1887
Abstract
In studying the changes of the subsurface resistivity with time, two-dimensional resistivity imaging surveys are often repeated over the same line at different times. Such studies include the flow of water through the vadose zone, changes in the water table due to water extraction, flow of chemical pollutants and leakage from dams. Normally, the data from the surveys conducted at different times are inverted independently, frequently with a smoothness-constrained least-squares inversion method (deGroot-Hedlin and Constable 1990). The changes in the subsurface resistivity values are then determined by comparing the model resistivity values obtained from the inversions of an initial data set and the later data sets. In many cases, such an approach has given satisfactory results. However, in theory, since the inversion of each data set is carried out independently, there is no guarantee that the differences in the resistivity values are only due to actual changes in the subsurface resistivity with time. Each inversion attempts to minimise the difference between the observed and calculated apparent resistivity values for an individual data set without taking into account the model obtained from the initial data set. The use of joint inversion techniques using three different types of cross-model constrains is investigated in this paper. The model obtained from the inversion of the initial data set is used as a reference model to constrain the inversion of the later time-lapse data sets. Firstly, a simple damped least-squares constrain to minimise the differences in the model resistivity values between the initial model and the time-lapse model was used. The second method uses a least-squares smoothness constrain to ensure that the differences in the model resistivity values vary in a smooth manner. Thirdly, a robust (Claerbout and Muir 1973) smoothness constrain which minimises the absolute changes in the model resistivity values was used. Figure 1a shows a test model where the base model has a 50 ohm.m faulted block at the bottom-left side with a surrounding medium of 10 ohm.m. In the time-lapse model, a small rectangular block with a resistivity of 20 ohm.m was added. This is a relatively difficult test model as the apparent resistivity anomaly caused by the faulted block is much large than that caused by the small block (Figures 1b and 1c). Figure 2 shows the differences in the resistivity of the models obtained from the inversion of the initial and the time-lapse data sets. Ideally, the difference section should show a value of 100% where the small block is located and 0% elsewhere. The difference sections for all the inversion methods do show large positive values of over 70% at the location of the small block. However, the section obtained with independent inversions with no cross-model constrains show significant changes in other areas, particularly near the upper-right corner of the faulted block (Figure 2a). The distortions are smaller with the damped least-squares (Figure 2b) and the least-squares smoothness crossmodel constrain (Figure 2c) methods. However, the best result is obtained with the robust smoothness cross-model constrain method (Figure 2d).
Loading
Article metrics loading...
/content/papers/10.3997/2214-4609.201406397
1999-09-06
2021-09-28
Loading full text...
Full text loading...
_URL_
Loading
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error


text:
A museum's bid to buy a collection of material by 20th Century designer Rex Whistler has been awarded £350,000.
More than 1,000 items such as drawings, diaries and designs are in a personal archive The Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum hopes to acquire.
The grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund means the museum needs to raise a further £10,000.
Some 75 personal items of the Kent-born designer are currently on temporary display at the museum.
Between the wars Whistler had risen to prominence with a collection of work that included commercial designs for Wedgwood Pottery, Shell Petroleum, Guinness and The London Underground.
Adrian Green, museum director, said: "Acquiring the archive will ensure that future generations appreciate the talent of an artist whose work epitomises the interwar era."
As a member of the Welsh Guards, Rex Whistler trained as a tank commander on Salisbury Plain where he painted and sketched fellow soldiers as well as painted the inside of the officers' mess to make it look like a Bedouin tent.
He was killed in 1944, aged 39, on his first day of action in World War II, in Normandy.
After his death, Whistler's brother Laurence assembled the personal collection and it has remained in the family ever since.

source: m-a-p/FineFineWeb


text:
Could a large American retail store produce as much energy as it consumes? Walgreens is going all 'green' to find out.
The company recently announced a plan to erect a 'net-zero' energy store to replace an older one located in Evanston, Illinois. Through thoughtful and innovative design, the prototype store is specially designed to utilize various renewable energies technologies, such as wind, solar, and geothermal, in order to produce as much or potentially even more energy than it actually needs to operate.
Approved last fall by the city council, the plan uses a variety of strategies to achieve net-zero energy status drawn from energy-reducing measures from its own stores and numerous technology vendors.
Built using energy-efficient building materials, the store will implement energy efficient technologies, such as LED lighting and daylight harvesting, along with ultra high-efficiency refrigeration using carbon dioxide refrigerant. Engineers working with Walgreens believe that these efforts will reduce energy use by 40 percent. Furthermore, the store will generate its own energy through the use of two vertical wind turbines from Wing Power Energy in the parking lot, 800+ solar panels on the store's tiered roof, and a geoexchange (geothermal) system that will tap 550 feet into the ground in order to maintain stable temperatures year round.
Other 'green' staples like bike racks/repair station and an electric vehicle charging station will also be installed at the store. For all these great features, the store will cost more to construct than a typical Walgreens store, but the company hopes to make up for that initial cost through energy savings.
Company engineers estimated that the annual energy usage for the store are 200,000 kilowatt hours consumed and 256,000 kilowatt hours produced. While it is intriguing to contemplate whether the store could actually have a surplus of energy up-for-grabs, it's important to keep in mind that Evanston is located on Lake Michigan north of Chicago and can experience some harsh weather year round. Though Chicago's reputation for being the Windy City holds promise for the wind turbines, the area has at least partly cloudy skies during 77 percent of the year, which doesn't bode well for solar power. It is hoped that through the combination of these renewable energies that energy production needs will be sufficient.
As part of its green initiative that seeks to reduce energy usage by 20 percent at all 8,000 locations before the end of the decade, the store is scheduled to be completed by November of this year, which will make it the first net-zero energy retail store in the country, according to the press release. Once in operation, Walgreens has stated that it will seek LEED Platinum status form the U.S. Green Building Council, the most difficult designation to achieve.
Perhaps, the larger motive behind this endeavor is to use the store as a pilot plant for the implementation of these new technologies. In the press release, the VP of Facilities Development Thomas Connolly stated, "We are investing in developing a net-zero store so we can learn the best way to bring these features to our other stores." This can only help the company learn energy savings practices that can translate to other locations as well as help in the design of future stores.
But once the store goes online, the big question will be can it generate more energy than it consumes? Walgreens will be actively monitoring energy usage for a full year before drawing any conclusions.
Other net-zero energy projects are also underway around the world, including an elementary school in New York City and a national stadium in Brazil that will be a venue for the 2014 World Cup. Like the Walgreens store, these projects will be analyzed thoroughly by companies interested in implementing their own green technologies to ensure that they can meet demand and actually lower operating costs.
The company has setup a Facebook page for its Net Zero Campaign for those who are interested in following along with the progress on the store.

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


text:
Liver Patients International (LPI) is pleased to share the new communications toolkit for COVID – 19 and liver patient organisations. The purpose of the toolkit is to inform liver patient organisations on how they can support patients during this challenging time of the pandemic:
This document has been made by José Willemse and Martine Walmsley, patient advocates, in collaboration with RPP and endorsed by ERN Rare Liver and EASL, as part of the RPP Patient Grant scheme.
Click the titles below to access the toolkit and find more information:
This document has three sections, in order to support liver disease patients during the COVID-19 pandemic:
- Section 1: helps patient associations to communicate accurate information about COVID-19 to patients
- Section 2: advises on the use of social media and newsletters to make communication to patients easier
- Section 3: gives tips about how advocacy can be used to improve the situation and treatment of liver disease patients
This lay summary of the guidance in the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) – the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) Position Paper is intended to be read alongside local and national guidance about COVID-19.
The lay summary covers:
- How healthcare providers are minimising COVID-19 transmission
- What changes to expect in your care during the pandemic
- What to expect if you get COVID-19
- Prioritisation of patients for some tests and procedures
LPI encourages Liver Patient Associations to share and use this material in order to inform patients and raise awareness about COVID-19 and liver related issues.

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


text:
.planes = [self.right, self.left, self.bottom, self.top, self.far, self.near]
Note: Do not try to draw these normals in the viewport to compare them to the Maya display of the frustum as you'll see a fairly large discrepancy on the vertical bounds. I am not sure yet whether this is a bug in Maya's draw, or whether it is displaying a different bounds, but the values obtained with this method are accurate and do mark the limits of what is rendered to screen.
Taking the name of the camera we want to build, we get the camera object and determine the total model view matrix we want to compare against. In this case, we're using the inverse transformation matrix of the camera to map our frustum in world space and not just object space. In Maya, there is also a post projection matrix that can be used to alter the final render, and should be taken into account. Remember, the order of matrix multiplication is important.
You should also note that OpenMaya's MFloatMatrix stores it's values in a flat list, meaning we'll need our indices from 0-15.
And finally, the intersection function:
def intersects(self, bbox): limits = [bbox.min, bbox.max] for plane in self.planes: # The corner furthest in normal direction of plane index_x = int(plane.normal.x > 0) index_y = int(plane.normal.y > 0) index_z = int(plane.normal.z > 0) point = OpenMaya.MVector(limits[index_x].x, limits[index_y].y, limits[index_z].z) # If this corner is not in front, none are, bbox is out of view if not plane.is_in_front(point): return False return True
It should be worth noting that a bounding box in maya is by default in object space, and that we would need to convert it to world space to get an accurate result.
In the end, frustum culling boils down to some very simple methods. Of course, there are a lot of ways to expand on this, for example, if you were comparing to oriented bounding boxes (something which is not natively supported in Maya). It would also be worth storing your combined projection matrix so that you could easily check whether any specific vertex was in render view.
I hope this helps someone else out there make a little more sense of how this works, it's certainly not an easy concept to get first try!


text: The study of the properties of the materials used in the several fields of the mechanical industry requires an analysis of their mechanical characteristics and behaviour under load, or under a combination of loads, which produce multiaxial stress states on the machine components. The analysis of the behaviour under axial and torsional combined loads, either static or time-variable, proves particularly interesting. During combined loads tests, the test machine should not transmit any parasitic action to the specimen, such as shear and bending moment, in order to consider only the reaction to torsion and axial load. Furthermore, it should allow to apply the torsional and axial actions separately (the application of axial loads must not be influenced by the applied torque and vice-versa). The test machine must also be designed to apply a high torsional moment without producing any non-allowable deformation. This paper reports the results of a survey of universal multiaxial test machines frames for performing torsion, static or fatigue tests on cylindrical specimens, with the simultaneous application of axial, tensile or compression loads, either static or time-variable. A preliminary survey showed that traditional test machines are equipped with a plane frame that cannot withstand a high torsion. A new machine was therefore developed based on a study to provide the most suitable frame structure to withstand a high torsion. The machine was patented.


text:
Specimen plants are plants grown by themselves in a lawn or garden for ornamental effect, rather than being massed with others as are bedding plants or edging plants. Specimen plants can thus serve as focal points in landscape design.
It's easy to remember what "specimen" plants are if you learn the Latin root the word is based upon. The Latin root, specmeans "to look at." Consequently, a specimen plant is one you would single out in your landscape as being particularly noteworthy, deserving of "center stage" in your yard. Most often this will be a tree, but it could also be a shrub if the latter is sufficiently large and showy.
An example of a specimen plant is a flowering tree that has a prominent spot reserved for it on a lawn. What type of tree should you use? Well, that's a highly personal choice. For example, if you have a favorite color, you might make your selection from a number of candidates whose flowers sport that particular color. But it could be any attribute that you, yourself attach value to.
I happen to use a golden chain tree in this manner in my own yard. I value the look of its abundant and long flower racemes. But again, it's a matter of personal choice. A possible objection here is that golden chain trees don't bloom long enough to warrant usage as specimen plants. My own opinion is that their brilliance while in bloom trumps the brevity of the blooming period.
Some people would make pleasing plant form the criterion they use for selecting a specimen plant, rather than pretty flowers. Their argument is that an interesting branching structure, for example, can be appreciated year-round, rather than for just the short period during which a tree or shrub blooms. It's easier to make that case in the context of landscaping for small spaces, where space constraints may limit you to one specimen plant.
Plants with interesting forms include:
Ideally (and if your landscape is large enough), you would include at least one plant you regard as a specimen plant in your landscaping for each of the four seasons. That way, you have something to look forward to throughout the year.


text:
3D printing technology poses a "grave and growing threat" to individual privacy because of the potential for products to reveal private information about individuals, experts have warned.
People could use cameras, laptops or mobile phones to track and trace the origins of 3D printed objects and how they have been used if they have watermarks.
A new study warns about a lack of awareness among governments and companies about privacy issues associated with 3D printers and calls for changes to treaties on copyright law and international human rights law. The research, by Dr Annika Jones from Durham University and Dr James Griffin from the University of Exeter, recommends a new voluntary code of conduct to protect people's privacy, and a regulatory body to provide guidance and oversight. The experts carried out 30 in-depth interviews with representatives from Chinese 3D printing companies. The research warns the rise of the […]
Above: PepsiCo food, snack, and beverage product line-up/Source: PepsiCo PepsiCo turned to tooling with 3D printing...


text:
This topic can get quite complex. However it is useful to focus in on one point that is sometimes overlooked. This is the de minimis level for recovering input tax that relates to exempt supplies.
As you will probably be aware, life is quite simple for suppliers that make no exempt supplies. However where exempt supplies are made then input tax must be allocated to taxable and exempt supplies. This is done by first directly allocating input tax to exempt and taxable supplies that directly relate to these. You will then be left with a residual pot of input tax. You use the recovery % (discussed in another post) to apportion this pool.
Once this is done you will have a pot of input tax that relates to exempt supplies made up of directly allocated and apportioned. The de minimis rule says that if this is less than £625 per month on average (and is no more than 50% of all input tax) then this can be recovered even though it relates to exempt supplies.
An important point to remember when deciding on how much input tax can be recovered.
As always the above comments only lays out a broad overview of the de minimis test but should hopefully serve as a useful guide/reminder.
This is a very useful relief and this short note lays out the main workings.
This relief relates to Capital Gains Tax and specifically to any gain on the disposal of a taxpayer's main private residence. However any loss is also not allowable (something that may have been relatively rare up until recently). The relief relates to the period of time that was actually occupied by the tax payer. As well as considering a time allocation where the property has been let out (you can ignore loggers) you may also have to consider a space allocation if part of the property has been let out.
However there are a number of cases of deemed occupation. This is where the tax payer may not actually be occupying the property but the time may be treated as if they were. The key times are i) where the taxpayer is absent for any reason for up to 36 months, ii) where the taxpayer is abroad due to his employment without limit and iii) where the taxpayer is working away from home (UK or abroad) due to their self employment or employment (UK only) up to 48 months. Each of these must have a period of actual occupation before and after it.
There are some other periods that may also be deemed occupation but the above are the main ones.
If you have more than one residence you should decide which one you wish to elect as your PPR. If not you may be left is a situation where HMRC decide for you and this may not be ideal.
One point to be specifically aware of is that as well as periods of occupation and deemed occupation being exempt, there is also a letting relief which can reduce any gain further where the property has been let out during periods of non occupation by the taxpayer. This is capped at £40,000 but may be lower under certain circumstances. However it is important to remember that this part of the relief is available.
Finally the last 36 months of ownership is always available for relief regardless.
Again the above is just a broad understanding of the key rules and, as always, the details of each case are very important. Where this relief applies to you then you should ensure that you take proper advice but hopefully the above serves as a useful guide.
Sometimes it can be quite difficult to decide whether an item is charged to VAT or not. Clearly for complex matters, or issues that you are unsure of, you should always consult your accountant but it is useful to have some understanding of the way in which VAT is charged.
It is often said that VAT is the simplest of taxes and in principle this is true but it is in the underlying detail that makes VAT fiendishly difficult. However as a starting point in deciding whether an item is subject to VAT or not your first port of call could be the VAT Act 1994 and seek out schedules 7A to 9. These will act as checklists and cover reduced rate, zero rated and exempt items.
You should be aware that there is no definition in the legislation for standard rated items. So you must check the above schedules and if the item is not there then there is a very good chance that it is subject to standard rated VAT. Watch out however as you can't take the list at face value, you must read the detail to properly understand it. For example schedule 8 zero rates food but there are a number of excepted items i.e. items that are standard rated and these are excluded from the main zero rating. Then to make things even more confusing there is a list of items that override these excepted items i.e. they would be zero rated under the general principle but are standard rated as they appear on the excepted items list but are then turned back to zero rated again as they appear on the list of items overriding these excepted items.
The layouts are logical but can be tricky to follow. However they will give you a good grounding for a more detailed conversation with your accountant on their application or may even just help clarify a specific point that you have in mind. Again I hope this brief articles helps a little. More will follow.
Many small businesses will have come across the idea of capital allowances. These play a very important role in tax planning and in mitigating your tax bill. Here is a very quick overview of one aspect of capital allowances i.e. capital allowances verses depreciation and what's the difference (more aspects of tax will be covered in later postings in this series).
When a business owner or an individual speaks to their accountant the idea of capital allowances will nearly always arise. The easy way of thinking about this is that capital allowances are HMRC's equivalent of depreciation. In general the taxman does not accept depreciation as a tax reducing item. However they do accept capital allowances. Your accountant will allows take the depreciation charge out of your trading accounts before adjusting for capital allowances. However you can't look at this as being a bad thing. For many businesses the capital allowance system brings significant benefits e.g. much faster relief for capital spends. Depreciation is meant to spread the cost over the useful life of the asset, say 3 or 5 years. Capital allowances can, in many cases, offer must more favourable treatment e.g. with the introduction of the Annual Investment Allowance in April 2008 immediate relief could be obtained for £50k of capital spend in many cases. This rose to £100k in April 2010 and now, that hard times have fallen, the taxman has reduced this to only £25k. This still offers a far better treatment than depreciation and £25k can cover a lot of capital for many small businesses.
This has been a brief overview of capital allowances verses depreciation and we hope it's been helpful. More will follow. In the mean time if you need more help with your business tax, then we're happy to help and remember a few minutes spend on a conversation can very often do the trick.
The flat rate scheme is a useful and time saving method for VAT accounting. Many small businesses use this scheme but some care is required to ensure that you get the most out of it. In theory, the overall impact is nil but this is overall from HMRC's point of view. It may well be the case that many businesses can make a VAT saving. The scheme is particularly useful for businesses that have only a small amount of input VAT. The FRS works by applying a fixed % to the VAT inclusive FRS turnover figure. You must remember to use the VAT inclusive amount to calculate the correct VAT due. However, the down side is that you cannot reclaim your input VAT. This may make the scheme unsuitable for some but for others, who may have little VAT to reclaim anyway, it can work well. However the advantage that is often overlooking is that it dramatically reduces the administration related to accounting for VAT. This is often not seen as a major upside but you will be very pleased to be on the scheme when you get a VAT audit! Finally, some quick wins – register early and you get a 1% discount on the rate that applies to your industry. This discount applies in the first year of VAT registration. Also do not forget that not all input VAT is excluded. You can reclaim input VAT on capital purchases over £2,000 (gross). Also it is worth planning these as the £2,000 does not apply to a single asset but applies to assets purchased at the same time and from the same supplier! One to remember.
The AIA is changing (again) but this time there is a reduction in the allowance. From April 2012 it moves from a very respectable £100,000 per 12 month period to £25,000. This large of a reduction means that it is likely to catch a number of businesses with medium level spends. The impact of this reduction is already being felt however even before the April 2012 introduction. The rules require that the calculation of the total AIA for any period ending after April 2012 to include a proportion of the lower limit. Therefore the AIA for a company with an accounting period ending on, say, 30 June 2012 will be: (£100,000 x 9/12) + (£25,000 x 3/12) = £81,250. So even if they purchase the item before the reduction it will be the £81,250 limit that applies and not the £100,000. The reduction in the limit is certainly something to bear in mind if you have flexibility as to which year to purchase the capital items as it is


text:
Archaeologists have recovered six cannons from the ships of Welsh privateer Henry Morgan, the first artifacts found in Panama to be linked to the man who remains a legend there, the team said Monday.
In the late 1600s, Morgan sent three ships and a crew of 470 men to capture the Castillo de San Lorenzo el Real de Chagres, a fort that guarded the approach to Panama City, the capital. Morgan and his men were sailing up the Chagres River to join them when his flagship, the Satisfaction, and at least three other vessels crashed on Lajas Reef, sinking in shallow water.
Members of Morgan's force paddled upriver and traveled overland to reach Panama City, which they successfully sacked. But their wrecked ships were abandoned and left to amateur archaeologists and looters.
"Every school kid learns about Morgan's activities, but we have never seen any of his materials," said archaeologist Tomas Mendizibal, a research associate at Patronato Panama Viejo, a government agency that is overseeing excavation of the original site of Panama City. "If these are indeed his cannons, it would be a first." Mendizibal was not involved in the discovery.
Morgan is generally thought of as a pirate, but he was commissioned as a privateer by the English crown to attack enemy vessels and protect the British colonies of Barbados and Jamaica because the Royal Navy was unable to do so. He became the scourge of the Spanish in the Caribbean and was eventually knighted and made governor of Jamaica.
An American-Panamanian team has been exploring the mouth of the Chagres River since 2008, documenting its rich history. Christopher Columbus came across it in 1502 on his fourth voyage to the New World and it became the gateway to Panama City, Spain's main port in the Pacific.
After the decline of the Spanish Empire in the late 18th century, the city became a backwater port and an entree for smuggling and illicit trade. With the California Gold Rush, the Chagres River again saw a flurry of activity, but the construction of the Panama railroad shifted transit traffic to the port of Colon and by 1855 the river was again a backwater.
At the edge of the Lajas Reef, the team found what appeared to be a field of six cannons, all covered with layers of sedimentary rock that had built up over the centuries, said archaeologist James P. Delgado, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Maritime Heritage Program in Silver Spring, Md., and a co-leader of the team. The cannons seem to be from the 17th century and five are probably French.
Morgan's flagship "was a captured French vessel, and the mix [of cannons] is the type of thing one would expect for a privateer," Delgado said. "These guys grabbed whatever they could get a hold of."
At least two more guns are buried in the sand, along with an anchor, ceramics, bottles and other artifacts, he said. Magnetometers indicate that other metal objects are buried more deeply.
"The only wrecks that we know of that happened on that reef are his," said Delgado, who worked with colleagues from Texas State University-San Marcos, the Waitt Institute in La Jolla and Panama's National Institute of Culture. Moreover, an old map found in local archives indicates the site of the wreck is the location where the team found the cannons.
The archaeologists had not intended to bring the cannons to the surface, but treasure hunters have apparently been working at the site. "There is evidence of explosions, heavy gouging and digging and massive scooped-out areas," Delgado said. "The reef has really been hit hard," forcing their hand.


text:
The Bronson Caves are located in Los Angeles' Griffith Park and are famous as a stage set to countless moition pictures and television shows. The caves are actually man made and were originally a rock quarry during the early 1900s used to lay streets for an expanding Los Angeles. A hundred years of filmmaking has occurred at the caves imaging events from explosions and gun fights to the discovery of cave paintings. Reflecting on this history, the caves are documented on various formats and film stocks over time as an unchanging landscape amidst a chaotic specter of fictional realities.
In the series of photographs titled Bronson Caves, the caves served as a stage set yet again. I performed actions for the camera with massive sheets of colored paper. Since a long-exposure photograph was produced rather than a motion picture, the papers were recorded as voluminous, glowing colors. The materiality of the rainbowed forms, emerging from the mouth of the cave, dancing about the canyon, and bubbling up from the ground, are based solely in the photographic process, and can only be experienced when viewing the final photographic prints. If a visitor to the caves were to accidently stumble upon my performance they would only see a mass of crumbled colored paper draped awkwardly over a man moving/dancing to a camera positioned on a tripod. The goal of these performances was to create sculptural, photographic objects that interacted with the history and architecture of the caves.
The colored paper used during the production of the cave photographs was transformed, weathered, stained, and torn after months of constant use. Deciding to isolate the medium, the props of the action, a studio setting with a pedestal was used to photograph the various scraps of paper. The format of these photographs mimics the traditional way of documenting art objects. However, a photographic technique similar to that explored at the caves was used, exposing the paper into a blurred mass, a pure photographic object. The final phase of the series involved setting the paper ablaze, letting the objects pass in transience but allowing them to persist in photographs.


text:
Text version of the infographic from the 2015 Annual Report.
366 billion litres of high quality drinking water supplied – that's more than 162,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
Our largest scheme, the Integrated Water Supply Scheme (IWSS) delivered 291 billion litres of water to more than 2 million people in Perth, the Goldfields and Agricultural Region and some parts of the South West.
Water supplied into the IWSS consisted of:
- 41% from desalination
- 42% from groundwater
- 17% from surface water from 128 dams and weirs.
The water is treated at 81 water treatment plants and pumped through 483 pump stations.
The water travels through:
- 34,424 km of water mains
- 16, 416 km of sewer mains
- 2,546 km of drains.
164 billion litres of wastewater collected, which comes mostly from baths, showers and washing machines. It's treated at 113 wastewater treatment plants and over 80 recycled water schemes.
- 817,755 customer telephone calls answered
- 1.4 million visitors to our website
- 2,852 employees
- $766 million investment in capital works
- $345 million regional projects
- $880 million in direct operating expenditure


text:
tests. Once samples are collected, at-home cotinine tests require you to use a test strip or other device to test the sample for cotinine.
Test devices vary, so it's important to read the instructions provided in the test kit before testing the collected sample.
After the test
After collecting a sample for laboratory-based urine testing, seal the collection container and return it to the health care provider at the testing facility. Once samples of saliva, blood, or hair are collected by a health care provider, no additional actions are required from you.
There are no restrictions on activity after sample collection for nicotine or cotinine testing.
Nicotine and Cotinine Test Results
Receiving test results
The results of nicotine or cotinine testing may be available within a few minutes to a few days, depending on the method and reason for testing. You may learn about your test results through a doctor, other health care provider, or an organization administrator requiring nicotine and cotinine testing. Test results may also be received electronically or in the mail.
Results of at-home cotinine tests are usually available within seven business days of conducting the test. Consult the test instructions for how long to wait before interpreting test results.
Interpreting test results
The nicotine and cotinine results indicate whether or not nicotine or cotinine were found in your sample and may include information about the amount of nicotine or cotinine detected.
When interpreting test results, it's important to remember that nicotine and cotinine tests are either qualitative or quantitative. The results of qualitative nicotine or cotinine tests are interpreted differently than quantitative tests:
- Qualitative nicotine and cotinine tests: These show whether nicotine or cotinine was found in the sample but not the amount of these substances. An example is at-home cotinine tests.
- Quantitative nicotine and cotinine tests: These measure the amount of nicotine and cotinine in the body and are only available in laboratory-based testing conducted by health care professionals.
Positive test results indicate sufficient nicotine or cotinine was detected in the sample to meet the test or laboratory's cutoff value for a positive result.
A negative test result means insufficient nicotine or cotinine was detected in the sample for a positive result. This result can occur because you haven't used tobacco or been exposed to nicotine. The exposure was outside the detection window or the level of nicotine detected was too low for a positive result.
The cutoff values for a positive test result (also called the test's reference range) are not standard between laboratories and vary based on the test's purpose, the type of test sample, and the individual laboratory or at-home testing kit.
You may find asking questions about nicotine and cotinine test results helpful. Questions for your doctor can include:
- What substance is being tested?
- What is my test result?
- Is my test result able to distinguish between tobacco use and secondhand, thirdhand, and environmental nicotine exposure?
- Who will have access to my test result or medical record?
- Urine Drug Tests
- Hair Follicle Drug Test
- National Institute on Drug Abuse: Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Learn More
- National Cancer Institute: Harms of Smoking and Health Benefits of Quitting Learn More
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Smoking & Tobacco Use Learn More
- American Cancer Society: Tobacco and Cancer Learn More
- American Lung Association: How to Quit Smoking Learn More
A.D.A.M. Medical Encyclopedia. Nicotine Poisoning. Updated January 1, 2021. Accessed February 2, 2023. _URL_
A.D.A.M. Medical Encyclopedia. Nicotine Replacement Therapy. Updated January 31, 2021. Accessed February 2, 2023. _URL_
A.D.A.M. Medical Encyclopedia. Nicotine and Tobacco. Updated August 13, 2020. Accessed February 2, 2023. _URL_
A.D.A.M. Medical Encyclopedia. Clean Catch Urine Sample. Updated August 13, 2020. Accessed February 2, 2023. _URL_
Jenssen BP, Walley SC, Groner JA, et al. E-Cigarettes and Similar Devices. American Academy of Pediatrics. 2019;143(2). _URL_
American College of Medical Toxicology. Nicotine. Date unknown. Accessed February 2, 2023. _URL_
ARUP Consult. Nicotine Exposure and Metabolites. Updated August 2022. Accessed February 2, 2023. _URL_
Benowitz NL, Hukkanen J, Jacob P 3rd. Nicotine Chemistry, Metabolism, Kinetics and Biomarkers. Handb Exp Pharmacol. 2009;(192):29-60. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-69248-5_2
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cotinine Factsheet. Updated April 7, 2017. Accessed February 2, 2023. _URL_
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Biomonitoring Summary. Updated April 7, 2017. Accessed February 2, 2023. _URL_
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Secondhand Smoke. Updated March 2, 2021. Accessed February 2, 2023. _URL_
Drummer OH. Drug Testing in Oral Fluid. Clin Biochem Rev. 2006;27(3):147-159.
Giardina EG. Cardiovascular Effects of Nicotine. In: Benowitz NL, ed. UpToDate. Updated February 16, 2022. Accessed February 2, 2023. _URL_
Hadland SE, Levy S. Objective Testing: Urine and Other Drug Tests. Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am. 2016;25(3):549-565. doi:10.1016/j.chc.2016.02.005
Harvanko AM, Havel CM, Jacob P, Benowitz NL. Characterization of Nicotine Salts in 23 Electronic Cigarette Refill Liquids. Nicotine Tob Res. 2020;22(7):_PHONE_. doi:10.1093/ntr/ntz232
Jacob P 3rd, Benowitz NL, Destaillats H, et al. Thirdhand Smoke: New Evidence, Challenges, and Future Directions. Chem Res Toxicol. 2017;30(1):270-294. doi:10.1021/acs.chemrestox.6b00343
Leventhal AM, Madden DR, Peraza N, et al. Effect of Exposure to E-Cigarettes With Salt vs Free-Base Nicotine on the Appeal and Sensory Experience of Vaping: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Netw Open. 2021;4(1):e2032757. Published 2021 Jan 4. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.32757
Murphy TD. Passive Smoking and Lung Disease Workup. Sharma GD, ed. Medscape. Updated October 7, 2021. Accessed February 2, 2023. _URL_
National Cancer Institute. Definition of Metabolite. Date unknown. Accessed February 2, 2023. _URL_
National Cancer Institute. Harms of Cigarette Smoking and Health Benefits of Quitting. Updated December 19, 2017. Accessed February 2, 2023. _URL_
National Cancer Institute. Secondhand Smoke and Cancer. Updated December 4, 2018. Accessed February 2, 2023. _URL_
National Center for Biotechnology Information. Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence: 2008 Update. Published May 2008. Accessed February 2, 2023. _URL_
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Blood Tests. Updated March 24, 2022. Accessed February 2, 2023. _URL_
National Institute on Drug Abuse. What Are the Effects of Secondhand and Thirdhand Tobacco Smoke? Updated May 2022. Accessed February 2, 2023. _URL_
National Institute on Drug Abuse. What Are Treatments for Tobacco Dependence? Updated May 2022. Accessed February 2, 2023. _URL_
National Institute on Drug Abuse. Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products DrugFacts. Updated April 2021. Accessed February 2, 2023. _URL_
Nguyen PT, Galanti L, Pirson Y, Jadoul M. Identification of Current Smokers Among Renal Transplant Recipients. Nephrol Dial Transplant. 2007;22(7):_PHONE_. doi:10.1093/ndt/gfl849
Palmier J, Lanzrath B, Dixon A, Idowu O. Demographic Predictors of False Negative Self-reported Tobacco Use Status in an Insurance Applicant Population. J Insur Med. 2014;44(2):110-117.
Raja M, Garg A, Yadav P, Jha K, Handa S. Diagnostic Methods for Detection of Cotinine Level in Tobacco Users: A Review. J Clin Diagn Res. 2016;10(3):ZE04-ZE6. doi:10.7860/JCDR/2016/17360.7423
Rigotti NA, Reddy KP. Vaping and E-cigarettes. In: Aronson MD, Hatipoglu U, eds. UpToDate. Updated April 22, 2022. Accessed February 2, 2023. _URL_
Rigotti NA. Patterns of Tobacco Use. In: Kathuria H, ed. UpToDate. Updated January 21, 2022. Accessed February 2, 2023. _URL_
Robichaud MO, Seidenberg AB


"This yeast is tightly associated with the flowers of the sweet potatoes. This probably has some relation with human migration, because we know that sweet potatoes come from the Andes. We are using yeasts to track human migration and contacts. That is part of what we call'microbiological archaeology.'"
Rights & Permissions
Share this Article:
Scientific American Dinosaurs
Get Total Access to our Digital Anthology
1,200 Articles
Order Now - Just $39! >
Email this Article


3
readers helped!
This helped me
How to Convert Text to Speech on Samsung Galaxy
This wikiHow teaches you how to have your Samsung Galaxy read aloud text from your screen. You can use the text-to-speech feature to hear an ebook read aloud, or activate select-to-speak to hear a word, sentence, or any selection of text.
Method 1 of 2:
Using Text-to-Speech
 1. 1
 2. 2
 Scroll down and tap General management.
 3. 3
 Tap Language and input. It's the first option on the General Management page.
 4. 4
 Tap Text-to-speech. You can find it under the "SPEECH" heading on the Language and Input menu.
 5. 5
 Select the text-to-speech engine you want to use. Here you can select Samsung's own text-to-speech engine, or Google's generic Android engine.
 6. 6
 Drag and adjust the Speech rate and Pitch sliders. You can find them below the text-to-speech engines.
 - Speech rate adjusts how fast or slow text-to-speech reads text. Slide it to the left for slow speech, or to the right for fast speech.
 - Pitch controls your voice frequency. Slide it to the left for a deeper voice, or to the right for a high-pitch voice.
 7. 7
 8. 8
 Tap the Library icon at the bottom. This will open your ebook library on a new page.
 9. 9
 Open the book you want to convert to speech. Find and tap the book to start reading it.
 - If the book is not currently downloaded to your Galaxy, tap on it to start downloading.
 10. 10
 Tap the icon on the top-right. This will open your options on a drop-down menu.
 11. 11
 Tap Read aloud. This will convert the text on your screen to speech, and start reading the book aloud.
 Advertisement
Method 2 of 2:
Using Select-to-Speak
 1. 1
 2. 2
 Tap Accessibility on the Settings menu.
 3. 3
 Tap Vision. It's at the top of the Accessibility settings.
 4. 4
 Tap Select to speak. This option allows you to select any text on your screen, and hear it read aloud.
 5. 5
 Turn the Select to Speak switch to
 Image titled Android7systemswitchon2.png
 .
 When this option is enabled, you can drag a box on your screen, and hear all the text in it read aloud.
 - The Select to Speak icon will appear on your screen. It looks like a speech bubble. You can drag and drop it anywhere on your screen.
 6. 6
 Open the text you want to convert to speech. This could be a note, document, or message.
 7. 7
 Tap the Select the Speak icon. It's the speech bubble button on your screen.
 - The button will turn blue when you tap on it.
 8. 8
 Drag a box around the words you want to hear. Your Galaxy will convert the text inside the box to speech, and read it aloud.
 Advertisement
Community Q&A
Ask a Question
200 characters left
Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.
Submit
 Advertisement
 Related wikiHows
 How to
 Install APK Files on Android
 How to
 Know Who Has Viewed Your Status on WhatsApp
 Advertisement
 How to
 Connect Hisense TV to Your Phone
 How to
 Find Out the Maximum RAM Capacity for Your Computer
 How to
 Adjust Alarm Volume on an iPhone
 How to
 Hide Instagram Posts from Certain Followers
 How to
 Manually Upgrade an Android Device Operating System
 How to
 Block Text Messages on an iPhone
 How to
 Do Video Chats on Instagram on PC or Mac
 How to
 Make a Background Transparent in Paint
 How to
 Enable MMS Messaging for iPhone
 How to
 Delete a Mobile Legends Account
 How to
 Scan a QR Code on WhatsApp
 How to
 Temporarily Disable an Instagram Account
 Advertisement
 About this article
 wikiHow Staff
 Co-authored by
 wikiHow Staff Editor
 This article was co-authored by our trained team of editors and researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness. wikiHow's Content Management Team carefully monitors the work from our editorial staff to ensure that each article is backed by trusted research and meets our high quality standards. This article has been viewed 3,002 times.
 How helpful is this?
 Co-authors: 1
 Updated: October 14, 2018
 Views: 3,002
 Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 3,002 times.
 Is this article up to date?
 Advertisement


In order to enter a lesson the following questions need to be answered: who, what and where? But what if there isn't a class for a lesson (e.g. teacher meetings), or a teacher for a particular activity isn't needed (e.g. school recess, lunch), or there is neither teacher nor class (e.g. sports events)? In Prime Timetable, these non-existing teachers and classes are referred to as "fake".
It is recommended that fake teachers and classes are entered prior to entering a lesson. For instance, add a fake class and subject called "Teacher meeting" and then add a lesson by selecting teachers who attend that meeting and a fake class "Teacher meeting". Another example: add a teacher and subject called "School recess" and then add a lesson by selecting classes that have a recess and a teacher called "School recess".
When you enter a lesson without specifying a teacher or a class, Prime Timetable will create a "Fake teacher" or "Fake class" for you.
Every resource that has short name set to "-" (minus sign) is considered fake. Fake lessons is any lesson that contains fake resource and can be excluded from automatic timetable generator in Help > Options.
You can be very creative in creating fake teachers and classes so that every school lesson/activity is displayed in all timetable views as a card available for manual adjusting, e.g. drag & drop. Additionally, fake teachers and classes can have their time request specified which automatic timetable generator can also take into account.
In a nutshell, sometimes fake can genuinely improve your timetable ;).


ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses electronic and vibrational spectroscopic techniques that are applied in medicine. Nanoscale spectroscopy applications in medicine involve the study of light interaction and propagation through biological tissue. The chapter describes luminescence spectroscopy and atomic absorption spectroscopy. It examines fluorescence spectroscopy and phosphorescence imaging as applied for medical diagnosis. The chapter offers nanoscale vibrational spectroscopy for biomedical applications. It outlines Raman spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, and terahertz spectroscopy. The chapter highlights the importance of using each of these techniques in medical applications. It also describes the basic principles behind each technique and their relative advantages and disadvantages. Electronic spectroscopy deals with characterization and applications of energy transitions between two quantum electronic states of an atom or a molecule. With the absorption of energy, an electron of an atom or a molecule may be excited to a quantum level with a higher energy.


text:
Below lists the general location of the needed position. Each of our locations below need a Foreman.
- Newark Delaware
- Ft. Myers Florida
- Brandon Florida
Visit our locations page for more information on these locations.
Supervise and participate in the painting operations of interior and exterior areas, equipment and furniture as assigned in a correct, safe, timely and efficient manner.
Reports directly to the Project Manager.
Authority is provided by Project Manager to carry out duties and responsibilities of the position.
Responsibilities and Duties
- Supervise and participate in painting operations to include the painting of buildings, areas, signs, equipment and furniture in accordance with blueprints, sketches and verbal instructions.
- Carry out the instructions of the Project Manager as it pertains to the schedule of work for the group, ensuring proper distribution of assignments and adequate manning, space and facilities for subsequent performance of duties.
- Estimate time, cost and materials for painting projects; determine sequences of painting operations and methods to be used to include scaffolding and rigging.
- Inspect completed work for compliance with blueprints, specifications and instructions; direct any rework or modification.
- Recommend various personnel actions including, but not limited to, hiring, performance appraisals, promotions and vacation schedules.
- Train and instruct new employees.
- Perform other related duties incidental to the work described herein.
- Work requires knowledge of the techniques, practices and methods of the painting trade normally acquired through 4 years of experience in the preparation and painting of interiors and exterior surfaces.
- Prepares surfaces for painting by removing old paint, patching holes, sanding pressure washing, etc.
- Paints, finishes and refinishes wood, metal and other materials.
- Ensures that there is an adequate supply of materials available. Orders, receives, inspects, and stores equipment, merchandise, commodities, materials, and/or supplies.
- Teaches others the principles and techniques used in the specific service or trade, adherence to industry and/or safety standards and maintenance of related equipment, tools and/or supplies.
- Other tasks as assigned.
Skills and Abilities
- Knowledge of principles, theories and practices of vocational training.
- Knowledge of proper operation of machines and tools, including but not limited to their uses, designs, benefits, repairs and maintenance.
- Identification and application of appropriate safety intervention techniques.
- Knowledge and experience of set-up and safe use of scaffolds and ladders.
- Maintain and/or repair of tools and equipment.
- Deal with people in a manner which shows sensitivity, tact, and professionalism.
- Speak clearly, concisely and effectively; listen to, and understand, information and ideas as presented verbally
- Communicate information and ideas clearly, and concisely, in writing; read and understand information presented in writing
- Proper handling of risks which require the use of special safety precautions and/or equipment, e.g., working around operating machines, working with contagious diseases or hazardous chemicals, etc. in the safest manner.
- The work requires some physical exertion such as long periods of standing; walking over rough terrain or rocky surfaces; recurring bending, crouching, stooping, stretching, twisting, reaching, or similar activities; climbing ladders and/or scaffolds, recurring lifting of moderately heavy items such as supplies and equipment. The work may require specific but common physical characteristics and abilities such as lifting up to 75 pounds, above-average agility, and dexterity. Ability to walk 3-5 miles per day, work in temperatures in excess of 100 degrees, work while wearing required personal safety equipment including but not limited to gloves, hardhat, respirator/ self contained breathing apparatus, safety glasses, safety harness, safety vest, and steel toe shoes/boots.


Let It Flow: AI Researchers Create Looping Videos From Still Images
Researchers from University of Washington and Facebook used deep learning to convert still images into realistic animated looping videos. Their approach, which will be presented at the upcoming Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR), imitates continuous fluid motion — such as flowing water, smoke and clouds — to turn still images into short … Continued
"What's special about our method is that it doesn't require any user input or extra information," said Aleksander Hołyński, University of Washington doctoral student in computer science and engineering and lead author on the project. "All you need is a picture. And it produces as output a high-resolution, seamlessly looping video that quite often looks like a real video."
The team created a method known as "symmetric splatting" to predict the past and future motion from a still image, combining that data to create a seamless animation.
"When we see a waterfall, we know how the water should behave. The same is true for fire or smoke. These types of motions obey the same set of physical laws, and there are usually cues in the image that tell us how things should be moving," Hołyński said. "We'd love to extend our work to operate on a wider range of objects, like animating a person's hair blowing in the wind. I'm hoping that eventually the pictures that we share with our friends and family won't be static images. Instead, they'll all be dynamic animations like the ones our method produces."
To teach their neural network to estimate motion, the team trained the model on more than 1,000 videos of fluid motion such as waterfalls, rivers and oceans. Given only the first frame of the video, the system would predict what should happen in future frames, and compare its prediction with the original video. This comparison helped the model improve its predictions of whether and how each pixel in an image should move.
The researchers used the NVIDIA Pix2PixHD GAN model for motion estimation network training, as well as FlowNet2 and PWC-Net. NVIDIA GPUs were used for both training and inference of the model. The training data included 1196 unique videos, 1096 for training, 50 for validation and 50 for testing.
Read the University of Washington news release for more >>
The researchers' paper is available here.
Incorrect dimensions for output of speech extraction model
Hello everyone, below I have linked a recent SO post of mine going more in depth to my problem
But an overview is that I am unable to get proper output from my model because of what I believe to be issues with my input and my lack of understanding regarding shape of input vs. shape of a tensor. If there is anything I can provide to give a better idea of my problem let me know. Appreciate any help I could get
submitted by /u/ythug
[visit reddit] [comments]
Learning an Accurate Physics Simulator via Adversarial Reinforcement Learning
A Learnable Hybrid Simulator
Comparison between a conventional simulator and our hybrid simulator.
Using GANs for Simulator Learning
How to attach normalization layer after training?
So I apply preprocessing on my dataset because I can generate new data/do normalization.
Now its time to save model, so someone else can use it. Now I need normalization.
model = Sequential()
//model.add(Lambda(lambda x: (x / 255.0) ))
I want to attach this commented Layer before saving model. I didn't need it for training but now
once model is trained I want to have normalization in network.
From this tutorial it is mention it is possible but I don't see how to do this.
 - In this case the prepreprocessing layers will not be exported with the model when you call
 . You will need to attach them to your model before saving it or reimplement them server-side. After training, you can attach the preprocessing layers before export.
submitted by /u/rejiuspride
[visit reddit] [comments]
Waste Not, Want Not: AI Startup Opseyes Revolutionizes Wastewater Analysis
What do radiology and wastewater have in common? Hopefully, not much. But at startup Opseyes, founder Bryan Arndt and data scientist Robin Schlenga are putting the AI that's revolutionizing medical imaging to work on analyzing wastewater samples. Arndt and Schlenga spoke with NVIDIA AI Podcast host Noah Kravitz about the inspiration for Opseyes, which began Read article >
The post Waste Not, Want Not: AI Startup Opseyes Revolutionizes Wastewater Analysis appeared first on The Official NVIDIA Blog.
How do you put multiple filters in one convolution?
How do you put multiple filters in one convolution?
I just started learning Tensorflow/Keras and would like to know in conv6 and conv7, how do you put 3 filters in one convolution?
I have this code for both of them, but my code creates 3 separate convolutions and based on my understand that's only one convolution right? Also, I'm not too sure if those filters are executed in parallel or sequential from left to right (wouldn't that be the same as having 3 separate convolutions?)
keras.layers.Conv2D(filters=1024, kernel_size=(1,1), strides=(1,1), activation='relu', padding="same"),
keras.layers.Conv2D(filters=512, kernel_size=(3,3), strides=(1,1), activation='relu', padding="same"),
Thanks for the help!
submitted by /u/Master-Cantaloupe750
[visit reddit] [comments]
How to load image data for facial keypoints detection in tensorflow?
Hello everyone
I have a dataset that contain images of random people's faces and a csv file that has the image files names and the corresponding 68 facial keypoints, similar to this:
Image 0 1 2 3 136
/file.jpg 54 11 23 43.. 12
How do I load dataset in tensorflow?
submitted by /u/RepeatInfamous9988
[visit reddit] [comments]
Training Custom Object Detector and converting to TFLite leads to wrong predicted bounding boxes and weird output shape
I have used this official tutorial to train my custom traffic sign detector with the dataset from German Traffic Sign Detection Benchmark site.
I have created my PASCAL VOC format.xml files using pascal-voc-writer python lib and converted them to tf records with the resized images to 320×320. I have also scaled the bounding box coordinates as they were for the 1360×800 images. I have used the formula Rx = NEW_WIDTH/WIDTH Ry = NEW_HEIGHT/HEIGHT where NEW_WIDTH = NEW_HEIGHT = 320 and rescaled coords like so xMin = round(Rx * int(xMin)).
The pre-trained model I have used is ssd_mobilenet_v2_fpnlite_320x320_coco17_tpu-8. You can also see the images used for training here and their corresponding.xml files here.
The problem is that after training and converting from saved_model to.tflite using this script, it does not recognize traffic signs and the outputs are a bit different of what I expect as instead of a list of list of normalized coordinates I get a list of a list of list of normalized coordinates. The last steps in the training process look like this. After using this script, the output image with predicted bounding boxes looks like this and the printed output is this.
What could be the problem? Thank you!
submitted by /u/morphinnas
[visit reddit] [comments]
A Step Toward More Inclusive People Annotations in the Open Images Extended Dataset
In 2016, we introduced Open Images, a collaborative release of ~9 million images annotated with image labels spanning thousands of object categories and bounding box annotations for 600 classes. Since then, we have made several updates, including the release of crowdsourced data to the Open Images Extended collection to improve diversity of object annotations. While the labels provided with these datasets were expansive, they did not focus on sensitive attributes for people, which are critically important for many machine learning (ML) fairness tasks, such as fairness evaluations and bias mitigation. In fact, finding datasets that include thorough labeling of such sensitive attributes is difficult, particularly in the domain of computer vision.
Today, we introduce the More Inclusive Annotations for People (MIAP) dataset in the Open Images Extended collection. The collection contains more complete bounding box annotations for the person class hierarchy in 100k images containing people. Each annotation is also labeled with fairness-related attributes, including perceived gender presentation and perceived age range. With the increasing focus on reducing unfair bias as part of responsible AI research, we hope these annotations will encourage researchers already leveraging Open Images to incorporate fairness analysis in their research.
Examples of new boxes in MIAP. In each subfigure the magenta boxes are from the original Open Images dataset, while the yellow boxes are additional boxes added by the MIAP Dataset. Original photo credits — left: Boston Public Library; middle: jen robinson; right: Garin Fons; all used with permission under the CCBY 2.0 license.
Annotations in Open Images
Each image in the original Open Images dataset contains image-level annotations that broadly describe the image and bounding boxes drawn around specific objects. To avoid drawing multiple boxes around the same object, less specific classes were temporarily pruned from the label candidate set, a process that we refer to as hierarchical de-duplication. For example, an image with labels animal, cat, and washing machine has bounding boxes annotated for cat and washing machine, but not for the redundant class animal.
The MIAP dataset addresses the five classes that are part of


($\bigtriangledown$) operator to create a few different double combinations of the Del (gradient operator):
$$\bigtriangledown \bullet (\bigtriangledown F) = \bigtriangledown^2$$ $$\bigtriangledown \times (\bigtriangledown F)$$ $$\bigtriangledown(\bigtriangledown F)$$
Only the first one is the Laplacian in $R^3$. The laplacian is n-dimensional though...but I've seen $\bigtriangledown^2$ used to refer to the laplacian in n dimensions, even though I think $\bigtriangledown$ is primarily an operator in $R^3$. In Griffiths, he describes the second one as the Curl of the gradient or something...I don't remember, but it is useful for describing magnetic fields given an electric one, or something like that.
share|improve this answer
Your Answer


text:
Experimental and simulation extinction spectra of Au nanoarrays prepared by pulse AC and normal AC methods. (a, b) Experimental extinction spectra of the Au nanoarrays grown in AAO prepared using H2SO4 and H2C2O4, respectively. (c) Simulation extinction spectra of the uniform and nonuniform Au nanoarrays with period a = 110 nm and diameter d = 34 nm. The length of the uniform nanoarray is set to be 150 nm. The simulation unit cell of the nonuniform nanoarray contains six nanowires with the length L = 50, 75, 100, 125, 150, and 200 nm.
Xue et al. Nanoscale Research Letters 2013 8:295 doi:10.1186/1556-276X-8-295


The Bonneville Youth Development Council hosted a parental drug education program Monday night at the Compass Academy in Idaho Falls.
The program teaches parents about current drug and alcohol trends among teens, pointing out signs to watch out for. Coordinator Alisha Passey said certain behaviors can point to drug use.
"Grades suddenly change, loss of old friends and gaining new friends," said Passey. "Sometimes they're really irritable."
The program focuses primarily on gateway drugs.
"We talk a lot about alcohol, underage drinking, marijuana usage and prescription drug abuse," said Passey.
Passey said teens often blow marijuana smoke through dryer sheets stuffed into empty toilet paper rolls to prevent an overwhelming scent. She also shows parents the multiple ways teens hide their drugs, like in makeshift soda cans and water bottles.
The students involved in the BYDC even point out new trends among their peers.
"They don't want substance abuse in their community," said Passey. "They see what that does to their friends and relatives, and they just want a safe community to grow up in."
Passey said even if your kid isn't doing drugs, the presentation can still be valuable.
"It may not be their kid, but it may be somebody their kid knows," said Passey. "Nine times out of 10 it probably is somebody that they know."
If you'd like to schedule a presentation, you can call the BYDC at _PHONE_.


Updated date:
The Real Hammer House of Horror: Oakley Court Hotel Windsor
Brian Langston is a retired Assistant Chief Constable now living in Southern France where he writes on crime, mysteries and the paranormal.
The Oakley Court Hotel near Windsor. Is this one of England's most haunted houses?
Supernatural Pedigree
To the west of Windsor lies the pretty village of Oakley Green which is dominated by Oakley Court, an extraordinary high-gothic mansion built on the banks of the Thames in 1859 by Sir Richard Hall-Say. Local legend claims that the house was built in the style of a French Chateau to comfort his homesick French wife. In fact, his wife was Edith Evans from nearby Boveney and the house, although magnificent, could not be described as French.
Nevertheless, it does have some French credentials. In 1919, it was bought by Ernest Olivier the Turkish Consul-General in Monte Carlo. During the Second World War, through his influence, the house became the secret headquarters of the French Resistance and Charles De Gaulle stayed in one of the bedrooms.
In 1955, Bray Studios opened next door, and the impressive tower and foreboding facade of Oakley Court became a splendidly atmospheric setting for many of their films. In 1965, after the death of Olivier, the house was left uninhabited for 14 years. During this time, Hammer and other filmmakers seized the opportunity to cast it as a creepy haunted house or Dracula's castle in over 200 films, including the Hammer Classics like The Brides of Dracula (1962), The Reptile (1966) and The Plague of the Zombies (1966). The house also featured in The Old Dark House 1963, And Now the Screaming Starts (1973), The Vampyres (1974), Murder by Death (1976) and the Peter Cook and Dudley Moore film, The Hound of the Baskervilles (1978). It is perhaps best known as Dr. Frank N. Furter's castle (called 'The Frankenstein Place') in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975).
Tragic Unexplained Deaths
The sinister pedigree was not, however, confined to the silver screen. From the late 1960s, the house was converted into flats, and it is during this period that the paranormal activity in and around the house intensified to the extent that it became described not only as haunted but evil. Residents reported hearing strange banging noises coming from parts of the house which were not occupied. Ghostly figures appeared at night driving away several tenants. Bad luck and tragedy befell many who lived there, and the atmosphere around the building apparently became so oppressive that it caused many people to commit suicide in the Thames. One man drowned in 1971 after falling from a pleasure steamer; his body was recovered near the house.
Another tragic case involved Penelope Gallerneault, aged 26, who moved into an apartment in the converted servants' quarters of Oakley Court with her husband and four children.
Friends had warned the family before they moved in that the place was haunted and had a previous history of accidents involving death by drowning. Penelope and her husband dismissed the stories as fanciful and reveled in their beautiful new riverside home. Little did they know that this was to be the worst decision they ever made. Within three years, two of their children would be dead, and their lives would be in turmoil.
The horror began in the summer of 1972 when Mrs. Gallerneault first sensed that something was very wrong at Oakley Court.
"'I started to see people walking in the grounds wearing hoods. This was accompanied by an overwhelming feeling of dread" she said. "Then one morning I found a box on the doorstep. When I opened it I was horrified to see the body of one of my cats with its neck broken". Although this was reported to the police, it was never discovered who was responsible but added to the rumors that evil forces were at work at Oakley Court.
Catastrophe struck shortly afterward when, in December, her two-year-old son, William, drowned. Mrs. Gallerneault was running him a bath when the phone rang. When she returned a few minutes later, he was floating dead in the water.
"I realise that many people might try to blame me for being careless, but that is just not the case. In a rambling old house like that, there are so many precautions you have to take.She told a newspaper in 1973.
Her grief was compounded when within months another almost identical tragedy struck the family. Her second son Edward, who was just two, was left in his playpen in the grounds of the house. Inexplicably, he managed to climb out, toddled down to the river, fell in and was drowned. The family was devastated and left the house shortly afterward, although their marriage did not survive the trauma.
Mrs Gallerneault told reporters, 'The house has an aura of evil, and I could never go back there. Horror films being made there might seem like a joke. I'm sure evil has rubbed off on the place or something awful has been invoked."
The Rev. Sebastian Jones, curate of St Michael's Church, Bray, added; "Oakley Court is definitely "spooky" and I would not want to stay there myself. Evil can generate evil, and the grounds would be an ideal place to practice black magic."
A senior policeman said at the time: "There have been some strange happenings at the house, which have never been fully explained. We made regular patrols after complaints about witchcraft being practiced and things seem to have quietened down now."
The house has an aura of evil and I would never go back there...
— Penelope Gallerneault, 1972
The Brides of Dracula 1966
The Brides of Dracula 1966
Disturbed Spirits
However, things did not remain quiet for very long. During its conversion to a hotel in the late 1970s, there were a number of strange incidents which further cemented its reputation of being one of the country's most haunted houses. On one occasion, workers fled the site when a pair of internal double doors burst open in front of them and glasses were smashed around them as if thrown by an unseen assailant.
The development was dogged with continuous electrical faults, and tools went missing and strange noises were heard coming from parts of the building they knew were unoccupied.
One contractor remarked; "From the day we started on the site we were plagued by inexplicable events. It was as though we were not welcome in the house and everything happened to delay the work or drive us away."
Workers refused to stay at the house after dark and ghost-like figures were seen on several occasions in the grounds. In response to damage being committed in the house overnight, the developers installed resident security guards but a succession of night watchman came and went after reporting hearing mournful moaning noises coming from the upper floors and the sound of people "marching on the roof." One of them narrowly escaped death after falling through the roof while investigating the strange noises.
Oakley Court Hotel
Oakley Court Hotel
Hooded figures have been seen in the grounds
Hooded figures have been seen in the grounds
A Time Slip Experienced?
In 1981, it finally opened its doors as a hotel, but the refurbishment failed to dislodge the ghostly entities. It became a regular tea spot for the Windsor police night shift, and before long, stories eerie new phenomena began to emerge from the night porters, who welcomed the nocturnal visits by the local police.
Phantom hooded figures were still observed stalking the grounds. The sound of a 'break shot' was heard coming from the billiard room in the middle of the night but when reception staff investigated they found the balls still in position and nothing had been touched.
In recent years, room 117 has acquired the reputation of being the most haunted after guests have reported seeing ghostly apparitions and even a possible time slip during their stay there.
One guest awoke in the middle of the night after sensing someone was standing next to his bed. He could make out a shadowy figure in the gloom and switched on the bedside light. He then saw standing beside the bed what he described as a 19th century gentleman in evening dress. He noticed that the room had also changed shape.
The ghost stood motionless until the guest leaped out of bed in fright and the spirit just melted away into the ether and the room reconfigured back to its correct shape. Inquiries later revealed that the configuration seen by the guest was, in fact, the original layout of the room before the refurbishment of the house although the identity of the ghost remains unknown.
Phantom Photograph
The manager of Oakley Court reports that to this day some staff will not go into one of the upstairs rooms due to an oppressive atmosphere and a feeling of being continually watched.
Guests have complained about knocks on their bedroom doors in the middle of the night and when checking have found no-one there. Visitors have also reported phantom images appearing on their camera shots. One such photograph is displayed in the hotel and shows a ghostly figure sitting at a dining table which the photographer and his companion insist, was empty when the picture was taken.
Psychics investigators claim that a pervading sense of menace still shrouds Oakley Court and it is this, rather than simply the imposing architecture and gruesome gargoyles, that accounts for the shiver down the spine which many visitors experience, when crossing the threshold for the first time.
© 2015 Brian Langston
Related Articles


text:
Eco Tech: Desalination plant in Australia will be powered entirely by renewable energy
Eco Factor: Water desalination plant in Western Australia will purchase renewable energy for power.
With the freshwater crisis looming large, specifically in places like Australia and Dubai, inventors have started looking for ways to convert seawater and make it potable. However, these desalination plants require a huge amount of energy, which mostly comes from non-renewable sources or use just a part of renewable energy.
To solve the crisis in Western Australia, a new $780 million plant is being constructed that will be able to produce about 20% of the requirements of fresh water. The noteworthy part doesn't just end here, as the developers state that the plant will entirely be powered by renewable energy, which will be purchased from utilities generating energy from solar, wind and geothermal sources.
Construction is scheduled to commence sometime later this year, with completion scheduled for 2011. Several green groups, including the WA Conservation Council, will keep a keen eye on the energy being used to make sure that plant developers aren't just making false claims.


text:
Is the GM 8 speed transmission good?
The benefit of having a GM 8 speed transmission resulted in a 10 percent better gas mileage due to the transmission staying in the better RPM power band and not shifting into a more gas consuming gear compared to the older six speed transmission which was replaced.
Does 2016 Chevy Silverado have transmission problems?
Of the Silverado's nearly 500 NHTSA complaints, 76 have to do with the power train. Among these complaints, we can see a clear pattern in drivers reporting major transmission problems, and even total transmission failure, at just under, or just over, 100,000 miles.
What is the GM 8 speed transmission called?
GM 8L90 transmission
The 8L90 is an eight-speed automatic transmission built by General Motors. It is designed for use in longitudinal engine applications either attached to the front-located engine with a standard bell housing or in the rear of the car adjacent to the differential (as in the Corvette).
What year did GM start using 8 speed transmission?
The 8-Speed GM Transmission The 8L90 was introduced in 2014 in vehicles like the Chevrolet Silverado / GMC Sierra pickups, the GMC Denali, the Corvette and Camaro, and several Cadillac applications.
What year GM trucks have transmission problems?
The 2016 and 2017 Chevrolet Silverado 1500s are also infamous for transmission issues. These two are highly likely to surge and jerk or have your transmission fail outright.
Why do Chevy transmissions fail?
The issue can be faulty shift solenoid, low transmission fluid level, wiring problems, TCM, ECU, PCM software issues, TCC solenoid failed, TCC clutch worn out, bad TCC (Torque Converter Clutch) lockup, faulty brake pedal switch. The throttle position sensor may no longer send the correct electrical signal.
What transmission does a 2016 Silverado have?
2016 Chevrolet Silverado Offers 8-Speed Automatic with 5.3-Liter V-8.
What transmission is in 2016 Silverado 1500?
6 & 8-speed automatic2016 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 / Transmission


text:
Via this project, the UIA in Mexico City commits itself to reduce its environmental footprint and help to improve community living conditions, also undertaking to make sustainability a factor in all the university's teaching and research.
Archive for Carbon footprint
The Province's Reconciliation with Creation: A Survey of Environmental Activities has shown that many Jesuit works in Australia have already incorporated audits into their environmental program. Others are seeking to do a comprehensive analysis of their carbon footprint in the future.
Many Jesuit and partnered schools have already gone down the path of implementing an audit system for their school communities.
Creighton University is among the more than 70 Jesuit schools, parishes, communities and organizations across the nation committing themselves to an unprecedented campaign to help reduce climate change which disproportionally impacts the poor and vulnerable. As part of the Ignatian PeaceAction, students from Jesuit schools, parishioners from Jesuit churches and Jesuit communities have committed to pray and act on climate change issues with a particular emphasis on mitigating the negative effects of climate change on the poor.
What is conveniently overlooked is the fact that aviation's contribution to global emissions varies from two per cent to five per cent or more, depending on who's counting. Compounding these calculations is the fact that burning fuel at high altitude has nearly three times the climate impact of burning the same fuel at ground level. There is added complexity because the nitrous oxides created are 310 times more powerful than carbon dioxide, and the effects from condensation trails (contrails) are difficult to quantify.


text:
Social development, FDI, and domestic investment
Timeframe: Jan 2003 - Dec 2003
Funder: World Bank
Creating a favourable investment climate is crucial for economic development. In this study, we explore the impact of social development variables on FDI and private domestic investment, using panel data from 75 countries for the period _PHONE_. Our results show that reducing corruption leads to an increase in domestic investment. Though we do not find a significant impact of corruption on FDI, previous studies have established a similar relationship for FDI. Thus there is evidence to suggest that combating corruption can have a beneficial effect on both domestic and foreign investment. Our results indicate that improvements in political rights and civil liberties tend to increase FDI. In contrast, political freedom appears to have a negative effect on domestic investment. However, other studies suggest that democratization has a positive impact on corruption, which makes the total effect of political freedom on domestic investment ambiguous. A few other social development variables are found to have an impact on one of the two types of investment. Religious tensions appear to deter FDI, but have no impact on domestic investment. In addition, socio-economic conditions could affect domestic investment through savings.


text:
day liveaboard safari through this region. These trips stop at all the best dive sites - usually offering three to four tanks per day, and include multiple shore excursions.
Eleuthera, Exumas and Cat Island diving seasons and weather
Like the rest of the region, these islands enjoy a tropical savannah climate with warm days, clear skies, and less humidity than the southern Caribbean. You can expect sunny afternoons and daytime temperatures between 25 and 32°C no matter when you plan to visit. During the Bahamas' mild winter between November and April, nights can become quite brisk, with temperatures dropping to 18°C and occasionally below. Then, from June to October, the rainy season brings warmer temperatures and a few days of precipitation per month.
The Bahamas are frequently impacted by hurricanes and tropical storms between June and November, with a peak in storm risk during August and September. During these months, passing storms can create rough surface conditions and poor visibility - even if they don't make landfall. Eleuthera, the Exumas, and Cat Island have far less protection than larger islands in the archipelago - like Nassau, making them particularly prone to flooding and storm surge.
Busy season runs from November through May, with two main peaks in tourism - Christmas and New Year holidays, and Spring Break. Dive here during summer months like May and June or between storm season and the holiday rush in November for uncrowded sites.
The Bahamas boast good visibility all year round, with 25 to 30 metres on most days. Water temperatures fluctuate dramatically by month, dipping as low as 22°C in January and reaching nearly 30°C in August. Depending on the timing of your trip, you may want to dive in a thin rash guard or skin, 3mm, or even 5mm wetsuit.
The Exuma Cays Land and Sea park was one of the region's first marine preserved areas, enjoying strict protection since 1958. Further initiatives in the region and the Bahamas' new nationwide environmental efforts also benefit this region tremendously, capping development and keeping the islands pristine.
In 2008, this unprecedented, region-wide collaboration called the Caribbean Challenge Initiative (CCI) was launched. This programme joins countries across the Caribbean in a voluntary commitment to protect and effectively manage at least 20% of their nearshore marine environment by 2020. So far, the effort has led to 15 new marine protected areas and three expanded areas, comprising over 11 million newly protected acres.
Other local efforts include developing sustainable fisheries, protecting Bahamanian coral reefs, and promoting environmentally responsible tourism. NGOs like The Nature Conservancy, Bahamas Reef Environment Educational Foundation, and the Bahamas National Trust are leading the charge. Additionally, more and more resorts and dive centres are joining the fight by banning single-use plastics, promoting reef-safe products, and upholding high environmental standards in their operations.
If you're hoping to get involved with conservation or citizen science during your time on the islands, you're in luck! Eleuthera, the Exumas and Cat Island are home to multiple marine institutes, coral reef restoration projects, sea turtle sanctuaries, and environmental conservation efforts that accept volunteers.


Home » Yoga » How To Treat Fat Burns
How To Treat Fat Burns
If needed, begin rescue breathing if you know how. Heres how to treat a burn with items you probably have in your kitchen.
How to treat fat burns photo 5
Jan 19, 2011. This is probably as sensible as trying to put out a fire with petrol. Hippocrates used dressings impregnated with rendered pig fat, resin and. Full-fat, whole-milk yogurt can how to treat fat burns how to treat fat burns cool and hydrate your parched skin. Burn treatment depends upon the location, total burn area, and intensity of the burn.
We show you what to do with burns that occur in how to treat fat burns home. An old-fashioned remedy for a burn was to how to treat fat burns it with butter. Full-fat, whole-milk how to treat fat burns can also help cool and hydrate your parched skin. Treating burns and scalds When to get medical attention Types of burn. While minor burns will heal without much medical attention, severe burns Burns are categorized by severity as first, second, or third degree. are the most commonly used FDA-approved drugs for treating obesity.
How to treat fat burns photo 8
Brown fat cells dont store fat they burn fat. This is probably as sensible as how to treat fat burns to put out a fire with petrol. Hippocrates home remedies to lose visceral fat dressings impregnated with rendered pig fat, resin and. Brown fat cells dont store fat they burn fat. May 25, 2017.
Nobody loves to look out of shape or gain those extra tyres around the body. Full-fat, whole-milk yogurt can also help cool hydrate how do you lose fat from your stomach parched skin. Cover the burn with cling film. down, remove wet or fat covered loose clothing as quickly as possible, then treat the can weight loss affect blood sugar. Cool the burn with cool or lukewarm running water for 20 minutes, as soon as possible after the injury. If a burn has any of the following home remedies to lose visceral fat, treat can you lose weight on a banana diet as a severe burn and get. Depending on how serious a burn is, it may be possible to treat it at home. WebMD explains first aid for treating minor and life-threatening burns. Nov 6, 2017. The researchers said it opened up new avenues for treatment.
First degree burns are similar to a painful sunburn. Burn treatment depends upon forskolin active velemenyek location, total burn area, and Home Remedies for Burns 11 Surprising Treatments That Work By Readers Digest Editors from the book Kitchen Cabinet Cures When how to 18 shake weight loss results fat burns skin gets hit with something hot, your first thought might be what to put on the burn to soothe the pain and help how do you lose fat from your stomach damage. DO NOT use adhesive dressings, apply fat, how to treat fat burns or lotion, break a blister or. The damage is more severe with second degree burns, leading to blistering and more intense pain. Applying fat to a burn will simply.
You can treat most first-degree and second-degree burns at home by running cool water over the area for 20 minutes. If needed, begin rescue breathing if you know how. If needed, begin rescue breathing if you know how.
Ease the Pain. Hippocrates used dressings impregnated with rendered pig fat, resin and. Full-fat, whole-milk yogurt can also help cool and hydrate your parched skin. An old-fashioned remedy for a burn was to smear it with butter. This is of 18 shake weight loss results. down, remove wet or nirvana weight loss & laser covered loose clothing as quickly as possible, then treat the burnscald. Lose Belly. are the most commonly used FDA-approved drugs for treating obesity. Cool It and Check It. These home remedies can flatten you lose belly fat without any fad diets or fitness.
How to treat fat burns picture 1
an excellent way to burn fat in a short period of time fat burner taken at night help improve the. Make sure that burn patients get emergency medical help if experiencing any of the following. Burning visceral fat can also burn subcutaneous fat. Nov 6, 2017. While minor burns will heal without much medical attention, severe burns Burns are categorized by severity as first, second, or third degree. glands and hair follicles the subcutaneous fat, or subcutis - the deeper layer of fat and tissue. Burns and scalds Damage to the skin and underlying tissues.
We wanted to. The how to treat fat burns ingredient in vinegar is shown to reduce body fat. Treating burns and scalds When to how to treat fat burns medical attention How to treat fat burns of burn. Brown fat cells dont store fat they burn fat. Sep 3, 2017. Four Parts Determining the Degree of Your Burn Treating Minor Burns Treating Major Burns Understanding Hospital Treatment of Major Burns Community QA Burns are a common but extremely painful injury. Relieve pain with cool compresses Relieve nidora weight loss philippines with cool compresses read more read more Burns destroy skin and the loss of skin can lead to infection, dehydration, and hypothermia (loss of body heat). down, gm fat burner wet or fat covered loose clothing as quickly as possible, then treat the burnscald.
Burns & Scalds
Clean it gently with soap and water, then cover it with a nonstick gauze bandage. Burns and scalds Damage to the skin and underlying tissues. Remove any clothing or jewellery near the burnt area of skin, including babies nappies. Jun 1, 2012. To treat a burn, follow gm fat burner first aid advice nirvana weight loss & laser. Full-fat, whole-milk yogurt can also help cool and hydrate your parched skin. Theoretically, irisin could become a treatment to help bodyweight circuit workout fat loss maintain a healthy body weight and. When people talk about wanting to burn how do you lose fat from your stomach fat, they are actually referring to two different types of fatty tissue visceral fat how to treat fat burns called.
How to treat fat burns picture 3
To treat a burn, follow the first aid advice below. eating head on by figuring out better ways how much weight can i lose doing 50 sit ups a day handle stressors in your life. While minor burns will heal without much medical attention, severe burns Burns are categorized by severity as first, fat burner taken at night, or third degree. Surprise Everyone has some belly fat, even people who have flat abs. Burns and scalds Damage to the can you lose weight on a banana diet and underlying tissues. Apply butter, fat, oil, toothpaste, petroleum jelly, egg or shoe polish. hair follicles the subcutaneous fat, or subcutis the deeper layer of fat and tissue. What natural remedies are there for reducing it.
These home remedies can flatten how to treat fat burns lose belly fat without any fad diets or fitness. Maybe the fat how to treat fat burns your rib-eye steak caught on fire, singeing your hand, or you touched the grill cover. Jul 11, 2016. Ease the Pain. Yes, you can even reduce your belly fat home. DO How do you lose how to treat fat burns from your stomach use adhesive dressings, apply fat, ointment or lotion, break a blister or.
How to treat fat burns photo 6
Released: 10.11.2017


text:
Starter feed is a protein-dense variety of feed designed to meet the dietary requirements of poultry. Starter feed has been witnessing a significant demand as it reduces the risk of livestock diseases and enhances the immune system, digestion, and feed consumption of poultry. Increasing the global population is subsequently surging the demand for meat and dairy products, further driving the demand for starter feed. As per the figures recorded by Our World in Data, globally, about 320 million tons of meat is produced each year.
Globally, there is a rise in population and is expected to grow further throughout the estimated time period. Growing demand for meat and poultry products is expected to augment the sales for starter feed market. Starter feed is an effective substitute to the conventional feed used in the poultry farms.
According to the statistics, global meat production in the year 2018 accounted for 341.16 million tons, up from 333.59 million tons from the previous year. The exponential growth in global meat production indicates higher demand for starter feed in the coming future.
The protein powder and health products have been witnessing significant growth on account of rising health awareness and changing lifestyles. As per the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) report, in the U.S., the total egg production was valued at around 97 billion in 2015 and reached about 102 billion eggs in 2016. The market is witnessing a significant surge in demand for dairy and poultry products, especially in developing countries. The below-mentioned info-graph depicts the average per capita egg consumption in 2017.
As per the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the per capita egg consumption in China was 22.35 kilograms in the year 2016 and reached 22.7 kilograms in the year 2017. Around 2.3 kilograms of starter feed is required to produce one kilogram of eggs. Thus, the rising per capita egg consumption around the world is encouraging poultry farming which is further expected to have a positive impact on the starter feed market.
Changing dietary patterns across the globe has led to low calcium intake which may have adverse effects on bone health among children and adults. Additionally, the low calcium intake contributes to diminished bone density and an increased risk of fractures. According to the International Osteoporosis Foundation projections, more than 50 percent of osteoporotic hip fractures will occur in Asia by the year 2050, which may likely surge the demand for calcium-rich foods. The main foods rich in calcium are dairy products like milk, cheese, and yogurt, thus prompting higher consumption of milk. According to the statistics published by FAO, the world currently produces around 800 million tons of milk each year and is expected to rise further.
In 2018, India had the highest milk production with 187.9 million tons followed by the U.S. with 98.72 million tons, suggesting higher consumption of starter feed in the Asia-Pacific region. Increasing demand for milk and dairy products has thus compelled the farmers to feed cattle with starter feed to ensure a healthy and profitable calf crop.
Starter feed production requires genetically modified additives and ingredients. However, stringent regulations imposed by the government on genetically modified feed ingredients hamper the market growth to a certain extent. For instance, the European Parliament implemented RegulationEC) No 1830/2003 on the genetically modified feed that requires authorization before introducing the product in the market. Additionally, the availability of various alternatives such as conventional feed and high manufacturing costs hamper market growth.
The medicated starter feed segment is projected to witness significant growth during the forecast period as it aids in building strong immunity and acts as an alternative to vaccines. The medicated starter feed is used for piglets to lower the incidence of cervical lymphadenitis, caused by Streptococci of Group E. Additionally, coccidiosis is a common intestinal disease found in chickens that can be prevented using medicated starter feed, further driving the market growth. On the other hand, the pellets segment is projected to grow with a significant CAGR on account of it offers several advantages, including easy handling and longer shelf-life.
North America is expected to dominate the market as the region is backed by the presence of the U.S., which has one of the consumers of poultry products. As per the estimations of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the global export of beef, pork, and broiler meat, is projected to increase by 5%, 2%, and 1%, respectively. On the other hand, the global production of beef and veal, pork and broiler meat is projected to reach 63 million tons, 113 million tons, and 92 million tons, respectively, in 2018. The below info-graph depicts the meat production in Europe, Asia, and North America in 2010–2018.
Asia-Pacific is expected to witness significant growth in the starter feed market. Increasing awareness regarding livestock health and the growing consumption of poultry and meat products drives the market growth. Asia is the largest meat producer, accounting for around 40-45% of total meat production. The region is also backed by the presence of leading players that are actively working to gain a competitive edge. For instance, in January 2018, Cargill Incorporation invested about USD 10 million to establish a fish feed plant in Andhra Pradesh, India, with the capacity to produce about 90, 000 tons of feed, further driving the market growth.
In Europe, the U.K. and Germany are witnessing a considerable surge in demand for poultry products. As per the Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs, in the U.K., animal feed production rose by 10%, 6.6%, and 3.7% for sheep, cattle, and calves, and pigs and in December 2017.
|Market Size||USD in Billion By 2030|
|Forecast Units||Value (USD Million)|
|Report Coverage||Revenue Forecast, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors, Environment & Regulatory Landscape and Trends|
|Segments Covered||by Type (Medicated, Non-Medicated), Form (Mash, Pellets), Livestock (Poultry, Swine, Ruminants, Aquatic)|
|Geographies Covered||North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, LAME and Rest of the World|
|Key Companies Profiled/Vendors||Associated British Foods Plc, Archer-Daniels-Midland Company, Cargill Inc., Purina Mills LLC, Evonik Industries AG, Roquette Frères S.A., Godrej Agrovet Limited, Nutreco N.V., Alltech, Inc., Charoen Pokphand Foods PCL|
|Key Market Opportunities||Increasing Prevalence Of The Food & Beverages Industry Enhances The Expansion Of The Starter Feed Market Share|