnier and fade evenly to the point. Male snakes, on the other hand, have thicker tails that stay thick until they quickly come to a point at the very end of their tails.
This is a good way to tell whether or not a snake is male or female when you have two snakes side by side, but trying to figure this out with only one snake can be rather difficult, so they have invented a few other ways to determine the sex of your snake.
Probing to Determine the Gender of a Snake
The first way and the best way to find the sex of your snake is to use a technique that is called probing. Probing is a process that involves sticking an instrument into your snakes' cloaca to determine if there are hemipenes or not.
To succeed in this technique it is important to, first and foremost, make sure you have the right tools. Manufactures make snake probes that can be bought in pet stores or online at places like Amazon.
It is important that when you go to probe a snake you make sure you have the correct sized prob, and that you have a rounded tip on your probe. Make sure that before probing your snake, you have figured out which size of prob to use.
For smaller snakes, use thinner rods and for larger snakes make sure to use larger rods. It is best to buy snake probing rods because you need to make sure they are rounded on the end or have a ball tip in order to ensure the safety of your snake.
When Probing a snake you must always remember these 5 important facts:
 1. Make sure to always have someone assisting you to hold your snake.
 2. Make sure that your snake is awake.
 3. Make sure you have done your homework and have the right sized probe.
 4. Make sure to always be sanitary.
 5. Make sure you know what you are doing before inserting the probe.
Once you have these 5 steps down, probing can actually be quite easy. First, make sure that your snake's belly is facing you. Then make sure your assistant has a good hold on them. Next, you will want to lubricate your sexing probe.
Then, locate the cloaca and slowly insert the probe. You will want to do this, slowly and gently, spinning the probe so that it is slowly moving forward. On a female snake, the probe will be stopped against a harder surface approximately 3 scales in.
On a male snake, the probe will find one of the two hemipenes and will slide into a softer stop. On a male snake, the probe should go into the snake to about 9 scales. Once you have figured out if it is male or female, slowly remove the probe.
Once again it is so imperative that you use the right sized probe in order to make sure you do not hurt your snake. Here and here I listed a few links to some nice snake probs that have really good reviews.
Popping Hemipenes (Caution!)
There is another way to find the gender of your snake although it is much more difficult and can actually be harmful to your snake if done wrong.
Popping the hemipenes at first sounds like we are going to pop a balloon or something, but to pop the hemipenes really is pushing the hemipenes out of the snake's body. This reverting of the hemipenes only temporarily makes the hemipenes visible on the outside of the snake.
In order to pop the hemipenes, you need to find the vent or cloaca of the snake and then apply slight pressure, using a finger, below the cloaca where the hemipenes would come out. Make sure that the pressure is gentle but also firm. If this is done correctly, a hemipenis should pop out.
This is not the preferred way of determining the sex of a snake for a few reasons though:
 - The first reason is that it can be harmful to the snake
 - The second reason is that it is very hard to do right
 - The third reason is that if you don't see a hemipenes pop out you can never be certain if it is because the snake is actually female or if it is because the process was done wrong and the snake really is a male.
For these reasons it is suggested that you stick to probing your snakes to find their genders.
Pros and Cons for Male Snakes
A lot of people wonder if there is even a difference in owning female snakes compared to male snakes, and vice versa.
The answer is that in general there isn't a huge difference, but there are some pretty interesting details that make some people prefer owning male snakes or female snakes.
Pros for Male SnakesCons for Male Snakes
*If you want a smaller snake, male snakes (in general) are smaller than females.
*Normally are cheaper to purchase than females.
*Only really need one when trying to breed snakes.
*Male snakes are not as large and so they can be less easy to handle for snakes that are already smaller.
*Male snakes cannot have babies and as such are not as valuable.
Pros and Cons for Female Snakes
As was stated in the previous section, unless you are a breeder there are very few reasons that one should buy a male snake over a female snake, but as stated before there are a few, so here is a list of the pros and cons about getting a female snake.
Pros for Female SnakesCons for Female Snakes
*They are more valuable because they can have babies.
*They tend to be bigger which can look nicer and be easier to handle.
*Female snakes tend to be more expensive because it is more beneficial to own a lot of female snakes when breeding.
*Female snakes can get to be a bit aggressive when protecting their young.
*Because female snakes tend to be larger, you may need to use a larger terrarium to house them.
How do Snakes Mate in the Wild?
Snakes are like all other reptiles and they have a need to breed. The breeding process starts with the female though. When a female snake has matured enough to mate and is ready to start the mating process she actually starts to release pheromones that come from the skin glands in her back.
As she is moving about during her day she will begin to leave an odor trail as she pushes off of resistance points in the ground. This is where the male comes in. A male that is mature enough to mate and crosses the path of this pheromone trail will begin to follow the trail until he has found the female.
Once he has spotted the female he will begin to court her. He does this by knocking his chin into the back of her head until she is ready. Once she is ready to mate, the male snake will wrap the bottom of his tail around hers so that their vents or cloaca are touching.
At this point, the male will insert his hemipenes' or penises into the female and will release his sperm. Although sex for snakes generally takes about an hour, it can actually last all day.
Female snakes reproduce about twice a year but depending on the climate this may differ. Snakes in colder regions typically only reproduce in the spring or summer whereas some snakes in tropical regions can reproduce any time of year. The weather and the amount of food the snake is getting all influence whether or not a snake will reproduce.
There are three ways in which a female snake can produce offspring. The most common way is for the female snake to lay eggs. Most snakes do not sit and watch their eggs like chickens and other animals, most snakes will leave their eggs once they are laid.
Like always though, there are a few exceptions to that rule. The second way that snakes produce their offspring is in live births. Not a lot of snake breeds do this but a few that do are certain types of Vipers and Boas.
The third way that snakes produce their offspring is actually a combination of the two. They have eggs but hold them internally until they hatch and then have a live birth. Rattlesnakes experience this form of pregnancy and birth.
How do Male and Female Snakes Reproduce in Captivity?
Although the same basic things must happen in order for snakes to breed in the wild and in captivity, it is quite a different process getting snakes to breed outside of their natural habitat. The breeding of snakes has become quite successful, but because of its complexities, it did not always start out that way.
The first thing that must be done in order to help your snakes


Crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis of the NAD+-reducing [NiFe] hydrogenase from Hydrogenophilus thermoluteolus TH-1.
Acta crystallographica. Section F, Structural biology communications
PubMedID: 25615977
Taketa M, Nakagawa H, Habukawa M, Osuka H, Kihira K, Komori H, Shibata N, Ishii M, Igarashi Y, Nishihara H, Yoon KS, Ogo S, Shomura Y, Higuchi Y. Crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis of the NAD+-reducing [NiFe] hydrogenase from Hydrogenophilus thermoluteolus TH-1. Acta Crystallogr F Struct Biol Commun. 2015;71(Pt 1):96-9.
NAD+-reducing [NiFe] hydrogenases catalyze the oxidoreduction of dihydrogen concomitant with the interconversion of NAD+ and NADH. Here, the isolation, purification and crystallization of the NAD+-reducing [NiFe] hydrogenase from Hydrogenophilus thermoluteolus TH-1 are reported. Crystals of the NAD+-reducing [NiFe] hydrogenase were obtained within one week from a solution containing polyethylene glycol using the sitting-drop vapour-diffusion method and micro-seeding. The crystal diffracted to 2. 58 Å resolution and belonged to space group C2, with unit-cell parameters a=131. 43, b=189. 71, c=124. 59 Å, ß=109. 42°. Assuming the presence of two NAD+-reducing [NiFe] hydrogenase molecules in the asymmetric unit, VM was calculated to be 2. 2 Å3 Da(-1), which corresponds to a solvent content of 43%. Initial phases were determined by the single-wavelength anomalous dispersion method using the anomalous signal from the Fe atoms.


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Will Your Future Furniture Be Made Of Lab-Grown Wood? MIT Research Says Tech Could Solve Deforestation
3 Mins Read
Why do we need to cut down trees when we can simply grow them? That's the question that researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) asked. In a new paper, the scientists detail how they've developed plant-based materials like wood and fibres by cultivating it in their lab – and this could help lighten our environmental footprint on the planet.
New research conducted by MIT scientists shows that we can grow structures out of plant cells in a lab. The study, published in the Journal of Cleaner Production, proposes that certain plant tissues like wood and fibre can be lab-grown – the same way that food techs are now cultivating meat directly from animal cells as a sustainable protein solution.
"If you want a table, then you should just grow a table," study co-author Luis Fernando Velásquez-García, principal scientist of the Microsystems Technology Laboratories at MIT, told campus paper MIT News Office.
Together with lead author and PhD student in mechanical engineering Ashley Beckwith and Jeffrey Borenstein, a biomedical engineer at nonprofit institution Draper Laboratory, Velásquez-García believes that lab-grown technology presents a solution to the unsustainable depletion of Earth's resources.
I wanted to find a more efficient way to use land and resources so that we could let more arable areas remain wild, or to remain lower production but allow for greater biodiversity.Ashley Beckwith
After extracting cells from zinnia leaves, the team grew wood-like cells in the lab, without soil or sunlight. First culturing the cells in growth medium, they then moved the cells into a gel and encouraged them to grow into a wood-like structure using auxin and cytokinin, two types of plant hormones.
The scientists can even tweak or "tune" the levels of hormones, which controls the amount of lignin the cells produce, to determine how firm the final product will be.
"You can visually evaluate which cells are becoming lignified, and you can measure enlargement and elongation of cells," explained Beckwith.
While the technology is still in its early stages and far from being market ready, the paper starts the conversation on novel ways to produce biomaterials, which could have a big impact on disrupting forestry and agriculture.
"The way we get these materials hasn't changed in centuries and is very inefficient. This is a real chance to bypass all that inefficiency," said Velásquez-García.
There's an opportunity here to take advances in microfabrication and additive manufacturing technologies, and apply them to solve some really significant problems in the agriculture arena.Jeffrey Borenstein
"I wanted to find a more efficient way to use land and resources so that we could let more arable areas remain wild, or to remain lower production but allow for greater biodiversity," added Beckwith.
Describing the innovation as "unchartered territory", the researchers recognise that there still remains many technological and scientific hurdles before lab-grown plant materials can be a reality. Among some of the key obstacles they anticipate include whether this can be applied to different plant species, and how to scale-up production – a similar obstacle that cell-based alternative protein startups face.
Nonetheless, co-author Borenstein believes that this is only the beginning. "There's an opportunity here to take advances in microfabrication and additive manufacturing technologies, and apply them to solve some really significant problems in the agriculture arena."
Lead image courtesy of Unsplash.

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


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Date of Award
Religious and Theological Studies
Carrie Doehring, Ph.D.
Fear, Hope, Narrative, Pastoral, Theology, Trauma
Contemporary therapeutic circles utilize the concept of anxiety to describe a variety of disorders. Emotional reductionism is a detriment to the therapeutic community and the persons seeking its help. This dissertation proposes that attention to the emotion of fear clarifies our categorization of particular disorders and challenges emotional reductionism. I propose that the emotion of fear, through its theological relationship to hope, is useful in therapeutic practice for persons who experience trauma and PTSD.
I explore the differences between fear and anxiety by deconstructing anxiety. Through this process, I develop four categories which help the emotion of fear stand independent of anxiety in therapy. Temporality, behaviors, antidote and objects are categories which distinguish fear from anxiety. Together, they provide the impetus to explore the emotion of fear.
Understanding the emotion of fear requires an examination of its neurophysiological embodiment. This includes the brain structures responsible for fear production, its defensive behaviors and the evolutionary retention of fear. Dual inheritance evolutionary theory posits that we evolved physically and culturally, helping us understand the inescapability of fear and the unique threats humans fear. The threats humans react to develop through subjective interpretations of experience. Sometimes threats, through their presence in our memories and imaginations, inhibit a person's ability to live out a preferred identity and experience hope.
Understanding fear as embodied and subjective is important. Process theology provides a religious framework through which fear can be interpreted. In this framework, fear is developed as an adaptive human response. Moreover, fear is useful to the divine-human relationship, revealing an undercurrent of hope. In the context of the divine-human relationship fear is understood as an initial aim which protects a person from a threat, but also preserves them for novel future relationships.
Utilizing a "double-listening" stance, a therapist hears the traumatic narrative and counternarratives of resistance and resilience. These counternarratives express an orientation towards hopeful futures wherein persons thrive through living out a preferred identity. A therapeutic practice incorporating the emotion of fear will utilize the themes of survival, coping and thriving to enable persons to place their traumatic narrative within their meaning systems.
Whitehead, Jason C., "Constructing a Neuroscientific Pastoral Theology of Fear and Hope" (2010). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 952.
Received from ProQuest
Jason C. Whitehead
Pastoral Counseling, Counseling Psychology, Theology


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Roamer for students 3 to 5 years old
This is the simplest of the standard Roamers. It uses counting to determine the number of moves to make or how long to wait. It turns in quarter turns. It also has four user keys that the teacher can set up. So for example if you are doing project about dogs, you can add a dog bark to the Roamer's capability.
Integrating into Traditional Activities
First created for the Classic Roamer these 12 Activities have proven popular for over a decade. They show how Roamer adds value to normal school work. The Pack includes well-known rhymes like Mary had a Little Lamb; One, Two, Buckle My Shoe and Three Blind Mice. The tasks help students understand the meaning of the words and their sequence. It does this in a way that tacitly helps them develop mathematical and coding skills. The package comes with worksheets.


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Deuteronomy uses unusual parallel terms "the shegar of your herd and the ashtorot of your flock" to describe the offspring of livestock. These are names of the ancient West Semitic fertility goddess known as Ashtoret or by her less familiar bi-name Sheger. Her consort is (sometimes) the god Ashtor. What do we know about these deities and what do they have to do with livestock?
The connection between the Israelite festival of Sukkot in the temple and the Ugaritic new year festival and its dwellings of branches for the gods.


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Mathematics Curriculum Specialist
Mathematics Curriculum Specialist, Durham, NC Office
We are an education company seeking a full-time Mathematics Curriculum Specialist. CASE Assessments provides benchmark assessments and a test item bank for school districts in Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. We are seeking a math specialist to develop Common Core and state standards assessment products for delivery in print and online.
This mathematics curriculum specialist position is a full-time position in our Durham, NC office. At this time, we will not be considering applicants unable to work in the Durham office.
- Bachelor's degree in mathematics and/or education with a focus on mathematics
- Mastery of mathematical content knowledge relevant to teaching experience
- Minimum 2-3 years' experience as a certified classroom teacher
- Strong command of Common Core Standards
- Demonstrated aptitude for writing and reviewing summative assessment items for Common Core content
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office, primarily Word and Excel
- In addition to professional knowledge, the candidate should have:
- The ability to work well in a group
- The ability to be a critical thinker who is able to give and receive constructive feedback on assessment products
- The ability to work under deadlines by prioritizing and organizing work effectively
- The ability to work in a flexible, dynamic environment
- Preference may be given to a candidate with more teaching experience and/or with additional experience writing mathematics items for use in print and online educational platforms.
- Preference may be given to a candidate with strong content knowledge of Elementary through Algebra I/Math I math curriculum.
- Preference may be given to a candidate with additional experience using graphics software (e.g., Microsoft Paint and/or Adobe Illustrator).
- Preference may be given to a candidate with a Master's Degree in mathematics or education or with National Board Certification.


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432 Hz is a tuning frequency that is said to be more in tune with the natural vibrations of the universe and the human body. It is believed to create a more harmonious and calming sound compared to the standard tuning frequency of 440 Hz. This idea of using 432 Hz as a tuning standard has been around for a while, but it has recently gained popularity among musicians, music producers, and sound healers.
Proponents of 432 Hz music claim that it can have a number of benefits on the listener, including:
Reducing stress and promoting relaxation: Some people find that listening to music tuned to 432 Hz can help to lower their stress levels and promote a sense of calm and relaxation.
Improving mental clarity and focus: Some people find that listening to 432 Hz music can help them to concentrate better and feel more mentally sharp.
Enhancing spiritual connection: Some people believe that 432 Hz music can help to enhance their spiritual practices, such as meditation and yoga, by helping them to connect more deeply with the universe and their inner selves.
Improving overall well-being: Some people find that listening to 432 Hz music can have a positive impact on their overall well-being, including reducing feelings of anxiety and depression.
In summary, 432 Hz is a frequency that is considered to be more in tune with the natural vibrations of the universe and the human body, which is believed to have a number of benefits on the listener, such as reducing stress, promoting relaxation, improving mental clarity and focus, enhancing spiritual connection, and improving overall well-being. Below are a collection of the top 432 Hz music playlists found on Spotify.


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The town of Dole in France was twinned with the town of Carlow in Ireland in 1992. Dole, which is the birthplace of scientist Louis Pasteur, lies in the Dijon Region of eastern France. The twinning of the two towns was arranged under the European Town Twinning project. The European Parliament established the Town Twinning scheme in 1989. The aim of the project is to foster new links between local authorities and local communities in Europe.
Louis Pasteur was a chemist and microbiologist who came up with a process that destroyed the bacteria which caused the souring of wine, beer and milk. The process, which is known as pasteurisation involves heating liquid food and then allowing it to cool. Pasteur was also responsible for the creation of vaccines for anthrax, rabies, cholera, TB and smallpox. Often referred to as the 'father of microbiology', the discoveries made by Pasteur are responsible for saving countless lives.
Having attended secondary school in Besançon, about 50km from Dole, Louis Pasteur graduated with a baccalauréat (BA) degree from the Collège Royal de Besançon in 1840. He was awarded a doctorate from the École Normale in Paris in 1847. Having spent some time doing research and teaching at Dijon Lycée, Pasteur was appointed Professor of Chemistry at the University of Strasbourg in 1848. He was appointed professor of Physics and Chemistry at École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in 1862. He established the Pasteur Institute in Paris in 1887.
Louis Pasteur, often referred to as the 'father of microbiology', was born in Dole, France in the year 1822 On This Day.


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A manufacturing cell is an efficient grouping of all the resources required to manufacture a product. These resources, which usually include people, supplies, machines, tools and other production equipment, are arranged in close proximity to enhance communication and allow everyone to see what is going on at all times.
Cellular manufacturing is a tried and true process that has reduced product costs, while improving leadtimes and quality. Cells have prospered because they work, and they work in almost any type of manufacturing environment. One reason cells are successful is that they often eliminate many of the wastes inherent in a typical manufacturing operation. Let's look at some of these wastes.
Overproduction: Overproduction means making more than the next operation can use immediately. A manufacturing cell helps eliminate the waste of overproduction by making it easier to produce only what is needed. All operations are in close proximity, and balancing the steps in the production process is simplified. In a cellular arrangement, one operator can complete multiple operations, which may improve the balance of work and simplify product flow.
Excess inventory: Excess inventory is a result of the waste of overproduction. It is also one of the costliest of all manufacturing wastes. Manufacturing cells address the issue of inventory waste in a number of ways. First, by balancing the work and instructing operators not to exceed what the next person can handle, the work-in-process inventory is reduced. By the nature of the cell layout, excess inventory cannot be tolerated because there is no place to put it. Manufacturing cells solve the vacant space paradox, which says the amount of vacant space is inversely proportional to the amount of time it is vacant.
Overprocessing: Processing a part more than is required to make it function properly is another form of waste. Cells address the waste of over processing through close proximity of all processes and the strategy of only making what can be used. Unnecessary processes such as packing and unpacking are eliminated because handling is reduced, and that which remains poses little risk of damage. Parts in the cells are processed sooner, so any of the other product protection processes can also be eliminated. The close proximity of all the operations makes it easier to identify the processes that are not adding value to the product.
Motion: There is significant wasted motion in a typical manufacturing process. This often results from a poorly organized work area. By putting everything together in a manufacturing cell, wasted motion can be reduced, if not eliminated entirely. Eliminating travel to other areas to get parts is an obvious improvement, but what cannot be underestimated is the reduction of motion within an individual process. With a well-designed cellular operation, motion shifts from non-value added to value added. When emphasis is placed on conveniently locating everything that operators need to do their jobs, much wasted motion is eliminated.
Waiting: One of the most common causes of waiting is an unbalanced workload. Manufacturing cells can reduce waiting by supporting more synchronized flow. With all the required resources grouped closely together, synchronized product flow is easier. Worker flexibility within the cell will also help reduce waiting time because operators can help others when they are not busy.
Transportation: Transporting a part through the shop is a wasted effort. A manufacturing cell can reduce part transportation because the close proximity of the cell's resources makes part transportation almost non-existent. As a result, material handling equipment can be reduced or eliminated altogether.
Defects: Defects are often the result of all of the wastes previously mentioned, but they can also result from poor process control, poor product designs, improperly selected machines and poor communication of requirements. Cells may not completely eliminate defects, but they will allow those that do occur to be identified faster, while allowing for expedited corrective action. With close proximity of resources, defects are communicated to all involved parties immediately, so no more than one defect should be produced at a time.
Order tracking: Although not generally recognized as a waste, order tracking in manufacturing operations is quite timeconsuming and not a value-added activity. A manufacturing cell offers simplified scheduling. Because all operations are grouped together, the order can be fed to the cell on a first-in-first-out basis, and tracking of the status of orders becomes a visual check. Complex computer systems are typically not needed to schedule the cell. Many companies use simple scheduling boards that the entire team can view.blog comments powered by Disqus


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musical bowArticle Free Pass
musical bow, stringed musical instrument found in most archaic cultures as well as in many in the present day. It consists of a flexible stick 1.5 to 10 feet (0.5 to 3 m) long, strung end to end with a taut cord that the player plucks or taps to produce a weak fundamental note. The player may produce other notes by stopping the string with finger and thumb; by lightly touching the string to produce faint-sounding overtones; by tying the string to the stick to form two taut segments; or, on a mouth bow, by using the mouth as a resonator, varying its cavity in order to isolate overtones. In a gourd bow a truncated gourd attached to the stick serves as a resonator. Other musical bows may have separate resonators, such as a gourd or pot.
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Dhansak on a banana leaf: How Chennai's dwindling Parsi community is keeping its cuisine alive
April 5, 2016
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The estimated 200 Parsis who live in Chennai are determined to keep their cuisine alive, whether inside their homes or through monthly banquets.
Article By Gitika Gitanjali | The News Minute
Ask any Parsi and you'll get a passionate response about a cuisine reflective of the group's multicultural history. Braiding together mostly Gujarati, British, Portuguese and Goan influences, Parsi food features an exotic tang that sets it apart from other traditional Indian foods.
Although only around 200 Parsis live in Chennai, they are determined to keep their cuisine alive, whether inside their homes or through monthly banquets. On these occasions, the community gathers to feast on authentic Parsi food such as Dhansakh, a medley of lentils, vegetables and meat chunks; pulao, laganu custard (caramelized custard) followed by an array of other dishes. "It is the only place where Parsis can get a sumptuous Parsi meal outside their homes," says Mahair Shroff, a Parsi caterer who cooks for the community events.
Over the years, as they migrated from Iran to India they adopted the food habits of other cultures and blended it with their own. Take for instance Dhansakh, which is generally served with caramelized brown rice and kachumbar, combines Gujarati and Parsi elements. A traditional Dhansakh consists of meat cubes, a mixture of four different kinds of lentils (arhar dal, bengal gram, red masoor dal and brown masoor dal), chopped vegetables such as potato, brinjal, pumpkin pureed together and flavored with a tinge of Indian masalas. "It looks similar to Sambar except for the fact that instead of the vegetables floating in it, you can find lumps of meat or chicken," says Zavera Shahuna, a former school teacher and a food enthusiast.
Patra ni machi, another popular Parsi delicacy, takes in Goan preparation where pomfret fish is glazed with green chutney and steamed in a banana leaf.
gitika gitanjali parsi food blog 2
Mutton Dhansakh, Caramelized Rice and Kachumbar
Deep fried potato julienne known as 'Sali' also forms an important ingredient in the Parsi kitchen. It usually appears in dishes such as sali boti, a traditional Parsi mutton curry with potato sticks on top. Parsis adopted potatoes, initially introduced to the Indians by the Portuguese, to season their food.
Being the first one to reach out to the British, the Parsis came up with a Sali per edu cupcake, baked egg cupcakes layered with kheema. Imagine someone taking out the flour and cream from the cup cake, stuffing the spicy kheema into baked egg and garnishing it with potato straws. It is enough to make one understand that egg, kheema and potato can create wonders.
gitika gitanjali parsi food blog 3
Sali par edu cupcake
Parsi food is strongly non-vegetarian. Meat, fish and eggs assorted with a string of other ingredients take a lion's share in any Parsi cook's house. While bakes and desserts occasionally crown the Parsi menu, vegetables mainly appear as a way to jazz up an eggone of the few ways that Parsis consume their veggies.
"If we have guests in our house and they are vegetarians, it is very frightening for us," exclaims Tehnaz Bahadurji jokingly, a Parsi and 30-year resident of Chennai.
But it doesn't mean the vegetarians are ignored. There are some distinct vegetarian dishes which Parsis love to consume along with their non-veg platter.
With a shrinking community in Chennai, it's not surprising that there are hardly any restaurants serving Parsi food. "Since our population is a dwindling number, there are not many into owning restaurants in the city. That is the reason why many people here are not aware of the cuisine," says 28-years-old Kashmira Dubash, a resident of Thiruvanmiyur.
However, Tehnaz believes that "Parsi food is basically non-vegetarian. Since many prefer vegetarian in Chennai, a standalone restaurant that serves mainly non–vegetarian seems little difficult."
gitika gitanjali parsi food blog 4
A view of Batlivala and Khanabhoy in Chennai
There are very few cafes in Chennai that claim to offer Parsi cuisine but instead serve Iranian food. Batlivala and Khanabhoy (B&K) is a new restaurant in Chennai that serves Parsi cuisine which the community finds relatively authentic. The vintage settingthe olden pictures of Parsi family that adorn the walls, an old radio and the adorable waiters in white shirt with black suspenders wearing round glassesis enough to transfer one back to a typical Parsi house. Uday Balaji, the owner of the restaurant, says, "It's about understanding the nuances of Parsi cuisine."
While the restaurant offers few vegetarian dishes, chicken forms an alternative to mutton in the non-vegetarian menu unlike in most of the authentic Parsi cuisine. "The Dhansakh dal and the brown caramelized rice took me back home," says 20-year-old customer Sharanya, a Mumbai born half Parsi.
gitika gitanjali parsi food blog 5
Hot bakes at Batlivala and Khanabhoy
Despite the fact that Parsis relish eating red meat in most of their meals, there is a change in the way they cook their food today. These days Parsis make a conscious effort to add veggies to their diet. Take for instance if traditional Parsi food is masoor ma gos (lentils with mutton), today people tend to substitute it with chicken or scrambled egg. "In my family, we have mutton or chicken twice a week. We add salads and veggies to make our food healthy. We prefer to grill our chicken rather than frying," says Kashmira, a home cook.
For Zavera, a vegetarian or a chicken Dhansakh is a better option to be healthy. "A plain vegetarian or chicken Dhansakh has become acceptable to us but the taste is not the same as the authentic one."
Tehnaz feels that the new generation hardly recognizes the traditional Parsi sweet dishes. "We have lost many traditional Parsi foods. Sometimes making them at home gets little tedious. Since my generation hasn't learnt to make them, the younger generation hasn't acquired the taste for them. Most of us today don't make sweets such as dal ni pori and khajur ni ghari (a flour based fried pastry filled with dates and jaggery. We buy them from shops nowadays, mostly in Mumbai or Pune," says Tehnaz.
Kashmira points out that difficult-to-find ingredients allow the new generation to opt for easyto-cook food. In addition, cooking Parsi food is a time consuming process.
"I would like to cook with whatever is there in my fridge rather than going out to find ingredients to cook the recipe in the most traditional style. At the end of the day what matters is the ease of doing things."
There is no denying that the traditional Parsi food is on a heavy side but it continues to remain the part and parcel in the lives of many Parsis. "Most of us still eat Parsi food quite often and get together at the dining table with hearty food and conversation. We enjoy our food and relish our lives," says Tehnaz.
All photographs by Gitika Gitanjali
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outrigger, canoe-type vessel with a wood or bamboo float attached to the side of the craft and extending out over the water. The term outrigger also refers to the float itself. The craft is used throughout the South Pacific, although its greatest development has probably come in Sri Lanka, where traders may load up to 30 tons of cargo into a single vessel. Designed for speed and stability, the outrigger is usually propelled by sail or paddle. Certain sailing outriggers can attain speeds in excess of 20 knots (23 mi/37 km per hr). An outrigger is usually sailed with the float facing the wind, providing a counterweight against capsizing. It becomes dangerous, however, when the float is on the leeward side. To solve this problem, double outriggers, or canoes with an outrigger float on each side, are also used.
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How processing rules work
Processing rules let you make changes to data based on defined conditions. When attributes or values match defined conditions, values can be set and deleted, and events can be set.
Processing rules are applied to data as it is collected, and rules are applied to all data that comes through the AppMeasurement libraries and through the Data Insertion API. Processing rules also apply to the full and log data sources. These sources contain data that represents a hit or an action that a user takes. Processing rules do not apply to other data sources.
Important Concepts
The following table contains key concepts you need to understand when using processing rules:
Concept
Details
Rules apply to a single report suite.
Processing rules are applied in the order listed.
If an action changes a value, subsequent conditions use the new value.
Processing rules are applied immediately to the report suite after they are saved.
Changes from processing rules should be visible in your report suite within minutes of saving. When testing processing rules, we recommend configuring real-time reports in your test report suite so you can quickly see the results of a processing rule.
Processing rules are the only way to access to context data variables.
Processing rules are applied before VISTA rules and Marketing Channel rules.
Hits cannot be excluded.
You can use VISTA rules to exclude hits.
The product string, referrer, and user agent cannot be changed.
Referrer and user agent are read-only. The product string is not available.
Mobile device attributes and classifications are not available.
The mobile device lookup occurs before processing rules, but attributes are not available in processing rules.
Query string parameters cannot be read beyond the first 255 characters of a URL if you are running JavaScript AppMeasurement H.25.2 or earlier. JavaScript AppMeasurement H.25.3 and later provide the full URL including all query string parameters to processing rules.
Upgrade to H.25.3 or later, or read query string parameters from long URLs client-side and store values in Context Data variables.
Query string values must be encoded in Unicode or UTF-8 to be read by processing rules.
This might affect multibyte characters that are passed using query strings.
You are limited to 150 rules with 30 conditions each for each report suite.
Processing rule limits are per report suite, not per company.
Processing rules must be set up to retrieve context data variables before data is sent.
Processing rules are applied as server calls are sent. Values stored in context data variables are discarded if they are not copied using processing rules.
Value comparisons in the UI are case insensitive.
Context data variable names can contain only alphanumeric characters, underscores and dots. Any additional characters are stripped out.
For example, The context data variable login_page-home automatically becomes login_pagehome. All data sent to the login_page-home variable is allocated under login_pagehome.
Context data variables that contain unsupported characters cannot be added in the Processing Rules interface.
Caret (^) is a special character in the processing rules system.
To match a single caret character, use two caret characters (^^).
Processing Rule Conditions
Conditions check page variables for a matching value or if a value is present. Multiple conditions can be added and you can select if all conditions must be matched.
You can create a rule with no conditions to always execute defined actions.
Variables are not automatically checked for values before actions occur. For example, Prop1 contains a value of "something", and eVar1 is empty. If you set Prop1 to equal eVar1 both values will be empty. If you need to avoid this add a condition to check for the presence of a value.
Processing Rule Actions
Actions set page variables, delete page variables, or trigger events. Actions can also concatenate values to display in a report.
For example, you might want to display category:product by concatenating two variables.


Angel Number 346 – Meaning and Symbolism
Numbers are all around us and it's hard to spend a day without them. We need them in every situations and life would not make sense without them. With all functions which they have, they also have some hidden meanings for which a lot of people do not know.
They are also used as messages that come from angels who want to send something to us. We will meet every day with that number and it will appear in many situations. The angels sent us a message which can help us or give us advice about our future.
Angel number 346 – what does it mean?
An angelic number 346 is composed of the attribute of number 3, vibration and energy of number 4 and influence of number 6.
Number 3 is one of the luckiest numbers and brings very positive influence and happiness, enjoyment, feeling of fulfillment and motive for achieving high goals.
Number 4 brings energy to this number and extra strength and motive to accomplish certain things in life. It is also described by courage, power, honesty, will to succeed.
Number 6 describes talent, creativity, knowledge, great psychic abilities, and the ability to learn quickly and progress.
Number 346 is a set of very positive attributes of great energy and talent, which gives it great influence. People in this number are talented for all the work they do, but mostly expose themselves as writers, composers, singers, musicians, but also actors, psychologists, philosophers. They always want knowledge they like to learn new things and to work on themselves to bring everything to perfection.
They love to communicate with other people and to share their knowledge with them. They like to work with educated and smart people.
Secret meaning and symbolism
A message from an angel through the number 346 is a message saying that you are on the right path to collect your talent and your creativity.
After a lot of effort you invested, angels send you a message that motivates and encourages you to continue with the job you love.
You love your work, so every working day is enjoyment for you. If you have not yet decided what to do in the future now is the right time and angels are sure you will make the right choice and make great success.
Dedicate yourself to your family and friends, because they will always be there for you. After each job, it is always necessary to find time for rest and relaxation, so take a couple of free days and travel somewhere.
Angel number 346 and Love
People in number 346 prefer to enjoy life they like to meet new people and to always be in a relationship. It is difficult to take away the liberty that matters to them, and if you try it, it will probably result in a breakup. Their trust is also difficult to get because they are taught not to trust other people.
They are always smiling, moody, in the society they are the main entertainers and their humor is what adorns them and conquers the opposite sex.
They are also mystical, and that fascinates other people. The people in this number who are married have surely already found the love of their lives and there is no need to cheat or leave them for someone else.
Now they are ready to spend their lives with that person and provide everything in order to have a comfortable life.
Interesting facts about number 346
In the next section we tried to present some of the most interesting facts related to this number, all these information can help you and they can be useful to understand message from this number.
In math, number 346 is an even, composite and a Harshad number.
It is interesting that this number is a Franel number.
In Binary Code this number is written as 101101010.
In Roman numeral letter this number can be written as CCCXLVI.
What to do when you see number 346?
The message from an angel through the number 346 is very positive for you. It gives you the motivation to proceed further and tells you that talent will surely be charged and rewarded.
You must continue with the same effort, and do not let it go. Do not listen to other people's opinions just listen to yourself make the right choices and surely everything will pay off. Positive and good period is ahead of you, and now take the opportunity to get everything you've planned and want.
Angels will always be with you and follow your steps. Stay courageous and motivated as you have been until now and remember you will always have support from your family and friends. Also, angels will take care of you, they would never leave you alone no matter where you are or what are you doing.
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_USER_ {export:102353, abstract = {
Large-scale software development requires coordination within and between very large engineering teams which may be located in different buildings, on different company campuses, and in different time zones. From a survey answered by 775 Microsoft software engineers, we learned how work was coordinated within and between teams and how engineers felt about their success at these tasks. The respondents revealed that the most common objects of coordination are schedules and features, not code or interfaces, and that more communication and personal contact worked better to make interactions between teams go more smoothly.
}, address = {Washington, DC, USA}, author = {Andrew Begel and Nachiappan Nagappan and Christopher Poile and Lucas Layman}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2009 ICSE Workshop on Cooperative and Human Aspects on Software Engineering (CHASE)}, isbn = {978-1-4244-3712-2}, month = {May}, pages = {1–7}, publisher = {IEEE Computer Society}, title = {Coordination in large-scale software teams}, url = {_URL_ year = {2009}, }


California Residents: Trophy Hunting & Live Market Cruelty Must End
California Residents: Trophy Hunting & Live Market Cruelty Must End
 A bill that would ban cruel live animal markets and the possession of hunting "trophies" from certain species of African wildlife in California has recently passed the Senate, and moved on to the Assembly for consideration.
This bill, SB 1175, would ban the sale of frogs, turtles, and certain bird species in live animal markets, as well as the importation of live wild animal species that pose a zoonotic disease risk. Additionally, a section of the bill entitled the Iconic African Species Protection Act would ban the possession of body parts from African elephants, black rhinoceros, white rhinoceros, two species of zebras, and several other species. Now is your chance to ensure this bill is passed to protect animals!
This bill was introduced in February by California State Senator Henry Stern and co-sponsored by Social Compassion in Legislation and the Center for Biological Diversity. The bill was originally in response to the federal government's refusal to protect African species from the cruelties of trophy hunting, but in May, it was amended to address the spread of global pandemics — which have been linked to selling and butchering wildlife, particularly those animals who are trafficked from the wild and sold in live-animal markets.
Animals endure harrowing journeys to these markets and are held in cramped, often unsanitary cages for long periods of time. In the markets, they may be within sight of other animals being slaughtered. These places can be so stressful for animals that they become immune-compromised, which can lead to increased risks of disease transmission to humans.
Trophy hunting is the barbaric practice of gunning animals down, sometimes in front of their families, only for them to endure painful, often prolonged deaths. Hunting traumatizes those elephants who witness the tragic, violent deaths of their beloved family members and because of their extraordinary memories, they can be haunted by these gruesome images for the rest of their lives.
By and large, trophy hunting allows wealthy, mostly white men from Western nations like the United States to have privileged access to African wildlife, at the expense of not only the animals themselves, but local people, and is therefore considered a form of neocolonialism, or systematic resource control through outside influences. Banning the possession of hunting trophies is intended to reduce the incentive to kill animals for their body parts.
If this bill is passed into law, individuals, corporations, partnerships, and associations would all be banned from possessing body parts originating from elephants, giraffes, black rhinoceros, white rhinoceros, Jentink's duikers, two species of zebras, hyenas, baboons, pangolins, hippopotamuses, African lions, and leopards.
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As technology continues to weave its way into various aspects of our lives, the field of public transportation is no exception. The emergence of the SMS-bus system has brought about a revolutionary change by leveraging mobile technology to enhance the commuting experience for passengers.
Using SMS-bus, commuters can simply send a text message to inquire about bus routes, schedules, and real-time updates. This convenient solution ensures that passengers are always informed, minimizing the uncertainty and frustration often associated with waiting for buses.
One of the significant advantages of SMS-bus is its ability to provide real-time updates. Passengers can effortlessly stay informed about bus arrival times, delays, and route diversions, saving valuable time. With this reliable information at their fingertips, travelers can plan their journeys more efficiently, avoiding unnecessary waiting and reducing stress levels.
Moreover, the SMS-bus system offers a seamless and hassle-free ticket purchase process. Riders can conveniently buy tickets through text messages or mobile apps, eliminating the need for physical tickets or dealing with long queues. This mobile ticketing system not only offers convenience but also contributes to a more environmentally friendly approach, reducing paper waste.
In conclusion, the SMS-bus system presents an innovative solution that leverages the power of mobile technology to transform public transportation, making it more convenient and user-friendly. With real-time updates, effortless ticketing, and improved efficiency, the SMS-bus undoubtedly has the potential to revolutionize how we commute.#32#


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Desmosomes provide intercellular adhesive strength required for integrity of epithelial and some non-epithelial tissues. Within the epidermis, the cadherin-type adhesion molecules desmoglein (Dsg) 1-4 and desmocollin (Dsc) 1-3 build the adhesive core of desmosomes. In keratinocytes, several isoforms of these proteins are co-expressed. However, the(More)
PURPOSE To compare the accuracy of a navigation system for oral implantology using either a head-mounted display (HMD) or a monitor as a device for visualization. METHODS Drilling experiments in plastic mandibles were performed by seven investigators supported by a navigation system using an HMD. A set of drilling experiments was carried out using a(More)
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rogation. Its main purpose is reimbursing the insurer from funds that should equitably come from the party at fault.
For example, subrogation enables an auto insurer to sue the careless driver who injured their policyholder. This prevents that driver from escaping liability. The insurer can then lower rates rather than spread costs to blameless policyholders.
Subrogation as a Right and a Duty
Subrogation rights automatically apply without being specified in insurance policies. This entitles the insurer to step into the shoes of its policyholder and pursue legal action in their name.
Most policies also obligate cooperation from the policyholder. This includes handing over documents needed to subrogate, not interfering with the action, and agreeing to have any recovery directed first to the insurer up the amount they paid out.
Limitations and Exceptions to Subrogation
Insurers cannot subrogate against certain protected parties even if they caused the loss:
- Additional insureds named in the same policy
- Family members living with the policyholder
- Employees of the policyholder
These restrictions prevent disrupting important relationships. Some states also prohibit subrogating against tenants who negligently damage rented dwellings.
Additionally, policyholders can contractually waive insurers' subrogation rights upfront. This waiver forecloses any subsequent attempt to recover.
How to Maximize the Benefits of Subrogation
To optimize subrogation's potential benefits:
- Give prompt notice to at-fault parties, before evidence disappears
- Thoroughly investigate fault and document findings
- File claims rapidly, before statutes of limitations expire
- Avoid conflicts of interest when pursuing joint representation
- Keep meticulous records of claim payments to prove damages
- Monitor the proceedings closely and participate where necessary
Timely, rigorous subrogation actions allow insurers to gain back a portion of claims paid, reducing pressure for higher premiums.
The contribution principle equitably distributes liability across multiple insurers covering the same loss. This avoids forcing just one insurer to bear the full burden.
Contribution and its Purpose
When concurrent policies cover the same claim, contribution allows allocating responsibility proportionately among all insurers involved. This prevents the policyholder from selectively claiming against just one insurer and maximizing recovery.
Contribution guards against such unfair outcomes by:
- Preventing windfall double recovery beyond actual losses
- Discouraging strategic claiming behavior by policyholders
- Ensuring insurers share large claims burden appropriately
By diffusing liability, contribution promotes sustainability, honesty, and due diligence across the industry.
B. Calculating Contribution in Insurance Claims
Two primary methods allocate contribution amounts:
- Equal shares: Each insurer contributes an equal portion, regardless of policy limits.
- Proportionate limits: Insurers pay percentages based on the ratio of their policy limit to the aggregated coverage limits.
The majority of states follow the proportionate approach. This aligns contributions most closely with the relative risks each insurer accepted.
Ensuring Fair Allocation of Responsibility
Certain measures ensure contribution arrangements are equitable:
- Clear coordination rules: Policies should specify contribution procedures and incorporate standard industry protocols.
- Subrogation rights: Insurers paying more than their share gain subrogation claims against the others.
- Arbitration clauses: These provide efficient dispute resolution for contribution conflicts.
- Cooperation requirements: Policies obligate coordination to prevent excess recovery.
By enshrining contribution in established protocols, insurers prevent the injustice of any party bearing a disproportionate loss burden.
Both insurers and policyholders share an interest in mitigating loss events. This cooperative approach to avoiding and reducing losses benefits all stakeholders.
Importance of Loss Mitigation in Insurance
Effective loss control provides several advantages:
- Lower claims costs: Preventing avoidable losses directly reduces insurers' payment obligations.
- Lower premiums: Savings from reduced claims translate into lower premium rates for policyholders.
- Reduced externalities: Containing losses prevents ancillary harms like business interruptions or liability costs.
- Social benefits: Loss mitigation promotes health, safety, and responsible resource management.
Proactively managing risks aligns with insurance's fundamental protective purpose. It enables extending coverage efficiently to more people and assets.
Strategies for Minimizing Loss in Insurance
Insurers and policyholders can work together to implement various loss mitigation strategies:
- Risk-based pricing: Charging higher premiums for higher-risk items or behaviors motivates reducing exposure.
- Deductibles: Requiring policyholders to cover some initial loss amount incentivizes prevention and care.
- Conditions: Requiring protective measures like alarms, sprinklers, or regular maintenance reduces hazard vulnerability.
- Loss control guidance: Insurers can provide loss prevention education, site inspections, and similar consulting.
- Premium discounts: Lower premiums reward policyholders who take proactive precautions.
Applying sticks and carrots gives both parties a stake in achieving mutually beneficial loss reduction outcomes.
Role of Insurance in Promoting Loss Minimization
Beyond financial incentives, insurance can promote loss prevention in other impactful ways:
- Aggregating data to identify patterns and target problem areas
- Advocating for protective infrastructure investments and policies
- Researching technological improvements like automated diagnostics or safety innovations
- Generating standardized metrics to track prevention program efficacy
Insurers' unique bird's-eye vantage point positions them to be leaders in researching, designing, and championing superior risk management practices. Their prevention initiatives multiply the social value insurance provides.
Harnessing insurance principles to align stakeholders around avoiding and minimizing harm unlocks enormous potential for advancing individual and collective welfare. The foundational doctrines examined in this article optimize insurers' ability to deliver on that worthy promise. While intricate in application, these tenets coalesce around delivering efficient, fair, and transparent risk transfer services to everyone insurance serves.


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Spectral fingerprinting of decellularized heart valve scaffolds
Decellularized heart valves hold promise for their use as bioscaffolds in cardiovascular surgery. Quality assessment of heart valves after decellularization processing and/or storage is time consuming and destructive. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) allows rapid non-invasive assessment of biomolecular structures in tissues. In this study, IR-spectra taken from different layers of the pulmonary artery trunk and leaflet tissues of decellularized porcine heart valves were compared with those of pure collagen and elastin, the main protein components in these tissues. In addition, spectral changes associated with aging and oxidative damage were investigated. Infrared absorbance spectra of the arteria intima and media layer were found to be very similar, whereas distinct differences were observed when compared with spectra of the externa layer. In the latter, the shape of the CH-stretching vibration region (3050-2800 cm-1) resembled that of pure collagen. Also, pronounced νCOOH and amide-II bands and a relatively high content of α-helical structures in the externa layer indicated the presence of collagen in this layer. The externa layer of the artery appeared to be sensitive to collagenase treatment, whereas the media and intima layer were particularly affected by elastase and not by collagenase treatment. Protein conformational changes after treatment with collagenase were observed in all three layers. Collagenase treatment completely degraded the leaflet tissue sections. Spectra were also collected from scaffolds after 2 and 12 weeks storage at 37 °C, and after induced oxidative damage. Spectral changes related to aging and oxidative damage were particularly evident in the CH-stretching region, whereas the shape of the amide-I band, reflecting the overall protein secondary structure, remained unaltered.


Dynamical topology: Slovak spaces and dynamical compactness
Sergiy Kolyada
Institute of Mathematics National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kiev
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Date(s) : 12/12/2017 iCal
11 h 00 min - 12 h 00 min
The area of dynamical systems where one investigates dynamical properties that can be described in topological terms is called "Topological Dynamics". Investigating the topological properties of spaces and maps that can be described in dynamical terms is in a sense the opposite idea. This area is called "Dynamical Topology".
For (discrete) dynamical systems given by compact metric spaces and continuous (surjective) self-maps, I will mostly be talking about two new notions: "Slovak Space" and "Dynamical Compactness". Slovak Space is a dynamical analogue of the rigid space: a nontrivial compact metric space whose homeomorphism group is cyclic and generated by a minimal homeomorphism.
Dynamical Compactness is a new concept of chaotic dynamics. The ω-limit set of a point is a basic notion in theory of dynamical systems and means the collection of states which "attract" this point while going forward in time. It is always nonempty when the phase space is compact. By changing the time we introduced the notion of the ω-limit set of a point with respect to a Furstenberg family. A dynamical system is called dynamically compact (with respect to a Furstenberg family) if for any point of the phase space this ω-limit set is nonempty. A nice property of dynamical compactness:
all dynamical systems are dynamically compact with respect to a Furstenberg family if and only if this family has the finite intersection property.
Based on a work by Tomasz Downarowicz, Lubomir Snoha and Dariusz Tywoniuk, and joint works with Wen Huang, Danylo Khilko, Alfred Peris, Julia Semikina and Guohua Zhang.
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Standard C++ programming containers classes such as vector and list are homogeneous, meaning they can store only one type of objects at a time. However, in some cases it's more convenient to use a container of heterogeneous objects, which is where std::tuple comes in handy. std::tuple can store up to 10 objects of different types.
Suppose you need to design a function that retrieves three values from a database: an index number representing the month of the year, and two floating point numbers that represent the consumer's price index (CPI) of the relevant month, and the CPI of the previous month. Although you can split this function into two, it's more efficient and convenient to have one function that retrieves these values in one shot. Your first step consists of defining a tuple type i.e, a specialization of the class template std::tuple. Here's an example:
_TAG_ using namespace std; typedef tuple CPIs;
Here's the function declaration:
CPIs get_cpis(const Date& d);
In the absence of explicit initializers for the tuple's elements, the elements will be default-initialized:
tuple t2(3.55, 'a');// explicit tuple t3; // <0.0,0,string()>
The Standard Library defines meta-functions and helper functions for handling tuples conveniently. Meta-functions use template meta-programming to compute their results at compile time. Helper functions are free-standing functions with short and intuitive names. Let's look at some of these.
To get the number of elements that a tuple type has, use the
_TAG_ using namespace std; int elements=tuple_size::value;//3
To automate the creation of a tuple object, use the
make_tuple() helper function.
make_tuple() deduces the types of its arguments to create a tuple type. It returns a tuple object initialized with those arguments:
CPIs mycpi=make_tuple(2, 0.1, 0.3);
To get the type of a tuple element, use the
tuple_element() meta-function. This function is useful for traversing a tuple or when you want to create copies of a tuple's elements without knowing the elements' types in advance.
tuple_element() takes an index and the tuple type (remember that tuples use zero-based indexing). In the following example,
tuple_element() retrieves the type of the first tuple element. The result is used for declaring val, an object whose type is the same as that of the tuple's first element:
tuple_element <0, tuple >::type val;//int
What if you need to access the actual value of a tuple element rather than its type? Use the get function template. Get
tuple_element() to declare objects of the types of a tuple object's elements and then calls get to copy their corresponding values:
CPIs cpi=make_tuple(4, 0.1, -0.2); tuple_element <0,CPIs>::type val1;//int tuple_element <1,CPIs>::type val2;//double tuple_element <2,CPIs>::type val3;//double val1=get<0> (mycpi);//4 val2=get<1> (mycpi);//0.1 val3=get<2> (mycpi);//-0.2
Putting it all Together
Suppose you're designing a stock quote search engine that accepts a free text query. The engine retrieves the current stock price along with the stock's symbol. To represent the stock prices, you use a pair of integral values for the dollars and cents (a pair of integers rather than double guarantees accurate comparisons among other things), and a string for the stock symbol. You can represent the stock price like this:
typedef tuple StockPrice1;
This design is simple but not descriptive enough -- the reader has to guess that the first two integers are construed as a pair. An alternative design would use a layered structure:
typedef tuple Currency; typedef tuple StockPrice2;
Regardless of your favorite representation, both designs exhibit the beauty of tuples. For example, to compare two
StockPrice records you don't need to overload any operators. std::tuple already includes the relevant overloaded operators for you:
StockPrice1 get_quote(const string& query); StockPrice1 a(620,24,"GOOG"); StockPrice1 b=get_quote("Google Inc."); if (a!=b) //is it the same quote?...
As an aside, you're probably wondering why I didn't use std::pair to represent Currency. The truth is that a pair is nothing but a tuple containing two members. Historically, std::pair inspired the authors of std::tuple to design a more generalized notion of a fixed-size heterogeneous container. Of course, it doesn't mean that you're advised to avoid std::pair;
Tuples were added to C++ programming as part of the Standard Library Technical Report One (TR1 for short) which is a fancy name for what would otherwise be dubbed a service pack for the C++98 Standard Library. Virtually, every standard-compliant C++ compiler supports std::tuple today. Additionally, tuples (as all other TR1 features) are highly portable, so you can use them without hesitation in cross-platform code.
The main advantage of std::tuple is automation. Instead of inventing a heterogeneous container on your own, std::tuple will be convenient so long as you don't need more than 10 elements and don't expect to insert or remove elements dynamically.


text:
Central Weather Bureau
|Central Weather Bureau|
|Zhōngyāng Qìxiàng Jú|
|Jurisdiction||Republic of China|
|Agency executive||Tzay-Chyn Shin (辛在勤), Director-General|
|Parent Agency||Ministry of Transportation and Communications|
The Central Weather Bureau (Chinese: 中央氣象局; pinyin: Zhōngyāng Qìxiàng Jú; often abbreviated to CWB) is the government meteorological research and forecasting institution of the Republic of China (Taiwan). In addition to meteorology, the Central Weather Bureau also makes astronomical observations, reports on sea conditions, and conducts research into seismology and provides earthquake reports. The Central Weather Bureau is headquartered in Taipei City and is administered under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications.
While Taiwan was under Japanese rule, the government set up five weather monitoring stations on the island, located in Taipei, Taichung, Tainan, Hengchun, and Penghu. On December 19, 1897, the Governor-General moved the headquarters to the present location occupied by the eventual successor agency of the Japanese "Taipei Observatory": the Central Weather Bureau. In 1945 when the Kuomintang took control of Taiwan the various stations set up by the Japanese were incorporated into the new Taiwan Provincial Weather Institution, under the Chief Executive of Taiwan Province, Chen Yi. When the position of Chief Executive was abolished in 1947 (the new head of local government being the Governor of Taiwan Province) the institution became an agency of the Taiwan Provincial Government.
The Central Weather Bureau itself was established in 1941 in Chongqing under the Executive Yuan of the Republic of China. In 1947 (and again from 1971 onwards) it was re-assigned to the Ministry of Transportation and Communications. After the Kuomintang defeat in the Chinese Civil War and their subsequent flight to Taiwan in 1949, the Central Weather Bureau relocated from Mainland China to Taiwan. From 1949 to 1958 it was under the control of the Taiwan Provincial Weather Institution, then from 1958 onwards it was resurrected to become the principal meteorological organisation of the government. In 1971 the Central Weather Bureau switched from being a part of the Taiwan Provincial Government to the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, under central government authority.
The Central Weather Bureau has a number of responsibilities, represented by the various departments.
Weather Forecast Center
The Weather Forecast Center (Chinese: 氣象預報中心; pinyin: Qìxiàng Yùbào Zhōngxīn) is the department responsible for monitoring actual weather conditions and making short and medium term forecasts concerning the weather. It also issues severe weather advisories for conditions including heavy rain, cold snaps, typhoons and storms, and dense fog. In the case of typhoons, the department closely monitors all tropical storms which might impact the island and issues warnings and predicted typhoon path and severity based on the collected data.
The Seismological Center (Chinese: 地震測報中心; pinyin: Dìzhèn Cèbào Zhōngxīn) of the Central Weather Bureau was founded in 1989, with a mission to monitor seismic activity in and around the island, publish reports on significant earthquakes, study earthquake precursor phenomena, issue tsunami warnings where appropriate, and provide information to the public of earthquake precautions. Taiwan is in a seismically active region on the Pacific Ring of Fire, with 44 deadly earthquakes occurring there during the twentieth century. The center has 150 seismological monitoring stations through Taiwan, Penghu, Jinmen and Matsu.
Marine Meteorology Center
The Marine Meteorology Center (Chinese: 海象測報中心; pinyin: Hǎixiàng Cèbào Zhōngxīn) was established in 1993 to monitor sea conditions and make predictions about weather at sea for shipping, fisheries, tourism and other interested parties. Variables including wave height, tides, sea level variations, sea surface temperature, and ocean currents are measured to provide an accurate picture of current conditions. The center is also responsible for informing the public of tide times, and cooperates with local tourism bureaux and Fishermen's Associations to erect electronic billboards in harbours to inform seafarers of ocean conditions.
The Bureau also includes the following departments:
- The Meteorological Satellite Center (Chinese: 氣象衛星中心; pinyin: Qìxiàng Wèixīng Zhōngxīn), which receives and analyses weather satellite data for observation and prediction purposes.
- The Astronomical Observatory (Chinese: 天文站; pinyin: Tiānwén Zhàn), which not only observes astronomical phenomena such as sunspots and eclipses, but also publishes an annual almanac and provides information on astronomy to the public.
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Central Weather Bureau ROC|
- "南區氣象中心 (Southern Meteorological Center)" (in Chinese). Central Weather Bureau.
- "氣象博物館 (Meteorological Museum)" (in Chinese).
- "Brief History & Organization". Central Weather Bureau.
- "Missions". Central Weather Bureau. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
- "Weather Forecast Center". Central Weather Bureau.
- "二十世紀(_PHONE_)台灣地區災害性地震" (in Chinese). Central Weather Bureau. Retrieved 2009-07-17.
- "Seismological Center". Central Weather Bureau.
- "Marine Meteorology Center". Central Weather Bureau.
- "Meteorological Satellite Center". Central Weather Bureau.


text:
The resulting map should contain a key for each value of type b, occurring in any set in the original map. The new values (of type
type SetMap k a = Map k (Set a) invertSetMap :: (Ord a, Ord b) => SetMap a b -> SetMap b a
Set a) are all those original keys for which the new key occurred in the value set. Intuitively, if the original set was representing arrows from values of type a to values of type b, this function should reverse all arrows. We can easily implement this function using two nested folds.
That's not pretty at all! I had written quite a bit of this kind of code (and hated it each time), until I finally remembered a fundamental Haskell lesson. Haskell uses lists to simulate iteration and specify other kinds of control flow. In particular list comprehensions are often extremely cheap, since the compiler can automatically remove many or all intermediate lists and generate very efficient code. So let's try again.
invertSetMap sm = M.foldWithKey (\k as r -> S.fold (\a r' -> M.insertWith S.union a (S.singleton k) r') r as) M.empty sm
So much more readable! A quick benchmark also shows that it's slightly faster (a few percent for a very big map). Lesson to take home: If your folds get incomprehensible consider list comprehensions.
invertSetMap sm = M.fromListWith S.union [ (a, S.singleton k) | (k, as) <- M.assocs sm, a <- S.toList as ]


Best php questions in March 2012
57 votes
If I try this:
$l = 0;
echo $l + ++$l;
echo PHP_EOL;
echo $l;
I get this output:
2
1
DEMO: _URL_
Why is that?
I expect to get this as an output:
1
1
My reasoning:
$l = 0; // l === 0
echo $l + ++$l; // (0) + (0+1) === 1
echo PHP_EOL;
echo $l; // l === 1
But why isn't that the output???
All the answers explaining why you get 2 and not 1 are actually wrong. According to the PHP documentation, mixing + and ++ in this manner is undefined behavior, so you could get either 1 or 2. Switching to a different version of PHP may change the result you get, and it would be just as valid.
See example 1, which says:
// mixing ++ and + produces undefined behavior
$a = 1;
echo ++$a + $a++; // may print 4 or 5
Notes:
 1. Operator precedence does not determine the order of evaluation. Operator precedence only determines that the expression $l + ++$l is parsed as $l + (++$l), but doesn't determine if the left or right operand of the + operator is evaluated first. If the left operand is evaluated first, the result would be 0+1, and if the right operand is evaluated first, the result would be 1+1.
 2. Operator associativity also does not determine order of evaluation. That the + operator has left associativity only determines that $a+$b+$c is evaluated as ($a+$b)+$c. It does not determine in what order a single operator's operands are evaluated.
Also relevant: On this bug report regarding another expression with undefined results, a PHP developer says: "We make no guarantee about the order of evaluation [...], just as C doesn't. Can you point to any place on the documentation where it's stated that the first operand is evaluated first?"
Behaviour of is_callable on '/'
26 votes
My colleague and I have encountered some rather odd behavour. Our environments are Ubuntu 11.10, PHP 5.3.6-13ubuntu3.6 with Suhosin-Patch, and Windows 7 PHP 5.3.5.
On our machines, the following code runs as one would expect:
<?php
function t() { }
var_dump(is_callable('/'));
With the output:
bool(false)
On one of our servers, CentOS release 5.7 (Final), PHP 5.3.8, the same code produces:
bool(true)
Without the t() function, is_callable performs as expected. Note that is_function behaves the same as is_callable in these tests.
Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this?
Edit:
It seems to only happen when a function named t is present, anything else, like b, c etc, and the output is as expected.
Edit - testing with more characters:
<?php
function t() { }
foreach(str_split('/abcdefghijkmnopqrstuvwxyz023456789ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVXYZ!@#$%^&*()-_+='~;:[]{}\\|\'"?.>,<') as $character) {
 if (is_callable($character)) var_dump($character, is_callable($character));
}
Outputs the following on the server:
string(1) "/"
bool(true)
string(1) "t"
bool(true)
string(1) "T"
bool(true)
string(1) "_" // gettext
bool(true)
string(1) ":" // With the t() function undefined, this remains callable on the server
bool(true)
On our environments, the output is as expected:
string(1) "t"
bool(true)
string(1) "T"
bool(true)
Edit - more information on cbuckley's comment:
<?php
ini_set('display_errors', 1);
error_reporting(E_ALL);
function t() { }
$v = '/'; $v();
Produces output: Call to undefined function /()
As a work around you could try this:
$name = '/';
$actual = null;
if (is_callable($name, false, $actual) && $name === $actual) {
 // Method is actually callable
}
glob() can't find file names with multibyte characters on Windows?
18 votes
I'm writing a file manager and need to scan directories and deal with renaming files that may have multibyte characters. I'm working on it locally on Windows/Apache PHP 5.3.8, with the following file names in a directory:
 - filename.jpg
 - имяфайла.jpg
 - file件name.jpg
 - פילענאַמע.jpg
 - 文件名.jpg
Testing on a live UNIX server woked fine. Testing locally on Windows using glob('./path/*') returns only the first one, filename.jpg.
Using scandir(), the correct number of files is returned at least, but I get names like ?????????.jpg (note: those are regular question marks, not the � character.
I'll end up needing to write a "search" feature to search recursively through the entire tree for filenames matching a pattern or with a certain file extension, and I assumed glob() would be the right tool for that, rather than scan all the files and do the pattern matching and array building in the application code. I'm open to alternate suggestions if need be.
Assuming this was a common problem, I immediately searched Google and Stack Overflow and found nothing even related. Is this a Windows issue? PHP shortcoming? What's the solution: is there anything I can do?
Addendum: Not sure how related this is, but file_exists() is also returning FALSE for these files, passing in the full absolute path (using Notepad++, the php file itself is UTF-8 encoding no BOM). I'm certain the path is correct, as neighboring files without multibyte characters return TRUE.
EDIT: glob() can find a file named filename-äöü.jpg. Previously in my .htaccess file, I had AddDefaultCharset utf-8, which I didn't consider before. filename-äöü.jpg was printing as filename-���.jpg. The only effect removing that htaccess line seemed to have was now that file name prints normally.
I've deleted the .htaccess file completely, and this is my actual test script in it's entirety (I changed a couple of file names from the original post):
print_r(scandir('./uploads/'));
print_r(glob('./uploads/*'));
Output locally on Windows:
Array
(
 [0] => .
 [1] => ..
 [2] => ??? ?????.jpg
 [3] => ???.jpg
 [4] => ?????????.jpg
 [5] => filename-äöü.jpg
 [6] => filename.jpg
 [7] => test?test.jpg
)
Array
(
 [0] => ./uploads/filename-äöü.jpg
 [1] => ./uploads/filename.jpg
)
Output on remote UNIX server:
Array
(
 [0] => .
 [1] => ..
 [2] => filename-äöü.jpg
 [3] => filename.jpg
 [4] => test이test.jpg
 [5] => имя файла.jpg
 [6] => פילענאַמע.jpg
 [7] => 文件名.jpg
)
Array
(
 [0] => ./uploads/filename-äöü.jpg
 [1] => ./uploads/filename.jpg
 [2] => ./uploads/test이test.jpg
 [3] => ./uploads/имя файла.jpg
 [4] => ./uploads/פילענאַמע.jpg
 [5] => ./uploads/文件名.jpg
)
Since this is a


text:
Warren, Sanders want climate change considered in selection of homeland security adviser
Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) are calling on the Trump administration to consider the effects of climate change when selecting President Trump's next homeland security adviser.
In a letter to Trump, the two senators urge the president to select an individual who "takes seriously" severe weather patterns and storms caused by a changing climate.
"The Homeland Security Advisor regularly attends meetings of the National Security Council and is responsible for overseeing the Administration's response to natural disasters, including hurricanes," reads a statement from Warren's office.
"[Tom] Bossert, who served as Homeland Security Advisor since January 2017 until his resignation last month, had refused to acknowledge the overwhelming scientific consensus that human-induced climate change contributes to severe weather events."
Bossert resigned in April, after John Bolton joined the White House as national security adviser and sought to shake up the team. A replacement for the homeland security adviser has not yet been announced.
"Without a dedicated federal effort to reduce the quantity of greenhouse gasses that human activity releases into the atmosphere, climate change will continue to worsen and cause increasingly severe weather events, including hurricanes," the two senators wrote in the letter. "Climate change is having and will have a tangible and harmful impact on our national security and disaster readiness."
The Trump administration has moved to strip fighting climate change from government websites and policies. The president announced last year that the U.S. would exit the Paris climate accord, a global agreement aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.


text: There has been recent interest in the use of thermoplastic encapsulant materials in photovoltaic modules to replace chemically crosslinked materials, e.g., ethylene-vinyl acetate. The related motivations include the desire to: reduce lamination time or temperature; use less moisture-permeable materials; use materials with better corrosion characteristics or with improved electrical resistance. However, the use of any thermoplastic material in a high-temperature environment raises safety and performance concerns, as the standardized tests currently do not expose the modules to temperatures in excess of 85°C, though fielded modules may experience temperatures above 100°C. Here we constructed eight pairs of crystalline-silicon modules and eight pairs of glass/encapsulation/glass thin-film mock modules using different encapsulant materials of which only two were designed to chemically crosslink. One module set was exposed outdoors with insulation on the back side in Arizona in the summer, and an identical set was exposed in environmental chambers. High precision creep measurements (±20 μm) and performance measurements indicate that despite many of these polymeric materials being in the melt state during outdoor deployment, very little creep was seen because of their high viscosity, temperature heterogeneity across the modules, and the formation of chemical crosslinks in many of the encapsulants as they aged. In the case of the crystalline silicon modules, the physical restraint of the backsheet reduced the creep further.


text:
Sometimes our thoughts can tangle us up, and we need a way to break the cycle. Try drawing with both your hands to make you stop thinking and to help you relieve your emotions and stress onto a paper.
Find a plain piece of paper and two marker pens of different colors. Now tape the sheet of paper onto a table so that it doesn't move when you start drawing. Now take one pen in each hand. The left half of the sheet is for your left hand and the right half of the sheet is for your right hand. Now put both your hands in the middle of the sheet and mirror your drawing. Draw whatever you like, however you like. This is not a drawing competition – what you draw has no meaning and there is no good or bad. The idea is to watch your pens make a mark on the paper.


text:
From scales to armor: Scale losses and trunk bony plate gains in ray-finned fishes. Evol Lett 2021 Jun;5(3):240-250. 10.1002/evl3.219. EVL3219. PMC8190451. 18-06-2021
Actinopterygians (ray-finned fishes) are the most diversified group of vertebrates and are characterized by a variety of protective structures covering their integument, the evolution of which has intrigued biologists for decades. Paleontological records showed that the first mineralized vertebrate skeleton was composed of dermal bony plates covering the body, including odontogenic and skeletogenic components. Later in evolution, the exoskeleton of actinopterygian's trunk was composed of scale structures. Although scales are nowadays a widespread integument cover, some contemporary lineages do not have scales but bony plates covering their trunk, whereas other lineages are devoid of any such structures. To understand the evolution of the integument coverage and particularly the transition between different structures, we investigated the pattern of scale loss events along with actinopterygian evolution and addressed the functional relationship between the scaleless phenotype and the ecology of fishes. Furthermore, we examined whether the emergence of trunk bony plates was dependent over the presence or absence of scales. To this aim, we used two recently published actinopterygian phylogenies, one including >11,600 species, and by using stochastic mapping and Bayesian methods, we inferred scale loss events and trunk bony plate acquisitions. Our results reveal that a scaled integument is the most frequent state in actinopterygians, but multiple independent scale loss events occurred along their phylogeny with essentially no scale re-acquisition. Based on linear mixed models, we found evidence supporting that after a scale loss event, fishes tend to change their ecology and adopt a benthic lifestyle. Furthermore, we show that trunk bony plates appeared independently multiple times along the phylogeny. By using fitted likelihood models for character evolution, we show that trunk bony plate acquisitions were dependent on a previous scale loss event. Overall, our findings support the hypothesis that integument cover is a key evolutionary trait underlying actinopterygian radiation.
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text:
TIMOTHY ACKER AND DRAKE BRANNON PERFORM WATER QUALITY TESTS.
Students in James Galvin's Agriculture classes are getting hands on education in Fresh Water Shrimp production. Yes, that's right fresh water shrimp.
The students are involved with the production with five hundred fresh water shrimp. The shrimp that the students are working with are close relatives of the shrimp that swim in the ocean, but these shrimp live in a fresh water environment. ACHS students are raising their shrimp in a closed recycling tank system. When working with this type of system students are taught that water quality is critical.
Each day students must test the water for oxygen content, pH, ammonia, nitrate and nitrite levels. The students have discovered that the temperature of the water must be maintained at 80 degrees. Students learned that when the water temperature falls below 75 degrees that the shrimp will live, but will not consume feed and grow. Students working with the shrimp can clearly see and understand how chemistry, math and biology principles effect and play into everyday life. Technology plays a very large role in helping students test the water and maintain the environment for proper water quality and balance.
Students have developed a strong interest in the shrimp project and look forward to continuing on with its development. The students would like to thank Mr. Starr for his continued support and enthusiasm for the project. The fresh water shrimp project has partnered with White Water Aqua Farms and they have been providing tremendous amount of technical advice, knowledge and experience to enhance this project.
KALEB WRIGHT PREPARES THE FEED FOR FRESH WATER SHRIMP.