Auvergne and the bishops of Clermont and in order to counteract the clergy's power, the counts founded the rival city of Montferrand on a mound next to the fortifications of Clermont, on the model of the new cities of the Midi that appeared in the 12th and 13th centuries. Until the early modern period, the two remained separate cities: Clermont, an episcopal city; Montferrand, a comital one.
Early Modern and Modern eras[edit]
Clermont became a royal city in 1551, and in 1610, the inseparable property of the French Crown. On 15 April 1630 the Edict of Troyes (the First Edict of Union) joined the two cities of Clermont and Montferrand. This union was confirmed in 1731 by Louis XV with the Second Edict of Union. At this time, Montferrand was no more than a satellite city of Clermont, and it remained so until the beginning of the 20th century. Wishing to retain its independence, Montferrand made three demands for independence, in 1789, 1848, and 1863.
In the 20th century, construction of the Michelin factories and of city gardens, which shaped modern Clermont-Ferrand, united the two cities, although two distinct downtowns survive and Montferrand retains a strong identity.
The city is in the rain shadow of the Chaîne des Puys, giving it one of the driest climates in metropolitan France, except for a few places around the Mediterranean Sea. The mountains also block most of the oceanic influence of the Atlantic, which creates a climate much more continental than nearby cities west or north of the mountains, like Limoges and Montluçon. Thus the city has comparatively cold winters and hot summers. From November to March, frost is very frequent, and the city, being at the bottom of a valley, is frequently subject to temperature inversion, in which the mountains are sunny and warm, and the plain is freezing cold and cloudy. Snow is quite common, although usually short-lived and light. Summer temperatures often exceed 35 °C (95 °F), with sometimes violent thunderstorms. The highest temperature was reached in 2019 of 40.9 °C (105.6 °F) while the lowest was -29.0 °C (-20.2 °F).
Climate data for Clermont-Ferrand, elevation: 331 m (1,086 ft), 1981–2010 normals, extremes 1923–present
Record high °C (°F) 22.1
Average high °C (°F) 7.6
Daily mean °C (°F) 3.7
Average low °C (°F) −0.1
Record low °C (°F) −23.1
Average precipitation mm (inches) 26.7
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) 6.3 5.3 6.4 8.8 10.6 8.7 6.4 7.5 6.8 7.4 7.1 6.1 87.4
Average snowy days 5.3 4.7 3.3 1.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.5 4.2 21.6
Average relative humidity (%) 79 75 69 69 72 71 68 70 73 78 78 80 74
Mean monthly sunshine hours 88.9 108.4 161.4 173.5 197.9 225.2 249.2 234.8 185.4 135.1 84.0 69.2 1,913
Source 1: Meteo France[9][10]
Source 2: (relative humidity 1961–1990)[11]
Main sights[edit]
Religious architecture[edit]
Clermont-Ferrand has two famous churches. One is Notre-Dame du Port, a Romanesque church which was built during the 11th and 12th centuries (the bell tower and was rebuilt during the 19th century). It was nominated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1998. The other is Clermont-Ferrand Cathedral (Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption de Clermont-Ferrand), built in Gothic style between the 13th and the 19th centuries.
Parks and gardens[edit]
Lecoq Garden (Jardin Lecoq)
Economy and infrastructure[edit]
Food production and processing as well as engineering are major employers in the area, as are the many research facilities of major computer software and pharmaceutical companies.
The city's industry was for a long time linked to the French tyre manufacturer Michelin, which created the radial tyre and grew up from Clermont-Ferrand to become a worldwide leader in its industry. For most of the 20th century, it had extensive factories throughout the city, employing up to 30,000 workers. While the company has maintained its headquarters in the city, most of the manufacturing is now done in foreign countries. This downsizing took place gradually, allowing the city to court new investment in other industries, avoiding the fate of many post-industrial cities and keeping it a very wealthy and prosperous area home of many high-income executives.
Tramway in Clermont-Ferrand
The main railway station has connections to Paris and several regional destinations: Lyon, Moulins via Vichy, Le Puy-en-Velay, Aurillac, Nîmes, Issoire, Montluçon and Thiers.
The motorway A71 connects Clermont-Ferrand with Orléans and Bourges, the A75 with Montpellier and the A89 with Bordeaux, Lyon and Saint-Étienne (A72). The airport offers flights within France. Recently, Clermont-Ferrand was France's first city to get a new Translohr transit system, the Clermont-Ferrand Tramway, thereby linking the city's north and south neighbourhoods.
The TGV will arrive in Auvergne after 2030. It will be one of the last regions to not have a TGV stop.
Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1793 30,000—
1800 30,000+0.00%
1806 30,982+0.54%
1821 30,010−0.21%
1831 28,257−0.60%
1836 32,427+2.79%
1841 35,152+1.63%
1846 34,083−0.62%
1851 33,516−0.33%
1856 38,160+2.63%
1861 37,275−0.47%
1866 37,461+0.10%
1872 37,357−0.05%
1876 41,772+2.83%
1881 43,033+0.60%
1886 46,718+1.66%
1891 50,119+1.42%
1896 50,870+0.30%
YearPop.±% p.a.
1901 52,933+0.80%
1906 58,363+1.97%
1911 65,386+2.30%
1921 82,577+2.36%
1926 111,711+6.23%
1931 103,143−1.58%
1936 101,128−0.39%
1946 108,090+0.67%
1954 113,391+0.60%
1962 127,547+1.48%
1968 148,759+2.60%
1975 156,763+0.75%
1982 147,224−0.89%
1990 136,181−0.97%
1999 137,140+0.08%
2007 139,501+0.21%
2012 141,569+0.29%
2017 143,886+0.33%
Source: EHESS[12] and INSEE (_PHONE_)[13]
One of the 48 public fountains with the cathedral in background. The fountain and the cathedral are made with the typical black volcanic stone of the area named "pierre de Volvic".
Clermont-Ferrand was the home of mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal who tested Evangelista Torricelli's hypothesis concerning the influence of gas pressure on liquid equilibrium. This is the experiment where a vacuum is created in a mercury tube: Pascal's experiment had his brother-in-law carry a barometer to the top of the Puy-de-Dôme. The Université Blaise-Pascal (or Clermont-Ferrand II) is located primarily in the city and is named after him.
Clermont-Ferrand also hosts the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, the world's first international short film festival which originated in 1979. This festival, which brings thousands of people every year (137,000 in 2008) to the city, is the second French film Festival after Cannes in term of visitors, but the first one regarding the number of spectators (in Cannes visitors


text:
Shoah exhibits educate, provoke sad memories
HAMILTON — It was difficult for Emmy Weisz to watch the documentary on Anne Frank.
As a child in Amsterdam, just one year younger than Frank, Weisz had walked the same streets, stepped inside the same buildings as the famed diarist.
But Weisz attended the opening of Anne Frank: A History for Today because she knows it is important to share these stories and educate the community.
The official opening, presented in partnership with Temple Anshe Sholom and the Canada Netherlands Friendship Association, took place Nov. 18.
Anne Frank: A History for Today is one of two travelling exhibitions brought to Hamilton's Temple Anshe Sholom by the Hamilton Jewish Federation Holocaust Education Committee.
Anne Frank: A History for Today juxtaposes the Frank family's story against world events before, during and after the rise to power of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party. The exhibit includes photographs of the Frank family and the other occupants of the secret annex.
Making its Canadian première, Dutch Resistance Art and Official Propaganda, about the period from 1940 to 1945, conveys the Nazi oppression of Holland and its citizens during the occupation.
The exhibit is based on three collections from the archives of the Anne Frank Center in New York City, with original propaganda posters distributed by the Nazi-controlled Dutch government; linoleum and woodcut prints by Marie de Zaaijer, and original drawings by Dutch artist Henri Pieck.
The exhibits are on display until Friday, Nov. 30.
Dignitaries who spoke at the opening ceremony included Hamilton Jewish Federation president Larry Szpirglas, the temple's Rabbi Jordan Cohen, the honorary consul for the Netherlands, Richard ter Vrugt, MP David Sweet, Hamilton Mayor Bob Bratina, MPP Ted McMeekin and Mario Silva, incoming Canadian chair, Task Force for International Co-operation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research.
Szpirglas expressed hope that these exhibits will serve as springboards for discussions about respect, inclusion and social cohesion, as well as conversations about bullying, racism and prejudice.
Sweet, who along with Silva received a humanitarian award from the committee, called the exhibit an "important and meaningful educational initiative."
He said he's sometimes asked, "Why people don't just move on?" in regard to the Holocaust.
"Any people who have suffered near total annihilation should be assured that for eternity their loss will be remembered," he said.
The opening ceremony also included students from Waterdown District High School and St. Jean de Brebeuf Catholic High School speaking about the exhibits, which were housed at the schools for one month before moving to the temple. Students were trained as docents, and hundreds of community members and students toured the exhibits.
Weisz, 82, was a hidden child in Holland. Her father was killed, as were 42 of her close relatives. Her two step-siblings were also hidden. Her mom survived by lying about being Jewish.
In May 1943, Weisz escaped on her own into hiding. She estimates she hid in 36 different places, having to flee many times after being betrayed. She was often in one room by herself with just one book to keep her company.
"I read Ben Hur so many times," she said while touring the exhibit. "Often there was a Bible. I became quite the expert in the New Testament."
Once, one of the daughters living in a home where she was hiding was dating a police officer. He warned the family that police would be coming around that evening. That night, Weisz spent hours hiding in a ditch on top of a mountain and watched many children being taken away.
She remembers how she felt when she was liberated in April 1945. "I was so sure cruelty like that would never happen again," she said. "But of course, it has."
Weisz married her husband, Erich, in Holland, and they moved to Canada in 1954. They had two children. After living in Vancouver, Toronto and Barrie, they settled in Hamilton in 1961.

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


text:
Beijing growing explosively, impacting weather and climate
A new study by scientists using data from NASA's QuikScat satellite has demonstrated a novel technique to quantify urban growth based on observed changes in physical infrastructure. The researchers used the technique to study the rapid urban growth in Beijing, China, finding that its physical area quadrupled between 2000 and 2009.
A group of researchers from California used data from QuikScat to measure the extent of infrastructure changes, such as new buildings and roads, in China's capital. They then quantified how urban growth has changed Beijing's wind patterns and pollution, using a computer model of climate and air quality developed by Jacobson.
New infrastructure alone the buildings and roads themselves, not including additional pollution created by the new city dwellers and their vehicles created a ring of impacts around the older parts of Beijing. The impacts included increasing winter temperatures by about 5 - 7oF (3 - 4oC) and reducing wind speed by about 2 – 7 m/h (1 - 3 m/s), making the city air more stagnant.
Beijing's official city limits enclose an area larger than the state of Connecticut, but much of that real estate is undeveloped and likely to remain so nature preserves and rugged mountains, for example. The Chinese capital is far from the only world city whose official area differs from its actual footprint.
Data from NASA's QuikScat satellite show the changing extent of Beijing between 2000 and 2009 through changes to its infrastructure. Gray and black indicate buildings, with the tallest and largest buildings in the city's commercial core appearing lighter gray. Other colors show changes in areas not yet urbanized (for example, clearing land or cutting down trees), with the rate of change indicated by color. Blue-green indicates the least change, yellow-orange more change, and red the greatest change.

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


text:
Datalink Systems inc. has developed an advanced safety monitoring system for field workers in any location. The Lone Worker system can work over private radio networks, GSM cellular networks and Global coverage satellite networks. We offer a number of options depending on the type of work and protection required.
The Grace T-Pass series of wireless safety monitoring devices provides two-way data communications between workers and their vehicles. The information is then relayed over satellite, cellular or mobile radio channels to the base monitoring software via a Tracker i50.
If the worker collapses or is incapacitated, the unit will automatically send an emergency alert to the base monitoring control. The base monitoring software can also automatically send text message emergency alerts via email to one or more cell-phones.
Workers can be up to 2 km from their vehicle (line of sight) and still be in communication with the base office or monitoring desk.
Datalink's GPSTrac application allows a smartphone to be used as a lone-worker device. It will transmit the phone's location at a preset interval, using Wi-Fi, network data connection or SMS messages. Emergency alerts are triggered through the user interface or repeated motion.

source: m-a-p/FineFineWeb


text:
Morocco increases water reserves
Morocco's dam reservoirs reached 69 percent capacity as of March 18, 2004, holding a total 10.2 billion cubic meters of water, up seven percent compared to the same month last year, reported MAP.
According to the secretariat of state in charge of water, the rise in reserves is due to the high level of rainfall recorded between September 1, 2003 and March 18, 2004.
In 2001, Morocco embarked on an initiative to construct nine new major dams and eight mid-size dams by 2004, in an effort to alleviate water shortages in the country. The agricultural sector in Morocco consumes about 80 percent of the available water in the Kingdom, estimated at 14 billion cubic meters. — (menareport.com)
© 2004 Mena Report (_URL_)


DEFINITION of 'Spreadlock'
An agreement that establishes a predetermined spread for future interest rate swaps. A spreadlock is a credit derivative created as either a forward contract or an option. With a spreadlock, an investor can lock in a current spread between a swap and an underlying government bond yield and transfer the basis points forward to the time when the swap is entered into.
Spreadlocks have been an option for certain investors since the 1980s. A forward spreadlock allows for a definitive addition of a set number of basis points on top of the existing spread in the underlying swap. With a spreadlock through an option contract, the buyer of the contract can decide whether or not to make the swap effective.
 1. Basis Point (BPS)
 2. Spread
 3. Interest Rate Swap
 4. Forward Price
 The predetermined delivery price for an underlying commodity,...
 5. Exotic Option
 6. Inverse Transaction
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 3. Why do companies enter into futures contracts?
 4. What does a futures contract cost?
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text:
Metal sulfide semiconductor nanorods have attracted much attention because of their potential use as a photo-responsive component of optical/electrical devices. In the present study, we report a simple solvothermal method of the Bi2S3 nanorod synthesis exploiting dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as both a solvent and a sulfur source in the presence of an organic bromide such as tetraethylammonium bromide (Et4NBr). The organic bromide conducts dual roles; it promotes the decomposition of DMSO to produce reactive sulfur species and reacts with Bi species to produce an intermediate product of bismuth oxybromide (BiOBr) that reacts further with the sulfur compounds. These dual roles of organic bromide facilitate the synthesis of Bi2S3 nanorod without extra sulfur sources. The production of Bi2S3 nanorods is successful when the organic bromide is used, but not when KBr is used, and is dependent upon the amount of organic bromide. With controlled parameters of reaction temperature and time, production of BiOBr intermediates and growth of Bi2S3 nanorod from the surface of BiOBr are observed along with the identification of the organic sulfur-Bi complexes during the synthesis. Based on the experimental outcomes, the process of the Bi2S3 nanorod synthesis is proposed. The synthesized Bi2S3 nanorods have a band gap energy of 1.5 eV along with a photoresponse time of 920 ms, thus demonstrating semiconductor photosensitivity.
|Number of pages||10|
|Publication status||Published - 2022 Jun 6|
Bibliographical noteFunding Information:
This work was supported by a grant from the Korean Research Foundation funded by the Korean Government (NRF-2019R1A2C1010629) and by the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) grant funded by the Korea government (MOTIE) (20214000000090, Fostering human resources training in advanced hydrogen energy industry).
© 2022 The Royal Society of Chemistry.
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Materials Science(all)
- Condensed Matter Physics


For a type theory, by consistency, I mean that it has a type which is not inhabited. From the strong normalization of the lambda cube, it follows that system $F$ and system $F_\omega$ are consistent. MLTT + inductive types also has a normalization proof. However, these should all be powerful enough to construct a model of PA, which proves that PA is consistent from these theories. System $F$ is quite powerful, so I expect it to be able to prove the consistency of PA by constructing a model using Church numerals. MLTT + IT has a natural numbers inductive type and should prove consistency as well.
This all implies that the normalization proofs for these theories can't be internalized in PA. So:
 1. Can system $F$, system $F_\omega$, and MLTT + IT actually prove the consistency of PA?
 2. If they can, then what metatheory is needed to prove normalization for system $F$, $F_\omega$, and MLTT+IT?
 3. Is there a good reference for the proof theory of type theories in general, or for some of these type theories in particular?
 - $\begingroup$ In System F you won't get an induction principle for your Church numerals so they're out of the equations. $\endgroup$ – gallais Nov 21 '16 at 10:37
The short answer to your question 1 is no, but for perhaps subtle reasons.
First of all, System $F$ and $F_\omega$ cannot express the first-order theory of arithmetic, and even less the consistency of $\mathrm{PA}$.
Secondly, and this is really surprising, $\mathrm{PA}$ can actually prove consistency of both those systems! This is done using the so-called proof-irrelevant model, which interprets types as sets $\in\{\varnothing,\{\bullet\}\}$, where $\bullet$ is some dummy element representing an inhabitant of a non-empty type. Then one can write down simple rules for the operation of $\rightarrow$ and $\forall$ on such types rather easily to get a model for system $F$, in which the type $\forall X.X$ is interpreted by $\varnothing$. One can do a similar thing for $F_\omega$, using a bit more care to interpret higher kinds as finite functions spaces.
There's an apparent paradox here, where $\mathrm{PA}$ can prove consistency of these seemingly powerful systems, but not (as I'll show in a moment) normalization.
The missing ingredient here is realizability. Realizability is a way to make certain programs correspond to certain propositions, typically in arithmetic. I won't go into the details here, but if a program $p$ realizes a proposition $\phi$, written $p\Vdash \phi$, then we have a certain piece of evidence for $\phi$, in particular if $p$ is normalizing, then $p\not\Vdash\bot$. We have:
Theorem: If $\phi$ is a theorem of 2nd order arithmetic $\mathrm{PA}_2$, then there is some closed term $t$ of system $F$ such that $$ t\Vdash\phi$$
This theorem can be proven in $\mathrm{PA}$, and so we have $$\mathrm{PA}\vdash F\mbox{ is normalizing}\Rightarrow\mbox{$\mathrm{PA}_2$ is consistent} $$ and Gödel's argument applies (and $\mathrm{PA}$ cannot prove normalization of system $F$). It's useful to note that the reverse implication holds as well, so we have an exact characterization of the proof-theoretic power needed to prove normalization of system $F$.
There is a similar story for system $F_\omega$, which, I believe, corresponds to higher arithmetic $\mathrm{PA}_\omega$.
Finally, we have the tricky case of MLTT with inductive types. Here again a somewhat subtle issue arises. Certainly here we can express the consistency of $\mathrm{PA}$, so that isn't an issue, and there is no proof-irrelevant model, as we can prove that the type $\mathrm{Nat}$ has at least 2 elements (an infinite amount of distinct elements, in fact).
However we run into a surprising fact of higher-order intuitionistic theories: $\mathrm{HA}_\omega$, the higher-order version of Heyting Arithmetic is conservative over $\mathrm{HA}$! In particular, we cannot prove consistency of $\mathrm{PA}$, (which is equivalent to that of $\mathrm{HA}$). An intuitive reason for this is that intuitionistic function spaces do not allow you to quantify over arbitrary subset of $\mathbb{N}$, since all definable functions $\mathbb{N}\rightarrow \mathbb{N}$ must be computable.
In particular, I don't think you can prove consistency of $\mathrm{PA}$ if you add only natural numbers to MLTT without universes. I do believe adding either universes or "stronger" inductive types (like ordinal types) will give you enough power though, but I'm afraid I have no reference for this. With universes, the argument seems quite simple though, since you have enough set theory to build a model of $\mathrm{HA}$.
Finally, references for the proof theory of type systems: there's really a gap in the literature here I think, and I would relish a clean treatment of all these subjects (in fact, I dream of writing it myself some day!). In the meantime:
 - The proof-irrelevant model is explained here by Miquel and Werner, though they do it for the Calculus of Constructions, which complicates matters somewhat.
 - The realizability argument is sketched in the classic Proofs and Types of Girard, Taylor and Lafont. I think they also sketch the proof-irrelevant model, and a great deal of useful things besides. It's probably the first reference to read.
 - The conservativity argument of higher-order Heyting arithmetic can be found in the elusive second volume of Constructivism in Mathematics by Troelstra & van Dalen (see here). Both volumes are extremely informative, but quite difficult to read for a novice, IMHO. It also somewhat avoids "modern" type theory subjects, which is unsurprising given the books' age.
An additional question in the comments was about the exact consistency strength/normalization strength of MLTT+Inductives. I don't have a precise answer here, but certainly the answer depends on the number of universes and the nature of the inductive families allowed. Rathjen explores this question in the excellent paper The Strength of some Martin-Lof Type theories.
Wrt normalization, the basic idea is that if, for 2 theories $\cal{T}$ and $\cal{U}$, we have $$\mathrm{PA}\vdash\mathrm{Con}(\cal{T})\Rightarrow\mathrm{Con}(\cal{U}) $$
then, generally
$$\mathrm{PA}\vdash \mbox{1-$\mathrm{Con}$}(\cal{T})\Rightarrow\mathrm{Norm}(\cal{U}) $$
where 1-$\mathrm{Con}$ is 1-consistency and $\mathrm{Norm}$ is (weak) normalization.
MLTT + the type of natural numbers (and recursion) is a conservative extension of $\mathrm{HA}_\omega$, which is proven in Besson Recursive Models for Constructive Set Theories.
As far as MLTT with induction-recursion or induction-induction, I don't know what the situation is, and AFAIK, the problem of exact consistency strength is still open.
 - $\begingroup$ So in a sense, system F is a very weak theory, but it has this combinatorial problem which requires a very strong theory to prove? If that's the case, then shouldn't its proof theoretic ordinal be known, and less than $\epsilon_0$, contradicting the question that I linked? $\endgroup$ – fhyve Nov 21 '16 at 19:43
 - $\begingroup$ And should it read "if $p$ is normalizing, then $p\not\Vdash\emptyset$? $\endgroup$ – fhyve Nov 21 '16 at 19:46
 - 1
 $\begingroup$ Why do you mean by "in $\mathrm{HA}_\omega$ all functions must be computable"? Certainly not, consider the set-theoretic model. $\endgroup$ – Andrej Bauer Nov 21 '16 at 19:50
 - 1
 $\begingroup$ _USER_ certainly, all functions $\mathbb{N}\rightarrow\mathbb{N}$ which can be proven to exist within $\mathrm{HA}_\omega$ are computable (from the "outside"). Of course, from the "inside", it is consistent to assume that there are non-computable functions, unless further fun axioms are added. $\endgroup$ – cody Nov 21 '16 at 20:22
 - 1
 $\begingroup$ Then you should have said something like "definable functions in $\mathrm{HA}_\omega$ are computable". Saying "must be computable" is at least misleading. $\endgroup$ – Andrej Bauer Nov 22 '16 at 7:33
Your Answer


text:
Algorithm Positions Solar Trackers, Movie Stars
March 30, 2011
Math and programming experts at a federal laboratory took an algorithm used to track the stars and rewrote its code to precisely follow the sun, even taking into consideration the vagaries of the occasional leap second.
Now, the algorithm and its software are helping solar power manufacturers build more precise trackers, orchards to keep their apples spotless and movie makers to keep the shadows off movie stars.
The Solar Position Algorithm (SPA) was developed at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory to calculate the sun's position with unmatched low uncertainty of +/- 0.0003 degrees at vertex, in the period of years from -2000 to 6000 (or 2001 B.C. until just short of 4,000 years from now). That's more than 30 times more precise than the uncertainty levels for all other algorithms used in solar energy applications, which claim no better than +/- 0.01 degrees, and are only valid for a maximum of 50 years. And those uncertainty claims cannot be validated because of the need to add an occasional leap second because of the randomly increasing length of the mean solar day. The SPA does account for the leap second.
That difference in uncertainty levels is no small change, because an error of.01 degrees at noon can throw calculations off by 2 or 3 percent at sunrise or sunset, said NREL Senior Scientist Ibrahim Reda, the leader on the project. "Every uncertainty of 1 percent in the energy budget is millions of dollars uncertainty for utility companies and bankers," Reda said. "Accuracy is translated into dollars. When you can be more accurate, you save a lot of money."
"Siemens Industry Inc. uses NREL's SPA in its newest and smallest S7-1200 compact controller," says Paul Ruland of Siemens Industry, Inc. "Siemens took that very complex calculation, systemized it into our code and made a usable function block that its customers can use with their particular technologies to track the sun in the most efficient way. The end result is a 30 percent increase in accuracy compared to other technologies."
Science, Engineering and Math All Add to Breakthroughs
An algorithm is a set of rules for solving a mathematical problem in a finite number of steps, even though those steps can number in the hundreds or thousands.
NREL is known more for its solar, wind, and biofuel researchers than for its work in advanced math. But algorithms are key to so many scientific and technological breakthroughs today that a scientist well-versed in the math of algorithms is behind many of NREL's big innovations.
Since SPA was published on NREL's website, more than 4,000 users from around the world have downloaded it. In the European Union, for the past three years, it has been the reference algorithm to calculate the sun's position both for solar energy and atmospheric science applications. It has been licensed to, and downloaded by, major U.S. manufacturers of sun trackers, military equipment and cell phones. It has been used to boost agriculture and to help forecast the weather. Archaeologists, universities and religious organizations have employed SPA, as have other national laboratories.
Fewer Dropped Cell-Phone Calls
Billions of cell-phone calls are made each day, and they stay connected only because algorithms help determine exactly when to switch signals from one satellite to another.
Cell-phone companies can use the SPA to know exactly the moments when the phone, satellite, and the bothersome sun are in the same alignment, vulnerable to disconnections or lost calls. "The cell phone guys use SPA to know the specific moment to switch to another satellite so you're not disconnected," said Reda, who has a master's degree in electrical engineering/measurement from the University of Colorado. "Think of how many millions of people would be disconnected if there's too much uncertainty about the sun's position."
From a Tool for Solar Scientists to Widespread Uses
SPA sprang from NREL's need to calibrate solar measuring instruments at its Solar Radiation Research Laboratory. "We characterize the instruments based on the solar angle," Reda said. "It's vital that instruments get a precise read on the amount of energy they are getting from the sun at precise solar angle."
That will become even more critical in the future when utilities add more energy garnered from the sun to the smart grid. "The smart grid has to know precisely what your budget is for each resource you are using — oil, coal, solar, wind," Reda said.
Making an Astronomy Algorithm One for the Sun
Reda borrowed from the "Astronomical Algorithms," which is based on the Variations Sèculaires des Orbites Planètaires Theory (VSOP87) developed in 1982 then modified in 1987. Astronomers trust it to let them know exactly where to point their telescopes to get the best views of Jupiter, Alpha Centauri, the Magellan galaxy or whatever celestial bodies they are studying. "We were able to separate and modify that global astronomical algorithm and apply it just to solar energy, while making it less complex and easy to implement," said Reda, highlighting the role of his colleague, Afshin Andreas, who has a degree in engineering physics from the Colorado School of Mines, as well as expertise in computer programming.
They spent an intense three or four weeks of programming to make sure the equations were accurate before distributing the 1,100 lines of code, Andreas said.
They used almanacs and historical data to ensure that what the algorithm was calculating agreed with what observers from previous generations said about the sun's position on a particular day. "We did spot checks so we would have a good comfort level that the future projections are accurate," Reda said.
"We used our independent math and programming skills to make sure that our results agreed, Reda said.
Available for Licensing, Free Public Use
The new SPA algorithm simply served the needs of NREL scientists, until the day it was put on NREL's public website.
"A lot of people started downloading it," so NREL established some rules of use, Reda said. Individuals and universities could use SPA free of charge, but companies with commercial interests would have to pay for the software.
Factoring in Leap Seconds Improves Accuracy
NREL's SPA knows the position of the sun in the sky over an 8,000 year period partly because it has learned when to add those confounding leap seconds. Solar positioners that don't factor in the leap second only can calculate a few years or a few decades.
The length of an Earth day isn't determined by an expensive watch, but by the actual rotation of the Earth.
Almost immeasurably, the Earth's rotation is slowing down, meaning the solar day is getting just a tiny bit longer. But it's not doing so at a constant rate. "It happens in unpredictable ways," Reda said. Sometimes a leap second is added every year; sometimes there isn't a need for another leap second for three or four years. For example, the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS) added six leap seconds over the course of seven years between 1992 and 1998, but has added just one extra second since 2006.
The algorithm calculates exactly when to add a leap second because included in its equations are rapid, monthly, and long-term data on the solar day provided by IERS, Reda and Andreas said.
"IERS receives the data from many observatories around the world," Reda added. "Each observatory has its own measuring instruments to measure the Earth's rotation. A consensus correction is then calculated for the fraction of second. As long as we know the time, and how much the Earth's rotation has slowed, we know the sun's position precisely."
That precision has proved useful in unexpected fields.
Practical Uses in Agriculture, Movie Making
One person who bought a license for the SPA software has an apple orchard, and wanted to keep the black spots off the apples that turn off finicky consumers, thus making wholesale buyers hesitate, Reda said.
The black spots appear when too much sun hits a particular apple, a particular tree or a particular row of trees in an orchard.
The spots can be prevented by showering the apples with water, but growers don't want to use more water than necessary.
SPA's precise tracking of the sun tells the grower exactly when the automatic sprinkler should spray for a few moments on a particular set of trees, and when it's OK to shut off that sprayer and turn on the next one. SPA communicates with the sprinkler system so, "instead of spraying the whole orchard, the spray moves minute by minute," Reda said. "He takes our tool and plugs it into the software that controls the sprinkler system. And he saves a lot of water."
Religious groups with traditions of praying at a particular time of day even have turned to SPA to help with precision.
A movie-camera manufacturer has purchased the SPA software to help cinematographers combat the precious waste of money when shadows disrupt outdoor shooting.
"They have cameras on those big cranes and booms, and typically they'd have to manually change them based on the shadows," Reda said. "This company that bought it has an automatic camera positioner."
Combining the positioner with the SPA's calculations, the camera can tell the precise moment when the sun will, say, peak above the tall buildings of an outdoor set. "They don't have to make so many judgments on their own about where the camera should be positioned," Reda said. "It gives them a clearer picture."
Learn more about NREL's solar radiation research and the Electricity, Resources, and Building Systems Integration Center.
— Bill Scanlon


What is the difference between 'Can I help you with' and 'Can I help you'?
please teach me how they are different.
 - It's not syntactically valid to end your utterance with the preposition with (it must refer to something - a noun, pronoun, demonstrative, or similar, such as Can I help you with that?). Valid prepositions that can stand alone include Can I help you out? (implied metaphorical...out of your problematical situation) and Can I help you up? (implied literal...up from your low seating position). Jul 18 '17 at 12:31
Can I help you? is an "open-ended" question; it does not place any explicit limitations on what help the person being asked may request. There may be implicit limitations imposed by context; for example, a store employee approaching you while you are looking at the counter they are responsible for may ask the open-ended Can I help you?, but is really only inquiring if you need assistance with the products being sold at that counter.
Can I help you with {whatever}? is a limiting question; the person asking is explicitly specifying that their willingness or ability to assist is limited to {whatever}.
Your Answer


text:
The Irresistible Fairy Tale: The Cultural and Social History of a Genre (Paperback)
A provocative new theory about fairy tales from one of the world's leading authoritiesIf there is one genre that has captured the imagination of people in all walks of life throughout the world, it is the fairy tale. Yet we still have great difficulty understanding how it originated, evolved, and spread--or why so many people cannot resist its appeal, no matter how it changes or what form it takes. In this book, renowned fairy-tale expert Jack Zipes presents a provocative new theory about why fairy tales were created and retold--and why they became such an indelible and infinitely adaptable part of cultures around the world. Drawing on cognitive science, evolutionary theory, anthropology, psychology, literary theory, and other fields, Zipes presents a nuanced argument about how fairy tales originated in ancient oral cultures, how they evolved through the rise of literary culture and print, and how, in our own time, they continue to change through their adaptation in an ever-growing variety of media. In making his case, Zipes considers a wide range of fascinating examples, including fairy tales told, collected, and written by women in the nineteenth century; Catherine Breillat's film adaptation of Perrault's Bluebeard; and contemporary fairy-tale drawings, paintings, sculptures, and photographs that critique canonical print versions. While we may never be able to fully explain fairy tales, The Irresistible Fairy Tale provides a powerful theory of how and why they evolved--and why we still use them to make meaning of our lives.
About the Author
Jack Zipes is professor emeritus of German and comparative literature at the University of Minnesota and the author, translator, and editor of dozens of studies and collections of folk and fairy tales. His recent books include Why Fairy Tales Stick: The Evolution and Relevance of a Genre, Relentless Progress: The Reconfiguration of Children's Literature, Fairy Tales, and Storytelling, and The Enchanted Screen: The Unknown History of Fairy-Tale Films.


Education by ellen g white
What does Ellen G White?
Ellen Gould White (née Ellen Gould Harmon; November 26, 1827 – July 16, 1915) was an author and co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. White is considered a leading figure in American vegetarian history. The Smithsonian magazine named Ellen G. White among the "100 Most Significant Americans of All Time.
What does Ellen G White say about music?
In her book Education, White writes about the use of music for the uplift of souls. She writes that music "is one of the most effective means of impressing the heart with spiritual truth.... As a part of religious service, singing is as much an act of worship as is prayer.
How did Ellen G White die?
Feb. 13, 1915, she fell, and sustained an intracapsular fracture of the left femur. This doubtless served to hasten her death, which occurred at her home, "Elmshaven," near St.
Who is the author of true education?
Эллен Уайт
Why is Ellen G White important?
Ellen Gould Harmon White, née Ellen Gould Harmon, (born Nov. 26, 1827, Gorham, Maine, U.S.—died July 16, 1915, St. Helena, Calif.), American religious leader who was one of the founders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and whose prophecies and other guidance were central to that denomination's early growth. 7 дней назад
How old is Ellen White footballer?
31 years (May 9, 1989)
What does Ellen White say about worship?
Believing that earthly worship is preparation for the heavenly, Ellen White argued that one's attitude in the place of worship should be carefully guarded. When entering the place of worship, people should do so with decorum, going quietly to their seats.
You might be interested: Why bilingual education should be mandatory
How does music help you in communicating and appreciating God?
What defines music?
an art of sound in time that expresses ideas and emotions in significant forms through the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, and color. any sweet, pleasing, or harmonious sounds or sound: the music of the waves.
Is Ellen White alive?
Deceased (1827–1915)
How old was Ellen G White when she died?
87 years (1827–1915)
Where is Ellen G White buried?
August 26, 1915


'Worst-case scenario': Blue Mountains blazes threaten to combine into mega-fire
Updated October 22, 2013 15:14:20
There are fears unpredictable weather conditions could cause a mega-fire in the Blue Mountains if a number of existing large blazes join together.
The front of the State Mine fire near Lithgow already extends across hundreds of kilometres, and this morning authorities deliberately join the blaze with the Mount Victoria fire to the south.
Under what they said yesterday was the "worst possible scenario", it could possibly merge with the Linksview Road fire in Springwood, to the south-east, which destroyed almost 200 homes on Thursday.
Dr Owen Price, a senior research fellow at the Centre for Environmental Risk Management of Bushfires at the University of Wollongong, says there is a risk that a combined fire could produce so much energy it could create its own weather conditions.
"You can get these conditions, what you call a pyrocumulus, where a fire is producing so much energy it punches up through the troposphere a huge plume of smoke, essentially creating a thunderstorm with lots and lots of energy in it," he said.
"Then it starts to suck in air from all around, so there's more oxygen and it feeds back on itself so the fire behaviour goes really extreme.
"Unfortunately under those conditions when it's creating its own weather you can get things like tornados occurring.
"If two big fires coalesce together they're sort of pooling their energy together, so you can get feedback that makes them even more intense."
Dr Price says fires that serious can become impossible to fight.
But he also says the Blue Mountains fires could join up without necessarily getting much worse.
"It's not a given that if these two fires will meet that that's what they will do, they could just continue the way they're going. But there's a risk," he said.
Fire crews employ high-risk strategies
Firefighters are now employing what they call "high-risk" back-burning strategies to fight the fires, including back-burning, working with bulldozers and working with hand tools to create fire breaks.
"Imagine lighting up 10 to 15 kilometres of countryside along a very windy road in some of the most steepest, scenically beautiful rugged terrain, against a prevailing, hot, dry wind and expecting it to go away from you. It's a challenge," Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said this morning.
Dr Price says much depends on weather conditions over the next few days, which are difficult to predict.
But he says there are two main possibilities.
"One is that it's going to be dry for days and possibly weeks, similar conditions to what we've had over the last several weeks, in which case [the fires] are just going to keep expanding," he said.
"There's a fair chance that tomorrow evening we might get some fairly heavy rain - 20 or 30 millilitres - which might not be enough to extinguish them but certainly to put the brakes on them for a while. Rain is what will eventually put these fires out.
"When we get a really good fall of rain, something in the order of 60 to 100 millimetres, is hard to predict."
Perfect storm of fire conditions
Scientists at the Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre predicted in September that parts of southern Australia could have above normal bushfire activity this season.
Higher-than-average temperatures over the past year mean grasslands and forests have dried out, providing plenty of fuel to burn once fires start.
"We know that bushfires will occur every year," Bushfire CRC chief executive Gary Morgan said in an email.
"When the conditions are right, hot and windy days, with dry vegetation, fires will occur. We all must be vigilant about our local conditions."
In many parts of New South Wales, the high temperatures also mean hazard-reduction burns could not occur at the scale necessary before the fire season began.
Dr Price says recent dry weather and high winds made conditions in the Blue Mountains especially dangerous on Thursday.
"We haven't had any serious rain for two or three months and it's been unusually warm for this time of year," he said.
"Last Thursday, the wind speed was very, very high; 80 kph winds really drive fires and any spark would have set them off."
That combination of high temperatures and winds, he says, is what makes the coming Wednesday so risky.
"Not only do we have the possibility of new fires starting like they did Thursday, but we have all those fires that are already alight, with a 300-kilometre fire front already established," he said.
What turns a spark into a bushfire?
About half of all bushfire ignitions come from lightning, but those deliberately or accidentally lit by humans tend to be closer to populated areas and more likely to damage property and infrastructure.
Sometimes the high winds that contribute to dangerous fires spreading are also responsible for starting them.
The bushfire that started at Linksview Road in Springwood was reportedly sparked after winds knocked over a power line.
"If you get some sort of spark on the ground, if it's sufficiently dry and there's sufficient energy in that spark, it can cause the litter that's lying there, usually grass litter or dead litter, to ignite," Dr Price said.
"That can spread. Some of the factors are to do with the amount of moisture in the dead leaves. If there's low moisture it can spread with a certain intensity. If it's below a certain intensity it will just self-extinguish, but if it's above a certain intensity it will spread.
"With conditions like we had on Thursday, short-term drought plus very dry air, windy air, it didn't take much; the intensity that required it to spread was instantly available."
Bushfires travel at different speeds depending on the terrain and the kind of vegetation growing, but eucalypts are especially adapted to spread fires.
"In eucalypt forests throughout Australia you can get lofted pieces of bark and sometimes leaves that travel a long way," he said.
"Eucalypts evolved in Australia 15 million years ago, under a fire-prone environment. They are perfectly adapted to survive the fire and to spread the fire. We have a fire-prone continent and it's all part of the system."
Topics: bushfire, fires, disasters-and-accidents, emergency-incidents, lithgow-2790, nsw, australia, bell-2786, bilpin-2758, springwood-2777
First posted October 21, 2013 18:54:22


text:
If today's law students are going to become effective users of technology tools, law schools need to prepare them for more than just tomorrow's legal practice. At Georgetown, we have come to the realization that we need to prepare students for legal practice 10 years from now. This article provides a look at ways several law schools help students develop technology skills and prepare for future law practice, incorporating examples and lessons learned from teaching the course "Technology, Innovation and Law Practice." It presents concrete ideas for law students to understand and appreciate the potential of technology to transform legal practice.
AALL/ILTA Ditigal White Paper, Oct. 2012, at 74-78 (reprinted in Peer to Peer, Dec. 2012, at 24-28)
Scholarly Commons Citation
Skalbeck, Roger, "Tech Innovation in the Academy" (2012). Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works. Paper 1163.


Bodies Recovered From Missing Air Plane: Listening Practice 1 (news)
By | December 31, 2014
The following questions are based on the news story of a missing air plane provided by Voice of America. You can download the Mp3 file by clicking this link Bodies Recovered from Missing Plane
1. According to the news, where was the wreckage of the missing air plane found?
A. Java Sea
B. somewhere in Borneo
C. somewhere in Java
D. near Singapore
E. Singapore
2. What is the name of the airline?
A. Air Pacific
B. PacificAir
C. AirAsia
D. AsianAir
E. OceanAir
3. When did the plane crash?
A. Thursday
B. Wednesday
C. Tuesday
D. Monday
E. Sunday
4. How did rescuers recover bodies?
A. They used vessels
B. They used ships
C. They used plane
D. They used helicopters
E. They used life boats
5. The speaker says that the plane wreckage includes ….
A. a seatbelt
B. emergency door
C. passangers' cases
D. window blinds
E. wings
6. Where was the plane flying to?
A. Surabaya
B. Singapore
C. Borneo
D. Malaysia
E. Java Sea
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text:
System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) 2012 R2 adds a feature that enables software updates to be automatically approved and deployed to selected machines in your organization.
Icon Descriptions and Explanations:
The icon with the green arrow represents a normal software update.
Normal software updates have been synchronized and are available for software deployment.
There are no operational concerns.
The icon with the black X represents an expired software update. You can also identify expired software updates by viewing the Expired column for the software update when it displays in the Configuration Manager console.
Expired software updates were previously deployable to client computers, but once a software update is expired, new deployments can no longer be created for the software updates. Expired software updates contained in active deployments continue to be available to clients.
Replace expired software updates when possible. When software updates become expired, Configuration Manager does not remove the software updates contained within active software update deployments. Configuration Manager continues to assess software update compliance on expired software updates in deployments, but they are considered "not required" for reporting purposes.
The icon with the yellow star represents a superseded software update. You can also identify superseded software updates by viewing the Superseded column for the software update when it displays in the Configuration Manager console.
Superseded software updates have been replaced with newer versions of the software update. Typically, a software update that supersedes another software update does one or more of the following:
- Enhances, improves, or adds to the fix provided by one or more previously released software updates.
- Improves the efficiency of its software update file package, which clients install if the software update is approved for installation. For example, the superseded software update might contain files that are no longer relevant to the fix or to the operating systems now supported by the new software update, so those files are not included in the superseding software update's file package.
- Updates newer versions of a product, or in other words, is no longer applicable to older versions or configurations of a product. Software updates can also supersede other software updates if modifications have been made to expand language support. For example, a later revision of a product update for Microsoft Office might remove support for an older operating system, but add additional support for new languages in the initial software update release.
On the Supersedence Rules tab in the Software Update Point Component properties, you can specify how to manage superseded software updates. For more information, see theSupersedence Rules section in the Planning for Software Updates in Configuration Manager topic.
When possible, deploy the superseding software update to client computers instead of the superseded software update. You can display a list of the software updates that supersede the software update on the Supersedence Information tab in the software update properties.
The icon with the red X represents an invalid software update.
Invalid software updates are in an active deployment, but for some reason the content (software update files) is not available. The following are scenarios in which this state can occur:
- You successfully deploy the software update, but the software update file is removed from the deployment package and is no longer available.
- You create a software update deployment at a site and the deployment object is successfully replicated to a child site, but the deployment package has not successfully replicated to the child site.
When the content is missing for a software update, clients are unable to install the software update until the content becomes available on a distribution point. You can redistribute the content to distribution points by using the Redistribute action. When content is missing for a software update in a deployment created at a parent site, the software update must be replicated or redistributed to the child site. For more information about content redistribution, see the Redistribute Content on Distribution Points section in the Operations and Maintenance for Content Management in Configuration Manager topic.
Steps to download and deploy Windows updates.
- Open SCCM and then Click on Software Library -> All software updates.
- Select the updates you want to download and deploy. You can select multiple items by holding down the shift key or individual ones using the ctrl key.
- You can leave the Deployment Name as is or give it your own description.
- Click on the browse button to select the collection you want to target these updates to. Once done click the Next button.
- Select the Type of Deployment, if you want to use Wake-on-LAN then select the checkbox.
- Choose your detail level and then click Next.
- Here you can configure the schedule for updates. Once you have made your selections click Next.
- This window all you to specify deadline behaviour.
- To suppress restarts on servers make sure the checkbox under "Device Restart Behavior" is checked.
- Click Next.
- Make your selection here regarding alerts and then click Next.
- Specify your download settings and then click Next.
- Click on the Browse button to select your deployment package and then click Next.
- If you download updates from the internet then leave the default setting above, otherwise chose to download updates to a share.
- Click Next.
- Select your language and then click Next.
- Confirm the settings, you can review the details of all updates you selected.
- Click Next to start downloading the updates.
- Updates download starting.
- Updates downloads in progress.
- Once all the updates have finished downloading it will show you the screen above. If there were any failures or errors it will also list it here for you to review.
- It takes a few minutes for the database to update but once you refresh the screen it will show the updates have been deployed.
Hope it helps.


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Comprehensive DescriptionRead full entry
Pelobates varaldii is known only from fragmented localized areas along the Atlantic coastal plains of northwestern Morocco, within the Mediterranean forests and woodlands ecoregion. This small fossorial toad is particularly associated with sandy plains near cork oak forests. Diagnostic features include vertical pupils and webbed toes. Breeding sites are ephemeral lentic water bodies, which are scarce in this region. This endangered species is under threat from an expanding human population in the region, with proximate drivers of urbanization, conversion of coastal plains to farmland, and extraction of scarce water resources for human use.


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I need to track CPU by process in Windows 7 and log results in a file.
How could I do this please?
share|improve this question
2 Answers 2
You could use Powershell, there are multiple options depending on what you want to do:
To log the CPU % of a specific process:
PS C:\Users\mmoor> $A=Get-Process
PS C:\Users\mmoor> $A[0].Name
PS C:\Users\mmoor> $A[0].CPU
PS C:\Users\mmoor> "$($A[0].Name) --- $($A[0].CPU)" >>.\ProcessCPU.Log
You could also just send the output of Get-Process to a file:
PS C:\Users\mmoor> Get-Process >>.\ProcessCPU.Log
You could create a schedule task that runs a script like this automatically.
share|improve this answer
Process Explorer can do this, although you can only create dump files for individual processes. It does provide an easy way to view all running processes though.
share|improve this answer
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text:
Watch students respond to the question "Why A Mountain?"
For the last several years, fifth grade students at PS 119 have analyzed an excerpt of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's last speech in which he speaks about being to the mountain top. The lesson "Why a Mountain?" involves students in discussions focused on Dr. King's use of poetic imagery in his speeches and on the civil rights struggle as they use the mountain as a timeline of famous historic events in the struggle for civil rights. A visiting Service in Schools
intern Ugonna Igweatu, a film student at Yale, who was at the school last year to attend the school's Pajama Program Service Award Ceremony donated his time to create this video of students' poetry written in response to the question "Why A Mountain?"
This story is part of a series to promote the ongoing school-based programs and activities through the Respect For All initiative.


Naked Logo
Analog Interconnects
Made in the USA Over 40 years
Invite Accuracy
Made in the USA Over 40 years
Conductor vulnerability allows free expression of all the music's delicate details. The allure and passion of the soundstage is exposed. Excitement is met with anticipation as the layers of infidelity are removed and music is revealed in its true form.
Strait Render
Rendering of plating process
What are NAKED conductors?
Naked conductors are uninsulated 24AWG solid core copper. These copper conductors have been plated with a thick layer of palladium followed by a thick layer of gold to protect against corrosion. The use of palladium as an intermetallic diffusion barrier opposed to nickel prevents distortions that would be introduced via the magnetic properties of nickel.
Why not just plate gold directly over copper?
While it is possible to plate gold directly over copper the two metals will diffuse into one another forming alloy components. These alloy components have very poor conductivity.
Why use NAKED conductors?
Naked accomplishes the same goals as a traditional insulated conductor.
 1. Inhibition of corrosion: Naked conductors are protected from corrosion through our palladium/gold plating process.
 2. Short circuit prevention: To prevent the 6 uninsulated(per channel) "Naked" conductors from touching causing a short circuit the conductors have been carefully braided with cotton strands. The cotton strands both separate and secure the conductors.
Why cotton?
Cotton possesses excellent dielectric properties in respect to signal fidelity. This parameter is commonly referred to as the dielectric constant. Cotton has a value of 1.3 (1 is the ideal) 2-5 are the common values for most insulating polymers. For example Fluorocarbon has a value of 2.1 and Polyethylene a value of 2.25.


1. Home
 2. Add-Ons & Themes
 3. Authors
 4. Creating the author directory
Creating the author directory
After installation, the add-on should have automatically created a new page called "Author Directory" and set this as the designated directory page in your settings. If this wasn't created, then it can always be created manually.
 1. Create a new page in Pages » Add New.
 2. Title it whatever you like.
 3. Add the shortcode [novelist-author-directory] to the page content.
 4. Save the page.
 5. Go to Novelist » Settings » Add-Ons » Authors and scroll down to the directory settings. Choose your new page as the designated author directory.
 6. Save the settings.
Author directory settings
There are two other settings you can configure: the number of authors to show per page and the dimensions of the author photos.
Once your directory has been created, all authors you add will appear in the directory automatically. Each author also has his or her own profile page, which can be viewed by clicking on the individual author's name.
Author directory
How can we help?


text:
Irish Language in Danger of Digital Extinction
New European research shows that the Irish language is in danger of digital extinction due to the lack of critical mass of digitised Irish language content. A new White Paper, The Irish Language in the Digital Age, published by academics from the Centre for Next Generation Localisation, Centre for Speech and Language Technology for Irish (TCD), NUIG and Saint Louis University, reveals, however, that the application of language technology in Ireland can not only reverse this decline, but has considerable job creation potential in the wider language technology and localisation sector.
Language technology produces software that can process spoken or written human language. Well-known examples of language technology software include spell and grammar checkers, interactive personal assistants on smartphones eg iPhone Siri, web search engines and synthetic speech devices used in car navigations systems. These all rely on statistical methods that require incredibly large amounts of written or spoken data. For languages, such as Irish, with relatively few speakers, it is difficult to acquire the needed mass of data.
There are a number of difficulties encountered in digitising Irish language content:
- No standard spoken form of Irish which makes the development of speech recognition and synthesis more difficult
- A lack of prior linguistic resources - the development of speech and text based technologies rely on the availability of existing resources such as pronunciations dictionaries which are not as readily available in Ireland compared to countries which have benefited from decades of investment in research and resource development.
- Perceived limited economic market for Irish technologies - most research in language technologies tends to have economic gain as a primary object and Irish has difficulty competing with markets for "larger" languages and as such is lagging behind
- A lack of availability of researchers with both the linguistic skills for Irish and the engineering and computational skills which are required to conduct the necessary research.
Despite these challenges, the White Paper finds that language technologies offer significant opportunities for minority languages and can be a major force in addressing and alleviating some of the difficulties they face. Among the opportunities for Irish technology are:
- Community Building: Speech and language technologies are a powerful way to bring together the Irish speaking communities, linking the traditional Gaeltacht areas, the network of Irish speakers across the country and the global community outside of Ireland.
- Education: Technology can have a major impact on language learning support.
- Inclusion: For many with visual and vocal disabilities, language technology may be an absolute prerequisite to their participation in the Irish language communities.
- Maintenance and preservation: Particularly with regard to the status of Irish in the eyes of the younger, digitally-oriented generation.
Furthermore, language technology is generally acknowledged today as one of the key growth areas in information technology. The Horizon 2020 EU Framework for Research and Innovation plans for significant research funding in language technology. This new investment, combined with Science Foundation Ireland's existing investments in this space through CNGL, represents an unprecedented opportunity for language technology research and development in Ireland. The outcomes of such R&D will help to support the country's significant language industry. A rapidly growing sector, there are currently 166 translation and interpreting services companies in Ireland, representing an estimated €686 million to the Irish economy in 2011.
Speaking on European Day of Languages (26th September), a day which recognises the importance of fostering and developing the rich linguistic and cultural heritage of Europe, Dr John Judge of the Centre for Next Generation Localisation based at Dublin City University, a co-author of the White Paper, believes that there must be a co-ordinated approach at European and national level to safeguarding minority languages,
'A wide-ranging, coordinated effort focused on language technologies would help safeguard the future of the Irish language, together with other languages, and establish a genuine multilingual agenda for Europe and the world as a whole. Europe and Ireland must take action to prepare its languages for the digital age. They are a precious component of our cultural heritage and, as such, they deserve future-proofing.'
"The current situation where there is a clear and growing demand for technologies which both support and enable the Irish language and many the vast array of global languages represents a unique opportunity for LT research and development in Ireland."
The White Paper cites examples of software supports that already exist for Irish, including Irish language versions of Google, Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Windows. Clare-based company eTeams localised Microsoft Office 2010 and Windows 7 into Irish. eTeams Managing Director Nana Luke believes that translation plays an important part in maintaining Irish as a vibrant language and generating digital content,
"The localisation of Microsoft programs into Irish by eTeams is a positive example of Irish being enabled for the digital age, as well as creating new terminology. The 2003 Official Languages Act and the recognition of Irish as an official EU language have greatly increased the volumes of content for translation. This in turn has led to a high level of professionalism in Irish language translation, with degree courses and good career opportunities available."
Language technology can now simplify and automate the processes of translation and content production, enabling Irish speakers to use more software and systems in their own language.
Language technology also has tremendous potential for reinvigorating the learning of Irish. An example is the new 'Language Trap' computer game developed by CNGL researchers at TCD. This video game is designed to help students in preparing for oral examinations by means of an interactive dialogue system, which automatically adapts to the user's ability level. Neasa Ní Chiarain of TCD's Centre for Language and Communication Studies believes that such high-tech games offer significant advantages for Irish language learners,
"The Language Trap (or 'Digichaint' as Gaeilge) is an interactive game through which students can learn German or Irish by participating in engaging puzzles/detective work in order to get through the game. It is a revolutionary new method of language teaching which offers a real and purposeful context for the use of the target language. It is particularly significant for minority languages such as Irish where students may find it difficult to have a realistic context in which to use the language. It is the first time the interactive potential of computers can be harnessed so that learners can become actively engaged with the target language from an early stage."
Language Trap forms part of the education and outreach activities of the Science Foundation Ireland-funded Centre for Next Generation Localisation. CNGL is striving to address the shortage of Irish graduates with the linguistic and computational skills required for the language technology industry. Its programmes include the All Ireland Linguistics Olympiad and publication of a localisation careers guide, both of which aim to encourage second level students to pursue careers in this vibrant sector.
The Irish Language in the Digital Age White Paper is part of an international series, Europe's Languages in the Digital Age, which assesses language resources and technologies available for 30 European languages. Produced by the European Commission-funded META-NET European Network of Excellence, it calls for a large-scale effort to be made in Europe to create the key enabling technologies necessary to realise the full potential of language technology in rejuvenating minority languages and enabling communication and trade across borders.
For further information, visit here.


text:
This part provides programming information for using ClusterShell in Python applications. It is divided into two sections: node sets handling and cluster task management, in that order, because managing cluster tasks requires some knowledge of how to deal with node sets. Each section also describes the conceptual structures of ClusterShell and provides examples of how to use them.
This part is intended for intermediate and advanced programmers who are familiar with Python programming and basic concepts of high-performance computing (HPC).
- Node sets handling
- Range sets
- Task management
- Programming Examples


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The Center for Integrated Seismicity Research (CISR) at The University of Texas at Austin (UT) is a multidisciplinary, trans-college research center managed by the Bureau of Economic Geology (BEG). The overall goals of CISR are to conduct fundamental and applied research to better understand naturally occurring and potentially induced seismicity and the associated risks. The research is designed to understand the subsurface processes that may influence seismicity, quantify and reduce risk to the citizens and infrastructure of Texas, and improve standards of practice to mitigate seismicity that may stem from industrial activity. Effective strategies will be developed for communicating with stakeholders and responding to public concerns regarding seismicity. CISR is funded by the State of Texas through the TexNet Seismic Monitoring Project and also by industrial associate partners.
CISR's research areas include including seismology, geologic characterization, reservoir modeling, seismic hazard and risk assessment, and seismic risk social science. TexNet funding supports research projects in seismology, geologic characterization, and reservoir modeling via the 2015 TexNet legislation. Through an industrial associate program at the BEG, the petroleum industry participates in CISR allowing us to maintain a more robust science program across all of the research themes, resulting in a more integrated and application-driven science program. The success of CISR to generate transformational science relies on our industry partners to share their datasets, expertise, and perspectives.
The TexNet Seismic Network and associated research is led by Principal Investigators Dr. Peter Hennings, Dr. Ellen Rathje, and Dr. Alexandros Savvaidis. This research collaboration spans the Bureau of Economic Geology, the Institute for Geophysics, and the Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering at The University of Texas, SMU's North Texas Seismicity Study Group, and the Department of Petroleum Engineering at Texas A&M University.
With the addition of funding and collaboration from the Industrial Associates program the research collaboration grows stronger in the aforementioned areas and includes The University of Texas' Departments of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering, Psychology, and the Moody College of Advertising and Public Relations.
Research Goals and Themes
The TexNet-CISR research portfolio will have defined value and impact. The overarching goals are to:
- produce accurate and detailed seismicity/ground-shaking data
- gain a mechanistic understanding of how fluid-pressure triggers faulting and seismicity
- improve methods for managing and risking of subsurface fluid injection and disposal
- perform assessments of the seismogenic potential of sedimentary basins in Texas
- improve assessments of seismic hazard to infrastructure in Texas
- improve vehicles for communication of data, knowledge and risk to a variety of stakeholders
- establish of an appropriate seismicity response management capacity
The TexNet-CISR research portfolio has these themes which are represented by 14 individual projects which can be found at the Research Projects link to the right:
- TexNet Permanent and Transportable Network Array Products
- earthquake data, locations, calibrated magnitudes, catalog
- earthquake sequences, source characterizations, triggering analysis
- Geologic Characterization
- in situ stress, fault characteristics, fluid data and budgets, geological models
- Geomechanics and Reservoir Engineering
- fault sensitivity, pore pressure/reservoir models, rupture models
- Seismic Hazards and Risk Assessment
- site characterization, shake maps, infrastructure vulnerability
- Seismic Risk Social Science
- stakeholder attitudes and bias, communication mechanisms and strategies
These challenging research themes are connected in an integrated plan whereby results and dependencies are shared to maximize integration and the development of applicable products as well as leading research. The projects are roughly connected as shown here:
Initially, TexNet and CISR will serve the specific geography and geology of Texas, and therefore the research portfolio contains overarching themes as well as geographically-specific emphases. As per the graphic below, the first geographic thrust will be an integrated assessment of the seismicity potential of the Ft. Worth Basin and how it might relate to oil and gas operations. This will take several years to complete. For this project the TexNet/CISR group has partnered with the Stanford SCITS group to collaborate with participating petroleum operators in the Ft. Worth Basin who will provide access to proprietary subsurface data as well as their extensive expertise. SMU and Texas A&M University will also participate in the research to make this a truly integrated effort that leverages the technical strengths of the participating groups and prevents duplication of effort.
Once this integrated effort is moving forward quickly, the focus of CISR will begin to switch to the seismicity potential of the greater Permian Basin and especially the Delaware Basin where oil shale development is expected to accelerate in the coming years. The Eagle Ford play area, the East Texas Bain and Haynesville play area, and the Texas Panhandle are areas that will receive research focus in the future.


Human pose estimation annotation in Encord
Human Pose Estimation in Encord
Video annotation is challenging enough, with annotators dealing with difficulties such as variable frame rates, ghost frames, frame synchronization issues, and numerous others. To deal with these challenges, you need a video annotation tool that can handle arbitrarily long videos and pre-process videos to reduce frame synchronization issues.
Combine those challenges with the layers associated with human pose estimation — identifying joints, dynamic movement, multiple people, clothes, background, lighting, and weather — and you can see why powerful algorithms and computing power are essential for HPE video annotation.
Consequently, you need a video annotation tool with the following features
 - Easily define object primitives for pose estimation video annotations. For example, annotators can clearly define and draw keypoints wherever they are needed on the human body, such as joints or facial features.
 - Define your skeleton template with keypoints in a pose. Once you've created a skeleton template, these can be edited and applied to machine learning models. Using Encord's object tracking features for pose estimation, you can dramatically reduce the manual annotation workload at the start of any project. With a powerful and flexible editing suite, you can reduce the amount of data a model needs while also being able to manually edit labels and keypoints as a project develops.
 - Object tracking and pose estimation. With a powerful object-tracking algorithm, the right tool can support a wide range of computer vision modalities. Human movement and body language are accounted for, factoring in all of the inherent challenges of human pose estimation, such as lighting, clothes, background, weather, and tracking multiple people moving in one video.
How to Benchmark Your Pose Estimation Models
One way to benchmark video annotation machine learning models is to use COCO; Common Objects in Context.
"COCO is a large-scale object detection, segmentation, and captioning dataset", designed for object segmentation, recognition in context, and superpixel object segmentation. It's an open-source architecture supported by Microsoft, Facebook, and several AI companies.
Researchers and annotators can apply this dataset to detect keypoints in human movement and more accurately differentiate objects in a video in context. Alongside human movement tracking and annotation, COCO also proves useful when analyzing horse racing videos.
Common Mistakes When Doing Human Pose Estimation
Some of the most serious mistakes involve using human pose estimation algorithms and tools on animals. Naturally, animals move in a completely different way to humans, except for those we share the closest amount of DNA with, such as large primates.
However, other more common mistakes involve using the wrong tools. Regardless of the machine learning model being used, with the wrong tool, days or weeks of annotation could be wasted. One or two frame synchronization issues, or needing to break a longer video into shorter ones could cost an annotation team dearly.
Variable frames, ghost frames, or a computer vision tool failing to accurately label key points can negatively impact project outcomes and budgets. Mistakes happen in every video annotation project. As a project leader, minimizing those mistakes with the most effective tool and machine learning model is the best way to achieve the project's goals on schedule and on budget.
Human Pose Estimation Use Cases When Deploying a Machine Learning Video Annotation Tool
Human pose estimation machine learning models and tools are incredibly useful across a wide range of sectors. From sports to healthcare; any sector where staff, stakeholders or annotators need to assess and analyze the impact or expected outcomes of human movement patterns and body language.
HPE machine learning analysis is equally useful in sports analytics, crime-fighting, the military, intelligence, and counter-terrorism. Governments, healthcare organizations, and sports teams regularly use AI and machine learning-based video annotation tools when implementing human pose estimation annotation projects.
Here's another example of a powerful, life-enhancing use case for machine learning annotation and tracking in the care home sector. It's an Encord interview with the CTO of Teton AI, a computer vision company designing fall-prevention tools for hospitals and cares homes throughout Denmark. Teton AI used Encord's SDK to quickly apply the same data for different projects, leveraging Encord's pose estimation labeling tool to train a much larger model and then apply it in hospitals and care homes.
As you can see, human pose estimation is not without challenges. With the right computer vision, machine learning annotation tool, and algorithmic models, you can overcome those when implementing your next video annotation project.
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Written by Alexandre Bonnet
Alexandre Bonnet is a Machine Learning Solutions Engineer at Encord. He holds a Master's degree in Theoretical Physics from Imperial College and has previous industry experience in data engineering and data science. Alexandre has also been a member of Entrepreneur First's LD17 cohort as th... see more
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$.
The case r=0 can also be treated by hand and will be ignored. Now, we double-count. Observe that each $r$-element set in ${\mathcal D}$ has $r$ "children" as $r-1$-element subsets of ${\mathcal D}$, by removing one of the r elements from that set. On the other hand, each $r-1$-element set can have at most $n-r+1$ "parents", and so
$$ r f_r \leq (n-r+1) f_{r-1}.$$
(EDIT: Actually we didn't need to remove the r=0 case if we adopted the convention $f_{-1}=0$ here.)
In particular, if $r > \frac{n+1}{2}$, then $f_r < f_{r-1}$ we could remove both the r and r-1-element sets from the downset and again increase the sum; so we have $r \leq \frac{n+1}{2}$. In fact the same argument shows that, by changing the extremum ${\mathcal D}$ if necessary, we may assume that $r < \frac{n+1}{2}$, thus (since $n$ is 3 mod 4 and r is even) $r \leq \frac{n-3}{2}$. In other words, every element of ${\mathcal D}$ has cardinality at most $(n-3)/2$.
Now we flip the downset to look at the complementary downset ${\mathcal D}' := \{ A \in [n]: [n] \backslash A \not \in {\mathcal D} \}$. As n is odd, we have $\sum_{A \in {\mathcal D}'} (-1)^{|A|} = \sum_{A \in {\mathcal D}} (-1)^{|A|}$, and so ${\mathcal D}'$ is also an extremiser. Thus, by the above argument, every element of ${\mathcal D}'$ has cardinality at most $(n+1)/2$. Equivalently (as $n$ is odd), ${\mathcal D}$ contains every element of cardinality at most $(n-3)/2$. Combining this with the previous analysis, we see that the extremum is attained at the set consisting precisely of all subsets of [n] of cardinality at most $(n-3)/2$, which gives the required value of $F_+(n)$.
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In retrospect, this would have been a great mini-polymath problem. Ah well. :-) – Terry Tao Jul 9 '12 at 18:50
Wha do you mean "would have been"? Wasn't it? Also, do I get my Tao number now, or do I have to wait five business days? Gerhard "Happy To Have Rendered Assistance" Paseman, 2012.07.09 – Gerhard Paseman Jul 9 '12 at 18:59
Well, I guess it was in a de facto sense, if not in a premeditated sense. I unfortunately don't have a strong enough application for the bound in order to merit publication, though; I came across the question because I was wondering about how to bound partial divisor sums of the Mobius function, and then felt that it had enough independent interest to pose here, but the bounds don't seem to make any dramatic dents in the bounds for other number-theoretic quantities, alas. But it's still great that the problem seems to be solved, it may be of use at some future date... – Terry Tao Jul 9 '12 at 19:23
Well, in the meantime, I think I'll submit the sequences F_+ and F_to OEIS. Whether this will count as a "publication" for the purposes of bibliographic metrics, I leave to the reader. – Terry Tao Jul 9 '12 at 20:08
I think this question and its solution within 3 hours is a typical example of how much more efficient people can get when collaborating via mathoverflow. – Christian Stump Jul 10 '12 at 6:41
I tried it using linear integer programming for the first few values of $n$, with the following results.
$$ \matrix{ n & min & max\cr 1 & 0 & 1\cr 2 &-1 & 1\cr 3 & -2 & 1\cr 4 & -3 & 3\cr 5 & -4 & 6\cr 6 & -10 & 10\cr 7 & -20 & 15\cr 8 & -35 & 35\cr 9 & -56 & 70\cr} $$
These sequences do not appear to be in the OEIS.
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The bounds for even $n$ look interesting. Does the pattern (i.e. min = - max) continue for further even $n$? – Michael Albanese Jul 9 '12 at 16:59
So far this is consistent with the tentative conjecture proposed above, which more explicitly asserts that the bounds should be $\pm \binom{n-1}{n/2}$ when n is even, between $−\binom{n-1}{(n-1)/2}$ and $\binom{n-1}{(n+1)/2}$ when n is 3 mod 4, and between $-\binom{n-1}{(n+1)/2}$ and $\binom{n-1}{(n-1)/2}$ when n is 1 mod 4. (Thus, for instance, the conjecture would assert -126 and +126 for n=10, -252 and 210 for n=11, and so forth, as both bounds snake down the middle of Pascal's triangle.) – Terry Tao Jul 9 '12 at 17:29
For even $n$ it looks like $\max = -\min = {n \choose {n/2}}/2$, which is obtained taking all the subsets of cardinality $< n/2$ or $> n/2$. – Robert Israel Jul 9 '12 at 17:31
I can't believe I didn't see this before, but it is trivial that the max and min will be negations of each other in the n even case, because the reflected complement of a downset is again a downset. – Terry Tao Jul 9 '12 at 17:44
_USER_: Nice observation! Indeed, since one can slice an n-dimensional downset into two n-1-dimensional downsets, and the alternating sum of the former is the difference of the two for the latter, I think this shows that the conjecture for even n is implied by the conjecture for n-1, and one of the two bounds for odd n is implied by the bound for n-1. So it's only the smaller of the two bounds in odd n that needs proof... – Terry Tao Jul 9 '12 at 18:13
Here is a simple proof which should give exact optimizers for "most" choices of n mod 4 and max/minimizing; and, near-sharp values for the remaining cases. I'll do it for upsets instead of downsets.
Identify the discrete cube with $\{-1,1\}^n$ and let $f : \{-1,1\}^n \to \{0,1\}$ be the indicator of $\mathcal{D}$ which is monotone since $\mathcal{D}$ is an upset. Up to a factor of $2^n$ we are trying to min/maximize $E_x[f(x) \chi(x)]$, where $x$ is uniformly random on the cube and $\chi(x) = \prod_{i=1}^n x_i$. Let $1 \leq j \leq n$ be uniformly random and let $x^{(j)}$ denote $x$ with its $j$th coordinate negated. Since $x^{(j)}$ is also uniformly distributed,
$E_x[f(x) \chi(x)] = E_{x,j}[\frac{f(x) \chi(x) + f(x^{(j)})\chi(x^{(j)})}{2}] = E[\chi(x)\frac{f(x)-f(x^{(j)})}{2}]$
where we used $\chi(x^{(j)}) = -\chi(x)$. Thus in absolute value, the quantity is at most
$E[\bigl|\frac{f(x)-f(x^{(j)})}{2}\bigr|] = \frac{1}{2n}E_x\left[\sum_{i=1}^n \bigl|f(x)-f(x^{(i)})\bigr|\right] = \frac{1}{2n}E\left[\sum_{i=1}^n f(x)x_i\right]$,
where the last step uses that $f$ is monotone. But
$\frac{1}{2n}E\left[\sum_{i=1}^n f(x)x_i\right] = \frac{1}{2n} E\left[f(x)(\sum_{i=1}^n x_i)\right]$
is clearly maximized among $


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MIT has been conducting research on the use of GPS-equipped cell phone networks and citizen scientists to collect data about nature. The research conducted by MIT visiting professor Dale Joachim involved cell phones connected to special arrays of directional microphones to play owl sounds and listen to the owl response in order to assess population density. The sensor system turned out to be a good way to monitor owl populations and the broader environment, and took human observers out of the picture.
Despite the success of replacing human observers with a machine network, Joachim feels that the best results might come from the use of both the widespread cell-phone sensor technology and networks of people. People are better equipped to localize the direction of sounds on the ground, and can augment the sensor readings with visual observations.
This research is now being replicated in other locations, including Connecticut, Main and Malaysia, and could soon include Mexico and Russia. The sensor networks will constantly monitor the environment with audio from cell phones, video from remotely-controlled webcams and personal observations from citizen scientists.
The Internet accessible data creates a network of listeners and watchers to make sense of all the data, with distributed teams listening to audio and viewing video when they have time. Listening to to the data currently available has already yielded discoveries of species in habitats where they haven't been observed before.
"I'm really exploring democratic venues through which large numbers of people can listen in," Joachim says, "in a way that helps us obtain a broader understanding and appreciation of nature."
Visit the MIT Media Lab's Owl Project to learn more.


Acepromazine: Why I'm not a big fan when it comes to sedation via 'ace'
Patty Khuly, DVM
Updated: March 07, 2017
Published: October 22, 2009
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In this week's post on my Slumdog's recent need for sedation, the tranquilizer known as acepromazine was addressed in response to a round of questions. As in––Why wouldn't you use this tried and true veterinary drug on your own dog?
When I offered my answer, I received a comment urging me to be more clear about "ace" so that pet owners wouldn't get a one-sided view of this popular drug. In response, I thought it wise to provide a more complete rendering of the issues involved in its usage––especially since acepromazine is veterinary medicine's go-to tranquilizer.
This drug is used in a variety of ways in veterinary medicine. Here are the most commonly applied indications in cat and dog medicine:
 - as an oral sedative for travel, during storms and before grooming or veterinary visits
 - as an injectable tranquilizing agent to address aggressive, fractious or disruptive behaviors in hospital settings
 - in small doses (and typically in combination with an opiate), as an injectable anesthetic pre-medication
 - in small doses in combination with pain relievers post operatively to enhance the effect or lower the dose of the analgesic
In the last two cases, I employ acepromazine often (though by no means always). Pre-op, it's used to lower the dose of anesthetic induction agents to follow, lower blood pressure slightly, reduce the potential for arrhythmias (abnormal heart rhythms) and vomiting, and to confer mild relaxation prior to the procedure. Post-op, its synergistic effects with drugs like opiates mean that a small dose of acepromazine makes the pain relievers more effective in smaller doses.
That's why I like ace. But I don't tend to reach for acepromazine in the first two instances (for which sedation is the ultimate goal). I happen to believe the side effects related to acepromazine outweigh its benefits in these cases given that plenty of other drugs provide safer, more comfortable alternatives if a quiet animal is your goal. Here's the down-side of its uses as a tranquilizer/sedative, as presented by Plumb's Veterinary Drug Handbook (which I urge you all to buy):
 - It reduces the seizure threshold in animals and can bring on seizures in pets predisposed to them (epileptics, brain tumor patients, etc.).
 - At the labeled therapeutic dose indicated for sedation/tranquilization, it can cause profound hypotension (low blood pressure) in some animals.
 - Giant breed dogs and sighthounds can experience extremely deep sedation and prolonged recovery times (indeed, I once saw a greyhound sleep like the dead for two days after half the normal dose was administered intramuscularly)
 - "Acepromazine should be used very cautiously as a restraining agent in aggressive dogs, as it may make the animal more prone to startle and react to noises or other sensory inputs."
 - In fact, aggressive dogs can sometimes become more aggressive after receiving acepromazine. It's posited that the dysphoria associated with this class of tranquilizing drugs is responsible for this.
 - "Acepromazine has no analgesic effects." It does not relieve pain. (Though this is not really a down-side unless you're performing a procedure without other pain relievers on board.)
 - Despite its anti-arrhythmia qualities, it's been observed that boxers can suffer life-threatening arrhythmias with acepromazine––albeit rarely. Veterinarians must always be mindful of this when using ace in boxers.
Further, Plumb's goes on to explain that,
"The use of acepromazine as a sedative/tranquilizer in the treatment of adverse behaviors in dogs or cats has largely been supplanted by newer, effective agents, that have fewer adverse effects.
"Its use for sedation during travel is controversial, and many no longer recommend drug therapy for this purpose."
It's also believed that acepromazine, used freely for noise phobia, may actually heighten pets' sensitivity to noise. For this reason, one of my local behaviorists is especially opposed to its use during storm or fireworks season.
All good points. But for me, the larger issue is this: With acepromazine, the potential for dysphoria (an unhappy feeling) is high. Though we have no way of confirming this (except by inference, as in the case of heightened aggression in dogs who receive ace), we do know that similar tranquilizers in humans have fallen out of favor due to their dysphoric effects on people.
Consider Thorazine (chlorpromazine): This drool-on-yourself, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest kind of tranquilizer was once ubiquitous in human psych wards. Though this acepromazine-like drug is still used, it's not exactly a kind drug when used in big, human-stopping doses. Still, nothing quiets a raging psychotic like Thorazine does. Same goes for acepromazine in pets. It stops them. And that's why we like it.
Problem is, not only do we have the case of dysphoria and Thorazine to consider, we also happen to know that acepromazine causes even more profound dysphoria in humans than "Vitamin T" does. That's why humans very rarely abuse it.
You may abhor the comparison between humans and animals in this case. After all, humans and animals don't react the same way to all kinds of drugs. Nonetheless, neglecting to use human drug reactions as a starting point for how these drugs might theoretically act in animals seems a silly thing to do. But we do so all the time in cases where psychology is involved. As if animals might not experience similar alterations in brain chemicals in the same way...simply because we can't ask them how they feel.
Same is true for how pain relief has historically been treated in animals, infants and children. When we can't measure the psychological effects of pain, we've been––until very recently––reluctant to offer chemical relief for it.
Human and animal comparisons aside, I have a problem with acepromazine not only because of the potential for dysphoria, but because it doesn't address the underlying problem: anxiety. Sure, it keeps staff safe, but all kinds of drugs can do that...while inducing drowsiness and offering the minimized awareness we associate with comfortable sedation in ourselves. Ace, by contrast, doesn't necessarily achieve this.
Again, if animals are like humans, the tranquilization acepromazine offers allows for continued awareness (perhaps even heightened awareness). In fact, that's technically the difference between a tranquilizer and a sedative. Tranquilizers, by definition, allow you to retain some awareness.
Then there's the issue of its "overuse" as a sedative.
Acepromazine is tried and true. We're comfortable with it. And for some reason, switching from ace to something else––even while all the research tells us it's safer––is a stressful process for all practitioners. Knowing the ins and outs of how our favorite drug works means more safety in the short run...even though we know better choices are available when it comes to achieving a quiet animal.
That's why, I believe, acepromazine continues to hold sway in small animal veterinary medicine for sedation. That, its low abuse potential, its relative safety, its effectiveness...and the price factor, of course. Because it's way cheaper than alternatives like dexmedetomidine and way less "abuse-prone" than hydromorphone (a morphine-like opiate), we tend to stick to it.
But that's not acceptable as a matter of course say some anesthesiologists and behaviorists. They point out that the very issues that make acepromazine so popular are those that lead to its abuse: grooming and boarding facilities that "ace" everything when things get noisy, veterinary hospitals that hand out ace like pez for every kind of restless pet scenario, veterinarians who ace all aggressive dogs first and ask questions later, etc.
It's not appropriate to reach for acepromazine in these cases...perhaps not for any kind of scenario in which sedation is the goal, it's increasingly argued. Not as long as better options are out there that can achieve the same effects more safely and with greater attention to the animal welfare issues involved.
After all, offering ace as a sedative isn't helpful to your pet if her brain doesn't quiet down along with her body. And it's primarily on this basis that I object to ace: Sedating pets without regard for what they may experience is the height of human hubris. Especially when there's a better way.