Did you know about bound-fn?
Clojure provides a lot of different facilities to handle concurrency. One of these are Vars. They can be used to store thread-local information, eg. with binding. A different thread cannot see the value „modified" with binding. And exactly there lies the rub…
A Guinea Pig
Let's start with some setup, which we can use later on.
(def *increment* 1)
(defn incr
 (+ x *increment*))
This is basically a function similar to inc which increments a given number. Compared to inc it provides a knob by which we can change the increment step.
It works!
So. Now let's try our function.
user=> (map incr [1 2 3])
(2 3 4)
Ok. Nothing exciting so far. But now let's play with our knob. We use binding to change the value of *increment* temporarily.
user=> (binding [*increment* 3]
 (doall (map incr [1 2 3])))
(4 5 6)
Yeah! It works!
It works! … Really?
As I said in the introductory paragraph: Clojure provides several facilities to handle concurrency. Besides Vars there is for example pmap. pmap is basically a drop-in replacement for map which distributes the computation of the output seq on several threads. So each map can be easily turned to parallel construct by simply adding a single character. (Whether this makes sense in every case is a different question!)
So, let's try pmap for fun and profit!
user=> (binding [*increment* 3]
 (doall (pmap incr [1 2 3])))
(2 3 4)
Huh? Argh! We got caught by the thread-localness of Vars. The changed value of *increment* established with binding is not carried over to the new thread, where the actual computation is done. There the root binding is in effect and we get the original value of *increment*.
To fix this situation we could take a hands-down approach and simply re-establish the binding in the target thread.
user=> (binding [*increment* 3]
 (doall (pmap (let [step *increment*]
 (fn [x] (binding [*increment* step] (incr x))))
 [1 2 3])))
(4 5 6)
This looks a bit silly, but imagine the binding being somewhere else in the code in a real-world project. So what do we do? We capture the thread-local binding in a local and pass a closure to pmap. This closure sets up the binding on the new thread before invocing incr.
This works but is quite a bit of tedious boilerplate. But luckily Clojure provides a helper utility for this scenario!
user=> (binding [*increment* 3]
 (doall (pmap (bound-fn [x] (incr x)) [1 2 3])))
(4 5 6)
bound-fn defines a function – similar to fn. However with the difference that it restores any thread-local bindings before executing the body of the function. So it is basically an extended approach to the above let solution.
In our case we can simplify things even more: we already have a function. We should be able to turn this function into a different one with the desired properties – similar to how memoize works. And in fact we can do that!
user=> (binding [*increment* 3]
 (doall (pmap (bound-fn* incr) [1 2 3])))
(4 5 6)
A combination of Vars and binding can be a way to modify the environment of the code, eg. by rebinding *out*. However one has to take care when crossing thread boundaries. The bound-fn and bound-fn* utilities help in such a situation.
 - binding binds in parallel, while let binds sequentially.
 - The astute reader might have noticed several doalls. Why this is necessary is explained in a previous post.
Published by Meikel Brandmeyer on.


text: The lyrics of the Tunisian anthem were written by an Egyptian in the 1930s. Originally just one verse, another two were added by the Tunisian national poet Aboul-Qacem Echebbi. The music was composed by the same person who wrote the music of the anthems of Libya and the United Arab Emirates. It was first used as an interim anthem after the deposition of the monarchy, between the times when the Bey's anthem was abolished and the first anthem under the republic was instituted. It was then introduced again in 1987 since the previous anthem was closely tied to the government of Habib Bourguiba, who had been deposed.

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


text:
We continue to celebrate the Biophysics Week! In 2016, the Biophysics Society started an annual Biophysics Week to celebrate and raise the awareness of the field. Check out their website for more information and visit the British Biophysical Society page for the UK based biophysics news!
Here at the Randall Centre for Cell & Molecular Biophysics, we have many top-notch biophysicists doing amazing research. To shed some light on the biophysics research done at our department, we've asked group leaders to share what they do and what got them into this exciting field! Check out what Prof. Brian Sutton has to say about biophysics!
Prof. Brian Sutton
Brian is a Professor of Molecular Biophysics at Randall and his group aims to understand the how allergies and asthma occur by looking at the molecules involved in these diseases at the molecular level.
What got you interested in biophysics? An inspiring lecture on protein structure from the crystallographer Louise Johnson* in Oxford, while I was studying Chemistry.
*Louise Johnson was a British biochemist and protein crystallographer. During her career, Louise determined the three-dimensional structure of lysozyme, the first enzyme structure ever solved by X-ray crystallography. Lysozyme is an enzyme present in tears and defends us from bacterial injections by chewing up the bacterial cell wall.
Explain your area of research in two sentences. I study the structures of human antibodies, particularly those produced in allergic reactions, in order to try to understand why only certain people react in this way to certain substances and to try to find ways to prevent this happening. (One long sentence, rather than two!)
Who is your favourite biophysicist? Dorothy Hodgkin* (closely followed by Rosalind Franklin)
*Dorothy Hodgkin was a British chemist who developed protein crystallography and advanced the technique of X-ray crystallography. Using X-ray crystallography, Dorothy was able to discover three-dimensional biomolecular structures, such as penicillin, vitamin B12 and insulin. Dorothy Hodgkin was awarded a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1964 for her work in the determination of biomolecular structures by X-ray techniques.
What is your favourite biophysical technique? X-ray crystallography*!
*X-ray crystallography is an experimental technique used to determine three-dimensional structures of large biomolecules, such as proteins. Protein crystals are grown and then a narrow beam of X-rays is passed through the sample and that's when the magic happens. The electron clouds surrounding the atoms tend to diffract X-rays and this diffraction pattern informs us about the three-dimensional structure of the sample!
Can you give us an example of biophysics applied in our daily lives? The use of medical imaging techniques, such as X-ray CAT scans and Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


Best Practices for Using and Maintaining an Orbital Shaker
By Aimee O'Driscoll, 13 June 2018
Using your orbital shaker correctly will ensure you get the best results for your application. What's more, taking care of your machine will help keep it running efficiently and extend its lifespan.
In this post, we reveal best practices for using and maintaining orbital shakers. While the manufacturer's recommendations should always take precedence, the pointers below can serve as general guidelines for most machines.
Using an Orbital Shaker
Whether you're a first-time user or have some experience with orbital shakers, here are some of the main things to think about during setup and use.
Ensure the Shaker is Properly Supported
When in use, orbital shakers can vibrate significantly. Use on an uneven surface could cause damage, especially for heavier machines. You can use a level and adjust the feet accordingly to ensure that the shaker is seated evenly.
Consider Location Carefully
Squeezing a benchtop or floor model shaker into a tight spot isn't a good idea, as you need enough space to ensure good ventilation. You also don't want to place it where it will be exposed to direct sunlight as this can affect temperature controls. This is especially bad for a refrigerated model. Also consider other machines in the vicinity that could be giving off heat.
Load Samples With Care
It may not seem as though it matters that much how you load your samples, but it can actually prolong the working life of the clamps if you use a little care. Simply forcing the sample into the clamp will lower the lifespan of the clamp itself. Plus it risks breaking the vessel. Instead, gently pull the clamp out enough for the vessel to easily be inserted.
Even the Load
Similar to use on an uneven surface, an uneven load can cause the orbital shaker to vibrate. The added vibration could make for increased agitation of the contents which might adversely affect the outcome of the application. An uneven load could also cause asymmetrical wear to the machine and irregular shaking. You don't have to balance an orbital shaker like you might a centrifuge, but keeping the weight distribution in mind is always a good idea.
Build Up the Speed Slowly
Even if you know the exact agitation speed you want to use, it's prudent to start slow and build up. Quickly increasing the speed can result in liquids sloshing instead of achieving the desired swirling motion. This is especially important if dealing with fragile cells, in particular those without a cell wall. Some models, such as the one below, come with a "smooth acceleration" feature which does the job of ramping up the speed gradually for you.
An example of an orbital shaker.
Many Jeio Tech shakers come with smooth acceleration and deceleration.
Keep the Volume Low
While some applications allow for a larger fill volume, in general, a low fill level (around 10-25% of the volume of the flask) allows for optimal mixing. A low volume means a greater relative surface area, maximizing the amount of aeration. Plus, a lower filling volume means you minimize the risk of spillage.
Limit Unnecessary Door Openings
If you're using an incubated or refrigerated shaker, opening the door unnecessarily with have a negative impact on the performance of the machine. Door openings will introduce ambient air and the incubation or refrigeration system will have to work harder to maintain temperature. What's more, the fluctuation in temperature caused, even if brief, could impact the results of your application, especially with samples that are particularly sensitive to temperature.
Don't Overload the Machine
Overloading your orbital shaker can cause damage in the short term or additional wear over time. Manufacturer specifications will tell you the weight limit (maximum capacity) for the machine. This includes the weight of the platforms, clamps, and screws, as well as the samples. Some shakers come with an overload protection shut-off, but this should be considered more of a 'just-in-case' feature. You shouldn't rely on the overload protection shut-off to tell you that you're putting too much weight on your shaker.
Manufacturer specifications.
Manufacturer specifications for the Benchmark Scientific Orbi-Shaker™ JR.
Maintaining an Orbital Shaker
Aside from taking care to use your orbital shaker correctly, you also need to think about maintenance of the equipment. Taking care of your machine will keep it in good working order and prolong its lifespan.
Clean Up Spills
Spills will inevitably occur with orbital shaker usage, but it's important not to let liquids get into the mechanisms. Spills can be cleaned as directed by the manufacturer, but 70% ethanol is usually a safe bet. Even if you don't tend to spill, dirt and grime can build up on shakers, so it's good idea to clean and disinfect them regularly. If you can remove the platform, you should do so while cleaning to get to any spills, dirt, or debris underneath. Just make sure it's thoroughly dry before replacing.
Inspect the Belt and Fan
Many shakers operate using a belt-based system. The belt should be inspected periodically for wear and tear. If needed, replacement parts can be ordered from the manufacturer. Similarly, if you shaker has a circulating fan, its operation should be checked regularly too.
Perform Speed Checks
It's easy to assume that if a machine switches on, then it's working correctly. Machines are usually calibrated upon purchase and during servicing, but may need to be checked in between. If the speed isn't accurate, this can obviously throw off the results of your application. You can test the speed accuracy using a calibrated sensor. You might also want to check the accuracy of the temperature (if your shaker is incubated) and the time, and test the alarms too.
Check the Air Filter and Condenser Coil on Refrigerated Models
Many refrigerated shakers have an air filter. This can become a trap for dust and dirt so should be checked regularly, at least every few months. Similarly, in refrigerated shakers, the condenser coil can become covered with dust and dirt from the environment. This will insulate the condenser making heat removal less efficient. You can usually clean the air filter and condenser coils with soap and water and dry thoroughly, unless the manufacturer guide advises differently.
Orbital shakers don't generally require a lot of upkeep. However, if you want to ensure your machine is running as efficiently and for as long as possible, it's worth following the tips above.


text: The dugong is the only herbivorous mammal that is strictly marine and a seagrass community specialist. The pasture available to the dugong varies with the tides because seagrass occurs in both intertidal and subtidal areas. We GPS-tracked seven dugongs within a 24 km2, intensively used seagrass habitat in subtropical Australia in winter. We modeled resource selection within the habitat by comparing the dugongs' use of space with the distribution of seagrass in an area defined using the combined space-use of the tracked animals. Selection by dugongs for seagrass quantity (biomass) and quality (nutrients) was analyzed within six time/tide combinations to examine the influences of tidal periodicity and the diel cycle on resource selection. Dugong habitat use was consistently centered over seagrass patches with high nitrogen concentrations, except during the day at low tides when the animals had fewer habitat choices and their space use was centered over high seagrass biomass. The association of dugongs with seagrass high in starch was positive during both day and night high tides when the animals could access the intertidal areas where seagrass biomass was generally low. Associations between dugongs and seagrass species were less definite, reflecting the potential for dugongs to exploit several species. Our model of dugong resource selection suggests that nitrogen is the primary limiting nutrient for dugong populations and also confirms the preference of dugongs for high-energy foods.

source: m-a-p/FineFineWeb


text:
The Wisconsin Center for Environmental Education supports environmental science (ES) education to enhance the environmental literacy of Wisconsin's students and teachers.
Environmental Science Teaching Licensure
An environmental science teaching license ensures educators meet state requirements and have the necessary background to teach environmental science courses. Holding an environmental science licensure makes teachers more marketable and provides options for expanding existing curriculum. There are several options for obtaining an environmental science license in Wisconsin as a preservice or inservice educator. Learn more
Wisconsin Environmental Science Course Framework
The Wisconsin Environmental Science Course Framework outlines an ideal year-long high school environmental science course. Topics in the framework are prioritized to help in planning courses of varied length. The framework is not intended to serve as a curriculum but to provide a consistent foundation upon which environmental science courses in Wisconsin can be developed. The framework should be modified to meet each individual teacher's needs.
Environmental Science Digital Resource Library
The digital resource library contains materials that can be used to teach the topics, concepts, and subconcepts in the Environmental Science Course Framework. Resources include activities; assessment strategies; labs; websites; and video, field trip, and guest speaker suggestions. Items in the library were contributed by Wisconsin teachers and can be modified to meet individual classroom needs.
Environmental Science Textbook List
This list identifies environmental science textbooks distributed by various publishers. The WCEE EE Resources Library
has copies of most of the books available for review, either in person by visiting the library in Stevens Point or through the Wisconsin Library System Delivery Network.
Environmental Science Lab Manuals and Other Books
This list identifies environmental science books distributed by various publishers. The WCEE EE Resources Library
has copies of several of the books available for review, either in person by visiting the library in Stevens Point or through the Wisconsin Library System Delivery Network.
Advanced Placement Environmental Science Course Information
Advanced placement (AP) courses are approved through The College Board
. The College Board AP ES website
features many useful resources including an AP ES topic outline, sample exam questions, and a course description.
Online Environmental Science Courses/Resources
This list contains descriptions of online ES courses and resources with links to the associated websites.
403 LRC – UWSP
Stevens Point, WI 54481


text:
Theory of a magnetic microscope with nanometer resolution
P Johansson, S Apell, David R. Penn
We propose a theory for a type of apertureless scanning near field microscopy that is intended to allow the measurement of magnetism on a nanometer length scale. A scanning tunneling microscope (STM) is used to scan a magnetic substrate while a laser is focused on the STM tip. The electric field between the tip and substrate is enhanced in such a way that the magnetic Kerr effect, which is normally of order 0.1%, is increased by up to two orders of magnitude for the case of a Ag or W tip and an Fe sample. Apart from this there is also a large background of circular polarization which is non-magnetic in origin. This circular polarization is produced by light scattered from the STM tip and substrate. A detailed retarded calculation for this light-in-light-out experiment is presented.
Physical Review B (Condensed Matter and Materials Physics)
, Apell, S.
and Penn, D.
Theory of a magnetic microscope with nanometer resolution, Physical Review B (Condensed Matter and Materials Physics), [online], _URL_
(Accessed February 28, 2024)


ADeC, Babylon Gallery
The beauty and the power of the human voice were profoundly explored in an intriguing composition by Caroline Wright entitled Voice Human Action. Using the Lady Chapel in Ely Cathedral as one large sound box, the performers presented smoothly choreographed tableaux of actions that explored the complex nature of communication.
The performance began with a quiet gathering of the participants in response to a deep resonant and gradually emerging 'ohm'. This 'ohm' sound and its amazing resonance due to the structure of the Lady Chapel captured the essence of meaningful communication in sound, reminiscent of known practices used to inspire the inner person to communicate well beyond the restrictive self.
Heightened experiences developed as the sounds altered in tone and texture and as the performers increased or decreased their personal involvement with the communication, with the other communicators and with the listeners.
The text chosen to be woven into these amazing aural encounters was based on the nature of the rainbow, a suitable symbol of hopes and desires that are inextricably part of the human psyche.
This was a most moving experience which is being further explored with Caroline's scientific/art exhibition Lines of Communication in the Babylon Gallery. One of the most amazing exhibits is a video of the internal workings of the human voice in action as someone speaks.
The exhibition and documentary film of the performance Voice Human Action may be viewed for free at the Babylon Gallery, Waterside Ely Cambs. until Sunday 20 th November: Tues-Sat 10 am-4 pm ; Sun and Bank hols 11am-5pm (not Mon) Tel:616993


text:
For the last five years, on this series, Thunderbolts colleague Andrew Hall has presented an extraordinary reconstruction of catastrophic events on Earth, exploring the telltale clues these events imprinted on our planet's surface. As Andy has explained, many of the fractal patterns we see on Earth cannot be explained through any traditional geological process. However, these geological features find intriguing analogues in some of the highest energy atmospheric phenomena seen in our solar system today.
In part one of this two part presentation, Andy presents the seventh installment of his "Eye of the Storm" series with an examination of the remarkable filamentary and dendritic patterns seen on planet Earth — patterns whose explanation may be found in the ancient events that created the cultural memory of a mythical creature, the dragon.
Previous episode from the "Eye of the Storm" series…
- Andrew Hall: Earth's Cyclone-Sheared Surface | Space News
Become a Producer through the PATREON Rewards program.
Subscribe to Thunderbolts Update newsletter.


text:
Floating Houses – Chances And Problems
Free (open access)
221 - 233
H. Stopp & P. Strangfeld
Floating architecture could be a resolution in the future for current problems in many districts, cities and landscapes. Such problems can be seen particularly in the need for additional housing areas and construction grounds in some countries in Europe and Asia as a result of the growing population and/or the slowly rising sea level in context with the worldwide climate change. Another example for problems of current interest is the use of alternative energies. The water areas of channels and closed down harbours offer good opportunities to create new water landscapes with modern marinas consisting of floating houses and other floating architecture. As this paper will show, this is achieved in the same way that brownfields, such as the pits of former opencast lignite mines, are appropriated for such modern marinas after their transformation into post-mining lakes. Thereby, the possible use of water as an alternative energy source is demonstrated too. On the other hand there are a lot of new problems with regard to the physical and chemical effects of water on the constructions of floating architecture. New materials and structures must be developed in order to withstand the attacks of waves, sea climate, salts and ph-values. The harmonisation between architecture and nature is to be discussed. Moreover, there are questions about energy and water supply, waste disposal and safety. Three years ago a new project was started with regard to these topics. The first results of the investigations supported by experiments and numerical simulations are presented in the paper. Keywords: floating architecture, floating houses, post-mining lakes.
floating architecture, floating houses, post-mining lakes


text:
Shungite influence on the water chemistry
A. Z Zaidenberg
Institute of Geology, Karelian Research Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, Petrozavodsk, Russia 185610
The Proterozoic rocks of the Shunga district (Karelia, Russia) have attracted interest for over one century because of their high carbon contents and unusual C forms. In addition to their geological fascination, shungites have properties that make them industrially interesting [ 1].
Shungite applications in adsorption of organic matter, bacterial and heavy metal removal, drinking water preparation were widely elaborated in Russia. Hypothesis concerning the role of shungite rocks in natural water systems recovering were also suggested.
Nevertheless, up to now the nature of shungite influence on the water chemistry, is not quite clear.
The most prominent features of shungite/water interaction are the following: pH alteration, extraction of metals and organic, formation of colloidal systems.
Results and Discussion
The most pronounced effects in water treatment were noticed for the so called 'type III' shungite from the Maksovo-Zazhogino deposit (Sh III). This rock is characterized by the inseparability of carbon and mineral parts and the following content (wt.%) •
C (20-32), SiO2 (57.0 -66.2), A1203 (3.20-4.45), TiO2 (0.16 - 0.3), Fe203 +FeO (1.0 - 2.3), MgO (0.4 - 0.8), CAO(0.07-0.3), K20(0.8- 1.6), Na20(0.11-0.3), MnO (0.01- 0.02), S (0.2 - 0.7).
The specific surface area measured by N2 adsorption BET technique is about 25 m 2 g-1. Neutral solutions became more acidic after the contact with Shungite III. The pH decrease up to 3.8-4.4, depending on the particle size and the Shungite - water contact conditions was found. Among possible reasons the following might take place: the influence of surface groups, catalytic destruction of organic substances, and also electrochemical reactions, in particular
4Fe(III) + C + H20 - CO2 +4Fe(II) +4H
C (O)ads + OH--- CO2 +21-1 + +3e
C (O)ads + OH --- C +H202 + e
Extraction of elemems from Shungite III under different conditions such as exposure time, electrolyte content and concentration was
investigated. Among the most intensively extracted substances Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, Ni, AI, SO4, C1, S were found. It was also shown that thermal treatment as well as fine grinding influence greatly on the character of the extraction process. In particular, increase of Na and K and decrease of AI, Fe, Ni, Cr, V extraction were noticed under both kinds of treatment.
Formation of colloidal systems is possible as a result of AI, Fc and SO4 presence in water contacted with Shungite III. However, the most unusual colloid is formed due to the Shungite rock 'dissolution', so that each micron sized colloidal particle includes carbon and mineral parts. The close connection between carbon and minerals is the very specific feature of shungite rocks which might reflect shungite origin from carbonsilicone precursor. We assumed that this feature would allow us to use shungite in a treatment of oily wastes. Indeed, we found it possible to clean water from oil up to the very high level - 0.02 - 0.05 mg/1. In this case adsorption capacity was about 60-100 mg/g and the water /sorbent ratio was as high as (_PHONE_) : 1, depending on the condition of the process.
Electrochemical treatment of the Shungite filters is possible because of Shungite rocks high conductivi.ty (1000 S m ~ ) [5}. The later also allows us to use Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy methods to control conditions of the process, such as electrolyte concentration, velocity, and also pressure applied to the shungite filter. We found that one can strongly increase the pH alternation and extraction of Fe(II)as a result of 2-10 V dc. polarization (figure 1).
Figure 1. pH and Fe(II) vs. time plots for 2, 4, 6 V shungite filter polarization
Obtained data allowed us to use Shungite III as an electrode material in flow-type electrolyzers for drinking water preparation and heavy metals (copper, nickel, cobalt, zinc) removal.
Figure 2. Power consumption vs. time plots for heavy metals electrodeposition process.
In the later case about 90% of metals were removed from sulfate solutions and 100% of nickel was precipitated in a water-ammonia solution. Practically a complete extraction of cobalt and zinc was achieved with a power consumption shown in figure 2. In addition to the above reduction of Cr (VI)to 10-100 times less toxic Cr (III) was pointed. The later allows us to elaborate a practical system for Cr (VI) removal. The main advantages of the system are the following:I) using of low cost adsorbent made of Sh III rock and timber industry waste products combination, 2) elimination of the pH adjustment step, 3) easy utilization of the exhausted adsorbent by thermal oxidation. The ash containing up to 90 wt.% chrome (III) oxide can be used in metallurgy as an abrasive and pigmem.
The results allow us to use shungite as a new carbonmineral adsorbent and also utilize its specific properties: pH alteration, formation of the colloid systems and high electroconductivity in flow-type electrolyzers for heavy metals removal.
The study was supported by the Russian Foundation for Intellectual Collaboration (grant "Shungite').
1. Kalinin, Yu.K., Proc. Of the All -Union Society of Mineralogy, CXIX, NS, 1990, 1-8 (in Russ.)
2. ~ev, E.F, Kalinin, Yu.K., Zaguralskaya, L.M., Zaidenberg, A.Z., in Geology and Protection of Mineral Wealth of Karelia. Karelian Research Center, Russ..Acad. of Sci., Petrozavodsk, 1992, p. 20 (in Russ.).
3. Kalinin, A.I., Theoretical basis for self recovering processes of contaminated water. Proc. St. Petersburg Center of Ecological Security.
4. Zaidenberg, A.Z.,. Bormatov, A.A., Beloshapkin, A.A., Dyukkiev, E.F, in Engineering Problems in Ecology, (Ext. Abstr. Ira. Conf.), Vologda, Russia, 1993, pp. 15-21 (in Russ.).
5. Parfenyeva, L.S., Smimov, I.A, Zaidenberg, A.Z., Rozhkova, N.N., Stefanovich, G.B., Russ. Phys. Sol. State, 1994, 36, pp.234-236
6. Solovov, V.K., Tupolev, A.G., Zaidenberg, A.Z., Zverev, A.A., Kalinin Yu.K., in MICC-90 Moscow International Composites Conference, ed. I.N. Fridlyander, V.I. Kostikov. Elsvier Applied Science. London and NY, 1991. pp. 1343- 1347.


Qualitative and Quantitative Analyses of Phytochemicals and Antioxidant Activity of Ficus sagittifolia (Warburg Ex Mildbread and Burret)
Moraceae family has immense phytochemical constituents and significant pharmacological properties, hence have great medicinal values. The aim of this study was to screen and quantify phytochemicals as well as the antioxidant activities of the leaf and stem bark extracts and fractions (crude ethanol extracts, n-hexane, ethyl acetate and aqueous ethanol fractions) of Ficus sagittifolia. Leaf and stem bark of F. sagittifolia were extracted by maceration method using ethanol to give ethanol crude extract. The ethanol crude extract was partitioned by n-hexane and ethyl-acetate to give their respective fractions. All the extracts were screened for their phytochemicals using standard methods. The total phenolic, flavonoid, tannin, saponin contents and antioxidant activity were determined by spectrophotometric method while the alkaloid content was evaluated by titrimetric method. The amount of total phenolic in extracts and fractions were estimated in comparison to gallic acid, whereas total flavonoids, tannins and saponins were estimated corresponding to quercetin, tannic acid and saponin respectively. 2, 2-diphenylpicryl hydrazyl radical (DPPH)* and phosphomolybdate methods were used to evaluate the antioxidant activities of leaf and stem bark of F. sagittifolia. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of flavonoids, saponins, terpenoids/steroids, alkaloids for both extracts of leaf and stem bark of F. sagittifolia. The phenolic content of F. sagittifolia was most abundant in leaf ethanol crude extract as 3.53 ± 0.03 mg/g equivalent of gallic acid. Total flavonoids and tannins content were highest in stem bark aqueous ethanol fraction of F. sagittifolia estimated as 3.41 ± 0.08 mg/g equivalent of quercetin and 1.52 ± 0.05 mg/g equivalent of tannic acid respectively. The hexane leaf fraction of F. sagittifolia had the utmost saponin and alkaloid content as 5.10 ± 0.48 mg/g equivalent of saponins and 0.171 ± 0.39 g of alkaloids. Leaf aqueous ethanol fraction of F. sagittifolia showed high antioxidant activity (IC50 value of 63.092 µg/mL) and stem ethanol crude extract (227.43 ± 0.78 mg/g equivalent of ascorbic acid) for DPPH and phosphomolybdate method respectively and the least active was found to be the stem hexane fraction using both methods (313.32 µg/mL; 16.21 ± 1.30 mg/g equivalent of ascorbic acid). The presence of these phytochemicals in the leaf and stem bark of F. sagittifolia are responsible for their therapeutic importance as well as the ability to scavenge free radicals in living systems.
Study of Polyphenol Profile and Antioxidant Capacity in Italian Ancient Apple Varieties by Liquid Chromatography
Safeguarding, studying and enhancing biodiversity play an important and indispensable role in re-launching agriculture. The ancient local varieties are therefore a precious resource for genetic and health improvement. In order to protect biodiversity through the recovery and valorization of autochthonous varieties, in this study we analyzed 12 samples of four ancient apple cultivars representative of Friuli Venezia Giulia, selected by local farmers who work on a project for the recovery of ancient apple cultivars. The aim of this study is to evaluate the polyphenolic profile and the antioxidant capacity that characterize the organoleptic and functional qualities of this fruit species, besides having beneficial properties for health. In particular, for each variety, the following compounds were analyzed, both in the skins and in the pulp: gallic acid, catechin, chlorogenic acid, epicatechin, caffeic acid, coumaric acid, ferulic acid, rutin, phlorizin, phloretin and quercetin to highlight any differences in the edible parts of the apple. The analysis of individual phenolic compounds was performed by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) coupled with a diode array UV detector (DAD), the antioxidant capacity was estimated using an in vitro essay based on a Free Radical Scavenging Method and the total phenolic compounds was determined using the Folin-Ciocalteau method. From the results, it is evident that the catechins are the most present polyphenols, reaching a value of 140-200 μg/g in the pulp and of 400-500 μg/g in the skin, with the prevalence of epicatechin. Catechins and phlorizin, a dihydrohalcone typical of apples, are always contained in larger quantities in the peel. Total phenolic compounds content was positively correlated with antioxidant activity in apple pulp (r2 = 0,850) and peel (r2 = 0,820). Comparing the results, differences between the varieties analyzed and between the edible parts (pulp and peel) of the apple were highlighted. In particular, apple peel is richer in polyphenolic compounds than pulp and flavonols are exclusively present in the peel. In conclusion, polyphenols, being antioxidant substances, have confirmed the benefits of fruit in the diet, especially as a prevention and treatment for degenerative diseases. They demonstrated to be also a good marker for the characterization of different apple cultivars. The importance of protecting biodiversity in agriculture was also highlighted through the exploitation of native products and ancient varieties of apples now forgotten.
Graft Copolymerization of Cellulose Acetate with Nitro-N-Amino Phenyl Maleimides
The construction of Nitro -N-amino phenyl maleimide branches onto Cellulose acetate (CA) substrate by free radical graft copolymerization using benzoyl peroxide as initiator led to formation of highly thermal stable copolymers as shown from the results of gravimetric analysis (TGA). CA-g-2,4-dinitro amino phenyl maleimide exhibited higher thermal stability than the CA-g-4-nitro amino phenyl maleimide as shown from the initial decomposition temperature (To). This is due to the ability of nitro group to form hydrogen bonding with hydroxyl group of the glucopyranose ring which increases the crystallinity of polymeric matrix. The crystalline shapes representing the graft part are clearly distinct in the Emission scanning electron microscope (ESEM) morphology of the copolymer. A suggested reaction mechanism for the grafting process was also discussed.
Effect of Three Drying Methods on Antioxidant Efficiency and Vitamin C Content of Moringa oleifera Leaf Extract
Moringa oleifera is a plant containing many nutrients that are mostly concentrated within the leaves. Commonly, the separation process of these nutrients involves solid-liquid extraction followed by evaporation and drying to obtain a concentrated extract, which is rich in proteins, vitamins, carbohydrates, and other essential nutrients that can be used in the food industry. In this work, three drying methods were used, which involved very different temperature and pressure conditions, to evaluate the effect of each method on the vitamin C content and the antioxidant efficiency of the extracts. Solid-liquid extractions of Moringa leaf (LE) were carried out by employing an ethanol solution (35% v/v) at 50 °C for 2 hours. The resulting extracts were then dried i) in a convective oven (CO) at 100 °C and at an atmospheric pressure of 750 mbar for 8 hours, ii) in a vacuum evaporator (VE) at 50 °C and at 300 mbar for 2 hours, and iii) in a freeze-drier (FD) at -40 °C and at 0.050 mbar for 36 hours. The antioxidant capacity (EC50, mg solids/g DPPH) of the dry solids was calculated by the free radical inhibition method employing DPPH˙ at 517 nm, resulting in a value of 2902.5 ± 14.8 for LE, 3433.1 ± 85.2 for FD, 3980.1 ± 37.2 for VE, and 8123.5 ± 263.3 for CO. The calculated antioxidant efficiency (AE, g DPPH/(mg solids·min)) was 2.920 × 10-5 for LE, 2.884 × 10-5 for FD, 2.512 × 10-5 for VE, and 1.009 × 10-5 for CO. Further, the content of vitamin C (mg/L) determined by HPLC was 59.0 ± 0.3 for LE, 49.7 ± 0.6 for FD, 45.0 ± 0.4 for VE, and 23.6 ± 0.7 for CO. The results indicate that the convective drying preserves vitamin C and antioxidant efficiency to 40% and 34% of the


>. You can view the git forge as a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) or serverless computing provider. The app doesn't need to be deployed elsewhere, because the git forge itself is the execution environment. A GFA must be able to: Process data. Store data. Interact with the outside world. This is basically what computer applications do. Git forges have become powerful enough to do this. Imagine the following: you fork a repository and this instantiates the GFA. The GFA is now running under your git forge account. The web interface is available at https://<user>;app>/ and HTTP POST requests can also be used to interact with the application. The GFA could be a todo list, an RSS reader, a blog, etc. To the website visitor it appears like any other web application but everything happens within the git forge and no other hosting provider is necessary. Let's look at how it's possible to use a git forge as the execution environment for an app. Processing DataThe first order of business is executing code so that the application can process data. A configuration file is placed into a git repository to define runnable jobs. The job execution systems offered by git forges are GitLab CI and GitHub Actions, respectively. When the job is triggered it executes in a temporary environment, for example a Linux container image. It allows code hosted in the git repository to run on a server somewhere for a little while. There is a free allowance that grants a certain number of hours of unpaid execution time. This is how GFAs process data. For example, say we are building an RSS reader. Our repo looks like this:rss-reader/.gitlab-ci.yml - the job configuration file - download RSS feeds and check for new posts The .gitlab-ci.yml file will contain a scheduled pipeline that runs every 15 minutes. Storing DataApplications need to store data persistently. The primary way of doing that in a git forge is by storing data in the git repository itself. Mutable data can be kept on a separate branch called data and can be force-pushed to avoid forever increasing the repository size when we don't need to store previous revisions of the data. This works because each git branch has an independent commit history. The file namespace it stores is completely separate from other branches. This means it's possible to have the GFA's code on the main branch and to store data on the data branch without upsetting the commit history or files on the main branch. Data storage is available to jobs because they are allowed to manipulate their own git repository thanks to an authentication token. On GitHub GITHUB_TOKEN allows jobs to push to their git repository. This gives jobs a way of storing data. There are other forms of data storage besides the git repository. Artifactsare files produced by a job that can be downloaded via a URL. Artifacts are subject to expiry time and file size limitations. Caching is available to temporarily store files between job runs, although this data can be lost at any time. At this point you may be thinking that this is nice but there is no way to store private data if the git repository is public. Git forges offer a secrets mechanism where variables can be stored privately and only made available during job execution. This can be used to stash an encryption key so that the data is stored in public but is encrypted. Anyone can download the encrypted data but they will not have the key needed to decrypt it. Some applications can also take advantage of client-side encryption and homomorphic encryption. Interacting with the Outside WorldGit forges offer a wealth of ways to interact with the outside world, called triggers. Triggers can run a job when an HTTP POST request is made. POST requests typically need a trigger token for authentication, but that token can be published if the triggered job is safe to be invoked by anyone. Both browser clients and Webhooks can invoke triggers through HTTP POST requests. For example, imagine our RSS reader app needs an API to mark feeds as read. We define an HTTP POST trigger that runs a script that updates the feeds stored in the data branch. Since only the git repository owner should be able to invoke this trigger we do not publish the trigger token. Instead it is stored encrypted in the repository and the user provides a passphrase for decrypting this secret. At this point it is also useful to offer a web interface. This is possible thanks to the static pages hosting feature called GitLab Pages and GitHub Pages. Pushing HTML, JavaScript, CSS, and images to a special branch publishes the static website at https://<user>;app>/. For the most part GFAs are asynchronous, they cannot handle HTTP requests synchronously like a web application that outputs an HTTP response. Incoming HTTP requests simply schedule GFA jobs that run sometime later. There are a few ways around this. The browser can poll for results using XMLHttpRequest or similar techniques. Alternatively, a GFA can fire up a job that runs for several minutes although I haven't investigated if there is a practical way to communicate with a web application running in a job (I guess incoming HTTPS is tricky to achieve). Triggers offer a lot more fun than what I've already covered. They can respond to the creation and modification of wiki pages, issues, and pull request comments. This means it's possible to use those entities for interacting with the outside world. The GFA could act as a chat bot on its issue tracker, for example. LimitationsGit forges weren't designed for GFAs. But then they weren't initially designed to be Turing complete and offering ways to interact with the outside world either. That was added incrementally as demand for that functionality grew. Maybe git forges will evolve into full-blown serverless hosting competitors to today's cloud hosting providers. GFAs are a hack that uses features like static pages, CI jobs, and webhooks in a creative way to run applications on a git forge. Building GFAs that are actually useful is likely to hit some challenges: No synchronous requests - it is hard to implement search queries and other dynamic behavior in GFAs because they are primarily asynchronous (and slow!). This limitation matters for certain classes of applications. A lot can be done client-side instead to make up for this deficiency. But maybe someone can figure out how to do synchronous requests in GFAs. Security - I have outlined how to make data publicly available and also how to encrypt it so only the git repository owner can view the plaintext. This is enough for personal web applications, but it's not sufficient for multi-user applications. Maybe git forges offer a form of authentication that works with GFAs so multiple users can store private data in a single GFA instance (the git repository owner could view all users' data but other users could not). Free usage tiers - job execution time, storage capacity, and request throttling will limit how resource-intensive a GFA can be before it outgrows the free tier and eventually even the paid tier. The first generation of GFAs could be written from scratch with each job carefully designed. Then a second generation of GFAs could be built on top of frameworks that abstract the tedious git forge integration with standard APIs and data models. For example, a Vue.js frontend could use a key/value store API and the whole thing can be hosted as a GFA. Even if GFAs don't become a thing because git forges decide there is not enough demand to make them work really well, changing your perspective to think of git forges in this way is valuable. For example, I have a git repo for building a container image that I deploy on my server and that pushes output files to a web server host. All of that can be replaced with a git repository that runs a job and publishes to GitLab Pages. This simplifies things and frees me from maintaining infrastructure. ConclusionGit forges offer jobs for processing data, git repositories and artifacts for storing data, and triggers for interacting with the outside world. It is possible to build applications that exist solely as a git repository on a git forge. There is no longer a need to deploy code because the git forge itself is powerful enough to run non-trivial applications. I look forward to how


user_guide:tutorials:release:4.10:apps_group
This tutorial is probably also available as a Jupyter notebook in the demo folder in the polymake source and on github.
Different versions of this tutorial: latest release, release 4.12, release 4.11, release 4.10, release 4.9, release 4.8, release 4.7, release 4.6, release 4.5, release 4.4, release 4.3, release 4.2, release 4.1, release 4.0, release 3.6, nightly master
Groups in polymake
polymake can deal with symmetry groups acting on polytopes, point/vector configurations and simplicial complexes. This can take the guise of permutation or matrix groups acting on the set of vertices (points), facets, or coordinates of realizations of polytopes or point/vector configurations, or abstract permutation groups acting on the set of vertices or facets of a simplicial complex.
Some functionality builds on PermLib, a C++-library for permutation computations written by Thomas Rehn, but much functionality is built in natively into polymake. For example, you can natively calculate conjugation classes of permutation or matrix groups, projectors to the isotypic components of representations, or the invariant polynomials of a matrix representation.
We start with the description of permutation groups in polymake. An object of type Group records the abstract properties of the groups that do not depend on any particular representation, which essentially are just the ORDER, CHARACTER_TABLE, and CONJUGACY_CLASS_SIZES. Moreover, a Group object can contain several subobjects that encode actions (representations) of the group, most notably a PERMUTATION_ACTION that encodes permutations of indices. If the Group object is contained inside a Cone, Polytope, PointConfiguration, or VectorConfiguration, it may be encoded more specifically as a RAY_ACTION, FACET_ACTION, etc. See the documentation for more information on the action types.
In order to access the complete set of functions dealing with groups, you should switch to the corresponding
> application "group";
As we mentioned before, the only properties that are stored directly in the Group object are the order, the sizes of the conjugacy classes, and sometimes the character table. Other properties, such as representatives for the conjugacy classes themselves, depend on the action chosen, and are thus stored inside the corresponding *_ACTION object.
For the symmetric groups, we currently include the CHARACTER_TABLE up to degree 7; for the group::dihedral_group we provide the conjugacy classes in full generality, and the CHARACTER_TABLE in an exact form for the dihedral groups of order 10, 16, 20, and 24 (where it can be expressed using a single quadratic extension of the rationals). For the other dihedral groups, we provide AccurateFloat representations of the entries of the character table, as polymake currently cannot work with arbitrary cyclotomic integers.
> print dihedral_group(20)->CHARACTER_TABLE;
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1 1 1 -1 -1
1 -1 1 -1 1 -1 1 -1
1 -1 1 -1 1 -1 -1 1
2 1/2+1/2r5 -1/2+1/2r5 1/2-1/2r5 -1/2-1/2r5 -2 0 0
2 -1/2+1/2r5 -1/2-1/2r5 -1/2-1/2r5 -1/2+1/2r5 2 0 0
2 1/2-1/2r5 -1/2-1/2r5 1/2+1/2r5 -1/2+1/2r5 -2 0 0
2 -1/2-1/2r5 -1/2+1/2r5 -1/2+1/2r5 -1/2-1/2r5 2 0 0
> print dihedral_group(22)->CHARACTER_TABLE;
1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1 1 1 -1
2 3788669096982621/2251799813685248 3741725795518811/4503599627370496 -2563716210467435/9007199254740992 -2949230557375555/2251799813685248 -8642344396869719/4503599627370496 0
2 3741725795518811/4503599627370496 -2949230557375555/2251799813685248 -1080293049608715/562949953421312 -2563716210467439/9007199254740992 3788669096982621/2251799813685248 0
2 -2563716210467435/9007199254740992 -1080293049608715/562949953421312 7483451591037615/9007199254740992 3788669096982621/2251799813685248 -2949230557375555/2251799813685248 0
2 -2949230557375555/2251799813685248 -2563716210467439/9007199254740992 3788669096982621/2251799813685248 -8642344396869719/4503599627370496 7483451591037615/9007199254740992 0
2 -8642344396869719/4503599627370496 3788669096982621/2251799813685248 -2949230557375555/2251799813685248 7483451591037615/9007199254740992 -2563716210467435/9007199254740992 0
For internal consistency, it is crucial that the GROUP->*_ACTION->CONJUGACY_CLASS_REPRESENTATIVES (and thus the ->CONJUGACY_CLASSES themselves) be ordered in accordance with the columns of the GROUP->CHARACTER_TABLE. This is guaranteed to be the case for the character tables provided natively by polymake, but if you import character tables from GAP or other sources, correctly ordering the conjugacy classes is up to you.
An instance of a group action is created by specifying its property GENERATORS, a set of permutations or matrices that generates the group. The Group object itself is then constructed by passing the action. In the following example we create a symmetric group of degree 3, and then compute its order.
> $p = new PermutationAction(GENERATORS => [[1,0,2],[0,2,1]]);
> $g = new Group(PERMUTATION_ACTION => $p);
> print $g->ORDER;
6
Of course, there is a user function for creating symmetric groups given the degree, as well as for several other standard constructions. See the docs for a comprehensive list.
> $h = symmetric_group(3);
> print $h->PERMUTATION_ACTION->GENERATORS;
1 0 2
0 2 1
We can compute some interesting properties of a PermutationAction:
> $p = new PermutationAction(GENERATORS => [[1,0,2],[0,2,1]]);
> print all_group_elements($p);
0 1 2
0 2 1
1 0 2
1 2 0
2 0 1
2 1 0
There also exist basic functions to compute orbits and stabilizers, for instance:
> $p = new PermutationAction(GENERATORS => [[1,0,2],[0,2,1]]);
> $s = stabilizer_of_set($p,new Set<Int>(1,2));
> print $s->PERMUTATION_ACTION->GENERATORS;
0 2 1
> print $s->PERMUTATION_ACTION->ORBITS;
{0}
{1 2}
polymake natively uses index notation for permutations: a permutation g ∈ Sn is an 'Array of length n with entries 0, . . . , n − 1 which corresponds to the second row of the common permutation notation. For instance, the permutation
0 1 2
1 0


Ending harassment and violence against all women, everywhere
By Jamie O'Dell*
Content note: Sexual violence.
Protestors at Clapham Common bandstand after the police attempted to disperse the crowd on March 13.
Sarah Everard was last seen walking home from Clapham Common in south London on 3rd March, after meeting a friend. On March 12th police confirmed that they had found her body in Kent woodland.
The circumstances surrounding Sarah's disappearance have been harrowing. Taught from a young age to fear the man in the dark, this is every woman's worst nightmare; the loss of another woman's life at the hands of a Metropolitan police officer is resonant and painful. It is a case that sits at the extreme end of a spectrum of misogynistic harm inflicted on women.
It is a familiar plotline in fiction – the assault and murder of women is omnipresent in television and film, often sensationalised, often using violence against women as a cursory plot device.
But for women across the UK, the risk of harassment and violence is an exhausting, habitual lived reality. From too early an age women have been forced to normalise and internalise the risk assessments they make whenever they enter public space.
The outpouring of grief for Sarah's murder and rage at her loss reached profound levels in the past week, as thousands of women took to social media to share their experiences of sexual harassment, violence and abuse at the hands of men.
These testimonies have provided powerful evidence that women can apply every preventative strategy and still be the target of violence. A United Nations study released this week found that 97% of 18-24 year olds in the UK have been sexually harassed. This is not solely by strangers on the street either. Often, this abuse is close to home, occurring in broad daylight or at the hands of men they know such as friends or partners.
A social issue, not a individual one
This is an issue for all women, everywhere, including Stroud. Although this type of violence may be viewed as more of an urban issue, women and girls across our rural district face harassment, abuse and violence every day at the same level that women and girls do in urban areas.
Of course, although rare, there have been attempted kidnaps – in Chalford last year for instance – and it was reported last year that there had been 200 sexual offences in Stroud between March 2019-2020. Given the staggering level of sexual offences that go unreported, it is hard to imagine what the true number was.
Alongside personal behavioural changes, we must also address the structural dimensions which contribute to the reproduction and facilitation of gendered violence, and the prevention of this in particular is where men need to step up and act.
This involves engaging with and building community level organisations which facilitate men in dismantling cultural and behavioural vectors of gendered violence. However, access to public services are often more scarce in rural communities.
Doors are being slammed on survivors of violence. Refuges are being shut down, legal aid has been cut, social housing is scarce and the benefits system is being destroyed. The government is building prisons not refuges, opening immigration detention centres not Rape Crisis centres, and arming the police, not funding mental health support. Vital domestic violence services are being de-specialised by local councils who are selling off contracts to the lowest bidder. – Sisters Uncut
What can men in the Stroud area and beyond do?
In the reaction to Sarah's disappearance, men themselves have largely been absent in the conversation. But this conversation should not be about what women can do to avoid harm, but what men can do to end it and it should be characterised by men, rather than just women, being actively and ardently involved while bearing the emotional load of doing the work.
There is more than enough information and testimony out there to enable men to teach themselves and other men about things such as patriarchy, toxic masculinity and male violence, and their own role in and culpability for this.
Women already do all they can to reduce their vulnerability and avoid being in harm's way, but they will never be free from the fear and threat of assault without systemic changes to our society and our collective individual behaviours.
What changes does this involve?
Firstly there are the immediate behaviour changes. Not walking immediately behind someone, running close to them, keeping your face visible, calling a friend while walking so you're audibly less of a threat. These are the basic things men can do to reduce the daily burden and make public spaces more accessible and less threatening to women.
Secondly, preventing sexual harassment is every mans responsibility. Bystander intervention is a key part of this, and there are a range of ways that a bystander can be involved before, during or after a situation. This also means standing in solidarity with women if and when they speak out. There's a reason the phrase 'your silence is violence' exists.
Thirdly, as a society we need a cultural shift. Sexual assault and harassment is fundamentally a symptom of a deeper problem in society characterised by enduring patriarchal structures and misogynistic and attitudes towards women.
That means calling out your friends, neighbours, relatives when they are offensive to, or threaten women, online as well as in person, and educating men and boys about women's daily reality and their role in this, whether they recognise it or not.
Throughout all of this it is also important men remember that they don't deserve praise or applause simply for standing up for what's right. The notion that not directly committing or perpetuating harmful actions as the baseline of a 'good guy' enables 'good guys' to falsely separate themselves from gender based violence and thus avoid being part of the solution, instead passively remaining as part of the problem.
It also means seeing gender based violence intersectionally, which means understanding and recognising the specific experiences that different women will go through, based upon factors such as their class, race or their gender identity. This is while recognising and challenging the role of institutions, such as the police and the state more widely, in committing and perpetuating violence against women.
The lack of surprise so many women in and around Stroud felt upon hearing the news of Sarah Everard's disappearance demonstrates just how far we have to go as a society. But, by modifying our behaviours and through men talking to, educating, and challenging each other, we as a society can start to make progress towards tackling violence against women, everywhere.
One article is not enough to cover the issues and topics raised here at Amplify Stroud, as part of our core aim of platforming the voices of under-represented communities of the Stroud region and to challenge local injustice and inequality, we hope to explore these issues and their local context in more detail. If you would like to produce content one this, or any other topic, that we can platform and promote, we would love to hear from you at _EMAIL_
*This was not the sole work of one author, my thanks goes to all the women and men who contributed and reviewed this article.
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Modeling of Security Patterns in Palladio
Aus IPD-Institutsseminar
Version vom 30. September 2017, 15:01 Uhr von Emre Taspolatoglu (Diskussion | Beiträge)
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Vortragende(r) Christian Busch
Vortragstyp Diplomarbeit
Betreuer(in) Emre Taşpolatoğlu
Termin Fr 6. Oktober 2017
Vortragsmodus
Kurzfassung Software itself and the contexts, it is used in, typically evolve over time. Analyzing and ensuring security of evolving software systems in contexts, that are also evolving, poses many difficulties. In my thesis I declared a number of goals and propose processes for the elicitation of attacks, their prerequisites and mitigating security patterns for a given architecture model and for annotation of it with security-relevant information. I showed how this information can be used to analyze the systems security, in regards of modeled attacks, using an attack validity algorithm I specify. Process and algorithm are used in a case study on CoCoME in order to show the applicability of each of them and to analyze the fulfillment of the previously stated goals. Security catalog meta-models and instances of catalogs containing a number of elements have been provided.


text:
This Polish-Podlachian phrasebook is primarily a collection of prescriptive phrases of the Podlachian language for Podlachian peole who in public communication either use solely a foreign language or employ a great deal of barbarisms because of an insufficient knowledge of their mother tongue.
The phrasebook may also serve to all the interested parties — both Podlachian and foreign — as a handbook of the standardized version of the Podlachian language that we propagate via our website.
The phrasebook includes all typical conversational situations found in a phrasebook of a similar size for any other language and a lot of nontypical ones. The stress has been made to present the Podlachian language in its lexical and stylistic diversity.
Work in progress.
* * *
In the search field, you can use * character (asterisk) for a wildcard, for example: ala* (search for words that start with ala...), *tka (search for words that end with...tka), etc.
Total entries in the dictionary: 1 360


text:
whether the short first leaf with the rounded tip is included. If in doubt with these newer herbicides, check with your ag. chemical technical representative to verify which leaf staging method is appropriate for the herbicide you intend to use.
Staging Older Plants. As corn plants develop, the lower few leaves typically die or are torn away from the stem by the expansion of the stalk or by developing roots. Consequently, growth stage identification can be difficult on older plants when you aren't sure which leaves to begin counting first. But, not to worry, growth staging can still be accomplished!
First, dig or pull a plant without breaking the stalk. With a knife, carefully split the stalk down the middle, completely through the root ball. Look for the lowermost obvious internode (the whitish area between the "woody" horizontal stalk nodes) above the triangular "woody" base of the stalk. This first internode's length is typically only 1/2 to 3/4 inch.
Determine which leaf corresponds with the node immediately above the first noticeable internode by carefully identifying which leaf sheath attaches to the node. This leaf is usually Leaf #5. Once Leaf #5 is identified, then stage the plant by continuing to count the remainder of the leaves with visible leaf collars above Leaf #5. For example, assume you've identified Leaf #5 and there are six more leaves above that one with visible leaf collars, then the plant is at leaf stage V11 (11 leaves with visible leaf collars).
Typical deterioration of lower leaves in older corn plants
Split stalk illustrating the first distinguishable node above the pithy triangle
Loux, Mark, Anthony F. Dobbels, Jeff Stachler, Bill Johnson, Glenn Nice, & Tom Bauman. 2010. 2010 Weed Control Guide for Ohio and Indiana (WS-16). Table 7: Rainfast Intervals, Spray Additives, and Maximum Crop Size for Postemergence Corn Herbicides. Purdue Univ. & Ohio State Univ. Coop. Ext. Services. [On-Line]. Available at . [URL accessed May 2010].
Nielsen, R.L. (Bob). 2008. Tips for Staging Corn with Severe Leaf Damage. Corny News Network, Purdue Univ. [On-Line]. Available at . [URL accessed May 2010].
Nielsen, R.L. (Bob). 2008. Use Thermal Time to Predict Leaf Stage Development in Corn. Corny News Network, Purdue Univ. [On-Line]. Available at . [URL accessed May 2010].
Nielsen, R.L. (Bob). 2010. Heat Unit Concepts Related to Corn Development. Corny News Network, Purdue Univ. [On-Line]. Available at . [URL accessed May 2010].
Purdue University. 2010. Corn & Soybean Field Guide (ID-179). To order, call Purdue Extension toll-free at _PHONE_ and ask for the Media Distribution Center.
Ritchie, S.W., J.J. Hanway, and G.O. Benson. 1993. How a Corn Plant Develops (SP-48). Iowa State Univ. [On-Line]. Available at . [URL accessed May 2010].
Heat Unit Concepts Related to Corn Development – (Bob Nielsen)
Growth and development of corn are strongly dependent on temperature. Corn develops faster when temperatures are warmer and more slowly when temperatures are cooler. For example, a string of warmer than normal days in late spring will encourage faster leaf development than normal. Another example is that a cooler than normal grain filling period will delay the calendar date of grain maturity.
The phrases "string of warmer than normal days" and "cooler than normal grain filling period" can be converted mathematically into measures of thermal time by calculating the daily accumulations of heat using temperature data. Commonly used terms for thermal time are Growing Degree Days (GDDs), Growing Degree Units (GDUs), or heat units (HUs).
Different methods exist for calculating heat units depending on a) the crop or biological organism of interest and b) the whim or personal preference of the researcher. The calculation method most commonly used throughout the U.S. for determining heat unit accumulation relative to corn phenology is the formula first suggested by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in 1969 and labeled as the "'Modified Growing Degree Day" formula in 1971.
This method calculates daily accumulation of GDDs as the average daily temperature (°F) minus 50. The "modification" refers to the limits imposed on the daily maximum and minimum temperatures allowed in the calculation. Daily maximums greater than 86 degrees F are set equal to 86 in the calculation of the daily average temperature. Similarly, daily minimums less than 50 degrees F are set equal to 50 in the calculation.
If the daily maximum temperature was 80°F and the minimum was 55°F, the GDD accumulation for the day would be ((80 + 55) / 2) – 50 or 17.5 GDDs.
Example 2: (Illustrating the limit on daily maximums):
If the daily maximum temperature was 90°F and the minimum was 72°F, the GDD accumulation for the day would be ((86 + 72) / 2) – 50 or 29 GDDs.
Example 3: (Illustrating the limit on daily minimums):
If the daily maximum temperature was 68°F and the minimum was 41°F, the GDD accumulation for the day would be ((68 + 50) / 2) – 50 or 9 GDDs.
In late April to early May, normal daily GDD accumulations for central Indiana are about 10 GDDs. By late July, the normal daily accumulation rises to about 23 GDDs. For a typical corn growing season in central Indiana, say from late April to late September, the total seasonal accumulation of GDDs is about 2800 GDDs.
Historical normal GDD accumulations on a weekly basis for Indiana's nine Crop Reporting Districts are listed in the accompanying table and are also available in Purdue's Corn & Soybean Field Guide, Extension publication ID-179. These historical GDD values can be used to estimate weekly GDD accumulations if you do not have access to current temperature data.
Obviously, the ability to calculate daily heat unit accumulations is dependent on your having access to daily maximum and minimum temperatures. If you do not own your own max / min recording thermometer, you can guesstimate the daily highs and lows by manually recording the temperatures shortly after sunrise (approximate daily low) and late in the afternoon (approximate daily high).
Another option is to try your luck with the online Indiana State Climate Office data archive . At this Web site, you can search for temperature data from the automated Purdue weather stations located at a number of outlying Purdue Ag. Centers, cooperative weather stations maintained by the National Weather Service, and airport weather stations also maintained by the National Weather Service. Also, the weekly Pest&Crop newsletter lists accumulated GDDs for selected sites across the state based on various start dates.
Corn & Soybean Field Guide (ID-179). 2010. Purdue Univ. Extension. To order, call Purdue Extension toll-free at _PHONE_.
Nielsen, R.L. (Bob). 2008. Use Thermal Time to Predict Leaf Stage Development in Corn. Corny News Network, Purdue Univ. [On-Line]. Available at . [URL accessed May 2010].
Nielsen, R.L. (Bob). 2010. Determining Corn Leaf Stages. Corny News Network, Purdue Univ. [On-Line]. Available at . [URL accessed May 2010].
Purdue Pest & Crop Newsletter. 2010. Purdue Univ. Pest Mgmt. Program. [On-Line]. Available at . [URL accessed May 2010].
Every year, for the first five weeks or so after corn planting is finished, the guys down at the Chat 'n Chew Cafe complain royally about the looks of the crop. It does not matter whether it was an early planting season or a late planting season. Gripes about uneven stands, poor color, and slow growth waft over the tables as everyone airs their concerns about the looks of their neighbors' fields.
Then suddenly one day, the tone of the conversation in between the coffee and sweet rolls perks up. Almost overnight, the crop has taken off like a rocket. The color of the leaves turns a dark, almost-blue green and they develop a distinct shine. From that point on, any connoisseur of corn feels better about life in general.
Why does this transition seem to happen over and over again every year?
During the first five weeks or so after planting, the corn plant is going about the business of creating all of the leaves it will ever have. A few of these leaves are visible, but most are wrapped tightly


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If you are a fan of Italian cuisine, then you must be familiar with the king of all cheeses – Parmesan Cheese. It is a hard, granular cheese that originated in Italy and is famous for its distinct nutty flavor and umami taste. Whether it's sprinkled on top of your favorite pasta dish or grated over a Caesar salad, Parmesan cheese adds a touch of richness and depth to any dish.
But have you ever wondered how much this delicious cheese costs? Let's take a closer look at the factors that affect the cost of Parmesan cheese.
Quality: The quality of the cheese plays a significant role in determining its cost. Authentic Parmigiano-Reggiano, which is made from unpasteurized cow's milk from specific regions in Italy, can be quite expensive.
The aging process also affects the quality and price of the cheese. The longer it is aged, the more expensive it becomes.
Origin: As mentioned earlier, real Parmesan cheese comes from specific regions in Italy such as Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, Bologna, and Mantua. Cheeses produced in these regions are certified by the European Union and are given protected designation of origin (PDO) status. These cheeses are typically more expensive than those produced elsewhere.
Brand: Different brands have different pricing strategies based on factors such as production techniques, packaging costs, marketing expenses, etc. Some well-known brands may charge more due to their reputation while smaller companies may offer cheaper options.
Quantity: Like most food items, buying Parmesan cheese in bulk can save you money compared to purchasing smaller quantities. However, keep in mind that once opened; Parmesan cheese has a relatively short shelf life.
Now that we have looked at some factors that affect the cost let's delve into actual numbers:
- The average cost of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese is $20-$25 per pound. This price may vary depending on the quality, origin, and brand.
- Grated Parmesan cheese that comes in a shaker container can cost anywhere between $3 and $8 per 8-ounce container.
- You can also find Parmesan cheese sold in blocks or wedges. These can range from $9 to $20 per pound depending on the factors mentioned above.
It's worth noting that some stores may offer cheaper prices than others. Shopping around for the best deals and comparing prices between different brands may help you save money.
In conclusion, the cost of Parmesan cheese varies depending on several factors such as quality, origin, brand, and quantity. While authentic Parmigiano-Reggiano can be quite expensive, there are cheaper alternatives available in the market. Regardless of the price, Parmesan cheese is an essential ingredient in many dishes that adds a unique flavor profile that cannot be replicated by any other type of cheese.


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A scalar (electrogravitic) field allows for the manipulation of gravity.
See: Scalar Field
Strong scalar fields create electrical surge comparable to an electromagnetic pulse, but arising everywhere where gravity is effective (almost anywhere but a gravity shielded starship). This electrical surge will kill lifeforms, detonate fuels and explosives, fry electronics, combust combustibles, and vaporize ablative armor.
Less powerful scalar fields can be used as taser-like stun weapons and are used in military pistols such as the Nekovalkyrja Service Pistol, Type 30.


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Consult the manufacturer's instruc- tions for proper grounding methods • keep a generator dry do not use it in the rain or wet conditions if needed, protect a. Consequence : protection systems of such generators have also generator negative phase sequence protection electromagnetic transient analysis (eta . Onsite motor and generator inspection, testing, and reconditioning bearing inspection advanced vibration collection and analysis current signature analysis.
Turbo-generator and an electrical resonance in the grid induction generator effect in this presentation analysis and protection against torsional interaction. Ice-cold investigations on a marine generator exciter pack sulzer performed a root cause analysis and in-depth investigations to prevent further failures, the at the time of the failure, this protection was not being utilized. Common diesel generator protection of power systems in dp classified according to the boundary analysis, the cdg simulation block is built. This paper presents a new flux-based method for out-of-step protection of synchronous generator the available measured angular velocity and acceleration.
Protection coordination workshop robert w director of system analysis and reliability initiatives generator frequency and voltage protective relay. K e y w o r d s: loss of excitation, excitation system, synchronous generator, stability 1 introduction poses of detailed analysis, proposal of protection settings. Improving system protection reliability and security netaworld • misoperation analysis 87 generator phase differential protection. (transmission vegetation management), prc-004-21a (analysis and mitigation of transmission and generation protection system.
Generator protection elements may not be sensitive enough to detect these fault methods, such as symmetrical component analysis or phase- coordinate. Increase generator availability simplify fault and system disturbance analysis with oscillographic event reports and a sequential events recorder (ser. Generator overcurrent protection time current curve (tcc) references • other application guides offered by skm systems analysis at wwwskmcom.
Multifunctional relay also installed in modern power system network for protection of transmission line, generator protection, motor protection,. Learn how to efficiently test generator and motor relays with the omicron test testing the protection functions of complex generator and motor relays. Index terms--generator protection, distance protection out of step protection, zr zl a b fig 2 equivalent circuit for analysis of power system oscillations. Bop system/component analysis bop system/component design fuel engineering services licensing support nsss system/component analysis.
Traditional stator ground fault protection schemes include neutral for our analysis, we use data from a generator in the southeastern usa outfitted with a. Protection of transmission lines and out-of-step protection of generators by being adaptive, the relays 62 transient stability analysis of kuwait electric grid. The load flow and fault analysis are studied before the system is protected all fault analysis for the system, generator protection, motor protection, transformer.
At the same time, more and more distributed generators (dgs) are using analysis, fault detection, and protection of dc distribution system. Busbar, transformer and generator protection systems: high impedance and low knowledge on system analysis, design and practical applications are given.
Protection and thus the generator should not have tripped analysis of the generator project name protection system testing improvements. Power-system protection is a branch of electrical power engineering that deals with the communication channels to allow analysis of current and voltage at remote terminals of a line and to allow remote tripping zone definitions account for generators, buses, transformers, transmission and distribution lines, and motors. Loss-of-excitation (loe) condition of a generator may cause severe damages on and analysis for loss of excitation protection schemes in generator protection.Download


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Shortcuts are links to files stored in different folders and drives on your PC. The Windows Start Menu is made of shortcuts pointing to various files on your drive. These shortcuts, when run, open the corresponding application or document. After time, the 'targets' of these shortcuts are moved or deleted, leaving the shortcut pointing to a file or location that no longer exists. Such 'dead' shortcuts clutter your system, such as the Start Menu and Desktop.
Steps to clean invalid shortcuts:
- Run WinUtilities Shortcut Fixer
- Select the drives or folders you wish to scan for invalid shortcuts.
- Wait while WinUtilities Shortcuts Fixer searches the selected drives or folders for invalid shortcuts.
- After you scan the drives, The program will show you a result report for listing invalid shortcuts. Check these invalid shortcuts and then click "Clean All" button.


Non-destructive strength estimation of concrete elements for direct reuse
Katja Irene Møller Thygesen
A pressing issue in the construction industry is how to adapt to the increased demand for sustainable practices. Three of the main obstacles in this regard are the CO2 production, the consumption of limited raw materials, and the waste generation.
A way of remedy on all three obstacles is for the industry to start recognising the building mass of the many buildings being demolished every year as a useful resource. By strengthening the circular economy and reusing more, less new production of construction elements will be necessary and thereby, CO2 production, consumption of raw materials, and the waste generation, will be brought down.
With concrete being the most used material in writing time, it is natural to investigate what can be done in this regard. Studies point to the lack of labels and certifications as a hindrance for a transformation of the supply chain to include more reuse. This thesis had the goal of developing and testing a strength investigation procedure suitable for certification of concrete elements for direct reuse. This was achieved by creating an overview of the available research on the subject through a literature review, and subsequently piecing together an investigation procedure based on these findings. The main goals for the procedure were for it to be non-destructive, cheap, fast, reliable, and possible to perform on-site. The procedure was afterwards tested in a field study.
Through the literature review, it was found that a lot of relevant research has been done.
Although none of the found articles deals explicitly with reuse purposes, a lot of them share similar goals, and were found useful for this specific purpose. Some essential findings were; the many factors affecting the non-destructive data and thereby jeopardising the reliability of the assessment, emphasis on measuring technique to minimise errors, coring strategy, model parameter identification approach and error assessment.
In the field study, the columns of a to-be-demolished building were investigated. The strength was found to be 22.91 MPa, with a prediction error of 0.894 MPa. Through these findings, the columns were found useful for reuse, although with a lower strength than originally designed. The procedure was found to be suitable, however, not optimal.
Through the discussion, the newly developed bi-objective model parameter identification approach was performed on the non destructive data separately. It was found that this approach used with the ultrasonic pulse velocity data enabled a larger utilisation of strength with a lower prediction error and is therefore recommended to implement in the investigation procedure.
The concluding remarks of this thesis was that developing a strength investigation procedure suitable for direct reuse purposes was indeed possible with the available research, taking the industry one step closer to more circular economy of building mass.
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On the Trail / Floreana Island, Galapagos
No, gecko. Geckos are small to average sized lizards found in warm climates throughout the world. They were abundant in the Galapagos, especially noticeable on Floreana Island. Geckos are said to be unique among lizards in their vocalizations by making a chirp-type sound in interacting with other geckos. There are estimated to be more 2,000 different species of geckos worldwide. Geckos have have no eyelids and instead have a transparent membrane which they lick to clean. Sort of of like sticking your contact lens in your mouth to clean it when nothing else is available - I guess.


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- One of the signs of tetany seen in hypocalcemia.
- An abnormal reaction to the stimulation of the facial nerve.
- When the facial nerve is tapped at the angle of the jaw (i.e. masseter muscle), the facial muscles on the same side of the face will contract momentarily (typically a twitch of the nose or lips)
due to hypocalcaemia (ie from hypoparathyroidism, pseudohypoparathyroidism, hypovitaminosis D) with resultant hyperexcitability of nerves.


What forces affect submarines?
Lesson overview
The context of the lesson is a practical investigation to discover how shape and surface area affect the speed at which a submersible descends. Students develop their understanding of forces, surface area, and fair testing.
Learning outcomes
 - Understand gravity as a force
 - Consider how forces affect submersibles
 - Investigate how shape affects speed
 - Predict and test with accuracy
 - Describe how forces affect submersibles
Lesson step
 1. Forces mini quiz (15 mins)
 Students take a forces mini quiz in groups to assess their level of understanding and open a discussion about gravity.
 2. Virtual submarine dive (10 mins)
 Students take a virtual submarine dive and consider how forces might impact on submersible design.
 3. Shape investigation (20 mins)
 Using modelling clay students investigate how a variety of shapes move at different speeds through water. Making predictions, students test different shapes and measure speed ensuring it is a fair test.
 4. Understanding water resistance (15 mins)
 Students describe why shapes move at different speeds using scientific vocabulary to explain their findings.


Two UX Lessons From Freakonomics Radio – Sarah Doody - Sarah Doody
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Two UX Lessons From Freakonomics Radio
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The podcast had a lot of UX lessons in it that I think are really relevant to user experience design and product development. You should definitely listen to it yourself, but I wanted to point out two key UX lessons.
Lesson 1: Do not catch "Go Fever"
In the podcast, they tell the story of the Challenger space shuttle and how ultimately what lead to the crash in 1986 was the fact that the people who had the final say had "go fever" and ignored multiple attempts that engineers made to warn them of the risks involved in the launch.
Incase you don't know the full story, the short version is that the temperatures in Florida were forecasted to be very very cold the day of the launch. The very cold temperatures were of concern to the engineers because a certain part of the shuttle, called O-Rings, had never been tested under such temperatures and the engineers were not confident that it was safe.
The engineer in charge of signing some type of "go" paperwork was so concerned that he refused to sign it and he made his boss sign it. Unfortunately, the worst happened and the Challenger blew up. If you're interested in reading more, check out the book Truth, Lies, and O Rings by the engineer Allan McDonald who was on the Challenger project.
The moral of the story is that you shouldn't launch just for the sake of launching. Don't launch just to make a deadline. Don't launch just to get some press. Don't launch just to beat someone.
Launch when you are ready.
Lesson 2: Stop having post-mortems, start having pre-mortems
In the podcast, they interview Gary Klien who is the author of a book called Seeing What Others Don't: The Remarkable Way We Gain Insights.
Gary makes a great point that in the medical setting, post-mortems benefit everyone involved (family, physicans, etc) except for … the patient.
So, Gary had a cool idea to develop the notion of pre-mortems. In a pre-mortem, the idea is that everyone is to assume that the project has launched and then create a list of what did go wrong. This is very different that operating under the assumption that something might go wrong.
In a postmortem, the goal is to come up with as many reasons as possible concerning what did go wrong.
Then, whoever is in charge walks everyone through all the ideas and the product or launch plan is adjusted accordingly based on the findings.
I think this is a really great exercise for product teams. I imagine if product teams did pre-mortems a lot of problems could be avoided. I think this would only work if all teams within an organization were represented (eg. marketing, business development, tech, product, design). The reason for this is that so many times, problems arise from miscommunication between these teams. So, having all these teams conduct a pre-mortem could likely get the teams talking sooner and help avoid big projects during or after a product launch.
Incase you missed it here are the key links from this post:
Failure Is Your Friend Podcast on the app Swell
Freakonimics Radio Podcast website & episode recap
Swell App
What is Microfeedback and Why it Matters to Your User Experience


'Kaleidoscope' is a visual response to the work of Philip K. Dick.
This piece experiments with the process of collage; using found imagery - predominantly from botanical textbooks.
Philip K. Dick was a science fiction novelist whose work examines social and political themes, metaphysics and altered states. Continually questioning reality, Dick often explored paranoia, schizophrenia and drug abuse. Inspired by psychedelic and optic art, this piece is a kaleidoscopic collage influenced by Philip K. Dick and particularly 'A Scanner Darkly'.
Hand-cut collage.


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Date of Award
Master of Science in Aeronautical Engineering
Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Paul A. Blue
A new flight controller was evaluated through piloted simulation and flight test conducted at the USAF Test Pilot School. The controller, commonly called a disturbance observer, uses inertial sensor feedback routed through a simple control architecture that acts to force the desired response while rejecting sensor noise and atmospheric disturbances. The investigation included both handling qualities testing in the Octonian simulator at the Air Force Research Laboratories Air Vehicle Directorate, and initial flight test conducted as part of a Test Management Project at the USAF TPS. Simulation produced positive results with desired performance throughout a wide flight envelope. In addition, the desired response of the aircraft was easily modified by changing variables within the controller. Flight test was conducted on the Variable-stability In-flight Simulator and Test Aircraft (VISTA). Twelve test sorties totaling 16.4 flight hours were conducted and culminated in multiple landings at Edwards AFB, CA. Time delay inherent in the VISTA resulted in the requirement to gain down the control surface command signal. Sensor noise was amplified and caused a control surface 'buzz." Flying qualities exhibited lower damping and frequency than 'desired' yet were consistent throughout a larger flight envelope. Post flight analysis resulted in the determination of ways to reduce the noise causing the 'buzz' and improve the flying qualities by adjusting the controller's 'desired dynamics.'
DTIC Accession Number
Rein, Donevan A., "Disturbance Observer: Design and Flight Test of a Large Envelope Flight Controller" (2010). Theses and Dissertations. 2049.


Send a Text Message using Python in 15 seconds
So you are a Python guru or maybe just getting started and you want to do something out of the ordinary by allowing your app to communicate with users real time.
You could build an app that sends texts, maybe for an event promoter, they usually want to promote events on the weekend. Let's say your app wants to record users responses e.g.
Your App texts the user: Hey what did you eat today?
The user responds via text: I had a salad for lunch and pizza for dinner.
This response via text can be recorded in the DB and your app could keep a log of what your customer eats everyday
You could just build a simple app that texts your friends once a week to stay in touch.
The possibilities are endless as you can see
To send a text programmatically your code needs to make an XHR request to an SMS gateway that will read the text details from your request and then initiate a text to the recipient's phone number
PureText offers a Texting/SMS gateway to which you can make an HTTP GET/POST request with details such as recipient number and body of the text and PureText will deliver the text to the recipient for you.
In order to identify that this request belongs to you, you'll need to include your API token in the HTTP GET/POST request. Register for a free API token here
A thing to note is that you cannot just use any phone number as the 'From' number. The rule of thumb is the number must be registered through the same company who's SMS gateway you choose to use.
To send a text message using Node.js you don't need a dedicated short code. Dedicated short codes are expensive and take 2-3 months to get approved, instead, you can now use local 10 digit VOIP numbers or also referred to as long codes to send a text/SMS programmatically from your Node.js app
So let's get started, to do a quick and dirty POC you'll need:
 1. An API token key (free API token here)
 2. A 'From' number through your SMS gateway (Get a free one here)
Copy Paste the following code in your IDE and replace the apiToken and fromNumber values with the API token you will see in your dashboard and the number you will or have reserved on the numbers page in PureText

# importing the requests library
import requests

# defining the api-endpoint
API_ENDPOINT = "_URL_

# your API key here
API_KEY = "XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX"

# data to be sent to api
data = {'apiToken':API_KEY,
 'fromNumber':'+1xxxxxxxxxx',
 'toNumber':'+X-XXX-XXX-XXXX',
 'smsBody':'SENDING TEXT USING PYTHON'}

# sending post request and saving response as response object
r = requests.post(url = API_ENDPOINT, data = data)

# extracting response text
pastebin_url = r.text


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I work with a large survey data that is pooled cross-section, i.e, people interviewed are randomly chosen in each time period. This is not panel data. But, I aggregate the individual cells according to age and gender groups and then run the regressions. Now that I work with age-gender groups, is this considered panel data?
Yes, you can consider this as panel data, but the key is to understanding why, as this affects how you explain and interpret your panel regression. In treating each cohort as the same unit over time, you are assuming that each cohort has a constant, unobserved fixed effect. That is, people in a particular age category and gender tend to have an unobserved effect on the dependent variable that is different to other cohorts.
Age increases over time, so, for example, the group aged 30–34 in year 1995 should be treated as the same group as the 35–39 year-olds in 2000. I suggest your time variable increases in steps of five years, as you indicated that your age categories are five-year bins.


Unionist fury as Housing Executive spends £5,000 on Easter Rising mural
The mural on the Lower Ormeau Road in south Belfast. Picture Mal McCann
Brendan Hughes
UNIONISTS have accused the Housing Executive of wasting public funds for spending almost £5,000 on an Easter Rising mural.
The mural is being painted on a blank gable wall of terraced houses along the Lower Ormeau Road in south Belfast.
It was commissioned as part of a community project during the centenary commemorations focusing on a local family's involvement in both the 1916 rebellion and the Battle of the Somme.
Featuring Cumann na mBan and the Irish Citizen Army, the mural is being created at a cost of £4,900 to the Housing Executive.
The housing body said the mural helps to "create a focus on heritage rather than a potentially insular and divisive time in Belfast".
But unionists have branded the mural, which has not replaced any previous contentious display, as a waste of taxpayers' cash.
Former city lord mayor Jim Rodgers called for an fresh examination of how Housing Executive funds are being spent.
"The vast majority of people in our city will be horrified that money has been wasted in this way," the Ulster Unionist councillor said.
"I am aware that the Housing Executive has paid for certain things including memorials in unionist areas which I totally oppose, and it's the same with murals.
"I don't think it's in-keeping with a city I want to see that we can all live peacefully in and respect each other."
He added: "As far as I'm concerned it is a waste of public money."
The mural is part of a wider project on the history of the Corr family, who had two sisters join the Rising and a brother killed in the same year at the Somme.
It includes references to the family's involvement in the First World War in France during 1916 as part of both the Australian and Canadian armies.
Of 11 children in the Corr family, five played key roles in different battles during the turbulent period in Irish history.
Henry Corr joined the Irish Volunteers and was involved in the Rising, while his sisters Elizabeth and Nell Corr also took part within Cumann na mBan.
But while they rebelled against British rule, two brothers were fighting in France.
George Corr was killed fighting for the Australian Army during the Battle of the Somme, while another brother Charles, fought for the Canadian armed forces.
He survived the war and returned to Canada, having been gassed several times on the Western Front.
Overall the Housing Executive gave £12,500 for the mural and 22 banners displayed lampposts during the Rising centenary to remember the Corr family.
The wider project was supported by Lower Ormeau Residents Action Group and funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
A Housing Executive spokeswoman said: "The Housing Executive funded a mural, at a cost of £4,900, as well as 22 banners, which complemented a wider project funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, aiming to create a focus on heritage rather than a potentially insular and divisive time in Belfast.
"The project has created an opportunity to explore a shared heritage and give people a fascinating insight into events in Belfast, Ireland and the world during 1916.
"The wider project includes an exhibition, The Corr Family Witnessing History, hosted at the Ulster Museum and the Linen Hall Library."
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